Hudson paced as he waited to hear from Tabitha about her run-in with Amanda.
Hudson: Tab?
Tab: she’s really upset, Hudson. You should probably give her some space.
Hudson ran his hands through his hair.
Hudson: And you will in due time, but you have to give her respect and do what she’s asking of you, and that’s leaving her alone.
Hudson nodded. He understood that the best way to win Amanda was doing what she asked and not being overbearing and force her to listen to him. His wolf didn’t like this at all. He wanted them to find their mate and set this right. He wanted to be able to hold their mate in their arms and kiss all the fears away. But they needed to be patient. Hudson looked up, and in the distance, he saw Amanda walking with her suitcase and that annoying girl walking with her.
Hudson let out a groan.
He decided he would just let Amanda know that he was going to give her the space she needed, and he would be there when she was ready to talk. He could sense the tension in his mate as she walked closer and noticed him standing there waiting for her.
She paused for a moment and then took a deep breath and continued to walk.
The annoying girl that was with Amanda walked ahead of her and right up to Hudson.
“You need to leave,” Kimmy told him.
“I would like to talk to Amanda for just a moment,” Hudson said in a calm tone.
“Well, she doesn’t want to talk to you. So just go away and leave her alone.”
Hudson could feel his wolf getting upset and tried to keep calm while addressing this annoying girl.
“I promise I just want to talk for a few minutes,” Hudson replied.
Kimmy was about to go off on him and let him know where he could shove his few minutes up, but she heard Amanda make a noise behind her.
“It’s okay, Kimmy.”
Kimmy turned and looked at Amanda.
“Are you sure?”
Amanda scratched the top of her nose before nodding.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll text you later,” she told Kimmy.
Kimmy nodded and turned back to Hudson.
“I’ll know if you do anything to her,” she threatened before she left.
Hudson kept a serious look on his face, although on the inside his wolf was raging. This human! She’d be on the ground knocked out before she could do any real damage. How much he would love to show her their true side. She wouldn’t be puffing up like she was if she saw our wolf form. Stupid little human girl.
Hudson looked over to Amanda who was keeping her distance.
“Are you okay? Does your head still hurt?” Hudson asked with concern in his voice.
Amanda nodded. “It still hurts a little.” there was a long pause before she spoke again. “I should probably be thanking you for saving my life.”
Hudson took a step forward toward her. “Amanda, I…”
Amanda quickly stepped back and put her hand up to stop him from coming closer. “Don’t!”
He could hear the fear in her tone. He took a step back and took a deep breath.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to respect your wishes and will give you the space you need. I just want you to know that if you want to talk or have any questions about anything, I’m here and will tell you anything you want to know.”
Amanda stood there for a moment and let his words sink in. She remained to stare down at the ground and not at him because she knew if she looked into those blue eyes, she would soften. And she wasn’t ready to soften.
“I just…” she paused and took a deep breath. “I just have one question at the moment.”
Hudson’s chest filled with hope and nodded, hoping that she would continue with her question.
“If you really had feelings for me in high school, why did you spend all those years making my life miserable? If you knew for just a moment that I could potentially be whatever this mate thing is, why did you continually make me feel like the scum of the earth and make me feel like I was beneath you?”
Hudson tried to answer, but no words came out of his mouth. His shoulders dropped. As much as he wished he could explain his stupidity to her in a way that she would understand, it still wouldn’t help his cause of keeping her as his mate.
“That’s what I thought,” Amanda told him as she grabbed her suitcase and started to walk past him.
As she passed him on the sidewalk, she said, “Just stay away from me and let me figure this out on my own.”
It took everything Hudson had to remain still and not grab for his mate as she walked away from him.
They had come so far since the first day of school and he found out that she was his mate. He could start to feel her feelings toward him change as they spent more time together. But now? Now he was back to square one.
His phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked to see who it was. It was a number he didn’t recognize but decided to answer it anyway.
“Your mate is not very happy with you right now, is she?” the husky voice purred into the phone.
“Who is this?” Hudson growled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, little wolf,” the voice taunted over the phone.
Hudson and his wolf were in a rage, but he couldn’t show his emotions. He had a feeling that he was being watched. He mind-link Marco while he looked around.
Hudson: Marco, I need you to gather Noah and Foster. Meet me by the cafe as soon as possible.
Marco: Of course, Alpha. What’s wrong?
Hudson only answered back with one word.
Hudson: Lycan
Marco: On our way.
“Oh, little wolf. Are you calling in the cavalry?” the voice chuckled.
“Why are you doing this?” Hudson asked him.
“All in due time, little wolf, all in due time. I never show my hand too early in a poker game.”
“Is that what this is, just a game to you?” Hudson again trying to get some detail from the Lycan.
“Oh, little wolf, you have no idea how big this game really is. And I’ve only just begun,” the voice laughed.
“What do you want from me?” Hudson growled.
“Ooh, the little wolf is getting angry with me. I’ll give you a hint, little wolf, just a taste of what’s to come.”
“And what is that?”
“Call home to your Alpha, the little wolf. He can fill you in on what’s been happening. Talk to you soon.”
The voice hung up.
Hudson pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at his phone. His breath quickened as anger and rage filled his chest.
Marco, Foster, and Noah ran up to Hudson.
“Alpha, what’s going on?” Marco asked as he looked around to check if anything was out of the ordinary.
“I just got a call. I believe it was the Lycan that’s been causing trouble. He told me to call home to find out what has been happening. I was just home on Monday, and everything seemed fine.”
Hudson was afraid to make the call. And that made him even angrier. He had never been afraid in his life until this whole situation went down with Amanda and the risk of losing his mate now. Two times now he has been afraid, and that pissed him off.
He took a deep breath and pressed a button that automatically dialed a number.
The phone rang until he heard a voice-recognized answer, but it wasn’t the voice he was expecting to hear.
“Hudson?” his father’s Beta Charlie said into the phone.
“Charlie, why do you have my Dad’s cell phone?”
“I was just about to call you,” Charlie told him.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” Hudson asked.
“We were ambushed, Hudson. Early this morning. Alpha’s hurt. We need you to come home.” that was the last thing Hudson heard before he let out a loud scream and dropped to the ground.