Big Bad Wolfie

Yeah, this is really bad.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at how wide they shot open.

D@mn Rose and her freaking emotion reading.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You didn't get that from me did you?"

She rolled her eyes and pouted, "No, still haven't gotten through to you," she pointed a determined finger at me, "but I will."

I chuckled, "Yeah, good luck with that."

She's been working to get into my head since she found out her talent was emotion reading and figured out it didn't work on me.

After some nasty run-ins with them (mind readers and such), I decided it would probably be best to try and train myself to keep people like that out of my brain. It worked. And pretty well too. Emotion readers, mind readers and people with telepathy can't pry their way in without me letting them(unless they're more advanced, in which case, I'm working on it). Now, I'm able to use it to keep bad guys out and annoy my friend to death. It's a good skill to have.

That's a well known fact around here, though, her emotion reading, she's always spilling secrets. But where everyone's attention is now, is the secret she just spilled.

Brandon, Wolfie and Happy mirrored my expression of shock. I don't think it's sunken in for everyone else yet.

Especially Brandon. His next action was to stare at me with a look of bewilderment on his face.

You'd think it'd be Wolfie who's reaction would be the biggest - his supposed secret being out and all—but Brandon knows me, and our little friend group was pretty much convinced I was never gonna find any sort of romantic love interest. Figured I was too romantically incompetent.

Not even the mate bond that everyone gets would help me.

But now, here we are.

Still an awkward potato that's afraid of emotions, but with a mate.

An improvement?

That's debatable.

And I definitely don't think the information has quite sunken in for everyone else yet. No one's looking shocked out of their mind yet.

Yes, it's also a well known fact around here that I suck at love, so I'm just waiting for the confused faces.

Wolfie glared, and his gaze shot to me, then her. "How did you know that?!"

My best friend smirked evilly, "You may act all big and mean, but your feelings betray you," she pointed at him.

He narrowed his eyes angrily, "What the h3ll is going on? How did you know that?"

Haha, he's so confuzzled.

"It's my talent. Y'know, that ability vampires get when they're young?"

He just stared at her, still confused, and angry about it.

"No? Not ringing any bells? Jeez, you're mated to a vampire and you don't know crap about them," Rosie mocked.

Brandon shook his head, "disgraceful".

I smiled at them. They're so awesome.

"WAIT, YOU'RE MATES?!?!"

And there's the reaction from the onlookers I was waiting for. The lightbulb.

"Ha, of course. How typical," The Captain remarked with his nose up, looking down on me with judgment radiating off him, practically in waves.

Jeez, this guy thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread now doesn't he?

But what else is new?

"Yes, how typical, my supposed to be soul mate would turn out to be the invader of my house," I remarked back flatly. "I swear, my luck never seems to run out," I commented, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm just saying, it's rather convenient you just get to disappear into the master house, with your mate, while we rot down here. You expect us to believe you're not just canoodling up there, not a thought about us in your mind?"

"Yes," I said immediately.

"Did you just say canoodling?"

We ignored Brandon. No matter how funny that statement was, I can't acknowledge it because, I'm on rapid fire.

And the concerned and distrusting faces are starting to spread across the cell, so that means the captain is winning them all over with his presumptuous rambling.

"Like I said before," I addressed them, "I have never given any reason for you to doubt me before, so why would I start now?" I raised a brow.

"Also," this time, I stared right at the captain, "keep in mind, that when I fix all of this, and goddess help me, I will, you get to go back to May. You get to be with your mate."

"And me?" I continued, "Not likely."

He stared at me, actually remaining quiet for a second time today. That's a new record.

"But of course, right? Typical. If I actually got a happy ending, it wouldn't be right. Why should he be stable just because he's "supposed" to be. Didn't work that way for anyone else in my life that were "supposed" to be there."

For some reason no one had a response to that.

And yes, I just guilt tripped the h3ll out of all of them, but sometimes a girl needs to vent. And when everyone is yelling at her, telling her she's got it too good, it's just too enticing to resist.

So they got to be reminded of my sob story that always seems to slip their minds.

I don't know how. It never seems to want to leave the back of my mind. I low key envy them for being able to do that. Lucky sons of mother truckers.

Speaking of things not leaving the back of my mind. I became hyper aware of all of Wolfie's little fidgets throughout that entire conversation. It put me on edge, and it makes me just want to hand out the blood and leave this place as soon as possible.

It also made me smirk at how I was successful in relaying my sob story without actually giving Wolfie any real information.

But (because there's always a but) saying out loud I may never have him, made sort of a hole somewhere. I don't know where, and I don't know how to fill it, so I'm hoping getting out of this situation will help it heal itself.

We were able to leave most of the blood bags for Rose and Brandon to distribute since they know how, which saved us a lot of time. Then we moved down the corridor handing the bags out to the others in the cells down there.

I took note of everyone in there, paying special attention to where people like Margret, our house doctor, and Marco, the combat trainer for the higher ranks, are being kept. You never know when you might need someone like them in a time of trouble.

Speaking to everyone briefly and giving reassurance - I can tell Wolfie is getting impatient, I'm surprised he even lasted this long without telling me to quit with the hope speeches - we made our way back to the entrance, or exit, or, whatever the hack you wanna call it, and left.

YES! Now we're really done with the blood distribution.

I turned to Wolfie and raised a confused brow, "why so quiet?"

He turned to me, actually surprising me with how pissed he looked, "Your friends know about us."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "yeah, so? What's the big deal? They just -"

He suddenly shot his hand up and clasped my chin. He yanked me close to his face.

He became uncomfortably - but very comfortably at the same time close to my face. I could smell his minty breath and clearly see the storms in his eyes raging.

"I'll tell you what the big deal is," he growled, "word will travel, and soon some very powerful people will find out, and after that, they will get the idea you are a liability to a plan set in place and bad things will happen to my pack and yours."

I stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Well, those don't seem like very good people to make a deal with," I stated, matching his gaze head on.

His demeanor darkened even more. Did I strike a nerve? "Well, that doesn't matter much now does it? The deal is already made. I don't go back on my word."

I raised an eyebrow, "and it's worth all this? Ruining a whole house of people and possibly your chances of, oh, I don't know, not dying alone. For what? Your pride? Your name?"

He's doing this to his mate for crying out loud.

He stared at me, his grip had loosened on my chin, but I was still held tightly in his grasp. I don't know if what was holding me there was his hand or his eyes or his smell or what, but I'm still here, very close to his face.

"What else is there to do anything for?"

Oh my goddess.

I shook my head, "you must live quite an empty life if you really can't think of anything."

I felt like slapping myself for knowing what I want him to think of. I yearned for him to think it, and it leaves an even bigger hole knowing that he doesn't. And I hate that. My happiness shouldn't rely on anyone other than me. Not to mention it's a little self absorbed of me to want to be someone's reason to do anything. It's just... All my life I. . . It would be a nice change of pace if... Never mind. I blame the mate bond.

But with all that said.

what about me?

Happy cleared his throat awkwardly and started shuffling in the direction of the master house. We took that as our cue to drop it and start heading back.

I sighed under my breath, why does this mate bond have it out for my mental health? Wasn't in peak condition in the first place.

We walked through my territory, that's the size of a small town, and I still haven't gotten used to the fact there are no people on the streets. Just the occasional prowling werewolf.

I looked to Wolfie, "when are you going to let everyone leave they're home? Most of these people have lives to attend to, y'know."

"I already told you, once there is order. We've already had multiple encounters of your house members running around, outside their homes. Y'know, exactly like I told them not to," he glared.

I rolled my eyes, "Well I'm sorry we're not the compliant, quaint little vampires you wanted us to be."

"I realized that, and that's why I added more patrols and told them to use force on anyone who leaves their house without permission."

I glared at him in real life, but in my head, I was confused. What has he been doing this whole time? Asking nicely? No wonder so many people were slipping by.

Whatever, I'm not complaining.

"Mari!" A small voice sounded.

Oh, not again.

"Are you kidding me?!" Wolfie exasperated.

"Help!"

Help?

I looked around trying to find out who was calling for help. I found a girl, Tessy, she's ten, I believe, and she was running with all she had.

What is going on? Who's chasing her?

My question didn't take long to be answered. A werewolf in wolf form- quite a large wolf form at that turned the corner, hot on her tail.

My eyebrows shot up, "Tessy!" I ran towards the two. I jumped in front of Tessy and held her behind my back. The wolf stopped. "What the h3ll is going on here?!"

Instead of answering, he growled menacingly and stalked closer. I stood my ground and glared back.

Louder growling.

"Isaiah," I heard Wolfie's voice cut through from behind, sounding a bit strained, "shift," it wasn't a request, it was a command.

And not gonna lie, kinda hot.

You didn't hear that from me though.

The wolf did so immediately.

Now I was face to chest with the douchebag. Face to bare chest, might I add. He was wearing basketball shorts, thank the goddess. We've got two sets of innocent eyes here, mine and Tessy's (Yes, mine too, don't jump to conclusions). We don't need anything being exposed.

Don't ask me how that happened. I have no idea how the dog people take their clothes with them when they shift. I'm just happy they do.

"Do you have a problem?" The one Wolfie called Isaiah, sneered.

"Yes, with you. What are you doing terrorizing a little girl?" I looked up at him accusingly.

He took a step closer, getting in my face, "Well, maybe if she fallowed directions she wouldn't be being terrorized," his glare switched to her.

She whimpered, and I immediately blocked his view of her, "okay, first of all, I'm gonna need you to back up," I stuck a finger at his chest and pushed. He had to step back to catch his footing and looked surprised I was even able to move him. "Second of all, she's ten! When you're a child and you see a monster, you don't stop and negotiate with it, you don't wait for instructions, you run."

"Well if she had just -"

"No, no ifs or buts, she's a child, you're a grown @ss werewolf. You scared her, and she ran. You're not aloud to fault her for that."

"And who's going to stop me? You?"

The tension's getting a little higher.

I raised an eyebrow, "obviously."

"Tessy!"

"Another one?!" Wolfie shouted at the appearance of Tessy's older sister, Manda, who is also being chased by a couple of guards.

I nearly laughed at that.

"Why can no one just follow orders and stay in their d@mn home?!"

"One, watch your language, there are kids here -"

"There shouldn't be!"

"Two, because you're leaving terrified kids to look after their younger siblings! What did you expect? You locked up all the adults!"

Speechless.

Again.

Gosh, why am always right?