Guys, looking for a new story please read A Wolf in the Night by @SashaWoerth
Dedicated to @BookLover13579 for her awesome book 'Blue Moon' Please check it out!
Chapter Twenty Six
Jude was still asleep when I finally managed to get back to the room so instead of waking him, I left him a note to say I had gone home and I'd call him later to check how Carmen was doing.
It didn't matter how much I tried to figure out what had happened to her, I couldn't. None of it made any sense and it wasn't as if Mason and Jude were forthcoming with their answers. I just couldn't think of a good enough reason to treat a person like that. She couldn't have done anything that bad, could she?
And then there was Mason. My body hadn't stopped tingling and I could still feel the sensation of his hands on me, his skin touching mine and his lips peppering kissing all over my body.
Bad boys should be illegal.
Thankfully I made it home just in time to sneak back up to my room without being caught and killed by my parents. I only had twenty minutes to get ready for school, so after the quickest shower of my life I picked out a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, a tatty old purple tee with my jacket and a pair of blue vans. My hair was beyond help, so instead of wasting time trying to control it, I just twisted it up and secured it with a pencil that I'd no doubt need later.
There was no way Jude would be in school today, so I called Nicky and asked him if he could pick me up. The good thing was that he was very rarely on time for school, so that gave me an extra couple of minutes to grab some breakfast.
Slipping on my jacket and wrapping a scarf around my neck I made my way to the kitchen already being able to hear the hustle of my parents in the morning.
"Rainie, you better hurry if you're going to make it on time." My mom said, glancing down at her watch. "Here, take some." She offered, holding out a plate of toast. Grabbing two slices and shoving one in my mouth, I headed to the fridge.
My dad's eyes lifted over the top of his newspaper, "Sweetheart, you're going to choke if you eat it that fast." His warm chuckle had me smiling with a mouthful of toast. Attractive, I know.
"Oh for the love of Goodness, Rainie close your mouth while you eat." My mom scolded, taking a delicate bite of her own breakfast.
Pouring a glass of orange juice, I lifted myself up on the counter top and swung my legs back and forth as I demolished the rest of my food. "I thought you'd be happy. Think of it this way pops, not only do you get a daughter, but you also kind of get a son with bad eating habits." My dad chuckled; setting his newspaper down on the side he stood and walked towards me.
"You my little flower," He cooed, flicking the tip of my nose with his finger, "are exactly what we wanted, isn't that right, dear?"
My mom looked over and smiled. "Of course, but if she keeps eating like a horse, I'll rethink my answer."
My parents were cheesy, but I loved them.
My mom's eyes settled on mine, her warm smile disappearing and worry lines setting in on her forehead. "Rainie, you haven't spent a lot of time here lately. I know, you're busy with training, but you should rest." Richard obviously hadn't told my parents he had been giving me a break with the training due to my mating problems.
"It's important and we know that, but our baby's wellbeing is more important. Make your mom a happy woman and spend some time at home, okay?" My dad said, gazing at me with a hopeful look.
Jumping down from the counter, I gulped down the last of my drink, "I promise." I left a kiss on my dad's head and my mom's cheek. "Training is making me stronger than I've ever been, but I'll take some time off." In reality I was going to have to start putting more effort into training. Richard had been great, cutting me some slack, but I had to work hard if I wanted to be a good Beta for our pack.
"Remember sweetie, we're having dinner Friday night and we have people coming round, so make sure you're not late." Mom said, giving me a pointed look.
My mother, the perfect hostess. "Okay, love you both." Grabbing my bag, I checked the time on my phone noticing it wouldn't be long before Nicky was here, so I figured I'd wait outside.
He was already sat behind the wheel of his blue Corvette with his window down half way and his fingers drumming against the wheel. "Perfect timing!" I called out to Nicky just as his head turned my way.
"As always our tardiness works in our favour." He winked.
Laughing, I reached over and kissed his cheek. "You look different." My thoughts were said out loud. "Good, different of course."
A cute, shy smile graced his lips. "Yeah, training's pretty tough." Tough I could believe, this was Richard we were talking about. "It's worth it though." He added.
I could see it was definitely worth it. Nicky had never had a big build, more of a lean swimmer's kind of body, but not anymore. His tanned arms were defined; the shape of his biceps evident and his shoulders had broadened. He looked every inch the future Alpha of the Shadow Pack.
"Are you okay?" The sound of his voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "You look tired, Rainie."
There was no way I could say anything. What happened last night and whatever is going on between Jude and Mason would have to be forgotten for now. "Yeah, this whole mate thing is just really taking it out of me." I said. It wasn't exactly a lie, each day I was more tired than the last and my emotions where everywhere. Last night certainly didn't help.
Reaching over Nicky grabbed hold of my hand. "It sucks I can't be there, but I'll help as much as I can you know that, right?" There was no doubt that Nicky was the sweetest guy ever.
I nodded. Of course I wished one of my best friends could have been there, but Nicky wasn't just a friend. He was an unmated wolf; there was no way he could stay with me through heat. "Bella's going to help and Richard. I've asked Jude as well, but he said he has to get permission from Mason first." I shrugged.
Blowing out a breath, Nicky's eyes kept darting between me and the road in front of us. "I'm not sure that's a good idea Rainie. You and Jude are close, I get that, but you shouldn't push Mason like that."
"I'm not pushing him." My brows drew together.
He gave me that 'are you kidding me' look, "Asking your mate if another guy can be with you when you go into heat isn't pushing him?"
I shook my head, "I'm not doing it to get at him, I just want someone there." Was I being selfish?
"I get that you don't want anything to happen babe, but having some other guy there is only going to make Mason more jealous. I hate the guy and you know that, but it's still pretty cruel to do that to his wolf." I knew what he was saying made sense, but that still didn't stop me from thinking it was a good idea to have Jude with me.
"Mason's been a jerk."
"Mason's been a huge freaking jerk. But this will kill him Rainie." For a second that didn't sound too bad, in fact it was a viable option. That was until images of last night flooded back and I could almost feel his hot skin pressed against mine, his mouth devouring every inch of my skin and his hands freely roaming my body.
I hadn't even realised we had reached school until Nicky cleared his throat, his eyes staring into mine. "Uhm, Rainie?"
"What?"
"I don't think this is a good idea." His voice had deepened and his words were hoarse. "Maybe I should take you back home, I can make excuses for you."
I was confused. "Why would I want to go home, we've only just got here?"
Scratching the back of his neck, a slight red blush crept up his neck. "Your scent is really strong, you need to be careful." Clenching his fists, his jaw tightened.
Oh.
Nicky wasn't the only one blushing now. "Oh my God." I was beyond embarrassed. Closing his eyes, I knew he was fighting back his wolf. After a few seconds, he seemed to be back to normal. "Nicky I'm sorry."
"Hey," His hand reached for mine. "don't sweat it. Just try to keep all thoughts away from Mason, whenever you think about him your scent will get stronger. Don't spend too much time around guys - even me - and the first sign it's getting out of control, tell Bella or Emma. Richard's told me he's got everything ready, he just needs the green light, okay?"
I nodded and smiled, "Okay. Thanks Nicky."
This was going to be harder than I thought. Maybe I should have listened to him.
* * *
Walking quicker through the school corridors than my legs would let me; I could feel eyes on me wherever I went. "What did you do?" The first words that came from Emma as she came up beside me. "Was it something with Mason?"
"Did you have a fight with someone?" Bella smirked, leaning against the lockers to my right.
Emma shook her head and spoke before I could, "No, everyone's looking at her it has to be something about Mason."
"You had sex with him." Bella winked.
"Rainie, did you?" Emma chirped, clapping her hands together.
"Guys!" I whisper-yelled, covering Emma's mouth with my hand. "Please stop." My eyes scanned up and down the corridors, making sure no one over heard. "No I didn't have a fight with anyone, it's got nothing to do with Mason and really Bella, I didn't have sex with anyone."
Giving me a doubtful look, Bella's forehead creased. "It's got nothing to do with Mason?"
"No." I answered a little too quickly. A ball of guilt dropped in my stomach, I hated lying to them, but I honestly didn't know how to explain everything that had happened. A girl was supposed to be able to tell her best friends everything, but I hadn't even told them about kissing Jude, and now with everything that had happened with Mason, I just didn't know where to start.
Opening my mouth to speak, I was cut off by the sound of a growl. It wasn't loud, but any werewolf around us would have been able to hear it, and they did. Heads spun in the direction it came from, but with so many people moving through the corridor it was hard to see who it was.
"What the fudge was that?" Emma whispered, closing the distance between us and positioning her body behind mine, wrapping her hand around my arm.
Why she thought I could protect her I had no idea. "Probably just some idiot showing off in front of femmes or something." I said, not wanting Emma to panic; I could feel how freaked out she was.
Bella waved it off too, "Dumb dumb. Hasn't anyone told him we have two Alphas in this school? He probably looks like a poodle anyway." Turning on her heel, she grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me away, Emma falling into step beside me still clutching on to my arm.
A girl shouting something I couldn't quite make out caught my attention. My head spun and within seconds a blur of colour flew past my vision, smashing into the wall beside us.
Emma's body froze. Her hands dropping from the tight hold on my as she watched Ray smash a guy's body into the wall, once, twice. I recognised the guy, Emmett, he was from the Harbour Pack.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ray's voice echoed through the corridor, silencing the last of everyone. "You're not going to last five minutes doing stuff like that." His teeth clenched, pure anger rolling off him.
Emmett growled, obviously not caring about the threat Ray had made.
With fists clenched around his shirt, Ray pushed him against the wall by his throat. Emmett's eyes were a stony black and his body was shaking. The hairs bristled on his arms and within seconds we wouldn't be faced with a teenage guy, we would have a wolf.
"What the hell is going on?" Bella said, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Ray's voice streamed through my mind, he was calling for Nicky. "Whatever's going on, it's bad enough to nee-" My words were silenced by a hand covering my mouth and I was being pulled backwards through an open door.
The first thing I thought wasn't that I was about to be attacked, it was that the hand over my mouth smelt like soap. A nice, clean smelling soap. It even tasted like soap.
"Damn," A deep voice mumbled close to my ear, "Don't scream, please don't scream." I knew the voice, but I couldn't place who it belonged to. "I'm going to move my hand, but you have to promise not to scream, okay?"
I wasn't exactly in the position to speak, so I nodded my head signalling a yes, figuring it was best to do what he said. After all he didn't exactly seem like a good kidnapper if he was already at the stage of begging. "Okay." He said, and a second later I was spun around to face him.
Him being Jake, Mason's friend.
His blue eyes were wide, "You're ok." I wasn't sure if it was a question or an observation so I kept quiet. "Listen, I um..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry about the whole dragging you into a class thing, it's just, well I was told to, you know." He shrugged, a red tint masking his cheeks.
"You idiot," The sound of a new voice had me spinning round to see who it was. "What have you done?" Harmony, another of Mason's friends and Jake's mate, stood at the door with her hands planted on her hips. "Jake you didn't have to drag her from the corridor, you could have just asked her to follow you." She scolded.
"Babe, I didn't really have time to think of something else." He rolled his eyes and gave her a small smile. I could immediately feel Harmony's frustration subside. "Besides, she's safer in here than she was out there."
"Jake you probably scared the life out of her."
"Well obviously I never meant to do that," Flickering his eyes to me, he gave a small apologetic smile before turning his attention back to Harmony. "You and I both know he would have gone bat crazy if I hadn't done anything and just left her there with Emmett."
There was no need to ask who Jake was referring to; this kind of thing had Mason written all over it. "Why exactly did you drag me in here?" I held up my hand before he could say anything. "I know Mason ordered you too, but why?"
"He told us that Nicky had asked if we could all keep you safe, you know, with the whole heat phase you're going through." Harmony voice lowered as she neared the end of her sentence, not that it stopped the blush rising up my neck.
There was no way Nicky would have asked The Harbour Pack for help.
"So what does this have to do with what happened between Ray and Emmett?" I looked between both of them waiting for an answer.
Harmony took a step forward. "It's your scent. You're close to going into full heat and guys can smell it, it must be pretty strong right now. Emmett caught it and his wolf got the better of him, Ray was protecting you." She shrugged as if this was a daily thing.
My stomach twisted in knots. Yeah, I knew male wolves would be able to catch my scent, but I expected stupid remarks or flirting, anything but that.
Sitting on the edge of the desk, my eyes wandered of the two mates standing in front of me. "So Mason's got you all looking out for me then?"
Jake nodded. "Not the whole pack, just a few of us, the members that are mated. There's no way he'd leave his mate unprotected."
"What?"
"Jake!" Harmony and I had spoken at the same time.
"Baby, come on there's no point pretending," He snaked his arms around her waist and looked at me. "Mason never said anything, but it's obvious. When he was talking about you, he was way too protective for you to be just some random chick. He didn't just ask us to keep an eye out for you, he ordered it. Why would he put an order on his pack if it wasn't for his mate?"
I couldn't believe they knew. My palms were moist and my heart raced in my chest as panic started to take over. They wouldn't tell anyone, would they?
Harmony tried moving from his grip, but he pulled her back into his arms, nuzzling her neck. "You shouldn't have said anything, you moron." Crossing her arms, she turned away from Jake and shot me a smile. "We're not going to say anything, Rainie. We don't know what's going on, but it none of our business."
She was right, it was none of their business, but it didn't make it any better that people were finding out. Cole already knew, now Jake and Harmony, the whole freaking pack was going to find out about Mason and I. Standing up, my eyes caught sight of the clock.
Dammit, I was late for class.
"I have to go." I mumbled, walking towards the door. "Thanks Jake." Not stopping to hear what they had said, I left hoping that this day could only get better.
* * *
Just as Jake had said, there were at least a dozen mated wolves from The Harbour Pack watching my every move. One in every class, all of them at lunch and a few of them around the corridors with me. I hated it, I hated the attention, but to give it to them, no one else seemed to notice what they were up to. Not even Bella.
Nicky and Ray on the other hand were obviously a part of it; neither left my side if they could help it and when they did, a Harbour Pack wolf would take their place. Nicky struggled at times and he'd shoot me an apologetic look before darting off.
I wasn't sure it was absolutely necessary to have minute by minute security, but there was nothing I could do about it because Mason had been a no show all day. At first I thought he was just avoiding me, but I couldn't catch his scent anywhere.
Whether or not it had something to do with Jude did cross my mind, but Mason wouldn't be stupid enough to hurt Carmen again, would he? The thought of that made me feel sick.
I decided to trust that he wouldn't do anything to her. Maybe he was missing for another reason, something to do with training or the pack. It might have even been because of me nearly being in full heat. If last night was anything to go by, I knew neither of us would be able to keep ourselves under control.
Just can't stop thinking about me, can you sweetheart?
At the sound of that voice echoing through my head, I stopped dead in the corridor causing a few people to bump into me and forcing others to move around me.
You're reading my thoughts? I should have been shocked at the intrusion, but this was Mason we were talking about.
A husky chuckle vibrated through my ears. God even his laugh sounded like sex. Instantly slapping my hand over my mouth, I realised I would have to be careful what I was thinking now that I knew he was in my head. The last thing Mason needed was his ego being blown up anymore than it already was.
You're welcome to read mine, little kitten.
My brows pulled together. I can't, I don't know how to do it. Not saying that I wanted to see what he was thinking, but a little look wouldn't hurt.
I could feel him smile, Of course you can. You'd be surprised what mates can do. There was a hint to his voice that told me he wasn't just talking about the mind linking. Let your body be calm and let my mind open in yours. Everything will be blurred at first, but if you concentrate, it will all figure itself out.
Deciding it would be dumb of me to try this in the middle of the corridor; I found a quiet place out of the way of everyone and leaned against the wall. Closing my eyes and relaxing my body I did exactly what he said.
At first there was nothing but what you would normally see when your eyes are closed. Then slowly, the blackness started to fade and was replaced by a fuzzy deep green and dark blue. I had no idea what it was until the image I had started to become brighter and I could make out the outline of the sky. Within seconds the vision had gone from complete darkness to a blue sky, dark grey clouds here and there and a green field. It looked like our school field.
What the hell was that about? You're thinking about a field?
What? No, I'm... He went completely silent. I could no longer hear him and the image of the football field had faded into the blackness of closed eyes. Mason?
I'm still here. He sounded distracted by something. You can see that, you can see the field?
No I can't see anything now. Had I just completely imagined that?
By his voice I knew there was something on his mind, something that wasn't right. Listen Rain, I need you to meet me after school. We need to talk and we haven't got time now.
Well that didn't sound good.
We didn't talk for much longer after that, Mason just kept asking about everything I had seen and no matter how many times I told him, he'd always ask for more details. After agreeing to meet with him, I told him I was late for class again and that I had to go.
Bella was already sat at our usual desk when I walked in. With her face buried in her folded arms, she looked as if she was fast asleep. That was until she heard me dragging the chair and collapsing into it, my bag dropping to the floor. "You look happy." She said with sarcasm.
I shook my head and smiled. I was just tired. Tired of having people follow my every move, keeping an eye on me wherever I went. There were even three femmes from Mason's pack in the bathrooms with me. It had been one day, there would be no way I could handle a week or even longer like this. If going through heat would make this stop, I welcomed it with open arms.
Double art was a good class to finish the day on. We all had our projects to finish, so that meant we could pretty much do anything as long as it looked like work. Whilst I sat drawing swirls on my notebook, Bella was preoccupied with the view from the window. "Well if it isn't your hunk of fresh air for brains." She pressed her finger against the glass and added in a playful tone, "How is World's Worst Mate these days?"
Grunting I pulled my eyes away from my work and looked out of the football field. There, true to her words, stood Mason, Cole, Scott and some other guys I recognised from our pack.
"Yum-my." Bella twirled her hair and popped her gum as her eyes stayed firmly on the guys. "Has Ryan found his mate yet?"
Ryan was a guy from our pack. Tall, lean, tanned and blonde. Pretty much your average Hollister model. "I think he's gay."
"No he isn't," Bella turned briefly to give me a 'you're a complete moron' look. "He's hooked up with every girl in his grade."
"Why ask then? If he's banging every girl who breathes of course he doesn't have a mate." My words were a little snappier than I had intended.
"Sounds like someone needs to get laid." She mumbled.
"Bella!" Smacking her arm I quickly looked around the class to make sure no one had heard. "I can't believe you've just said that."
"Hey, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck." She shrugged as if I should automatically know what she meant. Sad thing was, I actually did. That's what happens when your best friends with a complete weirdo.
Looking away from me again, she let out a whistle. "Oh my. Cole may be a mongrel, but he's sure got one hell of a body." She said practically salivating at the mouth. "I'd jump that."
"Bella you sound like a dude."
"Whatever," she brushed me off with a wave of her hand, "he's hot. Dumb as a baby, but hot as hell."
Even I had to admit she wasn't entirely blind. Cole had an athletic body, smaller than Mason's, but not as lean as Ryan's. "Okay, I get what he did was low - the lowest of the low - but as a femme who's on the edge of full heat, how have you not let him have his wicked way with you yet?"
She was referring to Mason. Of course she was. "You were the one telling me to go to a party and sleep with some random guy and now you're asking why we haven't mated?"
A growl echoed around my mind. Rolling my eyes I simply ignored the possessive idiot listening in to our conversation. He wanted a rise out of me, but he wasn't going to get it.
"No, I'm all for that plan, but I mean look at him Rainie," Pointing again to the window, my eyes followed her finger, "Yeah he's a complete waste of space, but he's got one fine looking booty." She laughed.
My eyes travelled the length of his tall, muscular body. From his wet shirtless torso and the way his muscles tensed and flexed with every movement to his strong arms and powerful legs that could only belong to a very powerful Alpha. His brown hair, tousled and sticking to his face in the rain as drops beaded off and fell down his chiselled jaw.
Sitting here watching him, admiring his features, I half expected him to break out into the 'Baywatch' run, cheesy music and all. Instead his features twisted into anger and his fists clenched at his sides. Before I knew he was running, but not the slow motion kind. This was more like a cheetah chasing its prey and he was headed right for the class.
My class to be exact.