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Chapter Twenty-One
"You want to get something to eat?" Mason asked, but I know he didn't look over at me. I hadn't said anything since we left the woods, instead just keeping my eyes locked on the passing scenery from the window. I had no idea what was going through his mind, but I was thankful he had broken the silence. It wasn't awkward; it just didn't feel right not to speak.
Slowly I turned to face him, he looked tired and he wasn't the only one. Sitting in a warmth, comfy car made my body and eyes heavy. "Hmm?"
"I said do you want to get some food or do you want me to just take you home?" He glanced over at me and saw a small smile playing on my lips. "What?"
"Nothing." I lowered my eyes to my lap and let my hair fall, using it as a wall between us. Feeling that little dip in my stomach when he asked me and the excitement I just couldn't stop bubbling inside of me caused a smile to grace my lips without being able to stop it. "Food sounds good." Actually food sounded more than good, I was starving. Since starting training, I was eating everything.
"I know the best place."
* * *
Twenty minutes later and we pulled up outside the 'best place' according to Mason. "McDonalds?" I questioned. For some reason Mason didn't strike me as a fast food junkie. With the muscles and a body like his I assumed he ate something like fish and vegetables all day, every day.
Shooting me a full, perfect smile that had my insides tighten he nodded his head. "Easily the best place for food after a day of training." Suddenly his smile faltered a little. "Do you want to go somewhere else? I can drive anywhere, you name it."
Truthfully I had already decided what I was going to order. "No, it's fine." I smiled. "Honestly, I want to stay here." I added when he didn't look too persuaded.
My mouth watered at the smell so when I unwrapped the food I had to stop myself from literally stuffing the burger down my throat. "You'll never eat all of that." Mason said, looking at me with a smirk.
The idiot just didn't know how in love I was with food. Especially food that was bad for me.
"Please," Bringing the burger to my mouth, I took a bite of the crappy goodness. "This is more like a snack." I said once I swallowed the mouthful.
Dissolving into laughter, he threw his head back. "Well I guess you'll have room in that stomach of yours for dessert then?"
Oh, yum. "There's always room for dessert." I smiled before tucking into my meal again. Nodding and shooting me a smile, not the usual Jerk-Mason smirk, but a full beaming smile, he did the same.
"Ugh," Looking over at him, I saw his face scrunch up with disgust.
"What's up?"
Shaking his head, he held out his hand. "Pass me your burger." The only look I could give him was one that made me look as if I thought he had gone crazy. As if I was going to hand over my treasure. "Like gherkins?"
I smiled then quickly set my face into an expressionless mask. "If you don't like gherkins, we can't be friends." I said with the straightest face I could muster.
"What?! It's just green crap that ruins a perfectly good burger." Now I know he was crazy. "You want them?"
Giving him a 'you're-completely-stupid' look, I nodded and held out my food for him.
We didn't speak whilst we ate, we just sat there enjoying our food and if I'm honest, I was enjoying his company too. It was strange to be this close to Mason for this long without us arguing or brining up the whole 'rejection' situation. Not that I minded. I could easily live without that.
Being like this with him did have me thinking though. Maybe this could work, us being normal with each other. Yeah, I knew everything wasn't going to magically work itself out and we would end up lifelong best friends, but being like this - getting along - was better than nothing and it was definitely better that us going at each other every five minutes.
Finishing off the last of my drink, I let out sigh and rubbing my stomach. I had a food baby in there. "Thanks for the food, Mason."
Smiling he took the bag and put the empty rubbish in. "Dessert?"
"Let me guess, you know the best place."
Smirking he started the car. "Sure do, babe."
* * *
I was stuck between five options. Hell, who am I kidding I wanted them all. "Ready to order?" A small, stout woman with short red hair asked. Taking out her pen and pad, she looked at both of us with a smile, before settling her eyes on Mason. "Didn't expect you here until next week, sweetie." The way she looked at Mason, had my brows knit together. She obviously wasn't in his pack, but she seemed to know him so well.
He smiled warmly, "Yeah, had to bring this one though." He nodded his head in my direction. "She hasn't tasted the greatest desserts ever made in this country." He winked, but it wasn't the same wink he gave everyone else. It wasn't a smug, I'm-the-'It'-guy-in-school, it was a joking, friendly wink.
I could see, even from just a few brief words passed, that whoever this woman was he liked her and she him. Maybe she was a friend of the family? "Okay if I order for us?" He turned his attention to me. I didn't really know what to say, I had never had anyone order for me so instead of speaking, I simply nodding. "We'll have the double chocolate and blueberry pie with three scoops of vanilla ice cream."
The old country styled diner was small and packed full of people. It was obviously a very popular choice. With the food in front of us I had to fight back a moan. "Holy crap, this looks good." Mason didn't say anything, I think by now he had realised I had a pretty strange obsession with food. I couldn't help but be thankful that Bella wasn't here. She was even worse than I was.
My legs swung with happiness as I piled my fork with a piece of hot blueberry pie and a spoonful of ice cream. With the chocolate already melted in, it was pure deliciousness. Feeling eyes burn into me, I reluctantly looked up from my already half empty plate to see Mason staring at me with amusement dancing in his eyes. "How are you that tiny?" He laughed as he watched me practically inhale my ice cream.
Before I could answer, I was cut off by the squeal of a cat. Well it wasn't exactly a cat, but she definitely sounded like one. "Mason, there you are." Puckering her over glossy lips, she leaned ever so closer to him. "Why weren't you at school?"
Sending me a guilty look, he turned his attention to the bitch from hell, also known as Anna. "Had something else to do." He shrugged. Her eyes flashed to me for a second, narrowing, before turning back to Mason. I was obviously the 'something else' and she obviously wasn't happy knowing that.
"You should have told us you were coming here; you could have come with us." She batted her eyelashes and gave him a sickly sweet smile that had my wolf clawing just under the surface.
To say sitting here with Mason, whist the girl he was making out with in front of me that time in school was awkward, would be the understatement of the year. It was pretty clear that it wasn't acceptable for me to be here with Mason. The look of utter disgust from Anna was enough to tell me that.
"Maybe next time." Giving her a smile, he looked back at me. "Have you finished?" I nodded, hoping that would mean we would be leaving, though I was mad that she had interrupted my date with the chocolate pie. "Sure?"
I nodded again, firmer this time. "Positive." To be honest the pie was so good I wanted to lick the plate, but having not only Anna's glare on me but also the rest of her little posse behind her, I didn't want to be here any longer than I had to be.
"That's great!" Little Miss Desperate shrieked. "You can stay here with me, Mason." Oh, for the love of God. If this girl got any more desperate someone was going to have to hold back my hair while I threw up. "We can pick up where we left off last night." She winked, running her hand along his shoulder and for the second time I found myself wanting to tear it off.
If I wasn't fighting my wolf and the sharp pain that shot through my heart at the very moment those words passed her lips, I would have laughed at the sight of Mason's head whipping round to me so fast I was sure it would come off.
My hand instinctively went to clutch at my chest to try and stop the burning that swelled inside of me, but I quickly realised just how many people were watching us and something like that could make people ask a question or two. That was definitely something I didn't want.
The pain hurt like hell, but what Anna had said wasn't surprising. This was the exact reason I didn't want anything more than to be friends with Mason. I wanted a proper mate and he wanted to bed anything that moved on two legs. "Well now that that's sorted, I'll be going." I said, hating the burning sensation and the growing lump in my throat with each word I spoke.
Standing I opened my bag and dug out my money then placed it on the table. "Here, thanks for the dessert."
"Wait, Rain." Mason stood, but I couldn't be bothered any more. I wasn't about to fight in the middle of a diner, especially with his little friends watching our every move, some smirking whilst others just looked down right confused as to why a nerd like me would be sharing a meal with the popular, hot guy in school. Not to mention their future Alpha.
"No, it's fine," I plastered a fake smile on my lips, "I've got things to do anyway." I didn't, but he didn't need to know that.
Anna sniggered, "Does the nerd have homework to finish?" Just a couple of claw marks on her face would have suited her bright pink eye shadow. "Wouldn't want you lose your title of being a suck up, would we?" Screw claw marks, I wanted to kill her.
Reigning in my wolf, which was more difficult than it usually was thanks to all this stupid mating crap, I smiled, "Yeah, well I don't plan on being in school when I'm 24 so I like to get it done," I closed my bag and put it over my shoulder. Pushing past her, I didn't wait for either of them to say anything. "Bye Mason." I called over my shoulder before sending a sweet smile to the idiots that stood with their mouths open watching what had just happened.
As soon as I got outside, the cold night air hit me. As did the scenario that had just played out. My heart literally pounded so hard against my chest I could feel every beat. I stuffed my hands in my short pockets to try and stop them from shaking, but there was nothing I could do to stop my legs feeling like jello. I hated this feeling and I hated that I still acted like this when something to do with Mason happened.
There were a few benches that lined the street, but I didn't want to be in sight of the diner, so I picked up my pace and made my way to the furthest one. My mind was clouded and the lump in my throat hadn't moved, instead it just bobbed up and down every time my wolf put an image of Mason's face in front of my mind.
Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm my thumping heart. Looking over my shoulder I could just about make out in the distance the lights of the diner.
Then the realisation of where I was hit me. Damn, I had to find a ride.
Seen as Mason had brought me, but was now probably laughing and joking with his friends and Little Miss Red Head, he certainly wasn't an option anymore. Pulling out my cell, I scrolled through the numbers until I found the one I wanted. After the seventh ring, a voice rang through my ear. "Hello?"
"Bella, oh my God how long does it take you to pick up your phone?"
"Oh, hello to you to Rainie." She sang sarcastically through the phone. "What's up?"
"I need a ride." I hoped that would suffice as an explanation and I would have to go into much detail. But this was Bella and that was just stupid thinking on my behalf. Of course she would want to know why I was out of town at a random diner that we had never heard of let alone been to before.
After explaining what happened, leaving out most of the details including the one about me being with Mason, and basically telling her I had wandered here myself, I ended the call and folded my arms trying to shelter myself from the cold wind. It would only take her about twenty minutes to get here, so I didn't have that long to wait.
"Jesus Rain," Mason's voice sounded out behind me. I internally groaned. As if I wanted to deal with more of this crap, all I had in mind was my pyjamas and my bed. Not my crazy in love wolf and her mate. "Why are you just sitting out here?"
It took me a moment to decide whether or not I should answer him. "I'm waiting for my ride."
"Who's picking you up?"
I smiled up at him, "A tall, dark and handsome stranger who's going to whisk me away to paradise and spoil me like a princess."
A girl could wish, right?
Rolling my eyes I turned away again, my joke wasn't appreciated; he just narrowed his eyes. Sighing I fell back against the bench. "Bella."
After a couple of minutes with me just sitting there swinging my legs and him staring down at me, he finally took a seat next to me. "Look, what she said back there," He broke off, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not-"
I held up my hand, cutting him off. "You don't need to explain. We aren't anything; we aren't even really friends Mason. Anna's a bit on the trashy side, but if you like that kind of thing..." I shrugged, blushing at the jealousy in my voice. Crap, I just couldn't help myself.
A quiet chuckle came from beside me. "No need to blush, sweetheart. We like it when our little one gets jealous." I glanced at him only to see his brows pulled together and a look of confusion on his face. I had no idea why and I didn't bother asking.
We fell into a few minutes of silence, but it was soon brought to an end when he playfully nudged my side. "We are friends, Rain."
"We are?"
Nodding he chuckled, "Yeah we are." The pain in my chest suddenly eased and my wolf settled into a content hum in the back of my mind. I had two choices; I could find a way to argue and bring up what Anna and what she had said or I could get over it and make the best of a bad situation.
I pushed my hair behind my ear, smiled and chose the second option. The thought of being friends with Mason seemed foreign. A few months ago if someone would have said that the popular, future Alpha playboy and I would be friends I would have ended up rolling around the ground laughing. "And as your friend, I can take you home."
"No, no," I shook my head, "It's fine, I've already called Bella anyway and she'll be here soon."
"Then at least let me explain what happened last night." I really didn't want to hear this, but I had a feeling he wasn't going to give up. "Did you feel it?"
I was confused. "Feel what?"
"Did you feel me with her?"
"Well that's disgusting." I didn't bother hiding the look I had on my face from him. Wait, normally I did so why didn't I that time?
"I'll take that as a no and it's because nothing really happened. She was already there when I got home, she came on to me, we kissed and then I asked her to leave." He looked away from me, his eyes clouded with an emotion I couldn't read. I guess he was telling me the truth, after all what's the point of admitting kissing her and lying about doing anything else, besides as he said I would have felt something. "My wolf would freak if I went with another girl again. He's pissed at me nearly every second of the day and after the last time..." He broke off, but I knew what he was going to say. I knew because my wolf reacted in the exact same way when Jude kissed me.
My stomach did a little flip at the thought.
Breaking eye contact, Mason's signature smirk formed on his lips as he pointed at something in front of us. "Here's your tall, dark and handsome prince." He whispered.
"Well if it isn't Mr I-suck-at-being-a-mate. Hey douche." Bella spat through the open window as she leaned over the passenger seat before turning to me and beaming a smile, "Hey Rainie."
Giggling, I waved. "Well that's me, thanks again for today, I had fun."
"Yeah me too," He said, but something about his voice didn't sound right. "We should do it again, you know, now that we're friends." His lips lifted slightly and I couldn't help but wonder if his voice got just that little bit louder for Bella's benefit.
I didn't see her reaction, but I was pretty sure Bella's jaw just hit the seat. Giving him a small smile and a quick nod, I jumped into the car.
As soon as we had set off, I caught her fingers tapping against the wheel. "Let me just get this straight," She began and I knew exactly where it was going. "First you don't come to school which makes me panic thinking someone fricking killed you or something, then I see you with jerk face, which by the way is completely stupid when you're in heat, and then to top it off you look like you haven't showered for a week." Taking a deep breath she quickly turned to me and flashed me a smile. "No offence."
I blinked. When Bella had something to say, you better believe she was going to say it.
Sighing I let my head fall back, "Don't overreact; I wasn't going to be killed. I was coming into school, but I wanted to go on my own, not have some bodyguard with me which apparently is what Jude is now. Mason was driving past and he picked me up. We went training and then for something to eat. There was nothing in it, we just decided not to fight anymore." I shrugged, "And thanks for the compliment, I feel so much better having my best friend tell me I smell bad."
Giggling, she reached over and playfully shoved me. "I didn't say you smell bad, you just look like you've ran through every state and back." Scrunching her nose up, her brows pulled together. "You actually smell pretty good, kind of like..." Training off she sniffed the air. "Wait, is that chocolate?"
"Yeah," I smiled at the memory of the taste, "We went to that little diner back there for dessert."
"We are definitely going there to eat." She squealed. "And soon." Nodding, I laughed along with her. God, I was glad to have a friend with a freaky obsession with food that was worse than mine.
Pulling up outside my house, Bella turned off the engine. "So..." She stopped.
Turning in my seat I faced her. "I know you're worried Bells, but you don't need to be. There is absolutely nothing between me and Mason, well apart from the obvious, but it's not like anything is going to happen. He has his life and I have mine." Mason telling me he and Anna had kissed immediately came to mind. I was thankful that the stabbing pain in my heart didn't last; now it was just a dull ache. That I could handle. Even after everything that happened that night and whatever Jude had said to him didn't make a difference, he kissed someone else.
I couldn't be mad or hate him for it though, no matter how much I felt the heart of my wolf break with each passing second. My emotions were all over the place as well. One minute I wanted to pounce on any girl who flirted with him, then I wanted him to kiss me until we lost our breath and the next minute I couldn't stand him. It was exactly the same for him.
You're lying. My wolf bellowed inside of me. It felt as if she was pacing back and forth, itching to burst through my skin. You love him and he loves you, they both do. I knew she was referring to Mason's wolf and I had no doubt that he did love me. After all he had to, he didn't have a choice. I was his mate by destiny, not by choice. Whether he wanted to or not he would love and protect me, but that's not what Mason wanted.
Pushing my wolf to the back of my mind I concentrated on Bella. She didn't look too pleased nor did she look as if she bought anything I said. "Just promise me to try and stay away from him until you're through heat." Taking hold of my hand she gave it a small squeeze.
Mason and I might have been friends now, but that didn't mean I could push the limits of my wolf or his. Bella was right I'd have to stay away from him as much as I could.
"Be careful, Rainie." As I looked into the eyes of my best friend I saw all the worry she had for me. "Having a mate is an amazing feeling, but so is having someone who will love you for who you are."
My eyebrows furrowed. "Does that even exist in our world?" I laughed. All our love was based on destiny, not people randomly falling in love with someone because they have things in common or because they make each other laugh. No, with our kind of love, it was all mapped out for us. We didn't have that choice.
Shrugging, she leaned over and kissed my cheek. "The only way you're going to find out is to let go." Pointing towards my house she smiled, "Get your butt inside, I can hear your mom pacing from here."
Getting out the car, I sent a quick wave over my shoulder and walked up the path, never asking her what she meant by 'to find out is to let go'.
* * *
As true as Bella's word I found my mom pacing the kitchen. She stared down at her watch pointedly, tapping her foot against the floor. A tell tale sign she was anything but happy. "Where have you been?" She walked towards me. "The school called, said you hadn't shown up, what happened?"
This was not what I was expecting. How the hell was I to know the school would call because I missed one day? They couldn't just give me a break this one time, I hadn't even been late to school, let alone took a day off.
"Rainie, I'm waiting."
"I was sick." I blurted out before I could think twice. What a stupid answer. "Bella came by this morning to pick me up, but we only made it half way to school and I was throwing up, so she took me to hers and I stayed there until I was better." It all rushed out and I ended up a little breathless.
Dear God, that was pathetic. Werewolves never got sick.
"You were sick?" She questioned with that look. It was the look that says 'you're full of bull, but go one tell me more of your crap'.
"Mhm," My cheeks flushed, they always did when I was lying. Stupid damn cheeks. "Must be the change in weather." I bit back my groan, it was one of those times, you know, the perfect face palm kind of moment.
Daring to lift my stare from the floor I found my mom looking completely confused with her hands firmly planted on her hips. "Whatever is going on, I don't want it to happen again. You've never missed school before Rainie." I could hear the disappointment in her voice. "I want this to be the first and last time, you hear me?"
"Yeah," Deciding it was safe enough to risk getting closer to her; I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, I promise it won't happen again."
Mom had always been a little harsh with things like skipping school. She always said she didn't want me to be stuck in a town that had nothing going for it, that as soon as I finished school I was going to college and the only way I could do that was to have the perfect record. I don't think she realised becoming Beta of our pack completely changed all that; there was no way I could ever leave now. Even if I had the best record in our school's history it wouldn't matter, I couldn't go to college. The Beta and the Alpha always stayed with the rest of the pack, that was their duty, they didn't have the luxury of getting to go to their ideal college and now, neither did I.
Throwing my dirty clothes into the wash basket, I took a quick shower and slipped into my black cami and booty shorts. Having an already hotter than usual body temperature was only made worse by the fact it felt as if my skin was on fire. I had no idea why I was so hot, but I just couldn't seem to cool myself down, even after a freezing shower.
I didn't bother doing anything with my hair, it would only be a complete mess in the morning anyway, so tying it up in a messy bun, I climbed into bed.
I had no idea just how tired I was until my head hit the soft, feathery pillow. Instantly my whole body began to relax, until I heard a small crack on the window. Pulling the covers from over my head, I stared out the window, seeing nothing but blackness and the white rim on the crescent moon. I was too comfy to get out of bed, so instead I ignored the sound and folded the covers back around my body cocooning myself it the cool fabric.
The continual crack wasn't what made my skin prick, nor did it make my heart jump up in my chest and land right in my throat. It was the slight sound of the window clicking shut that made me freeze.
"Harper." A voice whispered, sending a million tingles through my body and a million questions through my mind.
Slowly turning round, I was met with shining grey eyes staring back at me. "Jude?"