Chapter Fourteen

Karter

Since Rose is safe with her mother I’m able to get the information about her straight from the horses, or in this case wolf’s, mouth. As much as I want to rip Jason’s head off after what he’s told me I know I can’t. I put him in place to protect Rose from unwanted advances and danger, not dates with this human she’s peddling around. Uncomfortable as it may have been, I made him go into detail about everything he heard, making me wish I hadn’t. I swear if that fucking humanoid took Rose’s virginity I’m going to rip him apart limb from limb.

I grab the bag with the can of cranberry sauce from my passenger seat floor after a good minute of struggling. The gear shift kept jabbing into my side and if I wasn’t a wolf I’m sure I’d be bruised. I hate when shit rolls under the seats and I’m too lazy to actually go around the car to the other side and grab it.

“It took you long enough!” my mom gripes from the floor. She’s sitting crisscrossed in the kitchen with a plate full of turkey pieces on her lap.

I look to my dad with a questionable gaze but he doesn’t respond, just shakes his head and reaches out for the can of cranberries.

Crazy as it looks, this is as normal as we’ve been as a unit for a while. Since gran passed we’ve all been in this unshakeable funk and if sitting on the floor crisscross applesauce eating turkey is what it takes to lift it then so be it. I make myself a plate, being sure to add some of the cranberry sauce I went to four stores and stood in a thirty minute long line to buy. We stay like this for an hour, the three of us, on the kitchen floor eating in total comfortable silence. It’ll take some time but we’re going to be alright.

Turkey should be marketed as a sleep aid. Falling asleep is effortless literally anytime turkey is even in my presence. Rolling over I take a look at the time and see it’s a quarter passed five, way too early to contact Rose. I intended to call her, mostly to grovel and then charge her up about that fucking human, but I got tied up in mending family ties and forgot. I can see my grandma shaking her head now, only a few hours out from her advice and I’m already not taking it. I won’t sweat it though, she’ll be back from her mother’s on Sunday and then I’ll go see her face to face and let her know everything.

I’m just about to get up from bed when I hear a light knock on my door. One sniff of the air lets me know who’s there and I immediately get fully dressed. I open the door for her and pull my shirt past my stomach at the same time.

Her eyes linger at my abs for a second before she casts them downward and speaks timidly, “Um h-hi Kart- I mean Alpha.”

This shy demeanor she’s got all of a sudden is throwing me off. Zoe is everything but introverted, although since our fight on my birthday she’s been lying low. Although I told her to leave and not come back I didn’t think she would actually listen.

“I just wanted to come by and offer my condolences about your grandmother since I didn’t get a chance to at her service. She was a lovely woman and I’ll miss her,” she offers in the presence of my silence.

At the reminder of my grandma I remember what she said about her being murdered. I don’t see how it could’ve been murder when the entire pack was affected, however my grandmother is never wrong. I’ve had Gretchen looking into how the disease could’ve spread so quickly and what in the hell it actually was but she hasn’t come up with any results so far.

“Well that’s all I wanted to say,” Zoe says softly, turning away, “Have a good day Alpha, I’m here if you need anything or want to talk.”

“Zoe wait,” I reach out and grab her arm, thoroughly stopping her, “I want to talk to you.” I don’t know if I’ll regret this or not but I know from experience it’s better to have this woman on my side than against me.

She looks surprised but allows me to pull her back into my room. I close the door and walk over to my bed, patting the spot beside me.

“So,” I begin, not really knowing how to broach the elephant in the room, “how was your Thanksgiving?”

She laughs and I run a hand through my hair nervously.

“You always do that,” she says, seeing my confusion she continues, “Try and ease into uncomfortable conversations, just say what you need to say.”

“Alright John Mayer,” I roll my eyes, “We’ve known each other for a really long time Zo, we were high school sweethearts and great friends, I don’t want to lose that.”

Her small smile gets a little bigger, “That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time. We’re meant to be Karter, we may not be mates but I know true love when I see it.”

This is why I figured I’d regret this conversation. I shake my head, “You don’t understand-”

“No I get it,” she cuts me off, “After I broke things off with you when you were grieving over Derek you feel like you can’t trust me. I get it. But I can be there for you in good times and bad.”

It dawns on me that that’s the reason she’s here trying to offer her sympathy over my grandma and it pisses me off. Zoe’s always been a sweet girl but this side to her, the conniving scheming side, has come out more and more over the years making me believe that the sweet girl she pretends to be is just that, pretend. This side of her is the reason after she left me I was relieved and why I never made her my girlfriend again and just left us at the friends with benefits stage.

“Zoe just stop,” I say through gritted teeth, “This isn’t about trust. You and I aren’t in love. We were once, but we aren’t anymore, at least I’m not.

Her face drops and then anger replaces it, her true colors coming to the surface, “How can you say that? If you don’t love me then who do you love? There isn’t a she-wolf in this pack that would go for you! They know better.”

I sigh deeply and shake my head. This was a mistake. “Look, I just wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you the last time we talked but I see now that I should’ve just left the situation alone. You clearly have an idea in your head of a reality that you’ll never see. You and I are done romantically and if you keep these delusions up then we can’t even be friends.”

She opens and closes her mouth a few times but words don’t come out. It’s a sight I don’t see nearly enough, motor-mouth Zoe Randall speechless. Without making a sound she gets up from the bed and storms out of my room and that’s just fine with me.

After doing a few hundred crunches and pushups, a shower, and a change of clothes, I head downstairs. Zoe’s long gone but her scent is still in the air, anger weaving through it like a wicker basket. I hope she finds her mate soon. Hopefully he can get her to calm the hell down. God bless his soul.

“Hey man!” Grey calls from the kitchen doorway.

I look up from the sandwich I’m making and smile. He’s been giving me my space to process but I guess he’s tired of waiting for me to come to him. It’s the way it’s always been with us. He’s the best friend I could ask for and I love him like a brother. When I didn’t think I could let anyone else be that type of friend to me after Derek died, in swooped Grey. Reminding me so much of D and yet being his own man and making me appreciate his friendship more than I thought I would or even could.

“What’s happening bro?” I ask before taking a bite out of my ham and cheese.

His expression goes a little grim and he stares off into space for a second, “We need to head to your office Owen has some information about the Boudoir family.”

I nod and bring my sandwich along. I’m not leaving it here to get eaten by someone else.

“I thought you were heading up the investigation on them.”

He smirks a little and sighs, “I was…then I found out Denise is pregnant.”

I stop in my tracks and have to close my mouth before sandwich falls out of it and onto the floor.

“You’re kidding?” he shakes his head, “Holy shit Grey! Congratulations! My mom’s gonna be thrilled!”

His grin gets wider at that, she’s going to be just as excited as if it’s her own blood grandchild. Which means it’s only a matter of time before she’s pressuring me to give her grandbabies. I groan loudly and Grey laughs, knowing exactly what I’m upset about.

“Good afternoon Alpha Karter, Beta Grey,” Owen says as we walk in the room bowing slightly.

“So professional,” Grey laughs.

“’Sup Owen,” I laugh with Grey and plop down in my chair kicking my feet up to finish my sandwich.

The walls are a dark maroon that always relaxes my eyes and I’ve always liked the crown molding and wainscoting that decorate the walls of this house. I find myself staring at it as Grey and Owen talk. My ears perk up when I hear death and Boudoir in the same sentence.

“Wait…what?” I ask, finally paying attention.

“The father and son from the Boudoir family are dead. They were down in New Orleans looking for the wife and daughter when Ike hit, they drowned,” Owen repeats, looking in my direction to make sure I’m listening this time.

“What the fuck?” I say under my breath.

To say I’m floored is an understatement. I knew it would be a long shot that they were the ones behind my assassination attempt but when I was able to hold onto that theory it kept me from having to face the alternative. Now that I know they both died years ago the only possible explanation for me getting attacked is that I have a traitor in my pack.

I spent half of Saturday re-questioning every member of the pack and the other half watching the videos of both interrogations from before and now. It took the entire day to get it done but with the help of my dad, Connor, Grey, Owen and Jason, it got done. I was able to get in bed by the time I normally get up.

My alarm blasts at four thirty and I literally roll out of bed. The force from hitting the floor jars me awake and I groan loudly at the assault.

“Fuck,” I mumble, getting up from the floor slowly. I hop in the shower and get dressed before going downstairs for an early dinner.

Today’s the day I’m going to tell Rose everything. She’ll be back home from her mom’s and hopefully relaxed so when I tell her she won’t freak out. Who am I kidding? She’s definitely going to freak out but telling myself that insures that I won’t freak or punk out.

“Son,” my dad starts, sitting across from me as I eat leftover spaghetti, “have you spoken to Gretchen about the virus?”

I sigh and put my fork down, “Honestly dad, I can’t take any more bad news this weekend. The Boudoirs are dead, we have no leads, and today I might get the biggest rejection of my life. I have to save the last of my energy to deal with that if it happens. But to answer your question, she still doesn’t have anything. She says she may have something by Tuesday at the latest.”

I can tell he’s shocked that I overshared that way but in all seriousness, I’m tired as fuck. There has been so much commotion and drama in the past few months. I wish for the days back when things were calm and no one was trying to kill anyone. I get up and leave the table, go brush my teeth, and then head to my car.

The entire ride to Rose’s I’m on edge. I’m internally torn, I want to see her and yet I know once I do I have to tell her this unbelievable truth. As much as I’ve missed her I can’t deny the apprehension I have about seeing her. Knowing that she’s been running around with that human is driving me crazy. Not to mention the thought of him taking her virginity. The only thing keeping me sane is putting that nightmare to the furthest depths of my mind, never to be seen again.

When I pull up to her place I see the bastard immediately. Normally it would be hard to see in the night but thanks to my wolf sight I have a clear picture. They look like they’re returning from a date, the way he’s holding her hand makes my skin crawl and stomach lurch but it’s when he leans in and kisses her that I really lose it. My wolf is pushing me to get out of the car and beat him to a pulp where he stands but I contain him barely. I can feel myself starting to turn so I look away and focus on my breathing. By the time I look back, the nosey masochist in me winning over, his car is flying down the street in the opposite direction.

I take my time walking across the street to Rose’s townhouse. I still need to calm down. By the time I make it to her door the last claw has retracted back into a normal nail but I can still feel my wolf waiting just beneath the surface. I’ll definitely have to go for a run after this, hopefully I don’t run to that fucker she kissed, who wears too much cologne, porch and rip him apart on it.

I smirk sadistically at the thought and knock on the door. She smiles as she opens it but once she sees me it turns to shock. Realization hits me like a ton of bricks that she thought I was him and it hurts. I physically flinch at the pinch I feel in my chest but put a smile on my face nonetheless.

“Wh-what are you doing here Karter?” she asks, I can almost see her shock turn straight to anger.

“Karter? You never call me that, I must be in trouble,” I reply coolly and slide past her into the house. I’ll be damned if I stand outside and have this conversation.

She closes the door behind us and walks over to sit on the bed while I watch her from my seat on the couch across from it. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you, I’ve missed you.”

She scoffs and folds her arms across her chest, “Right.”

I try to hide my smile, she looks downright adorable right now. “Seriously Rose, I’ve just been dealing with a lot but I’ve missed you.”

She nods dismissively and runs her tongue across her teeth. She thinks I’m full of shit.

“You’re full of shit Dean, you know that right?” Like clockwork.

“I know but I’m not on this, I promise. My p-,” I stop myself from saying pack, “my grandmother passed away suddenly, it’s why I left in such a hurry from our date.”

It’s a dirty trick, trying to get sympathy to melt her anger, but my half-truth works.

Her frown turns into one of sympathy and she comes to me immediately, placing her hands on my shoulders, “I’m so sorry Dean. And here I am acting a fool and you’ve been dealing with this alone.”

I wave my hand dismissively, “You didn’t know. And I haven’t been alone, this whole thing has pulled my family even closer together. It’s made me realize that life is short and we shouldn’t waste a moment of it on anything other than happiness…and truth.”

Her eyebrow raises at that and she goes back to her seat on the bed.

I lick my lips before I begin, “I’m going to be honest with you Rose. Completely honest.”

Dylan

Thanksgiving week with my mom was enjoyable. I’ve missed her terribly and as much as I love not living at home anymore being in my old room was comfortable. I’ve been texting Reed almost nonstop also and we’ve gotten to know each other even better. We made up a game where every time his siblings made a wisecrack about him being a nurse he’d text me an emoji. Friday and Saturday were filled with the typical annoyed face emojis and this morning, just before both of us headed back to Cynwulf, I’d gotten my personal favorite an angry kitten’s side profile.

I got home at around noon and now that he’s back, we’re out for some lunch.

“None of their jokes were even funny though,” Reed groans, watching me with dancing indigo eyes.

“It’s not the jokes that are funny to me,” I say in between giggles, “I’m imagining your face as the emoji faces.”

He smirks and reaches for my hand across the table. “I love your laugh.”

I smile back at him and turn my hand over beneath his. “Well you make me do it often, even when you don’t try.”

He narrows his eyes, a smile playing on his lips, “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or if you’re just slyly saying you laugh at me and not with me.”

I laugh and roll my eyes, “That’s for me to know.”

We talk for a while longer and order a pecan caramel cinnamon roll to share for dessert before finally heading to my place.

We hold hands and walk to my front door, watching the stars in the sky. I get a chill up my spine that isn’t from the cold air outside. It feels like someone’s watching. I brush the thought off and pay attention to what Reed’s saying.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the little dipper,” he finishes and I nod as if I was listening the entire time.

“Pretty,” I reply as we step onto my porch, “I had a great time Reed.”

He drops my hand and I open my front door, ready to go inside. He stops me and I turn around only to run right into his lips. They’re soft like they were before but I’m not under the influence of anything so I feel the full effect of his kiss which isn’t anything. It’s almost like kissing a wall or Andrea, nothing there. When he pulls away from me I plaster a smile on my face and he whispers a goodbye before leaving.

I go in the house and get out of my shoes. This whole dating thing is taking a toll on my feet, heels are no joke. I go to take off my shirt when I hear a knock on the door. Zero spark aside, I love being around Reed. He works so hard to make me happy so I can’t help but smile as I open the door for him.

I’m faced with a rude awakening when Dean’s six-one muscle packed frame is standing there instead. My breath catches and although I thought I was doing fine, everything feels like it’s come alive now that I see him. Every color is more vivid, I even feel like I’m breathing easier.

“Wh-what are you doing here Karter?” I ask, getting immediately angry at the control he already has over me.

“Karter? You never call me that, I must be in trouble,” he replies with that overly cool demeanor of his pissing me off more as he slides past me into the house.

I close the door behind us and walk over to sit on the bed while he sits on the couch across from me. “What are you doing here?” I ask again.

“I wanted to see you, I’ve missed you,” he replies with a shrug,

I scoff and fold my arms across my chest, “Right.”

“Seriously Rose, I’ve just been dealing with a lot but I’ve missed you,” he tries again.

I nod dismissively and run my tongue across my teeth. He’s so full of shit.

“You’re full of shit Dean, you know that right?”

“I know but I’m not on this, I promise. My p-,” he stops himself from saying something, “my grandmother passed away suddenly, it’s why I left in such a hurry from our date.”

I feel like a total bitch. Here I am getting in his face and his grandmother passed away. I immediately go to him, placing my hands on his shoulders, “I’m so sorry Dean. And here I am acting a fool and you’ve been dealing with this alone.”

He waves his hand dismissively, “You didn’t know. And I haven’t been alone, this whole thing has pulled my family even closer together. It’s made me realize that life is short and we shouldn’t waste a moment of it on anything other than happiness…and truth.”

My eyebrow raises at the mention of the truth and I go back to my seat on the bed. This is the moment I’ve been waiting months for.

He licks his lips before he speaks again, “I’m going to be honest with you Rose. Completely honest.”

I nod my head, signaling him to continue. A part of me is extremely anxious to finally know what he’s been hiding and yet I can’t hide the excitement I feel.

He swallows audibly, “Okay so…God this is so hard to explain…I’m just…fuck. Okay, Rose, I’m not like everyone else…and neither are you.”

My eyebrows knit together and in seeing the confusion on my face he continues.

“When I ended up on your porch that night in August it wasn’t an accident. Well it was but it was more like…fate.”

I want to roll my eyes because it sounds like a lame pick-up line instead of the truth but I refrain, “You’re talking in riddles Dean just say what you mean and start from the beginning. How did you end up shot in the first place?”

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair stopping to tug it lightly.

“I don’t know,” he holds his hand up to stop me from protesting, “but I’m working on finding out who did. I was just in my room lying in bed and someone came to the door, opened it, and started shooting at me. I jumped out of the window and ran until I couldn’t see straight and that’s how I ended up here. I thought I was gonna die, and then, I saw your face. I knew I was alright, I knew I’d survive.”

As flattered as I am I have to ask, “How? What does my face have to do with anything?”

He laughs a little and then replies with something I didn’t think would come out of his mouth, “We’re soul-mates Dylan.”

I want to speak, laugh, scream, do something, but instead I stare at him blankly not really comprehending.

“I know it sounds like bullshit, but I swear it’s the truth. I knew it from the first look at you. I knew fate wouldn’t bring me to my mate’s doorstep just to kill me off and when you took action and I found out you’re a nurse my assumption was confirmed.”

The silence after his statement is nearly unbearable. It’s the type of silence that’s so thick and mind numbing that you can hear it. I can’t find words that would make any sense to say so I don’t say anything at all. He sounds slightly delusional but a part of me, a really deep down part past logic and my subconscious, believes him. It believes him because when he saw me that night the first word that came out of his mouth was ‘mate’. But mostly that part of me believes him because everything he’s saying now and even then has been speaking to me. On some profound level that goes beyond my normal understanding, on a…primal level, what he says makes as much sense as two plus two equaling four.

“That’s not all,” he begins after realizing I’m not going to say anything, “when I said we’re not like everyone else what I mean is…okay don’t freak out…we’re werewolves. Well I am, a fully developed wolf that is, but you can be too. Your wolf is just dormant because for some reason your mom didn’t give you your ceremony when you turned sixteen but since you’ve met me we can fix that in no time.”

This time I do it, I laugh, because there’s no way in hell he just said what I think he said. I laugh so hard my eyes water and sound isn’t even coming out anymore.

“What the fuck?” I ask, gasping for breath, “You’re such a douche! You really had me going!”

He doesn’t respond but it’s the serious look on his face that makes me stop laughing. My heart rate speeds up and I can feel it pounding behind my ears.

“I’m serious Rose, we’re werewolves and I can prove it. You just have to trust me,” he says sternly, standing up slowly.

I can hardly hear him over the roaring of blood in my ears, my entire body is warming up and my breathing is escalating. He stalks towards me slowly, his hands in the air unthreateningly. The closer he gets, the more I curl in on myself trying to be as small as possible.

He stops walking, “You don’t have to be afraid of me Dylan. I’m your mate.”

There goes that damned word again. Why oh why does he have to be crazy? His pale green eyes brighten as he walks towards me again but once he gets within arm’s reach I roll backwards and off of the bed.

“Karter…Dean, just calm down okay? You don’t want to hurt me, you can just leave and I won’t tell anyone about this,” I say steadily, silently thanking God for the hostile patient training I got from the hospital.

He stops and his eyebrows knit, giving me the strangest look, “I know this sounds irrational but I’m telling you the truth. I’m not crazy and I’m most definitely not trying to hurt you, you’re my mate-”

“Stop fucking saying that!” I scream, not wanting to even associate myself with him anymore. I start to look around for where I put my cell phone and internally groan when I realize it’s in my purse behind him on the couch.

“Calm down Rose. I know this is a shock but you are my mate, we belong together. The goddess hand-picked you for me,” he keeps pointing between the two of us but he’s not approaching anymore. Thank God.

“Look Karter, you had your chance alright? We can still be friends but you need to stop with all of this mate crap and just leave okay? Please?” I beg, I just want him to leave. I can pack the hell up and move after that.

“It’s not crap,” he says looking a little offended, his eyes glowing, “And what do you mean by I had my chance? You’re my mate, mine, I don’t run out of chances with you.”

“I don’t belong to you! I’m dating Reed! I’m his, not yours!” I scream, not really meaning it, I don’t belong to anyone. I’m not fucking property. Maybe it isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done but the way his crazy ass thinks he can just possess me pisses me off.

The next thing I hear is an animalistic growl and then I’m pinned against the wall and my neck is bitten.

Karter

Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Shit-Fuck!

My wolf is supremely happy he’s finally marked his mate and fades back from the forefront leaving me to deal with the fact that I just bit my, for all intents and purposes, human mate. It’s been hard enough to keep my wolf under control around her and with the combination of seeing her with Reed and then her saying that she’s his…it was just too much. I never meant to freak out and mark her. I’ve always wanted our marking to be mutual and preferably during love making. But not like this, definitely not like this.

Her face morphs from total surprise and shock to absolute fear. The second I see her terror I make a promise to myself to never see that look on her face again. She lifts her hand to the left side of her neck, that’s already slowly healing, and pulls back. Seeing the blood on her fingertips her hand starts to shake and her eyes widen but she doesn’t say anything.

I stare at her staring at her hand for what feels like forever before I try to comfort her. “Rose,” I mumble taking a half a step to her but her accusing glare stops me.

“You,” she yells, pointing a bloody finger at me, eyes wild, “Get the FUCK away from me!”

“Rose…Dylan, please, I’m sorry,” I say, putting my hands into the air unthreateningly. I mentally curse my wolf and he just shrugs unapologetically. Dog bastard.

“G-Get the hell out of my house!” she yells, “Get out now!”

Hearing her shun me hurts my heart but I know that giving her time is what’s best. There’s no way she’s going to be receptive to anything I have to say right now. I have to let her calm down from this and come to terms with what I've said if she doesn't disregard it all because she thinks I’m a freaking psychopath.

Instead of saying anything I nod once and turn around to leave. I feel a pillow hit me in the back of the head once I get to the door and smirk. She’s so weird.

The second the door closes I listen in with my wolf hearing to see what she does. I’ve deduced that if she calls 911, she thinks I’m completely crazy. However, if she calls Andrea then there’s a chance she believes me, and if she calls that human Reed, well let’s just say she’ll need to call 911 after all.

Luckily for him and me I hear her from the other side of the door.

“Dre you need to get over here NOW!”

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Hello my Good People!!

I tried to make this chapter pretty long, hope you guys enjoyed!

In other news….

I’ve had a very VERY hectic go of it (IRL) since my last update. My dad was having some issues and we ended up having to call the ambulance for him which scared me half to death. He stayed in the hospital for a few days but he’s alright, Thank God!! So I’ve been on egg shells taking care of him and then my mother got sick so I’ve been taking care of them both! (More worrying less physically caring for them TBH) My sister came down and then left my nieces for a week (their annual summer vacay visit), they’re still here -_- so I’ve been babysitting and trying to write which doesn’t really work out too well. Not to mention I’ve been in constant pain thanks to my upper wisdom teeth pushing through my gums and quite literally stabbing my lower gums. Le sigh.

Anyways down to business…

You guys know I can never do a chapter without stroking your egos and as always yall rock my socks all the way off of my feet and off somewhere into the distance! Over 500 reads on OLS, over 330 reads on Awake, Almost 25 reads on Revenge, and 5 reads on Weightless which doesn’t even have a chapter up yet!! I CAN’T EVEN!!!! I love you guys SOOOO much! I never thought I would reach this milestone at ALL! I’m getting new followers and votes and comments! It makes me emotional to know that not too long ago I had only a few reads on ANY of my stories and those were from me making sure my chapters went up properly! Now there are literally HUNDREDS of people reading shit I write and it blows my mind!

I can never thank you guys enough! So for new follower S/O’s this time we have Doa_Soru, Parkerschimdt, KewonaWolf, and Renae25!

I’ve already started on the next chapter (4 pages in) so hopefully once I get some food in my system I can start on it again! Thank you all again!

Until Next Time,

WBN