Chapter Thirty

How did a book get such an alluring smell? More importantly, why was I suddenly feeling more at home in a library than at the pack house?

God, was I coming down with nerd?

I tucked my legs under me and flipped the page of the current romance novel I was reading. God, I was actually reading.

My life just got that much more depressing. I found it amazing this library had such a comfortable couch.

"Excuse me?"

My eyes shot up from the page and landed on the last person I expected to ever see again. The weird boy from my class.

"Um, hi." I frowned. He was the last person I would expect to see here, although I guess I was, so it didn’t rule out someone else having the crazy idea of crashing here also. "Can I help you?"

Seeing as he was blankly staring at me, I guessed there was something he wanted.

"I'm Jace." He shot a hand out. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself the other day."

"Um, Allie." I took his hand. "Sorry about that. My friend is a little dramatic."

"Yeah, figured that." He blew out a long breath, looking slightly more relaxed.

For someone as good looking as him, he seemed to be full of nerves. I couldn't lie and say he wasn't good looking because he was, his sharp features were what models were made of.

"You're dressed up for a late night of studying." He nodded to my outfit.

I suppose I was. "Wasn't the planned destination." I moved on the couch to make room for him. "Welcome to join me if you want."

"Thanks." He unbuttoned the top button of his suit shirt and loosened his tie. 

"So, what's your story? Doesn't look like you dressed for a late-night study session." I said, taking in his black suit pants, ironed long sleeve black shirt, and white tie.

"Yeah. Tonight's, well, been complicated," he muttered, staring down at the carpet.

"Do you come here often?" I asked him. "Or is this a one-off thing?"

Jace turned his head to the side to look at me. "Never been here before in my life."

I suppressed a smile. "Me either."

"First for both of us then."

"Yep."

We shared a smile, but it was his flawless grin that turned something in my stomach, which really had me wanting to hit myself. Seriously, a smile could get that reaction out of me! It was depressing and desperate all at the same time.

"So, are you new at school or something? I haven't seen you around much." I attempted to recall seeing him around the place, but I was coming up blank. Apart from that awkward conversation in the classroom, I couldn't place him.

Jace's smile fell, and he again turned to stare at the floor. "I was just visiting the school."

"I didn't turn you off it, did I?" I joked while closing the book I had been reading. Then I snapped my fingers, remembering. "You said you had a few classes with me, oh, and you had notes. How did you have all those notes if you were just visiting?"

Ok, maybe I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

Jace leaned back on the couch. "Didn't say I had only visited on that day. I actually had been there a few weeks, but my dad is…" His expression darkened. "Controlling."

I could relate to that. "Parents, they are useless, right?" I gave him a reassuring smile. By the distant look on his face, I could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" he asked out of nowhere, breaking the silence between us. He stood, placing a hand out for me to take. "Come on, it's on me."

Ok. That changed quickly. I tilted my head to the side, looking up at him. "What changed?"

"What do you mean?"

"You aren't nearly as nervous as you were five minutes ago. Actually, you even look more relaxed."

That grin made a reappearance. "Just realized something. So, are you in or not?"

I placed the book on the coffee table. "Depends."

"On?"

"If you tell me what this realization was about." I scooped up my heels and put them on.

"Do you ever do something to please someone else?"

"Not really." I would admit it, I was a selfish person.

"Well, I do. In fact, the last few weeks I've been having to do what they want me to do, and getting nowhere."

I frowned. "Ok."

"Then I just realized that if it is going to work, I have to do it my way." He shrugged it off.

Placing my hand in his, he pulled me off the couch. "You're a strange person, you know that?"

He laughed. "Normally I get handsome or extremely good looking."

"Don't lie. You normally get weird, don't you?" I smiled back at him while following him out of the library.

"I'll have you know," he held the door open for me, "That I am normally a lot smoother when it comes to women. You just… well, you just throw me off my game."

"You barely know me; how can I make you nervous?" I glanced up at him.

The smile had disappeared from his face, but it was the kindness in his eyes which told me there was something I didn't know.

The kindness within those eyes wasn't the type you would have for a stranger.

"You're keeping a secret from me, aren't you?" I paused, focusing on his eyes.

"Perhaps." He brushed the curls from my face and dipped his head down slightly. "But I'm not going to tell you."

"And who said I wanted to know?" I gave him a challenging look, placing a hand on my hip.

He laughed, taking a step back from me. "It's who you are."

I pointed my purse at him. "Don't act like you know me."

"Oh, I know you." He shook his head. "Trust me. Come on, there is a café around the corner."

"And what makes you think I want to come? You're a creepy stranger who is admitting to stalking me."

He laughed again flashing his white teeth. "Stalking you? God, you jump to conclusions, don't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "What would you call it then?"

"Not stalking."

"I'd call it stalking."

"You just like attention."

"See!" I pointed at him. "You don't know because if you really knew me, you would know I hate attention."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Allie, move your butt."

"And what makes you think I am actually going to follow you?"

He turned on the bottom step and looked back up at me with kindness in his eyes again. "Because you trust me."

My smile fell. Did I trust him? How could I trust someone I just met? More importantly, how could I trust someone that was so darn creepy all the time?

I took a step forward, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. "Don’t think too much of yourself. Maybe I just like pie." My shoulder brushed him as I passed him.

Did I trust him? I cocked a glance back at him, and, sure enough, he was following me, but it was the smirk on his face that gave me my answer.

I did trust him.

God, what the hell was wrong with me?

***

"So, what's on for the rest of the night? Do you need a ride home?" Jace placed his fork down and reached for his water.

The whole time he kept his blue eyes on me.

I swallowed the last mouthful of my pie. "Do you have a license?"

"Yep."

"It wouldn't be a hassle?" 

"No."

"Because I don't want to be a hassle."

"Allie," he said my name with a determined look in his eyes. "It wouldn't be a hassle."

Over the last hour, I felt like I was getting to know him better. I felt like I had always known him. I didn't know if that was possible, but it had happened.

"Thanks." I shot him a smile and checked my phone.

No missed calls.

No messages.

Looks like Chase hadn't cared what happened to me. Some friend. I finished my hot chocolate and Jace got up.

"I'll get the bill, and then we can leave."

"Wait." I reached for my purse and handed him some cash. "Here."

He frowned for a moment, then bent down picking something up. "Here, you must have dropped this." Then he clicked a bracelet around my wrist. "I'll be back in a minute."

I looked at the simple gold bracelet he had just snapped around my wrist. It wasn't mine. I hadn't dropped a thing.

He rushed off so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to tell him.

I went to undo the clip, but it seemed to be stuck.

"You ready to go?" Jace was back at my side.

"Yes, I'm just trying to get this off." I played with the clip more, but it still seemed to be stuck.

"Why? It's yours, isn't it?"

I looked up at him. "No."

"Well, it suits you." He wouldn't look me in the eye. Instead, he nodded his head at the table. "Don't forget your purse."

He didn't even seem to care that he had just clipped some random piece of jewelry on my wrist, which would not come off mind you.

Sighing and giving up, I grabbed my purse and decided we should leave before someone noticed it and thought I had stolen it.

"So, where do you live?"

I riddled off the pack house address and followed him up the street.

"Isn't that a group house?" Jace questioned. "Why do you live there?" He didn't hide his dislike for the idea, but I guess that was all he had, an idea of what the house was. He didn't know the truth.

"So, you parked here?" I changed the subject. "Bit of a walk to the library from here."

He seemed to not want to answer my question, or at the very least not tell me any more details of his night so he changed the subject and started talking about the weather.

I smiled to myself. Jace had secrets, and he sucked at not showing he had them, but who was I to judge, after all, I was half wild animal.

 

***

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

"OPEN THE DOOR, ALLIE!"

I stirred in my bed, groaning at the sound of the loud, demanding voice.

"ALLIE!"

Throwing the blankets back, I tumbled out of bed, tripping over a few things before finally making it to my bedroom door.

"What? What's happened?" I threw the door open.

I had expected an emergency. I wasn't expecting Zane.

"You better have one hell of a good reason to get me out of bed," I snapped up at him, still squinting from the brightness of the hall.

"Glad to see you're alive." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Thought you had gone and got yourself killed."

"Oh God forbid I do that." I really wasn't in the mood for this. In fact, I wasn't in the mood for anything apart from sleeping which I was doing until this ape ripped me out of bed. "I'm going back to bed." I tried to close the door, but he slapped it back open.

"Like hell you are." The anger that consumed his face was unexplainable. "Not until you tell me what the hell you did. What did you do? Did you drink Ryder's poison?"

I looked up at him dumbfounded; now wide awake. "Are you insane? Seriously, Zane? What the hell has got into you?"

"Into me! What the hell did you expect, Allie? I wake up to you being…GONE!" He roared at me. "If you were going to block me out, you should have fucking told me! I was ripping this place apart thinking you had got killed!"

"What are you talking ABOUT?!" Blocking him out? Getting myself killed? Where did he come up with this rubbish?

"Did you take Ryder's potion shit?" Zane's face hardened, and the glare he was giving me could scorch the devil. "DID YOU?!"

"NO!" I yelled out of fright. "I didn't do anything!"

Never, not once, has Zane scared me, but right now he was.

"Don't fucking lie to me, Allie!" His rage going up another level.

"I'm not lying." I lowered my voice, in effect to speak calmer to him. "Zane, I really have no idea what you are talking about."

Seeing as his behavior was all over the place, I wasn't sure what to expect next. His eyes ran over my face, and I watched his furious expression slowly melt until it turned to one of confusion.

"You really don't, do you?"

I shook my head. "No, Zane, I have no idea what you are talking about."

I thought he was going to apologize, and perhaps explain why he was acting as if he’d just escaped from a mental institution, but, then, that again would be rational. Instead, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my bedroom.

"WHAT THE HELL, ZANE!" I hit his back with my free hand, but he continued to drag me down the hall.

"Something's wrong." He increased his pace, taking two stairs at a time.

"With you maybe." I slapped his back again. "Would you let go of me?!"

Zane treated me like I was mute and didn't even bother replying. Instead, he continued to drag me through the house until we reached the formal lounge room. Pushing the door open, he dragged me in behind him.

"I found her," Zane announced to the room, and let go of my arm.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" I rubbed my arm and stepped around him, only to be greeted by my mother and Alpha Harris.

"OH, DARLING!" Mom launched at me, engulfing me in a hug. "I thought something had happened."

My eyes zoned in on Zane. "Did you get them out of bed and tell them that?"

"I couldn't contact you."

"I was in my bedroom!"

"ENOUGH!" Alpha Harris was staring at me intensely. "Allie, are you ok?"

"Yes." Was that not obvious? "I don't know what Zane is on about, but I am fine."

My mom gripped my arms tighter, causing my eyes to snap back to her. "Allie, Zane told us." Her smile blossomed. "About you and him being mates."

"HE DID WHAT!" That son of a bitch. I was going to kill him. I went to rip my hands out of mom’s grip, but she just held them tighter.

"Allie, listen to me," mom begged for my attention, while Zane looked sheepish in the corner. "Allie, when Zane couldn't reach out for you he panicked and…" mom frowned and held up my left wrist.

"Well, he overreacted didn't he," I snapped.

"Where did you get this from?" Mom held my wrist up. "Allie, where did you get this bracelet from?"

Who cared about a bracelet right now? Especially that old thing. "You're dead, Zane, you hear me."

"ALLIE!" Mom roared.

My eyes widened, and I looked back at her. What was with people yelling at me! "WHAT?!"

"Where did you get this bracelet from?" She glanced at Alpha Harris. "It's a shield."

Alpha Harris took my wrist, rolling it over in his hand, and looked intently at the bracelet.

"It's just an old bracelet. It's not even mine," I snapped them an answer while trying hard to glare at Zane around them.

That boy was dead.

"What do you mean it isn't yours?" Mom pressed me for more answers to stupid questions.

Groaning I said, "Jace found it on the ground and thought it was mine, and before I could tell him it wasn't, he had already clipped it on. The clasp is broken, so I can't get it off," I huffed. "Now if you don't mine, Zane and I have some….

"Who the fuck is Jace?" Zane stepped into my view.

I pointed at him with my free hand. "Oh, don't you dare be jealous!"

"Jace…" mom whispered the name, color draining from her face. "How did he…did you…" mom looked at Alpha Harris.

I looked between the two. "Ok, what the hell is going on here, and why is this bracelet a blocker?"

"Allie." Alpha Harris placed a hand on my shoulder, looking down at me. "The bracelet you are wearing is made of a special metal which blocks anyone entering your mind. It blocks your ability to connect to the pack and also," he glanced over at Zane, "Your mate."

Frowning, I looked closer at the old golden bracelet. "But it's so old looking."

"That is because they are old, and there aren't many still in existence." Alpha Harris frowned at the bracelet. "But why a boy would clip it to your wrist is beyond me. Who did you say this person was again? A friend?"

"Not a friend," mom spoke up, her eyes not leaving the bracelet. "And that bracelet was your grandmother’s."

My face wiped of expression. "What?"

Mom wouldn't look me in the eye; instead, she looked back at Alpha Harris. "I think I need to sit down."

"MOTHER!" I jerked on her arm forcing her to look back at me. "Tell me now."

Call it a hunch, but I knew she was keeping something from me, and right now I needed to know what that something was.

"It's nothing, Allie. Just a fluke." She smiled weakly. "Go back to bed, darling. You must be tired."

Frowning, my eyes floated down to the bracelet. What were the chances?

Very slim is what they were.

"Mom, you aren't lying to me, are you?"

She shook her head weakly. "No, darling."

Was she lying to me? I couldn't tell and that normally never happened.

"I'll walk you back to bed," Zane offered, stepping around mom.

I crossed my arms. "Don't you mean drag me?"

"Come on, Allie." He nodded his head in the direction of the door.

"Zane, Allie." Alpha Harris's voice stopped us in our tracks. His hard eyes glanced between us. "We will be speaking about this tomorrow." His eyes landed on Zane. "And I expect a good reason, son, why you lied to us."

I swallowed sharply. Shit just hit the fan.