Ready or Not

Chapter 8

Austin's POV

I really have to watch myself around this girl. She's nothing like the girls I'm used to. She's strong, independent, stubborn, and challenging. In a good way though. My wolf whines as he watches her walk away but is pacified by the sway of her hips. I watch her until she disappears from my sight and then turn to catch up with the rest of the crew, a good two holes away.

"Finally you catch up!" Jamie tosses her hands up in mock exasperation. Then, a look of confusion comes across her face.

"Bathroom." I tell her. She nods.

"Brooke's kicking all our asses." Ryan informs me. I laugh.

"Are you sure about that or are you letting her win?" I playfully elbow him.

"No, she's seriously winning. You should see the amount of effort Ryan's putting into it." Matt jokes.

"Its beginners luck, I'm telling you!" Ryan defends himself.

"I have a confession." Brooke raises her hand slightly looking sheepish.

"What?" Ryan's eyes soften when he looks at her.

"I might not actually be a beginner." She bites her lip.

"Oh it's so on." Ryan lifts her over his shoulder caveman style and she squeals.

"What's taking Camille so long? She needs to save me from this mushy love stuff. I mean Sarah and Matt can kinda control themselves. At least you and Camille aren't all over each other." Yeah, at least. Huh, I wish she was all over me.

"I don't know. She should have been back by now." I think out loud, suddenly I feel like something's wrong. Call it mate intuition if you will.

"I'll go deal with her. She might be trying to hide from mister hunky." Jamie winks at me and I force out a smile. Dude chill. She's probably fine.

"Don't worry Austin. Jamie will take care of it. She always does. I don't think Camille's getting cold feet." Sarah tries to reassure me.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing." I manage. She doesn't seem convinced but turns to take her turn at the hole. I try and focus on the spinning windmill and my strategy but my mind wanders to Camille. No matter what she says, she's a kitten, none of that lion shit. She's a tiny little thing that all bark and no bite. Man I would love to bite-

"We're back!" Jamie announces. I pick up on a little tension but choose to ignore it and head over to my mate.

"Hey my little lioness. I missed you superior golf skills." I joke, whispering in her ear. She smells different. I don't recognize the scent but it's not hers. I frown, about to question her when she interrupts my thoughts.

"Glad you missed me." She smirks at me but I can tell it doesn't reach her eyes. Something's wrong. Something happened. I look to Jamie but she avoids eye contact and announces it's her turn to take on the windmill.

"You wanna tell me what's wrong?" I ask Camille looking down at her, concern slipping through.

"Nothing's wrong." The smile she gives as she looks up at me is forced. She's like a book to me. I know she's lying.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive. Now are we going to golf or what?" she attempts a joke but its hollow.

"Unless your skills have somehow improved while you went to the bathroom, I say there's no competition." My smile matches hers, not quite reaching my eyes. Forced. I see a quick flash of something like pain or fear pass through her eyes before its carefully masked. I make a note to drop the bathroom visit at least for now. It obviously bothers her. I will get to the bottom of this though.

"Well see about that. Practice makes perfect." She turns and heads off before I can inquire more about what happened.

.........

The rest of the night passed with silent shared looks between Camille and Jamie, Camille expertly avoiding being alone with me, and the others being blissfully unaware of the inner war I was waging with myself. Obviously something had upset of bothered Camille yet she was deadest on keeping it from me. That bothered me.

"This was fun! We should do it again sometime." Sarah suggests as we all make our way to the cars.

"Totally. I agree this was fun. I found that I like to win." Brooke playfully eyes Ryan who growls and makes a move towards her. She squeals and takes cover in the car. A steal a glance at Camille to find a small smile on her face looking after her friend. That's good. She's smiling. Progress.

"Well Matt and I are gonna head home." Sarah announces. They say their goodbye and get in Matt's car. Since Brooke and Ryan are already in theirs, it just leaves Camille, Jamie, and I again. I'm about to ask what the hell has been going on all night but am once again interrupted.

"Hey Camille I wanted to show you that thing I was telling you about." Jamie pipes up quickly cutting me off. The look she gives me over Camille's shoulders says don't push it. So I don't. It's safe to say that car ride was by far the most quiet and awkward by the time we get back to Camille's house I'm dying to talk to her more than ever. She makes a beeline for her room though.

"Jamie cut the bullshit. I know something's wrong and I've put off asking about it for as long as I can. What happened?" I try not to use my alpha tone on her but my wolf is slowly taking over. He doesn't like that our mate is hurting or scared and isn't confiding in us. Jamie looks at me hard for a good minute contemplating, and then she sighs.

"It's not for me to tell." She tells me, seeming defeated. She probably promised not to tell me. My shoulders drop in defeat. "When she's ready she'll tell you." She whispers, squeezing me on the shoulder before heading out. I run a hand through my hair feeling my wolf rising. Why is no one giving me answers? I feel frustrated and need a good run. After quietly slipping out the back sliding door I walk towards the forest. Quickly shedding my clothing I allow my wolf to completely take over and before I know it I'm on four paws. I shake out my charcoal black coat, reveling in the feeling of freedom this form gives me. Then I take off like a canon.

..........

I'm not exactly sure how long I've been running but I'm not quite done yet. I still have a lot on my mind. I thought Camille and I were getting to be on better terms and then suddenly this happens. I was taken completely off guard. I'm never surprised. I always know what to expect. I'm constantly on top of my game, but this girl turns everything I thought I knew upside-down. I don't understand her, and I thought I knew women. Apparently not. I mean in the back of my mind I knew that this whole mate thing wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but I'm not gonna lie, I kinda hoped it would be. Maybe it's me who's not good at this mate business. I mean I know I'll eventually mess it up somehow but I made up my mind long ago that I was going to try my best. Camille could at least do the same. Communication is key here. I mean-

I sniff the air again. I've smelt this scent before. I automatically bristle, and get on the defensive. This was the scent that I smelled on Camille earlier. My suspicions were confirmed. This was no bathroom soap or anything innocent. This was a werewolf. How dare they upset my mate? I was going to get to the bottom of this. The sun was beginning to peak through. I better head back. It's time Camille and I had a talk.