Alone Until I Met You (Completed)

(20) The Picture

After coming to the conclusion that I would search for some answers about Hailey as soon as we got to the bar, I decided that I would use this time to snoop around the apartment. Since Colt was now well into his shower I would have the freedom to do as I pleased and not have to worry about him catching me. I still felt a little guilty about taking the whole Hailey matter into my own hands but seeing as how Colt wouldn’t tell me about her and given what happened the last time he didn’t tell me something important; it felt justified.

The kitchen didn’t look too prosperous and the living room was pretty barren besides the couch, coffee table, and TV, so I started my search in a more personal place; his bedroom. Since Colt was pretty occupied I felt no dire need to quite myself or be stealthy in any way, instead I just walked right on over to his bedroom door and opened it. My hand lingered on the door knob once it was opened and I stood in the door frame moment longer than what was considered usual.

I was about to intruded on my mate’s most guarded secret and possibly ruin any trust he held for me. This ‘matter’ was not to be taken lightly and the pressure between deciding if I wanted to go back to the couch or go against Colt was massive. I took a moment to say a small pray before taking a deep breath and letting my hand fall to my side. With a new found determination I entered his dark room.

If Colt came out of his shower early or heard any ruckus from his room he would be here in minutes so I kept the lights off and the door open. Already knowing that there wasn’t going to be any clues on the bed I stayed clear of it and went straight to his large dresser. The dresser was made out of a dark wood and judging by the looks of it it seemed to be pretty old. It was located a few steps away from the door so I didn’t have that far to walk.

Easing the top drawer open felt like a bunch ice chips embedding themselves in my stomach, but I continued on anyway. At first glance the drawer appeared to be filled with shirts and after raking my hands through it all it ended up just being that. The next few drawers were the same, one was filled with socks and boxers with the last being jeans. Disappointed that I hadn’t found anything I let out a sigh and then turned to look around the room again.

There were no photos or paintings on the walls and the bed was too low to the ground to hide anything under, which left me with only to other places to look. I had already been through the closet because Jackie had helped me put my clothes in it just moments ago so that left me with the nightstand. It was a small little thing with a single drawer to it so already my hopes of finding something were dwindling. Nonetheless, I made my way over to it to check it out.

After sliding the drawer open and hearing the reassuring sound of things clanking together I felt a little jump of excitement in the pit of my stomach. Most of the things I really couldn’t make heads or tails of which left me feeling a little stupid because I still didn’t get what most human things were and the things I could make out seemed useless to me. A hard covered book, a dried up rose with a blue ribbon tied onto the stem, a plastic pink ring, and an overturned picture frame were the only things that looked strange to me.

I couldn’t read so the book was useless, and any meaning the rose or ring might have was lost to me, so that left the picture frame. As soon as my fingers touched the frame I knew that one, it was made out of plastic and two, that it was what I had been looking for. With both hands shaking in anticipation I turned it over.

As soon as my eyes landed on the old photo my chest tightened and I knew. I knew that the smiling blonde woman Colt was embracing was Hailey and I knew what the look they were sharing meant. It was the same look that Linc gave Jackie when her back was turned. It was the same look that she gave him when he said something funny. It was a look that people gave each other when they were in love.

I could feel the tightness in my chest grow even more painful as I ran my finger along the glass covered photo. I started telling myself that the love Colt had in his eyes was all in the past and that those feelings had died along with Hailey, but then I started noticing the adoring smile that they shared, and the way his arms were wrapped around her. It was if his strong capable arms were speaking some bodily language of their own; that he never wanted to let her go.

A small drop of water landed on the glass and slowly slid its way along the frame. It wasn’t until the second drop fell on the photo that I knew that I was crying. Anger more at myself for letting my weakness break through than anything else I quickly swiped away any other tears. It hadn’t been Hailey’s fault that she had entered into Colt’s life before I had and it certainly wasn’t his fault for falling for such a gorgeous woman but damn it I wanted to blame them anyway.

I wanted to scream at the moon that it wasn’t fair to be mated up with a man that had already loved a woman as much as anyone ever had before. It wasn’t fair that even after her death he still loved her just as much. It wasn’t fair to be mated to a wolf who still loved another and it certainly wasn’t fair to be only a one-sided love. It was fair!

In a fit of jealousy I was about to throw the damn thing against the wall and be done with it but before I could do it I realized something. It was quiet. I could feel my eyes go wide in surprise when I quickly turned to look at the bedroom door. For how long has the shower stopped running?

When my gaze landed on the still empty doorframe I felt like falling to my knees in gratitude. I looked back to the picture that I still held in my hand and inwardly cringed. I had almost destroyed the only picture that he had of him and Hailey and now I felt horrible. If I had broken something that was so close to Colt’s heart I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

Carefully I placed the picture back in the nightstand but this time I left it face up. Even though I was a ball of mixed up emotions, and maybe was a little insane at the moment, I was still human. The memory of Hailey and the love that they shared was a part of Colt and he was a part of me, so in turn I had to accept them all and get over it. With my new resolve all figured out I slowly closed the drawer.

Right after it was shut the bathroom door was slammed opened. I jumped at the sound of Colt’s roar echoing through the apartment,

“ALLIE!”

Frightened that he might catch me snooping around in his bedroom I frantically began to look around the room. His footsteps shook the floorboards as he started to make his way to the room and with nothing to hide behind in his room I ended up taking a seat on the unmade bed. As soon as my butt hit the comforter Colt had wedged himself through the door.

I could feel my face heat up at the sight of him. He had on a pair of jeans so it really shouldn’t have been all that bad but it made it ten times worse instead. His jeans were clinging to his still wet thighs, making it clear that they were as built as the rest of him. The fact that they were unbuttoned and flashing the tiniest bit more of bare skin had me biting my lip. What made matters even worse was that he neglected to put on a shirt or even dry himself off all of the way.

His body was tense and dripping with water which made the muscles in his torso and arms stand out even more. The way water droplets were dripping down from his hair and trailing themselves down the planes of his body had me swallowing. Hard.

Colt marched his way into the bedroom until he was leaning over me and before I could even mumble out a single syllable and was throwing a shirt into my face. “What the hell is this?” He yelled.

I blinked up at him is confusion before letting my eyes fall to where the shirt had landed, which was my lap. Not knowing what the fuss was all about I ended up frowning at him. “A shirt?”

“No really?” He spat sarcastically. “Why the hell does my shirt have that bastards stench all over it?”

I could feel my breath catch in the back of my throat. “What?”

Colt’s face turned even more menacing as leaned down closer to me. His strong arms that I had been admiring just moments ago were now resting on the bed on either side of me. Instead of getting that warm protected feeling in my chest I felt trapped. In an attempt to distance myself from him I tried to scoot back on the bed but stopped when his lips pealed back in a snarl.

“Why does my shirt smell like Kirk?”

I gapped up at him as my mind started racing. The shirt? His shirt? The one he threw at me? My eyes fell to the shirt that was falling off of my lap and suddenly I realized what all the fuss was about. It had been the same shirt that I had worn to the mall where I had the misfortune of running into Kirk, but how had Colt found it? The memory of me tossing the shirt onto the bathroom sink popped back into my head and I cringed.

I knew that it was careless of me to leave something that like lying around especially if it didn’t want to worry Colt and yet I had done it anyway. Then again I had expected Colt to be worried about me if he found it, not star crazing mad!

Knowing that he would be able to tell if I lied I started to mumble out what had happened. “Jackie and I went shopping and ran into him at the mall. At first I thought that he was going to do something but when he tried he failed.”

“What!” He roared out instead of questioned.

I flinched at the pitch of the sound but quickly stumbled over a few quick words to calm him down. “N-Nothing happened though! He got pissed and then the Silverback’s came and we took care of it.”

Colt breathing was labored from being so worked up over it and his eyes were tinted a golden brown color, showing me that his wolf was influencing him. Knowing now that I was dealing more with his wolf than his human side I instantly knew his reasoning for being so furious and even how to calm him down.

It took only a moment for my stiff muscles to loosen themselves up and even longer for me to channel the emotions I needed to show. When I was done prepping myself I slowly lifted my head up and nudged it against Colt’s chin. I could fell the muscle there twitch as a snarl rumbled through his chest and mouth but I didn’t let that slow me down. When face was thoroughly embedded between his chin and shoulder I let out a shaking sigh before continuing.

“I’m sorry that I let him get so close to your territory.” I spoke in a low whisper. “I’m sorry that I let him touch something that was yours but it’s okay now. I’m okay now Colt.”

I could feel the vibration of his growl against the bridge of my nose and I rubbed it against his skin as he spoke in a slightly calmer toner. “But he touched you. You let him touch you. I can smell his stench all over that shirt.”

Werewolves were extremely territorial obviously and having another wolf’s scent on something that was claimed to be another’s was a huge deal to them. Wolf’s were all about scents because we used it more than a human did touch. So I knew that Colt was just worried about me but his wolf half was over the fact that I was safe and pissed that another wolf had gotten his scent on me.

I lifted my arms up and wrapped them around his thick neck. There was nothing more that I could say that would help calm him down and holding him was the only thing I could think of to do. There was a heavy thud as Colt fell to his knees and quickly gathered him into his chest. My butt slid from the bed and onto his thighs as he cradled me. Colt buried his nose in my hair and took a few deep inhales that would both help to calm him down and check my scent for any changes.

I knew that his wolf wouldn’t allow him to let me go until I reeked of him so I snuggled up closer and got comfortable. I could feel the warm little butterflies fluttering around in my chest as we sat there in silence but I knew that feeling wouldn’t last long. I might have the affection of Colt’s wolf but when it came to the man I was still in the dog house.

A few moments later, when Colt was finally satisfied with my scent, he released me. When his hands snuck their way under my armpits and lifted me up off of him I felt as if it was all ending to soon. He picked us both up off the ground and then deposited me back onto the bed before walking over to his dresser.

“We’d better hurry it up and get ready otherwise we’re going to be late.” He spoke very monotone.

I brushed my hand through my hair and got out a few quick. “I’m ready so we can go as soon as you get a shirt on.”

“About that.” Colt opened up his top drawer and pulled out a new shirt. “You’re going to need to put on a different shirt.”

I frowned at him. “What? Why?”

He looked over his shoulder at me with a serious expression. “Because water and a white shirt don’t go well together.” Without another word he left the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

I looked down at my once dry long sleeve white shirt and realized that it was completely see-through. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment and quickly ripped the shirt from my body. With a sigh and a few drags of my feet I made my way over to the closet and pulled out a new shirt. This one had a design on it but it was mostly green and after that I found myself looking over my shoulder and over at the nightstand.

The book, rose and ring all meant something important to Colt and I would bet a week’s meal that they all had one thing in common; Hailey. The meaning behind the rose and ring would be difficult to weasel out of people but eventually I knew that I would get answers, what had me worried the most was that book. I couldn’t even read let alone find out what it meant so that was going to take me some time to crack which left me thinking about who I would have teach me how to read.

A smile formed on my face when I thought of Jackie. When I left the bedroom I noticed Colt leaning against the apartment door. His arms were folded across his chest and his brows were settled into a frown. Having no clue as to what I had done to warrant his wrath this time I simply mimicked his posture.

“What?” I spoke with a shrug.

His face twisted even more as he let out a quite growl. “You’re such an inconvenience.”

My mouth fell open in shock. “What?”

He pushed himself off of the door and then turned to open it. “Nothing, just hurry it up already.”

I let my arms fall to my side as I watched him leave the apartment. What the hell did I do now? I wondered angrily as I marched after Colt. I mean really he was endearing and sweet one moment and the next his was this evil bastard. I clenched my hands into fists as I neared the stairs and followed him down.

I caught him right after we left the apartment building and latched my hand onto his wrist. “What’s the hell are you mad about now?” I snarled at him.

He didn’t even bother to turn around to face me. He simply jerked his arm free and kept on walking. I was completely outraged at the fact that he was now ignoring me and ran back over to him only this time I got up in his face.

“You can’t be pissed at me for no apparent reason and then ignore me Colt!”

He growled low as a warning and when I didn’t back down he lowered his face down towards mine. “I said it was nothing so back off Allison or I’ll make you regret it.” He seethed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I screeched. “Five minutes ago you were yelling at me for smelling like Kirk and then you were hugging me and now this! I can’t believe you! Screw you Colt. I’m pissed off at you now so how do you like that?” I spun around on my heels before he could growl out a single word and marched in the direction of the bar. Damn I needed a drink.