by L Baker
“Eric is outside waiting for you.”
Great I thought to myself sarcastically, before heading out the door to the running truck. I slowly got in, hoping this drive would be as silent as the one yesterday.
“Good morning.” he said with a smile on his face.
“Hi.” I muttered, and buckled my seat belt.
He drove slowly and I was happy he didn’t bother to speak anymore after that. As we pulled into the lot, I began scanning the crowd looking for Christian. I jumped out of the truck before any goodbyes could transpire. I made it to the door and in the reflection I saw that the truck had not moved.
Why is he still here, I thought.
“Stalker much” I mumbled to myself before yanking the door open and going inside.
I found Lily at her locker and asked if she had seen Christian. She looked at me embarrassed, and shrugged before closing her locker and walking off.
A group of boys from the sophomore hallway walked passed me and I could hear there loud rumoring. Caleb and Jacob dead in the center of the boys. “She hasn’t even shifted yet, and Eric’s still forced to marry her.” Caleb cheekily stated. They were talking about me conspicuously, and made no attempt to hide their loathing of the cheating Alpha whore.
I didn’t think it was possible to hate an entire family before this.
I slammed my locker shut and walked to Mr. Harper’s class to retrieve my bag. When I got there he informed me that Christian had taken it with him.
I listened as he made it very clear that he did not appreciate my rushed leave from his class yesterday. I nodded and walked out the door. I went straight to my locker to grab a replacement notebook for the day, and scanned the halls hoping Christian was running late. With no luck I headed to my Chemistry class.
The day dragged on slowly without him, and I skipped lunch after Lily was a no show at our usual meeting spot.
The rest of the day continued to drag and I was relieved when the final bell rang. I got up slowly and made my way outside, knowing that the truck would be there.
As I exited the school I could see Clara and Eric in a soft argument near the truck. He looked towards me and Clara’s eyes followed before she gruffly walked away. I walked to the truck.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing that concerns you.”
I ignored the remark and we rode for the first ten minutes silently, until he flipped on the radio and placed a cd in the player. Jazz of all things, flowed through the speaker, and I closed my eyes pretending I was anywhere else but here with him. When we came to a stop he jumped out and proceeded to my door to open it for me. I walked past him and towards the house. I expected he would follow, but he walked back to the driver’s side and pulled off. I yanked my cell out of my jacket pocket, and called Christian.
I called him twice with no answer, before finally deciding to leave a voicemail. If he didn’t call me back soon I knew I was going to him.
His parents were too shielding and I wasn’t pleased with the thought of dealing with them at the moment.
I walked into the house and my mother met me at the door, her usual smile was gone, and she seemed to be nervous.
“Mr. Gregory brought your back pack today, he said Christian brought it home.”
I looked at her assessing what she had just told me
“Why didn’t Christian bring it?” “Why didn’t Christian bring it over mom, is something wrong?” I asked almost frantic.
“No, of course not honey, his father said he’s perfectly fine, he just needs a little space at the moment.”
“Space from who…….What, what else did he say?” I stuttered without an answer.
My mom looked at me.
“Well we all think it would be best if you kept your distance for a while, that’s all honey, it’s nothing serio” she stopped realizing I had snatched the keys from the hook and was headed out the door.
“Annalise,” she called following behind me unable to keep up “ANNALISE,” she yelled.
I jumped into the car, determined to get to Christians house.
“ANNA, COME BACK HERE.”
I ignored her pleas for me to return and pulled the car onto the street and sped down the road.
I needed to see Christian. I needed to know why he wasn’t at school, and why we needed to be separated.
It must be Eric, and what was my mother keeping from me. These thoughts began to anger me, and I saw red. I looked up and saw what looked like a dog, cut across the street. I swerved to miss it and roughly hit a hole in the street.
The sound of the flattened tire forced me to pull over. I hopped out of the car and saw the tire completely flat, before kicking it, and cursing.
I looked through the trees to where the dog ran, and could distinctively make out the glare from the yellow eyes before it took off into the woods.
I was only about a ten minute walk away from his house, so I pushed my luck, hoping I could beat the clouds that were stirring above. I walked as quickly as I could until I finally saw his house appear, then I sprinted towards it, too inpatient to continue walking. When I made it to the door I knocked loudly making sure I was heard.
Mrs. Gregory answered the door, a surprised look on her face. She stepped forward a bit pull-ing the door closed so that the inside of the house could no longer be seen from where I was standing.
“Annalise what are you doing here,” an almost whisper formed around the words.
“I came to see Christian, is he home?”
“No not at the moment.”
“When will he be back?”
She looked at me and I thought I saw annoyance crease her face for a second before she re-plied.
“He’s out at the moment” an obvious lie “I think it would be best if you left.”
“Well can you tell him?”
I was interrupted by Mr. Gregory now standing beside his wife in the door.
“I think you should head home Annalise, I’ve called your mother and she is expecting you
I had never heard Mr. Gregory speak with disdain before, and he was often just as happy as Christian.
A roll of thunder clapped above, and I startled as I looked at them and then the sky.
“Not until I seem him?”
“Go home Annalise.”
He pulled his wife from the door before slamming it as I stood there. It slowly began to drizzle, and I stayed there on their porch unable to move for a while, I turned around, and stepped down the first step.
The door swung open Christian walked out, and grabbed me. He picked me up in his normal embrace then begin pulling me towards the forest near his home.
“Come on.”
We walked together quietly. Although I had a million questions, I remained silent and strolled beside him, hand in hand. We walked deeper into the forest until the drizzle no longer penetrated the trees above.
He stopped and sat on a fallen tree, motioning for me to join him. I stood a few feet in front of him, questioning the situation.
“Will you just sit down already, geez your stubborn” he joked, before standing up and swooping me up by my knees and placing me in his lap. I looked at his face and saw him smiling like this was the best day of his life.
“Why weren’t you at school today, what’s up with your parents, and why does everyone wants us apart?” The questions flooded out of my mouth.
He laughed, and I looked at him serious.
He grabbed my chin, and kissed me. At first I was surprised that he was so forward but some-thing inside of me stirred. I kissed him back fiercely throwing my arms around his neck and my fire returned. He grabbed my hair gently with his hand, and ran the other along my lower back sending chills through me. It was like fire and ice. He pulled away and I felt foolish as my arms gripped him tighter not wanting to stop.
This was the first time he had ever kissed me and the feeling that swarmed my body was in-tense and almost unexplainable. He looked at my face seriously.
“I’m breaking all the rules here.”
I looked at him confused.
“Eric is supposed to be your mate.” he cocked his eyebrow almost as if he was asking a question, and I knew what he meant by breaking all the rules.
“He came yesterday staking his claim.” he laughed, “My parents freaked out of course, afraid to go against the Alpha.”
He caught me off guard with how light he spoke of the matter.
“You’re not afraid,” I had to ask, “He is an alpha Christian”
He laughed again, before grabbing my hand and interlocking our fingers. He looked up at me and shrugged.
“Do I have a reason to be?” he spoke confidently.
I could only stare at him bewildered, before he began playing with my fingers again. The dark-ness crept in, and neither of us was in a hurry to leave.
“Run away with me,” the words flew out of my mouth when I realized I would have to go back home soon. He looked at me mystified, and then smiled. He stood up and looked down at me.
“I will run with you to the ends of the earth” he said seriously “but let’s get you home to pack for now.” He laughed, back to his playful self.
I yanked my hand from his in protest. “I’m not going back there, I refuse to be with him, I…..I love you Christian.”
My words must have excited him because he picked me up, his arms around my legs as I towered over him. He placed me back down and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“I’ve always loved you Anna.” His words were just a whisper near my ear, but they came out absolute and unyielding.
He placed his lips to mines, kissing me gently. I felt his hands in my hair again, and I crooned by head backwards exposing my neck to his lips.
He placed small kisses along my neck and shoulder, and I shuddered from the chills. The feel-ing was amazing and I felt like I had been lifted into the sky.
I felt the moist forest floor under my back as his weight pinned me under him. He quickly rolled when he noticed the difference between our sizes.
I was now on top of him laughing. I laid my head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around me.
“Maybe we should go,” I whispered when the forest was completely dark. I was still laying on top of him as comfortable as I had been in months. I could have easily fallen asleep in his arm. It wouldn’t be the first time, and I always felt safe with him. We continued to lay on the ground until I heard his light snoring, and I remembered the first time we had fallen asleep together.
We were in the fourth grade and decided to run away to the park after school one day. We sat there talking, and joking around for hours. We fell asleep on the merry go round with our hands intertwined. We would have continued to sleep if we hadn’t heard the howling and noticed that the sky was extremely dark.
I smiled at the memory and lightly tapped his chest until he woke from his sleep.
“You dozed off.” I teased
He sat up and glanced at his watch.
“Dammit. Do you know what time it is?” he asked, examining my face
“No.”
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. The screen displayed thirteen missed calls and I had forgotten my phone was on silent from earlier.
“Crap”
The clock read 12:30
“I should get home, my mom has called me a dozen times already.”
He lifted us both up and we stood laughing at how wet Christians shirt had become from the ground. He pulled it off with one quick motion. I touched his stomach rubbing my finger from his navel to his chest and marveled at the hardness. Although he was only eighteen his body was full grown, with muscle covering every inch.
He grabbed my hand and we began to make our way back towards his house. When we made it to the exit he looked around.
“How did you get here?”
“Mom’s car” I shrugged “I caught a flat trying to avoid something on the road, so I walked the rest of the way.”
He begin fishing through his pockets until he found his keys.
“Hold on let me grab a shirt,” he yelled back throwing me the keys to his Ford.
“Get in I’ll be right back,” he was through the door, and I walked towards the truck. I could hear the argument that had stirred inside as I opened the passenger door and jumped in.
By the time I snapped my seatbelt he was getting in beside me.
“Are your parents mad?”
“Ah, who cares, legally I’m an adult, and they can’t make decisions for me anymore.”
He smiled, and pulled onto the street. He drove slowly and the music from the radio was lulling me to sleep.
Chapter 6: The Field
Half asleep I could feel the car come to a halt and my eyes flew open from the jerk. In front of the truck, two cars were obstructing the road with blinding lights penetrating the front window. I threw my hands up to block the glare.
The six figures that stood in front of the cars begin to approach and my body tensed up as Eric headed for my side of the car.
I was pulled from the truck by the collar of my jacket. Eric walked me to the backseat of the first BMW and tossed me inside before slamming the door behind me.
I reached for the door handle trying to free myself.
When the door didn’t budge, I quickly slid to the other side and tried again. I was trapped in the car desperately trying to get out.
I looked out the windshield and saw that Christian was outside of his truck with the men sur-rounding him.
Although his voice faint to me as I listened from the car, I could hear the conversation.
“What, you expect me to beg for my life.”
“If I wanted you dead you would be…..Instead I’ve come to offer you something.”
“Trust me…..there is nothing you or your pack of mutts have to offer me.”
“Fine have it your way.”
The lights from his truck stared back into the car and I saw him slump over as Eric punched him in the stomach. He slowly rose and I saw the whiteness of his teeth in the dark.
“Is that all you got?” Christian sneered at Eric’s turned back.
Another blow landed to his gut, and then one across his face. The boys who were surrounding him were laughing.
I screamed and begin to bang on the window frantically.
“NO, STOP IT, LET. ME. OUT.” I cried as they begin to beat him, four on one.
Eric and the sixth man stood there watching the beating.
After what seemed liked forever, they stopped and Christian was on one knee, one hand on the truck for support, spitting blood from his mouth.
Eric walked towards him and lifted his head. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and another scream flew from my mouth as Eric punched him in him and caused Christian to fall to the ground unconscious.
He barked orders to the six guys, and two of them grabbed Christian, I could see the blood covering his shirt and jeans. My heart stopped, as I watched them walk towards the other car that was beside me.
My fist were pounding on the window. I was calling Christians name dreadfully hoping he would open his eyes and look at me. They threw his still body into the back of the car and got into the front seat.
Eric barked another order and the other two jumped into Christian’s truck turning it around in the street before flying off in the direction we had just come from. Eric and the guy who were talking walked towards the car that imprisoned me.
Our car pulled off first and the other followed close behind. We were behind the red truck in a matter of seconds, as all three vehicles sped down the road. We continued to drive and I saw my mother’s car on the road, and then Christian’s house. My heart begin to race in my chest, as we flew past them.
“Where are we going?”
I tested the bravery of my voice but it came out as more of a scared whisper. No one answered me as we drove in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the humming of the engines down the road. I looked towards t
he driver and noticed a crescent moon tattoo on his neck.
My nerves were on edge, and I looked down to see that my nails were clawing into my palms. I released my fingers which were now stiffened and saw the nail marks on my hand. I looked back to the driver.
Confusion must have been written all over my face as I watched him. I immediately reached for the seatbelt when I realized the speedometer was past the 120 mark. I locked myself in with the belt, and saw the driver looking at me through the rearview mirror. His grey eyes starred at me until I broke the gaze and looked out the window. The blackness of the night and the trees flew by and I couldn’t make out one image long enough to know where we were.
My heart continued to pound and I felt like I wanted to scream.
“Where are you taking me?” My voice now stronger than before. The man looked in the mirror again and then to Eric who said nothing, and turned the radio up.
We continued to drive. I grabbed my phone to check the time. The man looked to the mirror again and Eric quickly reached back yanking it from my hand before flinging it out of the window.
“How am I supposed to reach my mother?”
“Your mother knows where you are, sit back and shut up,” he barked.
I could see the driver looking at me through the mirror again, before quickly turning his gaze back to the road. His expression was blank and I could see the family ring from the little light that shown through the car. He was obviously second in command.
My thoughts were dismissed when the truck made a left turn into the woods. We drove deeper into the trees until the car came to quick stop and the seatbelt pulled against my chest and threw me back into the seat. My heart was racing and I didn’t pay attention to where we had stopped until Eric yanked my door open, snapped my seat belt off, and pulled me out. I looked around to see a small open field.
“Why are we here?”
Eric walked up to me and sniffed my hair before wincing and walking towards the other black car.
He was pulling Christian out, and I saw his wrist were tied behind his back. Eric walked him in front of the cars so that the lights were on him. He kicked him in his knee causing Christian to groan in pain and drop.
