C4 Chapter Four

The sun beamed into the room and I almost thought that last night had just been an awful dream. I had expected to roll over and see Leo beside me, like the last time when I had woken up to the bright sunshine outside.

I scowled, as I rolled over to nobody besides me. I had only known Leo a day and I missed him so much already.

I saw the time hit 10.00 o’clock in the morning and I swore. I had missed breakfast.. my one chance at making a better impression. I sighed.

I ran down the stairs hoping there would at least be coffee, only to run straight into Kane.

He snarled at me, as my body hit straight into his chest.

‘I am so sorry!’. I grimaced at his reaction.

‘You are an idiot and you still smell like that cat’. He snickered.

I felt really angry that everybody here kept badmouthing Leo. So far, I had not met anybody nearly as nice as him.

‘At least he does not hurt his Clan Members!’. I snapped.

I froze realising Alexander was behind me coming up the stairs.

‘Breakfast’. He snapped.

Alexander looked embarrassed and guilty.. he must have felt bad about my bruises.

I turned around to see he was red in the face, annoyed but with a oddly guilty look in his eyes. It did not even seem that he had brushed his hair. Actually, it did not look like he had even slept.

‘Alexander… I.. apologise’. I muttered, as he walked straight into my room with a plate and beckoned me to follow.

Kane mimicked me having cut my throat, as he walked away and began laughing to himself.

Alexander sat on my bed and looked at me as he passed me the plate… it was all meat.. it reminded me of what Leo always ate. I must have looked odd.

‘Do not tell me you do not eat meat’. He scowled.

Now that I thought about it, he smelt like meat and grease. He must have cooked this himself.

I could not help but sigh in response, he was trying and I should try to play nice too.

I shook my head quickly.

‘No I do.. I just had not expected any food after what happened yesterday, thank you’. I plastered a smile on my face.

‘I.. overreacted and I apologise for hurting you, Scarlett. I.. have felt guilty all night’. He muttered.

I picked at my nails unsure of what to say; the places on my body hurt.. but what worried me the most was how everyone bolted from the room last night.

He sighed and I set the food on the bed.

‘It must be difficult to be around a member you have no control over.. I mean as a Alpha. Maybe you should not have accepted my admission’. I sighed.

He scowled at me but did not move.

‘I have never had a woman here that I could not control or use to my advantage.. you are a strange one’. He smiled slightly.

That reminded me that he had hurt Allie. She was such a sweet woman too.

‘Why did you order a hit on.. the Leopards?’. I asked not meeting his gaze.

He growled a little at being questioned.

‘I suppose it would be better coming from me than coming from your lover’.

I could not help but roll my eyes at his suggestion of Leo being my lover.

‘Leonard.. or as you refer to him as Leo, attacked my little brother after his night shift at the Hospital. You see the hospital area is neutral ground as we all need help from time to time.. he claimed that it was because of the Red Moons affect and that he regretted it. Of course he would say that, but he scarred my brother.’ He muttered matter of factly, with a clenched jaw.

It was obvious that Alexander’s brother who I had not met must have suffered a lot from the attack. Hearing that Leo had hurt somebody, a doctor no less.. it hurt. It must have showed on my face because Alexander patted me on the head.

I sighed and he pulled me to his side for a hug. It was awkward and of course I froze, there was a softer side to Alexander… one I never thought I would ever see after yesterday.

‘Now that you know the truth about your precious Leo, what will you do?’. He smiled politely at me, as he pulled away from me and patted my head again.

‘I am sorry I.. had no idea that Leo could possibly lose control and hurt somebody like that. You are the only one I have seen to be aggressive’. I muttered sadly.

‘You should eat your food before it gets inedible from the coldness’. He smiled.

‘I like cold meat’. I laughed.

‘Ah, I bet you do you little minx’. He chuckled and ruffled my hair, as he got up from my bed.

It was actually heartwarming to have a nice moment like this with Alexander; but it also made me uneasy worrying about what I would say when I eventually saw Leo again. I had judged Alexander to be a brute from day one, only to be told actually the biggest brute was the man that I really liked the company of.

Both male Shifters had different agendas for me and I needed to work out which was the safer male to trust.

The food was cold by the time Alexander had left my room.

I sighed at the thought of what I went through back home to get to where I was now; there was no place for me back home and yet my family was probably still looking for me, I just had to hope that they do not find me.

‘Stop thinking things you cannot change, idiot’. I mumbled to myself, as I threw my clothes to the floor and jumped in the shower.

It was hot outside today so I had decided to wear my grey denim shorts and my loose blue vest; I tied my wild curls into a bun and smiled.

Life may be crazy but at least I have sunshine.

I ran down the stairs and just before I got to the front door Alexander laughed behind me.

‘Where are you off to in a hurry?’.

Just from his reaction I realised maybe, just maybe he was warming up to me.

I smiled wide.

‘I figured I would go for a run at the beach’.

His eyebrows knotted up.

‘That is his Territory hun, not ours’.

I sighed sadly; it meant that I would run into one of them, if not Leo himself.

‘Oh. I did not realise’. I muttered.

‘We usually have to ask for consent, but as we are at war.. it is not going to happen anytime soon. But if he truly is your friend or lover or whatever I do not care.. do what you want but at your own risk. We cannot afford to come saving you for your own decision’. He smiled awkwardly.

‘He is not my lover, Alexander’. I groaned.

‘That was a quick denial’. He raised his eyebrows questioningly and laughed.

I picked at my nails, in awkwardness.

‘I do not care if you are with him, just do not get the Pack involved’. He patted my head awkwardly again.

Alexander was being extremely sweet today. It did pique my curiosity.. was he really just feeling guilty or did he actually care about me?

I frowned, what were the actual chances that two attractive male Shifters actually cared about me.. I had been used by Packs before which made me very nervous around new people.

‘Thank you Alexander, I am glad that I am not being forced to stay at the house’. I grinned.

‘Like any male could control you, hun’. He grinned back at me and with that he pulled me in for a hug.

I knew I was blushing because the Pack members were wolf whistling.

I sighed sadly when I looked over at Freya who was looking at her nails sadly, she was clearly in love with Alexander. Maybe he just did not realise it.

I could not believe how hot the sun was when I got to the Beachfront, I sighed in happiness feeling the salty breeze weep into every strand of my hair and every inch of my skin.

I stripped off my clothes down to my swimming costume and then put the clothes into a pile holding them down on the sand with a rock and made a run for the sea.

I leapt in as soon as I could, I had forgotten how much I loved the ocean.

I spent half my life escaping my family for the sea. It was the one place where people would not bother me; my family was a very big deal where I came from and I knew my mother would never stop hunting for me.

I was so wrapped up in my emotions I had not realised I was being watched from the Beachfront.

In less than five minutes I was acutely aware of Leo’s scent. He had obviously realised a ‘Bayou Pack member’ had crossed into his border line.

I frowned in reaction to imagining what he would have done if that member had not been me.

He was sat next to my clothes in his suit, smiling in my direction. I sighed sadly not meeting his gaze.

I walked slowly towards Leo not looking at his face until I was near my clothes.

He was frowning at me.

‘Scar.. have I done something wrong?’.

I wanted to shake my head and hug him. I had missed his scent and him so much.

Only a day had passed and everything had changed. I felt myself whimper.

I picked at my nails, unsure of how to approach it.

‘My..clothes, please’. I muttered sadly.

He gasped in shock at my expression.

‘Scar, whatever lies you have been told, we can talk about them’. He panicked.

‘I.. cannot’. I frowned, snatching my clothes and then made a run for the nearest Coffee Shop.

I ran into their Bathroom and threw on my clothes, not caring that my swimming costume made them stick to my body. I could not help but notice that humans were raising their eyebrows at me as they were looking at my ridiculous appearance, as I ordered my coffee in front of them.

I grabbed my drink and then made my move for the door but then I was abruptly stopped by Leo grabbing my wrist, which caused me to drop my coffee all over the floor.

He paused, as he noticed my hands begin to shake in anger.

He took in the shocked humans and muttered.

‘Sorry, I will clean that up’.

I felt a low growl forming from my lips, so I made a beeline for the door.

I thought I had got away but he then pulled me into an Alleyway.

‘For fuck sake Scar, this is stupid! You know how I feel about you, the least you can do is tell me what is going on in that thick head of yours!!’. He snapped.

‘Thick head!?’. I snarled.

‘How fucking dare you, you do not even know me. Not really’. I growled.

‘Oh? Then enlighten me, because I thought I got to know you reasonably well!’. He glared at me.

I scowled at him; I was so angry that I shoved him and then he shoved me back into the wall.

And then out of the blue we started kissing, aggressively; he pulled my hips closer to his and I wrapped my legs around them. We traced every inch of our mouths, tongues crashing at opposite directions.

It was getting out of hand, I knew that. And yet I wanted to explore every inch of him.

He pushed his hands up the front of my shirt and I let out the most embarrassing noise I had ever heard and he groaned, loudly. I needed to stop this. I pushed at his chest realising what would happen if we did not stop right now.

He then trailed kisses down my throat in response.. he was not listening to me.. so I gave him the hardest shove I could muster.

He then sighed in response, as he let me down from the wall. We were both blushing.

‘I have got to go’. I muttered out of breath.

He tilted his head in confusion.

‘Are we good now?’. He looked sad.

‘There is not a we, Leo’. I looked at the floor.

‘Did you kiss him like that too then?’. He snapped, in jealousy.

I glared at him.

Why was it so hard to talk to him when I liked him so much? And yet I was afraid that he was being fake; that he was lying about his feelings for me, lying about everything.

I had to get away from him even if it hurt now before I got hurt more in the long run; besides we were more than one completely different species of shifters. It would never work. At least I would not get hurt like I had with my last relationship.

‘Goodbye Leo.. I will not cross your Boundary intentionally again’. I spoke neutrally.

He did not even make an attempt to stop me.

I found tears falling down my face, as I walked away.. My chest was tight and I just could not get his sad look out of my mind.