His Worst Behavior

Chapter Twenty-Four

"She won't leave without her," Weylyn said, entering the room. "I can carry Scarlett."

"Your focus should be on Chloe," Julius argued, spit flying from his lips. "You need to protect her."

"Quite honestly, Chloe is safe," Weylyn countered, calmly. "Roarke doesn't want to harm her. I can watch out for them both." Julius gritted his teeth together, debating in his head about what to do with the situation. I could feel his anger and stress through our bond. "I'm the best one to keep them safe. Despite what happened with Luna, you know that."

Julius hesitated. "Fine, get them out of here."

Weylyn rushed forward, carefully picking up Scarlett. She swore under her breath, muttering about how weak and pathetic she felt. As he tried to get Scarlett comfortable in his arms, I turned to Julius in concern.

"What is going to happen with you?" I asked, shakily. "Are you going to challenge Roarke?"

He raised his chin. "Most likely."

"I-I think you should come with us," I stuttered, feeling nervous for the challenge. I would feel deep grief if Julius died. But, I would also feel something if Roarke died. "I want you to - "

"An Alpha never runs," he interjected, coldly. "I got this, Chloe."

"The bond is doing this," I said, dragging my trembling hands through my hair. "It's making me feel anxious. I feel scared for you - I can already feel the grief coming."

Julius exhaled loudly. "Yes, you're feeling a lot right now, I understand." I opened my mouth to speak, but he grabbed my shoulders, looking into my eyes. "You need to go with Weylyn. I will see you when all of this is finished."

I was sputtering for words when he gently kissed my forehead, as if I was a small child. Weylyn headed towards the door, saying, "Come on, Chloe."

I followed after him, looking over my shoulder at Julius. He gave me a small assuring grin, then headed into the next room. I started thinking about if that would be the last time I saw him as I rushed outside and sprinted into the trees behind Weylyn. 

An Alpha never runs.

Most of the trees were unfamiliar with smooth trunks and few branches. The earth was very black and damp underfoot, hidden by treacherous roots and long weeds. While the sun was sweltering, the air was cool enough to prevent me from sweating too much as we bolted through the trees. "Keep up, Chloe!"

I was running as fast as I could, watching Scarlett bounce in Weylyn's arms. She was flinching in pain, her eyes squeezed shut.

Then, a thundering, familiar roar shook the trees. 

I jerked to a stop.

Weylyn noticed, stopping as well. "Chloe."

"That was Roarke," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. A chill traveled down my spine at the thought of returning to him.

"Yes," he agreed, beckoning for me to continue with his head. "We need to keep moving - you should shift into your wolf. You'll be able to keep up better." Unfortunately, he couldn't shift into his wolf because of Scarlett. She was too weak at the moment to hang onto him if she rode his back. His strong arms were keeping her pinned to his body.

"I-I don't think Julius is going to win," I said, stumbling backwards. "I have this feeling. It's a very bad feeling. . ."

Weylyn hesitated. "He's not going to win."

My eyebrows scrunched together. "Isn't he your Alpha? Aren't you supposed to believe in him - "

"I'm looking at the facts," he said, as Scarlett moaned painfully in his arms. "Roarke Farkas has a scary reputation for a reason. He killed his family - did he tell you that?" I couldn't forget it. He walked to me, glancing around through the trees. "Julius is skilled, yes, but he's not a monster. Not like Roarke."