I Can Hear Your Voice

☁︎ o n e d a y ☁︎

"Mutts." Matteo viciously growled and my body jerked at the word. I could feel everyone's sharpening gazes as the topic was brought up, and I no longer felt safe under the canopy of my tree.

"What happened?" Ian muttered while tearing a bite out of his sandwich, leaning back into the grass with an arm supporting his body. He was wearing a red hoodie with loose light blue  jeans that had the cuffs rolled up—he was an overall very grunge styled person and mostly wore reds paired with neutral colors. He was a very dark person, the bad boy esc type personality and was very lewd. Luka doesn't hang out with him much so I don't know a lot about him.

"Snapping at the border yesterday, foaming at the mouths as the patrol group tried to keep them under control. Didn't work. The fucking dogs attacked the hunting patrol who was walking nearby. 5 were injured. Alex almost died." Matteo spat, canines sharp and poised as rage fueled his desire for blood. For once, in my life, something had cracked the mask that I so carefully molded into my face. My face paled uncontrollably looking at their glowing eyes, all of them sharing similar expressions. I felt an urge to throw up as I continued to listen to their detailed plans on how they were going to kill them. Marie suddenly suggested that they use bear traps to weaken them so that they could go in for the kill, and suddenly...

The place where I've felt the safest suddenly became the place where I feel the least safest.

I am not safe.

Not even with my mate.

"Hey," Liam said, looking at my face and suddenly everyone else realized I existed. It reminded me of the time I sat unnoticed among my unknowing peers and I didn't feel good about it anymore. At least...

"What's wrong?" Matteo's face immediately softened and his eyes twinkled with worry as he stared at me, trying to coax out the problem from my mouth.

"Uh..." I said, my mouth opening and closing like a fish but I had no words. Fear has gripped me in its embrace and I was trying to reason myself out from it. Surely, Fear wouldn't hurt me, right? I'm not in danger, right?

...they won't hurt me, right?

"Those...m-mutts you were talking about. They sound scary." I said by my face was broken. I felt exposed as the hair on my skin rose, for this was the first time anyone managed to pry my mask from my face. Who knew taking a hammer called Fear to it was enough to break it?

"Oh..." Matteo said as his eyes suddenly unfocused, as if looking at something far away. Far away from here, far away from this moment in time. It was only a few moments before Matteo's bright green orbs focused back on me. He gave me a small smile. "We'll be sure not to talk about it around you then." I nodded, not trusting my voice. My emotions were bare but thankfully only my fear was showing.

Only I knew that I was afraid of my mate.

I'm afraid of his hate.

But at least...

...I'm already dying, and the mask will still be left.

The boy blankly stared at the wall of his bedroom as his tears dripped listlessly down his cheeks and soaking into his bed. His ears didn't register the screaming and the yelling coming from his mom and dad downstairs. He didn't register that his cuts were already steadily healing and that the blood on his bed has already dried. He didn't register time as he laid there, unmoving while he replayed the memory from earlier over and over inside his mind...