by T. S. Ryder
Chapter Four
Compromise.
Amelia ground her teeth as Mr. Abs began cursing up a storm because the idiot on TV didn't catch the stupid ball that all the other idiots were running around trying to get.
It was like no time had passed since she broke up with the idiot on her couch a year ago. 'Looking good, babe. Why don't we stay in?' meant 'Why don't you cook me dinner while I watch the game?’ She had insisted that he take her out to dinner, and after some back and forth, they had agreed on ordering in a pizza instead. That was compromise.
"Babe, get me a beer."
But was this compromise? Amelia tucked her legs under herself. What exactly had she been thinking, consenting to 'date' him again? Oh, right… the two Alphas had lied to her about their intentions, and she wanted something to distract her. Mr. Abs wasn't doing the job, though. All he was doing was make her miss them even more. Xavier and Timothy would never order her around like this.
It doesn't count that they lied about what they wanted from me.
"Hey, where's my beer?"
"I don't have any beer."
"No beer?" Mr. Abs looked shocked. "Sheesh, I thought you were gonna be ready for a date."
Her brother's voice flittered across her mind. Don't be so picky and learn how to compromise. Seriously? Was holding out for someone who didn't treat her like a waitress being picky? What was she supposed to compromise on? Her standards, her self-worth? Was she supposed to learn to just lie down and take disrespect? Or was she supposed to be so grateful that he didn't treat her like a sex doll that she happily did everything else for him?
The funny thing was, Adrian had once gotten into a fistfight with Mr. Abs over the way he treated Amelia. But he seemed to have forgotten about it. Or maybe he decided he had overreacted.
"Maybe you can go to the store and pick some up."
"I joined AA," Amelia sarcastically replied.
Mr. Abs stared at her. "You don't have to drink it."
This had been a bad idea. A terrible idea – quite possibly the worst idea she had ever had.
No, the worst idea I ever had was leaving the packlands before I actually talked to Xavier and Timothy about what Lucinda told me. I'm an idiot.
More of an idiot than Mr. Abs.
"Babe, quick, make me a sandwich."
Okay, maybe not quite.
"You have half a pizza right there."
"I gotta have a sandwich at halftime or my team will lose! Now make me one! I got fifty bucks riding on this, do you want me to help pay for the pizza or not?"
Grinning, Amelia got to her feet. She wasn't angry at Mr. Abs. No, she was too angry at herself to bother with him. What an idiot. Well, her brother would be hearing an earful about this experience! It was a shame she hadn't thought to film the exchange… Even Adrian wouldn't be able to argue that she should keep dating Daniel with evidence like that.
He'd probably excuse it because of the game.
Amelia got the squeeze bottle of mayo out of the fridge, along with a slice of processed cheese, salami, and a handful of lettuce. She grabbed the bread on her way back to the living room. She would make a sandwich all right…
Mr. Abs didn't even notice that she had come back in – until she slapped the cheese and salami to his cheeks, squeezed half the bottle of mayo over his head and stuck the bread to it.
"There." She smiled as she admired her work. "You're a sandwich."
***
It took a while for Amelia to get Mr. Abs to understand that she had made him a sandwich, just like he asked. He then took all the pizza and left, as though he was actually doing something that would bother her. She would have just thrown it out anyway. He'd put sardines on the pizza.
Sardines.
After she had reclaimed her home, Amelia took a moment to tidy it up, more as an excuse to delay calling the Alphas than anything else. After the way she ran away and then refused to take their calls for two days, she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to talk to her again. After all, Alphas couldn't have a mate that believed everything she heard! And didn't Timothy say he wanted someone he could talk to? Instead, she ran. How was she ever going to apologize?
Eventually, she grabbed her cellphone and called him. Communication was important to him, so reaching out to him first seemed like the best idea. He answered quickly, but his voice was cautious. Amelia bit her lower lip.
It's not too late. One freak-out isn't the end of the world.
"I'm sorry," she said, even before hello. "I'm sorry that I left the way I did, and I'm sorry for not calling. Is Xavier with you?"
"No," Timothy replied. He was panting, as though he had been working out. Well, with his physique, of course, he had to work out. "He's in a meeting. Why did you leave, Amelia? Why…? Did we scare you off?"
If what Lucinda said was true, wouldn't she have told them that she revealed their secret? Already, Amelia knew it wasn't true. She could have kicked herself. "No. It's not that. I'm just an idiot. Somebody said…"
Timothy's voice turned soft. "What did they say? Who was it? What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it over the phone. Can we meet tomorrow? I'll drive out to the packlands, if that's okay. I just… I just really need to talk with you."
Timothy paused a moment. "I'm actually almost at your house. When you didn't call back, I got worried…"
Amelia flinched, but at the same time, she beamed at his concern. How could she have ever thought that the Alphas were like the other losers she dated? "No, that's fine. That's great. I'll see you soon."
After she hung up, Amelia looked around her home. It would be the first time either of the Alphas were actually inside of her house, and what seemed tidy enough for Mr. Abs suddenly looked like a disaster.
She flew around the house, trying to make everything perfect, at least on the outside. So what if that meant that books got shoved into the closet instead of going back on the shelf, or if she pulled her couch over a pile of pizza crumbs instead of bringing out the vacuum cleaner? He wasn't going to snoop through the house.
After the living room looked decent enough to welcome Timothy in, Amelia turned her attention to getting herself ready. She had gone for comfortable and cozy for her date with Mr. Abs, wearing a nice-looking T-shirt and a pair of jeans that weren't awful but didn't really help her figure, either. Dashing to her room, she yanked out a pair of shorts with the image of a unicorn bedazzled across the butt and a V-neck tank top that showed off so much cleavage that it had been banned from her brother's house.
She was just swiping on some lip-gloss when the doorbell rang. Holding her breath with nervousness, Amelia rushed to answer it. Maybe she should have worn something that wasn't so sexy. She didn't want Timothy to think she was trying to seduce him into forgiving her. And what if he wanted to go for a walk?
But when she opened the door, she didn't find her Alpha.
It was Mr. Abs.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" she snapped at him, her hand instantly rising to cover her cleavage.
He looked her up and down with a gleam in his eye – one she didn't like. "I understand why you were so upset with me, babe."
"Because you're an asshole who won't stop calling me babe?"
"Nah, it's because you were feeling like I was neglecting you… but don't worry, I'm here to make it all better."
He grabbed her and kissed her full on the mouth with his stinky, disgusting sardine breath.
***
Timothy wasn't lying when she said that he was almost at her house. But it wasn't exactly like he had been driving. He hadn't intended to go anywhere near Amelia's house when he took his usual afternoon run to clear his head. Somewhere in the woods he had decided to see if he was correct when he supposed that, despite the drive from the packlands to her town taking two hours by car, it would actually only be an hour if he went straight through the forest rather than twisting and turning with the road.
He'd been fifteen minutes away when he
got Amelia's call. His heart had leapt and for a moment all he wanted to do was run to her and pull her into his arms, kissing away whatever fears she had. It had taken some strength to answer the phone first.
Yet, he had decided to take it slow. He wasn't going to assume that she was going to ask for them to take her back. Still, he hadn't been able to suppress his hope and kept thinking about what Amelia might say to him when he arrived at her place. Nor could he stop the daydreams about how overwhelmed she was by the strong sense that she belonged with the pack.
So, when he emerged from the trees dressed in the simple sweats he had brought with him on his run, the sight that met him tore his heart out.
Amelia stood on her front porch. Her back was against the wall, and she wore skimpy, sexy clothing. And a man was with her, body to body, gripping her hands as he kissed her. The passion in their kiss was evident, even from this distance.
So that was the truth of why she left. Amelia had somebody else. She had strung him and Xavier along, all the while knowing that they had no future together. What was her game? Was she trying to get money from them? A snarl tore out of him and he stalked forward–he was not going to be used in such a way!
Amelia and her mate didn't even know he was there until he yanked the man off her and tossed him down the steps.
Chapter Five
Amelia was just about to knee Mr. Sardine-breath between the legs when he abruptly stopped kissing her. No… he didn't stop kissing her; he was ripped away from her. She gasped as Timothy hurled him down the steps, the man landing in a crumpled heap. The Alpha's shoulders were tense, his fists trembling as he stepped down towards Daniel.
"No, don't!" Amelia gasped out of instinct, afraid that the Alpha would hurt Daniel. He was a loser but didn't deserve to be injured. Besides, Timothy might be arrested for assault.
Timothy ripped his arm from her grasp so fast that her palms stung. His black glare turned to her. Amelia hadn't yet seen the Alphas in their Wolf form, but she could see the Beast hovering just beneath the surface of Timothy's consciousness. A low growl rose in his throat, causing her to step back. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, no matter how angry he was, but the feral look in his eyes kicked her adrenaline into overdrive. The growl stopped as soon as she stepped away and Timothy swallowed hard.
"It's not what it looks like," she said, staring at him pleadingly.
"You could have told me you were having someone else over, babe," Mr. Abs said as he got to his feet. He leaned against the fence, wheezing. "Dude needs some anger management classes, though."
"You were here to see her?" Timothy snarled, whirling on him again.
It was almost worth it to see Daniel flinch and draw away. From the look on his face, he was about to pee his pants. "Dude, we were on a date when all of a sudden she freaked out at me. I thought it was because she wasn't getting enough lovin', but now I see—"
"That's not what happened!" Amelia clenched her hands as she glared at Daniel. It wasn't enough that he was an asshole, but he had to ruin her chances of reconciling with the Alphas as well? "You are a disgusting—"
"Save it." Timothy held out his hand, his eyes narrowed. His expression was hurt, betrayed, but when Amelia tried to explain, he just shook his head and backed down the steps. "The council was right about humans. Whatever you hoped to get from us—"
"Timothy—"
He turned and leaped towards the trees, his clothes bursting off him as he shifted mid-air. Amelia ran after him, calling his name, but he was gone before she reached the bottom of the steps.
She clutched her tank top closed over her breasts. Her lungs felt like they were collapsing. She wanted to slap herself for being stupid enough to have left the two of them.
"Well, babe, since he's gone—" Mr. Abs put his hand on her butt, squeezing.
Amelia whirled. Crack! Her palm stung as it flew against his face. Daniel stumbled back, a surprised look on his stupid face.
"I told you to leave. Leave means go. Get off of my property and out of my life! You are a self-absorbed loser who doesn't care about anything except for how stacked your abs are, and it is very unattractive."
Mr. Abs stared at her with his jaw hanging open for a long moment. A red flush came over his pale features and his hands clenched. His eyes narrowed. "You know, I was only doing your brother a favor by dating you. I can do better than a fat cow like you."
"Great, go find yourself a dog then," Amelia spat back.
He grabbed her arm. "Hey—"
"Get your hands off me before I call the cops."
Daniel released her and backed down a few steps, holding up his hands. "I got better things to do than debate this with you. But you'll be sorry! When you call crying to take me back again, I'll be all, 'Sorry, babe. I've got a new girl.’ You'll be sorry!"
Amelia rolled her eyes and ignored Daniel's infantile ranting. She hurried into the house to put on a pair of running shoes and grab her keys before she headed off into the forest. At first, she could see Timothy's trail easily and followed it, hoping against hope that he’d regret his haste, and turn around so she could explain. But soon the footprints disappeared, and Amelia knew that if she didn't turn back, she'd end up lost.
Tears flooded her eyes as she headed home.
I have to call Xavier.
She patted her outfit, but it didn't have pockets. Her cell phone was still at her house.
Much to her annoyance, when she emerged from the woods, she found her brother pacing back and forth on the porch. Daniel must have phoned him. Amelia tensed, debating about going back into the woods until he left. She didn't want to have to justify herself to him right now. She didn't want to hear his excuses about why Mr. Abs was really the perfect man for her.
Too late. He barreled down the steps towards her.
Amelia ground her teeth. "I don't want to hear it, Adrian."
"What are you thinking?"
"Right now that I have a mess to sort out and you need to butt out."
Adrian narrowed his eyes. "Very funny, Amelia. Daniel told me that a werewolf was here? That the werewolf attacked him?"
"Only because your best friend was practically attacking me!"
Adrian's eyes went wide at that. "What did he do?"
"He only ignored me the whole time, except to tell me to make him a sandwich. Then, when I kicked him out, he came back and started kissing me. And it wasn't just a quick peck, Adrian. He was holding my wrists so that I couldn't push him away. Is that the kind of man you want for your little sister?"
"So he's a little passionate. That's better than a werewolf! Do you want to spend the rest of your life as a wet-nurse? Not to mention what else they would do to you. If Daniel wasn't here, who knows what the brute might have done."
"You mean like rape-kiss me? Oh, wait, that happened with your friend."
"Worse than that! And I doubt it was as bad as you're making it out to be."
Amelia stopped on the steps, turning to her brother. Was he really so dense that he didn't understand what she was saying to him? Her hands clenched and it was all she could do not to push him. "Timothy and Xavier have only ever treated me with respect, unlike your 'buddy' who clearly doesn't care when I say no. He's the one who kissed me against my will; he's the one that I'd be afraid of doing worse to me!"
"You said yourself that the werewolves were only interested in you as a brood mare."
"I was stupid to believe some chick I didn't know. Timothy was here so we could talk things through and explain, but Mr. Abs might have just ruined my chances to ever be happy. Now go away, Adrian. I don't need you."
A hurt look flashed over her brother's face, but it hardened quickly. "Fine, if that's what you want, but don't come crying to me when they break your heart again!"
"I won't!" Amelia shouted after him. "Because they won't break my heart!"
***
Xavier sighed as he got off the phone with Amelia. Timothy had arrived home a half an hour ago in a rage, ranting about
how she was just using them and that he should never have thought a human would actually want to be with werewolves. Xavier, having the calmer mind of the two, had quickly phoned Amelia to get her side of the story.
"Well, this is messed up," he said, settling on the couch while Timothy paced. "Tim, will you calm down and listen to me for a moment?"
"No. No, we should have known when she left the packlands while we were supposed to be introducing her to the pack that she didn't want anything real with us. I don't care what excuses she has or what lies she's told you. I am not going to let her toy with my heart. We should have listened to the council about this from the start."
Xavier watched Timothy pace, letting him blow off steam. A frown creased his brow. He knew Timothy well: he was quick to temper and slow to forgive. If he would just listen to Amelia's explanation, then perhaps they would have a chance of working this out. Getting him to listen would be the problem. Timothy wasn't one to hand out second chances easily.
"I know you're angry. After what you saw—"
"Anger – you think that's all this is?" Timothy turned to glare at him. "How can you sit there calmly? I was counting on her, Xavier. I thought she was our mate, that the three of us would have the white picket fence I always dreamed of. Instead, I find… that!"
"The man kissed her without her permission. She had just kicked him out and—"
"What was he doing there in the first place?"
Amelia's explanation about that would only make him angrier at the moment. Xavier sighed. "Why don't we go for a run and cool off?"
"I don't want to run," Timothy muttered. "I'm going to bed."
Xavier nodded as he left, knowing that pushing him at the moment wasn't going to do any good. Once his partner was gone, the Rocky Ridge Alpha slumped over, hiding his face in his hands. Well. How was he supposed to sort this one out?
Chapter Six
She wasn't going to just let her fairy tale romance end over a couple of misunderstandings. Amelia kept an eye on her speedometer, making sure she went right at the speed limit. The last thing she needed right now was to be pulled over by the highway cops.