Charlotte

16.

Charlotte

"Mates are-"

Suddenly, a scream is heard from the distant. And not a female one.

"Romeo, I think that was my father," I say, as if I was out of breath. But, I was scared. Scared because I was unaware of what he would do if he found out. "You need to take me back. Now."

"Ok," he said without hesitation. "Let's go."

He gripped my wrist and pulled me away from the forest back to my house.

"Wait," I say and he stops before he can open the door. "Let me go in. He can't know that you were here."

"Don't tell him Charlie. At least, not yet," Romeo murmurs before walking back. I see him slip into the trees before disappearing once again. I turn the doorknob and went inside, closing it.

"Charlotte? It that you?!" I hear my father call from down the hall. Probably in his room. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be at work? What time was it?

"Um, yeah, it's me, dad."

"Get in here! NOW!" Yikes. He's furious.

I slowly walk down the short, narrow hall. When I reached his room, I was extremely cautious. "You wanted to see me?" I ask, nervously.

"Where were you?" he asks, angrily.

"Um, here," I lie. How long has he been here?

"Don't you dare lie to me! Where were you?!"

"Dad, I'm sorry," I begin to cry. He has never acted like this around me before.

"Tell me!" he commands.

"I can't," I whisper.

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't. I don't think I can. I don't think it's justified."

"Justified? What gives you the right to say that?" he scoffs. "Especially after what happened to your mother. You don't think it's justified?"

"No, I don't. And how dare you for bringing up mom's death. What kind of father are you?" I spit back.

"One that cares for his daughter. One who protects her. One that loves her. What kind of daughter lies to their own father?"

"One who protects what they believe is right. One who fights for what they believe for."

"And what is it that you believe so strongly in?"

"My mate," I snap and walk out the room. The tears were long gone. There was only red.

I storm to my room, with my father right on my heels. He's shouting at me to stop, but I just push forward. I turn around the second I enter my room and slam the door in my dad's face and immediately lock it afterwards.

"Charlotte! Charlotte! You open this door right now, young lady!"

"Or else what?"

"Open it or I am breaking it down."

"Be my guest," I challenge.

I grab my bookbag, stuffing any and all my supplies and then grab another back and begin packing. All while my dad is pounding against my door. And with each pound, the door gets more and looser.

As I zip up my bag and slip my straps over my shoulder, I see lightning. Seconds after and loud thunder follows it.

Crap. I grab my hoodie, and quickly slip in on before grabbing my bags once more. I open the back door to the outside. It's beyond pouring. Crap. I take one last look at my room before running out. As I jump the fence, I hear my dad's scream, igniting my adrenaline. I take off into the woods, hoping the rain would be calmer.

I was wrong.

The sun had gone down, making it harder to see the trees. I fell down a lot, but I couldn't turn back now.

SNAP!

I instantly pause. Did I step on a twig? Or was that an animal? My breathing came out in pants. I hadn't realized how fast I was running until I had stopped.

Not far enough. I need to keep going. Although, I should rest, and catch my breath, that unknown thing could still be around me. So, I kept to a light jog.

SNAP!

Ok, that definitely wasn't me this time.

"Is anyone there?" I shout into the darkness. I whip out my phone and instantly shone the flashlight. I move the light all around me.

Tree. Tree. Bush. Tree. Pair of glowing eyes. Tree. Bush. Wait, what? Pair of eyes? GLOWING?

Run.

I ran as fast as I could, and with the flashlight it was way easier. Behind me, I could hear whatever was out there, running behind me. Hitting the earth, catching up to me by the second. I had to slow it down. Maybe I could climb a tree? No, that would involve me stopping, I can't do that right now.

I trip and scream. I screamed because I was falling and because this gave that something an opportunity to catch up and kill me or whatever it intends on doing to me.

I turned around on my back with lightning speed. There it was. My murderer. A wolf. I could tell it wasn't Romeo's wolf because of the color of the fur and the size. This wolf had reddish-brown fur and it was twice as small as him.

I screamed the first name that came to my head.

"ROMEO!!"