Please check out The Waves That Broke My Heart by @RightTwoLeft. She's absolutely awesome girl!
This chapter is dedicated to one of my twitter sweetheart @FreeShoes09
And the beautiful cover is made by @horsesland125 Thank you so much lovely ♥
Chapter Twenty Eight
Mason's POV
I thought she would have bolted. The second she saw me running towards the class, I thought she would have jumped out of her seat and left as fast as her legs could carry her, but as usual the little stubborn kitten stayed where she was, completely ignoring my order.
Typical Rain.
I never understood what people meant when they said they saw red, but as soon as I caught sight of that guy behind her, eyeing her like fresh meat, that's exactly what happened. The fact I was surrounded by humans on a football field didn't register as anger filled my body and I took off. The image of his neck being torn to pieces spurring me to go faster.
I was more than ready to show him that my mate wasn't to be messed with and had Rain left when I had asked; I would have no problem doing that. In fact, I would have enjoyed it.
Instead it gave enough time for St. Freaking Jude to turn up and start throwing his weight around. Yeah, I'll admit he was right. If I would have hurt that guy - which was intended - Rain would never have forgiven me. She was just about putting all the other stuff I had done; I didn't need that going against me as well. Still, it didn't make it easy to have him take control of the situation like a martyr. I was in half a mind to rip both of their throats out and be done with them.
Seeing her little face peering over the desk, her eyes glazing over with unshed tears, all thoughts of Jude and Jeremy were out of my mind and all I could focus on was getting her the hell out of there and making her safe. Jude might not have been full wolf, but he was more than capable of dealing with this on his own and even if he wasn't, I didn't care. He wasn't my priority, she was.
At first I wasn't sure if she was going to leave with me. I knew what she felt for Jude, not only because I could feel it, but because I could see it. I could see the way he looked at her and I knew how important he was to her. It made me crazy, but there was nothing I could do.
If you hadn't have pushed her away, she wouldn't be so close to him. My wolf snarled, not afraid to tell me what he really thought. Not that he ever was, stupid dog.
Who knows, maybe he was right, or maybe no matter how I reacted to finding out that Rain was my mate, they still would have grown close. I know one thing though, seeing her kiss him that day sent my wolf into frenzy. I would have killed every member of my own pack with the anger I felt and it was only made worse by the fact that I could feel exactly what she did. The excitement, the nervousness and the little flutters that jumped in her heart, all of it made me so angry. What I didn't expect to feel was the amount of pain it caused.
Rain accepting my rejection was the hardest thing I had to take or so I thought, but nothing prepared me for the sudden drop in my stomach, the hollowness that weighed in my heart and the echoing howl from my wolf.
We were on patrol, there'd been reports of rogues entering our territory so instead of the party we had planned, we had to do rounds in the woods. As future Beta, Cole was running with me on a scent we had picked up to the east whilst Jake had taken a couple of other guys south. I wasn't even thinking about her. Not one single thought about Rain entered my head that night and still that image played for me clear as day.
At first I could only feel her emotions. The happiness she felt had my wolf distracted, his thoughts immediately focusing on her, wanting to know if she was thinking of us. As usual the love struck puppy thought with his heart before his head and before I knew it, I could see them together, her and Jude.
I had no idea he was going to kiss her and I had no idea what affect it would have on me. If I did, I would have sure as hell tried to push the image away. I didn't want my wolf to have to see that, hell I didn't want to see that.
My steps faltered and my pace slowed. Cole, choosing that time to be observant, picked up that something was wrong. Like hell I was going to tell him. I didn't want him to know how weak she made me and my wolf. That wasn't acceptable for an Alpha, mate or not.
Feeling the pain of my wolf having to watch them, the need to end Jude's life once and for all was stronger than ever. I couldn't believe my father was still allowing that him and his mom to be in our lives. Not only did they almost destroy our pack, but now he was taking what wasn't his.
That one thought sent my anger into overdrive and I was seconds always from changing paths and running right to Rain's house to finish what Jude started, when the image of them kissing flashed in front of my mind.
My wolf let out a piercing howl that echoed through the silence of the woods. Cole immediately turned to me, probably wondering what the hell was going on, but I could barely make out what he was saying.
I saw nothing but blackness as my knees buckled beneath me and my body slammed hard against the dirt, my claws digging into the ground. My wolf was snapping at the pain in his chest and I could feel it spreading across my whole body. The blood in my veins ran cold and the drop of my stomach sent a sickening feeling to my gut. That's when I started to shake, every single inch of my body was tingling and it definitely wasn't it a good way. It was a second long kiss, but it felt as if it was never going to end.
I was faintly aware that Cole was by my side, his snout pushing against my own, but neither I nor my wolf wanted to acknowledge him. The tightening across my chest only got worse and before I knew it I couldn't breathe. My wolf's howling hadn't relented, he was in pain and I knew that, but the sound of him brought an exploding throb to my temples.
Suddenly the warmth from my body heat was gone and the shaking wasn't only from the endless pain I had, it was from the cold air that whipped around us. My mind was clouded, but I realised what had happened. I was no longer in wolf form. For some reason I had shifted back into my human form.
I didn't understand why it was happening, why it was affecting us that bad. Sure, I had felt pain before whenever I saw a guy flirting with Rain or when she gave that beautiful little smile of hers to someone other than me, but it had never been this bad. I couldn't even ask my wolf because he wasn't with me anymore. I could feel him, I could feel everything he was going through, but I couldn't reach him. He was becoming weaker and I didn't know why.
That's when I felt it and the second I did I knew exactly what was going on. It wasn't that Rain was kissing Jude; I was feeling the pain of that. It was the second heartbeat that lightly drummed against our ribcage that was destroying my wolf. He could feel it wasn't only Rain enjoying it, but her wolf as well. She hadn't pushed him away. She hadn't automatically jumped to the defence of her mate or the protection of her human. She didn't see him as a threat or a stranger, she saw him as something more.
The realisation hit me like a truck. Rain's wolf was slowly accepting Jude in our place. That's why she had let it happen, that's why Rain still had her wolf with her and that's why she was allowing Rain and Jude to become so close.
Her wolf was finding a new mate.
Nothing that I had ever been through had made me cry. Not one thing. Yet as I lay there, the hard dirt pressed against my body, my wolf crying out in heartbreak and in relentless pain, I couldn't do anything but let tears fill my eyes.
I was the weakest I had ever been and it was all because of one tiny girl that, without me even realising, had completely turned my world upside down.
"Mason," The soft voice brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Looking to my left, the two huge orbs of emerald and gold stared back at me.
Nodding, I gestured for her to continue talking. We had stayed in our wolf forms for an hour or so after we reached the stream when she told me she would have to go home. I didn't make any attempt to try and hide my disappointment and I wasn't exactly surprised to find that I didn't want her to leave yet.
Lucky for me, we always left spare clothes hidden close by in case of an emergency. Unfortunately for Rain, we didn't keep anything stored for a girl. After some persuading I finally managed to talk her into calling her parents and letting them know she was okay and that she was saying out with Bella for a while longer. She didn't take as much convincing as I thought she would so I guess she wasn't ready to go either.
Searching through the bag I had to find the smallest items I could, which wasn't easy considering all the guys in my pack had big builds. I dropped some fresh clothes in front of her and motioned for her to shift behind a tree. It wasn't exactly private, but it was the best I could do to help her keep her dignity.
My heart rate doubled when she stepped out and my wolf wasn't quiet in hiding his appreciation for her either. In fact I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the growl that rumbled in my chest. It wasn't made any less embarrassing by the fact that she had heard the not so subtle sign of want and couldn't hold back her own little giggle.
I didn't bother stopping my eyes from roaming her body, not that I could see much. The over-sized checked shirt was folded up to the elbow and tied around her waist, giving me a slight view of the delicate skin of her stomach. The light grey sweats that were also far too big, were pulled half way up her calf and rolled around her waist. With her cheeks shaded a rosy red and her eyes bright, she looked as beautiful as I had ever seen her.
Listening to her talk had me regretting every dumb thing I ever did and for some unknown reason the only thing I could focus on was her lips. Those perfect, thick, soft lips. No matter how hard I tried to respond to what she was saying, I couldn't tear my eyes away from them. What made it worse was the fact that I had tasted those lips; I knew what they felt like against mine and even the simple thought of that had me shifting below the belt.
There were no complaints from my wolf either, he was more than happy to listen and watch her little animated ways as she told us things about herself. He was closer to the surface then he normally would have been around her, but that was because she was in heat. Right now, he was happy to be there with her and I still had control over him. Though if she kept running her tongue across her top lip, I don't think I'd have it for it for much longer.
A warm, tingling sensation that crept onto my hand caught my attention. Flinching, I looked down to find a small, pale hand on top of my large, tan one. Despite feeling like a complete fool, all I could think about what how good it looked and what it would feel like if I moved my hand to hold hers. That simple touch was enough to have my wolf purring in ecstasy. My eyes travelled up and locked with hers. "Is there something wrong?" That little gap between her eyebrows crinkled.
I shook my head, there wasn't a chance in hell I was about to tell her I hadn't been able to concentrate on what she was saying because I could do nothing but stare at her. Instead, I changed the subject. "You know we're going to have to start training together, right?"
Her gaze dropped to the ground and for a second I wished I had never said anything, but the smirk was soon playing on my lips. "Richard's going to have me working so hard." She smiled a little, "He's cut me some slack lately, but if both packs are joining to train soon that means the break is over."
She had no idea how right she was.
With her little button nose scrunched and her lips pursed, I wanted to know what she was thinking. "Have you spoken to Nicky?" She asked, a look of doubtfulness in her eyes.
"I've had no reason to."
She nodded her head in understanding, "Nicky told us about an issue his mother's old pack was having, remember? It was the night he asked me to be Beta." I wasn't too sure where this was going, but I continued to listen. "He said that both packs were joining, he said that was the reason we were all training together, so why has it taken so long? Why didn't we start straight away?"
My attention fell on her hand which was still on top of mine. There wasn't a lot I couldn't tell her, mainly because the Alpha's knew more about it than we did, but also because it wasn't my place. This kind of thing should be said by her Alpha or Nicky, not me. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
I shouldn't have said anything, but with the look she gave me I just couldn't stop myself. She wasn't disappointed, it was worse than that. It was as if she already knew I wouldn't tell her, like she expected nothing else from me. That's all it took to break me. Man, I was acting crazy. "Nicky's mom Delilah, her old pack has been having trouble for a while. It was nothing too serious at first, but the bigger the problem got, the less they could manage it. Your Alpha tried to help them as best he could without bringing his own pack into it, but nothing worked. Delilah's pack needed to be bailed out and the only way that could happen is if they asked the Redblood Pack."
The second I mentioned that pack, she paled. The Redblood Pack originally began as a small group of rogues whose vendetta against humans and other wolves drove them to become bigger, more feared and more dangerous than any other rogue pack. Soon their numbers grew and despite all the efforts to destroy them, nothing ever worked. The last I heard they had left for Europe and it wasn't until Alpha Hudson mentioned them to my father that I realised they were closer than ever before.
Should I stop? I asked my wolf. I didn't want to scare her, but at the same time I didn't want her going into anything blinded by secrets. Right now he had a better read on her wolf than I had and would know whether they could handle what I was about to say. After a few minutes he gave me the green light, but I still couldn't help but wonder if I was doing right by telling her.
Of course you're doing right, she's our mate. My wolf scolded me. She should know everything she needs to.
Deciding his advice was the best I was going to get, I leaned on my side, tugging her hand gently so she would fall down beside me. It was getting late, but I figured we had a few more hours left. "The town Nicky's mom is from isn't like ours. It's small and judgemental, the people are old-fashioned. One of the younger pups shifted in the middle of class for the first time. Everyone went crazy looking for the beast as they called her. She was just a kid Rain. No one knew what was going to happen and not every wolf can feel when they're first going to shift."
The hairs on my body stood on end just thinking about this story and I had to fight to hold back my anger.
"The girl didn't go home, she just kept on running probably terrified, but it wasn't enough. They sent out a witch hunt for her and it wasn't long before they caught her hiding out in the woods."
Tears filled her eyes and I hated myself for upsetting her, but I had come this far and she needed to know. "They locked her away and tortured her, wanting to know what she was and where she was from. Her pack should be proud of her. Even after everything she went through, she never gave them up. As with all new wolves we shift a lot at first to give our wolves the strength they need. They tied her up and kept her like an animal in a cage." Running my hand through my hair, I sighed. "She was just a little girl."
My whole body shook. The more I thought about it the more angry it made me. I felt a tight squeeze on my hand and that's all it took for my wolf to sink into calmness. "We don't have to talk about it, Mason." Her small voice tugged at my heart. She was more upset than me and yet there she was trying to comfort me. "I just... I don't understand why our packs are joining."
I understood her confusion. "The parents of the girl begged for revenge, but the Alpha of Delilah's pack wouldn't risk it. He wouldn't put everyone else's lives in danger. It sounds like he was being a jerk, but he made the right choice. As sad as it was, it's better to lose one life than lose an entire pack. Anyway, her parents weren't happy with that and went to the Redblood Pack for help. They did what they do best and killed the humans involved. It didn't mean anything to them, they did it for the fun of it, but soon they wanted repaying for their help. The Alpha of Nicky's mom's pack found out and tried to call a truce, but they don't do that kind of thing. They wanted something in return for what they did and when things didn't go their way, they turned."
With eyes wide and lips slightly parted, she stared at me. "What happened?"
"The Redbloods called war on Delilah's pack, kidnapping three of them and torturing them, sending their bodies back as a warning of what was to come." My eyes flickered down to her tiny hand that was now wrapped in mine. I tried focusing on the tingles of excitement her touch gave me to help keep me calm. "Things got too much and they asked Alpha Hudson for help. Your pack isn't big enough to defeat them alone and that's where we come in. We already had an agreement anyway," I shrugged, "Your Alpha's just calling in on that favour."
By the look on her face I knew she had realised what that meant. "We're going to fight them, aren't we?" A single tear ran down her cheek.
"Yeah, we are sweetheart." My wolf vowed to protect her wolf and I knew that no matter what happened between us, I would protect Rain.
Even if that meant protecting her with my life.
* * *
Not much was said after I told her about the Redbloods. Walking back through the woods, I couldn't stop myself from listening in to Rain's thoughts. I promised myself I wouldn't do it, but I wanted to know if she was okay. As I figured, her thoughts were consumed by that little girl and on the up and coming fight.
I had no idea why Nicky hadn't told her anything. My dad had told me that not every detail about the fight had been arranged, but that didn't mean they should have kept anything from her. Especially with her being the future Beta of their pack.
"You're doing it again." She kept her head down, but her eyes flickered up to me. Doing what? "You're listening to my thoughts." She said accusingly, narrowing her eyes, but I could see the small ghost of a smile playing on her lips.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I offered her a quick smile. "Yeah, sorry about that little kitten. I just wanted to know if you were okay." She would only know that by listening to my thoughts, but I didn't say that to her.
Nodding her head, she brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. It had my hand twitching, wanting to do the same thing for her. "Everything's fine, I just can't stop thinking about that girl and why the hell Nicky would keep something like that from me. If we're going to fight, I should be told, right? I mean, your Beta knows, doesn't he? I bet even Cole knows what's going on."
"I can't answer that Rain, you need to ask him." I wish I could have given her all the answers, but I honestly had no idea why they kept it from her.
"Do you do it a lot?" She asked, her eyes staring back at me wanting an answer. Where we still talking about Nicky? "No, I mean listen to my thoughts." She smiled.
I laughed, nudging her playfully. "You're doing it to me, but I can't do it to you." She shook her head and stuck her tongue out at me.
We walked for a while in silence, our arms brushing. Man, this girl was killing me. If a small touch like that could send me crazy, I didn't even want to risk thinking what it would do to me to actually be with her. Having certain images of us in my room flashing through my head certainly didn't make it any easier.
"Mason!" Her yelled-whisper had me confused. That was until I noticed the sweet blush on her cheeks and realised she had seen the images of what I had been thinking about. "How often do you think about things like that?" I wasn't sure whether she was embarrassed or horrified at first, but then I heard the purr from her wolf and knew exactly what she was feeling and it was pretty much the same as what I was.
I hated to admit that my wolf was right, but he was. She wanted me just as must as I wanted her. "A lot." I answered honestly, my voice deep and coated in the lust I felt for her. "It's hard not to, little one." Her blush only darkened in colour with me saying that.
"Before that class you asked me to meet you after school because you wanted to talk to me," She rushed out, obviously wanting to change the subject as quick as she could. "What about?"
I quietly laughed, but said nothing about her burning cheeks and high pitched voice. She was so damn cute. "You saw what I saw." Mates could do some crazy stuff. Some of which I didn't know anything about. My dad did tell me a couple of things that all mates share, like being able to listen to each other's thoughts and being able to feel what the other was feeling. Other gifts between mates are rarer, like the one I found that Rain and I shared. "When you were trying to listen to my thoughts, not only could you do that, but you could see exactly what I saw at the same time."
Her brows pulled together. She was confused and I couldn't blame her, I didn't know what the hell was going on when it happened, but after speaking to Jake about it, it made sense. Being able to see what each other can see was a gift our wolves had. "Doesn't that happen with everyone?"
Reaching out, I pulled her closer to me, but not wanting to push it, I settled for wrapping my hand around her wrist in a loose grip. It was getting late, we could barely see anything in front of us and knowing Rain, she would probably fall over her own shadow. "No not all mates have the same bond and with each different one, comes a different gift." I shrugged.
It was like I could see the clocks working double time in her head. "So ours is that we can see exactly what the other is doing when their doing it?"
Winking, a smirk easily crept onto my lips. "It's pretty sweet, little kitten."
She beamed a smile like a kid on Christmas morning. "Can we try it again?" I nodded and stopped walking; watching her close her eyes and crease her forehead in concentration.
A couple of minutes later her eyes shot open, "I can see myself! Oh my God Mason, I could actually see my face as if I was looking into a mirror." She grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me closer, my arm instinctively sneaked around her waist and my hand rested on the small of her back. "You should try it."
I honestly didn't want to take my eyes off her. I couldn't help but love how excited it made her. My wolf shrank back and it was obvious why. If her wolf was slowly choosing another mate in our place, we wouldn't have the same strong bond, meaning I wouldn't be able to do it. There was only one way I was going to find out and even though I wasn't sure my wolf could handle it if we couldn't do it, I didn't have another choice.
Closing my eyes, I relaxed every muscle in my body. Working in the same way I did to listen to her thoughts, I waited for the blackness to fade and before I knew it an image of my face appeared in front of me. Just as Rain had said, it was like looking in a mirror, everything was perfectly clear.
Opening my eyes, I found her staring up at me. Coming out of it made me a little disorientated, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. "Did you do it?" She asked, excitement written all over her face.
My wolf sprang to life inside of me. He couldn't have been happier and despite knowing that she still felt something for Jude, the fact she hadn't completely given up on him set something explosive off inside of him.
Not even my mom and dad could do something like that. "That was pretty cool." I admitted, my own excitement bubbling in the pit of my stomach.
* * *
It wasn't long before we had reached the edge of the woods and Rain's house came in to view. I'll admit I didn't want her to go, but we had been out for hours and I didn't want her dad hunting me down. Not exactly a great first impression of his daughter's mate. "Thanks for walking me back." She stepped away from me, turned and smiled.
I suddenly felt really nervous. The palms of my hands were clammy, my heart was thumping against my ribs and my throat had gone completely dry. I had never been like this around a girl and this wasn't even a date. "Listen Rain," I began, hoping for shit I wouldn't stutter. "I messed up, but I meant what I said before." Tugging the sleeves of her shirt down over her hands, she fingered the cuffs.
"I like you Rain and I don't want things to go back to the way they were. There's a lot of stuff going on with our packs and it's only going to get worse, but I don't want to leave it like this between us, so..." I trailed off, having absolutely no idea how I should ask what I was about to.
Sure, I'd been on dates with girls before, but none of them were with anyone as special as my mate. I still had a lot to prove and I knew that, but I had to start somewhere I just hoped she'd give me the chance. "If you... um..." I scratched the back of my neck, what the hell was wrong with me? It was a simple question, why couldn't I just ask it?
"Mason if you've got something to say, just say it." She was getting impatient.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed my stupid ego to one side, summoned all the confidence I had and asked what I should have asked a long time ago. "Go on a date with me, Rain."
Her head snapped up and her eyes met mine. Nothing around us existed and even though we only stood quiet for a few seconds, if felt a hell of a lot longer. If we weren't standing in the dead of silence surrounded by nothing but air and woods, I wouldn't have heard her small voice.
In fact I had to ask again just to make sure I'd heard. "What was that, little kitten?"
The corner of those perfect lips lifted, "Okay."
Then for the second time, I leaned forward and kissed my mate.