Changing You ✦ The Sequel

Chapter 28 {R}

For less than a minute I managed to keep my mouth shut, forcing my lips to stay locked together to keep every trace of anger hidden away.

I knew that if I were to speak up now, everything would come crashing out of my mouth like a waterfall of words and I'd definitely say things I was going to regret.

So I didn't, and I decided on staying quiet. The whole ride if I had to, no matter how awkward the silence was. I hadn't even wanted to be here in the first place, so that's on them.

But then Camila turned in her seat and smiled at me. And all she had to do was open her mouth to unlock everything I had tried to suppress. To ignite the explosion that was waiting to catch on fire.

"I'm sure you got questions, so shoot," she said, batting her eyelashes at me with fake innocence, like she wasn't enjoying this at all.

My eyes snapped up to face Jack's in the rear view mirror above his head, and I aimed every word directly at him. "Oh yeah, I'm strongly wondering why neither of you cared to tell me about any of this before making me think I'm about to be ripped apart by an actual wolf."

Jack kept his eyes on the road, and the nonchalance in his voice pushed me closer to the edge. "In my defence, I didn't know Warner was gonna show up like that," he said.

"Great," I huffed. "That really clears up the whole deal."

His gaze flickered up at my sarcastic tone and he looked at me, really looked at me, for what felt like the first this week.

He sighed, and even though his tone softened, it still felt like he was holding me accountable for a crime.

"Why were you so eager to leave, Riles?" He asked. "They're cool, maybe you should've spent some time with them."

I bitter smile formed on my face as I shook my head, glancing outside the window as if to find a way to escape this moment. "I know what you're doing," I mumbled. "It's not going to work."

Jack's jaw clenched. "Just give them a chance."

As my eyes shot back up to Jack, I really didn't care anymore about Camila being there. Maybe some part of me wanted her to hear what I had to say. Wanted her to know that I didn't want her, or any of her friends, in my life.

"I'm not looking for other friends, Jack, and I'm definitely not looking for another pack," I told him sharply. "You can't just hook me up with some strangers and expect me to-"

"Stop talking like I'm trying to sell you a pair of shoes," he barged out, cutting me off harshly.

I stared at him, blankly, trying to mask the stinging in my eyes and the screeching in my head as a result of him raising his voice at me. If there was something I had a hard time dealing with, it was fighting, and definitely when it came to the people closest to me.

But it was too late to drop the subject now, and I was too driven by my hard feelings to let it go.

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose before clasping his hand back around the steering wheel. "Look, Ri," he breathed out, going for a more gentle approach. "I know it was out of the blue and I took you by surprise but I'm just trying to help you. I'm not trying to replace anyone. But just, consider it, okay? What's the worst that could happen? You make new friends, surround yourself with people you can relate to, what's the crime in that?"

I shook my head, wondering when Jack and I had stopped understanding each other. What had caused the cliff between us and left us both standing on the other side, with no way of reaching the others point of view.