The Wolf's Prey

by Edugardo Gilbert X

  "Come with me." He says walking away. I follow his shadow but end up tripping on a rock. I fall forward and trying to catch myself, my hands connect with his flesh. I squeak and pull them back falling to the ground. My elbow hits another rock and I know the second it breaks skin. I cover it with my hand trying to stop the bleeding.

  Alpha picks me up bridal style and starts walking again, not saying a word. I stay quiet. I see his house come into view it's a beautiful two story brick manor with white columns and portico. It's elegant, simple but makes a statement. I try focusing on anything other than the fact that I'm bleeding, I have to pee and I'm being carried by a naked man whose butt I accidentally touched. Marta is going to laugh for hours after I tell her about this. He easily maneuvers me so he can open the door and walks into the dimly lit house.

  I find my voice. "I can walk." I offer.

  Ignoring me, he continues until we reach a bedroom and takes me to the bathroom. He drops my legs and I stand. He leaves shutting the door quietly behind him. I don't waste a second; I relieve myself and wash my hands. I look at the cut above my elbow and see its only bleeding lightly now. It will be fine until I get home. Before I can leave, the bathroom door opens and Alpha comes in. He puts the lid of the toilet down and moves me over pointing to the toilet.

  "Sit." He orders. I sit and watch him take out alcohol, cotton swabs, a white bandage and tape. He wets the cotton with the alcohol and comes towards me. Oh, this is going to sting. He lifts my arm and wipes the cut lightly. I can't stop the hiss that comes from my mouth feeling the sting. He stops and looks at me. "It needs to be cleaned."

  I nod and he continues to clean the cut. When he's done he wraps the white bandage around my arm and tapes it. "Thank you."

  He steps back and I stand up. "I'll take you home." He says opening the door so I can pass. I walk ahead of him and into the bedroom.

  "I can call Marta to-"

  "I said, I'll take you home." He states cutting me off.

  "Yes, Alpha." I reply.

  "Lennox." I can't help but look up at him. His eyes are on me. He wants me to call him Lennox? My confusion must be obvious because he clarifies. "Call me, Lennox."

  Too surprised I don't respond but start walking. Just as I'm about to open the front door he opens it for me, I mutter a thank you and go to his truck. He opens the door and picks me up by my waist, same as before and sets me in the seat.

  When we arrive at my house, I see the lights are on and know I'm about to be scolded for the hundredth time since we've been here. I open the door, "Don't get out." His calm voice orders. I sit and watch him come to my side and he lifts me out. So now I can't even get out of a truck by myself.

  The front door opens and my father steps onto the porch. "Jocelyn, stop wasting the Alpha's time and get inside."

  Immediately, I start to go inside when Alpha's gruff voice shocks me. "Go inside, Mr. Robinson." My father nods and turns going back inside. "Is he rough with you?"

  "He doesn't hit me." I answer evasively.

  I feel him beside me. "Come." He orders striding to the house. I follow and he opens the door holding it open for me. I walk in and I feel his presence behind me.

  My father is pacing on the carpet and stops when we walk in. "Go to your room, Jocelyn."

  I was expecting worse so getting sent to the sanctuary of my room is a blessing.

  "She needs to eat." Alpha responds.

  "Marta, make her a plate and take it to her." Dad orders.

  "Thank you, Alp- Lennox." I correct myself in time and climb the stairs to my room.

  I am just about to enter my room when I hear Alpha say to my dad. "We need to talk." I close my door not hearing anything more than muffled voices. I wait for Marta to come in with my plate of food when she does she's smiling from ear to ear.

  "What happened?" She whispers excitedly.

  "Promise you won't laugh too hard?"

  "No. Now, spill!"

  I sigh. "I went for a walk and fell asleep under a tree in the park. When I woke up the Beta was yelling that he found me."

  "Beta Holden." Marta supplies and I continue.

  "Yeah, he found me. Then I hear what sounded like the forest literally being demolished and Alpha Hall comes out completely naked and terrifying."

  "It was that big?" She asks in awe.

  "Don't be gross. So, he walks up to us and Beta Holden explains that I fell asleep. He tells Beta Holden to leave and me to follow him. I accidentally trip... Okay, this is that part you can't laugh at me for hours and make fun of me for the rest of my life." I warn.

  "Tell me." She chuckles, already amused.

  "I fell. I tripped and accidentally touched his butt." I cringe and she throws her head back laughing hysterically.

  I wait until she calms down a little before I continue. "Then what?" She asks breathlessly.

  "Well, I pulled my hands away so fast I couldn't brace myself. I hit the ground and cut my elbow on a rock. He picked me up and carried me to his house, let me pee, then cleaned my cut and brought me home."

  "That's it?"

  "Yeah."

  "He let you pee and cleaned your cut?" I nod. "How romantic." She replies sarcastically.

  "I didn't say it was romantic I said it was going to make you laugh. It was so embarrassing."

  She huffs. "I thought it was going to be juicy when he told dad to go back inside."

  "Oh, no, he just wanted to know if dad was rough with me." I explain.

  "Bummer. Well, eat and go to bed. I want to leave early for school tomorrow."

  "All right. Goodnight." I say, as she leaves the room.

  Tomorrow school shouldn't be too bad. At least, I won't be the girl to avoid. Maybe I will meet a friend, just one would be nice. I lay in bed falling asleep instantly.

  *****************

  "You didn't eat last night." I hear Alpha's voice and shoot up in bed.

  I blink. "Huh?"

  "You didn't eat your dinner." He repeats pointing to the plate of food on my desk.

  "I fell asleep."

  "Get dressed and get to the kitchen. You need to eat."

  "Alpha Hall." I hear Marta say from her door. He doesn't even turn to acknowledge her. I stand up and walk to my closet, shutting the door. I put on dark skinny jeans, a white V-neck and black flip flops.

  I open the door and see he hasn't moved and is waiting for me. Grabbing my mascara and lip gloss, I stand in front of him and all he does is look at me. "Um, can I use the bathroom?" I ask pointing behind him. He moves to the side to let me pass, I barely fit without brushing against him. I open the bathroom door and shut it quickly. I put on my mascara, which I never go without. Having such light hair, my eyelashes match making it impossible to look normal without it. I brush my teeth and put my hair in a high ponytail and shove my lip gloss in my pocket.

  Leaving the bathroom, I keep my eyes down and see that he is still standing in my doorway. I walk down the stairs and go to the kitchen. I hear and smell my mom cooking eggs and bacon. My mom never cooks us breakfast. Must be for Alph- Lennox. I have to remember to call him that.

  "Good morning. How do you want your eggs?" Mom asks me.

  "Don't worry about me, I'll just have cereal. Marta wants to leave early today."

  "You'll eat the eggs. I'll drive you to school." I hear behind me.

  "I guess scrambled." I answer my mom and she turns back to the stove.

  I sit at the table and Lennox joins me just as dad walks into the room. "Good morning."

  "Good morning." I reply cautiously. What the hell is going on around here? This is all for show obviously, mom cooking at the stove and dad welcoming me in the morning. I almost want to laugh. Marta comes bouncing into the room happily and sits on the other side of Lennox. I can't help but giggle when she bites her lip, sticks out her chest and winks at me letting me know what she's doing. She is determined to get on his good side and hates being ignored.

  "How are you, Alpha Hall?" Marta asks.
r />   "Fine." He bites out.

  Mom sets a plate of eggs, bacon and toast in front of him. He picks it up and puts in front of me. "Eat." He orders handing me a fork.

  I'm starting to get irritated. I might be a small wolf and weak in his eyes but I don't need him to watch me this closely. I eat quietly listening to Marta tell mom and dad about the kids at school and the clubs she's going to join. I know Lennox is watching me the entire time so I make sure to clear my plate.

  "Are you ready to leave?" I ask Marta.

  "I'm taking you. Go get your bag." He orders.

  I stand up and climb the stairs to my room. I feel like screaming. I take a deep breath, grab my bag from the floor and walk back down the stairs. Lennox is waiting at the front door holding it open with his body. Does he have to do that? I can barely fit past him!

  I walk to his truck with him following behind me, knowing he'll open the door and lift me up like all the times before. He places me in the seat and I sit back wondering how I can assure him I don't need this kind of treatment.

  ************

  Who'd Want a Freak

  I can't think of a way to ease Lennox's mind about my apparent weakness. When he pulls up to the school I wait to be dismissed. "You will contact me immediately if you’re harassed in any way. If any males act or say anything to you that I would deem inappropriate, remember their name and what they look like."

  He doesn't wait for a reply. He opens the door and comes to my side to lift me out. When I'm standing in front of him he doesn't say anything just walks back to his side of the truck and leaves. I start to walk up the steps of the school. I see people looking at me today and I wish it was yesterday. I keep my head down and walk to my first class. I'm the only person here so I pick a desk in the back corner and look out the window.

  "Hello, beautiful." I hear from beside me and look at guy my age with wide shoulders and three of his smirking friends.

  "Hi." I reply.

  "You’re Jocelyn?"

  "Yeah."

  "I'm Adam. This is Geo, Luke and Jeremy." He points to each of his friends in turn.

  "Nice to meet you." I reply.

  He sits down next to me. "There are lot of rumors going around about you and Alpha Hall."

  I look at him interested. "Rumors?"

  "Yeah, your sister said you disrespected him and he ordered everyone to stay away from you as punishment. And he won't let you run with anyone, that you’re viewed as too weak."

  "Yeah. That's true but I apologized."

  "Why did he bring you to school?"

  I shrug. "Marta was still eating breakfast when I wanted to leave, so he dropped me off." I answer, getting attention from all the girls. For some reason they’re all glaring at me.

  "Don't worry, I got your back. Some of the girls in this school will be out for your blood." He whispers.

  Shocked, I look at him. "Why?"

  "Well, because you got extra attention from the Alpha." He scoffs.

  I roll my eyes. "Like I can help the fact he views me as the weak link in his pack. He treats me like I'm going to break."

  He chuckles and a girl in the front of the class turns towards me. "You make the whole pack look bad. I don't know why he's letting you stay. I heard he wants to keep the males away from you because he doesn't want someone like you

  reproducing such weak pups in his pack."

  I flinch from the brutal truth. Is that what he was saying this morning? To tell him if I interest any guys so he could put a stop to it. Making sure no one chooses to mate with me.

  "Yeah, that rumor is true, too." I whisper sadly. "He said that this morning."

  "Well, I think he's being a dick." Adam says, giving me a small one arm hug.

  I smile and the teacher comes in to start class. After class I walk down the halls. Some people whisper behind their hands and others openly laugh at me. I'm the joke, the pathetic weakling who the Alpha doesn't want contaminating his or anyone else's gene pool.

  "Hey there." I hear someone say and put their arm around me. "If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm your man."

  "Jason!" I see a pissed off girl yell.

  "What? I'm done with you! I want to know what a girl this small feels like. You in?" He asks seriously. He looks me up and down making me feel uncomfortable.

  "No, thanks." I mutter.

  "Come on, baby." He replies pulling me closer and whispering in my ear. "I promise you'll like it."

  "Get off her." Adam orders coming closer to us. Surprisingly, the guy listens and takes his arm off of me.

  "Hey, man. Didn't know she was spoken for."

  "Well, she is so fuck off, Atkinson." Adam says shoving him back.

  "Why would you fight over this freak?" A girl with a short skimpy skirt and too

  much makeup asks disgusted.

  "She's not yours, Adam." A guys walks over with his arms crossed, entering our circle.

  "You wanna bet, Brody?" Adam argues stranding toe to toe with the guy named Brody.

  "I do, fuck face. She's mine." He growls. Both boys are the same height and weight. Brody has dark blonde hair with brown eyes and Adam has black hair and grey eyes.

  I see that both guys are shaking and about to fight. I walk up to them and try to wedge myself between them. "I don't think this is something to fight about." I state, successfully getting in between them and pushing them away from each other.

  "Don't touch him." Adam orders picking me up and putting me behind him. I hear the punches and step back just as Adam takes Brody to the floor.

  The girl from earlier with the short skirt growls at me and her fist makes contact with the side of my face, knocking me down. I cup my cheek and she leans down.

  "Stay away from Adam, bitch." She warns standing back up.

  I turn to see teachers breaking up the fight. Both boys are shaking and their faces are bloody. Arms wrap around me and lift me up. I look and see one of Adam’s friends, Geo, helping me. "You should have hit her back."

  "I think I was too stunned. I've never been hit before."

  He smiles. "How'd it feel?"

  "It fucking hurt." I mutter stroking my jaw.

  He laughs. "Come on. Let's go to class before they start handing out detentions." I nod and start walking. I notice him still walking beside me.

  "Do we have English together?" I ask.

  "Yep. We have all the same classes."

  "Oh." I reply walking into class. Everyone stops talking and looks at us. I follow Geo to two open seats in the middle of the classroom. I try my best to keep my head down but I can still hear the whispers.

  "She's such a slut. She tried to steal Adam from Lydia."

  "I don't see why Brody would even want her, she's not even pretty."

  Finally, the teacher comes in and people stop talking. "Jocelyn, you need to go to the principal’s office." Mrs. Scott says. I stand up hearing the giggles and seeing smug faces.

  I walk out of the classroom with my head down. Walking in the front office I see Adam and Brody sitting in the chairs against the wall. Adam is icing an eye and Brody is holding toilet paper under his bleeding nose.

  A man in a suit comes out of the office, seeing me he nods. "All three of you, come in." The boys stand up and wait for me to walk in. As soon as I pass though, I hear them pushing each other, fighting to come in after me. "Enough! Get in here now." The man in the suit yells.

  I sit in the middle seat so they don't fight. Both boys plop down on either side of me. Just as the principal turns to walk to his seat, Brody grabs my chair and pulls me closer to him earning another growl from Adam who tries to pull me closer to his side. I read the name plate on the desk, ignoring them. Principal Jeffrey Evans.

  "Unless, you want to be expelled, I'd quit this ridiculousness." Principal Evans warns. Both boys stop and he continues. "All three of you are suspended for three days."

  I look at him shocked. "But I didn't do anything."

  "That's not what Lydia said. She said
you hit her." He says angrily.

  "I didn't. She hit me."

  "Lydia has never hit anyone. You’re new here; she would never start trouble with you. You've pinned these two friends against each other and hit another student. You’re lucky you’re only getting three days."

  "Geo saw her hit-" I start to say, when the door slams open. I smell Alpha Hall enter the room.

  Principal Evans stands immediately bowing his head. "Alpha."

  "What is this?" He asks his deep voice echoing off the walls.

  "These boys were fighting over Ms. Robinson. I suspended all of them for three days."

  "Why would you have to punish her?"

  "She hit another student."

  "No, I didn't." I refute.

  "Lydia lied. Jocelyn didn't hit her. Lydia hit Jocelyn." Adam states, glaring at the principal.

  "My daughter wouldn't lie."

  Alpha steps in front of me. "Where did she hit you?"

  "My right jaw." I answer hating the fact that I have to talk to him.

  Standing over me he cups the bottom of my chin and forces my head back to look at him. He inspects my jaw and looks up to the principal. "Get your daughter in here." He orders.

  Principal Evans gets on the PA system and calls Lydia to his office.

  "I told you to call me if you had any issues." He says looking down at me.

  "I don't have your number." I shrug. Not that I thought about calling him anyway.

  "I programmed it in your phone."

  "Oh." I reply.

  He finally releases my chin and addresses the boys. "Why were you fighting over her?"

  "We disagreed on who would get her." Brody responds.

  "She's neither of yours. Stay away from her." He demands and I feel my heart ping.

  I'm not good enough; I've never felt like less in my entire life. In two days, this Alpha has made me into nothing.

  Lydia comes in the room smiling sweetly. "Alpha Hall."

  "Why did you hit Jocelyn?" He demands.

  "She was trying to steal Adam from me." She answers, looking at her feet.

  "We aren't together, Lydia. We never were." Adam groans.

  "I believe your daughter will get the three day suspension along with the boys. Jocelyn, you can go back to class."