Wild and Free

(Mason’s POV)

I couldn’t stop thinking about what she said.

After the rather abrupt end to our conversation, I realized that Auden hadn’t been out of that room in more than a day. If she was antsy at all, she didn’t show it but I still felt really bad for not thinking about it sooner. So, I led Auden down to the dining hall, trying my best to ignore the stares that were pointed in the girl’s direction.

It seemed like it was harder for me than it was for her. She didn’t seem as embarrassed or even acknowledge the looks as people passed. In fact she seemed more nervous than she did fazed by the attention.

I knit my brows, stopping and turning to face her just before we went through the dining hall doors, “Why do you look so nervous?”

She shook her head, “I’m not.”

I shot her an unconvinced look, “I don’t believe you.”

She rolled her eyes at my response, “Fine, maybe I’m a little nervous.”

“You have no reason to be,” I told her.

“Well can you really blame me?” she asked. “I don’t belong here, I’m not like you guys.”

“Well neither are Cassie or Holden,” I insisted, gesturing to the door that our friends were most definitely behind.

“True but they are with Riley and your sister,” she fired back. “I’m just the friend that doesn’t belong anywhere. You can’t look me in the eyes and say that you aren’t breaking any rule by having me here or that you won’t get in trouble for telling me.”

I opened my mouth but I didn’t have a reply. I looked away ashamed.

“Exactly,” she said, folding her arms defensively. “I should probably get home. Just tell Cassie-”

She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence before the door next to us burst open. Auden yelped as it knocked into her and sent her to the floor.

“Shit,” Riley cursed, stepping through the door. He bent down and held out a hand to Auden, helping her back to her feet.

She brushed herself off and looked up at Riley’s guilty face, “I’m so sorry, I did not know you were standing there. Kenz said she saw a vision of you awake and I heard Mason’s voice so we came to see,” he rambled. “Are you okay?”

Auden nodded, “Yeah I’m alright,” she said but there was that thing in her voice that threw me off. It was something that gave her away every time that she lied. I didn’t always call her out on it but that didn’t mean I didn’t notice.

She opened her mouth to say something but was stopped again when a blur of blonde hair nearly tackled her back to the ground.

“OhmygodI’msogladyou’reokay!” Cassie squealed as one singular word, holding her best friend in an airtight embrace.

Auden froze for a second but recovered from her shock quickly and wrapped her arms around her friend. When they pulled back Cassie’s green eyes were watery, tears threatening to spill.

Kenzie broke their small awkward moment and reached for Auden for a hug of her own. When they were done Greyson, Holden, and Riley exchanged greetings and hugs with the girl too. Everyone was happy to see that she was awake and okay.

“You had us all so worried,” Cassie whispered.

Auden looked down at the floor, avoiding her gaze, “It wasn’t my intention. I just needed to get away from everything.”

“But why?” Cassie knit her brows.

Auden was silent, as if she was suddenly aware of the open doors of the dining hall. People were peeking around the frame, looking at our weird little group. You could both hear and see the people whispering and the attention we were getting was a lot more than in the hallways. It was there that I saw that glimmer of shyness in her that I had expected to see so much earlier. But it was wiped away as quickly as it had come.

Holden cleared his throat, “Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private to talk.”

“How long has it been since you last ate?” Cassie asked Auden.

Auden blushed, not answering the question. Cassie’s eyes widened and she turned to me, “You didn’t get her anything when she woke up?!”

“I didn’t have time to! She was too busy attacking me with a letter opener!” I defended myself, putting my hands up in surrender.

They all looked between Auden and I, curiousity etched on their faces.

“It’s a long story,” She answered simply.

“And you can most definitely tell us, after we go somewhere else to talk,” Riley said. He turned to Greyson, “Kenz and I will go grab a bunch of food for us all to share, we’ll meet you guys in the lounge in a couple minutes.”

We all nodded in agreement before the two of them split off while the rest of us headed toward the lounge. It was like a living room/rec room area in the Alpha suite. It was really just us that used it, not that my father had much of a problem with it. He wasn’t really in any rush to hang out with his many friends and have drinks in the Alpha suite.

On the way there, I glanced over at Auden a few times, just to observe her. She wasn’t really paying attention as Cassie filled her in on the situation with Ben and Chris while we walked. She mind seemed to be elsewhere but I think I was the only one that noticed. But that wasn’t the only thing I noticed.

Not more than a day ago, this girl had gotten her leg impaled by a shard of glass and in less than twenty-four hours she was on her feet, walking like she was ready to hike a mile. I still marveled at her pain tolerance.

We got to the lounge just as Cassie was finishing up telling how we found the boys. She didn’t get the chance to speak about the letter that “Rio” had sent but I was sure it was bound to come up in conversation.

I hadn’t let anyone else read the letter, instead saying that it was just reassurance of everything that the boys had told us. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, just more like not the entire truth. None of them knew about me seeing the she-wolf in the forest either and I didn’t know if I was planning of sharing at all.

We settled down in the lounge and not five minutes later did Kenz and Riley enter with big trays of various breakfast goods. Everyone dug in.

I was surprised to find that all Auden grabbed was half a bagel, but I figured she’d had enough of my questions for one morning. And I wanted her to actually tell us the truth about where she was so I didn’t want her to push further away before she even come close.

Part of me was sure that none of the rest of my friends had been really in the mood for breakfast what with all of the tension. But now that they knew everything was okay, they were back to normal.

Well, almost.

There was still this cloud looming over the group and we all knew it. We tried to make conversation but it soon fell into this grueling ten minute period of silence where the only thing you could hear was our eating.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Cassie said, slamming her hands down on the coffee table. He eyes snapped to Auden, tears forming again, “Can’t you tell this is killing all of us?” she asked, her voice shaky and loud. “Are you aware that you left for two days without telling anyone where the hell you were going or even that you were leaving? We were all dying over here worrying about the boys and then we couldn’t find you. You didn’t even have the mind to call us!”

Auden’s breath hitched but she didn’t say anything, shame crossing her flawless face.

“One call. One call and we would’ve been fine,” the blonde went on. “But the first we get about you in two days is a call saying that you were bleeding out on you trashed apartment floor. So I’ll bite first and just say it,” she sneered. “Where the hell were you.”

Auden didn’t say anything, just staring intensely at her friend. To anyone else it would look like a glare, a scary one at that, and maybe it was. But it was hard to know for sure.

“How long have you known me Cassie? Holden?” Auden asked, her voice surprisingly calm and confident as opposed to what I expected.

They both looked taken aback by the question, “Over two years?”

Auden nodded, “And do you know what my least favorite day of the year is?”

Holden and cassie exchanged a look and thought for at least a full minute when it seemed as though simultaneously they both realized what she was talking about.

Cassie stared across the couches at her best friend, ashamed tears streaming soundlessly down the girl’s face. Holden buried his face in his hand while Greyson, Kenz, Riley, and I sat there completely oblivious. Riley and Kenzie were concerned as to the sudden shifts in their mates attitudes.

“Care to share with the class? What’s she talking about?” I asked, looking at the two humans.

Neither of them met my gaze, both still seemingly speechless.

Auden did though, and she burned a hole in my head doing so.

“The other day had been four years since my parents threw me to the curb,” she spat, her arms crossed. She looked over at Cassie, “I told you I needed to get away and that was why. I went to the city and the day it rained, some asshole on the street bumped into me and knocked my phone into a puddle.”

She pulled the said device from her pocket, “It didn’t start working until yesterday morning,” she explained. “It finally came on when I was coming back. I was about to call you when I saw the lock on my door was broken. And you know the rest…” she trailed off.

Auden put the phone on the table, probably harder than she needed to and then sat back, “So yes, I was aware that I left without telling anyone and I am aware that I didn’t call. But I had my reasons for all of it that none of you could ever begin to understand.”

She laughed cynically, a sort of joyless noise coming from her mouth, “But, I guess karma is a bitch, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Cassie all but sobbed. “I totally forgot. I had no right to talk to you like that.”

“We all are sorry,” Kenz claimed, rubbing Cass’s back. “We didn’t know. You didn’t deserve any of what’s happened to you.”

Auden scoffed, “My parents or my apartment?”

“Both,” we all chorused.

She looked down at her hands, “Still…”

“Still what?” I asked, confused and seriously done with her doing that to herself. “Are you honestly saying that you’ve done things that would entitle you to this kind of treatment? From whoever trashed your apartment and your assholes of parents?”

She acknowledged my statement with a look but didn’t answer. Instead she glanced over at Cassie and Holden. All three of them had this sort of knowing look on their faces and told me instantly that no matter how much time we’d spent together the past months, there were still things that were still kept just between them. I was starting to believe that that would never change.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

I hope you enjoyed and I hope you like the NEW COVER!!

As always, comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend