Page 13 of Meeting Her Mate
Isympathized with Will. I really did. Although I hadn’t been exactly in his position, I did know what it felt like to be trapped somewhere. I knew what it meant to be alone. That being said, his abrupt hostility toward me was a bit shocking, to say the least. I didn’t want him to lash out at me anymore. In that regard, I was a very non-confrontational soul. I didn’t deserve to be shouted at.
His words and tone stung me. I realized that he was probably going through some PTSD and was probably not within the right frame of mind, but that did not give him a license to misbehave with me as he had just done.
I was brooding in the bedroom that used to belong to my parents when I heard footsteps approaching me. I looked up and saw it was Fred.
“He didn’t mean that,” he said.
I nodded at Fred to let him know that I got it. That it wasn’t unusual for people who had gone through severe trauma to lash out at those around them. But I was too taken aback to say anything.
“Why don’t you rest, Alexis?” Fred said, then left the room.
First, Maurice pins me to the wall, choking the life out of me, and then Will Grimm lashes out at me so cruelly. It was precisely this sort of crap that had prompted me to leave this godforsaken town in the first place. And here I was back again, trapped in this misogynistic hell.
Unable to shake the sorrow that Will’s words had embedded into my heart, I struggled with sleep. He had extended bitterness in my direction, and that bitterness was akin to venom, seeping through my system, making me feel bad. At long last, when sleep did come, I was thankful for it.
Sleep did wonders for my worn body, but it did nothing to subside the heartbreak Will’s rudeness had caused. When I woke up, drenched in sweat, I noticed that I had slept for the entire day. Maybe some fresh air would do me good?
Despite his behavior, I was concerned for him. We hadbonded, after all. So, as I left the house, I checked in to see if he was sleeping or not.
The bed was impeccably made, the empty tray, plates, and glasses were stacked on the bedside table, and there was no sign of Will. Good. I didn’t want to confront him right now. Not until he’d issued some form of apology for his outburst. Maybe he was out in the commune, interacting with the pack, talking to people.
I snuck out through the backdoor and pulled my hoodie over my head, concealing my identity entirely. I could hear Will’s voice coming from the center of the commune. From the sound of it, they had lit a bonfire in his honor, even though it was a weeknight.
“…caged like a lab rat inside a horrible mansion…”
The crowd went, “Ooh,” hanging on to his every word.
I crept out of the commune, sneaking through the unguarded front gate. Right as I was about to leave, though, someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. I wheeled around to attack whoever it was but stopped when I saw that it was Vincent.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked.
“Why aren’t you over there with the rest of the pack?”
“Hey, I asked first.”
“Fine,” I sighed and pulled my hoodie off. “I just want some fresh air. Something happened with Will earlier today. And then there was the whole thing where your dad was trying to strangle me. I just need to be away for a while to reorient my thoughts and everything.”
“You’re not thinking of running away again, are you?” Vincent asked gravely.
“Look, Vince, you’re the only person here who’s ever been nice to me, hasn’t treated me like I was dog crap, never ignored me. Besides you, I haven’t got much here. The pack doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. The guy I rescue ends up hollering at me. The pack alpha hates my guts,” I burst out bitterly.
“Listen, Alexis, I know it feels like things aren’t going your way, but the pack will eventually see that you did a noble accomplishment. They’ll admire you for it in time.”
“Vince, I envy your optimism. Truly. I think it’s too late for things to change,” I said.
“Fine, I won’t stand in your way then,” he said, stepping aside and letting me pass.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. I’m just going for a walk. It’s still an hour before curfew. I’ll come back,” I said dryly.
From inside the Grimm Abode, I could hear loud laughter and chatter, which only made my bitterness worse. Will had only been here for a few hours, and already the pack had accepted him.
From here, I could see the blinking and shimmering lights of Fiddler’s Green a mile below me. That calm little seaside town would be the perfect escape for me just now. I could go to a bar, get hammered, and then throw rocks into the ocean at the wharf. Maybe I’d get into a bar brawl with a couple of unhappy, drunk sports fans. It would be so cathartic to walk into the cold, breezy, and dark streets of the town. But going down there on foot would take me fifteen minutes. Another fifteen to come back. By then, the curfew would already be in place, and I’d catch hell from the pack members for breaking the rules. As if I wasn’t in hot water already.
As I briskly walked, I tried to reason with my mind that I should go easier on Will and let it go that he had snapped at me. It wasn’t that big of a deal. People do all sorts of things when they’re experiencing post-traumatic stress. In a way, I was being selfish, making it all about me.
I never got to finish my self-actualizing.
The same stale stench of blood, that salty metallic tinge, poured through the air just as it had done last night when I had come across the vampires in the forest. The townsfolk were blissfully unaware of the existence of creatures like werewolves and vampires in their midst, but we werewolves knew that the vampires thrived somewhere in the direction of Fiddler’s Cove. Some of us had a rough idea that maybe they even lived down there, where the sun never shone, the air was cool, and there was access to the sea.