by Belle Harper
He saw me and walked over. He crowded me, but it was not intimating, in fact it was comforting. Like he was hugging me without even touching me.
“Don’t do anything, please just leave it.” I shook my head. No, I can’t just leave it, that fucker was going to pay. The bell rang and it was like our little bubble of warmth disappeared as we walk to get to our first class.
The day started and Ranger was nowhere to be seen, I asked Ada if she had seen him and she hadn’t. When I got to art and Maverick was there I guessed Ranger was hiding.
“Where the fuck is he?” I demanded. Maverick slowly spun and gave me the most uninterested look he could. When he didn’t answer I shoved his shoulder to get his attention.
He growled low. “I’m not my brother’s keeper. I have no idea where he is or what he is doing. But don’t say I didn’t warn you… I did.” He turned back to his painting. It was dark… so dark with many dark shades of black and purple. Moody.
Finally history class, and Mr Donovani… god Galen was so other worldly. He was all dressed nicely in his suit. It was a little retro, a blue suit jacket and trousers, and a yellow skinny tie. It just was him… so him. All the girls in class were just as affected by him as me. At least I didn’t look so doe eyed… or did I?
“Sorry I’m late, had an issue at home.” I peered over and saw Ranger entering the class holding a late pass. He looked at me and smiled that stupid grin… I was going to punch that smug face. I could feel the tension building up in me and his face dropped slightly.
Yeah, I know what you did.
The class dragged on for ages. I was ready, I was going to confront Ranger and smash his nose in. As soon as the bell rang Galen called me over to speak to him, but I didn’t listen. I ran for the door and rounded the corner. Waiting for Ranger to leave so I could confront him.
Bingo, I could see as he left. He was the last as Galen locked the class up and went to his office. Maybe to wait for me, it was lunch now and I should be going to the cafeteria to get some food before all the good stuff was gone. But that could wait… I watched as Ranger turned his head and looked in my direction like he knew I was there. I strolled out without a care in the world. The hallway was almost empty.
“Hey Lexi, are you okay?” I could see his nostrils flare and his eye twitched. I shook my head. “No, I’m not okay. Raff was attacked on Saturday night…” I didn’t say anything more. And he put his hands up in mock surrender.
“No, I don’t know nothing about that.” But his eyes never met mine. Liar. I shook my head as I got closer.
“You lying piece of shit.” As I got up close and he breathed deep. God he was one of those freaks too, the ones who smell me. His eyes glowed, I was stunned for a moment. What the fuck. Then I swung at him, I caught his jaw with my fist. His face hardly moved, my hand screamed with pain. He was hard, and that fucking hurt. Tears welled in my eyes from the pain. But I pushed it aside. “You are a piece of shit, I don’t want you to look at me or come near me again. You understand.” I stormed off, fast as I could so he wouldn’t see the tears falling, I think I did some damage and not to Ranger… to my hand. When he was out of sight I ran to the girls bathroom and ran my knuckles under the cold water. They looked okay, but they throbbed and hurt like a bitch.
“Lexi? Are you in there?” My head swung to the doorway as Ada appeared.
“Holy shit, what happened? Ranger told me you were here.” My heart stopped a moment. He told her I was here? She took my hand in her and peered at the knuckles. I ran my good hand down my face, to wipe the tears… and the make-up that had run. I looked in the mirror. I looked shocking. Ada passed me some paper towel and I dried off my face, I looked in my bag and applied some make up to refresh myself. Just a little eyeliner.
“What happened?” she asked again.
I thought back to my horrible shot at Rangers nose and chuckled because honestly, I was a bad shot. “I punched Ranger.” Her eyes flared open. When she didn’t say anything I kept going. “In the jaw… I was aiming for his nose, his face is too nice. I wanted to mess it up a little after what he did to Raff on Saturday night.” Her mouth dropped. And she demanded I tell her everything.
So I did, well I told her everything she needed to know. Not about sleeping next to Raff and our almost kiss… was it almost kiss? We headed down to the cafeteria to get some food, of course all the pizza was gone and my name was called over the intercom. “Alexis Turner, please report to Mr Donovani’s office.”
Ada looked at me and shrugged. She didn’t normally eat here, she had told me she did all her school activities during lunch hours. She never asked where I ate lunch every day, she must just assume I was here. I grabbed a salad wrap and water and made my way to his office. I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about. Maybe he realized I really wasn’t supposed to be in his class and I was failing. I was going to tell him. Just… I got distracted by his beautiful face every time.
On my way to Galen’s office I saw Raff making his way across to the tree line. I stopped to watch him and that was when I saw Ranger coming from the right. Raff didn’t see him coming, I had to stop this. Maverick was following not too far behind Ranger. I saw him wave off to one of their friends who was following him. This was still two against one. I needed to protect Raff.
I ditched my bag and ran for the door, once outside the cooler air hitting my face made me more alert and I ran. They were now gone, but I knew the general location on where they were. My chest burned as I made it just through the first line of trees. I stopped panting.
“I told you to stop. Father said this has gone too far, Ranger. As for you…” I turned… that was Maverick and his dull uninterested voice, sounding like he didn’t care if he broke up this fight or not. I didn’t want to let them know I was here. Surprise was all I had going for me and my hand throbbed in agreement. As I got closer, holding my breath I could hear growls.
“I told you to stop marking yourself with her, but now… I can’t stop him, he is just too far gone.” I could see Maverick’s head as I rounded into a small clearing. His eyes flicked to mine, then back to what he was looking at. And then all the air in my chest whooshed out as all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Two wolves… a red one and a larger gray. My stomach fell and I felt sick, the red wolf. The same one from the party, the backyard.
The larger gray one snapped its jaw and went for the neck of the red one and they started fighting. My heart was hammering, there was fur and snarls and a yelp. My hand hovered out, worried for the red wolf. He was so rare… I shuffled back, I needed to get away from this. What was this? I couldn’t watch the red wolf be killed.
“Ranger stop.” Maverick said and the gray wolf growled at him. Holy shit, Maverick was drawing its attention to us. Was he crazy?
“Rafferty, Ranger…” Both wolves turned as one and their eyes fix on me. I felt like I wasn’t in my body anymore.
Did he just call them Rafferty and Ranger?
I didn’t wait to see, I started running. I ran out of the tree line, Galen was there. He was fast as he met me halfway back to the school building. Out of breath, I was trembling as he took my arms to steady me.
“What’s wrong Lexi. What’s happened?” I turned back and saw Maverick headed towards us, his hands in his jean pockets. The way he walked was so casual it didn’t make sense to what had just happened, my heart hammering out of my chest. I point… “wolves.”
Ranger appeared from the tree line, he was putting his t-shirt on as he strode towards us in that swagger he has. I stumbled forward, what… how? Rafferty hot on his heels, doing the fly up on his jeans, his hair all messy.
“What the fuck?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ranger
That asshole. He told her… that Rogue scum, piece of shit told Lexi that I attacked him. I didn’t, he knew that but she seemed to think otherwise.
“I am challenging your bullshit claim… meet me in the clearing now.” I sma
shed my shoulder into Raff’s as I growled at him. He smelled like her… all over. She smelled like him, this wasn’t just him scent marking. No. This was more, they had been together. I didn’t even want to think about it. I wanted her… my wolf vibrating… ready to take him down. She was mine. Not his. He couldn’t claim her. No one was allowed too.
Mav followed behind me as I made my way to the clearing, he shook his head to let me know he wasn’t happy with me. I turned back and flashed my teeth in warning.
“I don’t give a shit what our father would say.” I shook my head, trying to calm myself before I hit the clearing. I didn’t want my wolf loose here in front of everyone. Plus I loved these jeans.
Mav’s hands went up in a “Do whatever, but you have been warned,” gesture. The fucking asshole, always so calm, his wolf always under control. I fucking hate him for it sometimes. Jealous at his control. As soon as I was in the clearing I stripped, I felt the rippling all over my body and the flash of heat and pain before I changed.
I shook out my fur, growling lowly, pacing as I watched my brother lean against a tree. He was watching me, unaffected by my need to kill Rafferty King. I watched as his eyes rolled to where Rafferty appeared. That stupid hair of his, all neat and styled. Fucking hated it, I fucking hated him. I growled, snapping my teeth at him.
The fucker never changed into wolf form to fight. He was like Mav, full of control. Which angered me more than it should. Saturday was the first time I had seen his wolf form. I knew his scent, I knew it was him. But I didn’t touch him, I ran him off our land, away from Lexi. I didn’t like that he lived with her but hell… our father wouldn’t listen to me about my need to claim her.
Rafferty stripped down, I was pleased. He was going to fight me fair. He chose to claim her when he knew it wasn’t right. He has no pack, no family. He cannot protect her, Saturday night proved that when my brother and pack brothers ripped into him. I told them not to bite with venom. I knew he would be in the house with Lexi and I didn’t want him to lose control in front of her, and possibly injure her.
I watched as he changed, snarling we paced each other in a circle. I was waiting for the right moment. I was going to rip his throat out.
My brother rambling on about father… I couldn’t concentrate. I could smell Lexi all over him, his head turned just enough and I went for it. He saw me coming but didn’t move fast enough as I sank my teeth in, he growled and whimpered as he shook free of me. He lunged for my flank.
“Rafferty, Ranger…” I could smell fear… it wasn’t from Rafferty. We both turned at my brother’s voice and that was when I saw her. Lexi was pale, her hand over her throat as she gasped softly. The fear in her eyes made my heart fall. I had done it again. I had upset her… and then she ran. I turned to Rafferty but he was already back in his human form.
Mav was already out of the woods and following Lexi, I could smell Galen nearby and I felt better knowing he was possibly with her now. Just because she felt safe with him. I still didn’t like the guy. I grabbed my shirt and pushed Rafferty over as he tried to get his shoes on. And took off running. When I saw her face, my stomach dropped.
“Fuck.” I heard Raff hiss out from behind me as I followed them, Galen held onto Lexi. He would take her to his office. Well I guess we didn’t have to hid our wolf sides from her anymore.
I turned back to see Raff was following.
“This is all your fault. I am not to blame. You fucked up… if you had just told her it wasn’t me that fucked your sorry ass up then this wouldn’t be happening right now.” I was angry but also felt freer than ever. She knew, they would have to tell her now. She can’t be compelled. And if anyone has to tell her, Galen would do it right. He was good with words… even if he was a blood sucker.
When I made it to his office, I could still smell the fear coming from Lexi. Her head swung in my direction and I smiled hoping she would be less fearful but her eyes darted to behind me. Raff.
I felt him enter the room and stood close to the back wall as Galen closed the door behind him. She looked like a caged animal. Fuck this was worse than what I had dreamed. I had been waiting for this moment and it wasn’t anything like this. Fear…
“Sit… all of you. Lexi you can take my chair.” She was hesitant at first but she slowly moved over, each step she watched us. Like we would jump over and attack her. My heart sank, she was supposed to be happy. Want me, let me claim her… not be frightened of me.
I heard her sharp intake of breath, we all looked to her. Her hand was on her neck.
“Raff… oh god.” I turned to see where I had bitten him. It wasn’t that bad, but it was bleeding. Looks worse than what it was. But fuck… to her it would look really bad. This was not going in my favor at all. Mav the asshole just sat there on the floor… saying nothing. Not even trying to defend me. Looking disinterested as always. He kept to himself, he was a bit of a loner. But right now I needed him in my corner, fighting for me. I wanted to claim Lexi as my mate. I wanted her to be with me, not the scum bleeding in the corner.
“Raff… you need to get that looked at.” Her words were shaky, he held his hand up to his throat.
“I will be okay.” He replied with a small smile. Argh… he would be healed soon enough. No need to worry about him.
“Raff…” she whispered her voice filled with concern. I could see she trusted him fully, and that was when I knew. I knew in that moment that I had no chance of claiming her now without him. I had to fix this. I laid back in the chair, the heels of my palms pressed to my eyes and I growled low. My wolf agitated and feeling the unspoken rejection. Fuck, I keep fucking this up. None of my usual lines and gestured worked on her. I was out of my depth here, and I was frustrated.
“We need to address the problem here, you boys did not listen to the Alpha and now you have been caught. Lexi.” Galen turned to her, his face full of concern. “I understand you will have questions, and this is a safe space. They won’t harm you or each other.” He glared back at me. I put my hands up to defend myself and opened my mouth to speak.
“No, don’t. Save it for your father. This was you, Ranger.” I sank down in the chair, I felt like I was a child being punished.
Galen turned to Lexi when she didn’t speak up. “First question, were Ranger and Rafferty wolves?” I saw her swallow and nod.
When no one answered I sat up straighter and smiled. Maybe this will show her I can be trusted, by answering her questions. I can do this, I was great at this… usually.
“Yes, I was a wolf and so was Rafferty… Mav is one too. But you hardly see him shift… he is a little shy of showing us his…” A slap at the back of my head cut me off before I could finish.
“Ouch…” I rubbed my head and turning to the source. “That hurt asshole.” Mav was now standing behind me glaring, his eyes I swore I saw them glow. I pissed off his wolf. I chuckled.
Was that his weakness? I smiled to myself.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lexi
Wolves. I wasn’t crazy. I felt sick and scared. Rafferty was a wolf. Ranger had some stupid grin on his face like I might get up and clap my hands, give him a round of applause for telling me that they turned into wolves.
“Like… what the fuck.” I didn’t care if Galen was here and a teacher, this was crazy ass shit. I rubbed my eyes and opened them.
Still here…
This wasn’t a dream. This was a nightmare. And not like the ones I had, this was a real living one. No… no this was just bullshit. They were fucking with me. That was why Ranger had that messed up grin on his face. They played me.
“Ha ha… yep. You got me. It’s not April yet… but you fooled me.” My voice cracked as I got up, I wasn’t sitting around in here listening to this bullshit. Maverick was just messing with me out there, calling the wolves that were fighting by their names… that was it. Right?
But then I saw Raff’s neck… that? How… how do I explain that to my mind. I felt cold and shaky.
�
��I can show you if you like.” Ranger stood up and Galen told him no as he started stripping out of his clothes. Maverick just stood back and leant causally against the bookshelf like this was just a lazy Sunday afternoon. How was he not affected by this? Oh, he was one too.
Galen tried to shove Ranger back into the chair, his hand on his fly ready to show me everything.
“No, this is a great idea. If I shift in front of her, then she will see its real. I will even turn my back to her so she doesn’t have a look at the goods okay, teach.”
Galen, stood there unmoving. There was a silence in the room, all I could hear were my ragged breaths. Galen rolled his eyes as he took his hand from Ranger’s bare shoulder, Ranger smiled as he stood up and winked at me, he turned he back to me as he stripped bare. His ass whiter than the rest of his skin.
“Ready?” he asked over his shoulder, his eyes starting to glow. I stumbled back into the chair, and pressed my back as far as I can go. He didn’t wait for me to speak, as I watched Ranger change in front of me from a man to a gray wolf. My hand pressed tightly to my chest trying to calm the breathing. This… what? I couldn’t breathe, my throat so tight.
“Lexi, are you okay? Just take deep breathes.” Galen was now beside me, holding my hand as I stared out, not looking at the wolf in the room. Was I having a panic attack? I hadn’t had one of these in forever. I closed my eyes, breathing deep. In and out. In and out.
“I shouldn’t have let you do that Ranger. That was my mistake for allowing it. I am sorry Lexi.” Galen said as he rubbed my hand in his, it was warm to my cold. When I opened my eyes I was startled. A gray wolf was now sitting behind Galen, its eyes glowed, but now I saw it close up. Its eyes were green, just like Ranger’s, just they lit up. Its head cocked to the side and tongue lolled out. Galen spun his head and hissed lowly at Ranger.
