Chasing Tails (Original)

40. Information Sharing

"Which means-"

"Let me guess!" She interrupted dramatically, staring at her Alpha with an irritated expression. "I'm grounded." Jack chuckled behind her while Dresden bit back a smirk, staring at her with a serious expression.

"No, not really," Ollie stated, smiling at her. "It's more like you'll be watched and guarded at all times."

"What?" She stood up, her frustration boiling. She was growing tired of being treated like a child. Ever since she came, she's been treated like that and it was becoming an annoying habit of theirs. She turned to Dresden to argue. "I'm fine on my own. You know that."

"Juls," Zach interrupted, capturing her attention. "My mate is missing already. Take it from me - don't put your mate through this." Julie turned and caught Dresden's eyes. Immediately they started to darken at the thought, showing his anger and his panic. She could tell he wouldn't have control if that were to happen. She sighed, standing next to Dresden. She felt the warmth rise off of his skin and heard him release a deep breath, calming himself down.

"We probably shouldn't let you hear our plans, Julie." Andy said, giving her a sorry expression. "You wouldn't be able to sit still otherwise." She looked and noticed them all nod their head in agreements. Dresden didn't say anything but she could tell he agreed with them. She groaned.

"Fine. I'll be upstairs."

They waited until she was out of earshot before continuing. Zach immediately faced Dresden.

"Sorry about breaking the news." Dresdan growled immediately in return, eyes sharpening with rage.

"Don't worry about it." Jack answered on his Alpha's behalf. He knew anything that Dresden might have wanted to say wouldn't be good and would have only added more oil to the fire. "Julie's a good girl - she'll get over things soon."

"If you haven't, you should explain things properly to her. Knowing her, she's probably coming up with all kinds of scenarios." Andy commented, staring hard at Dresden. "She's the kind of girl where if you don't tell it to her straight, she's going to make all sorts of assumptions."

"She thinks too much for her own good." Zach added. "She'll twist your words without meaning to."

Dresden thought hard about it, wondering if he had said anything she could twist. His mind thought hard, trying to make sure he didn't give her any reason to think he didn't care about her. He cursed. She's really weak right now. She's not here. Not really pretty. He knew these things were clouding her mind, warping her thoughts. And he knew she was thinking he didn't accept her.

"Are we discussing how Dresden sucks at taking care of our little sister now?"

They turned to find Phillip, Rose's mate and beta, enter the room. Dresden measured him up. He probably wasn't as fast as Ollie but he looked like he could handle his own. Rose followed after him and Dresden couldn't help the growl rumbling from his chest as he laid his eyes on her. Her eyes glared over him, sharpening.

"My heart's breaking for her. She's having such a hellish time," She sighed dramatically. "Especially with you as her mate."

"Well, hello good looking." Jack greeted with a smirk. Phillip growled possessively and Jack sat up, rolling his eyes. "Oh, relax, puppy. We all know I'm not going to touch her."

"Enough," Ollie ordered for the second time, sighing in annoyance. This was taking way longer than necessary and every second they waste was another second they could've been out looking for Trisha. He stood up and gestured for Rose to take it. "Sit." She took his chair thankfully, her beta staying close to her side.

"So how do you plan on handling this, Alpha amateurs?" She smiled politely, looking at them all. Ollie opened his mouth to speak and then she immediately held her hand up, a thought coming to her head. "Do you have spinach and hotdogs by any chance?" Phillip slammed his face into his palm while the rest of them stared after her in confusion.

Julie sat upstairs, in Dresden's bedroom, feeling completely irritated. She wanted to be part of the conversation going on downstairs but even she knew it would bring her trouble if she got involved. If she knew a single thing about their plans, she would feel obligated to take part in them. And she's caused more than enough trouble. It was annoying to sit around the house, knowing they had plans. But it would be even more annoying knowing what they were.

Besides, she needed to be relieved from Dresden.

Seeing how much he was affected just by the mere thought of her disappearing caused her to falter her own thoughts. He did seem to care for her and she had to admit that. He had helped her get better and he had comforted her all of those times she broke down. Even more, he accepted her even if she made a deal with a witch in her past. That wasn't any easy thing to do - especially being Alpha.

It wasn't the fact that he called her ugly that bothered her. She was never confident with her looks. She knew she wasn't beautiful. She accepted being average. It wasn't the fact that he thought she was weak. She agreed. She was weak. She couldn't phase, was on the edge of insanity and despite how much she tried, she just always seemed to be hurt. She didn't even care that he'd growl and snarl at her, that he ripped her clothes that first night and that he'd lock her away in his bedroom for days on end. She couldn't care less about anything of that.

It was her trust being broken that hurt her. It was the fact that he couldn't trust her enough to tell her what they were and she couldn't trust herself to accept it. She hated it. Even now, knowing they were mates, she struggled accepting it. If her wolf were with her, she'd have an easier time. Her wolf would help her understand her mate. She would be able to know, instinctively, that she could trust Dresden with anything and everything and that trust wouldn't betray her. But she was alone.

Despite his physique with broad shoulders, strong muscles and securing arms, she shivered with nerves everytime she was near him. His dark hair would fall over his brown eyes and she, for a moment, would find herself lost in them as he stared at her. But even then, she felt nervous and uncomfortable, unable to do anything but stare or walk away. She wanted to trust his warmth, to trust that he will protect her but it was hard imaging that he even accepted her like that. It was hard seeing him accept her as anything more than a pitiful, broken she-wolf he instinctively had to look over. It wasn't his choice. And she knew that. But she couldn't trust herself to test it.

She shook her head for the thousandth time, not wanting to thin kabout him anymore. She sighed, drawing hearts and filling them in over and over again in her journal. She hasn't been able to find anything to write about since that night she stopped the war. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of Dresden and of Ian and Trisha. And she couldn't find the ability to write any of it down. Instead, she just stared at the blank papers, drawing hearts and stars and other girly, childish things that mocked her. They practically proved that Dresden didn't see her as anything more than a child.

Just as she was about to throw her journal and pen across the room, she heard footsteps from outside the door. A knock came and then it creaked open. Dresden walked in, looking over at her softly while he closed the door. She closed her journal and put it away in the drawer of the nightstand it was originally in.

"We're finished." He told her and she nodded. She stared at him, trying to find something to say but the words couldn't come out. No matter how many thoughts she had, she couldn't voice them.

He watched her leave, wanting to grab onto her and stop her. He didn't have any reason to. He couldn't say anything and he knew she still needed time. She was forgiving him and slowly, she would accept him. But for now, he just had to patient enough to give it to her.