I Can Smell Your Fear
“There's law against harming your own mate,” declares Alpha Carrington. “You broke both his arms!”
Well, I just broke his one arm. In two places, admittedly, but technically still just one arm. Constantine broke his other arm. Another thing, important one, Logan is not my mate! Sheesh!
I saved his life too. Three times now. But, hey, who's counting?
I'm very sure Logan's arms are healing and repairing themselves as we're speaking. Werewolves heal quite fast.
Right now, I'm sitting in the principal's office, listening to Alpha Carrington's rant, while having a monologue in my own head. What? He yaks so much that I can't get a word in edgeways. So I talk to myself, in my own head. Well, okay, I am weird.
Alpha Carrington has his two big warriors standing guard at the door in the reception area. He goes everywhere with his guards. I know he's an alpha and all, but really? I guess there's no cure for delusions of grandeur. I have an urge to roll my eyes, but under current circumstances, I don't think that's a great idea.
Our school principal, Mr. Bennet, is sitting behind his desk, staring at his folded hands in front of him. Now, here's the man who is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He can't go against his own alpha, but I can't imagine him punishing the mate of a king's nephew either. Oh, poor principal Bennet.
Mr. Bennet isn't that bad actually. I gave the man such headaches countless times. I'm surprised he still keeps his job. Pretty soon I'm sure he's going to press his fingers against the bridge of his nose like he always did when Penny and I put our innocent faces on and answered his questions with our own vague questions.
“My boy Logan has suffered enough. Soon he's going to be an alpha. He needs a luna by his side.” Alpha Carrington keeps on ranting. Oh gosh, it's not over yet. Is this torture ever going to end? I would fast forward it if I could. Okay, back to monologue.
Principal Bennet has that little bald spot on his head. That always bothers me. I bet if he uses a dark eyeliner....
“Genesis?” principal Bennet is asking me.
Huh? “What?” Oh, fuzzy slippers. I was too deep in the monologue.
He sighs. “I said, you should tell us your side of the story. What happened, Genesis?”
“What did Logan tell you?” Gosh, I didn't even realize that I was doing it again. Answering his question with another question.
Like I predicted, Principal Bennet is now squeezing the bridge of his nose. I'm psychic!
“She broke his arms! What else is there to know? My son just wanted to discuss rationally if there's a possibility she would consider coming back to him, but she broke his arms!” Alpha Carrington explodes. See what I mean? He wouldn't even let me tell my side of the story.
Anyway, that's about correct except that he went crazy while discussing it. Logan is insane to ever think I'd consider leaving Constantine to be with him even for a minute.
Principal Bennet then rubs his forehead and closes his eyes. “Okay then, Genesis. This is serious, but you only have just over a week before your exams start. So, I'll give you a week of suspension.” He sighs.
“A week of suspension???” Alpha Carrington springs out of his chair. His voice reverberates throughout the whole office. “She broke the future alpha's arms. She injured her own mate! She would have to stand in council's trial. She would have to be held in the pack's cell while awaiting trial.”
Wait! What? “What?” Pack's cell is only for murderers and rogues! I can't be in the pack's cell. It's nasty down there.
Principal Bennet's eyes about bulged in their sockets. He then says timidly, “Now, Alpha Carrington, if I may...”
Alpha Carrington seems to be just warming up to this idea and his quest to find justice for his wronged son. “If found guilty, she could face the opprobrium punishment. She would be leashed and shackled to a tree in the pack's house backyard for all to see until her mate forgives her. After that, she would be by his side, making up for what she did to him. She would give him strong offspring and a successor and serve him loyally until her last breath.”
Oh, for the love of everything fuzzy! The hell I would!
“I am not your son's mate!” I screech, jumping out of my own chair. “I will not be leashed to a tree, and I will certainly NOT bear his offspring and serve him till my last breath!”
His face turns an ugly shade of red. I guess he's not used to having anybody defying him or yelling back at him.
“Remember to whom you are speaking to, girl!” he roars using his alpha's voice and dominance. Principal Bennet shrinks back and lowers his head in submission. I'm starting to feel the heat in my chest. Now my eyesight is tinged with red. My Ezra is now a lycan, and she does not like to be talked to like that by a mere alpha. I will not cower to this man. He is not my alpha. Not anymore.
I know he's taller than I am and right now I'm standing up on my tippy toes, staring defiantly up at his face while he's looking down at me.
“And you! You should remember to whom you're speaking to!” I thunder back with my lycan force.
He retreats a few steps behind the table, and for a second, Alpha Carrington lowers his head, but he quickly and shakily forces his head back up. His hands are gripping the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles are turning white. That table is going to break. His jaw is clenched tight, and his eyes are now red around the edges. He's fighting the urge to submit.
Principal Bennet is nowhere to be seen. I can only conclude that he's somewhere underneath the table If he hasn't crawled out of his office already.
“You are no longer my alpha. You have no control over me,” I talk through my gritted teeth.
“I might no longer be your alpha, but your family and friends are still under my authority. Accidents can sometimes happen,” he answers. His voice is quivering.
“Are you threatening me?” I narrow my eyes. Destroy him before he destroys the people I love. I don't know if that's me or if it's Ezra influencing my thinking, but I agree. Ezra's anger and my anger is red hot iron burning in my chest. I'm starting to see only red. He's threatening my family and friends! He's going to hurt them. I swear I'm going on a rampage. I will kill everything that moves. Starting from HIM!
“You dare to threaten me???” I hiss out through my sharp elongated teeth and canines. My voice is changing. I feel the dark veins bulging and snaking out from around my eye sockets.
I can see his eyes widening as if it just dawned on him what he had just done and what he's facing with. He stares at me for a second before he suddenly drags the big table he's been holding onto in front of me. I hear things falling and breaking on the floor.
Ha! As if that table is going to stop me.
“I will destroy everything you hold dear...first I will tear you piece by piece.” I move in slowly, eyeing him and the table between us. He takes a few hasty steps back until his back is pressed up against the corner of the office. “I will start with your healthy beating heart,” I continue to stalk him. He presses his back harder against the wall like he wants to melt into it. I can hear his heart thumping crazily in the cavity of his chest. “I can smell your fear, Alpha Carrington.” I smile and lick my lips as I stare at his chest where his red-hot pulsing heart is.
I jump onto the table, and he starts yelling, “BOYS!!! BOYS!!!” Beads of sweat are forming on his forehead and above his upper lip.
The door bursts open then I hear footsteps. They stop at the door. I know nobody dares to get any closer. He stares at his men then he crouches low on the floor. His bones are cracking, his face is changing shape. Thick black hair is covering his body. He snarls, showing off his sharp teeth and deadly looking canines. That's good. I will cover my body with a wolf pelt today.
I crawl slowly across the table. I hear footsteps again, then I sniff the air and almost close my eyes. Something smells good. So very good, but the wolf in front of me growls and snaps its jaw. I need to get rid of it. I can smell his blood and his fear.
“Genesis...sunshine…”
I pause for a bit, then continue crawling across the table. I have my prey cornered. So close. I lick my lips hungrily.
“Sweetheart, look at me. Right here, I'm right here, sweetheart.” I snarl when a hand touches my arm. That touch feels so good. Ripples of pleasure spread through my body from that touch. That smell, that voice, and that touch.
“Genesis, my love, look at me.” A warm, gentle hand is stroking my cheek, turning my face away from my prey. Beautiful mesmerizing gray eyes are staring down at me. I can't help leaning into the touch. Everything about him is calling to me. I nuzzle my nose and lips into the palm of his hand, taking in his scent.
A sudden growl from the wolf makes me turn my head towards my prey again. My prey.
I spring off the table and land right on the wolf, pinning it on the floor with my legs and my hand. Its paw with long sharp nails tries to take a swipe at me, its jaws snapping close to my face. I gleefully bury my fingers in its chest. It howls in pain, and I stare at its exposed throat. Before I could sink my teeth into it and dig my fingers deeper into his chest, a hand firmly turns my head to the side. I growl in fury, but before I could snap that hand off, my eyes fall on the most fascinating eyes and face.
“Enough, sweetheart,” he strokes my cheeks gently. “Come with me.” I'm being lifted off the howling wolf and into his arms. I bury my face into the crook of his neck and inhale. The best smell ever.
***
I remember being carried to the car by Constantine, surrounded by my lycan pack mates and their protective and calming presence.
When we get home, Constantine starts the bath and undresses me gently all the while talking softly to me. He lowers me into the warm water before he strips himself and gets into the bath with me. He washes my blood-stained fingers, my body, and my hair.
By the time he dries me up with a big fluffy towel, I'm feeling like myself again. He lays me in bed and pulls the blanket comfortably over me. After he dried himself, he crawls into bed with me. I lay my head on his chest, and he wraps his arms securely around me.
“Costa?”
“Yes, my love?”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. It's his own fault. The alpha called you in the office knowing full well that I or any of our pack members wouldn't be there with you. He wanted you alone because he thought he can manipulate you. That was very sneaky of him. Only it backfired on him.”
I trace a finger absently over the ridges of his abs, thinking back about what happened today at school.
“Costa?”
“Yes, love?
“Today, Logan said he felt it when you marked me and when we're together. How could he still feel it when I didn't feel him anymore?”
“Probably because of a couple of things. You didn't accept his rejection to sever the ties totally then. You're also a lycan. So you're much stronger. Apart from that, our bond is protecting you from feeling any more pain. Our bond was there since that first time we saw each other when you're fifteen, but you were still a werewolf then and our bond wasn't as strong as it is now. Still, it protected your wolf from leaving or worse, dying. I'm glad we bonded earlier. I just wish that you didn't have to go through all that pain. I wish I had protected you better.”
I really don't need him to protect me twenty-four seven. I'm a grown woman, not a baby who needs to be looked after every minute of the day, but I'm not going to argue with him on that right now.
“Would you really have left me alone if I was happy with my mate?”
“I honestly don't know. I don't know if I could really ever leave you alone. When you almost turned eighteen, I had the worst time. I wanted to do the honorable thing and let you be happy with your mate, but the thought of you being with another man is driving me insane. The morning of your birthday, I was walking down the school hallway with Caspian and Lazarus. You were at your locker with your friend Penny. I knew there was a possibility of you finding your mate that day. I was so tempted to snatch you up, mark you, and claim you to be mine, but you were excited about finding your mate.
“I didn't expect him to reject you. I mean, I saw the way boys were looking at you, even at fifteen. You're so beautiful and amazing and perfect, what man would do that? But that stupid alpha mutt did, and there's nothing I could do to stop you from feeling the pain of the rejection once it started.”
His fingers play with my hair at the back of my head.
“I planned to court you slowly and seduce you once you got over the rejection,” he admits. I glance up to see his cheeks tinged pink. He's actually blushing! “But then you approached me that day, and...”
“And...?”
“You asked to be friends, and all my plans went out the window. I thought, friends? Hell no. I wanted more than that. A lot more. Caspian had a good laugh at me after that. I'd been patient for three years, yet you talked to me once, and suddenly I can't wait anymore. You went out with that human boy afterward, and I tried to stay away because I knew he was no competition.”
“Oh, how would you know? I might be interested in him. I mean, I could be.” I pull myself up on my elbow.
“Sunshine, I heard you say no to his face so many times! I think the whole school must have heard you say no to him at least once. But then I learned that alpha mutt went and ruined your date, and claimed you for himself, and I couldn't wait any longer. I was awake almost the whole night thinking, and the very next morning I just had to see you.”
Yeah, he had to wake me up at six thirty on a Sunday morning. He also had the subtlety of a bulldozer. Oh, well, I love him anyway. I lay my head back down on his muscled chest.
“Constantine?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Today in the office, you could've stopped me. You could've stopped me from harming a hair on Alpha Carrington's body. Why didn't you?”
“So you caught on to that huh?” He chuckles quietly. “Well, he must have said or done something to make you mad enough to lose control. The least I could do is to let you have a little bit of fun. He must have deserved it.”
Huh, my mate is as weird as I am. I'm glad he gave me that chance. I am not sorry at all for what I did. I'm glad I did it. I wish I had done more damage to him....like scratch his eyeballs out.
“He threatened my family and friends,” I whisper fiercely. Good thing Constantine's presence is calming me, otherwise I might phase again as I remember his threat, and go after him again tonight.
“Constantine?”
“Yes?”
“I don't trust him.”
“You are wise not to trust him, my love.”
“Constantine?”
“Mmmmm?”
“I think I'm in love with your bed.”
“Okay.”
“I think I want to marry it and have little plushy comfy babies with it.”
Suddenly he's on top of me, pinning my hands over my head. “Now say that you love only Constantine and you want to have babies only with him.”
“You love only Constantine...” I repeat. “NO. NO. NO!!!!” I start giggling helplessly as he tickles me.
“Now tell me you love only me.” He presses. “And what do plushy comfy babies even mean?”