Bark Or Bite

Chapter 17

"Hey." My voice comes out softer than I thought it would. Cam makes slight eye contact with me, but looks away quickly. Max approaches me.

"Hey." He looks into my dark brown eyes with his baby blue ones.

"Can we talk?" It gets increasingly harder to make eye contact with him. I look around him and glance at Cameron. He hangs his head down to avoid me.

"Talk." Max responds harshly.

"I don't really know what to say other than I'm really sorry." My words are stuck. I thought about what I would say over and over again, but when the time came, I couldn't say anything.

"Sorry's not good enough." Cam speaks up. I cringed when I can feel the pain in his voice. Where's Grandpa John when you need him?

"Listen Cameron, I'm sorry, okay? What I did was stupid. I was still getting use to not being around Ian and I was adjusting to everything. Haven't you ever been in love? Ian had my heart and it seemed like the only thing I was being told was what I couldn't do. I'm only sixteen. I make mistakes. The important thing is that I learn from them. I love you guys and I can't make it without you. You're my best friends, my pack, my brothers. Please forgive me. Please." My voice dwindles down to a whisper. I put all I have into my words. If they don't forgive me now, I don't think they ever will be able to.

Max sighs while looking up at me. "I forgive you." Half of the weight lifts off of my shoulders. I smile and feel tears pricking the back of my eyes. I embrace Max and melt when his arms wrapp around me also.

Cough cough. Max lets me go when we remember that Maximus is standing behind us.

"Cam?" I stare at Cameron with my heart in my hands, awaiting his response. "I really am sorry." My heart drops when he hesitates. Cameron takes a step towards me and stares me in the eye.

"You hurt me, Hannah. You don't know how hard it is to just forget about that." I fight back the tears to keep my voice from breaking. I can't just have Max forgive me. Max isn't Max without Cam.

"I'm not asking you to forget it. I'm only asking you to forgive it." I feel a hot tear run down my cheek
Maximus growls lowly.

"It's hard, Hannah." He shakes his head. I hear his voice crack and he sends me a sly smile as he fights back tears. I wonder if he cried at all. Max would tell me.

"I know Cameron. I'm not myself without you. My pack is not my pack without you." My voice betrays me as it cracks.

"Okay." He spakes so low a human wouldn't hear.

"Okay?" I ask hopefully.

"Okay." He raises his head slightly and looks me in the eye.

"Okay." I laugh and smile brighter than I have in what felt like years. He returns it. Before I can move Cameron wraps me in a bear hug and picks me up off my feet.

"I missed you so much." I feel his smile against my ear and smell his scent that I missed so much.

"Okay, okay. I'm happy you're happy now let go of my mate." Maximus clenches his jaw and takes Cam's hands from around my waist.

"It's about time you kids settled that. Now enough. Let's form a plan. With you as alpha, Hannah, and Cameron as Beta, most of the ideas come from you. Maximus you help Hannah. All orders will fall into place from you two."

"Okay. Where do we think the attacks will come from?" Maximus lets me go and focuses on the task at hand.

"Honestly I think there's enough of them to surround us. They don't have to breathe. They can come from the water as well as the land."

"This is so sudden. Do you think they even took the time to plan an intricate route?"

"Probably not. From what I've gathered, they aren't being led by the council. They're being led by a rouge. The council will kill whoever we don't."

I remember Ian telling me about how vampires could go on alone as long as they didn't start trouble with the wolves. The council would step in and kill them if they did.

"Who's the leader? Who would be stupid enough to risk all these lives just to kill us?"

I think of the most careless, self-centered, idiotic person I know. Only one name comes to mind.

"Nik." I speak aloud.

"What?" Maximus turns to me.

"Nik." I repeat.

"Who's Nik?" He looks confused.

"Nik is Ian's older brother. He's self-centered, idiotic, and he wants to kill me. He's the one who triggered my instincts and introduced me to the supernatural world." I feel a hint of rage just thinking about him. Maximus growls lowly.

"She's onto something." Grandpa John rubs his chin. "I'll look into Nik. In the meantime, I need something from the both of you that no one is going to like." I lose eye contact with Grandpa John.

"Anything." Maximus and I speak simultaneously.

"I need you to watch Ian."

"What!?" Maximus loses his temper. I put my hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down, but it is already too late.

"I will agree with anything you want. Anything! But I will not let my mate be in the presence of that blood-sucker. You're her grandfather, but I'm alpha and her mate. I have first say in this." Maximus's jaw clenches and his body burns.

"Maximus, calm down." I whisper to him, but it's no use.

"Her life is on the line, Maximus. I don't like this any more than you do, but I wouldn't ask you to do it if there was another option." Grandpa John seems surprisingly calm.

"No." Maximus says flatly.

"Maximus. Stop. I'll do it." I speak up, slightly frightened. Grandpa John nods his head towards me.

"No. No way. No. Hell no. No, Hannah." Maximus shakes his head violently.

"Maximus, I'm not letting my pack die because you don't trust me to talk to a vampire."

"I trust you Hannah, it's him I don't trust."

"He won't hurt me." I look Maximus in the eyes. I see his fear and confusion. His love for me and his doubt about letting me go. Lastly, I see his pain from me trusting Ian to not hurt me.

"She may be the only connection we have to their plan, Maximus. I wouldn't insist on it if it wasn't necessary." Uncle John's soothing voice causes Maximus to relax his shoulders and his body temperature to cool.

"I love you, and I will always protect you." Maximus wraps me up so tightly that his arms overlap around my back. His lips crash to my forehead showing love instead of lust.

"I know. I love you too."

Thank you for reading!
The picture is Maximus.

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