Little Red

Chapter 11

Samuel's POV

The door of D's office bangs against the wall as I throw it open and storm inside.

"Don't bother knocking."  He remarks with a smirk.

My best friend sits with his feet propped up on the large mahogony desk in front of him, an amused smile on his face as his arms settle behind his head.

Best friend or not, I would love to smash his face in right now.

Taking in my pissed off expression, he removes his feet and leans forward, folding his hands in front of him.

"What's up with you?"  He asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"What's up with me??!"  I yell in frustration at his jovial tone.

"Um...yeah, what's up?"  He questions with a frown, throwing back the remainder of a drink.

"Do you see me?!"  I question.

His eyes observe me for a moment, narrowing slightly before they zero in on my ruined shirt.

He frowns.

"What happened to your shirt?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose to prevent myself from snapping.  He's testing my patience.

"What's wrong is your mate!  While you're hiding out in here like a coward, she's out there pulling silver knives on me!"

"I am not hiding."  He says petulantly - completely ignoring everything else I've said like the selfish bastard he is.

"Oh really?"

"I'm working."  He shrugs, leaning back further in his chair.

I look around his office dramatically.  

"Is that so?  Because you don't seem to be working to me!"  I gesture to the pristine, paperless desk in front of him.

His frown deepens, knowing I'm right.

"I'm taking a break."  He lies, looking down at his folded hands. 

We both know what he's doing.  He's hiding out up here so he doesn't have to face Ara and admit that he was a dick to her.  

I know for a fact that he hasn't gone up to his floor of the house since she's arrived, as I hear him sneaking in my guest bedroom every night.  Usually, I wouldn't say anything about it, leaving him to his own business.  But now, I'm getting caught up in his games and I don't have the patience for it.

I let out a sigh, preparing myself for this difficult conversation.

"Demitri, what are you doing?"  I ask, all traces of anger gone.

At my serious tone, he looks up.  He looks so young and lost in this moment, like the boy I grew up with.

I'm reminded of his first few months as Alpha.  He took his title through force, instead of rising to it naturally.  His father was brutal in his final years, willing to sacrifice everything in his vicious crusade for more - more land, more pack members, more of whatever he thought he could get his hands on.  For years, we could do nothing while he held Dark Night hostage except plan in secret.  Any wolves who dared to flee, were caught and executed in front of the entire pack.  The day of his 18th birthday, he finally challenged his father and became Alpha, and made me his Beta.  There were a lot of hard days, but we managed them together. 

"I don't know."  He admits quietly.

"Well you need to figure it out.  I don't want to be in the middle of this."