Chapter 30

As I made my way back to the packhouse, all I could think about was being in Clark’s arms. My body was aching for him, and I wanted more than just cuddles right now. My anger hadn’t subsided, and I needed a distraction.

Once at the packhouse, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. I opened it and gulped it down like a fish out of water. I got rid of the bottle and made my way up the stairs. My bedroom door was open, which worried me since I never leave my door open.

I walked in and couldn’t see Clark anywhere. I started to panic. Had Roy gotten into the house and taken Clark?! I quickly looked on the balcony to make sure I hadn’t missed him. He wasn’t there either. My heart started to race. Where had this boy gone?! I began to walk out the door again to find him when the toilet flushed in my bathroom.

Relief washed over me, and I let out the breath I was holding. Clark opened the bathroom door and walked back into the bedroom. He stopped when he saw me standing in the doorway.

“Oh, thank God, your back!” He said and rushed over to me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was?! When your dad bolted, I freaked out and didn’t know what to do! I’ve never felt so useless before. Everyone was scrambling, and I was getting dragged here for protection! I’m supposed to be out there protecting you, damnit! How dare they lock me up in here?! Don’t treat me like a child!” He was angry, and even though I understood, I wasn’t in the mood to hear him tell me he fucked up. It was his fault!

“Seriously?? Clark, you’re the one that fucked up! You said you needed time! Yes, you wanted to mate earlier until I pointed out all the baggage I have, but you could have learned and understood my baggage after we mated. You requested time. You said you wanted to learn and know more first. Don’t tell me you feel helpless when you’re the one that made the decision!” I was already pissed, and Clark was making it worse.

I pushed him away and took a step back.

“You want to help protect me, for that you need to learn to fight first! You do not know the first thing about being a wolf. You do not understand how easy it is for a newbie to lose control! It takes practice, and I don’t see you showing any interest in learning. All this shouldn’t have happened tonight! Having rogues in our perimeter is a big NO! So right now, your feelings of being useless and helpless are not my problem because you already know the threats my life is under.” I didn’t want to look at him anymore. I walked over to my closet and grabbed some sweat pants and a t-shirt.

I needed a shower. I had blood and dirty on me, and the smell of the rouge was irritating me. I walked past a shocked Clark and headed for the bathroom. He didn’t realize I would get angry back at him.

“Are you seriously getting angry at me for feeling helpless? How have I fucked this up? All I want to know is what I’m getting myself into. Is that really so bad? To want to know the werewolf drama I’m walking into?” He was loud now.

“No, it’s not bad. It’s a sane decision. But you know what’s pissing me off? It’s the fact that regardless of what you learn, you will still mate with me. So why does it matter whether it’s now or after? Will finding out about my responsibilities change your choice? Will it make you not want to mate with me?”

“No, it won’t, and I’ve already told you that,” he was shouting now.

“Then why does it matter?!? Can you hear yourself? You know there are other men that will jump with joy if I tell them I want to mate with them. They will not stop to think or ask about my responsibilities. They will get straight into bed with me. So what’s your problem? I’m restricted by a fucking rule, or by now; I would have marked you. What’s your excuse? Oh, wait, it’s that you wanna know what kinda shit you’re  getting into!!!” I yelled back at him.

I was fuming, but the change in Clark’s expression made me rethink my words.

“Then why don’t you go mate with someone else? If you can have anyone, then have as many as you want. I’m sure I can get triple the number of girls. Angel Falls girls are basically throwing themselves at me anyway!”

“Clark!!!” I growled. I was back to seeing red. “How dare you?!”

“Oh, so you're allowed to talk about getting other guys, but I’m not?!” He questioned.

I took deep breaths. Clark’s scent was calming me down. I was going through a weird combination of emotions.

I sighed and rubbed my face. “I’ve had a long night. Instead of being happy that your mate didn’t get killed by five rogues, you're here arguing with me. I came back thinking we’d have a hot make-out session or even hot sex! But thanks for aggravating me more. I’m going to shower.”

I walked into the bathroom without closing the door. I turned on the shower and pulled off the t-shirt I had on. The smell of Clark’s arousal filled the atmosphere the moment the t-shirt hit the floor.

“That’s not fair. You can’t just strip in front of me after we’ve argued. You know I want to wait. There’s more than one reason for me wanting to wait. Don’t tease me, please” he was standing at the bathroom doorway. His voice was husky and low.

“Why not? Since you want to wait, then you can stand there and stare. I’m not teasing. I’m simply going to shower. Feel free to close the door. I have to go back downstairs and find out how the fuck rogues got here. So you can either join me or leave” I tied up my hair, fully aware that all my back muscles were stretching, and he had a good view. I heard him gasp at the sight.

I got into the shower and left the glass door open. Clark had a good view. Once under the water, I let the water run down my skin, relaxing my muscles. My luffa was hanging off the showerhead. I grabbed it and slathered it with my body wash. As I rubbed my skin with the soapy luffa, I  tilted my head to see Clark holding onto the door frame tightly. His eyes were pitch black, and there was a bulge in his pants that he was trying to hide by pulling his t-shirt down with his other hand.

He had more of a view of my naked body now. Every guy in the pack had seen me naked. My mate had more of an advantage point. I slowly ran my luffa down my neck and then down my boobs. Soap bubbles were running down my skin with the water. I lifted my leg and placed it in the bath stool, slowly bending over and rubbing the luffa up and down my leg. With the smell of his arousal hitting me in waves, I knew he wanted me as bad as I wanted him right now.

Clark growled, “fine! If you want to play dirty, then so will I. I thought you’d be more understanding” Clark walked out, and I heard the door shut.

Did I make this worse?! I didn’t mean to get angry at him like that, but I was already mad, and he made me more furious!

***"Dad, can you please send some boys after Clark. Make sure he's safe, please."*** I mind linked dad.

***"Of course, Hunny. Don’t you think he should stay here, though? Just until we sort this Roy problem out? He will be the safest here"*** dad replied.

*Oh, now the mindlink works.*

***"We got into an argument—you're welcome to get him to stay. I’ll see you downstairs soon"***

I cut off the mind link and focused on my shower. The hot water was burning my skin but relaxing my muscles. I let the water wash away the soap as well as my anger, the anger I hoped Clark would help me soothe. I thought back to the fight with the rogue. I could have handled myself a lot better. I was stronger and more in control, so why didn’t I react faster?! But the biggest question in my mind was why did only one of them attack me? There were 5 of them and one of me. They could have easily taken me down, but why didn’t they all attack ??

I finished off my shower and got dressed. My head was pounding again, and Kona kept begging me to go see Clark. Right now, I wanted answers. I went down the stairs and found dad in the back living area with 14 of the perimeter runners standing in front of him.

“Someone better have an answer for me. I’m not in the mood for stupidity,” I said and sat down next to dad.

Shiloh was sitting next to dad too. Why was she here?

“Alpha, we swear, we didn’t hear anything until the growls started. We had no idea they were here. Travis and I both checked that side of the perimeter ourselves! There was no one there. We didn’t even hear you.” Peter explained.

“We couldn’t even communicate with each other through the mind link. If it weren’t for the commotion, we wouldn’t have even known you were in trouble” Travis hung his head.

“I may have an answer. When Alpha Danton called and told me what happened, I did a little spell and found a silence bubble put on the forest. Like you’d put a silencer on a gun to mask the sound, the silence bubble does essentially the same. It masks all noise and could even silence mind links to not communicate with each other. Roy is powerful. He must have put the spell so his rogues could easily come in when he needed them too and not get spotted.” Shiloh explained.

“Fuck next time, I’ll kill him. I don’t even know why I hesitated this time. I should have ripped his throat there and then!” I was furious. “One thing that doesn’t make sense is why only one attacked. There were 5 of them. 5! The protection spell only extends to Roy’s magic, not to rogue attacks. So why didn’t the rest of them attack?”

“Maybe they are inexperienced? Don’t really know what to do or expect?” Peter added.

Maybe Peter was right. They could be newly transformed and not trained.

“That makes a lot of sense, actually. Someone didn’t have time to train them” dad rubbed his face. He, too, was very stressed. They were after me, but anyone could have been out there and been in the middle of the attack. His pack was in trouble.

“Dad, do you want me to go stay in HQ for a few days? I’ll be safe there, and that will keep your pack safe as well.” I rubbed his back.

“No, sweetheart. Having you here gives me peace because at least we can help you” dad turned towards Shiloh. “Shiloh, can you please put a spell so that the silence bubble is never used again? We need to be able to communicate in case something happens again.”

Shiloh nodded and grabbed her bags. She got up and walked out the back door.

“Travis, Peter, go with Shiloh, make sure she has everything she needs” they both nodded and followed Shiloh.

“You guys can all go. It’s not your fault, but please keep your eyes on every part of the perimeter. They could come back” they all bowed and left.

“Hunny, Clark’s coming back to stay here with us. I’ve managed to convince him that the safest place for him is here. Tracey is cleaning out the room Erik was using, and Clark can stay there for now, unless you want him staying with you?”

“No, dad, I think he should stay on his own. He wants to know more about my responsibilities before we continue, so that’s what he gets. I’ll take him up to HQ next week. He needs to see and understand. Will he be back tonight?” I asked.

“Yes, John and Aiden have gone with him. I’ve got six wolves outside his house, just in case. He should be back soon.”

“Okay. I’m going to bed. Wake me up if there’s anything” I got up and started walking towards my room. “Oh and dad, can you please let Matt know what happened when he's back? I’m not very keen on telling him” I laughed and dad laughed with me.

Matt was going to be pissed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alex, I’m open! Here here” I passed the ball to Ethan, and he shoots it into the hoop.

The scoreboard changed, and we were 10 points ahead of Matt’s team.

We were having a quick game of basketball before classes. It was almost a basketball session again, and we needed training.

After the weekend's events, basketball was a good distraction. My so-called mate was avoiding me, so this was the best form of distraction.

I looked up from the bleachers to see Clark park his car and get out with his bag and books. He had come back to the packhouse a little after 1 am. Even though I had told dad I would go to sleep, I waited up for him to get back. Once I heard Aiden say goodnight to him, my panic eased. I was trying to pretend his safety wasn’t my concern, but it was. I was glad dad had convinced Clark to come to stay with us.

However, it wasn’t that simple. All of Sunday, Clark only came out of his room when he wanted food. He mixed and mingled with everyone, especially the girls, but he avoided me as much as he could. He was trying to make a point that he didn’t want to talk to me. As much as it annoyed me, it was funny. He was staying in my house and treating me like a stranger.

As Clark got out of his car, Samantha walked up to him and leaned against his car, twirling her hair. That girl really had a death wish. I watched them walk into the building, chatting about the rest of their weekend. Clark was angry, and I understood, but really, was he trying to make me jealous and snap at someone. Fuck sakes, was he really going to make a point of showing me he really could triple the number? I wanted to punch something. Kona whimpered inside me. She, too, was angry. Angry that her mate was avoiding her and mad that I didn’t mate with him when he had asked.

The bell rang, and we all gathered our things and headed to our classes. As I got to my locker, I heard someone shout my name.

“Alex! You fucking bitch! Where is Erik ?!?! Where have you hidden him?” Olivia shouted as she came marching down the hallway.

I rolled my eyes. I really wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Olivia, how are you? Did you have a good weekend?” I asked, opening my locker and grabbing my books.

“Cut the crap, bitch. Where’s Erik?” She yelled at me.

“Jeez, calm down. I don’t know where he is. Why don’t you ask his sister? You know the one that’s actually related to him.”

“Well, if I could find her, I would have, but I can’t find either of them. So you tell me where they are” Her voice wasn’t any lower, and it was giving me a headache.

“I’m right here,” Natalie said from behind us.

“Oh my god, Natalie, baby, are you okay?! Where’s your brother!? What has Alex done?!” She shrieked and walked over to Natalie and examined her like she was hurt.

Matt quickly moved Natalie, so she was on the other side. “You can talk to her without touching,” he growled.

Matt and Natalie had finished their mating on Saturday night. When Matt came back on Sunday morning, he wasn’t just mad, he was furious. If looks could kill, I’d be 6 feet under the ground. He held himself responsible for the attack even though it wasn’t his fault. He was mad at himself for leaving me alone and said he had failed at his beta duties. He was even more paranoid and protective toward both Natalie and me. Matt was worried Roy would come back in another form to attack.

“I’m just making sure you haven’t hurt her!” Olivia whinged.

“Olivia, I’m fine, okay. Erik has gone away with my uncle. They will be gone for a while because Roy got a job out East, and Erik said he wanted to go see what the East Coast looked like.” Natalie explained.

Once Matt and Natalie mated, Natalie’s memories came back. She remembered everything that happened to Erik and her. Matt said she was hysterical and wanted to see Erik, but he explained that Erik wasn’t the same person anymore.

“That’s bullshit! He can’t just leave at the beginning of the senior year! Why didn’t he tell me he was going? His phone is switched off too.”

“I’m sorry, Olivia. I don’t know what to tell you. He didn’t say anything about you. He just packed up when Roy told him the news.” Natalie shrugged.

“Since you now have your answer, can we go to our classes please?” I asked, and she huffed before walking away.

Matt burst out laughing. “God, that girl is annoying.”

“Hell yeah, she is. Matt take Natalie to her class, and if you see my brother, can you please tell him to come to class. He's probably making out with Esther at her locker” Matt made a puking noise and stuck his tongue out.

They were another mated couple now. After Esther transformed on Saturday, she went straight for Ash, and after so many years of just flirting and messing around, they finally did the deed. They had only come out of their room for dinner on Sunday. Dad made an awkward speech and, in front of everyone, said, “I hope my beautiful daughter finds her mate soon too. Goddess knows that she deserves someone that will cherish every part of her”. The whole time his eyes were fixed on Clark. The poor guy looked like he wanted to vanish.

I walked down the hallway to my Chemistry class. Since my new Chem partner had left, I was probably going to do chemistry alone this year, which suited me just fine. As I walked into the classroom, Mrs. Haynes was stacking test tubes on her table.

“Ahh, just the person I wanted to see. You have a new chem partner. Could you please explain all the classes we’ve already had to him and get him up to speed?” She said and handed me a rack of test tubes for today’s class.

I turned towards my table, and there sat a tall, muscular guy. Great!

“Hey there,” I said to the brunette-haired boy who was furiously typing in his phone.

He looked up, and his striking blue eyes met mine. It felt like I was staring into the ocean. This guy was gorgeous, not Clark gorgeous, but he was definitely good to look at.

I cleared my throat and smiled. “I’m Alex. I’ll be your Chem partner.”

He smirked at me “just my Chem partner? How do I make you more than that?” He looked me up and down, making myself conscious.

“Really? That’s the first thing you wanna say to me?” I laughed. Not the first pick-up line I’d heard a guy say to me.

“Hey, can’t blame a guy for trying. I’m Reggie. It’s nice to meet you” he extended his hand for me to shake. I put my hand in his, and he winked at me.

I laughed, and he amused me. He let go of my hand, and I sat down. I sniffed the air. He was human. That explained his shameless flirting.

“So, Reggie, tell me more about you?” I asked and opened up my books. Even though I missed a lot of school, I was always caught up with the lesson via Skype.

“Well, my uncle is the Mayor here. My parents have gone on a massive yacht trip to some ungodly place, and I didn’t want to miss my senior year. So I got shipped here. Just a warning, I can’t get you any favors just because my uncles, the mayor, his a real ass!” He laughed.

I chuckled “don’t worry. He already likes me. I can call in my own favors. So it’s just you? No siblings?”

He shook his head “what about you?”

“Well. I’ve got a twin brother.”

“And I’m that delightful twin brother” Ash and Matt walked into the class and took their seats.

“Nice of you boys to join us. This is Reggie. He’s  Mayor Toby’s nephew. Reggie, this is my brother Asher, and this is Matt,” I motioned to the boys, and they both nodded at Reggie with smiles.

“Reggie will be my Chem partner now.”

“Again, why just Chem? I’ll be anything you want me to be” he winked at me. He was winking at me a lot.

“Oh boy. Another fanboy. Yay!” Asher laughed and rolled his eyes. “What is it about you that’s so attractive?”

“Wow, asshole, just wow! Go fuck yourself, ya?” I said and flipped him my middle finger, making both Reggie and Matt burst out laughing.

“It’s her smile and those boobs,” Matt commented and dodged as I chucked my book at him.

“Well I think, it’s those eyes and that smile. It really draws you in,” Reggie said and smirked.

“Dude, many have tried, and many have left empty-handed. You’re just heading for disaster” Ash laughed.

“None of those guys were me. I might get lucky. I’m a special kind of guy. You never know” Reggie winked at me again and chuckled.

“Oh, the special kind of guy is avoiding her right now,” Matt added, and Ash laughed harder.

“So there is someone special?” Reggie asked and turned more towards me, wiggling its eyebrows.

“No, there isn’t. I’m single as a Pringle” I winked back at him and smiled.

“Good to know. I’m going to really like it here” Reggie smiled. His smiles were very contiguous and attractive, but they didn’t make my heart skip a beat. There was another smile I wanted to see. The smile that made my panties wet.

“Yeap until Mr. Special finds out,” Matt said under his breath and turned to the front.

Ash turned around, too, still laughing. He and I had both heard Matt’s comment. I reached over and smacked him on his head “shut up, will you.”

“Alright, everyone, let’s start the class.” Mrs. Haynes said.

Clark wanted to play dirty. He was going to get dirty. If he was going to use Samantha to make me jealous, then two could play that game!