Save Me, Alpha

Chapter 5: Wolves and Mates

After my breakdown, we return to the house. I walk straight upstairs to the room I stayed in, Bryce hot on my tail. I get there and say, "Bryce, leave me alone, please." He doesn't answer and I turn around. His eyes remain on the floor by his feet, and he shifts his weight from foot to foot. He reminds me of a little boy that got in trouble. "Bryce?" I ask. "Can I take you somewhere?" He questions, looking up to meet my gaze. "Where?" I ask dryly. A smile plays at his lips, "I'll show you, but it's going to be a surprise." I raise an eyebrow at him, "okay? Sure, I guess." "Great, let's go," he says excitedly, reaching his hand out towards me.
I look at him questionably, but take his hand. He pulls me down the stairs and outside, then into the woods. "Come on," he cheers. I laugh, "where are we going, Bryce?" He stops suddenly and faces me, and I almost run into him. He smiles down at me, "you should laugh more. You have a pretty laugh." I look up at him, then breath out, "I don't laugh much. I haven't in a long time." He breaks out into a grin, "and I made you laugh again." I smile a little, "yeah, I guess you did."
He acts as if he's going to say something else, but turns away from me, "come on, we're almost there." I follow him, confused at his sudden change of mood.
I begin to hear the rush of water and ask, "a river?" He nods, "I'm the only one who knows about it."
"Not everyone, Alpha," a rough voice states, causing me to shrink back in fear. "Bryce?" I whimper. "Lie down, and close your eyes. Don't open them until I tell you, okay?" He instructs. "Okay," I reply. "Promise me," he snaps. "I promise," I state, and lie down on the ground. I close my eyes then press my palms to them.
I hear a strange sound, like the sound of bones cracking. 'Don't look, you promised you wouldn't!' I tell myself when the urge to remove my hands became apparent. I hear a snarl, then a howl. 'Wolves?'
I feel something like fur brush against my arm, then something wet against my face. I flinch back, and I hear a whimpering sound. I pull my hands from my face and then open my eyes. They're met by brilliant blue orbs. My breath catches and I freeze, afraid to move. "Good wolf, I'm not going to hurt you," I say shakily, lifting my hand slowly. The eyes hold mine as I raise my hand further, and the touch the side of the wolf's big head. It leans into my touch, closing its eyes, and I smile a little.
It's eyes open, and it bears it's teeth, a growl erupting from deep in its chest. I take my hand away, looking at it with wide eyes, backing away from it. It growls, but not at me, something behind me. In fact, I shouldn't be moving away from it, I should be moving away from the huge black wolf behind me. I stand slowly and move behind the blue-eyed wolf. Even standing it was bigger than me. It's shoulders came to the height of the top of my head.
The wolf next to me growls ferociously at the black wolf, standing in front of me as if protecting me. 'What the heck? A wild wolf is trying to protect me.' The black wolf looks at me, it's face almost holding a human expression on it. I bark and a growl comes from the wolf next to me, and the black wolf looks back at it, then yips something before bounding off into the woods, disappearing.
The blue-eyed wolf looks at me, almost apologetically before loud popping noises come from it, and no longer is a wolf standing in front of me, but Bryce.
My eyes widen and I back away from him, "what just-you were a wolf!" He nods, "yeah, but I'm not going to hurt you, Kylie. Trust me." I shake my head and take another step back when he takes a step forward, "stay away!" Hurt flashes across his features, "Kylie." He says my name, almost in a pleading way. "Bryce, y-you could hurt me. I can't be hurt anymore," I tell him. His face becomes sad and hurt, "Kylie." He chokes it out, like he's trying not to cry. "I can explain everything, I just need you to listen to me."
I shake my head, "no. Take me back, please." He looks at me longingly, but then nods. I walk behind him quietly, trying to process everything. Bryce is able to turn into an right foot tall monster wolf. What happens if I make him mad? Would he tear me to shreds? "Bryce-" I start. He turns around, a hopeful look in his eyes. "I think-I think I should find a place to live, I don't think it's a good idea to stay at the house anymore," I tell him carefully. "But-is it because of what happened? Because, Kylie, I'm not dangerous, I have control over my wolf. And neither of us would dream of hurting you," he tells me. "What do you mean?" I ask. He looks down, "there's this thing with werewolves, it's called mates. It's where à werewolf finds a girl-or boy- that they want to protect, to care for, to comfort, someone they want to spend the rest of their lives with." "What does that have to do with what I asked?" I question. "You're my mate, Kylie. My wolf loves you already, and I'm starting to. Everyday, my feelings grow stronger for you, I want to be close to you," he states.
I look down, "So, the only reason you have feelings for me is because your wolf does?" He shakes his head and takes a step towards me, "not at all." I step back, keeping my gaze on the ground, "you don't have feelings for me, Bryce. There's no way. I'm broken, I'm messed up, I'm ugly. You can't have feelings for someone like me."
With that, I walk off towards the house quickly, ignoring his calls to me. I hurry inside, getting curious looks from the people in the house. I ignore them and run upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind me, and burying my face into the pillow, crying myself to sleep.
******
I wake up to a knock on the door. "Yeah?" I call, my voice rough with sleep. "Can I come in?" Bryce asks. "Um, sure," I reply, then lie back down, putting my arm across my eyes.
I hear the door open, and then feel the bed dip next to me. "Kylie-" he starts. "Hm?" I reply. "-look at me," he finishes. I put my arm down and look at him. His blue eyes looked red around the edges. "Were you crying?" I ask him, sitting up. "We're you?" He responds. "Yes, but were you?" I question again. He looks down, "yeah." "Why?" I ask. "Because of you. You were hurting, it made me hurt too," he tells me. "It's a mate thing." I nod and look at my hands, "why do you want me?" "You're strong, you're beautiful, you're kind, you're stubborn sometimes, you're easy to talk to, and you're caring," he tells me. I get up and walk into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror, "I'm not beautiful, Bryce." He walks up behind me, and carefully, cautiously, wraps his arms around my waist. When he sees I'm not going to object to it, he pulls me closer to him, leaning his chin on my shoulder, "if only you could see yourself through my eyes, then you'd see how beautiful you are to me."
I turn around in his arms, "is that you talking or your wolf?" He frowns, "everything I say is what I think and believe on my own, my feelings are my own, Kylie. The only thing that my wolf has effect on me about you is my possessiveness over you." I cock my head to the side, "possessiveness?" He nods and leans his forehead on mine, "you're mine, and no one else's. My wolf doesn't like it when other males look at you, talk about you in some way, or touch you in some way." "Oh," is all I reply. "Everything else, Kylie, that's all me," he tells me. I nod and hug him. He buries his face into the crook of my neck. I feel him place a light kiss there, sending electricity through my skin, making me gasp. He chuckles, "you feel that too? That's the effect of the mate bond." "Is it weird if I say I like it?" I ask sheepishly. I hear a low growl come from him, "no, I'm yours as much as you are mine. You should never be ashamed of anything you say or do around me, okay?" I nod, and bury my face in his chest. His arms tighten around me, and it makes me feel safe, and not alone.
My feelings, my emotions, they're like a roller coaster when I'm around him. One minute I'm sad, the next I'm afraid, and the next I'm a love struck puppy. I just wish I could pick an emotion and stick with it. I don't know if I can handle much more of the up and down, I'm starting to get sick.