Chapter 11

Anger; that was the first thing I felt when I woke up. There was so much of it; blasting into me, all at once. I opened my eyes and looked around at the darkening forest around me. How long have I been asleep? I sat up and shook out my fur as rage began to consume me. What’s going on?! I demanded.

My wolf was pacing inside me. We need to get back. She said; growing more agitated. Why?! I asked as I began the run back to the house. We’ve been gone for a whole day! She said; answering my previous question. Why does it matter? I growled; the sudden anger I felt irritatingly confusing.

***

The moment I got to the edge of the forest outside the house, I immediately shifted back. I threw on the big shirt over my underwear and shoved my feet into my boots; rushing to the house as I did. I opened up the mind link and called out to Jen. Where are you?! She demanded; the message coming through the moment I let her in.

Outside; where are you? I asked as I threw open the front door. Jen ran out of the kitchen; still dressed in her pyjamas, and rushed over to me; grabbing me roughly by the shoulders. “Where have you been?!” She screeched; shaking me.

“I went for a run.” I said; prying her shaking fingers from my arms.

“For a day?!” She snapped. She ran a hand through the wild blonde hair that surrounded her face and it pulled back to reveal a gash on the side of her forehead. Before I could ask her about it, Ethan came barrelling down the stairs.

“Did you find her?!” He demanded; his eyes wild as he looked at his sister. Once he realised I was standing there, his head whipped around to face me. I saw the scratches on his bare arms; visible as he had on a short-sleeved shirt. I knew their wounds were recent ones because werewolf flesh didn’t take very long to heal; so they had probably been inflicted a few hours if not minutes ago.

Before I could speak, a loud crashing sound came from upstairs followed by the voice of a man I didn’t know, yelling, “Ethan!”

It was my turn to grab at Jen. “What the fuck is going on?!” I asked as I gripped her arm.

“The-” The sound of yelling cut her off. My wolf was hysterical now; howling and growling for no apparent reason. Somebody called for Ethan again; and he began to yell back, rushing up the stairs as he did.

I tried to run after him to find out what the hell was going on but Jen’s hand on my arm stopped me. “What?!” I snapped.

“You should know-” once again crashing cut her off. She looked up with an irritated look on her face. “Oh, for the love of-” before she could finish; something big rolled down the stairs; cutting her off yet again. I jumped out of the way as it flew towards us. My eyes widened when I realised that it was a shifter. “Shit!” Jen muttered; rushing to the guy’s side. She began to shake him. “Gordon, are you alright?”

The shifter shot up the same time his eyes flew open. He rubbed a red part of his forehead which he had smacked on the stairs on his roll down. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered gruffly.

“How does it look up there?” Jen asked as she helped him to his feet.

“Not good, most of the bedrooms are wrecked; we’re trying to stop him at his room.”

The anger hit me again; making me growl; the sound pulling their attention to me. “Somebody tell me what’s going on!” I snapped; narrowing my eyes at both of them.

The male shifter; Gordon, opened his mouth to answer me but thumping sounds alerted us of more shifters falling from the upper floor. He grabbed me by the arm and yanked both Jen and I to the side as three more bodies flew down.

All the shifters around me were covered in injuries and unconscious. “Fuck!” Jen yelled upon seeing the motionless bodies on the floor. She turned to Gordon. “Have you called the pack doctor?” She demanded.

Gordon got a glassy eyed look for a moment; as he sent out a mental message, before his brown eyes met Jen’s again. “Just did.” More yelling ensued from upstairs. By now, the mixture of yelling, crashing and my wolf’s incessant noise-making; which was only getting louder by the second, was completely overwhelming all my senses. What felt like a riot was happening all around me and I was the only one who had no idea what the hell was going on.

“She’s downstairs!” I heard a voice that sounded like Ethan’s, yell. A second later my mate was rushing down the stairs; his eyes dark and his body shaking as it prepared to shift. His canines and claws were fully visible and his hands were covered in cuts and blood; probably a mixture of his own and the other shifters’. The dark clothes he had on were also splattered with blood and what looked like splinters.

My heart beat immediately sped up at the sight of him; especially because we had been separated for such a long time. After seeing the condition he was in; everything made sense; he was responsible for all of this. And all that anger I felt; wasn’t mine, it was his. I felt Jen try to get into my mind and I let her in; wanting to hear what she had to say.

He finished his pack business early and came back about two hours ago. Until then, I thought he would only get back by next week. She started. I realised you were missing this morning and the whole pack began to look for you then; but the territory is so big and even with every shifter looking; we couldn’t find you. When he got back; he demanded to know where you were; I had no choice but to tell him.

He got so angry. Her voice quivered at that part; indicating how terrified she was; immediately making me feel even guiltier for sneaking out. He thought you’d run away and began to tear the house apart! Half of it is destroyed; we tried to stop him, but he’s so strong; nobody could. That was what we were doing when you got back. It was horrible Chels; I’d never seen him so angry! I saw tears rimming her blue eyes when they met mine. He sent ten shifters to the pack doctor! I was so worried he was going to come after me for letting you go!

Don’t worry Jen; I won’t let him do anything to you. I promise. This is my fault; if anybody’s getting punished it’s me. I replied; wanting to go over to her to give her a hug.

He was in front of me before I could; grabbing my waist and roughly crushing my body to his. My wolf began to relax as his scent filled my lungs. He buried his head in the crook of my neck as his hold on my waist tightened. My wolf was itching to help her mate as she felt his distress through the bond.

I was about to reach out to him when I felt warm liquid drip down my side and looked down to find that his claws had penetrated my skin; the crimson staining my shirt and legs. I yelped in pain when his hold tightened further; cutting deeper. “Logan!” I gasped; pulling at his wrists.

He looked down at my wounds and retracted his claws immediately; guilt coming through our bond. I noticed his dark eyes; the obvious sign that he still wasn’t calm and empathy for my mate filled me. I pulled him back to me and he once again returned his face to my neck. I stroked his hair as he continued to hold me; taking deep breaths of my scent to try and calm his wolf down.

Shifters began to move about around us; all of them seeming to know what they were supposed to do. A few of them came down with chunks of thick wooden headboards; some with giant pieces of what looked like the remnants of cupboards. Jen and Gordon went out the door with a few torn up mattresses; the springs popping out of the spilling stuffing.

I only now noticed that the couch in the living had been tossed around along with the coffee table and T.V. The curtains were hanging in shreds and some of the windows had been broken. Logan was calm now; his breathing normal. I enjoyed the moment; it wasn’t always that my mate showed me affection so I planned to savour it while it lasted.

Too bad it didn’t last very long. He pulled back and narrowed his eyes at me. Anger hit me as he continued to stare. “You left the house.” He snapped.

“I was just going for a run! I hadn’t shifted in a week, do you have any idea how painful it was?!” I demanded; glaring back at him.

He crossed his arms. “You aren’t leaving this house ever again.”

“I wasn’t leaving! I was going for a run! I’m back aren’t I?! You weren’t even supposed to be back yet!” I snapped; my voice getting louder as I got more and more agitated.

“My absence isn’t an excuse for you to go out whenever you like! I already instructed you to stay here!”

“Do you even hear yourself?! You ‘instructed’ me?!” I yelled; using quotation marks at the word ‘instructed’.

“No, that’s probably not the right word!” When what he had said hit me; I began to calm down until he continued. “I ordered you to do so!”

“You’re my mate; you’re not supposed to order me around!” I said; glaring again.

“You will not leave this house again!” He commanded; his Alpha tone ringing out clearly.

It’s a fucking shame that shit didn’t work on me. “I will leave whenever I want and maybe next time; I’ll make my life easier and just not come back!” I threatened. The hurt he felt from my words trickled through the bond; but I was too angry to care. Before the hurt could show on his face; he growled; anger replacing the sadness.

Without a word; he left; slamming the front door behind him. You hurt him! My wolf snapped. Who the fuck cares what he feels?! I yell back as I stomped into my room and threw my door closed; the poor thing shaking on its hinges from the impact against the door frame.

My room looked like a warzone. My clothes were strewn everywhere; some of them in shreds. Chunks of what used to be my bed side table was in a heap by the door; the indent in the wall informing me of Logan’s use of it as a pulverising tool. My mattress along with its sheets was thankfully still intact and the bathroom seemed to be okay. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before I looked around for my phone; which I found in pieces in one of the corners of my room.

I went through the heaps of cloth for some clothes to change into but after walking around for a few minutes and finding nothing suitable; I gave up. My wolf was on alert the moment a knock sounded at my door. I threw it open; bracing myself for an attack. I was met with Jen and a few other shifters instead. She took my hand and led me out as the others moved into my room; furniture and tools in hand.

“What’s going on?” I asked as she led me into the already repaired living room.

“They need to fix your room.”  She explained; throwing herself onto the couch.

“Where is he?” I demanded; sure that she knew who I was referring to.

“With Ethan; he’s trying to calm him down.” She stopped for a moment to receive a message. When her eyes met mine she immediately grabbed my shoulder. “Ethan wants to know what you did to get him so pissed off again.”

I played with my fingers as I forced the words out. “I threatened to leave again.” She gave me a I-know-there’s-more look. “For good, I mean.” She sent the message through and I saw her wince as Ethan replied. I grabbed her arm and shook her. “What did he say?!” I demanded.

“He said that you shouldn’t have done that.” I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at her.

“Were those his exact words?!”

She shook her head. “You don’t want to know his exact words; that was basically what he was trying to convey.” She said; her tone indicating that she really didn’t want me to know.

***

I dropped the subject and for the next few hours, I helped Jen and the other shifters repair the house. She wasn’t kidding when she said that half of it had been destroyed. There were piles of furniture, stuffing, cloth and splatters of blood everywhere. We managed to fix everything; which wasn’t much of a challenge as over twenty pack members helped out. The last thing I did was arrange my clothes; that survived Logan’s rampage, into my cupboard before I collapsed onto my bed.

Jen offered to stay with me but I insisted she left; worried of what Logan might do if he found her here when he got back. He was already angry before; the house was proof of that and he was even angrier now after I’d threatened him. It didn’t help that he also blamed Jen for my running away.

After she left; I exchanged my bloody t-shirt for a camisole and a pair of shorts. My stomach rumbled; reminding me of the fact that I hadn’t eaten for a whole day. I was on my way to the kitchen when the front door opened; my mate and his Beta falling through the doorway.