Instant Enemies

by Emily Zimmerman

  I rolled my eyes and leaned over, kissing the tip of his nose. “You do enough for me already.” I whispered.

  He grinned and grasped my chin. “You missed.” He whispered back.

  He moved my face down and pressed his lips softly to mine. When he pulled away, he looked passed me and his grin came back. I looked over and realized my parents stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Daddy had his arms crossed over his chest, looking like the protective father I knew and loved, and mom was looking at us both with an inquisitive expression on her face.

  “Sweetheart, why aren’t you at school?” she asked me.

  Before I could answer, Damian answered before me, “She fainted in gym and I brought her home.”

  “Are you alright?” mom asked in alarm.

  I smiled. “I’m fine. It’s a little hard to explain, so you might want to sit down.” I said.

  They sat down and stared at me expectantly as they waited for me to explain. I hesitated, wondering where to begin. Damian sat down beside me and squeezed my hand, smiling in reassurance. "Well-"

  "Oh my God! You're pregnant, aren't you?" mom gasped before I could even begin to explain.

  I snorted a laugh and rolled my eyes. "Why the hell would I be pregnant?"

  "Well...you fainted in Gym, you're being very civil with Damian, he carried you into the house-" mom ticked off reasons on her fingers.

  "Mom!" i inturrupted. "I'm not pregnant. I'm the chosen one of the Wolven Goddess."

  At this, they both gasped.

  ***

  Okay, so I completed a bunch of chapters in between writing Inner Animal. Please friend me if you'd like to know when I update, and please comment to tell me what you think! Don't hesitate to be a critic!

  Part ten: Fine then, I'll dress like a girl.

  Damian pulled me into his room, and I was slightly nervous. My parents left after getting a call from work – they were on a break and came here for lunch when we got home from school. They were a little apprehensive about leaving me alone in the house with Damian, but they decided they didn’t have much control over me anymore since I was eighteen and Damian was my mate.

  I looked around; Damian’s room was just as I’d expected it, neat and clean. For being a controlling bastard – most of the time – he was always clean. The walls were dark green, the floors, a dark kind of reddish-brown color. His bed was a large, queen size, with an intimidating, dark brown, slay bed, bedframe. A dresser that matched the headboard perfectly sat against the wall across from the bed.

  “This is…nice.” I said slowly.

  I looked over at him and realized he was leaning against the pane of his window, watching me with dark eyes and a strange expression. “Thank you.”

  I walked over to the bed and touched the smooth, shiny wood of the headboard. “You sure do keep things organized.” I commented.

  “I’m an organized person…or I was until I met you.” He said, a grin beginning to form on his lips.

  “What did I do?” I asked, trying to think over all my encounters with him in my mind, to find something that I said that changed him.

  “When you entered my life, my once perfectly organized, file cabinet of a mind became nothing but a mess of confetti. You shredded any other thoughts and threw them into the back of my mind. Meaning that I could think of nothing but you, and I still can’t. It’s frustrating and…wonderful.” He said softly. “For the first and last time, I’m in absolute, unconditional love. I don’t understand what I’m feeling most of the time; this is all so new to me.” His grin softened into a light smile.

  “What do you mean last time?” I asked him.

  “I mean that I probably won’t be falling in love again – at least like this – for the rest of my life.” He said.

  I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Before I’d met the pack, I’d been told that Damian was a fierce, strict, and very dangerous Alpha, with a heart like stone and a face to match. I hadn’t known he’d be so handsome and…so sweet. My mind was swimming with thoughts and emotions, going so fast around my head that I couldn’t process them. Before I realized that he’d crept closer, he had an arm around my waist and was prying my hand from the headboard, which I’d had a white knuckled grip on. “Cat, you look a little pale.” He said softly, but I could hear worry behind the gentle tone.

  “I-I’m okay. I just…this is a lot to take in.” I said, pushing away from him.

  Did I even want a relationship? I’d been told I was loved before, but I was never told I was loved like…that. I’d been figuratively stabbed in the heart so much that it was bleeding and damaged, and its feelings were jumbled. I had no idea what to feel around people that wanted more than friendship. And even then…I was afraid. The only reason Trevor ever got to be my friend, let alone my best friend, was because he never gave up. He’d talk to me, even when I never talked back. Eventually, I warmed up to him. And now look where he was, he wouldn’t even look at me now.

  “Cat, I won’t hurt you like that.” Damian said softly, as if reading my mind.

  “How do you know that?” I asked in a whisper.

  “Because I care about you, I want to be with you, I want to love you in a way the others never did. I want to be your friend, your companion, and your lover. I want to be there for you when you’re hurting, even when my anger for those who hurt you struggles to take control. I won’t walk away from you again.” He promised, grasping my shoulders and pulling me close to him again.

  I resisted him once again, pushing my hands against his chest, but this time he wouldn’t let me go. “That’s what Trevor said. Trevor promised he would be there for me…but look at him now.” I said.

  “I’m not Trevor, nor am I Carter or Laurence. I won’t Hurt you.” he insisted, staring into my eyes.

  I sighed and pushed away from him once more. This time he let me go without a fight. “I’m sorry…I just can’t.” I whispered.

  “Wait.” His voice stopped me as I touched the handle to his door. “Please…don’t go. Stay with me…if not as my lover, than as my friend.” He said softly.

  I turned, surprise the dominant emotion on my face. I’d never heard his voice so…desperate. He was usually so confident, so cocky in his ways. His eyebrows were furrowed, his lips turned down in a small frown. I could see the hurt on his face, and immediately felt guilt overwhelm my fear of being hurt. I hadn’t meant to hurt him.

  “Okay.” I whispered gently.

  His face immediately brightened and he smiled. He walked over and grabbed my hand. “We can just talk until everyone gets home from school.” He said.

  We both fell on the bed, and he put his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. We sat in silence, both of us waiting for the other to say something. “Damian?” I whispered.

  “Yeah.” he whispered back.

  “Tell me something about you that no one knows.” I said softly.

  “Okay… My mom and dad aren’t my biological parents.” He said softly back.

  I thought about that for a moment before looking at Damian. “When did you find out?”

  “When I met my real parents…at the cemetery.”

  Before I realized what I was doing, I turned on my side and cuddled into him, putting my hand on his chest. “I’m sorry, Damian.”

  He wrapped an arm around my waist to keep me there. “I was saddened…but I didn’t know them. My parents never even hinted that I was not loved because I wasn’t theirs, even with my brother-“

  “You have a brother?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Yes. His name is Victor. He lives in New York, decided to have his own life instead of living with the pack. He comes to visit every once in a while.”

  “Does he have a mate?”

  “No.”

  “Oh. I hope to meet him someday, and your parents.” I said, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes.

  “You will, love.” He promised, tightening his arm around me.

  I realize
d the position we were in wasn’t one of friends, I’d meant it for comfort…but I was so comfortable and warm here…I didn’t want to move. “Cat…?”

  “Yeah, Damian?”

  “Why are you afraid of letting me be with you?”

  I sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. “Because…every time I let someone into my life I screw up, or…they screw up.”

  “You could never screw up; your faults only make me love you more. And as for me screwing up…” he paused for a minute, staring into my eyes. “I won’t.”

  The way he said it, with so much conviction and honesty, the way his eyes were so earnest, I knew he wouldn’t. I put my hand on his cheek and smiled slightly. “I know.”

  He tightened his arm and pulled me up so he could press his lips to my forehead. This was when I realized that I wasn’t just afraid to be hurt, I was afraid of losing Damian. Everyone I ever let into my life leaves me. Trevor, the only one I ever truly let into my life, won’t even talk to me now.

  I was afraid of living life because of my past. I sighed and closed my eyes again, placing a soft kiss on his neck. “I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m just afraid, you know?” I asked him softly.

  “I know, Love.” He pulled my face up and placed a soft kiss on my lips. “I know.”

  I smiled and cuddled closer to him, he lifted his arm and played with my hair, it was so soft and comforting that I felt myself drifting off to sleep in his arms.

  “Cat…wake up, Love.” I struggled awake to the sound of Damian’s deep voice.

  I opened my eyes and looked up at him, meeting his bright blue eyes. “Hmm?” I asked on a sigh as I stretched my arms above me.

  He was leaning over me, one arm on each side of me. “Everyone is home from school. I’ve explained to them why you passed out, but there is someone I’d like you to meet.” He said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  I nodded slightly. “Alright.”

  He helped me up from the bed, but as soon as I was standing, he pulled me into him and pressed his lips to mine. I ran my hands up his chest and played with the hairs on the nape of his neck with one hand, while the other tangled into his hair.

  He pulled away and smiled, his breathing only slightly heavy. “Let’s go before they think we ran away.”

  “Wait…who?” I asked as he pulled me through the door.

  He chuckled, stopping and combing his fingers through my hair and pressing his lips to my forehead. “You’ll see, love.”

  I’d never seen him so happy. He was smiling hugely, and his eyes were twinkling with delight. He pulled me downstairs and I stopped cold as two people, a man and a woman, looked up from where they conversed with the pack.

  The woman had chocolate brown eyes. The man had raven sandy blonde hair. The man was handsome, and didn’t look a day over twenty. The woman looked more like nineteen. They both looked up and smiled when we entered.

  “Damian, she is more beautiful than I imagined!” The woman said.

  I was suddenly tackled in a hug with inhuman speed. It took a lot to keep myself on my feet, but I managed. “We’ve been waiting for Damian to find you!” she squealed in my ear.

  She had me in a bear hug, and I was afraid I was going to suffocate. “Mom, you’re going to suffocate her!” Damian said in alarm as I frantically pat her back.

  She let me go and I sucked in a deep breath. Damian pulled me into his side, smiling in amusement. “I’m alright.” I said when I caught my breath.

  “Cat, this wonderful woman is Julianne, my mother. And this is my father, Cameron. Dad, Mom, this is Cat, my mate.” Damian introduced.

  Damian’s father, Cameron, stood and walked toward me, he stopped a few feet away and looked me over, he then looked up and met my eyes. After a few long seconds, he smiled and looked at Damian. “I like her.”

  Damian smiled brightly. “So where is Victor?” he asked them.

  Mom and dad looked around, as if looking for someone. “He was here a second ago; he might’ve gone out to the car to get something.” Cameron said.

  I looked up at Damian in confusion, his brother? “My parents heard about my finding you, and called Victor, who decided to fly home.” He explained softly.

  “Okay, who has my-“ a man, probably Damian’s age came in, and he stopped speaking as soon as he saw me. I had a wave of déjà vu.

  “Victor, this is my mate-“

  “Cat.” Victor smiled.

  “Vic! Who’d have known it was you!” I laughed.

  We walked towards each other and pulled me into a big affectionate bear hug. “How long’s it been, Cat? Has to have been three years, right?” he asked when he set me down.

  I nodded. “Right! The vacation to New York was three years ago. God, it’s good to see you!”

  “Cat…you know Victor?” Damian asked from behind me.

  I turned to Damian with a smile. “I took a Vacation to New York with mom a few years ago. Vic and I ran into each other at the train station, so, being a fellow wolf, he decided to show me around!” I explained.

  “And you didn’t think to ask what pack he was a part of?” Damian asked, his voice getting dark.

  I shrugged. “It didn’t cross my mind. Besides, it’s not like he hurt me or anything. We actually became good friends.”

  “And apparently you’re going to be my sister, huh?” he nudged me.

  I laughed and punched his shoulder. “And then you’ll have to deal with me for more than just a week.”

  “Cat, can I speak with you for a second?” Damian asked, and I recognized the voice, he was in Alpha mode.

  I looked at him in confusion, but shrugged. “Okay.”

  He pulled me through the kitchen and out the back door, only stopping when we reached the far end of the porch. “Are you insane?” he asked incredulously when he turned to me.

  I furrowed my eyebrows. “What’s your problem, Damian?”

  “You met a strange wolf, in a strange city, and just let him take you by the arm and show you around alone?”

  “Obviously he wasn’t that strange, it was your brother, Damian, and that was a long time ago.”

  “You’re not seeing my point here. Every wolf you meet that is not affiliated with this pack is a danger. No matter who it is, if you meet one, he is likely to tell his pack, and they will kill you on sight.” He growled.

  I glared at him. “Well it’s not like I’m going to be talking to any other wolves anytime soon! That was a one-time thing! It’s not like I’m going to go waltzing up to a wolf and say ‘hi! I’m new here, can you show me around?’ I’m not that stupid, Damian!”

  “Apparently you are because you did it once!” he snarled, his eyes turning black.

  This stopped me from speaking. I stared at him in hurt. “I’m so glad you think of me that way, Damian.” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

  His eyes faded back to blue and I immediately saw the regret in his eyes. “Cat, you know I didn’t mean that.” He sighed.

  “No, actually I don’t know that, Damian.” I said, turning and walking away.

  “Cat, where are you going?” he grabbed my arm, spinning me around.

  “I’m walking home, or do you think I’m too stupid? Do you think I’ll catch a ride with a strange wolf?”

  I ripped my arm from his grasp and kept walking. I pulled out my phone to call Trevor, but realized Trevor was here, and probably didn’t want to speak to me. I sighed and called my brother instead, I wasn’t walking the full hour.

  “Hello.” My brothers’ voice came in on the other line.

  “Hey, do you think you can pick me up? I’m at the pack house.” I said.

  “How did you get there, don’t you have your car?” Riley asked.

  I sighed. “I, uhm, I took a ride with Damian.” I muttered.

  “Ah.” He seemed to understand.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  “Thanks, squirt.”

 
; “Yeah, yeah, twerp.” He muttered.

  A few minutes after I disconnected with Riley, I got a call…from Trevor. I bit my lip as I saw the ID, wondering if I should answer it. I sighed, no reason not to.

  “Hey.”

  “Cat…where are you? Damian said you had an emergency and you had to leave.” Trevor said.

  “Well it’s not like you would care. I mean my own best friend shouldn’t care about my wellbeing, should he?” I hadn’t meant to say it, but my anger and frustration got the better of me.