40 | OVERHEARD

By now the halls are empty, the bell probably having rung some ten minutes before when I was arguing with Blue. But maybe not for much longer if the slowly rising volume of Darine’s voice echoes through the halls is any indication. My normally quiet and conscientiousness human friend hasn’t yelled at anyone before - not that I’ve actually seen her get mad at anyone in the year we’ve known each other. Though it seems out of character for her, I know there’s really only one person who could raise that level of emotion in her.

A growl starts up in my chest, but before the animalistic rumble manages to bubble from my mouth Blue grabs my arm and pulls us into a nearby alcove. I turn to glare at him, wanting to rip away from his hold and give Yuri the beating he’s got coming to him for hurting Blue. But my mate’s shaking his head at me, holding his finger to his lips and tapping his ear. I frown, then allow my Wolven senses to sharpen, first smelling Darine and Yuri before I can actually make out the words Darine’s screeching and Yuri’s growled responses.

“-can’t understand why you’re doing this-” Darine’s all but screaming voice nearly deafens me, but it’s the only way I can clearly hear Yuri’s quieter voice as he tries to soothe her.

“Dammit, Darine, I told you! It’s nothing-” Yuri groans, but then Darine speaks over him.

“Bullshit! I can see the bruises! And you didn’t have those this morning!” There’s an underlying tremor in my friends voice that doesn’t come from her anger. It’s like she’s fighting back tears the way her voice wobbles and tone thickens. “Did you piss off the lacrosse team or something?” She asks, and I can almost hear the gears turning in her head. “You’ve never been out sick or anything. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you catch so much as a cold.” Her voice starts to quiet as she seems to think through her words. “Not you or your cousin. Or Scar…” My whole body stiffens as she says this, and Yuri’s silence only seems to magnify the tension now filling the air. Blue’s eyes start to glow silver as he stares at he far wall, the movement of his jaw and sound of teeth grinding the only sounds to be heard for a moment. Since Darine know’s the truth about my ‘illness’ and heritage, I know this line of thought is dangerous.

“Darine-” Yuri begins in a slow and careful voice, almost like it physically pains him to say her name.

“Don’t tell me I’m crazy! Or that I don’t know what I’m talking about!” Darine interrupts him, her voice rising in volume once again. “I remember everything.” She says those three words slowly and with meaning. I frown, not sure what, beyond what I know she’s seen from me, she could be referring to. Mikyle once mentioned that Hale was called in to wipe certain other events and that those wipes never really took either. It was part of the reason I gave up trying to lie to my human friend and exposed what I am to her. What else did Hale try to erase from her memory?

“Tangerine-” Yuri’s voice softens as he mutters the word and I have to fight back a laugh as I realize he’s talking to Darine.

“Dont!” Darine hisses back, but the steel in her voice is gone now. An echo of despair hovering in it as she takes a shaky breath and I hear a few shuffling steps. “Don’t call me that.” Darine rasps and my heart breaks at the sound of that familiar tone - one I’ve used many times when fighting with Blue. A sound for recognizing loss and sense of betrayal from someone you care about. A sound of defeat. “You promised you wouldn’t lie to me, Yuri.” She says so quietly that I almost don’t catch her words.

“I haven’t.” Yuri replies just as quietly, the regret in his voice almost palpable.

“But you haven’t been telling me the whole truth either.” Darine protests and I hear more footsteps. “I don’t like games, Yuri. I told you that from the beginning.” Darine says a little louder, her footsteps fading, and the sound of a door opening and closing follows soon after.

“I didn’t tell her anything, Z, so you can stop hovering.” Yuri growls after a tense moment, the Wolven keeping his distance, but now talking to us.

“We can talk about this later-” Blue grits out in Yuri’s direction, his eyes still glowing silver. I frown at my mate and turn to face him, narrowing my eyes as several things start to click into place.

“You don’t trust Darine.” I glare up at Blue as his silvery eyes flick down to meet mine, a chilling detachment in them I recognize. It’s the look he got last year when we were dealing with my cousins. The look of someone forcing themselves to look at the situation without emotion and as clearly as possible.

“She’s not just a human, Red. Her family-” Blue begins but I feel a sharp rise in both indignation and surprise over his words. Her family have been on the Azures radar because they’ve proven to be just as scarily observant as Darine has been.

“And what about me? What if you had said the same thing about me last year?” I argue, making the comparison of my family and Darine’s. I know it’s not entirely the same, her being human aside, my family was driven by their Alpha - my now deceased grandmother’s - insanity. But the idea that Blue fought for me anyway - to both be with me and fight alongside me - despite that hurdle makes me wonder why he wouldn’t sympathize with his cousin on something similar.

“That’s different-” Blue’s eyes flicker from silvery to a dimmer grey, but the detachment is still hovering at the edges of his sharp gaze.

“Only because Darine’s not your mate.” I point out, knowing he has to be seeing what I’m trying to get through his thick skull. “But what if we were in their shoes? Can’t you see that they’re situation isn’t as different as ours was-”

“Enough.” Blue finally grits out, closing his eyes as a pained expression flickers over his face.

It’s only then I see we’re no longer alone. Moving silently, Yuri’s joined us, standing a few feet away - just out of my immediate reach - but watching us with wary eyes. Black eyes. The thick bruising and slight swelling around the mountain man’s coal eyes makes him look even more like a battle hardened monstrosity - despite the submissive hunch to his broad shoulders. I note the ugly yellow-green marring the skin at his neck in the faint outline of hands. The sullen pout of his lips amplified by a still-healing split and puffing of the right side of his jaw. The way he’s standing also lets me know he’s got more injuries under his clothes, the wrinkled fabric looking more like a set of back-up attire and not what he was wearing earlier. I narrow my eyes at the Beta, assessing the damage clearly done by Blue and feel the anger and need for retribution subside a little. My wolf still doesn’t like Yuri at the moment, but at least we’re not five seconds from finishing the guy off.

“Yuri,” Blue bites out, his eyes snapping open to glare at his cousin, the slight silvery glow in his eyes making the Beta shift and lower his eyes to the ground as Blue addresses him. I blink, watching the exchange in shock. Blue and Yuri haven’t ever complied with the usual Alpha-Beta hierarchy routine I’d seen in other Packs, but now the bonds of those roles seem to be dominating their normally casual interaction. Part of me makes a mental note to talk to Yuri about this change, unsure if it’s just because the to fought or something happening in the Pack. The other part insists it’s none of my business since I’m not part of the Azure Pack and have other - more pressing things to take care of. “We’ll talk about it later.” Blue repeats to his cousin, but this time there’s less bite to his voice. It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, my stubborn mate will listen to Yuri and work something out with the Pack about Darine.

“Yeah, sure, Z.” Yuri’s hunched shoulders relax a bit and a smile that looks more like a grimace pulls at the Wolven’s mouth. “I’m going back early,” He’s still addressing Blue, his normally flirty banter towards me no where in sight as he shuffles towards the front office. I stare after the Beta for another moment before turning a narrow-eyed glare at Blue.

“The fight was about more than just Darine, wasn’t it?” I ask Blue. He doesn’t answer, but by the way his silvery-grey gaze darkens I have my answer. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last year, not being attached to any Pack, is that blind prejudice and not having the courage to trust another person without a good reason and assessment of their character is something I’d never return to.” I watch as Blue flinches at my words, a flicker of hurt and understanding echoing in his eyes.

At least he has the sense to not reach out for me or call to me as I turn away from him and head into the library to join my human friend.