Oh Hell No

Chapter 11

Ryder never tried to open the door. He didn't even knock. If it weren't for the fact that Jamie could hear him approach, she wouldn't have known he came back at all.

Once she gathered the courage, which took a little too long, she risked opening the door to see a plate with a couple slices of pizza. One cheese, one pepperoni. Something about that dish was enough to bring another round of tears, and as much as she wanted to slam the door to avoid looking at the food longer, she grabbed the plate. She made sure to close and lock the door again, not wanting anyone to see her cry. It was such a simple gesture, one she couldn't even be sure he was conscious of. She had been such a jerk to him and yet he still made sure to add diversity to the plate, in case she didn't like a certain topping. If they had more options downstairs then she was sure they too would have made an appearance on the dish.

It was oh-so-tempting to hurl the plate and its delicious contents at the wall, but she decided against it. After choking down a couple bites she set it down on Ryder's nightstand for later. She wasn't feeling that hungry anymore.

She laid on his bed, facing a wall for what felt like hours, feeling like shit. Artemis had gone quiet too; there was nothing she could say to make Jamie feel worse. Eventually, she heard footsteps coming this way, which wasn't entirely unusual since there were still other people out and about. This person didn't continue on though, they stopped outside the door and a couple seconds later a girl threw open the door without knocking. Werewolf one, lock zero. Useless piece of human tech, she thought bitterly, preparing to chew out the newcomer.

The shorty beat her to it, "What the hell did you do to my brother?" Brother? What is she- oh, Ryder, she realized, "I mean normally I'd assume it was his fault because, I mean, when isn't it? But he looked like a kid whose dog got hit by a car, and only I'm allowed to traumatize him like that."

Jamie stared at her, "It was his fault," Not really, "He should know not to mess with an angry she-wolf by now. Just be glad I didn't kick him where the sun don't shine."

To her surprise, the girl laughed, "Well, that's my brother for you. He doesn't know the slightest thing about women. I'm Sadie," She plops down on the edge of the bed, apparently missing Jamie's frown, "I have the feeling we're going to be good friends."

"I don't," Jamie blurted out, too worn out to feel guilty.

Sadie laughed again, "That's what they all say," She claimed evilly, before laying down facing towards Jamie, "So what'd you do to get Ryder's boxers in a twist?"

"I ran away and almost got myself killed," She answers honestly, determining that she wouldn't leave until all her questions were answered. It made for quite the unlikable combination in most cases, and Jamie could only hope that this wouldn't be one of those cases.

"Wait, if you're mates then why would you run?" She questions, "I know he can be a bitch, but isn't the whole bond-thing supposed to get you to ignore that?"

"Ryder sent you up here to interrogate me, didn't he?" She fires back, ignoring the question. She couldn't even explain her reasonings, or rather, her fears to him, so why would he expect her to open up to his sister?

She scoffs, "Please, I wouldn't spy for him if he paid me," She pauses, "Well, maybe if he paid me. Anyway, I was sent to ask if you wanted to go shopping, since you only have one pair of clothes, and you probably don't want to wear Ryder's most of the time."

On one hand, Jamie did need new clothes, and if they were offering to pay then she should really take advantage of it. On the other hand, she really didn't want to go out with Sadie and any number of pack members. Getting free things definitely sounded like the best option, whether she decided to stay or leave. It was understandable for her to be torn on the decision of her future, especially with how much the mate bond influenced her and especially Artemis. Not that she'd ever admit that indecision.

"Is Ryder going to come?" She decides to ask.

"Do you want him to?" Sadie replies easily.

"Not really."

She sits up, "Then he won't. I'll make sure of it. I'm not afraid to threaten his precious baseball card collection, or maybe I can tell you about the time he stabbed his old babysitter with a fork!" They say each and every child is unique, but even that word cannot possibly describe someone who would attack a sweet, middle-aged woman because of a tantrum. In his defense, he was only five at the time, and could not for the life of him remember why he did it. And yet, his parents brought up the story at least once a year.

"As much as I'd love to hear that story, I don't think he wants to be anywhere near me right now," Jamie tried to convince herself that the feeling was mutual, but it was hard to ignore Artemis's whining.

Sadie, wisely, kept her mouth shut regarding that comment, silently wondering what had happened, "If you don't mind, I know Astral and Chelsie wanted to come along, and I think they were gonna rope Devin into coming with. Devin is Chelsie's mate by the way."

"If he's her mate then why isn't he the gamma?" Packs tended to be sexist like that, reserving most of the main roles for males, almost subconsciously. Stuck-in-their-ways sons of bitches.

"Because Devin hadn't shown up until after she was named gamma?" Sadie said dismissively, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "And besides, he would absolutely suck at that job."

Without warning, Sadie grabbed her by the arm, dragging Jamie to another bedroom. She assumed it was Astral's room, since she was digging through the closet. A couple different shirts and pants had been tossed onto her bed. After a few seconds, she took notice of them, "Hey guys. Jamie, as a peace offering for earlier you can borrow whatever you'd like for our shopping trip, since I'm guessing you want to look like a girl."

Jamie glanced down at her attire, which consisted of a black band tee and Nike basketball shorts. She could tell that she had a bra and underwear on under it, but the rest of this outfit didn't fit properly, "Water under the bridge," It wasn't.