Wolf #1: The Pack [COMPLETED]

Chapter 40

Happy 4th of July to everyone in the States!
As always, thank you for your support!!

Chapter 40

I don't go back to Breccia for a couple days to sort things out with my parents. We go over what's been going on at school, and how we are going to go forward. I've told them everything, save for the Wolves which leaves a lot of the details out, but they get the gist of it. Or at least the stereotypical high school girl version. Grief. Boy issues. Bullies.

So it isn't surprising when Jace tracks me down and approaches me at the gym. I assume Young-Jae has told him that I'm allowed to go back to dance practice, but he avoids the pointed look I give him.

"Hey," He leans against the bar in the dance room. I only adjust the bag on my shoulder, and he stands up, "Amelia...we need to talk."

I'm quiet for a long time, before I look at Young-Jae, "Jae..."

"I'm giving you ten minutes," He says, pointing at Jace, "She's on thin ice—so don't keep her too long. She needs to play some major catch-up."

We've arrived an hour early to take things slowly and catch up, so I have some time to play with. And perhaps this is the best opportunity to tell him everything. Everything.

He comes up to me, reaching out and wrapping his arms around me, "I shouldn't have lost it like that."

"If you think that's the only reason why I haven't spoken to you then we really do need to talk," I step back from him and set my bag down. I stare at my hands for a long time before I finally say, "I can't do this anymore, Jace. This constant back and forth—just as I feel like we're in a good place...something happens and you just...you shut me out. Or you nail me to the wall."

"I know," He sighs, running his hands through his hair, "I know—I just...it gets frustrating, Amelia. I feel like your babysitter, not your mate."

"And you're probably going to have to feel like that for a while," I murmur, "And I'm sorry for that—I'm trying, Jace. I'm trying but then I see you and Natalia...and I just can't help but feel what's the point—"

"I'm your mate. That's the point."

His words test my patience and I'm very low on it nowadays, "That's the point? No, that's not my point, Jace. My point is that I embarked on this whole ordeal to find out what happened to my sister—something that I haven't been devoting as much as I should be because I was trying to be your mate."

"Why can't you depend on the pack to help you find your sister's murderer, Amelia?" He raises his voice, "You're always doing stuff on your own. You never open up to me—"

"Because of this," I gesture between us, "Because you always react so negatively anytime I try to talk to you about stuff like this. You only want to teach me about being a Wolf when it's convenient for you—I'm not apologizing for going to Rachel or Mallory or your Dad instead."

"And Adrian."

"Excuse me?"

He gives me a hard look, "Don't act like you don't know what I mean. Adrian. I see how you two act around one another—"

"Really?" I bark out in laughter, "You're going to pull that one—even though whatever is going on between you and Natalia is what I should be grilling you on? Believe it or not, Jace, there's nothing going on there. I don't know him at all."

"Which is why you take care of his kid? It's why he always seems to be around you when he comes to Breccia?"

"The man that I think killed my sister is the same one who killed his mate." My words shock him into silence. I walk across the room and to the bar, lifting my leg and starting my stretches, "Adrian's also had his suspicions about me being a lycan—which probably explains why he's been snooping around me so much."

He's still processing what I've told him. I don't even think he knew that Adrian had a mate who was murdered. I continue stretching in silence until he speaks again.

"During your fight...you...seemed like a different person," He mumbles. I lower my leg slowly, anticipation building up in me as he continues, "And over the past few months, you've changed. You were really quiet and...flexible."

"And now?" I suck in my breath.

He meets my widened eyes, "You're still quiet...but you're more willful. Like a bull who's seen red. You don't stop until you get what you want."

I nod stiffly, "Yeah, well, it's a doggy dog world in Breccia."

He smirks, "A dog joke? Really?"

"Bite me," I bite back my grin. He chuckles and I step towards him, "Jace...I'm not going to stop until I get him. Leon."

He studies me, a slow, easy smile creeping onto his face, "I know."

"And I'm not dealing with the manhandling anymore," I arch an eyebrow, "I can't even begin to explain how messed up that was—"

"I know," He nods hastily, "I know and I realized it once you had stormed off. I'm really sorry...I hope I didn't scare you..."

He grips the hem of the hoodie I'm wearing and tugs me toward him. I lean against his chest, shutting my eyes as he presses his hands against my back. "There's something else..."

"Am I going to like it?"

"No."

"Then don't tell me." I look up at him, and he only shrugs, "Not right now."

"Jace, you really need to know—"

The door opens and we look over to Young-Jae pulling on Natalia. She shoves him to the side, smirking at us.

"Natalia," Jace grunts, "You need to—"

"Finish what we started," She cuts him off, glancing at me, "You and me, Amelia. Jace and I can finish what we started later."

My grip on him tightens enough for him to wince. He looks down at me, mouth moving and words coming out. But I hear none of it. The rage is back.

Like a tidal wave or a swarm of locusts, it wrecks any self-control I have left. Seeing her standing so close...it is too tempting.

Let's finish what we started. She whispers to me, stretching out her long, stiff limbs. I do too, earning a laugh from Natalia as she cracks her knuckles.

"Aiden's little tricks aren't going to do much," Her lip lifts up, revealing sharp, hungry teeth. My own ache and extend. I run a tongue over them and flash them.

We begin towards one another, but Jace's roar startles us both to a halt. "Not here. We go out back to the forest."

Young-Jae scrambles for our stuff, watching Natalia warily as he passes her. She stalks out and I follow her. I hear Young-Jae and Jace arguing, but all I can focus is her. I don't even register that Jace has yanked me back until he forces me to look at him.

"Amelia, don't—"

He stops himself, staring at me with the oddest look on his face. It's like shock and confusion and disbelief all reflecting at once. I can smell it coming off him in waves, so powerful that I can almost taste it.

"Amelia," She coos, laughing as every muscle in me tenses. I turn around. She's taken off her jacket, wearing a blank tank top and joggers. Her knuckles are scabbed and bloodied from the fighting the other day, and she is speckled with bruises like me.

I take off my hoodie and breathe in a lungful of her hate. It's like fuel, and my muscle all flex and tremble. Her mouth moves in a cocky smirk, and she speaks. But all I can hear is Iphigenia.

Natalia doesn't seem to expect me to pounce at her like I do. Perhaps she hadn't even expected me to make the first move. All I can focus on as I land on her is what the wolf whispers.

Shift.

Everything goes black. Everything tastes of blood.