Finn's Point of View.
Instantly, I shot off the couch at the sound of Rebel’s scream. My heart leapt in my throat, fear seizing me as terror radiated in my chest from Rebel.
Reaching the kitchen in a matter of seconds, my vision was met with Rebel standing on the kitchen table. When she heard me, her head snapped in my direction, her finger pointing to the ground. “Fucking kill it!” she screamed at me.
Looking down and seeing a smashed plate with food lying around, my eyes saw the thing that terrified her so badly. A spider, no bigger than the size of my fingernail, laid next to the dropped food. My shoulders sagged as I let out a breath of relief. It was just a spider. My Wolf let out a contented sigh, happy to see his mate wasn’t in any real danger.
Looking back up at Rebel, her hazel eyes met mine. “It’s just a spider, babe--” I cut off my sentence as the word stumbled out of my mouth. My eyes widened as I gauged Rebel’s reaction.
“Just a spider?” Her eyes narrowed, the word flying over her head and out of mind. “That thing is like a fucking wolf!”
Amusement filled me, a small smile appearing on my face. Now she was comparing spiders to wolves.
“No offense or anything," she added after a second thought.
My head shook as I carefully walked to the counter, not wanting to spook the spider so it crawled off. Grabbing a paper plate and cup, I used my Werewolf abilities to place the cup over the spider before it had time to react. Sliding the plate under, I stood up. Rebel’s face scrunched up in disgust as she leaned back away from me.
Walking to the front door, Peter, a pack member opened it. My head nodded, giving him a silent thank you and let the spider free.
Returning to the kitchen, Rebel was still standing on the table, her small fist balled into the shirt she wore. Her fear was gone, making me less on edge. Walking up to her, I noticed her smirk as she looked down at me.
“Now who’s taller?” she said smugly.
I smiled as my head shook at her. Holding out a hand, she hesitated before she grabbed it. Fire-hot sparks shot through my hand, almost making me jump. The heat traveled up my arm, weaving deeply into my muscles. Her tiny feet stepped to the edge of the table and my arm raised to wrap around her waist, being mindful of the still healing stitches. She was slightly stunned by my actions, but thankfully, she brushed it off. Setting her on the ground, she sighed as she looked to the dirt covered food. Slowly, a smirk twitched at her lips, something swimming around in her random little head.
She looked to the kitchen entrance which was filled with the curious stares from the pack. “Knifey!” she yelled for Mark.
Frantic footsteps could be hear then Mark appeared a second later. My eyebrows raised, surprised he actually came to the sound of the nickname Rebel gave him. Mark’s face looked flustered as he noticed me and Rebel. April, Mark’s mate, stood at the entrance close to him.
“Clean this up,” Rebel said, pointing to the broken plate and food.
Mark looked down at the mess, then threw his head hack and heaved a dramatic sigh. “Man,” he said, dragging out the word.
Everyone started laughing, even April. Looking back over a Rebel, she mouthed a thanks. Smiling at her, my head nodded.
After Mark was done with cleaning the mess he stomped back upstairs, April still laughing at him. The pack dispersed, leaving me and Rebel to head to my room. She sat on the bed while I sat at the leather chair at my desk.
“Did I ever say thank you for saving my life?” Rebel broke the comfortable silence.
Looking from the pile of paper on the wooden desk, my eyes found her laying down on the bed while looking at the ceiling. Her hands were clasped together behind the back of her head, her legs crossed at her ankles.
Running back through my memory, I answered, “I don't think so.”
Rebel’s hands covered her face. “I’m such an asshole.” She groaned. My mouth opened to say something, not wanting her to think that of herself, but she continued. “You saved my life and I never even said thank you for it.”
My shoulders shrugged. I didn’t really care, as long as she was safe. “As long as you're alive, I'm happy.”
Rebel laughed. Goosebumps exploded on my skin, my Wolf shuffling around in my mind.
Rebel yawned and said she was going to bed. Standing up from the chair, I got her pajamas to change in. Walking over to the couch, I got comfortable as I could as she changed in the bathroom. Rebel climbed into my bed, wrapping the comforter around her tiny frame. I feel asleep to the sound of her faint, soft snores.
Rebel's Point of View.
I rolled over so that I was laying on my back. The stitches made my skin feel weird, but I ignored it. My eyes were still closed when someone’s presence seeped through my pores. My eyes snapped open only to find another pair looking at me. Natural instinct made me quickly sit up on the bed. Unfortunately the person was too close so when I snapped up, both of our foreheads’ collided.
Pain sprouted on my head, making my brain slightly vibrate. A groan escaped the both of us, one sounding masculine. Grabbing my head, my right eyes peered open. Finn was standing a foot back, rubbing the skin on his forehead.
“Damn, Finn," I groaned out.
He looked out of squinted eyes, his lips slightly turned up in discomfort. “Sorry, I didn’t know you would get scared.”
Groaning again in the two minute span, I stood up and walked to the bathroom. “I wasn’t scared,” I mumbled quietly, but Finn would hear me due to his enhanced hearing.
When I exited the bathroom, Finn said, “You’re really hard headed.” He bit his lips from smiling, but soon he started laughing at his own joke. “I’m so funny,” he muttered to himself.
Giving him a look like he was crazy, his laughed sobered up. “Want some breakfast?” he asked.
I let out a aggravated sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose with closed eyes. “Is that the only reason you woke me up?”
Finn thought about it for three seconds, then nodded at me while shrugging. My eyes narrowed at him, but he smiled. He led me out of the room, practically skipping down the stairs. My face scrunched. “How are you so happy in the morning?”
Finn didn’t looked down at me while he thought it over. He shrugged, still smiling. “I don’t know.”
Once we reached downstairs. Finn went to the kitchen and I went to the living room.
Turning over the TV, morning cartoons started playing. It was a obviously a school day from the lack of people. Finn should be at school, but he was stuck watching me. I could go with him, but my brain told me it was a horrible idea. Finn went to public school.
You never know what could happen when you're out in public. I knew I was taking risk when I went out in public with Finn. I had been here for over two weeks, borderlining on three, and I knew that the evil people would be near. I was treading on water, I had to be more careful if I didn’t want Finn to get hurt.
The boy of question snapped me out of my thoughts when he yelled that breakfast was ready. Turning off the television, I walked into the kitchen. On the table were two plates across from each other and were filled with pancakes and bacon. Two glasses of orange juice sat near the plates. A smile appeared on my face at the sight of bacon, remembering my first meal in this house.
Sitting down as Finn did, he asked, “You like pancakes, right?”
My head nodded, grabbing a knife and fork. I cut up my pancakes, drowning them in butter and syrup. Stabbing four pieces with the prongs of the fork, I stuffed them into my mouth. As I chewed they felt warm and fluffy; cooked to perfection.
Over the time span of breakfast, me and Finn talked about little things. He tried asking me about my past and my childhood. I knew he wanted answers, but I couldn’t give them to him yet. Turning the question around to Finn, he happily answered. He would tell me his childhood memories about Knifey and Blondie and how they’ve been friends ever since they were born. Most people would get annoyed with all the talking Finn did, but I didn’t. I’ve never been much of a talker, more of an listener. His deep, husky voice could you easily sucked in, and you found yourself wanting him to talk more.
Finn was in the middle of telling another story when his cellphone went off. He stopped talking, looking at me as if to ask permission to answer it. My eyebrows knitted in confusion. His hand reached inside the running shorts and his thumb slid over to answer button.
“Hello?”
The only sound of the other side of the line was a faint crackle of talking. Finn looked at the table as he listened to the person talking. His head slightly nodded, his amber eyes glancing up to me.
“I don’t know, I would have to ask.”
Suddenly--after his sentence--Finn’s eyebrows dipped to glare at the table. “Don’t tell me what to do. I’ll see.” He took the phone away from his ear and hung up.
My eyes quickly looked down, not wanting him to catch me looking at him. Finn sighed. “That was Mark. He was wondering if I could drop off his stupid project he’d forgotten this morning,” Finn explained, his pointer finger tapping against the table in a steady rhythm. “And he was wondering if you wanted to go with me.”
My eyes found Finn’s. “Why did he want me to go with you?”
Finn shrugged, his full lips pursing so it made him look nonchalant. “Because he knew I wouldn’t want to go if you didn’t,” he mumbled so lowly I barely heard it.
A smirk appeared on my face. “Aw,” I cooed, making a baby-voice to him,“does the Big Bad Alpha not want to go without me?”
Finn looked up from the table to glare at me, making me laugh.
Before I answered, my brain told me the risk of going out in public, but my heart said to go, I’d be with Finn, I’d be safe.
And for once, I went with my heart.
Finn pulled the car into a parking space at his school. My gaze drifted out the window to the huge, brick building. It gave off a sense of power, the mascot being a wolf. How ironic.
I was snapped out of my gawking when Finn started laughing. A chill was sent up my spine, making goosebumps explode on my skin. Looking over at him, I asked, “What?”
He stopped laughing just enough to tell me the reason. “You’re face.” He tried to mimic my face. An expression of shook fall upon his face, his eyes going wide and his jaw dropping. He held it for a split second, then continued to laugh. My eyes rolled at him, my hand reaching to open the door.
Stepping out of the car, my eyes scanned over the building. It was bigger than my old one. The car door slammed shut as Finn walked to my side, the white posterboard that was Knifey’s project in his hands. Finn locked the car as we walked into the school.
He held the door open for me and smiled. My teeth sunk into my bottom lip to hide the smile that threatened to appear and rolled my eyes. We walked down a hallway, signing into the school. The office lady handed us stickers with our names that showed us as visitors. She gave Finn a wave when we left.
Finn led us down a random hall, walking past many doors. My eyes drifted towards him. “Where is he?”
Finn looked down at me. “Right now, in English, the class that the project’s due.” He smiled at me, showing his pearly white teeth.
Looking back down the hall, I nodded. My heart thudded fast in my chest as our hands would occasionally brush together as he walked. His hand felt so warm.
Finn stopped in front of a closed classroom door. The teacher could he heard talking on the other side. I expected Finn to walk in, but he paused.
“Shouldn’t you go in?” I whispered.
Worry flashed in his eyes when he looked down at me. He leaned in close to my ear, so close the spicy woodsy smell wafted off of him. “Just say be me, okay?” His deep voice whispered back in my ear.
As a shiver ran down my spine, I nodded confusingly, causing a piece of hair that was tucked behind my ear to fall into my face. Instinctively, my hand reached up to put it back into place, but Finn beat me to it.
His hand lifted up, his fingers brushing against my cheek to tuck the piece of hair back. His eyes were focused on the hair, but then drifted down towards mine. He gave a closed mouth smile as his large hand slightly cupped my cheek. Then, all too suddenly, he stood his full six-foot-four height, leaving me cold and slightly disappointed.
Why was a disappointed?
Finn’s hand grabbed the doorknob, twisting it open. At the front of the room, a teacher was gray hair stopped talking. She snapped her head to look at us, a slight glare on her wrinkled face. Finn walked in, ignoring her look and not seeming fazed. He glanced over his shoulder to see if I was following him.
Slowly walking into the classroom, my hands wringed together in self-consciousness. Everyone stares were now on us, even the ones that had been sleeping before we came in. Finn’s sighed drifted to my ears, sounding of one of relief.
“Oh, thank god.” Mark’s voice cut through the tension in the air. Glancing over, Mark jumped up from his desk, running over to Finn.
He grabbed the poster from Finn’s hands, then wrapped his arms around him. While Mark gave him a hug, Finn’s face turned into one of disgust. Finn’s arms pushed against Mark, trying to pry him off. Mark’s eyes were closed, a smile on his face. The class erupted in laughter, even making me crack a smile. But still, the teacher had a stern face.
Once Finn finally manged to get Knifey off of him, we were about to leave but the girls of the class had to say good-bye to Finn. Their high-pitched voice split into my head, giving me a slight headache. I didn’t miss the way they batted their eyelashes, or how they pulled their shirts down to show more cleavage.
Eventually, the teacher, kicked us out, making some of the girls pout. Luckily, I managed to hide my disgust as the classroom door closed behind us. We started walking to the entrance of the school, ready to leave.
As we walked down the hall, my gaze was looking to my feet, not watching where I was walking. Quietly, Finn let out a curse, which made me look at him. His eyes were filled with worry again as he glanced down at me. He looked back up and stood in front of me.
“Don’t say anything,” Finn demanded. A glare appeared on my face, but his eyes were wide. “Please?”
I huffed the same time a deep, vibrating voice could be heard in front of us. “Well, well, well, lookie who we have here.”
Finn’s head snapped to the voice. His arm went behind him to rest on my waist, trying to keep me back. Ignoring the warmth that spread through his touch, I peered around him but only enough to make one of my eyes visible.
In front of Finn, stood another man. His blond hair was messy, but styled to perfection at the same time. His stance reached six-foot-three, muscles covering him from head to toe. Dark jeans covered his legs, a black shirt clung to his torso, slightly outlining his abdominal muscles. Tattoos covered his arms, giving him a dark, mysterious look. His cold, icy blue eyes snapped to me. A sly smile twitched on his lips, reminding me of a starved animal.
“What do you want, Jaxson?” Finn seethed his name. He took a step to the side to cover Jaxson’s view of me.
“Well, I was taking a bathroom break from English class and happened to run into you. I was just going to give my old friend a hello but sensed we had company.” Jaxson’s voice held a smirk as well as a second meaning.
Finn let out a low warning growl. It vibrated through his chest and down his back that I stood close to. It was so low that I knew I wouldn’t be able to hear it if I wasn’t standing close. “Leave her alone,” Finn growled.
“Wow, so possessive Finn," Jaxson said in an amused tone. I looked around Finn again.
“Wait,” Jaxson said, realization coming across his face, “is she your mate?”
Finn's fist balled up, anger radiating off of him. “No,” he lied to try to protect me.
A smirk appeared of Jaxson’s strong, sharp face. “Liar.” Jaxson walked closer to us, his black combat boots echoing off the walls.
Finn’s form started shaking, his body heat getting impossibly hotter. He told me when they started getting warmer and started shaking, they were about to shift.
Surprise ran through me, my brain desperately conjuring up a way to calm him down. We didn’t need him to go all wolfy in a school. Quickly springing in action, I grabbed the hand that was on my waist, holding it between both of mine. Instantly, the shaking stopped, Finn’s body cooling down. A smile played on my lips knowing I had that effect of someone.
“Aw,” Jaxson cooed, “Mr. High-and-Mighty has a soft spot.”
Anger bubbled in my veins, my hands tightening against Finn’s. Jaxson’s sarcasm sparked something within me. Finn turned around as I stepped to the side to look fully at Jaxson.
“Shut the fuck up and leave us alone,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.
Jaxson’s smirk grew. “Feisty, I like it.”
My eyebrows raised, a smirk appearing on my face. “You like feisty, huh?” Walking to him, Finn tried to grab my hand to pull me back. My hand recoiled from his touch before he fully grabbed hold. Reaching Jaxson’s intimidating form, my foot shot out, connecting to his crotch before he had time to take a step back.
He inhaled sharply through his teeth, his eyes closing tightly in pain. His hands reached down, cupping himself as he dropped to his knees. He breathed heavily, cursing under his breath.
Turning back to Finn, I held out my hand. He was still glaring at Jaxson, but walked up to me, his warm fingers sliding through mine. We walked out of the school together, Finn’s heaving chest went back to breathe normally.
As we reached the car, Finn spun me around. Surprise ran through me as his arms wrapped around my shoulders. My face was pressed into his chest, his scent surrounding me. Instinctively, I tried to pull back.
“Just,” Finn started to say, burying his head in the crook of my neck, “please.”
Almost instantly, I stopped trying to get away, my arms hesitantly wrapping around his slim waist. His sigh could be felt against the bare skin of my neck and through his chest. A purr vibrated to my ears as Finn inhaled my scent through his nose.
My brain told me to stop liking the feeling of him. Stop liking the way his arms made me feel safe and . . . at home. The way his smell calmed me, soothing me.
But it made me feel warm inside knowing someone was there for me. Someone to hold me and care for me. Having them stay by my side and not encouraging tormentors. Having someone there when I needed them.
And knowing that, if I left, they would just as heartbroken and torn as I once was.