Amanda slowed to a walk once she got out of the diner and down the street a bit. She crossed her arms as she huffed over what just happened. She couldn’t understand why he was getting so jealous over something from high school when he hated her. A quick shiver hit when she was reminded of that scared feeling she used to get whenever Hudson was mad at her.
“Amanda, wait up,” she heard Tabitha yell behind her.
Amanda stopped and waited for her friend to catch up with her.
“I’m sorry that he was being such a jerk to you,” Tabitha said.
“Why? You have no reason to be sorry. I should have known. It was only a matter of time before his true side showed,” Amanda said with sadness in her voice.
Tabitha wished she could tell Amanda that she was wrong. This was his possessive wolf side. Hudson was jealous that Marco was on his territory or so he thought. She almost laughed to herself about how stupid Hudson was going to feel when she told him that Marco was her mate.
Marco was her mate. It was so weird for her to admit, but as she continued to think on it more, she was liking that out of all the guys in her pack, she was mated to him.
Tabitha shook her head. This wasn’t the time to think about that. She needed to be there for Amanda.
“I’m just saying sorry because you didn’t deserve that, and I’m actually impressed with how you handled it. I still can’t believe you threw that brownie sundae in his face,” Tabitha said before she covered her mouth and laughed about the scene.
Amanda let out a small smile as she thought about what she did. She was pretty happy with herself on how she handled him. She didn’t want that fear to take over her as it did in high school, giving him all the power over her.
“What was I thinking, Tabitha?”
Tabitha looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”
“I almost allowed myself to give Hudson a chance, but after this?” Amanda said as she pointed back at the diner and continued. “This is what he will always be towards me–possessive and mean. It doesn’t matter how much he tries. In the end, he’ll always be just a bully to me.” The tears began to burn. A part of her deep down wanted to believe that he was changing, that maybe there was something more between them.
Amanda started to shake her head. “I’m such a fool.”
Tabitha grabbed Amanda by the arms and turned Amanda to face her. “No, you are not. Amanda, please don’t let this slip off his stupidity and erase everything that has happened with him in this last week. Those shivers, the flutters? They mean something; not everyone gets to know what that feels like. I wish I could explain more, but I can’t. I saw in there how he looked at you. He really likes you. Maybe he just doesn’t know to show it.” Tabitha shrugged and let Amanda’s arms go after giving them a friendly rub.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to call it a night,” Tabitha said as she continued to walk.
Amanda sniffed and wiped her face before she nodded and agreed with Tabitha.
As they continued to walk back toward campus, Tabitha started to get a bad feeling. She kept getting the feeling that there was something watching them in the distance.
Tabitha: Marco, help!
Hudson could feel the rage of his wolf brimming at the surface as he took slow deep breaths. He picked up the napkin that was placed on the end of the table and started to wipe the dessert off his face.
“Hudson, listen to me, man. Nothing happened between Amanda and me in high school. We didn’t even talk about you. She was barely able to talk to me about math,” Marco said as he tried to calm his Alpha down.
Hudson threw the napkin down and glared at his friend from across the table.
“What about all that other stuff that was said?” Hudson asked as he raised an eyebrow at his friend.
Marco let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
“I told her that after graduation. She helped me pass and graduate. I had to offer something in return. So, I thought advice would be the best option.”
Hudson sat there as he clenched and released his fists. He closed his eyes and continued to breathe slowly, focusing on the release of his anger. Guilt slammed into his chest as he relived the whole conversation in his head. The look in Amanda’s eyes took him right back to how she looked at him in high school: with fear and hate.
Hudson brought his hands to his face and rubbed his face as he tried not to let out a growl in the middle of the diner. He needed to get out of there. He needed to get out of there. He needed a run. Yes, that’s exactly what he needed at the moment. He needed to shift and just let his wolf run all the aggression out until he was exhausted. Maybe then he would be able to look at things with more clarity.
Hudson stepped out of the booth and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.
“Marco, I need to get out of here and go for a run,” he told his friend as he pulled out enough money to cover everyone’s food and a tip.
Marco needed in understanding and got up from the table.
“Want some company?” Marco asked as he followed his Alpha out of the diner.
Once outside, Hudson shrugged and turned back to look at Marco, only to find him glazed over.
“What is it?” Hudson asked, confused as to why one of the pack members would mind linking to Marco and not to him.
“We got to go,” Marco said as he took off in a run.
Hudson quickly followed, still not understanding what was going on.
“Marco—”
But Marco just shook his head as he continued to move through the small town to get back to campus as quickly as possible.
Hudson finally used his Alpha tone on Marco.
Hudson: MARCO!
Marco: It’s the girls. There’s been another attack.
Hudson’s wolf growled when he heard there was something happening with his mate. Hudson picked up speed as he made his way into the woods that followed the border of the campus.
Marco followed.
Hudson: We need to shift.
And before the thought left his mind, Hudson shifted into his wolf. Marco followed after his Alpha and shifted as well. Hudson shook out his fur and then continued to run.
His wolf was getting anxious, needing to make sure that his mate was unharmed. Hudson’s anger was burning like fuel. If Amanda was hurt, if that monster harmed her in any way, he would tear them to shreds, leaving nothing behind.
Hudson let out a howl as he made his way toward his mate.