Chapter Eleven - Willow

Chase’s face said everything I needed to hear. Something bad had happened. I wasn’t sure if it revolved around my mother’s case or something else. Either way, it twisted my stomach into knots. I wanted to know, but ultimately, I'd felt beaten up enough already. Couldn't we catch a break? Derrick ran off as soon as Chase showed up. I picked up my T-shirt I’d tossed onto the ground and wiped my face with it. “What do you need to speak to me about?” I asked. "Because it doesn't look good to me." Chase casually walked over, his gaze everywhere but on me. That was another indicator. He normally struggled to keep his eyes off me. Now, he looked at everything but me. I cocked my hip to the side and folded my arms over my chest. “Spill it, Alpha. I can tell you’re hiding something. I can take it." His hazel gaze settled on mine. “You have to stop training.” Another gut punch. Kick me while I'm down. “Haven’t we already gone over this—,” “No, I’m serious this time. I had a pack member come and threaten to turn me into the regional court for allowing a female warrior to train. They know you train with Derrick. This isn't just about the obstacle course." My gut screamed Regis. Who else gave a damn that I wanted to fight? “Did you tell Regis that was a real pussy move?” Chase sighed, but didn’t deny it. “I will get punished, or have my title striped if I’m found guilty. Do you understand that?” I understood. A punishment from the court meant being whipped or chased by hell-hounds. It meant whatever the court wanted it to mean. I didn’t want that to happen to Chase. He didn’t deserve it by any means. He hadn't promised me that I could become a warrior, my father had. I closed my eyes, feeling the soft humid breeze against my skin. “Okay,” I said. When Chase didn’t respond, I opened my eyes and looked at him. “Okay?” he asked. “Just like that.” No, not like that. I would find a way to train. If I had to do it in my room, only in human form, I would train. Regis wasn’t going to dictate my life. But I wouldn’t crash the warrior’s training and give myself away. “Just like that,” I said, walking around him. I felt his eyes on me as I walked back toward the pack house. There was a silence, and then the heavy sound of his feet behind me. “Why is it that I don’t believe you? You’ve been pushing back at me since I arrived.” “I won’t crash the warrior’s training any longer, Chase. Regis won’t know a thing.” He reached out and grabbed my elbow. Shots of electricity soared through me like lightning. His eyes swirled from hazel to gold and his wolf vibrated through him. “What does that mean? You plan to train but not where he can see.” I didn’t speak. I stared at him. Wanting all of this to stop. He chuckled and pulled me closer to his chest. My heart fluttered from the heat of my body against his. “You don’t care that I’m going to get punished?” he asked. “I won’t crash the training anymore. I’ll train in my room. Regis has no business in my room.” Chase’s heated stare dropped to my mouth. For a brief moment, I almost gave in to my wolf’s desires and let him kiss me. Put out this fire burning in my stomach. But he pulled away. “No more training with Derrick,” he said bluntly. “No more crashing our practices, and if anyone catches wind of you doing anything in your room, it ends. Do you understand?” “Crystal clear,” I said, catching a sniff of a familiar she-wolf. "You smell like Tiffany. Did you give in and take her to your office?" Chase cocked his head. "Your jealously is so cute, Willow. You were right. She does want my attention." I stared for a brief moment, trying not to think about Tiffany anywhere near him. I turned and walked toward the pack house. My body was already flush from the last hour of practicing, but a new heat built in my stomach. Suddenly, I turned and faced him. “I hope you put Regis in his place. Telling you what to do. Threatening you. I knew he was a punk, but I didn’t realize how much of one. I almost would rather he fight me like a man than go behind my back to the alpha.” “If he touches you, I’ll do more than just break his wrists next time, Willow. Don’t wish for things that you don’t want to happen.” My wolf responded so eagerly to Chase’s protective side. “What else did he say?” I asked. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It does to me.” Chase slid his tongue over his teeth. “He thinks you’ve been given too many privileges. He wants to see you punished.” I chuckled. “How are you going to punish me, Alpha Chase?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the taunt from my voice. Chase observed my face, the heavy racing of my heart and the snarl on my mouth. “How I want to punish you and how I’ll have to punish you are two different things, Bunny.” Ask him, my wolf begged. “Tell me,” I whispered. “Tell me what you want to do.” Chase became still, his fingers twitching and his wolf raging inside of him. “I’d push you against that tree, wrap my fingers around your throat and kiss you like I’ve been dying to. Kiss you until you’re a complete wreck, and then leave. Leave you high and dry like you’ve been making me feel.” I want that, my wolf whispered. Let him do it. A heavy feeling pulsed between my legs. “Yeah?’ I asked. “And how are you going to punish me.” Chase’s eyes swirled back to hazel. “You’ll be in charge of cleaning the dining hall for a week.” “That’s the best you got?" I laughed. “That’s going to keep Regis from going to the regional court?” “How I punish you isn’t Regis’ business. You’ll clean up lunch and dinner. For a week.” Chase stepped closer to me. “Unless you’d prefer the other punishment. Then I’ll tell Regis I took things into my own hands.” Let him, my wolf begged. I swallowed, stepping forward, I lifted onto my tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “Dinner cleanup it is.” I left Chase in the clearing of the woods and ran home. Angry tears brushed my cheeks. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t train. That I couldn’t become a warrior. I didn’t know what I would have to do, but I would change the rules. I walked into the pack house and saw a group of she-wolves standing in the lobby area doing each other’s hair. Tiffany’s light gaze shifted toward mine, and drifted back to the braid in her hands. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to fit in with them. I did. It was that avenging my mother was more important than getting my hair braided. Derrick’s scent led toward my room, and I didn’t want to face him at the moment. Instead, I walked toward the dining hall to eat and help clean up. I’d easily clean up after dinner to train in my room alone. I’d do anything it took to be prepared for when we found the rogues. I felt Regis’ stare as soon as I stepped inside. There was a heavy grin on his face. One that told me he’d been waiting to see me. To smile on my face after my dreams were torn to shreds. I lifted my chin and found my place in line. The steak bites looked delicious, and I couldn’t wait to drown myself in them. Training had really built my appetite. Several she-wolves filed into line behind me. I heard Chase’s name at least five times in their brief conversation. I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t be. No one knew that Chase was my mate. It was no one’s fault but my own. If it were up to Chase, I would have had his marks days before. The thought warmed my stomach, and I clamped my teeth to keep myself together. This wasn’t how my life was supposed to go. My mother told me stories of finding my knight in shining armor when I was young. How I would fall in love, wear his mark and have pups. She never realized that her life would be taken from her so soon. Or that she would be killed by rogues. And to think someone knew why my mother was killed and hadn’t said why. It made me want to fight even more than before. I took a bite of my food, attempting to push those fairytale stories out of my head. They weren’t anything but a childhood story. One that didn’t make sense in such an unfair world.