Angel Blackwood (22 page)

It’
s the only thing I
fear… except the fear of losing Angel forever.

“Honey? Did you
zone out again?” Lucy’s whiny voice kills all thoughts once
again
. As her face appears
again, she stands waiting with a hand on her hip.

She walks
slowly toward
s me and runs her
hands up my arms. My wolf growls from within me, but I make sure
not to voice it loud enough that she can hear.

“We haven’t
been
together
since she got here. I really miss
you,” she whispers, running her hands towards my
neckline.

“Get her hands
off us… now!”
Jett roars
inside my head, instantly giving me a headache.

I take a step
back. We haven’t had sex since Angel showed up. I just
can’t bear to follow through with it,
not when my wolf is constantly screaming at me from the inside
whenever Lucy puts her hands on me.

I feel him
before I see him. I
t’s the
connection my brother and I have…it’s the same connection we have
with Angel.

I can feel the
anger and fury radiating from him
, and I’m pretty sure Lucy does too because she moves to
step behind me.

He glares at her and snarls,
“Leave us.”

Lucy looks up
to me hurt,
“How can you allow
him to speak to me like that, Talon?”

“Just go, Luce. I’ll call
you later,” I lie.

She shakes her head and
walks off. We both watch and wait for her to disappear into the
woods before Tyler speaks.

“I don’t know why the
fuck you’re with her. She’s been with half the pack,” he says in
disgust.

“Like you can
talk. Since when did you start playing with Barbie’s? Kate
is
not
your type and we both know it,” I fight
back.

Perfect little Kate is
definitely not Tyler’s type. Tyler seems all sweet and innocent,
everyone thinks that I’m the degenerate brother because I look and
dress a certain way, but he’s the one that has certain likes and
wants when it comes to the bedroom. Not many share the same
interests he does. I bet pretty little Kate hasn’t seen how rough
and raw Tyler likes it when it comes to sex; or the fact he likes
to let his wolf, Gunner, take control sometimes either.

This is
why I know for a fact that they
haven’t done the deed yet.

“You don’t know
shit
, Talon.”

I smirk, my suspicions
confirmed.

“How can you tell me that
you love her when you don’t even know whether you share the same
interests when it comes to having sex?” I tease.

“I can be
gentle. When Angel first came here I was gentle and
now…with Kate, I’ve been gentle,” he
says, trying to convince me.

I raise an eyebrow.

“I don’t
need
it
. I like it, but I don’t
need
it,” he says
a little louder.

“Bullshit!
W
hy haven’t you had sex with
her then?” I ask, but he doesn’t response. His walls are down and I
can tell he’s trying to think of an excuse, but he can’t bullshit a
bullshitter.

“You’re
scared
.” I state.

“Fuck
sakes.
I’m not scared, Talon!
I’m worried. I’m worried I’ll scare her away,” he says, letting out
a deep breath.

“Her? who? Kate or
Angel?”

He takes a few
seconds to
respond then shakes
his head saying “Kate dammit…. Angel is still fucking lying to us.
I caught a scent, male and not from this territory. I’ve smelt the
scent on her before, so I know he’s from Point Bright.”

I growl.
“Is it her ex?” I ask, rage welling
up inside of me. I’m trying hard to keep my wolf from taken over
control.

“No, I didn’t catch his
scent, but the one on her was familiar,” he says.

“She lied to our faces!
How many times is she going to keep doing this?” I yell out in
frustration. I believed her, I even felt sorry for how we had
treated her.

“Do you blame
her? Look how afraid she was, she was most probably
too terrified to tell the truth,” he
says. I look at him confused; I don’t think even he believes the
words he’s saying.

“Oh! So
now
you’re defending her?” I ask, in absolute
disbelief.

“No. Yes.
Oh,
I don’t know. She’s hiding
something, I know it. I’m going to figure it out, but we need to
try a different approach,” he says, before turning, walking away,
and leaving me to stand on the dock alone.

Ch
apter 12

Angel POV

I wake up the
following morning and head to my parents room to use their
bathroom. I h
ave one goal in
mind for today: Avoidance. I’m going to avoid the twins for as long
as I possibly can, just until I can figure out what I really want.
I fear that I’m gonna snap the next time they decide to manhandle
me and treat me like shit. I wouldn’t ever forgive myself if I
physically hurt them.

I quickly get dressed and
tip toe through the dark house towards the back door. Sneaking out
is almost impossible with all these wolves and their enhanced
hearing, but I manage it. My phone starts ringing halfway to
Nixon’s house and Alex’s name appears on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Angel, I’ve been trying
to get through our pack link to you, but you’re completely blocked
off,” she says, sounding frantic.

I
cringe.
“Sorry mom, I’m still
trying to figure out how this all works.” I sit down on a nearby
bench and run my hands through my damp hair. “I’m so used to
keeping things to myself that I don’t even realise when I’m
shutting everyone out.”

I hear her inhale deeply
over the phone. “Sweetie, it’s alright. This change has been hard
for you. You’re the first born half-breed, we’re all learning from
your transformation, honey. I didn’t mean to sound angry, I was
just concerned. I’ve been worried about you. You’re progressing
slower than a changed werewolf usually does. We can all sense your
strength and feel your power, but you aren’t healing and your body
isn’t responding like a usual she-wolf’s body would.”

“I know, Mom, but I’m
still learning too. I don’t know what to expect. I’ll try harder
with the whole mind-link thing,” I say, turning my head in time to
see Nixon returning from a run in his wolf form. He looks my
direction then heads into the open front door of his
house.

“
You know you
can talk to me right? Your dad too.”

I hear
shuffling and then a door being closed. She then says in a whisper,
“Your father doesn’t want me talking about it
, but… after you came home that night all beaten
up…” I hear snivelling and I know she’s trying hard not to cry.
“…You changed after that night, sweetie. You don’t smile as often
and you don’t seem as happy as you used to be. You told us you
don’t know who did it, but I think you do.” Her voice breaks and I
have to even my breathing because her being upset has an effect on
me.

“You know who hurt you,
don’t you?” She asks. It doesn’t sound like a question at all;
she’s figured me out.

“Mom… I…”

I lean my
elbows on my knees as I rest my
forehead in my right hand, my hair falling all over the
place.

“I can’t talk
about this right now
,
Mom.”

“I
know
, honey. I know. When
you’re ready to talk, just know I’m always here for you,” she says
quietly.

“I know. I love
you
, Mom,” I say, thankful she
hasn’t raised any more questions.

“Love you
too
, baby.” She clears her
throat and says in a louder voice.

“The reason I
was trying to get hold of you was to tell you that you’re father
and I will be staying here a little while longer. A few things have
come up and he doesn’t want to leave until it’s sorted.
Jaco
b is in charge till we get
back.” She pauses. “You sure you don’t want to come up here and
stay with us? I can send someone down there to pick you up?” She
says, her voice holds so much hope.

“It’s okay, Mom. I’ll see
you when you guys get back, and I promise to call you as much as I
can,” I say, not wanting to disappoint her, but also knowing I just
did.

“Okay
, sweetie. Well I
better go, I think your father just woke up. Be safe and look after
yourself. I love you.”

“Love you
too
, Mom,” I say, before
ending the call.

I look down at the phone
in my hand. I want to tell her everything, I want to get all this
shit that is weighing down on my chest out there. I want to tell
the twins what happened, what I’ve been through and what I’m going
through. I’m tired of keeping secrets and tired of keeping
everything bottled up. I constantly feel like I’m about to burst
and scream out and tell everyone everything that is hurting me and
has already hurt me. I stand up, place my phone in my back pocket
then lift all my hair up and pull it into a bun. I wanna tell them
all, but I just can’t. My father will go after Jax’s pack, I know
he will; the twins will too. Ronnie, Chloe and Jax may be caught in
the crossfire, and I won’t allow that to happen.

****

Two days pass
and
the doors to my bathroom
and the twin’s bedroom are replaced; a set of keys are placed on my
nightstand, not sure who was responsible for it, but I am grateful.
Nixon and I spend all our time together and Axel has even come down
for a surprise visit. We spend all our time either at the lake or
hanging around Nixon’s house; always avoiding the twins as much as
I possibly can. When Nixon and Axel saw the bruising Tyler left on
my arms they went crazy. I had to promise that I’d tell them
everything that went down if they kept away from him.

I told them
a
bout me and Jax. At this
part, Nixon started lecturing me on pack rules and repercussions
for entering another pack territory: i.e a big no-no.

Axel started
laughing by this point
,
praising me for my rebellious behaviour.

Nixon wanted me to stay
at his place while my parents were away, but I refused to allow the
twins that power over me. I won’t let them chase me away from my
home.

****

The house is quiet
tonight, and I lie on my bed bored out of my mind. Nixon is on
guard duty and most of the pack have gone to the lake. Nixon said I
should go but I don’t want to be around the twins.

My cell
suddenly starts ringing. Rolling
over on the bed, I reach across to my bedside table
grabbing it before the ringing stops.

An unknown
number.

“Hello?”

“Angel, its Noelle. I
know you have many questions and I don’t know if I can answer them
all, but if you want to speak to me you have to come now. I’ll be
waiting for you.” Noelle ends the call.

I jump off the bed and
throw on a jacket and my sneakers. Grabbing my phone, I head out of
the door. I think about calling Nixon to tell him my plans, but I
don’t think he will allow it considering the outcome of our first
visit. I have to try to avoid him and the only way to do that is if
I run all the way to the witches camp. If he sees my car missing he
may come looking for me, and as far as he knows I’m fast asleep in
my bed. I’ll tell him all about it when I get back
though.

I walk through the empty
house, thankful that most of the pack is down by the lake. I walk
to the kitchen and decide to exit through that door, just incase
someone is in the living room; especially as I can hear the TV
on.

“Angel?” I jump at the
sound of Jacob’s gruff voice.

“Sorry, Jacob, didn’t see
you sitting there,” I turn giving him a sheepish smile.

He’s sitting at
the ki
tchen island eating
pizza.

“Where you off
to?” H
e asks with a raised
eyebrow.

I point back to the door.
“I… Uh… decided I’d go join the others at the lake.” He can
probably smell the lie, but I stand firm and give him my most
innocent smile. He gives me a weary look, then nods as I turn to
leave.

“What’s going on with you
and my nephews?” He blurts out. This time my steps do
falter.

I swallow and turn around to
face him. “What do you mean?”

He raises an eyebrow
again. “First time you showed up here you had them wrapped around
your little finger acting like love sick puppies, now you’re all
trying your best to avoid each other.”

I look down at the ground
unsure of how to respond. I can feel him trying to creep into my
head and hear my thoughts, but I keep my walls firmly in
place.

“Do you think
that because your parents are
busy, they won’t notice what’s going on in your life? You
have many eyes watching you, Angel. Sooner or later all those
secrets that you’re holding in that vault inside that head of yours
will be out in the open. The sooner you realise that your pack is
here for you and that you can trust us, the sooner you can get rid
of the burden weighing so heavily on your shoulders.”