Their Terrified Mate

Chapter Ten

Since Henry's started school, my days have become monotonous. Alpha James and Dennis stop by every now and then, but I don't know what to say to them and I'm not comfortable with them being in my room when I'm alone. They haven't done anything to me, but I'm terrified of them.

I wake up early in the morning to get Henry ready for school, but by the time I walk him there and get back I have almost eight hours of nothingness before I go back to pick him up.

For the first week, I spend most of the time in my room, skipping lunch. There is a TV in the room, and after a couple of hours on Henry's first day of school, I figured out how to use it.

We used to have a TV in the living room when I was a kid, but I still had a hard time figuring out how to use this one. I guess technology has changed a lot since I was a kid, because now there's no DVD player or cable and instead are a bunch of apps on the TV to watch things on.

When I finally figured out how to make the TV work, I find all of the apps daunting so I choose the one I've heard of before, Netflix. It's already signed in and I spend my time watching the shows and cartoons that I used to enjoy with my mom as a child.

This has gotten old after a while, and after finishing another show, I'm restless, sitting on the bed. I pace around the room for a while. I can't help but feel like I'm failing. I'm supposed to find my place in this pack, but it's hard when I don't even want to leave the room by myself.

I decide that I need to get over my anxiety and maybe go on a walk while Henry is in school. It takes some talking to myself to open the door to our room, but I decide that no matter what happens, it's not like it can be worse than anything I've experienced before.

I walk around the street, not sure where I'm going, just trying to explore the town some more. I kick a pebble at my feet as I walk, not paying much attention until I end up at the training grounds. I know that Alpha James and Dennis are around here somewhere, so I get closer, looking for them.

When I see them, my breaths come out short and I can feel my face warm up. They're both shirtless and hotter than hell.

They're sparring with one another, and neither of them appear to be either losing or winning, they're so evenly matched. As they fight, I'm mesmerized, and can't help but move closer to get a better view. It's like watching a well choreographed dance. They're beautiful, the way they move.

I don't know how long I'm watching, but after a while they stop and talk to one another, and I can see Alpha Dennis point in my direction. I realize that they must have noticed me watching them, and I feel embarrassed and scared. Who knows how they'll react to being watched. I don't even know if that's something I'm allowed to do.

I turn around, intent on getting back to mine and Henry's room, when I hear two pairs of footsteps running behind me.

"Noel, wait," I hear Alpha Dennis say, and I almost start running to get away from him, but his scent pulls me back and I turn around.

He stops running when he gets to me and I'm stuck face to chest, staring at the sweat that's dripping down his front. I take in a sharp breath at the sight and have to pull myself away from staring at his abs in order to look up at his face.

"Hey," he smiles, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh," I say, "I, uh, I don't know," I stutter as Alpha James stops next to Alpha Dennis and I'm stuck in front of the two hottest men I've ever seen.

I feel a blush all over my body, but they don't say anything about it and Alpha James smiles sweetly at me.

"Were you wanting to train?" Alpha Dennis asks, excitedly, "we can show you some fighting techniques."

"Oh, no," I say, "I've never fought anything before." I feel a little bitter about this, but Cam never let me near the training grounds in our pack. Probably because it would be harder to hurt me if I knew how to defend myself.

"That's okay," Alpha Dennis says, and it's honestly cute how excited and sincere he seems, "we can still show you some basics, maybe even some self-defense techniques."

I look at the training grounds nervously and shake my head. "It's okay," I mutter.

Alpha Dennis looks disappointed and I already regret saying no. But the idea of having to fight against these alphas, their large bodies against mine, strikes fear into my heart. I take a deep breath, but it comes out in a panicked stutter.

I don't want to, but my mind goes to Cam, how he would laugh whenever I would struggle against him. No matter how hard I tried, I was always weaker than him and I always would be.

"I," I start to say, but I can't get the words out. I need to get out of here, I need to be alone. When I'm out in the open like this, I'm vulnerable, and these alphas could hurt me and there's nothing I can do about it.

"Love?" I hear Alpha James say, "it's okay. You don't have to train with us."

I just shake my head. He doesn't get it. I can feel hands all over me, and a large body crushing the words out of me.

"Noel?" I hear Alpha Dennis say, and he's panicking. Why is he panicking? There must be danger. I don't even consider that he's panicking because of me.

I turn around and run. I need to get to safety and I run as fast as my legs will carry me. I barely register someone whistle at me as I run.

"Hey sweet thing," he says, "what's the rush?"

My entire being screams danger and I barely register him calling me a bitch when I run past him.

I keep running until I get to the pack house and to my room, where I close and lock the door. I can feel Cam all over me, but it's worse, I feel like I'm dying. My lungs can't get enough air and I wonder if this is it. I almost want to die, but I can't leave Henry, and I panic more as I gasp for air and it's still not enough.

Some part of me knows that this isn't real, the part of my brain that is telling me I'm safe, and I try to focus on that, but it's hard. I can still feel Cam's body holding me down, his breath in my ear. I start to cry.

Somehow, that's what breaks me out of it. I never cried when Cam hurt me, too focused on surviving to waste time on tears, and I can hear frantic knocking on my door.

"Noel?" Alpha Dennis says, "Noel, can you hear me?"

"Are you okay, love, what's wrong," Alpha James says.

I only cry harder, but I also feel an unfamiliar emotion, embarrassment. My wolf is embarrassed at the way we acted in front of our mates, how we ran away from them.

I want to ignore them, don't want to open the door and let them see me, the mess I've become, but the embarrassment at how I've acted turns to guilt. I can't just ignore them. My wolf is screaming at me to go to my mates, to seek comfort in them.

The knocking doesn't stop and I take a shaky breath, tears streaming down my face. I kind of want to hide, but my wolf urges me forward until I unlock the door. The knocking stops and I pause for a moment, not yet opening the door.

"Noel?" I hear Alpha James say, "let us in, love."

"Whatever is wrong, we'll protect you," Alpha Dennis says.

That makes me cry harder. No one has ever protected me. And I open the door, vision blurry with my tears.

"Oh baby," Alpha Dennis says, "what's wrong?"

I just shake my head, not knowing what to say. How can I possibly even explain this to them?

"Come here, little love," Alpha James says, and I don't stop him as he moves closer to me and gives me a large hug.

I shouldn't enjoy this, I should be panicking, but my wolf is basking in his scent, and it calms me. Even when Alpha Dennis joins the hug and I'm pressed against their two large bodies, I'm not afraid.

That realization causes the tears to fall harder and I sob into Alpha James' shirt.