The Transfer

I slowly treaded through the snow. My four feet were freezing from the crunching cold, but I barely cared. My heart hurt and I felt terrible. I felt like someone had repeatedly smacked me in the head with a brick and I felt like I could drop dead.

I looked up as I heard voices. There were people walking around tending to their morning routines and duties. I noticed Alfie walking with a group of warriors and even Kade, Lila and Brayleigh by Lila's cabin. I wasn't in the mood for talking.

I lowered my head as I walked. My fur was damp from the cold of the night before. I was cold and I needed a hot bath immediately.

"Hey! Ali!" The moment I heard Lucas, I turned sour. I didn't want to talk to anyone.

I looked up and snapped my teeth at him as he bounded towards me. He stopped in his tracks and watched me pass him. I knew I would need to apologise later, and I would.

I headed into the house, the door already open from where Ezra and Jenny were standing on the front porch. They watched me head inside where I shifted back into my skin and walked down the hallway and into the bathroom.

I shut the door and ran the bath hot. I jumped in and watched the bath fill.

I sighed and shook my head. I was upset about a number of things and it was overwhelming my brain. I had a throbbing headache and every part of me ached.

I was upset about Henry killing Benny. Did he seriously see a five year old as a threat? Did he think that a little kid could come through the pack and cause trouble? All we had to do was direct him back where he came from and then send him away.

He was just a kid.

I was upset about Liam. He had really hurt me. First, he lied to me about Veronica. How could he do that to me? What had I done to him for him to lie to me? Did he want to spend time with Veronica? Did he lie to me so he could be with her?

My brain hurt thinking about Liam wanting to spend time with Veronica over me. I thought back to our time up north with his family. He told me I was the only one he wanted

I was beginning to doubt it.

Then, the night before... How did Liam not stick up for me? I had males handling me aggressively, I had an Alpha threatening me and calling me names, and I couldn't didn't do a single thing. Did he not care? Did he think it was okay what Henry was doing to me?

I rubbed my head and sank deeper into the bath as the water filled. It was hot and burned my skin, but it soothed my sore bones and helped my throbbing headache.

I sat in the bath for hours, thinking. The bath was cold by the time 1 finally got out and drained it. I wrapped a towel around myself and left the bathroom. I headed down to my bedroom where I smelt Liam. He had been in here more than recently.

I rolled my eyes and put on some clothes. I shivered in the cold and shook my head as I reached for Liam's hoodie that laid on my bed. I hesitated and then moved for one of my own hoodies instead. Liam was in the cabin. I could feel that he was here. But I hope he knew that I had absolutely no intention of talking to him. My beast whined at me. She felt like a sad and lost puppy.

I felt betrayed.

I left my room and headed in the direction of the kitchen. My belly rumbled and I regretted having not eaten more soup the night before.

When I'd left the cabin, I ran fast. I didn't care about the blizzard or that I was an emotional wreck. I ran for a long time before I tired and then found some sort of cave to sleep in.

I barely slept at all. Most of the night, I was trying to get over Liam's betrayal. When I did finally sleep, I had the most awful nightmares about Henry slitting Benny's throat all over again.

I walked into the kitchen which was empty and I began to make myself sandwiches. I was beyond hungry.

I knew Liam was watching me from the living room. I could feel his eyes on me, I hoped that he knew how badly he screwed up. I was not happy.

I was deeply hurt. I felt like he had punched me in the gut when he let Henry do what he did. My head had been hurting ever since I left the cabin. Ever since I told Liam to go back to Veronica.

I ate one of my sandwiches and made myself a hot coffee. I was still cold. It was hard to sleep in the middle of a cave during a blizzard. I probably looked stupid, running away in the middle of the night, but I needed to be alone. I didn't need Ezra and Jenny knocking on my bedroom door and I certainly didn't need Liam coming in either.

The house was empty. It was just Liam and I. Ezra and Jenny hadn't come inside from before when I passed them on the porch. I assumed it was part of their plan to make Liam and I speak to each other.

But little did they know, I was real good at ignoring people.

"Ali," flames danced along my skin as he said my name. The bond simmered slowly and I felt my headache getting better. I hated how big of an affect he had on me.

I ignored him. I sipped on my hot drink and then finished off my second sandwich. I put my plate in the sink and then grabbed my mug and left the kitchen.

I knew I was being petty. But I was mad and I had a damn good reason to be. Liam had hurt me and it wasn't the first time.

"Ali, don't ignore me," Liam growled out at me. I rolled my eyes as I felt him follow me into my bedroom. I put my mug down on my nightstand and then picked up some clothes to put in a basket. I had to wash my clothes.

"Ali!" Liam exclaimed, grabbing my arms. He forced me to look at him. I clenched my jaw as tears had already started forming in my eyes. I didn't want to cry but I knew it was coming.

Liam stared down at me, his eyes intense and worrying. He wasn't angry at me. He was scared and worried.

Was he scared about losing me? Worried because I had ruined his relationship with his little side piece?

"Not in the mood to talk, Liam," I told him bluntly. He shook his head at me.

"Then I'll do the talking," Liam said. I grunted at him and rolled my eyes. I already felt weak in his presence. I knew that if he was convincing enough, I'd give in to him. I didn't want to. I wanted to be mad and I wanted to be angry.

"What happened last night... it was wrong. I'm sorry, Ali. Henry shouldn't have said anything to you I cut Liam off in anger. "Yeah he shouldn't have said anything. Thanks for sticking up for me, by the way!"

My words dripped with sarcasm and Liam sighed. He nodded his head at me. "I shouldn't have let him talk to you like that. It was wrong of me not to do anything. I've been thinking about it all night.”

"That's great, Liam. Did you think about how fucking bad you upset me too?" I hissed at him. Liam sighed and he nodded at me.

"It kept me awake all night. I felt like an asshole, Ali. It hurt that I had hurt you. I'm so disappointed in myself," Liam told me. I clenched my jaw and blinked back tears. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to look like a baby.

"Good," I said bluntly. I sniffled as the tears fell. ignored it and blinked hard to try and stop the tears again.

"I left the cabin and ripped into Henry after you left. I got myself in trouble, but I didn't care. I knew I should've ripped into him when he first started treating you like crap. I should've defended you," Liam told me. I listened to him. He was becoming more and more convincing for me to forgive him. "I lied to you about Veronica because I'm a pussy. I'm a damn right big baby and a huge scaredy cat. I didn't want you to be mad at me, so I said nothing. I didn't want to tell Veronica to go away because I knew she'd go straight to Henry. He'd either take it out on me or on you. I didn't want anything to happen to you so I lied about it. But it just screwed me up more,” Liam said as he shook his head. His thumbs slowly caressed my skin, his touch warming my cold skin.

I grunted. Liam was a pussy. He was a big scaredy cat. I was somewhat glad that he was finally admitting why he had lied to me about Veronica.

"I didn't think you'd be so jealous and—"

"Of course I would get jealous of her! I'm not the only girl that you've ever had strong feelings for. Once upon a time, you wanted her and she wanted you. Nothing will change that,” I told him. Liam nodded at me slowly.

"Lila told me pretty much everything. She tried to kicky ass, and when she couldn't do that, she yelled at me instead. Told me a lot of things that I didn't know..." Liam sighed out. I nodded at him. I didn't doubt that Lila had told him everything. She was good to me.

I had a bond with Lila that I only shared with her and Lauri. I thought of them as my sisters. When I first met Lauri, we clicked almost instantly. It was insane how well we got along.

It was the same with Lila. We were connected with each other. She knew whenever something was wrong and she was always there to help me feel better. I was grateful for her.

Lila was good to me, but she also knew that her brother needed an occasional yelling at. She respected him enough to tell him when he was being stupid.

"I know I'm pretty shit at all this emotion stuff, but I really do mean it when I tell you that Veronica is old news. She means nothing to me anymore, I promise,” Liam told me. I nodded at him as the bond heated up.

It was getting harder and harder for me to control myself around him. We were different and everyone knew it.

I was making him wait for the opportunity to mark me. It had to be the right time for both him and I. But it was beginning to become harder to control myself.

"You can't just say that and then let her do what she does,” I told him. Liam's hands came up to my face and he wiped away the tears on my cheeks with his thumbs. He was gentle and he was caring. I inwardly sighed. I had to give in to him. It was killing me to stay away from him.

"I know, I know. It's going to be different from now on, okay?" Liam said. I nodded at him and prayed that he would keep his promise. I didn't know how much more of Veronica I could take. She was treading on a fine line by prancing around with my mate.

"You're tired. You need to rest, sugar," Liam said softly. I nodded slowly as I held back a yawn. Liam turned me around and walked me to my bed.

I got under the covers, and then pulled Liam down with me. He looked a little surprised by my actions but I ignored it. He got into the bed with me and held me close as I pulled the blankets up. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his steady heart beat.

“Liam,” I mumbled out. I could feel that he was tired too. He truly must not have slept the night before.

"Yes?" Liam's voice was soft and it made his chest vibrate. He was at peace. We both felt better that we had made up.

"Thank you,” I mumbled out. He pulled me a little closer and kissed the top of my head. He didn't say anything but his actions spoke louder than his words. I smiled as I rested against him and let myself fall into a deep sleep.