Often Hushed

Chapter Three (Part 2)

~:September 7th, 2010:~ 

"No." Sabrina harrumphed at me, propping a hand up on her hip. My teeth ground together behind downturned lips. Her eyes were a dangerous black, and she warned me with a growl as I took a step closer. "You cannot touch my boyfriend."

Jared, being the fifteen-year-old idiot that he was, had decided that dating was the solution to his hormone fueled problems. The fourteen-year-old bobble-headed wolf he was sucking face with, however, was probably the worst element of the decision. I tilted my head to the side and studied her blandly, puckering my lips. 

"Are you trying to say that I have no right to hang out with my own best friend?" I asked. My eyes flashed, and even though she tried not to, Sabrina visibly flinched.

"That's right." she muttered. "And I know you're jealous, so please just back off already. He's obviously chosen me over you." She flipped her hair over her shoulder nervously, but her eyes stubbornly remained on mine.

My mouth hung open, jaw unhinged. Had I just heard her right? She thought that I lusted over my best friend and closest packmate? My wolf took her glaring eyes on as a challenge, and was furious at my refusal to give in.

"EXCUSE ME??!" I screeched at her, words escaping too loudly from my throat. I felt the need to shift overcome me, and the white-hotness of rage made my vision spin. My claws yearned to break through my skin and rip across Sabrina's insolent throat. "You think that I am jealous of you two being together?"

I must have taken her off guard because it seemed to take a while for her to respond. Her face had turned a mottled purple under her heavily applied layer of makeup.

"Yeah, I do!" she squeaked. Her panicked eyes hinted at her fear, but she continued on. "Because you are the damned brat of this pack! Supreme daughter of the Alpha pair! You always wave this power over everyone's head, like you can do no wrong.”

"You must be kidding. You two aren’t even Mated! You, unlike me, are a placeholder!!" I shouted, furious. My hands clenched and unclenched, while my teeth gnawed on my lower lip. I glared at her spitefully.

She inhaled through her nose loudly. Her eyes closed for a second, and then her spineless façade was back. “ Va-ness-a," Sabrina spat snidely. I was at a loss for words. She’d ignored me! Sabrina's mother and father were the fourth-ranked pair of the pack, and she acted like more of a queen than I ever should have. “You unMated bitch!”

She came forward and shoved me, hard. Her eyes bore into my head like piercing daggers, a direct challenge to the upcoming Alpha. In my shock, I stumbled back, trying to process what I'd just heard. My dominant wolf was howling madly inside of me, and I ached to join in.

The hollow where my heart used to beat became numb, and my throat just wouldn't cooperate with me. "I can't believe that you thought that Jared would ever come to your aid. If you hadn't noticed, he really doesn't care about you anymore. Now he has me." she hissed it out, and lunged again.

Her Shifted nails raked across my face. I felt the heat, smelled the blood, and for a frightening moment was blinded. I couldn’t blink away the red… and I still couldn’t shift! Sabrina sliced over and over again, shredding my lips and filleting my ears.

I heard her low, primal growl, but could still feel human fingers pinning me down. I resisted the urge to whimper under my enemy, but I couldn’t bring myself to struggle! I couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t!