I'm very sorry if you got a notification that I uploaded but didn't actually see the chapter. For whatever reason the chapter got unpublished and when I clicked on it, several hundred words were missing. I managed to get most of those words back though so it's a bonus.
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They had been on the road for over 20 hours. Throughout the journey, they had taken several stops, mostly for Alice as she was the only one who still functioned like a human- sleep and all. On a stop in one of the gas stations, Colden had pointed out that if she would let him complete the 'bond', as he called it, then that would change. She would no longer be partially human. She would be part wolf and whatever it was that made her so damn insane, according to Belle.
Since that time and the argument that had broken out, they had ridden in silence. Yet their words had left an imprint on her mind and a question that made anxiety bubble within her stomach; had she ever been human? Throughout her time running away from foster home to foster home, Alice focused on the fact that her humanity separated her from the monsters that killed her papa. It gave her comfort knowing that she had something they didn't. But with recent events and revelations, she started to doubt that... her black eyes, her claws, it was like she had become something similar to what they were except, in some cases, worse. A tremor passed through her body at the memory of her reflection and the darkness that crippled her; maybe it was true, she was soulless. A real monster.
And not any better than the man that had held her papa's head.
Despite her turmoiled mind and the tension, there were no more arguments since then. The car was silent as they sped through the roads and across America at a speed that should have been illegal. Even when the radio had broke and all you could hear was the sound of her pencil scratching against the paper in her sketchbook. And as far as Colden was concerned, he had been ignoring her.
Alice wanted to say she deserved it but really, what could she do? Colden hadn't mentioned anything to her about stopping the full moon transitions. He had yet to apologise for kissing her- when she clearly had asked him not to- and for the fact that he acted like a beast. Since the darkness within her had hidden under blankets, for the time being, the rational side of her brain also knew that she needed to apologise too. It had been wrong of her to make assumptions, and she felt awful for having hurt anyone in the first place. Yet that part of her brain also knew that if they were to prevent this from happening again, and if she were to learn to control it, then they needed boundaries.
Especially if she was to stay with Colden.
Her eyes caught a sign that read 'Houston.' Annoyance bubbled beneath her skin at the fact that no matter what, with or without the Alpha, she had to still move around. Life had always been unfair, or rather most of it since she had been oblivious as a child, but she didn't understand why she couldn't simply enjoy it for what it was meant to be- fun and an experience. Avoiding Lycan Kings didn't count as part of it.
A sigh bubbled past her lips and she set the sketchbook on the seat next to hers; Tom had to stay at the New York area of the pack so it was just the three of them and the handful of guards that trailed their car. It turned out that Colden was the big bad wolf of the US, not just New York, so apparently, he could do as he pleased. It was no wonder he could afford such luxuries.
She brushed her hair behind her ear as their eyes briefly met in the mirror. She raised her eyebrows at the fact that he had looked at her. After hours of ignoring her and Belle, his resolve finally broke.
Under normal circumstances- still being at the house- she would have mocked him or poked fun at his mighty seriousness, but this time when the darkness was still laying low she had no energy to. It was strange to not feel it or the burning urge to wreck chaos.
"Are you hungry?" Colden asked, ignoring the intrigue on his sisters face. His face sported a small beard and his eyes lacked their usual mischievous glint. Alice cast her eyes to the back of his head and was surprised to see that it was very much a mess.
Her stomach gave off a rumble at the mention of food. She nodded, tearing her eyes away from his gaze to stare back out of the window. Despite her best attempts she still couldn't forget that night at the club and if she stared too long she feared that she'd want to have a repeat. Or worse, that he would be able to smell her arousal.
Now that she wouldn't live down.
Colden let out a sigh at her lack of response and proceeded to fiddle with the Gps. He muttered profanities underneath his breath and a glimmer of satisfaction coursed through her. A dark wave shot through her veins when the scent of his own frustration hit her. It was anger but at what, she didn't know. It was all that they seemed to be able to feel for each other. Apart from that one moment over a year ago where she thought that he had been her knight in shining armour.
"There's a diner 2 miles from here," Belle spoke up, pointing to the side on the road with an arrow, "we could just stop there?"
Colden nodded momentarily casting his gaze to the mirror. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel and his eyes left burning imprints on the side of her face. Despite her mind urging her to ignore him, she couldn't help but watch as he pressed a few buttons on the car's screen and dialled a number. The guard who had called a few hours ago to report back answered, his voice alert.
When she turned her eyes back towards the window, she thought that she caught the sight of grey fur zooming past the trees. It was so quick that maybe she had imagined it but then...no, she didn't think she did. When she looked a second time, it wasn't there. A frown took over her face, the hair on her nape stood upright and her nerves coiled.
"Call Doctor Eaton about Tom," Colden took a turn to the left where they could see the parking lot of the Diner, "yeah, and let me know what he says later on. I'll want him with us as soon as he can travel."
It wasn't long before the car came to a halt and Belle's door opened, not even before Colden turned the ignition off. He huffed out a chuckle.
Alice got out, not wanting to be left alone with him. A wince crossed her features as her boots hit the ground, the shock from the impact travelled up her legs. She still hadn't slept much and her body ached with the familiar pull she experienced everytime a full moon neared. She had six days until it came. Six days until she had to experience the torture of the effects of sleeping with Colden.
It wasn't a surprise that she was a little tense.
"You alright?" Belle tugged a hair band around her hair, a soft smile loitering her face. Alice nodded, gazing at the sand and half dead plants around them. It was nowhere near as cold as it was back in New York. In fact, it was rather warm.
"Come on then, Chicka. Let's get some food in ya while we wait for my brother. He can talk someones ear off," her arm wrapped around her shoulder.
A frown pulled at her lips at the sound of the jingle from the door, the smell of grease and fried eggs hit her right in the face. Her stomach gave off a loud grumble which Belle laughed at.
The waitresses eyes trailed over them as they took a seat in the booth closest to the back; they had the view of the car park from the window and of the doors. The leather seats smelt largely of sweat and chemical cleaners. Her nose scrunched up in irritation. Alice had never liked going into places like these for that very reason- she could smell it all.
"You know, you could learn to control your senses. It'd be most likely harder for you since you're still, you know, partially human," Belle's voice turned to a hushed whisper. Alice's frown deepened at her choice of words, "but I'm assuming it'd be the same. We all do it."
"Why wouldn't it be the same?" She scanned through the options already knowing what she'd have- pancakes with bacon and syrup.
Belle briefly turned her gaze away from her own menu, "I've never heard of anyone living so long without completing the transition."
Alice knew what she meant, even if she hadn't said it outright- she should have been dead. It was something that she had suspected after the first few months because how would anyone survive it? It got worse with each passing month, the pain went from excruciating to unbearable and each time, it took longer. There were times that she wondered whether it was the pain that had made her go the way she was, rather than a gene.
It wouldn't surprise her if the darkness that slithered along her veins and urged her to wreak havoc came from the torture of the full moon. There was a reason people were called lunatics.
"I wouldn't know, no one had told me anything," her words came out bitter. She ignored Belle's confused face as she called the waitress over to order.
"Welcome to Bills heaven," the girl had tied up blonde hair and red lipstick. She spoke out with a bored voice, "what can I do for you today?"
"Pancakes with bacon and syrup, please," from the corners of her eyes she saw Colden step out of his car. He tugged his hand through his hair as he made his way towards the diner. He dwarfed the cars in comparison like the buildings in New York did. He was an Alpha through and through.
"4 chicken and bacon sandwiches with 3 cups of coffee," the waitress scribbled down their orders before muttering a 'be with you shortly.' Alice didn't envy her job in the slightest.
She caught Colden's eyes when the jingle from the door sounded as he stepped through. The all too familiar smell of musk and rain assaulted her nose once more and it took all of Alice's will to stop herself from closing her eyes. She would never get over how weird it was that she could smell his scent and the effect it had on her. Although, it wasn't like the existence of wolves wasn't a shock either.
Belle raised an eyebrow, the hint of a smirk present on her lips. Alice scowled when she wouldn't move over, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't know what she was doing. Without much choice, Alice moved near the window of the booth; Colden sat too close for comfort, his knee brushed against hers and the heat that came off his body wrapped around her like a ribbon.
"What did you get?" Colden rumbled, his hands clasped together on the table.
"The usual," Bell shrugged, her fingers fiddled with the salt and pepper stack that sat in the middle of the table, "oh, and coffee. So the usual and the strange."
He nodded, unimpressed with Belle's attempt at easing the tension. He cast his gaze towards Alice and her breath was knocked out of her throat at the intensity behind his eyes. "What about you?"
"Pancakes," she tore her eyes away, her voice coming out more breathless than she'd have hoped. No matter how much she tried it was impossible to not be affected. Whether it was because of the damn bond everyone talked about or simply because of the fact that he looked like Adonis himself, she didn't know.
A chuckle passed his lips, the corners of his mouth tugged up into a smirk, "cat got your tongue, sweet cheeks?"
"More like the wolf got my sanity," Alice muttered under her breath her eyes turned towards the window. Belle coughed out a laugh. A look of annoyance crossed over Colden's face yet Alice couldn't focus on his reply when she saw them.
Her blood rushed through her veins and her heartbeat sped up the moment they stepped through, all dressed in leather jackets and all surrounded by an air of superiority. But it wasn't the fact that they took up half the room with just their presence, or the fact that they were strikingly good looking...it was the fact that she had seen them before.
That time in Manhattan flashed through her mind- the moment she had climbed out the window and the man with ginger hair and red eyes glared at her for outsmarting them. Alice's breath came out laboured as she snapped her eyes to the table.
This was bad. Very, very bad.
Alice knocked her knee against Colden's the moment the men sat down in the booth nearest to the front, exactly in a way where they could block their exit. His eyes turned towards her and she nodded forward. Colden's eyebrows furrowed at the men. Belle sensed the tension around Alice and her nostrils flared as she took in the scents.
For whatever reason, they couldn't tell who they were. At the time, Alice didn't either. But now that she knew about Lucien...they were Lycans sent for her. If what Colden had told her was true then they were as good as dead.
Ignoring all the rational side of her brain, Alice placed her hand Colden's thigh and leant forward, her lips barely brushed against the shell of his ears the moment his body froze.
"At the front of the diner," Alice caught a man with brown wavy hair and hazel eyes observing them, "there are 4 Lycans," her words were barely a whisper. Colden exhaled. She could hear his heart pounding against his chest and smelt the faint scent of his excitement at her proximity. Even in a situation like this.
"Are you sure?" His eyes closed when her breath fanned against the side of his face.
"Yes, I've seen them before." Too many times, she thought.
Colden cursed under his breath, his hands clenched. He knew just as much as she did that they were blocked in. Unless they broke through the windows... Alice mulled over all the possibilities; what would she do if she was alone? There was the bathroom that would have a window but Colden was too big to fit through and it would look suspicious if they all went in.
But then...she snapped her gaze towards Colden's pocket. Surely he wasn't stupid enough to leave his phone in the car? With shaking hands, Alice traced her hand towards the top of his pants. She felt Belle's burning eyes on her face and the intensity of the Lycans gaze; from that far in the room out would look like she was doing something that shouldn't be done in a diner.
There was no guarantee that they knew who Belle was either. They could be planning a threesome for all they knew.
Colden stilled, a hiss of breath passed through his clenched teeth when she slid her hands into his pocket and wrapped her hand around his phone. Her heart pounded within her chest and she knew that if she let the Lycan see what she was doing, he would know what her plan was. They had been trailing her for months, after all. She had used all of her best tricks on them before.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the other Lycan with almost white hair whisper something to the other's ear. The Lycan with hazel eyes momentarily took his gaze away from Alice and at that moment she pulled the phone out of Colden's pocket and opened one of the guards- Dale's- number. It was shocking that Colden didn't have a password.
With practised eased she typed in a quick message and handed the phone back to Colden underneath the table. His fingers glided over her knuckles as he took it. Now they had to play the waiting game.
With every passing minute, the tension around them grew. She knew from the Lycan'ss stiff postures that they could smell it and also knew that Belle had already clicked on what was going on. By the time ten minutes passed, the clock on the opposite wall showing that it was 11 minutes past 10 pm, her anxiety began to curl around her throat.
Alice hadn't considered that she could end up in worse paws than Colden's. And it was even strange to consider the fear of any harm coming to them and not just her. Her palms began to sweat when the waitress walked out with a tray of their food and mugs filled with steaming coffee. The hat on her head was askew and the kohl around her eyes was smeared.
The plates clanked against the table when she placed them down. She smelt of cigarettes and alcohol. Despite the previous hunger, Alice couldn't bring herself to eat. Yet from the watching eyes of the Lycan's, she knew that she had to. It wasn't like they didn't know who she was otherwise why would they be here? But it was the fact that she couldn't leave that clouded her mind. Two months ago she'd have already been gone.
An all too familiar thrum pulsed through her, the coldness from it startling. Alice's fear intensified when she felt the prodding against her mind, the claws that raked down her consciousness. Colden cast his eyes towards her face and his expression darkened, his lips thinned out into a line with realisation.
The darkness. Alice knew then that it was fear that triggered it. How hadn't she seen it before?
"What do we do?" Belle muttered as she sipped at the coffee. He shook his head.
"What did you send to Dale?" Colden placed his palm on the back of her hand, worry clouding his eyes.
"They're coming for us." At least she hoped that the guards were on their way. There was no telling whether the Lycan's had back up.
Another excruciating 4 minutes passed. Sweat dripped down the side of her temple and Alice knew that soon, she would be in a rage of fury and hate. If she had known that her damn fear would cause such a problem...Colden's hands rubbed circles on the lower of her back. The returned darkness in her hissed at the contact. She could only try to rein herself in.
It was like a plague that infested her.
Her eyes cast towards the outside where there was no sign of the car. She knew that Colden had the same thoughts, his body tense with every second. She was a ticking time bomb. And she could potentially expose them to the humans.
Alice had to leave and get away from them all or else she would kill each and every one of them. Her knees protested as she stood, the table bounced upwards as her knees banged against it. The waitress turned her gaze towards her before she resumed flipping through her magazine, indifferent to the tension.
Colden wrapped his hand around her wrist and this time, she couldn't hold in the silent snarl. Her entire body thrummed and pulsed with energy and anger. It didn't help that the full moon was close or the fact that her natural instinct was to flee.
"Alice," his voice was low, his eyes portrayed the warning that he wouldn't speak out.
"I need to get out," she muttered as she ripped her wrist away. The Lycan's eyes trailed over her body. She smelt the panic that seeped from Colden and Belle yet she knew what she had to do.
They knew her tricks well but she also knew theirs. They were smart, a lot smarter than her maybe, and if they knew her moves by now then they would think that she'd run. And knowing the hatred that she had for their kind...they would assume that she'd leave Colden behind if she had run from him for a year. Alice met the lycans eyes with a Cheshire grin- she nodded towards the door.
Let them think that she actually wanted to talk. But she knew that if Dale clicked on to what she said then... a plan began to formulate in her head as she pushed the door open, the jingle disturbing against the silence. She just had to figure out how to distract them while they waited.
Warm air hit her face and the burning eyes from the Lycan's left imprints in her back. Her ears strained as she walked towards the side of the building. There were footsteps following her and she knew that they had taken her bait. Her ears twitched as the sound of shouts and raised voices reached her, Colden's snarls and the breaking of his bones prominent. She just hoped that no one would be killed because of her plan.
Despite the pooling darkness that clouded her mind and held onto her fear- the trigger that set it off- Alice couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she saw the large tank attached to the wall. She came to a halt underneath a lamp, several metres away from the water supply. Their presence- strong and overwhelming- wrapped around her body. It was suffocating as if someone had taken all the air out of her lungs. But she wasn't scared. Not of them, at least.
Despite her better judgement, she knew that she feared leaving Colden and ending up in Lucien's hands. After she had heard what they had done to Lily...Alice let the anger and fury shape her into a weapon. Well, that wasn't going to be her. She didn't give a shit who Lucien was or what he wanted.
"Thought you'd never leave your Alpha's side. Lucien was beginning to worry that you had changed your mind about him," a voice spoke up.
Alice turned around, her heart racing. The darkness in her coiled like a spring. Her canines extended as she let go of the rein she had, the urge to not harm anyone and the self-hatred she had felt all those months. She had ran from these men for weeks and now that they were here, Alice was hoping to teach them a lesson.
"Well here was me thinking that you followed me for my number," Alice examined her claws, "you know, it's against the law to stalk people. I would have thought that after a year you'd have gotten a hint." She couldn't help but notice that were only two of them.
The Lycan with hazel eyes snarled and his eyes flashed red. "Careful there, Princess. You don't want to piss us off."
She heard the sound of a roaring engine and the screeching of tires. She could only hope that it was Colden's men and that he wasn't lying dead from the others.
The same mantra echoed in her mind- distract, distract, distract.
"Yeah? Well frankly, I don't really care. If you were as big and mighty as you claim to be then we'd have been having this conversation months ago, no? But I just kept on getting away..." She tutted.
Colden's and Belle's scent reached her nose. The man with the ginger hair wrapped his hand around the other's arm as he went to lunge in her direction. The sound of the coming car got louder. It was then that she heard the snarls and growls of a fight and the fear in her intensified. Despite the grin on her face, there was a shake to her hands.
"We won't harm your Alpha if you just come with us." It was as if they read her mind.
A sigh passed her lips. She had heard that line plenty of times before. Another claw sliced down her mind as her eyes caught sight of the familiar black car.
"Who says I care?" Even she could taste her own bullshit but before they had a chance to reply, gunshots sounded through the night as the ranger rover came to a screeching halt.
Alice barely had time to duck to the ground when the Lycan's body collapsed on top of hers. It knocked the breath right out of her lungs and she was certain that her ribs had cracked. She shoved at the mass of dead weight; when the body hit the ground she noticed the bullet that went clean through his head. Well bollocks.
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Honestly, despite revising this chapter like 10 times, I'm still not happy with it haha. I think I'm going through a phase where I hate all of my writing. If you don't like something about it or you think it's weird, please tell me! I don't know what it is.
Anyhow, Alice has figured out what triggers the darkness which is cool. Do you think that it occurred because she had been terrified for her life over the year that she had been running (mixed in with Colden's gene) or do you think it's something else?
I'm nervous to write the next chapter. Fight scenes are not my forte and this needs like 50 revisions.