Lure To The Woods

XXV

It certainly felt strange without Ava here. Even on the day we had all met, Ava and Oscar had been a pair. They were skiving off of class that day to make out in the boy's changing rooms- a bad idea considering there was a PE class due to use that space. It must be a painful memory for Oscar- six and a half years together was a hell of a long time, after all.

"Maybe you need a rebound thing?" Mick proposed, "Usually works for Cam."

"No, no, no. Bad idea, Mick." Heather shut that down immediately, "If she sees you move on too quickly it'll just end up hurting both of you even more."

"Did you talk to her today? Is she okay?" Oscar asked, his voice thick with emotion.

"She wouldn't talk to me about it." Heather sighed, "She didn't ignore me, but she may as well have. All I could get in reply was 'sorry' and 'I'm fine'. She really wants some space from us, so I think we just have to accept that."

Leaning back in my chair, I thought about everything for a second. I thought about those girls she was hanging out with and from where else I knew them; I couldn't pinpoint it, but I was sure I knew them from more than just past sexual encounters. The answer was on the tip of my tongue, itching to come forth; I almost had it.

"Who the hell is that?" Mike's voice cut through my train of thought, gesturing subtly to something behind me.

Everyone- not so inconspicuously- looked over at what Mike was gesturing to and my eyes shot up to follow them. The man looked entirely out of place in the quaint, traditional pub; dressed in just a t shirt, I was wondering how he wasn't freezing cold- considering it was now pouring down outside. Not to mention, the shirt was torn in places and caked in grime.

He was leaning against the counter, looking right at our table. In a small town, you knew a lot of people's faces. Everyone was familiar in some kind of way, but I had never seen this guy in my life. I would remember. The way he was looking at us unnerved me and made my mouth go dry; something wasn't entirely right about this situation.

My eyes flickered away from him, looking for any sign of Xavier's henchman. I couldn't see him, but I was praying that he was somewhere nearby, lurking in some kind of shadows. The way the guy's eyes were burrowing into me made my stomach drop.

"He's looking right at you, Cam." Heather whispered, taking my hand nervously.

I couldn't reply, even if I wanted to; fear had crept into every crevice of my being. Something inside of me was screaming that this guy was no good and I had a feeling that he wasn't part of Xavier's wolf pack. He was something else.

I didn't want to take my eyes off of him, in case he tried something, but I had to text Xavier. Even if it was just a silly gut feeling, I had to trust my senses. My shaking fingers had never tapped on a screen so furiously before, letting Xavier know that there was somebody in the pub staring at me and it didn't sit right with me. I didn't want to say the word 'rogue', but that's what my gut was screaming.

His reply was instant: 'I'm on my way.'

Within seconds, the bodyguard entered the pub and headed over to my table. I waved at him, but he didn't even acknowledge it- his face was stone cold and that confirmed my fears as true. The guy at the bar was not somebody the pack trusted.

"Awe, you told on me?" The guy at the bar pouted teasingly, his voice cold and mocking.

"You need to leave. He's on his way." Greg's voice was equally as cold now, his glare fixated on the strange guy.

"I only wanted to make friends." The person was really pushing their luck with Greg, I could sense him losing his patience.

"I said leave." Greg hissed.