A/N: Pic of Diego (Mario Lopez) ^^^^^
It's hard to picture him mean, I know, I know. Lol.
I stripped and left my clothes at the beginning of the forest, and then I shifted and ran after Diego. I followed his scent, which, in all of his anger and sadness he must've forgotten to hide. I could also smell Ryder, but I wasn't yet ready to talk to him. I wasn't ready to talk to Diego either, but it had to be done. I didn't want him to reject me. Ryder would surely kill him then.
I found Diego sitting by a pond, no longer in wolf form. Somehow he had gotten a T-shirt and khaki shorts. I shifted into human form so I could talk to him. I covered myself as much as I could using my arms.
"Diego?"
He didn't acknowledge me.
"I'm sorry. Can I at least explain what you saw?"
"No, I'm not stupid. I know what I saw. I saw my mate betraying me by kissing someone else." He sneered. I couldn't see his eyes, but he wasn't attacking me so I assumed he was in control.
"It's not what you think." I tried.
"So you didn't kiss him?"
"Well...yes."
"I thought so, and nothing you can say will excuse that. I saw the whole thing so I know you did it willingly. What else is there to say?"
I sighed. He was right, but it wouldn't hurt to try and explain. "He blackmailed me. I know that's not a good excuse, but technically we're not together, so I really didn't cheat on you."
This time he turned towards me. When he saw me his eyes turned black with lust for a moment before he shook his head and they changed back to brown. He took off his shirt and tossed it to me. "What did he use to blackmail you?"
"He said he would tell Ryder that I found my mate." He rolled his eyes but I continued. "That may not seem like a big deal to you, but if he told Ryder about you, Ryder would know I kept you a secret for a reason, and we both know what that reason is. If Ryder found out, he would kill you. And don't think that just because you're the Alpha that you're stronger than him, because given the right motives, Ryder could kill you."
"So you're telling me that by kissing him, you were helping me in the long run?" He said sarcastically.
He was seriously upsetting me but I remained calm. He was acting like I was one of those girls on TV that cheat on their boyfriends and say they did it to protect them. I have yet to see a movie where the girls cheats and says it's to save her soon-to-be-boyfriend's life.
I sighed. "I did it to save my friendship with Ryder and to keep you from being killed or severely hurt. You do, of course, have the right to be mad at me, but if I forgave you for making this the worst day of my life, then I think you can forgive me for this."
He frowned. "Fine. And you're right, we aren't together yet. I want to change that."
"It's going to take me a while to be...comfortable enough around you to make a commitment."
"Ok, I respect that." He nodded, our past argument already forgotten. "Oh, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Where did you get those scars?"
I looked down to see that the make up was beginning to come off. Shoot. "I...um...scraped myself...on something." He furrowed his eyebrows, "It's only a few scrapes, what does it matter?"
"Come over here." He said.
I scooted over to him. "Yes?"
All of a sudden he splashed water all over me, washing off the remaining make up.
"What did you do that for?" I yelled.
"So I could see just how hurt you really are. Riya, who did this to you. It was obviously another wolf."
I sighed, tired of lying to people. "It was Ryder. He realized what happened right after you left earlier today and he got mad when I wouldn't tell him who did it. He didn't understand why I was trying to protect you so he went all wolf on me and attacked." I shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, which it was.
"How did you get away?"
"I just reminded him that I was his best friend and he gained some control, and then he ran into this forest somewhere. I'll talk to him later. Not today, though; definitely not today."
He nodded and touched my scars. "Does that hurt?"
I chuckled. "No, I'm tough."
He laughed along with me and we got up to go back to the party.
¤¤¤¤¤
I walked into school the next morning feeling refreshed. I had worked things out with my mate and we'd had an amazing night at the party. Now I just had to avoid Ryder, which was pretty much impossible. In fact, as soon as I got to my locker, he was there just waiting for me.
I ignored him as I put in my combination.
"Oh it's like that?" He asked.
Again I ignored him. This angered him a lot. He slammed his fist into the locker next to mine, making me jump in surprise.
"Is there a problem here?" Diego was suddenly right behind us.
"No, Mr. Ortega. We're fine." Ryder said.
"I was talking to Riya." He said as they glared at each other.
"I'm fine. But I really should get to class." I scurried off before either of them could offer to walk me there, which I knew they both would.
For once, I was the first one in English.
The class started filling up and soon Ryder stormed in and took his seat, not giving me a second look. It wasn't really fair for him to be mad at me. He attacked me! Or his wolf did, anyway.
Felix came in and smiled at me. He looked so cute with his hair still messy from sleeping. I winked at him and he blushed. I heard a growl and turned toward Ryder. He was starring daggers at Felix even as he sat in his seat.
At last, Ty waltzed in looking mischievous. He sat beside me and winked at me.
I roll my eyes. "Don't do that." I whispered.
"I'll do as I please." He rubbed his hand in-between my thighs and I gasped. Ryder didn't notice though, as he was still focused on Felix.
"Stop it!" I whisper-yelled. "We're in class!"
"Then maybe we should ditch class." He smirked. "Play along or Ryder finds out your little secret."
"Huh-"
"Ms. Lowes? Riya isn't feeling to well. Can I take her to the nurse?" He nudged me and I frowned miserably. Ryder immediately turned his attention to us.
"Oh, she does look a little pale. OK." Ms. Lowes nodded her approval.
Ty held out his hand to me and I took it grudgingly. I shot Ryder a look just before Ty pulled me out of the room and into the janitor's closet.
He pushed me against the wall and started kissing down my neck. "Ty...we should make a new arrangement..."
"Why? What's wrong with this one?" He said between kisses.
"Everything." I sighed and pushed him off of me. "Ty, I have a mate."
"Come on, you know you don't love him. He's an Alpha with anger issues. I see you have some scars. Are those not from him?"
"No!"
"Oh really? Then what happened?"
I sighed, a lie already forming in my head. "I fell down a hill in the forest while I was looking for Diego. He just forgave me and I really don't need you to mess up anything else."
He chuckled at me. "Riya...let me explain something to you. You just gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm not giving that up until I have to."
"Don't you realize that this will come back to bite you in the butt?"
"I'll be ready." With that he pushed me into the wall and kissed me hard on the lips. We made out basically until the bell rang before I pushed him away. "I have to go before people start leaving class."
I ran into the classroom and packed up my stuff.
"Did the nurse say everything was OK? You look a little flustered." Ms. Lowes asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. She just said I should come back if I don't feel well again." I said before rushing out of English an running straight in Diego.
"Riya, you look a little flushed. Did someth-"
"I know! I know! I'm just not feeling well." I rushed out as Ty walked past us. He slowed down a little to listen in.
Diego shot him cut eyes before turning back to me and saying, "You want to go home?"
I started to say yes, feeling relieved, but then I remembered my deal with Ty and looked over at him. He was shaking his head vigorously. "Um...no, I'm fine." I walked into class and sat down in my usual spot next to Ryder before realizing that it was a mistake.
"Riya, we need to talk." He said immediately.
"Later."
But he kept going. "I'm really sorry for attacking you. It was my wolf. It just...does what it wants without thinking. You know?"
"Yeah, I know." Oh I more than knew.
"Aren't you sick?"
"I'm fine. The nurse said I can stay at school." I was really getting good at lying.
Ryder just shrugged and we went back to listening to Diego.
At the end of class, Diego asked me to stay back again. If this kept happening, Ryder would eventually catch on. That was the last thing I needed. Ryder left slowly but he wasn't walking me to class today so there was no reason for him to stay behind. Kady, on the other hand, was in my next class so she waited outside the door.
"Don't worry, I'll watch them for you." I heard her tell Ryder.
"Thanks. There's something off about that guy." Then he was gone. Stupid; he forgot about wolf hearing.
"Riya..." I felt chills go down my spine as Diego breathed down my neck. I turned to face him and he caught my lips. "I've missed the feel of your lips on mine." He leaned in for another kiss.
I felt a little dirty for making out with Ty then kissing Diego an hour later before washing my mouth, so I pulled away.
Diego looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just don't want you to catch anything if I'm sick." I lied, again!
He smiled. "That's sweet, but you don't need to worry about me." He leaned in but I moved away again.
"I'm sorry Diego, I just really have to get to class."
"Did I do something?"
"No, it's just that I'm going to be late for-"
"I have a late pass right here. Try again."
"Diego, I...It's really complicated."
"Like...you feel guilty for kissing Ty...again?" His eyes were still brown and I was surprised that he wasn't pissed.
"Wha-what?"
"I heard someone in the Janitor's closet so I checked the video during class. I was hoping you'd fess up and we could work it out but now I realize... I don't need this! I don't need a cheating mate!" He knocked a few things off of his desk. When he tuned back to me, his eyes were black. "You need to listen to me and listen to me good. You are mine and only mine. You don't have the right to go around kissing other guys, even if they blackmail you."
"Diego, I-"
He pushed me into the desk behind him, making me squeal a little. He leaned up close to my neck, ready to mark me. "Say you're mine."
"No."
"Say it! Say it now!" He said grabbing my throat and cutting off my air supply.
"I...I...can't breath."
"Then don't waste you breath, just say it! "
I shook my head and he threw me to the ground with a loud thump. Kady opened the door and was by my side in a second. "Get away from her!"
"Kady don't! Just...don't worry about it." I wasn't really worried for Kady's safety though because she was definitely tougher than any Alpha I'd seen.
She sighed. "Whatever." She helped me up before turning back to Diego, who was trying to gain control. "We're late to class." She dragged me out of there and into my favorite period, Math. As I said, it was my favorite because of Felix. I had a mate but he was an ass and I was not ready to deal with that.
As soon as we walked in, Ms. Jeanine spoke to us. "You're late."
I searched my brain for an excuse.
"Shut up." Kady said simply and went to go sit down. Good thing the teachers were afraid of her or else she would have been in a lot of trouble.
I followed quickly after her and took my seat next to Felix. He had saved it for me; how sweet.
"Hey." He said nervously. I never understood his nerves. He was so attractive. He could have pretty much any girl he wanted, yet he chose me, and he was shy about it. I really wished he and I were mates; I had always wished that. But he wasn't even a werewolf. If he was we would have probably been mates. He and I were so perfect for each other.
"So, back to what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." The teacher was talking but I couldn't pay attention. I was too busy thinking about what was going to happen in the afternoon.
A/N: Ok, so I'm thinking about changing the title to 'Try Me' since my newest story is called 'He's just Over-Protective', plus this title is too long. Let me know what you guys think about that.
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