The Beauty And The Alpha-Beast (Completed)

Chapter Three

Seven years ago

We were playing around in the forest behind our pack house when it happened.

"Adrian!" I screamed in pain. Dropping onto the ground, every part of my body hurt like hell. I bent over in pain, knowing instantly what was happening to me.

"Belle!" Adrian came rushing and falling down beside me. He held me in his arms and started rubbing my back soothingly, whispering to me, "It's okay, it's going to be okay. I'm here. Don't be scared, don't resist it."

Every fibre and muscles inside me felt like it was tearing, it hurt so much I thought I would die, but hearing Adri's hush and comcerned voice made me feel just a tiny bit better. I concentrated on his voice, listening to what he was saying.

"Don't worry, I've already called our parents though the mind link, they'll be here before you know it. Once this process finishes, you'll be able to do the same too. Imagine that, you've always wanted to know how it feels right? Now you can get to experience it, finally." His voice was so gentle, though I could also hear the fear and worry he desperately tried to cover up. There was a slight tremble in his voice, though it still held on to the familiar firm and strong tone to it.

"But, it - hurts," I groaned, hugging him even tighter.

"I know, I know it hurts. But it'll be over soon, I promise. Everything will be fine. Just a while more."

"Belle!" Instantly, I recognised it to be my mother's voice. "How are you feeling?" Worry was thick in her voice. She tried to reach out to me, but I protested, diving further into Adrian's arms.

I could tell that my mum felt hurt but she patted me on my back instead.

"Now, Belle. This is your transformation. It hurts a lot, but I want you to calm down, you have to relax before the final turning can take place, if not your muscles will be too stiff and you cannot change. So, I want you to close your eyes and take deep breaths. Okay, now imagine something peaceful and happy and focus on that." Uncle John instructed me and I followed them.

Taking deep breaths, I thought about last year after Adrian had his transformation, he told me all about it excitedly, how he could change into his wolf form, how he could actually feel his wolf's presence inside of him and actually talk to him, how he felt so much stronger and faster, how he could communicate with the pack through the mind link. He was so happy to have finally changed into his wolf and told me about how he was going to start training his wolf's fighting skills, defence skills and speed as soon as he could. I guessed amidst all the enthusiasm, he had forgotten to tell me how painful the process felt, especially since I wasn't present during his transformation, though he had said he didn't mind.

"Good, continue to concentrate on the positive and happy thoughts, the final turning is going to happen. It won't be long now, but don't worry, don't panic, it will be over as soon as it starts. No matter what happens, I want you to remain calm." Uncle John said. 

I nodded against Adrian's chest, preparing myself for the worst. Suddenly, my mum stopped patting my back and Adrian said, "Belle, I'm going to have to let go now but I'll be here, okay?"

"NO!" I screamed, hugging him even tighter if that was possible as fear engulfed me as soon as he said that. No, he couldn't leave, he was my pillar of support, I needed him to hold me like this, to give me strength. 

"Honey, you have to let him go or he'll get hurt in your transformation process." My mum tried to explain to me and I heard her, I truly did, but there was a part of me I never knew I had, this stubborn and selfish part of me that wasn't thinking logically, so I continued to hold on to Adrian in a death grip, not letting him go away. 

"B-" Adri started to say but before he could even try to get any further away from me, my bones cracked. It started from my chest, where my heart was, at first slowly before the other parts broke simultaneously. The sound of the cracking of bones was loud and deafening, and the pain was simple indescribable. If I thought I was going to die just a while ago, then I really wondered how I survived this one, but I did. I survived it all, feeling all the pain overwhelming me in full force. Then came the binding, the binding of my bones into a new body structure. It didn't hurt as much, it was more of a sharp stinging pain. I could feel my body change into a crouching position, the bones that were torn joined back together to form a different structure. Slowly, I felt the stinging pain lessen into a dull one, it still hurt, but it was more of soreness than anything else. 

One by one, my sense returned to me. The first thing I noticed was that I was shivering, and the next was that everything was so loud, I could hear my parents asking me something, probably if I was alright, but i couldn't hear them properly, everything was in a mess. So was my sense of sight and smell, my vision was blurry, but I knew one thing for sure and that was that Adri wasn't beside me anymore. Where was he? I started to panic. And then it hit me - the scent of blood. I didn't know how I did, but I knew instantly that it belonged to none other than Adrian. 

I stood up suddenly, wanting to get to him, but my head became too dizzy I had to sit back down. I closed my eyes and forced my pounding heart to calm down. Once I was calm, I opened my eyes again and found that I could see better. Not just better, but better than I could ever before. Everything before me: the colours were sharper, I could spot things so much faster, especially with the help of my hearing. I could hear a fly just a little behind me and the running water from the river nearby, I could spot a leave falling onto the ground and a small crease on my mother's dress. 

After a while, my body became more adjusted and I felt much better. But my hearing was still too much, I could hear so many noises, so many voices in my head and it was really annoying, it was the kind of feeling you get when that shriek of the stupid alarm pierce through the silence of the early morning, waking you up for school and you hated it, but this time, I couldn't find the switch off button, so it kept ringing and ringing. 

"Belle, can you hear me? If you can, focus on my voice." All of a sudden, I heard my mother's voice amidst all the different voices. 

"Yes," I thought, focusing on her worried voice.

"Good, this is the mind link in our pack, that's why you can hear so many voices. All you have to do is to shut them down, one by one, focus on one and shut it down." She instructed.

Like she said, as soon as I imagined them being shut down, they automatically disappeared from my mind. And finally, it was peace and quiet. 

"You did good, Belle! I'm so proud of you!" I looked up to see my dad being an emotional wreck, pride practically radiating off of him. "Come give your daddy a hug!" He grinned. 

I chuckled internally and stood myself up. At first, my legs weren't strong and firm enough, it wobbled for a while before gaining strength. It felt like learning how to walk all over again. Cautiously, I took the first step towards my dad, and as soon as my paw hit the soft grass, I gained the confidence and momentum. Taking big long strides, something I have never done before as a human, I reached my dad and was pulled into a big bear hug. He ruffled my head, chanting, "Good girl! My girl is finally grown up." I groaned, which came out more like a whine of annoyance, while my dad chuckled. 

Out of the blue, I heard the scream that belonged to Adrian, my ears instantly perked up and everything from before returned to me. I distinctly remember that when I had my final turning, Adrian was in the way and got hit by the impact. He must have been pushed away and got hurt in the process. Guilt shot through my veins and I quickly asked my parents though the mind link, "Where is he?"

"In the living room," my dad replied and I was off, running towards the front door into our pack house. There on the sofa was where he laid, with his parents and our pack doctor crowding around him. Without wasting a moment, I ran towards him and sat down beside him. I searched through my mind for his voice and found it, at the same time shutting down all the rests'.

"I'm so, so sorry for hurting you! Please tell me that you are all right?" I thought, sending it directly to him through the link. 

"Belle, glad you finally made it. Don't worry about it, you weren't in control, you couldn't think properly. I'm fine, just a couple of bruised ribs. I should be healed completely after I change, everything is fine, don't worry."

I whined, still feeling bad and started nuzzling him to show him that I was sorry. 

He smiled at me, reaching out to stroke my head and run his fingers through my hair. "The same shade as your hair, so beautiful." He complimented me and I couldn't help the feeling of blissfulness that blossomed inside of me.

//

Present (Two years after Belle left for Australia)

"Look Derek, I have never gone out with you and I will never, ever go out with you, got it? Please stop calling me again." I hung up and threw my phone onto my bed. 

I groaned in frustration, what was wrong with that guy? Ever since I came over to Australia, Derek, someone from school, had been asking me to go out with him. I couldn't even remember how many times I had told him kindly that I wasn't interested in a relationship but he would just ignore me and never stop. If he were a better guy, I might have considered it, but he was one of those guys who played around, not even caring any girls' feelings, and didn't even feel bad about it. 

Usually, I would have rejected him smoothly, but tomorrow I would be going back home, back to my hometown, and it was stressful just thinking about going back and having to face him, hence I was so easily riled up. I still haven't told a single soul that he was my mate. 

The past two years in Australia had been a miserable one. Every single day here, I longed to return home, to where I belonged with my pack, with my best friends. Every day, I dreamt about the memories of the four us and so many memories of him. I have never noticed anything different, but when I think back on the two of us now, I realised that there was always this unexplainable chemistry between us, feelings I never had with Darlene and Chase. I was certain that what I felt towards him wasn't purely one of a strong friendship, it was something more. Every time he teased me, I would feel annoyed, but deep down, I would also feel special, because he paid attention to me, as wrong as that might sound. But he had always been so sweet to me, defending me when I got bullied, and complimenting me at times, everything he did had made me love him without me realising. I wouldn't say that I was in love with him, but I knew that I loved him, and that love, was much more than that for a friend. That much I was sure. 

And that by itself, made everything so much worse. Because I cared for him, so much so that I wouldn't know what to do if he rejected me again. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do. I hadn't talked to him for 2 years, he never called, and neither did I. I wasn't sure how he thought of me anymore, was he angry? Or worse, he might not even care anymore. I had known from Chase, whom I spoke to almost every day, that he was angry when he found out I left without even a goodbye, then afterwards he never mentioned me anymore. I also knew that after I left, Darlene and him had broken up in less than a week. He said he wasn't sure what exactly happened between them, but like he speculated, Adrian wasn't thinking clearly when he decided to go out with Dar. He later realised that doing that was unfair to both Darlene and his mate, so he broke it off. However, even though he didn't meant it, the damage was done on Dar and she became someone that Chase couldn't understand. Chase had sounded weird when he was talking about Dar, but when I asked him about it, he brushed it off. I never got a call from Dar, even though I did try to call her once or twice, but she ignored them. I found out from her Facebook page that she had been dating many people and getting involved in too many complicated relationships. I really couldn't understand why she was doing that, but I was really concerned, I wanted to know what happened, what caused her to become like this.

From what Chase said, I also found out that Adrian had changed. He wasn't the same sweet and outgoing boy from before. He mainly focused on the Alpha duties that he had taken over when he turned 17 and always seemed deep in thought. Even when he would hang out with the boys, he was always distracted. Hearing about all this, I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, knowing that I had been the cause of all of it, I was the one who affected both Darlene and Adrian, even Chase. He always sounded miserable on the phone, I guessed he must have felt very lonely, especially since his two other best friends were distancing themselves away from him too. 

Every night, I fall asleep with the dread and guilt of knowing what I had done to them. I have always wondered how it would be like when I finally returned, I knew for sure I wouldn't be welcomed. I didn't know what exactly happened between them but I knew that they were all angry at me for leaving without so much of a goodbye. And I blamed myself for it, I blamed myself all the time. Somewhere down the line, I had promised myself that when I returned, I would do everything I could to fix it, to fix whatever I had caused.

But the question was: would it be too late?

*~*

I was shifting nervously in my seat, looking out of the window to the familiar sight of the town I grew up in. Every time we passed by something familiar, I would recall the times I spent there with Adrian, Chase and Darlene. Nostalgia would fill me but it couldn't beat the sizzling pit of anxiety I felt inside my stomach.

My parents and I were on our way home, yet I wasn't ready, I wasn't ready to face him. I was so scared, but at the same time, I was excited too. I couldn't wait to be able to see him with my own eyes again, couldn't wait to be able to fill my nose with his scent. To see his face, to hear his laughter, everything. I missed him so much that it actually scared me. It scared me to think about how he might treat me, how he might reject me again, how I might go back hoping I could fix things, but end up making things worse and have everything I caused throw back in my face. What if there was nothing I could do? Nothing I could do to amend what I had caused. If that were the case, I would then have to live my entire life in regret, to know that I had broken our 15 years of friendship because I couldn't keep my feelings in check. 

"Honey, we're here," My mum told me gently, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded, knowing that this was it. I was home. 

Getting out of the taxi, I stood in front of our pack house, the house I left two years ago. Standing in front waiting patiently for us were Uncle John, Rose, Chase and of course, the alpha of our pack, Adrian. My wolf whined inside of me, from finally being able to see our mate again after two years. 

After my dad got our luggage out of the taxi, my parents moved forward to be greeted affectionately by Uncle John and Rose. They were always good friends and I knew that they all missed each other. I, on the other hand, didn't know how I should be acting, everything seemed so familiar and nostalgic, but for some reason it would feel awkward if I were to act too affectionate, probably because I felt guilty for my rash decision two years ago. 

"Belle!" Rose exclaimed when she finally diverted her attention onto me. 

Hearing her familiar gentle voice calling me, I ran into her arms without even thinking. "Rose! I missed you so much," I cried, hugging her tightly. 

"So have I, so have I. Look at you, you grew so much!" She began fussing over me, causing Uncle John and my parents to laugh. 

"Welcome back, child." Uncle John said to me when I gave him a hug. 

"Thank you, Uncle John, I missed you too," I told him and he returned a smile. 

When I got to Chase, I dived right into his arms, tears streaming down my face. "Who are you and what have you done to my Chase?" I cried. 

Chuckling at what I said, he replied, "I missed you too, Belle." The reason why I said that was because he had undergone a really great change. Long gone was the cute chubby boy with sandy blonde hair, and in place was a guy who was fit and handsome. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw him in person, though I knew who he was from the Facebook pictures he posted online. 

I smiled at him as he wiped my tears away. 

The last person I got to was none other than Adri, my Adri.

"Adri," I greeted, smiling nervously. 

"Adrian to you." He nodded back without smiling. And with that, he turned around and left. 

I frowned, not knowing how to react. Even though I had already guessed as much that he would act the way he did, my heart still felt like a knife just dived right through it. It hurt, just as much as before, if not more.

"I'm sorry Belle, Adrian has been a little hard to talk to recently. Forgive him, we're still trying to find a way to communicate with him." Rose told me apologetically. I nodded, feeling guilty, knowing that I was the one who had caused him to become who he was now.

Afterwards, we went into the pack house and Uncle John, still holding on to some power as an Alpha and would only pass on the full control to Adrian when he turned 18 in a few months time, listened to us take our oaths for the pack and granted us back in. 

The sudden rush of voices back into my head reminded me of when I first had my transformation. And everything eventually led me to think of him. 

"Welcome back," Uncle John told us again. My parents looked delighted to be able to be back, and so was I, as much as there were so many problems waiting for me to face. 

"I'll leave you guys to talk, I'm just going to go unpack my stuff," I told them and Chase carried my luggage, offering to go with me. I smiled at him gratefully.

Once we were in my room, Chase put down my luggage and faced me, frowning. "We need to talk."

"What's wrong?" I asked, throwing myself on my familiar bed. Looking around, I found that everything was left untouched. 

"Smell the room," He said. As weird as it sounded, what he was trying to drive at hit me face first as soon as he said that.

My whole room had the smell of my mate's scent. The only possibility of why this was the case was that he had spent a significant amount of time here. Why? I had no idea. 

"Not here, let's go somewhere else." I told him and he nodded. 

"Mum, Dad, we're just going for a run. We'll be back before dinner." I told my parents as we got down the stairs. 

"Sure honey, just be careful okay?" My mum said, smiling. She looked so happy, finally being reunited back with the pack, especially Rose who has been her childhood best friend. 

Chase and I got out of the house, but before we could leave, we saw Darlene heading home. When we reached each other, Dar looked a little surprised to see me. 

"So you're finally back?" 

"Dar, look, I can explain," I tried, but she held up her hand.

"Save it, I don't want to hear it." She said before walking away from us, her high heels clicking on the stoned pathway.

Beside me, I could feel Chase being as stiff as a rock. I looked up at him to see him grimacing.

I nudged him, making him blink and return from his thoughts. He nodded and we both went behind different trees to get undressed before changing into our wolves. 

Coming out of the trees, I saw Chase's huge sandy blonde wolf that I haven't seen in 2 years. Mine was light brown, sort of like chocolate blonde, whereas Adri's was dark brown and Dar's was a darker shade of blonde. A sudden rush of nostalgia was sent down my spine and I ran forward, pouncing on Chase, licking him affectionately while he chuckled, pushing me off of him playfully.

"Race you there!" I shouted to him through our mind link. 

And before he had time to react, I was already off, sprinting to our secret hideout as fast as I could, leaving Chase in my dust.

Adrian's POV

Seeing the both of them sprinting to our secret hideout, I felt a tinge of sadness. That used to be us four, together. Always together. Since when did that change? Since your birthday, since she left, my wolf answered me and that made me frustrated all over again.

Why I was so affected by her leaving, I didn't really know. I only knew that it was unfair for her to leave without so much of a goodbye. I still didn't know what she wanted to tell me on my birthday, I admit I freaked out and really shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that she was trying to tell me that she was my mate and yelled at her. But she didn't have to be so upset and left so quickly. That wasn't the Belle I knew. The Belle I knew was so much more calm and rational, always knowing what to do even in the worst situations. She always stood up for herself and never bowed down to anyone, yet she was also a people pleaser, if you were special to her, she would do anything to make you happy. She was that amazing. She was also the 'glue' among the four of us, every time we fought, she was the one who resolved it, she would think of the best solution to please us all. Once she left, the four of us grew apart slowly, because she was no longer there to pull us back together, to yell at us and make sure we were always together. I guess it was also my fault, I was the one who broke up with Dar, causing our relationship to strain but I knew it was something I had to do, we just weren't fit to be together. And I still did have a mate somewhere out there. As for Chase, I didn't know why but recently, I just didn't feel like myself anymore, I didn't feel like talking and I was always in a bad mood. I didn't want it but I just couldn't help my emotions.

When I found out that she was returning, I told myself that I wouldn't be mad at her, even though I still blamed her. I missed her like crazy. My Bella, I thought, I was the closest to her among the four of us. She was always there to listen to me, she never laughed at me and we always had so much fun together.

I sighed, missing all those times. Yet, when I saw her at the front door, all those times when I needed her and she wasn't there came back into my mind, sizzling up all the pent up frustration I had been holding on to in the last two years. And when I saw her hugging Chase, I felt even angrier, especially when it came to my turn, all I got was an 'Adri' like she didn't even want to talk to me. Albeit my reaction was kind of mean but it just came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

I wondered if Belle had always liked Chase more than a best friend, it was obvious from the way she was acting around him that there was something going on between them. But if that were the case, why did she leave in the first place? Everything was just too complicated for me to comprehend, but I wanted to know. And I realised that deep down, I wanted things to go back to the way it was before. Before my birthday, before I started going out with Dar, before Belle left. I would give anything to go back in time and stop what had happened, as long as we could remain the same four best friends with everything at our fingertips.

But that wasn't possible.

The only other possibility was to try and fix us, but was it too late? And the most important thing was whether I could lose that stupid pride of mine and forgive Belle. I wanted to forgive her, I really did. I missed her way too much, I couldn't lose her, I just couldn't.

AN: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter! If you could help by voting and/or commenting on this story, I will be SO SO SO GRATEFUL to you! :) Cheers xx