Soren's P.O.V
"Why didn't you tell me about Samantha?" Sakura asks. "We both know the answer to that question. Believe it or not, I can hold my temper. Sakura, I have handled worse than Samantha in my 20,000 years of living."
"I understand that, but you should have told me,"
"And what would that have done? I'm not going to run to my little sister every time I have a problem. A problem that I could easily fix if it didn't make both our lives more difficult than necessary." Sakura rolls her eyes as she comes out of the shower in her towel.
"Besides, we have other problems to worry about." Sakura groans and goes to her closet to pick out an outfit. "Yes, I know. Ela. You have only reminded me about one hundred times. We will go after I get dressed."
That sounds crazy coming from the person who has reenacted her date about a billion times. I put on my black jeans, peach sweater, and fluffy ankle-length boots. Sakura pulls out her extra large shirt and some shorts. After she puts on her clothes, she slides on a pair of sandals we head out.
I let my hair flow out of its usual braid and Sakura lets her hair air dry. We track her scent out of the pack-house. We follow it to the garden before the trail goes cold. "The plants masked her scent. How irritating." Sakura complains.
"You are more cranky today than usual," I comment about her irritation. "Something about that girl makes me so mad. My wolf is going crazy."
"That's no surprise. She made a move on your mate and disrespected you. No high-ranking wolf would tolerate such behavior. Especially not ours. The fact that she is still alive irritates my wolf." After she threw that milk carton on my face, my wolf has been out for blood.
Suppressing our instincts and rank is tiring in itself. Such actions made it more difficult and it's near exhausting. You are constantly fighting this other voice in your head. It's like the angel and devil on your shoulder.
"We should go around the area and see if we can pick up her scent again." Why was this woman so difficult to find? "Should we split up to search more ground?" Sakura suggests.
"Do whatever you find best," Sakura's shoulders sag, no doubt from the amount of stress we have been putting ourselves and our wolves under. I start to walk around the pack-house and Sakura follows. We don't find her near the pack-house, so we make our way to the school building.
I smell blood and Asher's scent along with the smell of a man I have never met before. We round the corner to the back of the school, across the hill I would usually visit Asher. When we round the corner, I see Asher getting beat up by some random guy with brown hair. From what I could see, he had dark chocolate eyes and was built.
That fact meant nothing to me as my wolf's temper flared. I deeply growl at the guy who is touching Asher. "I didn't take you for a bully," I hear Sakura say.
"You know this guy?" I ask, my voice deep and laced with anger. The guy turns his head toward us, his foot still on Asher's face. "You're that girl from the hall," he says. "And you are apparently an asshole," she crosses her arms in disapproval. "Turns out chivalry is dead."
He smirks at her. "That's a bit much," Not only was this baboon bullying someone I relatively cared about, but he was also flirting with my sister. "You have five seconds before I pin you to the ground and break your arm," I warn him.
"Where was this energy when Samantha filled your locker with pads and threw a carton at your head?" I am counting down the time in my head and Sakura's comment already took three seconds. This thought makes two. This guy's time is up.
I slowly approach him. "That's a bold claim girl. You look pretty mad. Is this your boyfriend?" He turns his head toward Asher, a big mistake. "I didn't think you could manage it, but you finally snagged yourself a girl. Too bad she now has to witness what a puss-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before I go to kick his head.
He dodges the move with ease. "Woah, don't tell me you actually meant what you said?" he laughs. Why did I have to deal with Samantha, the school, and this guy all on the same day? Not only is this clown preventing me from tracking down Ela, but he is also adding to my growing irritation.
I slowly walk up to him and stop in front of him. He doesn't move and continues to smile. I slowly grab the collar of his shirt, but he continues to stand still. "Are you going to kiss me? I tend to have that effect on women." he grins. I quickly retract my fist and make contact with his face. The surprise on his face tells me he didn't think I would actually make good on my promise.
He holds his nose while blood gushes out. "I usually don't hit women. My mom taught me better than that..." clearly not. "but I think you may have broken my nose. So now I have to hurt you." He shakes his head and glares down at me.
I cock my eyebrow. This guy cannot be serious. Did he seriously think he was doing me a courtesy? The thought made me laugh. "You're a crazy bitch. I like crazy." I quickly stop laughing and roll my head back.
I gather all of my anger that I have been restraining for the past nine hours. The guy comes at me with incredible speed. It catches me off guard but not enough. He goes to punch my face, so I twist my body to the side and grab his arm and throw him in the same direction he came at me.
Why does everybody want to pick a fight today, and what was up with people getting on my nerves? It was like the universe had this all planned out. Before he can get up, I tell Sakura, "I trust you can handle him. I am going to leave with Asher,"
She nods her head in response. I lift Asher and let him lean on my shoulder. I walk away from the scene to take him to a more quiet place.
Sakura's P.O.V
This boy didn't seem so bad in the halls. How did he go from 'I will try to get you with a pick-up line' to 'I will slam your head in a locker and give you wedgies?' I sigh at the task Soren left me. Today is such a shit show. The guy gets up from the ground, badly bruised from the throw.
Instead of looking upset like I thought he would, he rolls over and laughs. Did he call Soren crazy? "Jesus, you women need to learn how to take a joke," Did I really have to be the one to deal with this guy?
"I didn't know bashing a poor guy's head in was considered a joke. Or threatening to hurt someone. Clearly, I have to update my comedic vocabulary." He sits up and looks at me. "See? You get it."
"Try not to approach her. I cannot guarantee that you will make it out alive depending on her mood." I leave him with those words and leave to find Seth. I was too tired to deal with Ela and the tragic backstory she may or may not have.
"My name is Nathan!" he yells at me. I ignore him and keep walking.
I walk around pack grounds to find Seth training a group of omegas. I lean against a tree and watch from afar, staying downwind so he doesn't catch my scent. He lectures one of the girls on her stance. He goes behind her to fix it and she starts to blush.
I am too tired to be mad or annoyed. I don't know how he feels about the Samantha situation. I did snap at him and didn't explain as I returned to the table to wipe my face with a napkin and left shortly after.
I continue to watch for another twenty minutes before I get bored and decide to approach. I keep my walk silent as I creep up behind him. "Always be aware of your surroundings. Never let your guard down," as soon as he finishes his sentence, I tackle him to the ground. He falls with a thud.
"You should start practicing what you preach," I tell him. His students snicker at the hypocrisy. He rolls over so that he is facing me and I am sitting on his stomach. "When did you get here?" I smirk. "I have been here for a little over twenty minutes,"
"Why didn't you approach sooner?"
"I didn't want to..." I stop mid-sentence and look up at his pupils. "-disturb your lesson." He flips me over and pins me under him. "If you were going to come in like that, you should have come earlier." He leans in to kiss me, but I put a finger on his lips and point it to the flustered children.
He rolls his eyes and growls at them. They quickly scatter. "That was mean," I lecture him. He ignores my comments and leans in to kiss me again. This time I let him. He disconnects our lips and lifts me off the ground.
"I know today was hard for you, are you okay?" I kiss him and then pull away. "Thank you for the concern. I am fine just tired." He holds understanding in his eyes. I snuggle in his chest. "I am sorry I snapped at you," I apologize. "I am sorry I growled at you," I shake my head. "It's fine. I understand why you did and to be fair, I growled first,"
I lean my chin on his chest and look up at him. He moves my hair behind my ear and caresses my face. I lean into his touch and we kiss once more. "Can I spend the rest of the day with you? I don't feel like being by myself right now," I ask after we both take a breath of air. He kisses my forehead and says, "Of course, beautiful. I wouldn't have it any other way,"
Soren's P.O.V
I carry Asher to my room and lay him on the bed. He hasn't talked at all. I wet a rag and wring out the excess water. I go back into the room and pat his face. I apply the water to the rest of the bruises on his body.
"Can I take off your shirt?" he doesn't answer. I lift his shirt to see how far he is willing to let me go. He doesn't stop me, so I continue. I drag the shirt off his arms and see the multiple scars all over his body. I don't bother asking obvious questions and continue to drag the rag across his cuts and bruises. I go in between the bathroom and my room.
After I finish applying the water, I go to get rubbing alcohol. "This is going to sting," I warn him. I dab the cotton on his cuts. He flinches but remains quiet. After I am done, I spread gauze on his cuts and then apply band-aids. I bandage the larger cuts and bruises.
I squat down so that I am below him. I move his hair up to his forehead with my hand. His eyes don't make contact with mine. I try to tilt his head up, but he resists. I caress his head with both my hands. "Look at me," I keep my tone soft. He keeps quiet and doesn't comply with my request. I take his shoes off and remove my own.
I do the next best thing and push him down on my bed. He tilts his head to the side. I try to stay patient and try to move his head again. Unfortunately for him, my patience has all but run out. I forcefully move his head. His eyes bulge at my action.
His eyes look emotionless. I kiss the cuts and bruises on his face and go down to his chest. I continue to both his arms and make my way back up and kiss his nose. His face is completely flustered and instead of the emotionless eyes I saw a few minutes ago, his eyes are full of embarrassment and shame. I give him a small smile.
"Talk to me when you are ready," I sit up to get out of the bed, but he grabs my hand. He still doesn't make eye contact when he says, "Can you stay with me? Please, don't leave." I blink a couple of times before I look at the bed. His legs hung off and he took up the entire bed.
"The bed is extremely small. We will be cramped if I stay." He releases my hand and turns his back toward me. I look at him for a few seconds before deciding to join him. I wrap my arms around his torso and snuggle into his neck. I am practically on top of him, but he doesn't seem to mind, so I stay there and lay with him.