Make Me Beg - BOOK 1 OF THE MATES & MARKS TRILOGY

Chapter 16

Cassie hadn't left the pack house all weekend. Her phone had been receiving texts from a multitude of Unknown numbers since Saturday and she had blocked all of them; but with cheap phones and SIM cards available to everyone, it seemed that Brandon wasn't going to have much trouble reaching her. She needed a new number, but for that she would have to talk to her mum and she couldn't bear to tell her what was going on. She had spent most of her time with Sam, helping him do his chores and watching old sitcom DVDs, trying to ignore the acidic taste in her mouth and burning in the pit of her stomach. Markus hadn't mentioned anything to her or anyone else and Cassie was actually starting to think he might be awkwardly avoiding her.

On Monday, she faked sick and stayed home with her mum, covering her bruised thighs with long PJ bottoms. They read trashy magazines, sipped lucozade and watched reality TV - her mum's full-proof distraction from being ill. She kept telling herself that it was only for a day.

On Tuesday, she pulled the same routine. Just one more day, she thought. She still hadn't turned her phone on since taking the battery out on Sunday night. Sam had brought her homework home with him, he didn't say anything about her fake illness and she appreciated it immensely.

On Wednesday, her mum had become suspicious. She tried to encourage her a bit more that day to go in, citing her friends as examples of reasons to go back, and Cassie knew that she was right, she missed Sam.

~

And Sam missed her. He slipped from lesson to lesson silently, drawing as little attention to himself as possible. He barely spoke a word, even to their friends. He knew that Cassie was faking it and why, but he didn't blame her. He would do the same if it were the other way round.

As Wednesday dragged by, he was beginning to worry that she didn't plan to ever come back. He made his way to third period, wandering along absorbed in his own thoughts, to another lonely maths lesson when a hand gripped his arm and pulled him out of the crowd and into an empty classroom. He swung round, ready to tell Markus that he really needed to get to maths - and stress the point that he needed to go on behalf of Cassie as well as himself - When he realised that it wasn't Markus holding onto his arm.

"Where's Cassie?" Asked Karliah. She towered over him in a plain grey top and black cargo trousers, her hair was dirty and tied in a single French plait.

"Um..." Sam shrugged, not meeting her eyes, they were fearsome without needing to scowl...

"I know you're friends with her" Karliah added, trying to speak softly and push her voice to a higher pitch, although she already had trouble maintaining the feminine voice that she faked day to day. "And I know that you must know where she is."

"She's off today." Sam offered, feebly. Tilting his head away.

"I know, but why?" Karliah stressed, "I don't mean her any harm, I just want to know that she's okay." She knelt down to his level and grabbed his chin between her fingers, forcing him to face her.

"She's sick." Sam felt more sick than Cassie probably did just then, he was lying to an Alpha, even if they weren't his it still made him queasy. Karliah continued to try and make eye contact with him but he kept darting his eyes back and forth to avoid her.

"Why are you lying to me?" She murmured, her steel eyes were sharp with lashes that all grew facing outwards, making her outer corners look even more pointed. Sam sniffed and his eyes began to water.

"I-I can't..." He tried again "I-I-I-" his bottom lip trembled and a few stray tears got out. His wolf was squirming inside of him uncomfortably.

"Hey, it's okay" Karliah wiped his cheeks clean with her thumbs, his translucent skin made her nervous and she kept her touch feather-light so as not to bruise or break his thin skin. "Just relax, you're not in trouble" She picked him up by the arm pits and sat him on a desk. "Is Cassie okay, though?" Sam nodded, drawing his hands up to cover his face, although his shoulders shivering gave away that he was still trying to hold back tears.