Big Bad Alphas

Slipping into the bedroom, I sneak over to my side of the bed once I spot Eric still asleep. The pillow wall has been torn down, as his arm is laying across the ruins. Sighing, I climb on the bed and start to reconstruct the divider, but Eric grabs onto me and surprisingly pulls me over to him, holding me snugly against his body. With my eyes wide open, I make no sudden movements.

I lay frozen in his arms, and soon enough I realized that he is thankfully sleeping despite what just happened. My mouth is hanging open, and my limbs do not know what to do. His scent invades my nose, causing me to relax on instinct.

My eyes begin to drift closed even though I am mentally fighting to keep them open. Darkness consumes me, and I have never felt more comfortable in my life as if the bed has suddenly transformed into a cloud on a breezy day.

Just as I begin to feel myself slipping away, Eric’s unexpected array of movements causes my eyes to fly open. He shoots from the bed, and I turn to find him leaning against the wall with his head in his hands. “Your neck,” he murmurs lowly.

Promptly, I sit up and try to think of what to say, how to explain what happened. “It is really, I don’t think—”

“I can’t believe I’ve done this,” he mutters and comes to my side. “Are you in pain? Does it hurt?”

Utterly confused, I wipe my mind of all current thoughts. “Wait, you can’t believe you did what?”

“Your neck, the marks—”

“You think that you did this?” I gape while pointing at the now darkening blemishes.

“Well, who else could have? You were with me the entire night. God, Isabella, you do not know how terrible I feel about this,” he tells me while I can see the self-hate clear on his face. Eric believes that he’s the one that hurt me.

“No, no, no, no,” I say frantically, “you didn’t do this.”

He peers into my eyes, prompting my heart to jolt. “Then how did you get the marks?”

My gaze floats to the side. “Well, Olivia.”

“Olivia?” He repeats. “When did this even happen?”

“Around three in the morning maybe,” I shyly admit. “I realize that I have a lot of explaining to do for this all to make sense, so it all began because I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t get Kendra off my mind, and I just had to see her. Then I stupidly decided to pack up some things in the middle of the night, so I could take a quick trip home.”

Eric’s mouth hangs slightly open, making him look more human rather than his usual hard stares. “And you planned to leave without telling me?”

“Well, you see, I did leave without telling you, and I do know how bad this all sounds. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking clearly—and to be honest, I’m probably not thinking clearly now—but I left with a little bag and began to head South off of pack land—”

“You went off pack land alone,” he says under his breath. “Isabella, do you know what could have happened?”

“Not at the time, but then Olivia strangled me, so I think I’ve learned how dangerous wandering off the land can be.”

His eyes grow wide. “Olivia. She, she strangled you?” I nod. “And that occurred how?”

“I didn’t notice that she was following me, but Olivia has a lot on her mind right now. I know that it is weird to defend her because she attacked me, but I want to help her get through her troubles and find her own mate. She’s probably a wonderful person; she’s just stuck right now.”

Eric sits back down with his elbows on his knees, looking to the floor. “She attacked you,” he mumbles out loud, and I make no sign of interrupting him. “I’m not sure if it’s the best idea to keep her here, keep her around you.”

“Don’t make her leave,” I say quickly with no thought towards it. “Caroline and I are going to help her, and she’s not going to hurt me again.”

I can see that he is not sold on the idea of letting her stay, so I place my hand on his shoulder. “Eric, she’ll be lost out there, she’ll have nowhere to go. All Olivia needs is a second chance, she needs to see that there is more out there for her.”

Eric glances back at me. “And how do you plan on helping her?”

I bite on the inside of my cheek. Caroline said that he would not agree with our idea, so should I wait until she talks with Evangeline? “Well Caroline and I are coming up with a few ideas, and I have a lot of faith in them. Just let us try, please?”

The extra sweet tone in my voice must have won him over because he nods and gets up from the bed. “Alright, just please do not come home with any more scratches, or bruises, or anything. Also, you can’t leave pack lands by yourself and without telling anyone.”

I nod back in agreement. “No more, I promise.”

“And if she hurts you again, I have to send her away. She could have killed you, Isabella,” he says very seriously.

“I know. Caroline saved me, so I owe her big time—”

“Caroline saved you?” He says in disbelief.

“Olivia woke her up when she left the house, and she followed her. Caroline found us just in time,” I explain. “Your sister is a lifesaver, and I don’t know what I could have done without her. She’s sleeping downstairs on the couch; we came here after dropping Olivia off at home.”

He makes his way to the door. “Okay, you should get some more sleep since you spent the night getting into trouble. I’ll be out at the training grounds if you need me, and I’ll have Marina make you and Caroline something to eat.”

“Okay,” I say back before he disappears out the door. He will be at the training grounds, I will keep that in mind.

I will also have to find out where the training grounds are, but I am sure Caroline can help me out with that.