Let Me Help

I pace the room as I tug at my hair. “My whole world has been turned upside down because of you!” I can feel the anger bubbling inside of me like a pot ready to boil over.  Frank reaches for my hand, but I brush his away.  “Just don’t touch me right now!” I run to the door to escape him, but he catches up to me quickly. 

“Darlin’, you need to calm down,” he said. However, his words just ignited an inferno of rage within me. I lashed out and attacked him. He dodges. “It looks like my little wolf cub is having a fit,” he taunts, which just angers me more. I hit him. It barely grazes him. “I know that you are angry, but hitting me won’t solve anything.”

“Maybe not, but it will make me feel better, you fucking arrogant jerk!”

I kept trying to hit him. He grabs my hands, firmly but not painfully. “Please, stop. I will not fight you.”

In a final burst of anger and frustration, I push him aside and rush outside. I run but stop suddenly. The mark heats and pulls me to look back. It is as if it is trying to get me to go back to Frank. Fuck! I want my freedom, but I also want something else…him. Goddamn it! I let out a sigh. Suddenly, I hear footsteps. I turn and see Frank approaching. His expression is gentle but serious. “You didn’t think that I would let you go that easily, did you?”

I glare at him. “Fine, I might get it, but I need some space to think. Stop following me.”

“I can’t, sugar, and you know why.”

“You can’t keep me here forever.”

He rolls his eyes. “Why are you so damn stubborn? I am not keeping you prisoner. I am just trying to help you deal with being a werewolf.”

“Is that why you make me feel like your little dog?”

He runs his hand over his face. “You are not my pet. You are not a dog. You are part werewolf. LET.ME.HELP.YOU.”

“I don’t want your help. I want to leave Darkness Falls and get my life back.”

“I get it, but this is how things are. I am sorry, sugar. Things won't go back to the way they were for either of us. We are connected whether you like it or not.” He tries to pick me up and carry me back, but I slip away. He teases, “Keep playing hard to get and I might have to chain you up.”

He pisses me off so badly. I try to hit him again, but he dodges. One day I will wipe that smirk off of his face as he falls on his ass. He catches my wrists and stretches them over my head. His face is inches from mine, and that’s when I realize that he is enjoying this. I want to hate him, but those emotions from before flood my senses. Our eyes lock, and our hearts begin to beat in sync. Before I know it, our lips meet in a fiery kiss. Our bodies press together. I can’t push him away, but I do break the kiss. “Get off of me.”

He pulls back to look into my eyes. “I know what you want.” He kisses me again. Everything feels good and right, and that terrifies me. His hands roam my body, and the rest of the world fades away. It feels intimate and tender, but also raw and animalistic, which is something I have never felt before. I tug at his shirt, desperate to feel the warmth of his skin against mine. Frank pushes me to the ground. He looms over me as he growls, and it lights a fire within me. When I came to Darkness Falls, this was the last thing I expected to find. The intensity of his touch increases, and so does my anxiety. This raw need is so alien, but I give in to it. My hands tug his hair as our togues battle one another. 

Ugh, what am I doing? This isn’t me. I pull back. “Frank, we need to slow down.” Do I really want him, or is it the mark making me? Also, why does he want me so badly? 

Frank sighs in a bit of disappointment but quickly regains himself. He softly cups my face as he looks into my eyes, “Sure. I won’t force anything. We can take it slow.” 

He squeezes my hand, and I look at him. “Okay, thank you, but I still need time to think, please.”

“Alright, sugar, I will give you a bit of space.” He lets go of my hand, and I slowly walk back to his ranch. I walk around trying to process everything as the night air cools my hot skin. I replay everything that has happened tonight and add that to everything that has happened since I came to Darkness Falls. This connection with Frank feels real and fake at the same time. Is he hiding something? I found my way inside, so I started cleaning to distract myself. I start putting away the books that I had been reading and others I had scattered in my fit of rage, when a photo falls out. I pick it up and freeze. What the ever-loving hell?!?!

I see some men I don’t know, my father, and a boy staring back at me. The boy is a younger Frank. Why does he have a picture of my father? I want to confront Frank, but as I pass by the bed, I collapse on it. Too exhausted to move, I blacked out.