Chapter 35 (Caroline)

(Caroline’s POV)

I ignored Keegan for almost a week. I caved and talked to him at the volleyball game, but only a few words. Keegan screwed up, and I was already screwed because of it. The problem with letting go of Keegan was that I had to let go of everything that came with him. And I wish I could say that I hate him, but I don’t. I don’t think I could ever hate him.

Monday rolled around slowly. Per tradition, I didn’t talk to anyone until lunch. I didn’t even talk at lunch.

I always got lost in my thoughts and ended up staying quiet anyway. Keegan and the guys didn’t sit with us anymore. I was kind of relieved for it. I didn’t know how well my self-control would hold up with Keegan so close to me. I was barely surviving my Forensics class. I felt Keegan’s eyes on my back. He was always watching me. Even the guys were sulking around. I really missed them. Lunch was awkward and uncomfortable. I was all to glad to get out of the cafeteria and into my Forensics class.

Well, I was glad until I remembered who I sat next to, and saw what we were doing today.

Today, we were watching a Crime 360 video. They were supposed to help us practice what to look for in a crime scene. Mr. Norman turned off the lights and my heartbeat doubled as I felt Keegan’s presence even more.

“Caroline,” he whispered. I stayed quiet and kept my eyes on the projector screen. “Please talk to me. I can’t take this anymore; I miss you. There’s something I need to tell you,” he said softly. I tried to ignore the way my heart fluttered at his words. I shushed him without taking my eyes off the screen. From across the lunchroom, I would look at him, but up close like this made me want to melt, so I avoided looking at him from close distances. I shook my head, eyes trained on the “educational” video. Half of the class was asleep already.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my thigh near my knee. It immediately set my core on fire. Tingles and electricity ran up my leg as I gasped softly. Why did I decide to wear shorts today? With Keegan’s hand on my thigh, I couldn’t think straight. My lips parted slightly as a sharp breath escaped me. He started rubbing light circles into my leg and tracing patterns I couldn’t keep up with. Electricity followed his touch, leaving ghost whispers of where he’s been. My breathing picked up as he inched further up my leg. I wanted to stop him but at the same time, I didn’t. The final straw was when he squeezed the inside of my thigh near the hem of my shorts. My eyes closed briefly as I moaned. It wasn’t a quiet one either.

My eyes shot open and I slapped a hand over my mouth as eyes started looking back to find the source of the noise. Keegan took his hand away as he smirked. He knew he got me. I only glared at him as I jumped out of my seat and rushed out the door, taking the bathroom pass with me. I let out a deep breath and leaned against the wall as soon as I got out. I leaned over, setting my hands against my knees as I waited for my breathing to slow down. When it finally did, I ran a hand over my face and through my hair. What the hell just happened in there? That’s it, I’m going home early. I went back into the classroom, replacing the bathroom pass and grabbing my stuff. I gave Mr. Norman the lame excuse of me not feeling well before I was out of there.

“You didn’t even let me explain,” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. I rolled my eyes and started walking faster.

“That was a week ago. I’ve been avoiding you since then. I was hoping you would get the hint by now,”

I yelled over my shoulder. I jumped in my car and sped off. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I pulled onto own of the many country roads (this was Texas after all) and drove to my favorite stables. Because of everything that happened, I hadn’t ridden much lately, but I used to go all the time when my parents were still alive. The stable hands and owners all knew me and let me ride whenever I wanted. I parked my car and grabbed my riding boots out of the backseat. It took some digging through Preston’s toys and car seat, but I finally found them. I pulled them on and walked into the barn.

“Caroline!” I heard from in front of me. I looked and saw a woman’s head peaking over the wall of a stall. She exited the stall before she came and hugged me gently. I smiled.

“Hi Rosa,” I greeted her. Rosa was one of the owners here. She tucked a piece of her curly black hair behind her ear and gave me a once over.

“How are you holding up?” she asked sympathetically. I shrugged.

“I’m ready to start riding again,” I replied. She smiled and pulled off her gloves.

“You can take Cali out. You remember where everything is,” she said as she started walking away from me.

“Bye Rosa,” I yelled. I quickly pulled Cali out of her stall, tacked her up, and mounted. I took her out on the West trail that was covered heavily by trees. Halfway down the trail, Cali started freaking out. I tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working from her back. I slid off of her and grabbed her reigns as I tried to calm her down. She neighed and reared up. Her hoof was coming straight towards my face, and I knew it. I was so shocked that I couldn’t move. My life flashed before my eyes and I realized that no one would find me out here in time. This was it. I was going to die.

A large black figure pushed me down in time. I heard a hoof connect with the animal and it whimpered and buckled slightly as it stood over my body on all fours. It was only then that I realized that the thing that protected me was a wolf. Its pointed nose was only inches from mine as it breathed. I froze. Its eyes were a warm amber with flecks of gold and black… kind of like Keegan’s eyes. It looked intelligent; like it could understand everything going on around it. I wasn’t sure whether to be scared or relieved. On one hand, the wolf saved my life, but on the other, it was probably what scared my horse in the first place.

I let out a breath of relief. For some reason, I knew this wolf wouldn’t hurt me. After a moment, I sat up and leaned against a tree. And the wolf let me. There was a small bit of pain in its eyes. I peeked over its back and saw where Cali caught him in the back. He whimpered a little as he laid down in front of me. I hesitated before I reached forward and pet the wolf’s head. It let out an almost content sigh and relaxed.

“I thank you for practically saving my life, but I think you were the one who spooked my horse in the first place,” I said with a small scowl. As if the beast understood me, his body shook with a deep noise that sounded like chuckling. Its eyes opened and it looked like he was smiling at me. I took this opportunity to look over the wolf. It was huge. I don’t think wolves are even allowed to get this big by nature. The spot on his back where Cali kicked him was healing faster than I ever thought possible. It was hard to see through the thick black fur, but if I looked close enough, I close see the skin shifting.

My eyes widened in shock. The wolf sighed and closed its eyes again, resting its head on its paws. He wasn’t scared of me, and I wasn’t scared of him. In fact, I was slightly drawn to him, which was ridiculous because it was an animal.

“I’m going to call you Keegan because you remind me of this guy at me school,” I said with a slight smile. The damn thing rolled its eyes at me!

What the actual hell?!

“Yup, just like Keegan,” I muttered. The wolf made a deep chuckle again. I pet his head again and he relaxed, letting his eyes close. We sat like that for a long moment until Keegan’s ears pricked up. His head shot up and he arched his body around me as if he were trying to keep me hidden. I finally heard hoof beats approaching.

So I guess Cali ran back to the stables then.

My Keegan wolf let out a low growl and bared his teeth as his ear pinned back against his head. I tried to move, but Keegan’s head snapped to me as if he were telling me to stay put. I wasn’t scared of him.

I rolled my eyes and stood up anyway. Keegan went back to growling at the incomer. It was Rosa and Brighton. Their eyes widened as they saw the huge wolf standing in front of me.

“Caroline, don’t move,” Rosa said, her voice full of fear. They kept their horses back so the wolf wouldn’t scare them, but they didn’t dare get off. Keegan was still growling, bearing his teeth at them…

trying to protect me.

“I’ll can animal control,” Brighton said as he pulled out his phone. I only sighed and crossed my arms. I looked at the wolf in front of me.

“Keegan!” I yelled. Immediately, the wolf stopped growling and looked at me. “Sit down and shut up,” I said. He did it immediately. His ears dropped as he looked at me with a soft look, almost as if he were saying sorry. He whimpered slightly.

“How did you…” Rosa started. I reached over and scratched Keegan behind his ear. He tilted his head towards the sky and it looked like he was smiling again.

“He’s not bad; he was just trying to protect me. Cali spooked and he saved me from getting a hoof to the head and dying. He’s just trying to protect me,” I explained. Brighton hopped off of his horse and stepped closer to us. The wolf stepped forward and started growling again. I put a hand on his shoulder and he stopped. He looked at me and softened his ear.

“I don’t think he wants you guys near me,” I guessed. The wolf knelt his head to his paws and pushed his head into my back so I stepped closer to him. I understood when he wanted. I got on his back. He was almost as tall as a horse as he stood again. My hands tangled in its fur and I held on tight.

Brighton got back on the horse.

“Well, I guess… he can bring you back, as long as he doesn’t spook the horses? I’m not really sure what to do in a situation like this,” Rosa said unsurely. I scratched him behind his ear and he let out a content breath. I only smiled. Rosa and Brighton rode off back to the stables. I slapped the wolf’s shoulder gently.

“You didn’t have to growl at them,” I muttered. He chuckled before he trotted towards the barn. I tightened my grip I his fur and leaned closer towards his head. “Let’s see how fast you can go,” I whispered, his ears twitched slightly before he started loping. Little by little, he started speeding up. I had a vice grip on his fur as we flew through the forest. He didn’t go on the trail. We went through the thick of the forest. It was starting to get too fast. I didn’t even know wolves could run this fast.

“Okay, time out,” I breathed. We slowed immediately until we came to a stop. I heard noises surrounding us, like more animals were coming, but Keegan didn’t seem to be alarmed. The first wolf I saw was an auburn color. He was smaller than my Keegan wolf, but still big. I slid off of Keegan’s back as the auburn wolf pranced over to us. It looked like he was smiling. His paw knocked me down on the ground before his tongue ran over my face. I scrunched up my nose and squirmed from underneath him. My Keegan wolf growled at him before clamping his teeth over his ear. The auburn wolf yelped and jumped away from me as he whimpered. I wiped my face on my shirt.

“Gross,” I muttered. Three more wolves came from the trees. Two of them were brown; one darker than the other, and a blonde one. They were all smaller that my Keegan wolf, but they were all really big to be normal wolves. My Keegan wolf growled at them, almost like he was daring them to try what the first one did. My Keegan wolf pushed his head against my chest and sighed. I rubbed his head as a slow smile spread across my face. He trusted me enough to show me his pack. I stepped away from him and pet the head of the auburn wolf. I decided to call him Asher because he was boisterous like the human Asher. The Asher wolf tilted his head closer to me and slipped his eyes close. My Keegan wolf started growling lowly.

“Stop it,” I scowled at him. The other wolves chuckled as my Keegan wolf laid down with a puff, looking annoyed. One by one, I greeted each wolf until I went back to my Keegan wolf. I sat, leaning against his side as I scratched behind his ear. He relaxed and turned more towards me so it was more like I was sitting in the middle of his body. I touched his fur near his hip and he whimpered. I immediately withdrew my hand. I guess he healed but he was still going to have a bruise from Cali.

“If we don’t leave soon, people are going to think you ate me,” I said, standing eventually. My Keegan wolf freaking rolled his eyes at me again, before I hopped back onto his back. The other wolves disappeared and we headed back towards the ranch. He dropped me off near the edge of a pasture so he didn’t scare the animals before he nudged me towards the barn and left.

Rosa engulfed me in a hug when she saw me. She was shaking slightly and Brighton was behind her off to the side. Rosa sighed and touched my head gently. At first, I thought her reaction was weird, but then again, maybe mine was.

“Oh my God, Caroline, we thought he was going to attack you,” she breathed. I only laughed. Brighton looked at me like I was a maniac. I pulled away from Rosa and smiled at her.

“He wasn’t going to hurt me. If anything he thought you were a threat and was trying to protect me. I would leave him alone. He didn’t hurt anybody, and if anything, he saved my life,” I explained. Rosa sighed and looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

“Alright, I’ll leave him alone, but if he’s not so friendly next time, I’m calling animal control.”