The Beauty And The Alpha-Beast (Completed)

Chapter Seven

Eight years ago

It was a warm sunny afternoon on a Sunday. Dar and Chase were out with their parents while Adrian and I were at the pack house. We were just lazing around, not sure what to do without our two best friends.

We were seated at Adrian's favorite spot, at the top of the tree, being Kings and Queens where nothing else mattered except here and now. When I was up there with him, I felt like I was at the top of the world, nothing could go wrong... or at least that was how it felt like.

"Adri..." I started, not sure what to say.

"Yeah?" He turned around to face me, with his arm still firmly around my waist just like any other times we were up here, just to keep me safe in case anything were to happen. He was sweet like that.

When I didn't reply, he frowned before he asked, concern laced in his voice. "Are you all right?"

I looked at him blankly, about to nod my head before everything in front of me started to turn blurry. I no longer remembered what I was about to say or do. Feeling my head go fuzzy, the last thing I remembered was Adrian calling out to me before I blacked out.

When I reopened my eyes, I couldn't remember what had happened except Adrian's worried voice calling my name. I sat up quickly, only to realise that I was sitting on my bed.

"You're awake!" Adrian exclaimed, relief thick in his voice.

When I looked at him blankly, he explained to me that I had fainted on the tree. He had to add that it was fortunate he was holding me if not, I would have fell down and got injured badly. The pack doctor had came to check on me and it turned out that it was a fever simply from the lack of enough rest.

I groaned as I felt a sharp throbbing pain in my head.

"Shhh..." Adrian was immediately by my side, comforting me, "Go back to rest, you'll feel much better when you wake up."

My eyelids drooped and I realised just how tired I was, probably worn out from taking care of Lily the whole of yesterday while her parents were at work. I didn't really mind taking care of her since she was so cute but she was not feeling well yesterday so it had been a handful.

"That's... a good...idea" I muttered as I lied back down and drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up the second time, it was almost evening time when our parents should be coming home soon. Feeling something on my forehead, I reached up for it while sitting up to find a towel. Beside me, I found Adri snoring soundly, resting his head on my bed. My heart fluttered at this.

He had stayed with me the whole time, taking care of me. Whenever I get mad at him in the future for teasing me, I would remember this, I smiled. He looked so adorable, so peaceful and so kind. I wondered briefly whether I should wake him up but looking at him sleeping so soundly, I couldn't bear to. Before I knew what I was doing, I stood up and put a blanket over him gently, giving him a kiss on his head softly before whispering 'thank you'.

I couldn't help but feel really happy that he had taken care of me. It made me realise how lucky I was and even though I fell sick, I was thankful for it for making me realise that.

Reaching the kitchen, I poured a glass of water for myself. I drank it hungrily, realising just how thirsty I was. Suddenly, my ears perked up at the sound of soft cries. I could recognise those cries anywhere.

My instincts kicked in, and without hesitation, I was running towards Lily's room as fast as I could. My heart started beating wildly as I worried about what could have possibly happened. Could there be an intruder? No, that was next to impossible.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I opened the door. The sight before me made me heave a sigh of relief. There, right in front of me was Adrian trying to comfort Lily to no avail, instead making her scream even more. I breathed a small chuckle to sooth my nerves before walking towards them.

"Here let me help you," I smiled to him, opening my arms for him to pass Lily to me.

He gave me a half sheepish half grateful smile and handed her to me carefully, almost as if she was made of glass. "I woke up and didn't see you so I came here thinking you'd be here." He explained, "but the minute I walked in she started crying. I didn't do anything to her!" He emphasised the last part. I chuckled at his endearment.

"It's fine Adri, don't worry about it, you probably just woke her up from her sleep." I assured him, smiling.

"Shhh..." I cooed at the beautiful little girl in my arms. "Shhh... go back to sleep, Tiger Lily. You're safe, no one's going to hurt you."

Before I knew it, she settled down and drifted off to sleep with a small smile on that chubby little face of hers. I smiled widely, loving how cute and amazing she was. When she was sound asleep, I put her back to her crib carefully so that she wouldn't wake up again.

Feeling eyes on me, I turned around to see Adri looking at me with amazement shining in his eyes, those brown eyes of his glazed with a light chestnut colour.

I laughed lightly, "There, everything's just fine."


//

Present

The time passed quickly and the lesons went well, except for the parts where I had to introduce myself. It was awkward because I knew almost all of the people in my classes yet I still had to introduce myself to them. But other than that, it went well. I could understand the lessons and I wasn't picked on by the teachers or students.

As the bell rang to signal the start of lunch break, I quickly dashed out of the class before anyone else and waited by the entrance. When I saw Darlene, I quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her away before she could protest.

Even though I was smaller and shorter, I was still stronger than her so she had no choice but to follow me.

"What do you want?" Dar snapped, "my friends are waiting for me."

I pulled her with me to a secluded part of the school under the stairs so that we wouldn't attract attention and the last thing I wanted was for Adri and Chase to witness our argument.

"Why?" I stated simply, trying to keep my cool. I didn't get angry easily, but I had been trying to control it for quite a while, after seeing Chase so hurt by her.

She frowned at me as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What why?"

"Why are you acting like this?" I said, no, more like pleaded. This time there was no more anger in my voice, but rather desperation. My thoughts were surronded by Chase's sadness.

Her expression softened for just a second, but I was sure I saw it. And that was an indication that the real Darlene I knew was somewhere in there, perhaps buried within, but I knew she was still there. I was very sure.

But as soon as her expression softened, it hardened again. She stuck up her nose in a bitchy way and replied, "what are you talking about?"

"Dar I don't know what happened...but I know the real you is in there some where. And I want that real Dar back."

"Well you didn't seem to care two years ago, what made you change your mind?" She cried haughtily. But I knew better, I knew it was her way of hiding her emotions. How could I not know? Dar was my best friend. I knew her better than anyone else.

"Dar, I'm sorry. I can explain if you'll let me." I tried.

"Save it, Belle. We're no longer friends." She said coolly.

My heart broke at what she said, but I still grabbed onto her arm before she could leave. I couldn't give up yet. No, I  couldn't.

"This doesn't just involves you, Dar. It involves all of us. And I need to know why." I told her firmly.

She hesitated for a moment before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Darlene, Adrian is my mate." I revealed. 

I could see the shock on her face even though she did well trying to conceal it.

Before she could say anything, I continued. "First, I left because I couldn't bear to see the two of you together. I knew it was wrong of me to leave so huriedly, without even a goodbye. But you have to understand, I was so scared and my emotions were all over the place. I couldn't bear to see the two of you together and still give you my blessings when I needed him so much. Yet, I couldn't bear to tell the two of you the truth. You were, no, you are my best friends. I didn't want to hurt any one of you, I couldn't.  Second, I won't let you steal my mate. I don't know what you want with Adri, but now that I'm back, I have to make everything right. This time, I won't stand back and see him get taken away from me again. Dar, I love him. And I really can't leave without him, so will you please, please, please leave him alone? And third, I won't let you hurt Chase. I know what it feels like to have a mate and the feeling of being rejected. It's miserable, Dar. It's hell. What I don't get, is why you are doing something like this? In fact, I don't get why you are acting the way you are right now. The Dar I know doesn't care about fame, popularity or boys. The girl I know is honest, kind and down-to-earth. Why the hell are you doing this? Going around and being with all the boys? Do you have any idea how hurt Chase is? To have you reject him, not once, not twice but more than three times! And straight to his face!"

"Do you even care about how I feel? How do you think I feel when I have to reject him so many times? He's not the only one hurting!" Dar cut me off.

What she said blew me away. That was it.

"Dar, I care about you. I'm your best friend. I have never left you. I love you and I want the best for you. Honestly,  I know you feel something for Chase. You told me before that you like him. I know that, I can feel it. So to think that you have to reject him, even when you do feel something for him, I can't imagine how hard it must be. But the thing is, I dont understand why. You need to tell me, it's the only way I can help. I won't judge you, Dar. Believe me, believe in your best friend,  just once more. Let me help you." Dar was back facing me when I said this, so I couldn't tell what she was feeling. I was really hoping she would open up to me, just like old times. I meant everything that I said, and I wanted to help her, not only for Chase but for her as well.

Just as I thought she might be relenting, what she said nearly froze my heart. "You're wrong. I don't like Chase that way. I love Adrian. Unfortunately, time cannot rewind. I will not forgive you for what you've done and I will go after what I want. Goodbye, Belle."

With that, she walked off coldly, leaving me alone to mourn in my own misery. My heart felt torn apart. I had failed, I had failed not only in my mission to get her to open up to me, but also in being a best friend.

"What have I done?" I whispered to myself, not believing what just happened. "What have I done?!?" This time, louder, and firmer, as I realised just how severe the consequences were from my rash decision two years ago. The reality had sunk in. Before, I was only floating in my own oblivion when all along, I had been deceiving myself from what had been obvious.

What kind of best friend was I? To have left without a goodbye. Something must have happened during the time I left, causing her to act this way. It was my fault! I shouldn't have left like that. If I hadn't, then I would have been able to be with her, to support her throughout whatever that might have happened. And then maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have closed off into herself like she had now.

This was all my fault, I thought bitterly.

I could feel tears on the verge of falling as I blamed myself for all that had happened to us. I was the cause of our separation. I was the cause of everyone's misery. And I hated it, I hated my decision two years ago, I hated what happened to us, but most of all, I hated myself for being the cause of it.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calm down. I couldn't cry, I couldn't be weak. Two years ago, I had been weak and look what that had brought me. So, I took another deep breath, slapped my face a little and forced a smile onto my face. I had to be strong, not only for my sake, but for the three of them as well. I knew I could do it. For them, I would.

Just as I had decided I was ready to go to the cafeteria to meet Adri and Chase for lunch, I heard a growl from behind me. I immediately turned around, frowning.

From the growl, I could tell that it was from a werewolf. But he, no they, there were two of them, they were not part of us. I'd never come across their smell before, so that led me to only one possible conclusion - they had to be from the new pack Adri had told me about earlier this morning.

"Hey there, little girl. Are you lost?" One of the male wolf taunted me as he approached me carefully, staring at me as if I was his prey. That made me shudder.

"No -" my voice shook so I quickly faked a cough to cover it up before trying again. "As a matter of fact, I'm not. My friends are waiting for me, so if you'll please excuse me, I need to get going."

The same wolf, I decided to call him Wolf A, ignored me while the other one, Wolf B, chuckled. He. Actually. Chuckled.

"Hmmm, you know I haven't seen you around before. Maybe we should get to know it other more." Cornering me, he reached out to play with a strand of my hair that was too short to be tied up. "What do you think?" He whispered right next to my ear, causing the hair on my skin to stand up.My heart was pounding like drums. I gritted my teeth as horrible thoughts of what they might do to me attacked my mind.

Recalling what Adri had taught me in defence 101 when I was younger, the first and most important thing I had to do was to remain calm and under no circumstances whatsoever, should I show them any fear.

So even though I was scared shitless, I knew I had to keep my cool. "No," I stated in response to his question, even though it wasn't technically one that required an answer.

"What?" Wolf A froze from his action of harassing me with his nose tracing the length of my neck.

I could hear Wolf B snicker from behind me and Wolf A didn't waste a minute turning around to stare at him for it. It was obvious who the higher up one here was when Wolf B quickly looked away from Wolf A's challenging stare.

When he was satisfied, he put his attention back on me. "Now where was I?" He asked, his smile so sickly sweet it made me want to vomit.

I kept my voice firm as I said, "What do you want from me?"

He laughed the stereotypical sinister bad guy laugh and snickered, "Oh sweetheart, I think you and I both know what I want from you... " As he trailed off, one of his hand slid down to my butt and his other hand traveled slowly up the side of my waist.

I couldn't help but shut my eyes and turn away from him as my nerves took over me. What was I going to do? I tried resisting but his hold on me was much too strong for me. I couldn't move one bit under his strong hold. My next instinct was to move my knee upwards where the sun didn't shine. But to my disappointment, he was fast and figured out that was what I was going to do. He quickly blocked the move with his arms and then pushed my whole body against the wall to keep me from moving altogether. I felt disgusted from the feel of his body against mine.

"That was a very very bad move, sweetheart. You have to learn your place with me. You, darling, are too weak to be able to fight me." He taunted me again.

Before I could even think about what to respond, all of a sudden, I felt a tug at my brain. And that was when I realised I had put up my protective barrier against my pack from my thoughts, I had to do it because I didn't want Adri and Chase to find out about Darlene and I's confrontation. I forgot all about lowering it back down and the boys must have started worrying about me when I haven't shown up at the cafeteria yet.

Quickly, I let it down and all at once, their worried voice flooded into my mind. For once, I was thankful for them being so overprotective of me.

"Belle! Where the hell are you? I swear, if you're not -" Adri almost screamed while Chase asked "Where are you? Are you -"

"Help!!! I'm being cornered by two wolves!" I nearly screamed in relief knowing that help was here.

That one short sentence was all it needed.

My face must have been filled with relief from knowing that I was going to be safe. Wolf A tilted his head to look at me, as if thinking about what was happening.

And in that instant, I panicked; and when I panic, I do stupid things. I blamed it on the sudden surge of courage that went through me, causing me to react without thinking.

"Let me go!" I screamed, pushing wolf A off of me with as much strength as I could. To my delight, he got caught by surprise from my sudden movement and I was able to push him away from me.

Unfortunately, just as I was about to run away, Wolf B immediately pounced on me followed by Wolf A snatching me away from Wolf B swiftly and pinning me back against the wall.

Without having any time to react, Wolf A crashed his lips to mine. My mind drew a blank and the only thing I thought about was Adrian. This was wrong. He shouldn't be doing this. I shruggled, pushing and hitting him but none of what I did made him budge.

His dirty hands were roaming around my body and he forced his tongue down my throat, making me want to gag. I tried to push him away but my arms felt so weak.

Just when I felt like all hope was lost, Wolf A was suddenly ripped off of me. It took me a second to adjust to the sudden change in situation. When I was finally back to my senses, I realised that a pair of dark green concerned eyes was staring into mine. I shook my head a little to clear my head.

"Belle! Belle! Are you all right?" 

My heart sunk a little when I realised that the voice belonged to Chase. Adrian, I thought, I needed him.

I must have said it out loud without realising because Chase immediately yelled his name to get his attention. I looked up to see what was happening, only to find Adrian beating the two guys up. I could see that they were already badly injured, but Adrian couldn't seem to stop hitting them. He was punching Wolf A in his face while Wolf B was lying on the floor, writhing in pain.

Without even knowing what I was doing, I was running to Adrian's side to stop him. He needed to stop or he might accidentally kill them. His eyes were blood red in colour, which showed just how furious he was. He couldn't control his temper and his canines were threatening to appear. At that moment in time, all I could think about was Adrian. I didn't think about the consequences, I didn't think about how dangerous it might be for me to intervene, I didn't think about how he might react. I just acted according to my instinct. And my instincts told me to stop him.

I knew I wasn't strong enough to pull him away, so I settled on hugging him from behind and tugging at his arms to hinder his movement. "Adrian! Adrian! Stop it! Please, stop it!" I called out to him, not knowing whether he could hear me since his wolf had probably taken over him, causing him to act so rashly. 

"Adrian, listen to me! You've got to stop before you accidentally kill them. Please stop!" He was struggling to get out of my firm hold but I could tell that I was having an effect on him. I was definitely much weaker than him, so if he really wanted to, he could push me away very easily. He must have heard me and was fighting against his wolf to reclaim his control.

I held on to him as tightly as I could and continued to plead with him, in hope that he would calm down. My prayers must have been answered because before I knew it, his beautiful voice travelled into my ears. 

"Shhh… don't cry, my Bella. Don't cry, I'm fine now, I'm not going to kill them." He was wiping away the tears that had spilled down my face without me even knowing as he comforted me with his soft, gentle voice. I couldn't help myself as I dived into his arms while more tears streamed down my face. I didn't know why I was crying, it could have been from the shock of the whole incident, it could have been from almost being raped, or it could have been from the fear of Adrian killing the werewolves. I didn't know and I didn't care. All I did care about was being in Adrian's arms, basking in his comforting scent. It was as if in his arms, everything felt so much better, everything felt like it was fine. It didn't feel like I was almost raped. I didn't think about anything as I concentrated solely on his warm soothing voice and strong comforting arms around me, protecting me from any harm. That was all I needed.

In the distance, I heard the bell ring, signalling the end of lunch block. I didn't care though, and it seemed like neither did Adrian because he continued to hug me tightly. It was comforting and I never wanted it to end. I wished I could stay like this, forever in his arms.

All of a sudden, a strong voice boomed, slicing through the silence I created in my own small little bubble of ignorance where only Adrian and I existed.

"What is going on in here?" I could tell that the voice belonged to an alpha.

As much as I wanted to stay in his Adrian's arms, I knew I couldn't.

"Go," I prompted Adrian to handle the situation at hand while I reluctantly released him from my tight hold. "I'm fine," I assured him, knowing he was probably worried out of his mind.

He held my face gently and stared into my eyes, as if trying to see if I was genuinely okay. I gave him the best smile I could muster, and silently told him through my eyes that I would be fine until he came back to me. I wasn't sure if he understood but he nodded his head once and gave me a tight smile before leaving me to talk to the Alpha.

The very second he left, I felt so cold, so alone and all I wanted to do was to run after him and ask him to stay with me. But I knew it wasn't time for me to be selfish, it wasn't time for me to be helpless or weak. 

I had to be strong, for him.

Belle was almost raped! :O What do you guys think? Honestly, I never planned it this way but as I was writing it, it just came out like that. What's gonna happen next? Do hang in there and keep reading! I will most probably be posting the next chapter tomorrow :)

As usual, please vote and comment if you think it's worth it!