“Sooner or later, I would've found out.”
I would've told Sam eventually, I just didn't expect her to know about Terry and my mum today.
“Nobody else dies, Alice. Nobody.” She looks at me with a deadly glare. “The next person that dies will be the killer, because all of this needs to end.'
Chapter 10
After visiting Sam at the hospital yesterday, I later received a text message from Max, asking if I would like to meet up with him again at the diner. I was a little reluctant to meet him after Ryder's words, but I can't let his words stop me from having contact with somebody like Max.
I think back to what I said to Max before leaving the diner two days ago, and wonder if maybe Max has his answer to whether or not he wants to be associated with someone like me.
And that's where I end up on Monday morning, sat at an empty table, waiting for Max to arrive at the diner. I've sat myself at the back of the room in case Robbie recognizes me and asks why I decided to quit working. I wouldn't know what to tell him, if he did.
The moment I sat down, a waitress approached me and asked if I'd like to order something. It would've looked strange if I hadn't ordered anything, so I'd asked for a cup of coffee, an in a couple of minutes later, it was placed right in front of me.
Max turns up about five minutes later, wearing black jeans and a dark blue jumper. He sees me, immediately smiles, and sits opposite me. “You came
here before I did.”
I shrug. “What can I say? I'm a fast runner.”
“Well, slow down next time. It makes me look bad.” I frown. “How?”
“Everyone knows that the guy has to arrive like thirty minutes before the girl does.”
I raise my brow. “Wait. There's going to be a next time?”
He grins.
“I am curious about one thing though.”
He tilts his head. “And what would that be?”
“I'm curious as to why you asked me to see you again.”
He frowns. “Why? Can't two friends meet up and have coffee together?”
“They can, but after what happened last time, I thought you'd be reluctant to contact me.”
He looks at me with an expression I can't make out. “You clearly don't know me that well, Alice.”
I stare intently at him. “Obviously not.”
A waitress appears at our table at that moment, breaking our stare.
She completely ignores me, looks directly at Max and immediately blushes. “Can I take your order?”
He smiles at the waitress and indicates to my cup on the table. “I'll have what she's having.”
She writes the order on her pad, and stares back at him. “Anything else? Something to eat perhaps?” She bites her lip.
I smile to myself, knowing exactly what she's doing. “No, thank you.”
She pouts. “Call me if you need anything.” She looks at Max for a long time, then drags her feet away from our table.
“Someone has a fan.”
Max smirks. “I have that effect on women.” “You do?”
“Yes, but it doesn't seem to work entirely on everyone.” He gapes at me.
I peak a glance at him then clear my throat. “What does that mean?”
Max shakes his head. “Nothing. It means nothing at all.”
I take a sip of my coffee and sigh in delight. “How's school been?”
“School's been fine I guess, but it's odd not seeing you there. Are you coming back any time soon?”
I think to myself if there's a chance I'll continue going to school, but it seems very unlikely that I'll be going back.
“Probably not.” I place the cup back on the table. “Why?”
A pause.
“Is it because of your mum?” I numbly stare at him.
Obviously it's because of my mother.
The waitress appears at our table with Max's order. “Here's your coffee.”
Max murmurs a quiet thank you, and the waitress leaves immediately.
He looks back at me in question.
I sigh. “Education is the last thing on my mind. After everything with my mother, I just don't feel like doing anything other than finding out who did it.”
Max nods. “That's understandable.” “Is it?” I snap.
“Alice, I know what it's like to not have a father in
my life.”
“Try to imagine having no parent at all to talk to you, to feed you and care for you. You have no idea what it's like.”
He studies me for a moment, the shakes his head. “Then, how are you living? Where are you staying?”
“I'm staying with Ryder at the moment.”
His face changes to irritation. “Why are you staying with him?”
“My house is a crime scene. I can't live there until they've searched the house. Where else was I supposed to go?”
“What about Sam's house?”
He has no idea what's going on. “Sam's house isn't an option either.”
He frowns but he doesn't question it. “That sucks.” “What is?”
“Not being able to live in your own goddamn house.”
It sucks. Really fucking sucks.
I clear my throat. “Have you gotten any closer to finding your father?”
He shakes his head. “After finding out about your
mother, I've been hesitant to carry on finding him.” “Why?”
“It's just.” He sighs. “If my father wanted to be a part of my life, wouldn't he have tried to look for me by now?”
“Maybe he's tried looking for you, but he just didn't know where.”
Max doesn't respond to that.
I drain the remnants of the coffee and call his name. “Why did you really ask me to meet you?”
He still hasn't answered my question.
He picks up the cup placed in front of him and takes a sip. “Isn't it obvious?”
“Not to me, it's not.”
Max smiles warmly and leans forward. “It means I want to be your friend. I don't care if I get hurt because I've already made up my mind, and nothing will change my decision.”
Chapter 11
Ryder
What. The. Fuck?
I didn't know where the hell I'd end up from following Alice, I sure as hell didn't expect to find her sitting opposite to that lying fuck, but that girl is filled with surprises.
I heard her waking up early this morning, she took a shower and made herself breakfast. As soon as she finished eating, she took off.
With all these sudden disappearances happening, I couldn't take it anymore because every time she does it, she leaves me in a nervous wreck, but what pisses me off, is that she's been leaving my house, to meet up with that prick.
I should go in there and beat him up again because to me, it looks like he hasn't learned his lesson - To stay away from what's mine.
You wait until I get my hands on you, Max.
“Can we please go back? I feel really uncomfortable right now.”
Kellan had woken up the same time Alice did, but he
didn't seem fazed at all about her sudden disappearance. Me on the other hand, left the house in a temper, but only because she never tells me where she goes.
Kellan followed me all the way to the diner, and that's where we end up a few minutes later.
We stand at a clearing, hidden from the eyes of the people inside, but it gives us the perfect view to see what's going on in the diner.
I frown at Kellan. “You're not hearing this?”
Kellan looks at me in irritation. “I don't want to listen to it, Ryder. Stop listening in to their conversation. It's private.”
“I don't give a fuck.”
He rolls his eyes. “Of course you don't, but just leave them alone and let's go home.” I just ignore him.
“No one listens to me anyway.” Kellan turns to leave, but I grab him by the collar of his shirt and drag him back to my side.
“Where do you think you're goin
g?” “I was gonna go back home.”
I point to the spot next to me. “Stay there and don't fucking move.”
A pause.
Kellan looks around him. “Why are we here anyway?”
I squint my eyes to take a closer look to what's happening, I see Alice picking up the cup placed in front of her and takes a sip from it, then I move my gaze to look at the asshole sitting opposite her.
I growl. “Why the fuck is he looking at her like she's a piece of meat?”
Kellan sighs. “Because she's an attractive girl, Ryder. Any guy would be stupid to not be drawn to her.”
I glare at him. “She's mine though.”
He looks at me in annoyance. “Ryder, you can't just claim people like that.”
“Why not?”
Kellan just laughs at me. “What's so funny?”
“I just find it hilarious that you think you can claim Alice to being yours without even asking her.”
“Isn't that the same thing when you call someone your girlfriend?”
“No, it’s not.”
What?
Kellan scoffs. “Have you never had a girlfriend
before?”
I look back to the past relationships I've had, but they've all just been one night stands with female wolves from other packs.
“No, never.”
“Well I have, so take my advice. Ask her first to be your girlfriend then you can call her yours.”
“I've already told her that she's mine.” “Why would you do that?”
I place my hands on my hips. “Why? What’s wrong with saying that?”
Kellan looks at me in disappointment. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I point to the diner. “Blame that fucker in there! He's trying to take her away from me.”
Kellan crosses his arms over his chest. “You know, if Anna was here right now, she'd slap you over the head for talking like that.”
Anna probably would've because she hated me talking without thinking first. Every time I spoke my mind, it always resulted in me getting shouted at by Anna, and she'd hit me for it. It would hurt like hell, but it definitely taught me to not do it again.
I smile. “She probably would've kicked me in the
balls.”
“Yeah. You deserve it.”
A moment of silence passes between us. “Do you miss her, Kellan?”
He doesn't answer straight away. “What kind of question is that? Of course I miss her.”
“I miss her every day.” “We all do.”
I look down at the floor. “I was such an asshole and a complete jerk to her and our family.”
“You were a shitty brother, but she loved you. Talked about you all of the time. Even when we were together...”
I grimace and he stops talking immediately when he sees my face.
Kellan rolls his eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter. Seriously, I'd never talk to you about my relationship with your sister.”
“Good, because I really don't want to know what you got up to with my sister.”
Kellan grins. “Honestly, she did love you. Even when you were being a stubborn shit, she loved you more than anything.”
I smirk over at him. “I bet that pissed you off.”
“Nah, your sister showed me on a daily basis how much she loved me.”
I groan in disgust. “Why am I even talking to you?”
“Because I'm the only one in that house who you find bearable.”
“Please, I prefer Bane over you.”
That's not true.
“What did you just say?” Kellan yells.
I shrug. “You're like an annoying little brother.”
He gasps and holds his chest. “I'm offended you would say that. Bane is a grumpy douche who loves to pick on me.”
“I'll tell him you said that.”
He gives me smirk. “You know Anna and I were...”
I cut him off. “If you dare tell me something I don't want to know, I'll actually punch you in the face.”
He shuts up.
Another moment of silence.
“There is one thing that bothers me though.”
I look back at the diner, and stare longingly at the girl sitting by the window.
God she's beautiful.
“Who do you think did it?” “Did what?”
“Killed your sister. I can't to this day get my head around the whole thing. I mean, who would wanna hurt a kind soul like Anna?”
I've been asking myself that from the moment I found out that she'd died. I remember finding her by the river in the early hours of the morning, and the scene was something out of a horror movie. Anna was lying face down on a bloody rock, with no clothes on. Her skin was ice cold and blue. To think that she was by herself in the cold and wet, made me sick to my stomach. I had knelt down beside her, placed my finger gently on her neck to find a pulse, but I knew that she was gone. I just needed to know for sure. It was too late. I couldn't even cry, the shock of realizing that my sister had been killed didn't register in that moment, and it didn't sink in until the day of her funeral. I had taken off my woollen cardigan I was wearing at the time, and wrapped it around her fragile and frail body. I then carried her all the way back to where we were staying for the night in the woods. I refused to look at what damage she'd taken to her body, because I knew that if I looked, I wouldn't have been able to get the images out of my head, but I'll never forget that moment when I took
Anna back to our parents, I never thought that night could've possibly gotten any worse. My mother had screamed when she saw me with Anna in my arms. My father could only stare in shock, but the first thing my mother said to me, was what had I done to Anna. I couldn't form any words when she took Anna from my arms. She clutched Anna tightly to her chest, repeatedly asking why, which I knew was directed at me. My own mother was convinced I had killed my sister, and even though I had tried to explain to her more than once that I'd found Anna like that, she didn't want to hear what I had to say.
I shake off the memory and answer Kellan's question, “A sick bastard who loves to prey on the weak and innocent.”
“But, don't you want to know exactly who did it? Because I do.”
I sigh. “I do, but at the same time, I don't.” “Why don't you want to know?” Kellan asks.
“Because when I find out who did it, I'll kill them.”
“It's not like you haven't killed before. You've killed other Alphas who were known for being unbeatable.”
“It doesn't get any easier Kellan. Those Alphas were killing for fun, and this murderer isn't any different. I need to take this killer down before they kill someone I really care about.” I say this while looking at Alice.
“Why is the killer targeting the people closest to her? I mean, why kill her mother? Why attack her best friend?”
I sigh. “The killer most likely wants her vulnerable.” Kellan looks at me in confusion. “Why?”
“Because when a person's vulnerable, it's the perfect time to kill.”
“Ryder, what if the killer does actually get to Alice?”
I scoff. “The killer's got to get through me first.”
Kellan shakes his head. “Watch your back, Ryder. I don't want anything happening to you or Alice.” He looks at me in concern.
I place my hand on his shoulder. “Nothing's going to happen to me because do you know why, Kellan?”
“Why”' Kellan murmurs.
“Because I'm a fucking animal, and I never fucking lose a fight.”
We both grin, but then my attention is drawn back to the diner, where I see a girl exiting the doors. The moment I realize it's Alice, I leave my position from the clearing and approach her. Max soon follows after her.
“What the fuck is this?”
She looks at me in confusion. “Ryder? What are you doing here?”
I look between her and Max. “Shouldn't I be asking you that?”
“How did you know I was here?”
I don't answer her because she soon figures it out. She frowns. “Did you follow me here!?”
“Yes, because I'm sick and tired of you disappearing all the time.”
She rolls her eyes. “Why? Don't you trust me?”
“Of course I do, but it's him I don't trust.” I point my finger at Max.
Alice sighs. “Ryder, you're being paranoid over nothing.”
“Wasn't he the prick that lied to you multiple times?” “It's been sorted out, we're fine now.”
I'm not okay with this. At all.
“Anyway, didn't I tell you to say to him to back the fuck off!?” I seethe.
She doesn't back down. “I'm not going to tell someone that! We were just talking and drank coffee together. What's so wrong about that?”
Max goes to stand in front of her, like a protective
shield. “I'm the one that asked her to come and meet me. If you want to take your anger out on someone, take it out on me.”
“Oh, I'll take it out on you alright.” I grit out.
I march towards him, but Kellan appears in that moment and grabs me around the arm, and pulls me back to where he's standing. “Ryder stop, let's just go home.”
I shrug out of Kellan's hold. “No.” “Ryder come on. Let it go.”
I growl in frustration. “I want to speak to Max alone. So, please just take her home.”
Alice sighs. “I was leaving, anyway.”
She takes out her car keys and leaves to go to her car.
“Go with her, Kellan.” I say while looking directly at Max.
Kellan looks at me worryingly. “Are you sure?” “Yeah.”
Kellan leans closer into me. “Okay, but just remember that he's not one of us. He's a human.”
I wait until Kellan and Alice leave the diner together and then continue trying to make my point across to this asshole.
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