Kari's POV:
I reach my arms out and pull the covers closer to my body. I frown. Why am I in bed by myself right now? No wonder why I was so chilly. I quickly open my eyes to see a single line of light creeping into the room from the window. I stand up and walk over to the blinds and open them, exposing more light into the room. Once my eyes adjust to the light I see the beginning of a beautiful day. The sun is barley poking out from beneath the ground, early birds are chirping, and there's not a cloud in the sky. I smile to myself.
Life is so beautiful. When you stop and observe it, you can see the beauty of it. Looking at the woods I realize that I haven't been in wolf form since my change, my wolf is itching to go out and run her paws over the ground. I step away from the window letting the blinds fall as I go, leaving me in the darkness. I skip over to my closet and turn the light on. I grab a big t-shirt and gym shorts and put them on over my underwear and bra.
When I'm done I turn off the light and head down stairs. Well it is Saturday and I don't have school so I can basically do whatever I want. Obviously I want to go for a run, but where is Bryce? I want him to come too...
I walk into the kitchen to grab a granola bar. When I get in I see a bunch of pack member talking and eating their breakfast at the table, suddenly I get nervous. It's not like I know these people that well, what if they don't like me... Maybe I should just try going unnoticed. I quietly walk over to the cabinet. I reach up to grab a bar.
"Hey it's Kari!" A guy's voice yells. I stiffen but grab my bar acting like I'm not affected. I turn around and see Jamie, Henry, and Pauly walking over to me. Oh this might be weird, the last time I talked to them they thought I was Trent's mate.
"Hey guys." I say to them with a gentle smile. They smile back but Jamie reaches out and ruffles my hair.
"So little one, how come you fooled us all into believing you were Trent's mate?" Jamie says. My face flushes and I look down at my hands.
"Well you see I didn't-" Suddenly I'm cut off from a person walking in behind me.
"She didn't try to fool you guys." The familiar voice says. "I fooled her." I turn around and lock eyes with Trent. My heart beat races as I remember our last meeting. I grip my hand tighter on the granola bar nervously. Jamie must have noticed my nervous state because he steps in front of me, blocking Trent from my view.
"We know, we were just teasing her. Didn't Bryce give you strict order to stay away from Kari?" Jamie asks Trent sternly. Trent raises an eyebrow at him.
"Being an Alpha before gives me some perks. I don't have to listen to a thing Bryce tells me." He glances at me and I cower behind Jamie a little more. "I can do whatever I want." I hear him step away and walk out of the kitchen. My body visibly relaxes as I let out a quick breath. I know I can't keep hiding from him, but honestly he is creeping me out now. After what he did I don't think I could ever trust him again. All three boys look at me and Jamie talks first.
"Are you okay Kari? You know we were just messing around with you earlier, we talked to Bryce already so we know what really happened." He says and places a hand on my shoulder. I smile up at him.
"I'm fine don't worry about me." I take his hand off my shoulder and walk toward Bryce's office. I turn around real fast to say goodbye, "Thanks for being there for me though!" I wave and leave the kitchen.
I walk through the hallways trying to figure out which room has my mate hidden behind it's door. I decide on a door that seems to be placed in an area where an office should be. I shyly knock on the door. "Who is it?" I hear Macy call from the other side. So this really is the office then!
"It's Kari, is Bryce there?" I ask through the door. Suddenly the door flies open to reveal a stressed looking Macy. She smiles when she sees it really is me and she pulls me into a hug.
"Oh man, I missed you so much. Well I guess I just miss people..." She says and releases me from the hug. "I haven't been out of this room since Bryce made me Beta." She says with a sigh. I frown.
"Well that's not very fair! You need a break Macy." I say, but she shakes her head in response. I frown even harder. "Nope, you can't deny me. Now march you little butt up to your room and take a nap, I will be up later with food and drinks and we can have a huge girls night." I say sternly. She looks up and smiles at me.
"You sure will make a great Luna some day Kari." She says and steps around me. "Your boyfriend is going to get some paper clips, he will be back soon. And thanks Kari." She adds and waves as she walks away.
"No, thank you!" I shout back at her. I hear her giggle. I make my way into the office and notice that it is actually decently clean for an office, sure there are some random papers in places but it is still somewhat organized. I plop down on the swivel chair and spin around once. Wow... This is actually kind of fun! I laugh and keep spinning the chair.
"Having fun?" I stop the chair quickly and stand up facing Bryce.
"No, I was just uh... Testing it." I pause. Testing it? Stupid... "Yeah... to make sure that it works." I say and nod my head . He smirks at me.
"Is that so?" He asks and I look at him and nod with confidence. "Did it pass inspection then?" He asks with a laugh.
I shrug my shoulders. "I mean it didn't fail. The spin was clearly functioning correctly, but the comfiness of the chair could obviously be more fluffy and cloud like." He looks at me like I'm crazy.
"I worry about you sometimes Kari... Did you really come here to test out my chair? And have you seen Macy?" He looks around the room, just noticing her absence. Oh right! Almost forgot why I was here.
"Yeah I told Macy to take the rest of the night off!" He smirks and shakes his head at me. "And I wanted to know if you would come on a run with me in wolf form." I smiley sweetly at him. He sighs.
"I don't know, I have a ton of work to do." He says as he runs his hand through his hair. I put on my best puppy dog face and grab his arm.
"Please Bryce." He looks at me then sighs again and shakes his head.
"Kari, I don't know how you do it. Fine we can go, but only for an hour." I smile and kiss him on the cheek.
"You're the best! Come on let's go!" I tug his arm out the door and toward the back yard. I hear a deep laugh followed by a Bryce's voice.
"Slow down there shorty." I tug harder and he follows without adding another comment. We get to the woods and I walk to a tree and take off my gym shorts and top. I start to undo my bra when I hear a low growl. I blush and turn around quickly to lock eyes with Bryce. He's still fully clothed and he's staring at me with darkened eyes. I frown.
"Why are you still dressed, we're going for a run in wolf form, you don't want to ruin your clothes." He doesn't answer me but instead takes a step toward me. I take a step back and put my hands up. "Bryce get a hold of your wolf, I just want to go for a run." I see his eyes flicker from the lusty black to the normal color of his eyes and back again. My heart beat races. He's scaring me right now. He takes another step closer and once again I back up another step. I don't like this, he needs to control his wolf.
"Stop stepping away from me." He says through gridded teeth. I freeze. I know the Alpha in him doesn't like to be defied, and right now is not a time for me to be defying him. He walks up to me and I feel a mix of emotions. At first I'm scared because I know it's Bryce's wolf in charge, I don't really trust anyone but Bryce not even his wolf. But the presence of Bryce's body gives me comfort. He reaches out and pulls me into a hug. I slowly hug him back as he nuzzles his head into the crook of my neck and takes in my scent. I sit there in his embrace as he battles with his wolf. Eventually he moves his head and whispers in my ear. "Kari, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for him to take over. He's just been wanting you so bad lately and he eventually got to me and took over."
I sigh from relief that it's Bryce back in control and once again I feel safe. I hug him tightly an he squeezes me back lightly. "I'm so glad it's you again." I say.
"You know my wolf will never hurt you right?" He says to me gently. I nod my head and slowly release him from the hug.
"I know, but it's just... You're the only one I feel truly safe around right now." He looks at me with sad eyes and brushes a stray hair behind my ear.
"I'm sorry I made you scared shorty. Do you still want to go for a run?" He asks. I nod my head.
"Yes please." He kisses me on the forehead and walks off toward another tree.
"Just walk over here after you shifted." He yells on his way over to his changing spot. I turn and take a deep breath. That was scary. Ever since the whole Trent situation I have had a hard time trusting anyone but Bryce and Evelyn. I guess seeing Bryce like that just reminded me of the situation.
After pondering my thoughts for a little while, I take off my bra and underwear and close my eyes. I imagine the feeling of being my wolf and walking on four paws. Soon I feel the shift come over me and I open my eyes. Once again my senses are completely heightened and I can feel the ground beneath my paws. I slowly walk over to the tree where Bryce told me to go. When I get there I see a black wolf resting with his head on his paws. My wolf automatically tries to push me toward him. I don't fight her and I walk over to the sleeping figure.
I reach my snout down a nudge the giant black head. The wolf shifts and turns his head toward me. I give him a smile in wolf form, which I'm sure is the goofiest thing to look at. He lets out a small bark, as if he's trying to laugh and he stands up. When he is up he is so much bigger than me, but I just let that go. I jump forward and nip him on the neck, he lets out a small yelp and looks at me funny. Before he can realize what I'm going to do, I take off and run deep into the woods at full speed. That's damn right, I just started a game of wolf tag. He may have his largeness over me, but I was a born runner so I have speed and endurance on my side.
When I feel that Bryce is getting to close for comfort, I take a detour that contains things like low branches and rocks. I jump over and duck under the obstacles while Bryce usually ends up with branches in his face or a stubbed paw. After a while of me kicking his butt in tag I come across a river. I slow down and trot over to the rushing water. I bend down to take a lick of water to soothe my aching throat. As I stick my tongue out to graze the surface I feel a nudge on my back. Before I can think about it I'm pushed into the water. The water is only a few feet deep so I can easily stand in it. I glance at Bryce as he sits there on dry land wagging his huge bushy tail. What a jerk! Then a genius idea pops into my head.
I whimper and lift my paw. Then I bend my head down and lick it. I see Bryce stand and walk over to me. I lock eyes with his worried ones and I whimper again and limp closer to him. When I get close to the edge of the river he reaches his head down to help me out of the river. I take this moment to grab the scruffy part of his neck and pull him into the water with me. Luckily for me, he was slightly off balance and fell into the water head first. I laugh and jump out of the water, landing gracefully onto the patch of land next to the river. Not even two seconds later Bryce hops out of the water and walks next to me. I look at him and die laughing, which probably didn't sound attractive in wolf form. The reason why I'm dying is because Bryce's fur is completely drenched and weighing him down. His ears are flopped downward and he just looks hilarious.
He takes another step closer to me and shakes his body back and forth viciously, sending water flying in every direction. Usually I would be upset about that but I'm already wet so what's the point?
Suddenly a crazy feeling washes over me. My wolf starts inching me toward Bryce. She wants him now. Why now? We are in the middle of the woods and in wolf form. No absolutely not, she isn't getting what she wants this time. She pushes me even more but I fight her, there is no way you're getting control right now. Jeez what's up with wolves today first Bryce's and now mine. Abruptly I turn and walk away toward the woods.
Bryce lets out a questioning bark but I ignore him. As much as I want to be with him right now, I need to get a hold of my wolf. She's never acted like this. Maybe I'm just tired? Whatever, it doesn't matter, I'm just glad I'm having a girls night tonight so I can settle down. I run back to the pack house, shift and then put on my clothes. I really need girls time.