Book 1 in the Clearwater series
Maybelle Smith, or Rose as she is more known, is about as stereotypical as you get when it comes to a teenager. She hates school, her brother pisses her off, sarcasm is her first language, and she can't stand her math...
My everything hurts. No matter how still I lay, I must breathe, and that doesn't bode well for broken ribs. Leah's hands gently graze over my body, making sure I haven't fractured anything. Aside from the burning pain shooting through me at every touch, I'd say I'm alright.
I don't look at Leah as she works, instead turning my gaze to the ceiling. I'm worried about Rose. After Wilfred was chased off, Rose was taken to the pack doctor. Even now I can feel that awful sickness in the pit of my stomach that hit me when she fell. Luckily, she just seems to have passed out from stress and over exertion.
Thinking that makes a grimace form on my face. It's partially my fault isn't it? I sigh, closing my eyes. I should've known something like this would happen after everything that's been happening lately. What really pisses me off is that Wilfred couldn't even control himself enough to keep from attacking his mate.
God, I swear when my rib heals I'm gonna kick the shit out of him. He'd probably take it too. A tired groan runs through me. Rose should be fine; her beta is watching over her and Alpha Rick is already compiling ways of how to kill Wilfred.
I huff slightly in laughter, immediately regretting the action as searing pain hits my side. "Fuck." I whisper, my breath coming out in small pants. From the other side of the room, I hear Tristan's chuckle. Throwing him an evil sideways glare, he quickly shuts up.
I open my mouth to say something, but before I can get the words out, the front door is thrown open with enough force to rattle the hinges. We all look over to the noise on high alert, my previous pain almost forgotten.
From beyond the door, Wilfred marches in, a murderous look on his face. Without skipping a beat he kicks at the side table just to the left of the door, sending it and the items on top of it crashing to the ground. He breathes heavily, as if he had just run a marathon, and quickly scans the room. His deadly green eyes land on Tristan and he growls. Tristan's eyes widen to the size of saucers, his legs tripping over each other to escape Wilfred, who crosses the room.
Before any of us can react, Wilfred grips Tristan and lifts him up to his level. "Was it you?" He snarls, his eyes swirling in anger. Tristan wiggles in his grip, a look of shock encompassing his face.
"What? W-Wilfred I don't know what you're talking about!" He says desperately, fear beginning to set in. Wilfred shoves him into the wall roughly, earning a pained cry from the poor, trapped wolf.
"You always had it out for her!" Wilfred screams in a voice I've never heard him use. Leah, finally snapping out of the shock, rushes over to grab Wilfred.
"Stop!" She yells, but Wilfred doesn't budge.
Tristan cowers under the intensity of Wilfred's gaze, desperately clawing at his iron grip. "I don't know what you're talking about!" I try sitting up to help, but I can't get more than an inch off the couch without falling back down.
The sound of feet approaching hits my ears, and both Matthew and TJ appear from the stairs. Matt's eyes fly to Wilfred, and he gapes in astonishment. "What the hell are you doing?" He demands, both of them running over to help Joyce restrain Wilfred. It takes some muscle, but they manage to pry Wilfred away from Tristan, who ducks away from them all.
Wilfred, ignoring Tristan's escape, begins to struggle against the three holding him back. "Let me the fuck go!" He orders in a desperate tone. Wilfred's head snaps around to me, his eyes almost inhuman. "Who was it?" He roars, as if I even know what he's talking about. When I don't answer, he starts struggling again, throwing TJ to the ground.
Joyce ends up on his back while Matt knocks him onto his knees. Wilfred snaps at them all like a madman, any shred of my friend completely gone. I swing my legs around to force myself into an upright position, ignoring the tremendous pain. My not as wounded hand reaches across to clutch my side.
Through the thick wave of pain threatening to drown me, I glare at Wilfred. "What are you talking about?" I grit, my words tasting like blood as I speak.
Wilfred snarls at me, his wolf flickering beneath his expression. "Maybelle." He rumbles in a dangerously low voice.
We all tense up at the name, each becoming more emotional by the second. Tristan is scared, TJ and Joyce are both confused, but Matthew and I are pissed. I'm sure Matthew would've said something if I didn't, but I was so much faster. Raising my voice, I sneer down at my alpha. "What the fuck more do you want to do to her? She's been through enough! I don't care if you hate her or what, but that doesn't give you the right to—"
"I love her!" His scream cuts me off, and we all go silent. Wilfred breathes heavily, his expression slowly falling until he can't even hold my gaze and drops his head to let his light hair hide his face.
Matthew's the one to fill the silence. "What the hell do you mean?" He asks.
Even from here, I can see Wilfred's body tense up. "It means I love her so much that for every damn second that I have to be away from her it makes me want to fucking rip myself apart, and for every second of every fucking day I can't believe my own damn bad luck that my life is a shit show!" He screams, his head still hung.
His words hit me hard, like it's the first time he's ever really spoken. It pisses me off. "Then why the hell did you reject her?" I growl. Wilfred's head snaps back up to look at me, but this time his eyes hold a deep sadness coated in a fiery determination.
"I was protecting her!" He snaps, never breaking my gaze. I give him a questioning look, and Wilfred just sighs. We all wait for him to answer our unspoken question; from what? "Connor. He promised to take everyone I loved, and I believed him. He took mom, dad, and even himself. The few people I loved just disappeared without a trace. She's all that's left. I couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt because of me, so I just cut myself out of her life entirely." He explains, each word sounding painful as they leave his lips.
Matt growls, shoving Wilfred hard enough to make him meet his eye. "What would make you think that was a good idea?" He barks.
Wilfred lowers his gaze sadly. "Better to be bitter than dead," is all he says, but it still gets Matthew to slink back. "But it doesn't matter anymore." He mutters.
Joyce's soft voice is next to ring out. "Why?"
There's a second of intense silence. I hold my breath, afraid of what he'll say next, and when he finally does, I know why. "Connor knows she's my mate, and he wants her." He spits.
Tensions rise in the room, everyone growing a little stiffer. My expression grows hard, and I desperately try to contain my want to simply collapse where I sit. "How?" I hiss through clenched teeth.
Wilfred's eyes meet me once more, but I feel that in this moment, his expression mirrors mine. His eyes narrow threateningly, but the anger in them isn't directed at me. "There's a mole in the pack."
***
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
