One Princess One Pack One Villain

by Brenda Westfall

  “Daniel, I know. You are going to wait to shift until everyone is gone, aren’t you?” I know he is. I know the other two with him will too. But It irritates him that I ask. I pull my arm away from him.

  “You know you can be a real bitch sometimes. Of course, we aren’t going to put on a show for your little friends. We are going to drive up the road and park, then come back through the woods. We will be in the woods all day thanks to you and your little fits. Your father can’t seem to say no to you, even when there is a rogue wolf trying to get to you.”

  “I suppose if it were up to you I would never be allowed outside of the house. Well, guess what, it isn’t up to you.” I am screaming before I realize it. Everyone in the parking lot is watching. I am so embarrassed and mad as hell. “Who do you think you are to talk to me that way?”

  “Princess if you don’t lower your voice I will haul you out of here right now!”

  I can hear voices all around us asking: Did he call her Princess?

  Oh boy, all I need. I know everyone is going to be asking me about it all day. I start to open my mouth again to let him have it when Zeke steps between us.

  “Perhaps we should go inside now?”

  “Zeke, he…”

  “I know he is trying to let you know how much of a pain in the ass you have become. I have been trying to tell you for a long time you’re a pain in the ass. You just don’t believe me.” He takes hold of me by putting an arm around my shoulder, then we start walking over to see Eric’s new truck.

  “Hey, you ok?”

  “Yes, just having a bad morning.”

  “Who is that guy anyway?”

  “A… Uncle. He was just reminding me I have things to do after school, so I don’t make plans to be with my friends.”

  “Your dad still giving you a hard time?”

  “You could say that. I have to work for him this afternoon. I like your truck, Eric. It looks good.”

  He has painted it yellow with red flames down the sides. It’s an old truck probably a sixty something. I don’t know my trucks to well. I look at the interior. It is white leather. Then he added some black fur to the dashboard. And he added a new radio. It is sharp looking.

  “Maybe some time I can give you a ride in it.” He sees Zeke stand up and turn our way. Zeke had been admiring the truck too. Amos is standing on the other side of the truck with the others from the pack.

  “Yes, maybe. I bet it runs pretty well now.”

  “Yeah, it purrs like a kitten now.”

  “It does not. You should have heard him pull up. It was like a train coming down the tracks. It rattled and spit and bucked.”

  “He is full of it. James is just jealous because I restored a classic.” They start rough housing. I laugh at them. Dawn is watching beside Heather and Mel. I walk over to them.

  “Hey, how is it going this morning?”

  Dawn hates that my brothers are always hanging around. “I see your guard dogs are with you.”

  Zeke, Amos, and Cane stand beside me and pretend that her remark hurt them. I see Cane grab his heart. “Oh, that hurt.”

  Then Amos steps closer to her. “What’s up your ass?” I can’t believe he said that to her.

  “Amos, stop it. Don’t be so rude. Why don’t you all go on? Leave me alone, no one is going to…” I trail off with what I was about to say. I see my friends all looking at me. I wonder what they are thinking. I soon find out. Once we get inside and my brothers head for their classes my friends start pumping me for answers.

  The only one in my first class is Amos and his friends have caught him. They all sit in the back of the class. That way Amos can keep an eye on me and the door. If anyone were to come in, he could be on them in a heartbeat.

  “Cara, is someone after you?”

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you started to say something. You said no one was going to? To what?”

  “It’s nothing really.” Eric gives me that look that tells me he isn’t about to drop it. Just then the teacher starts class. I am thankful. The class goes by pretty fast. My next class I have two brothers with me.

  Cane and Zeke are both in this class. They don’t bother me. They have too many people around them, talking to them.

  Mel asks me what is wrong. I ask her what she means. She knows I know darn well what she is referring to. “It’s nothing really.”

  The next two classes seem to drag. Lunch finally arrives and my group of friends meets up to go to the lunchroom together. We get our food and find our table. We have a table that everyone knows is reserved for us. They found out the hard way last year. Mike and James can bench press twice their own weight. No one wants to get on their bad side. Last year a young boy thought he was going to force them to let him sit at our table. They picked him up and hauled him out to the dumpster behind the cafeteria. Yeah, let’s just say he didn’t do so well.

  My brothers and the pack sit at a table to my left. I sit with my back to them. I can feel their eyes on me. It burns holes in my back.

  “So, are you going to tell us what is up with you?”

  “Eric it’s nothing really. Just drop it.”

  “Nope, no can do. If someone is bothering my girl, then I want to know about it.” He puts an arm around my waist. I hear the growls, but no one else seems to. I push his hand off and laugh at him.

  “You know I am no one’s girl.”

  “Yet. But I have a feeling I am winning you over.”

  “Oh, Eric give it a rest. She is my girl.” Mike is sitting on the other side of me. Now his arm is around my shoulder. The two of them act as if they own me. I know it is all good clean fun or at least that is the way I see it. My brothers and the others don’t quite see it that way. I feel them getting closer to me. I jump up out of my seat and stop them.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

  “You know damn well what we were about to do.”

  “Rufus, you can’t act like this. They’re just being silly. They don’t mean anything.”

  Mike and Eric are up on their feet now standing beside me. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Eric gets up in Rufus’s face. I yank him back. Rufus could chew him up and spit him out. I grab hold of Rufus’s arm. I hold him tight. I can see it in his eyes, he is going to protect what is his or what he wants to claim as his.

  “Rufus look at me. Zeke, stop him.” Zeke takes Rufus by the arm and pulls him outside. It takes a lot to pull Rufus outside.

  Cane and Amos are still standing inches from me. “Cara I think you better tell your friends not to touch you. You know how Rufus feels.”

  “I know. But Eric and Mike were just goofing off they didn’t mean anything.”

  “Why should they care if we are playing around?”

  “Eric, you know I wasn’t playing I do want Cara to be my girl.”

  “Mike, she is my girl, and you know it.” The two of them act like they are going to get in a fist fight. Not only do I have the wolves to watch out for, now my friends are acting like idiots.

  I walk out of the cafeteria and outside. I go out the door opposite side of the building than the one Rufus and Zeke went out. As usual, I am not alone. “Where are, you going?”

  “Not now Amos. Just leave me alone.” He doesn’t of course.

  He grabs hold of my arm and stops me. He looks at me and sees I am about in tears. He pulls me into a hug. “Hey, now it’s not that bad.”

  “It isn’t for you maybe, but everyone is going crazy around me. My best friends are acting like they own me. My pack is acting like they own me. I hate it. I just want to run away from all of it.”

  “Don’t you even think about running off. You hear me. If you even think like that I will tell father you can’t come to school anymore that we can’t trust you.”

  “You know what I mean. I am not going to run off. I just want to separate myself from them right now.” The bell rings just in time. I can hear growls coming from out in the woods. I
know my pack has heard me. They might not know what happened inside, but they hear my angry rants.

  Amos walks me back inside. He has a different class than me this hour, thank goodness. But Zeke and Cane don’t. Rufus is by my side before I can get my book out of my locker. “You all right?”

  “I would be if every male in town would drop dead.”

  “Princess, I’m sorry. But when I saw them touching you, I just lost it. You know I am a wolf. You know how protective I am of you.”

  “I know how you act as if I belong to you and I don’t. I have told you time and time again, I am not choosing you or anyone else right now.”

  He takes hold of me and forces me into his arms. “You may not choose me today, but I am not giving up. I love you no matter what you say.”

  I push him away. I grab my books and start for my class. Eric had seen the whole thing. He steps over to my side the minute Rufus has walked on. “What did he say to you? It sounded like he said he loved you. That’s sick. He’s related to you, right?”

  “He was apologizing. He didn’t mean it like you think. Yes, he is my cousin.” I don’t know how much Eric heard. I only hope I can play it down. He looks at me and I know he isn’t convinced.

  By the end of the day, I am ready to go home. I need to run off my anger. I need to get out and run before I come unglued. Before I explode on someone. I could hurt someone if I lose it. I put my books in my locker and start for the door. Cane and Zeke are waiting for me halfway down the hall. Eric and the others of my group have caught up to me.

  “Hey, are you sure you’re ok?”

  “Eric please don’t start. I need to get home. I have to hurry, or my father will be mad. I will see you all tomorrow.” Silently I say I hope. I may be mad, but I still need to go to school with my friends.

  I walk off to be met by the pack. They all circle around me like they want to protect me from something yet there is nothing around. I know they are feeling how upset I am. We make our way out to the truck. It is magical there with my bodyguards. The older wolves really hate that I make trouble. Once we are on the road Daniel looks over at me. “So, you want to tell us what happened today that made you want to run away?”

  I look at him, but I don’t say a word. The ones who were there, start to open their mouths but think twice. When no one says anything, Daniel lets it go for now. I know he won’t let it go for good. He will tell my father. I will have to deal with him.

  The minute we get home, and I am out of the truck, I run to the back yard. The pack wasn’t quite ready. I am undressed and shifted before they make it to the back yard. I hear my father rushing out the back door. I hear him howl.

  I run up the mountain and over the top. I run down and up the next mountain. That is one thing about where we live there are mountain ranges that go on and on. I run till well after dark. My pack is on my tail the entire time. No one comes close. They have shared my day with my father by now I am sure. I had them all tuned out. I don’t like to listen to their minds.

  Around ten, I slow down. I have made it back to the river that runs between two of the mountains. When I get to the river I jump in. I swim till I cool off. The pack doesn’t follow me into the water. They get a drink and sit on the bank watching me.

  It is the first time all day I feel like I am alone. I know I am not, but out in the middle of the water feels good. I hate to swim back to them. The minute I climb out of the water the pack is on its feet. I walk past them and head for the house. I don’t want to, but I have homework. My math teacher thought the first day of school should be to pile the homework on us. She said we might as well get in the groove right off the bat.

  Back at the house, I head for my bedroom. I don’t make it to the second step before my father is there. He steps in front of me and takes me by the shoulders, then turns me toward the hall. He walks behind me as we head to his office. I know he is about to lay into me about the thing that happened at school.

  He shuts the door behind us. That is usually not a good thing. I also noticed the others weren’t in the house. That means he doesn’t want them listening in. “I hear you had some trouble today at school. You want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Ok, then I will talk, and you will listen. I heard that your human friends were touching you today. I heard it almost caused Rufus to shift. I heard you ran out of the school talking about running away. I heard that you were crying.”

  “It wasn’t like that. My friends were just playing around. They didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Cara, look at me. Honey, even the human boys know you are ready to take a mate. It isn’t going to go away. They may not understand what they are feeling. They don’t know the scent like our wolves do. But they still smell the readiness. Do you still think I should let you go to school?”

  “Father, please, you can’t stop me from going. I can’t stay here all the time I will go crazy.”

  “I know. Calm down. I didn’t say I was going to stop you. I know if I were a smart wolf I would. Princess, I hate to see you so confused and upset. I know you’re feeling a little odd right not. With your age and your body maturing. You don’t know what to think. I also know that last night you were thinking about someone. I know you are not going to tell me, yet which wolf has caught your eye. I don’t understand what you are waiting for either. Why is it so hard for you to choose a mate? I know you are not going to answer that. I just want you to know I am here anytime you want to talk. I will listen. I can listen without judging you.”

  “No, you can’t. You never have.”

  “I guess I deserve that. I will try to be better at listening without giving my two cents worth. I know you’re in a world of pain right now. Too many things are changing.” He walks over to me and pulls me to my feet. He wraps his long arms around me and pulls me to him. He hugs me. I can feel his sadness. I don’t understand why he is sad.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, I get up not so happy about going to school. No smiling. No rushing for the door. I take my time getting ready. When I go downstairs the pack is waiting for me. I don’t want to look at them. I feel the way they are pitying me. I hate it. I walk outside without a word spoken. My father stands on the porch watching as I get in the truck. I see him say something to Marcus. Then I see Marcus walking toward the truck. He gets in the driver’s seat. Just freaking great.

  “Don’t look so hostile. I am your guard today. I will be in the woods outside of school.”

  “I wish you weren’t. I wish none of you were.” I sit with my arms crossed over my chest. We finally get to school. Once again, my friends are waiting outside for me. I get out of the truck and stare at them. Am I really ready for this?

  “Princess, have you changed your mind?”

  “No, not really. Just not sure how I feel.”

  “Cara, baby look if you don’t want to go to school today then don’t. I will be happy to take you home.”

  “I know Marcus. I know. I have to do this. I have to learn how to handle things. I can’t expect someone else to do it for me.” He doesn’t say anything else just watches me walk off. Eric starts to hug me then sees my brothers. He is also looking behind them. I turn to see Marcus is standing beside the truck now. He has gotten out for some reason. Then it dawns on me he thought Eric was going to touch me and he needed to be ready in case Rufus came unglued.

  I start inside. I don’t want to think what would happen if Marcus had to step in. He is a big man. He can squish my friends with his bare hands. My friends follow me talking about what they did last night. I listen but don’t comment. I go to my locker and start picking out the books I need for the first two classes.

  “You mad at me?”

  “Huh, Eric why would I be mad at you?”

  “For yesterday. For causing you trouble. Did you get it from your dad last night? I am sure your brothers report to him.”

  “That they do. No, my father just talked to me. He was upset that my
friends touched me, but he will get over it. I told him we were just kidding around.”

  “What, he doesn’t think you should have a boyfriend?”

  “No, he doesn’t. He wants me to concentrate on school and school only. If I get sidetracked, I will be home schooled. He has already warned me of that. He didn’t want me to come to school at all this year. He tried to force me to home school.”

  “Damn that’s harsh. I would go absolutely nuts staying home not getting to see you or the others. I didn’t mean to get you in hot water.”

  “I know. It’s over, no big deal.” He nods his head, but I know he feels bad about it. He wants to reach out and touch me. I see him lift his hand up like he is going to touch my face then I see him look over my shoulder and very quickly put his hand down.

  I know life is going to get better it just has to. My brothers can’t always be behind me. My classes seem to go by pretty fast today. When school is, over I step outside and smell the rain coming.

  Eric and Kyle are talking about trucks and what they want to do to his truck yet. I am almost to the parking lot when they catch me.

  “Hey not going to say bye?”

  “Sorry, I thought you guys were too busy talking truck talk. I will see you tomorrow.”

  “I wish I could get you away from your brothers.”

  “Her cousin too.”

  “Yeah, him too. Cara, do you think you will ever get to go out with the group again? To be with your friends without the guard dogs following you?”

  “Not likely. My father is really being overly protective. I know you guys want to go have some fun. You will just have to go have fun without me. Sorry.”

  I am not walking to the truck fast enough Marcus is walking toward me. I look up and see him and almost panic. I stop and take in a deep breath of air. “Hey, what’s up? You all remember my brother Marcus.”

  “I thought maybe you needed a reminder that we have to hurry today. Father wants us to run to town and pick up some stuff.”

  “I had forgotten, sorry. I will see you all tomorrow.” They nod their heads but don’t take their eyes off Marcus. He is pretty scary looking if you take in his size. We get to the truck and the others are running toward us. Once we are all in Marcus takes off. We head to town. I didn’t know we had things to pick up. I had just thought Marcus was trying to get me to the truck. Turns out we had several errands to run.