Embracing the Wolves

[35] New Evan, New Beta, Who Dis?

"So what is it?" Evan asked me almost as soon as I unlocked the front door to let us in. I sighed stressfully and walked to the living room. I put my bags down and sat at the counter stool. "What is it, Ash?"

"That, right there," I pointed out. He scoffed.

"What?"

"You've changed and you don't even care about controlling it."

"Of course I've changed," he frowned. "So what?"

"So what?" I asked him. "You think it's okay to have zero to no patience and just snap at whoever you want."

"Look, I don't care if Ryder is King Alpha or whatever—"

"I'm not talking about Ryder; I'm talking about Bailee," I interrupted and his triggered expression had relaxed.

"I've never snapped at her."

"But you're going to if you continue on acting out like this—especially towards Ryder—"

"I'm not acting out," he denied. I raised an eyebrow. "I've always disliked Ryder. Now that I know all these secrets that have been going on because I'm part of them, I feel like I won't get my ass completely handed to me if I say something. And I have your brother telling me to do just that, so—"

I interrupted him with a laugh and he looked at me like I was crazy. "No, you've always disliked Preston and now that he's gone and your suspicions about Ryder have been validated, you want to shift it to him despite him actually not doing a thing to you," I corrected. "And as for Andrew, I wouldn't exactly listen to him right now."

"Well I don't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice."

"Not from the way he's told me," Evan denied. "He's Alpha. We aren't."

"He's Andrew," I scoffed pathetically. "He's all bark and no bite...no matter how macho he tries to act."

"Easy for you to say."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. "He's my brother. You don't think he'd jump on the chance to tell me what to do knowing I'd have to obey it?"

"He's already tried!" Evan raised his voice at me. I shut my mouth in confusion. "Andrew's tried to Command you before and failed. So congrats, you're immune. But to the two of us actually aligned with your brother, we're bound to his word and I'm not gonna break it—even if it means sacrificing Bailee."

"Why don't you just man the hell up and—"

Evan hissed and roughly pushed me against the nearest wall by my arms. As soon as he did it, I pushed him back despite how hard the blow to my head took while hitting the wall and the look on his face was in utter shock as they returned to brown from their silver allure. I hit his chest once more, feeling the anger fill my body. Maybe because of his assault, maybe because his eyes told me he was Andrew's new Beta.

"This is what I'm talking about," I raised my voice with him. "You lost control," I reiterated and hit him once more. And again. "What if I was Bailee!? You think you can—"

"You're not Bailee!" he yelled at me. "I love Bailee! I would never ever think about laying a hand on her or—"

"It isn't about what you think anymore, Evan," I hissed. "This," I pointed at his chest, "is you now. You're a werewolf. Your wolf does what it wants until you control it."

His eyes waivered and he took a step back from me. The pressure relieved off my back and I think I actually felt the wall lose its composition as if he had left a dent with the push to me. "And until then?"