Soul Lines (Completed)

Chapter Eleven

'Sometimes, I wish I didn't even know.'

'What happened with your Mum-'

Pain seared my blood, and I bared my teeth. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

He caught me by the shoulder, roughly turning me, so I was forced to look at him. I snarled, tearing away from him. His face puckered, and a little of his bravo wilted away. 'What happened won't happen again.'

'You don't know that.' I growled, pacing forward.

Tension ricocheted through my body, my pulse racing as I cornered him against the hallway wall.

Angered heat drowned my senses, and my nails bit into the hollow palm of my hand.

I trembled. The effort to keep my fist at my side rather than driving it into the wall clouded my sight.

'Her safety is everything!'

'You think I don't know that!' Jacobi shouted, bowing his head submissively as a growl rumbled at the back of my throat. 'She's my best friend, Kaden. I know how important she is.'

My head dropped, pressing my chin against my chest as I stumbled back against the opposite wall. The hallway closed in on me, inch by inch, and I couldn't lift my eyes to catch his, my throat thick with anguish. 'I'm sorry.' I swallowed the swollen lump in my throat, my head spinning as I let the wall take my weight. 'I shouldn't have reacted like that.'

'No shit.' Jacobi shifted his weight skittishly, his smile uneasy as he watched me collapse in front of him. 'You're lucky we did this here and not in the community hall.'

I laughed shakily, crouching against the wall as frustrated tears burned my eyes. Defeat threatened to knock me to the floor, and my voice was small when I spoke my fears aloud. 'I don't know what to do.'

He placed a rough hand on my shoulder, ignoring how my voice cracked. 'Keep doing what you're doing. Just three more months, and then we will be finished with school. You can tell her everything then.'

I threaded my hands through my hair, knotting it into fists as I focused on breathing. Jacobi waited patiently, giving me time. 'The pack is expecting me to name you in my Concilio.'

'Are you going to?'

I nodded stiffly and closed my eyes tightly, counting my breaths. 'I trust you, Jacobi. Everything you've done over the years has shown me how loyal you can be and that you'd do anything for the safety of this pack. You've spent years proving it, over and over. I'd be stupid not to ask you.'

'Okay.'

I lifted my head, an exhausted laugh brushing past my lips. 'Okay?'

He shrugged, helping me up. 'Well, I've known I'd get the position for years. You wouldn't let just anyone protect her.' He kept his grip on my hand for a moment longer than necessary, saying without words that he would be there for me when I needed him the most. 'We should go. We're going to be late.'

The community hall was teeming with werewolves. The community came together in a brilliant flash of ethnic diversity to celebrate the cultures of our pack. My father seemed to be at the centre of the crowd, circling the large hall. Every so often, laughter would spark in the room as he chased a pup, weaving in and out of the masses, and a silent reverence followed it as he bumped his head affectionately against the older werewolves.

No one enjoyed admitting it, but they watched their Alpha as he worked the room, focusing on him like they were the planets and he was the sun.

Over on the carpet, by the TV, my Aunt read an old werewolf's fable to a group of children and their mothers. Pups spilled from her lap as she turned the pages, her laughter rising above the joyous conversations to capture the interests of those around her, with just as much of a gravitational pull as my father.

The children hung onto every word of their Luna, and I envied them for their youthful innocence, wishing I could have had moments, sitting by the Luna's feet as she sang high praises for the old stories.

A group of young teenagers had gathered around me, and they were animatedly arguing about the score of their soccer game. I listened with mild rapture as they threw points back at each other, displaying a heated case for me to judge.

I'd just come to my decision when the doors swept open. Etta doubled over, panting, framed by the doors. Her shirt was torn, and her dishevelled hair was matted with blood that wasn't hers. She stared into the room, unblinking. Her mouth hung open with no words coming out.

No one moved, stunned by her sudden entrance. 'It... I... Arlo.' She wheezed, stretching out a trembling hand to the nearest werewolf. She didn't reach them, and they circled her, rippling like a stone had been dropped into water. 'It's Arlo.'