A Slap To The Face

I hesitate for a second before stepping into the large house. He leads me to a small guest room and closes the door, instantly making me a little uneasy. He raises his hands and says "I'm only doing this because I don't want the others to hear. Our Alpha has been hurt and he's currently resting."

My heart skips a beat as I step closer and ask "Is he okay? What happened to him? How did he get hurt?" The guy gives me an uneasy smile and says "He's fine. He's just recovering." I blink in confusion before asking "Can I see him?"

His smile becomes even more strained as he says "He's currently not able to greet guest and..." I cut him off and say "I'm starting to think something else is going on here... If you don't allow me to see him, I will assume someone is trying to hurt him or keep him prisoner. I will tear down this entire building to find him and make sure he's safe."

His smile completely fades as he curses under his breath and says "I knew this was going to happen... fine, follow me." He turns and walks out of the room, not even bothering to check if I'm following or not. I quickly catch up and try not to let all the stares bother me.

Why are they all looking at me like that!? When we finally reach the door, he knocks and says "Alpha, Hallows is here." It's silent for several seconds before I hear a sigh and "Let her in." I frown at his tone but when the door is open and I see him, I grit my teeth.

He was laying in the bed with nothing but a pair of pants on. His entire chest was wrapped up and bloody. Cuts and bruises were on nearly every inch of him! His lip was even busted! I quickly walk over and ask "Are you okay? What happened to you? Who or what did this? I've been calling you like crazy! Are you okay??"

I know I asked him that twice but I was seriously concerned! He nods at the other shifter and he silently nods back before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Xander gives me a lopsided smile and says "I'm fine! I just need a few days to heal and I'll be back to normal."

I bite my lip and ask "What happened?" He drops the smile and sighs as he says "I was out on a run with some of our youths but something in the woods started attacking us. I fought it and told the others to run when I picked up on the demon essence. I was able to hold my own until more showed up. When I finally took down the last one, my other senior pack members showed up and helped me get back."

Guilt eats away at me and I guess he sees it because he reaches out and takes my hand while saying "I'm serious! I'm perfectly fine. I just need a few days to heal." Suddenly, the door opens and a beautiful brunette walks in.

Xander instantly releases my hand and clears his throat. He suddenly keeps his eyes down, not saying a word as the woman walks over with a pitcher of water. She sets it down and reaches up, placing her hand on his head and saying "You need to be resting. Your fever is trying to come back."

She then turns to me and asks "And you are?" I open my mouth to say something snarky but something suddenly hits me. Something is clearly going on between the two... His entire body language has changed and he won't even look at me...

I feel something unpleasant and painful prick at my heart but I hide it as I say "Just a concerned employee. You see, Xander here hired my services to help investigate a few things and when I failed to get in touch with him, I decided to come and check on him but I see that he's being well taken care of."

She looks mildly surprised as she looks down at Xander and says "I didn't know you hired someone. Why didn't you tell me?" He closes his eye tightly and leans his head back saying "You've been gone for three months, Olivia. You just came back four days ago... am I supposed to fill you in on everything that's happened while you went off on a joy run?"

Olivia grows irritated as she says "It wasn't a joy run! I had to think about things! You suddenly wanted to get married and have kids! I didn't know if I was ready for all that!!" That uncomfortable and painful feeling grows as I suddenly feel like I'm intruding on lovers.

I turn and start to walk away but when I get to the door, Xander suddenly calls out to me "Eris!" I come to a stop and turn around while holding my breath. I have no idea why I'm even stopping but a small part of me hopes he'll introduce me or even ask me to stay but he only says "I'll... I'll call you about the job in a few days."

I feel something shatter inside as I say "Don't worry about it. Ambrose hired me to do the same job so it's a clash of interests. I hope everything... works out for you." He finally has the nerves to look me in the eyes but what I see in them just makes me feel even worse.

Guilt... he feels guilty and sorry. When I leave the house, the skies open up and pour. I drive straight back to my house in silence, wanting to erase the last hour of my life... No, I'd like to erase the last year of my life!

When I pull up to my house, a dark figure is standing in my driveway getting soaked by the rain. I turn the car off and stare at him, knowing why he's here. When I open the car door and step out, he meets me by the door with an umbrella.

I look up at the dark red umbrella and ask "If you had this all along, why did you stand out in the rain and get soaked?" His dark red eyes bore into mine as he says "I needed to cool off." I frown at him as he says "Knowing that the one I love is hurting over another man while I come to pick up the pieces is... let's just say that I want to kick loverboy's ass."