Collins
AFTER I sat straight up in bed, gasping for air. Sweat poured off me as I held my chest trying to calm my heart. I tried to slow my breathing as I took in the surroundings. I was home. I was safe. Garrett wasn’t here. Freaking nightmares. Would they ever go away? I didn’t know, but it really didn’t seem like it. My thoughts returned to that night. How I had eventually passed out, overcome with the emotional and physical pain.. my body and mind shut down. I woke up some time later .. no idea how long ai had been laying there. But thankfully alone. I tried moving and to my surprise I could move a little now. But actually sitting up took so much effort I wanted to lay back down and take a nap. I didn’t get very far before that’s exactly what I did. Once again I awoke .. light skittered through the window. Was it the next day? I searched for a clock but didn’t see one anywhere. Again I tried to sit up and this time I was more successful. I looked around the room and spotted my purse on the floor over by the closet. My phone was in there. It took literal ages… I had to physically move my legs off the bed with my hands. I dropped down to the floor and pulled myself across it when I finally got to my purse. As fast as possible - which wasn’t fast at all- I reached for my phone. Watching the door closely, and scared to death they’d come back- I unlocked the phone. And thank goddess. I had battery and it was on. There were literally hundreds of missed calls and messages from my friends. I also saw that my best friend from my pack had called. And my parents? There was a few calls from a number I didn’t know as well. I found out later it was campus security. The girls had called them when they couldn’t find me and they in turn had called my parents. I remembered sitting there…. begging Luna herself that Sloan would answer. And she did. On the first ring. I had told her where I was and it seemed like it took hours for the girls to find me. They’d left the party thinking I had gone outside and either wandered off.. or something worse. They didn’t know at the time that something much much worse had happened right there in front of their noses. Getting out of the house was chaotic. It took all three of my friends to help me walk. They all cried when they saw my condition. My cheek had a cut on it from where Garrett slapped me, probably from his ring or watch. And my eye and whole other side of my face bruised already from the punch. Not to mention I was half naked. The girls had to put my clothes back on so we could leave. But I would heal quickly. Physically anyway. Something I didn’t know how I was going to explain. I had a sinking suspicion that mentally healing from this would take much much longer. The party had of course ended downstairs. Some people were asleep here and there. But thankfully I didn’t see any of my attackers on the way out of the house. I momentarily wondered what Garrett thought I would do. Had he expected me to be quiet? Probably. Had he thought I wouldn’t tell anyone? His dad was a powerful attorney however. And something told me he had gotten Garrett out of things before. We had all heard the stories about those frat parties after all. The security guard waited outside and he drove us back to the dorm. He took one look at me and shook his head. Clearly this wasn’t his first time. My friends all wanted to go to the police, but that would be very complicated due to the fact that I was a werewolf. Wolves usually did everything they could to stay away from human legal matters. Plus the police would have me go to the hospital and get tests run. Tests where they might take blood. There were only a few blood work ups that showed abnormalities… but they had to be careful to avoid those. And I didn’t want to chance it. So I told the girls I had to speak to my parents first. They got there soon after, they’d already been on the way. My dad cried when I told them what happened .. my mom couldn’t stop sobbing. My dad’s wolf was coming out… things were about to get crazy. I knew my dad would take care of it one way or another. My friends didn’t understand my parent’s abhorrence toward filing a police report. So I had to make up a story that they wanted to wait and talk to the police once we got home. I had to leave school. I hated it. I didn’t want to leave but how could I stay, I couldn’t now. Saying goodbye to the girls was the hardest thing I had ever done. I loved those girls, they had become my dearest friends. We had all become so close the past two years.. they were more like sisters now. But I promised to stay in touch. I didn’t know what mom had told the professors about my absence. Her being a teacher herself, I assumed she just knew what to say to get them to agree. I took my assignments home and finished them there so I wouldn’t lose any credits that I had worked so hard for. Classes were nearly over for the year anyway. Quitting cheer made me sad .. but quitting dance… that was like someone stripped half of my soul away. My dad wanted names of the other two guys but I had no idea. I told him one was wearing a frat hoodie but he clearly wasn’t a member. So he had to settle on punishing just Garrett. I didn’t know exactly what he had done.. but I knew he’d scared the shit out of him. I wished with all my heart I could’ve told the world what he did. I said as much to dad. “He’s going to do it again dad.” “He won’t be doing anything for a while Collins…” dad said angrily. I had never seen dad as mad as he was after all that happened. “He’s done it to other girls…” I said quietly. But I knew he couldn’t let me do anything. The girls knew.. and they’d tell people. We also called in an anonymous tip to the police there. So maybe that would be enough. But I had become depressed. I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder. Even though the pack was an hour away from college, I still didn’t feel safe. I spent the days in bed.. not dancing, not talking, not shifting, and certainly not enjoying life. That’s when dad decided. We were moving.CollinsA secret is like a disease. It grows. When you keep it inside it gets bigger and bigger. And the damage is always worse when it comes out. But I’m good at secrets. I’ve held one close to my heart since I was fourteen years old… when I accidentally found out something I shouldn’t have… that I didn’t want to know. That secret has eaten away at me for years now. There had been so many times over the years I wanted to tell it…. to confront the person who it was about. But how many lives would I be ruining if I did that? So I’d kept it inside where it ravaged me on a daily basis. But the secret of being a werewolf? That’s different. That’s a necessity… not a choice. The implications of it coming out would be dire for so many people, it would be pure devastation. The idea that I could share my secret, here.. at college with someone? That fills me with some sort of raw hope…. something I had no idea I wanted or needed until this moment. This moment, when I know for a fact th
Collins It had been a couple of weeks since classes started. I was finally settling in some… getting into the groove of things. Jenny and I were getting closer every day and I thanked goddess I had her. I felt like I’d known her my entire life. We stayed busy … classes all day then dance practice and then we worked at the restaurant. After about a week of training they decided we had graduated and were let loose in the world of waitressing and bartending on our own. It took a little bit— but eventually we got it, and now we were pros. So far luckily, Jenny and I always worked the same shift. Mostly because we had the same hours available. But it didn’t leave much free time. I had spoken to Alan a couple of more times since Jenny almost caught us having phone sex. I’d never been more embarrassed in my life. At first I thought I was in the clear, that she had no idea what I had been up to. That was until later that day when she asked me if I wanted her to go down to the library a w
Alan After we’d finished talking and I was … finished because even though her roommate waking up put a stop to what she was doing it sure as hell didn’t stop me….. I walked over to the table by my bed. I sighed as I sat down. I stared at my bedside table, fighting an internal battle with myself, as I often did. I already knew I was going to lose .. this was one fight I never won. After five minutes of staring, I gave up and opened the drawer… pulling out the pictures that I secretly kept there. I felt my heart splinter as I looked at the face smiling back at me. I flipped through them… one by one as I often did. Pictures of us together…. Pictures of us in bed… her smiling at me…. and my favorite one… a close up of just her.. a piece of her hair hung over her eye as I had reached up to move it back. I had snapped the picture right then while she smiled shyly and looked at me through her lashes. Fucking hell. No one knew. No one knew we’d been sneaking around for years. No one k
AlanI’ve always been a good sleeper. A DEEP sleeper. As long as I have the room set up the way I like it that is. Dark curtains, cold air, and a loud ass box fan…. I could sleep for days. Okay so I’m a bit of a diva when it comes to my sleeping arrangements. But still.. once the room is right, I go in to what Emily always called my death sleep. You could bang pots and pans above my head and I wouldn’t budge. Recently, I’ve been sleeping even harder that normal. And that’s a feat within itself. Normally nothing wakes me until my body automatically decides I’ve had enough sleep. But with all the constant training I’ve been doing, plus working on my beta duties every day… I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow. That’s why this morning… when the shrill sound of my phone goes off … I pop out of the bed so quick I fall my ass down and hit my head on the bedside table. Apparently high pitched noises is the key to waking my ass up. “Son of a …” I pick up the phone, not bothering t
CollinsWe spent the next day looking for part time jobs. We went to literally every single doctors office, the hospital, any and every medical type office there was. We even went to three different pharmacies. But no luck. I was beginning to feel defeated. I didn’t have to work.. but I definitely wanted to. Jenny certainly didn’t have to but my parents didn’t have the money that hers did… and I hated asking them for it. They’d already deposited a good chunk of change into my checking and savings account. But I didn’t want to live off them all year. I was ready for a nap. Last night after we’d talked and talked Jenny surprised me by opening the cabinet under the large television in our room and showed me two separate gaming systems that Cristoff would die over…. Plus tons of dvds and a dvd player. I didn’t even know they still made those. “They probably don't…” Jenny had said when I told her this. “But I asked my dad to bring ours from home. I have about a gazillion movies that I
CollinsOnce we finally were able to get over the shock of the room we came in and started unloading. I took the bed on the far wall as Jenny said she didn’t care which bed was hers.. but she’d also already sat down on the other one. “Did someone come with you to help you move in?” Mom asked Jenny. A sad expression quickly appeared on Jenny’s face, then disappeared just as fast. “No my mom.. she’s a lawyer and she travels a lot. She’s hardly ever at home. And dad is here somewhere probably in his office .. so it’s just me.” She said. “Well we can help with whatever you need.” Emily told her… always doing for others. Emily had the heart of a saint I decided. Jenny thanked her.. and then we all began unpacking and getting the room situated. I still hadn’t bought more clothes. And I was going to have to do that soon. Even Jenny made a comment about my lack of winter wear. But first I needed a job. I still hadn’t found one of those either. We had a few days to get settled in before
Collins The day had finally arrived. I was going back to school. I was packed and ready… my mom waiting in the car with Cristoff. The baby was staying back with Natasha.. the beta’s wife… it would be too hard to move into the dorms with a newborn. And my dad had to stay back and train. Alan also had to stay and train… but he would come and say goodbye to me. Emily and Lauren were both coming as well. And thank goddess for that. I would need the support, even though I was more than ready. I went outside and snuggled my baby brother goodbye. I would see him soon… but babies changed so much when they were this tiny, I knew I would be missing a milestone or two. I hugged my dad and didn’t want to let go. My dad was my protector. He would do anything in the world for me. He would always be my biggest fan. And leaving him broke a little piece of my heart off. Lorenzo hugged me as well. Then there stood Alan. I had been going down the line saying my goodbyes. I had been doing so we
Collins Goddess. I had so much fun last night. I had too much fun last night. I felt like utter shit this morning. Utter shit is putting it lightly. I had woken up at Emily’s house. No idea how I’d even gotten here. It took me seven years to even lift my head up off the pillow. Once I’d finally managed that, I was able to crawl… literally… to the door. Once I opened it there was Emily. Sprawled out in the hallway. And even though I felt like I was dying.. I busted out laughing. “I was coming to get you….” She mumbled. “But this is far as I made it.” Now — what seemed like years later, because it took so much effort and time for us both to make our way downstairs — Emily and I were sitting at the kitchen table with coffees the size of Lorenzo’s pack. I heard someone walk into the room but I didn’t even have the strength to look up to see who it was. Until they busted out laughing. Alan.. of course it would be Alan. “Owwwww!” Emily said. “Your laughing hurts.”For the fir
AlanI started over.. ready to end the dude’s life right there and then when Lorenzo stopped me. “Calm the hell down dude. We’re surrounded by humans.” Lorenzo whispered. I tried. I really did. But I wanted blood. I finally got my breathing in check enough to nod at Lo and then the two of us continued to where the girls were. I stared at the asshole who was touching my mate. The guy seemed to get the picture and backed off. However I kept on staring at him… still snarling lowly. That seemed to do the trick as the little shit scurried off finally. Collins, who was still dancing and had no idea the guy had even left…. she probably didn’t know he was there to begin with…. was the first to spot us. “Lorenzo?” She looked confused at him. Then she spotted me. “Alan!!” She yelled. Then she bounded over and jumped into my arms, hugging me.What the …..Shit she felt good. I held on to her.. her legs wrapped around me … I leaned into her neck and took a deep calming sniff. Inhaling h