When The Wolves Come Out

Chapter 18

Ethan takes me into his bedroom and tells me to sit down. I fall back onto his bed whilst he stands in front of me, concern etched onto his face.

He opens his mouth to speak, but suddenly sees my hair and reaches out to run his fingers through it.

"I like this." He smiles, but I'm too suspicious to thank him.

"What do you wanna tell me?"

He takes a deep breath, taking his hand away from my hair. "I don't want you to talk to Grayson ever again."

"What?" I can't comprehend any other words. Where was this coming from? So what if Grayson was a bit of a flirt? It wasn't doing me any harm.

"You heard me, Ash. He's bad news. Just stay away from him. I can't have you talking to other guys whilst I'm your mate."

"You don't own me, Ethan." I scoff. "Like I'm going to cheat on you with your own brother!"

"He's dangerous!" Ethan yells, making me lean back in shock.

I quickly recover, growing in confidence. "You don't have the right to boss me around! First you tell me that you're super-human, then make me run away from the people who I care about most, and now you're telling me what I can and can't do? You may be my mate, Ethan, but you're sure not acting like it."

I get up to leave, anger bubbling inside of me.

"Ash," Ethan growls. I ignore him and twist the door handle. "Ashlyn Rose Brookes! Come back here!"

"Suck my ass!" I raise a middle finger at him behind my back before shutting the door behind door.

Only when I leave, I don't feel powerful or proud that I stood up to him. I feel lonely. We'd just gotten into a stupid argument that would surely last for at least a few days. What have I done?

I turn back to face the door, my fingers hovering on the handle before I clench my hand into a fist, forcing myself to turn away. I only hear silence from the other side.

I head back downstairs to where the chatter is coming from.

As I'm looking around, I can't see Grayson anywhere. Luke, Lacey and Gemma all give me a smile which I weakly return before rushing out the front door. I needed fresh air to take my mind off of things.

After half an hour, I find myself in a tangle of woods. It's cold and I wished I'd brought a jacket, but apparently I was too angry to think about my warmth.

I shudder, rubbing my bare arms when I hear a rustling sound. I turn my head around, frantically looking for where the sound came from.

Rustling again.

I look up to see a wolf. It was bigger than usual, with a beautiful grey coat and soft brown eyes. It stares at me and I stare back, not knowing whether to run or freeze.

It takes a step towards me.

I push out my arms in front of me. "No. Don't come any closer." My voice echoes around the trees, eventually being lost within the mist of woods.

The wolf takes another step. I take in a sharp breath.

"Please," I whisper, my voice barely audible.

Another step. There's something in the wolf's eyes that soften, and it tilts it's head to the side. I don't feel so afraid.