Crowned Wolf (Original)(Completed)

Seventy-One

Karmen closes the door to her small bedroom quietly. Her mind is racing with stressful thoughts and creative ideas of possible outcomes from the current situation. She spent all day attempting to hide it by cleaning the kitchen and then cleaning it again. She's not sure if she made Audrey eat her vegetables or not either. Her brain is so scattered between what her hands are doing and rethinking the same thoughts since she heard that Alpha Cane came earlier this morning. Leon wanted to stay with her but beta duty called and she's been alone to her nightmares since.

In her room, it's quiet. The kitchen is a little noisier. Some of the Moore pack are occupying the living room and their chatter and background television noise makes things seem less explosive than they are. But here, in the comfort of her own room, every thought is getting louder and she's not sure what she should do.

Alpha Cane rejected her. He said the cursed words that immediately and irrevocably cut her off and cut his claim from her. And she, in a very weak moment, accepted it. It's been weeks since then and she's finally feeling more like herself - even better than herself. That hole that threatened to take over her life and drown her, that void, empty feeling that consumed her and left her numb has gone and been replaced with something stronger. She has mostly Leon to thank for that. The beta worm certainly knew his way around her heart better than anyone else and without her noticing it, he filled that hole up with joy, security, comfort and most importantly, emotions. She's never felt more in her entire life as she has in the last few weeks and that is mostly due to Leon's influence. She's happy. She's in love. She feels loved. And Leon is responsible for that - not Cane.

The very fact that he wished to claim her shakes her. She's paranoid, looking behind her whenever she leaves a room and all around her whenever she enters a room. She doesn't want to be alone. The tension in his stance, the dark, wild look of his eyes when he saw her - they were just brief moments but they shattered whatever security she felt. If Millis and Frankie hadn't been there when Cane arrived, she isn't sure what would have happened and the thought of it turning into that kind of situation terrifies her. Everything with Leon would disappear in a second had Cane gotten her alone. And had Audrey decided to interfere, Karmen wouldn't know what to do.

She can hold her own against Leon. Karmen's grown up with him despite his being five years her senior. She's watched him grow up and has had to interact with him. She knows him. She knows how he works for the most part. She knows how frustrating he is. She knows his habits. Despite him being a beta and her an omega, she knows she can hold her own with him. He treats her as an equal. He treats her preciously but he also challenges her in so many ways and she fights back.

She can't do that with Cane. For one thing, she doesn't know his limits or his habits. She doesn't know what will irritate him and what won't. She doesn't know how to act or react. She doesn't know what to expect and being an omega makes her more vulnerable to his influence. She can't be herself with Cane. Her mind and her nerves wouldn't let her. His stare makes her nervous. His presence makes her shake. Not knowing what he's thinking, not understanding his motives - it all makes her anticipate the worst.

As it is up to her to decide what to do, she wants to chose Leon. She wants to stay with him and be by him and trust in him. She wants to forget about her entire encounter with an alpha named Cane. She wants to erase her true mate from her memory. She wants to replace him with Leon and have the happy ending every little girl and boy dreams about - the one where she can take care of her family and pack and still have a mate. Leon makes it work despite her very distracted mind.

The truth though is different. The truth is she's scared. She's terrified. She knows she loves Leon and she knows he feels the same. Or well, he's said he loved her and he acts like he loves her but for all she knows, that could end tonight or tomorrow or next week. He hasn't spoken to her about the future. He hasn't discussed making this thing between them permanent. As far as she knows, the werewolf aspect of their relationship has been ignored. The human side is settled but her werewolf side is nervous. She's terrified that Leon will reject her too one day. Maybe not in the next year but maybe, sometime down the road when they're facing a difficult challenge, he'll regret choosing her and will reject her. The first rejection was hard enough. She's not sure how she'd get through the second knowing that he's the glue who fixed her in the first place.