Chasing Charlie

Should I Go?

"Where the fuck is she?" Luke was sitting on the bed when the door slammed open, his huge brother standing in the doorway, wearing only a pair of gym shorts, which let his Luke know that he'd recently shifted.

"Liam, calm down. I needed to keep her safe. That's why-" Luke was on his feet, putting himself between his raging brother and the bathroom door. He knew Charlie was out of the shower and had been for at least twenty minutes, and now he was willing her not to come out of the bathroom.

Liam stepped into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"That's why you lied to my guards? That's why the entire pack says that some beautiful little human redhead is your mate?" He growled the last words and Luke blinked at him, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What bothers you the most brother? That I lied to you, or that I said that she's my mate." Another growl was torn from Liam's throat in response. "I think both of us know why that can't be true. She can't be my mate because-"

"Stop." Liam, shouted the word. "She isn't mine either. I would know it by now."

"And you don't think that acting like an insane person for a year over her might be a sign that there's something between you. She's all you can think about? Right? You don't want anyone else? You're insanely jealous at the thought of me marking her?" Another growl. "I did you both a favor by bringing her here. And she does need to be protected right now. Her ex is dangerous."

"Although I'd say considerably less dangerous with that chunk you took out of his-" Charlie walked into the room, her hair pulled up into a wet ponytail, wearing his jersey without a bra, his boxer shorts slung low over her hips.

"Don't say it, Red."

Liam fell silent, his eyes following Charlie as she walked into the room, wearing his brother's clothes. Luke knew that she couldn't sense it, but he could feel his brother's wolf just under the surface.

"Did you order that pizza, Luke?" she asked without looking at him, her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes on Liam's face as if she were trying to figure something out.

"Not yet, it's only four thirty."

"Maybe you should go pick it up. I need to talk to your brother. So he isn't upset with you for saving my ass." Her voice was quiet and serious and she walked to stand beside Luke, brushing her shoulder lightly against his.

"I said I haven't even ordered it." He wasn't sure if she knew exactly what she was getting herself into. He was certain she was Liam's mate, and that he wouldn't hurt her, but his brother also didn't seem like himself at the moment.

"Why don't you go order it in person."

"I'm not sure I want to leave you two alone in my room." Luke made a face that made Charlie laugh.

"Nothing is going to happen between us, Goober." Luke caught the way his brother's eyes darkened at her words. "But if you're worried I'm sure Alpha Liam here would be more than happy to take me to his office so I can answer whatever questions he has for me. Then he can stop looking at me like I'm going to burn down his entire world."

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Ten minutes later Luke was on his way to order the pizzas and pick up sodas, along with a few other things that Charlie had requested, and Charlie was sitting on a couch in Liam's enormous office. The couch, along with several huge overstuffed chairs, and a loveseat, were placed facing each other towards the very back of the enormous space, surrounded by windows. 

This was where Liam often met with the other leaders of his pack to discuss important pack matters. But now he was there alone with Charlie, whose legs were folded under her body as she waited for him to say whatever it was he wanted to say to her.

"None of this was your brother's fault." Charlie began after several minutes of silence, in which Liam couldn't even bring himself to look at her.

"I told him not to bring you here."

"He didn't know where else to take me." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "But if you want me to, I can disappear tonight. Just help me get past the borders of your land, because I don't really want to try to slip past werewolves. A girl has to have limits." She ran a hand roughly through her hair.

"Where would you go?" He looked up at her for the first time, his eyes sweeping over her body. The bruises he could see, which stood out so starkly against her fair skin, made his stomach turn.

Her neck looked the worst and he couldn't stop staring at it. The bruises were so dark and he had no doubt that if his brother hadn't gotten home when he did that the bastard would have killed her. But there were other bruises too. He could see bruises on her upper arms and dark, purple bruises on her wrists. There was a shade of purple along her lower jaw on the left hand side. His eyes swept lower, and he could see bruises on her thighs. And that was only what was visible. His stomach turned, his wolf clawing in his chest to get out and hunt down the bastard who had hurt her. Her voice pulled him back into the room.

"I don't know. I don't think I can go back to campus just yet. I will probably call first thing tomorrow and ask to take the semester off. I was planning on doing that tomorrow morning no matter what and telling them that I was sexually assaulted and that I need some time to heal."

The words hung in the air between them and he swore under his breath. He drew in a slow breath, and for once in his life was at a loss for words. Still the question must have been written on his face.

"Your brother saved me from being raped. He didn't save me from everything else that Brendan wanted to do to me."

She dropped her eyes to her hands which were in her lap. "I'm fine. It's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

She shook her head as if she were clearing it before looking back up at him. "If you say I can't stay here then I'll leave, if you promise me that your brother won't be punished. I'll hitchhike west. And I guess that's all you need to know because I won't be your problem anymore."

"No." He mumbled the word, shaking his head, his wolf ready to burn the whole world down.

"No what?" she asked, reaching for a blanket that was thrown over the back of the couch, and pulling it over her legs.

"No you aren't leaving. You aren't going anywhere. You're staying here, with me." Charlie raised her eyebrows.

"I'm staying with your little brother, Alpha." Everytime she said his title she sounded so sassy and defiant. It was driving him half insane, and by the look she gave him every time she did it, he was fairly certain that she realized exactly what she was doing.

"I mean everyone here already thinks that he's my mate." She bit her lip as she looked up at him. "Maybe we should just keep playing it up and being all lovey dovey." Liam growled lowly as she leaned forward, meeting her eyes. "Maybe I should even let him mark me. Just to make it look real for everyone." She tilted her head to the side and touched the spot that Luke had told her was where wolves marked their mates.

The door to the office flew open and Luke stood in the doorway carrying two boxes of pizza and looking upset, with a tall, muscular man standing behind him. Charlie's head snapped in his direction. Only Liam's eyes remained fixed on Charlie, a growl bubbling up from the depths of his chest in response to the way she'd been teasing him.

"Mine." He growled out and the entire room went silent, all eyes turning in his direction. Even Charlie had a vague idea of what his words meant.

"Mate."

A/N- I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you did I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.

This is Chapter Five, but don't worry the entire story will be posted here in the next few weeks. This entire story is already up on Patreon for anyone who can't wait that long, along with many others under "The Alpha and The Red Head." And for those of you who want more stories, long and short, right this second and who want to read Patreon exclusive short stories, you may also want to check out the link below:

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