Bad Storm

Table of Contents

1 Chapter 1

2 Chapter 2

3 Chapter 3

4 Chapter 4

5 Chapter 5

6 Chapter 6

7 Chapter 7

8 Chapter 8

9 Chapter 9

10 Chapter 10

11 Chapter 11

12 Epilogue

13 Thanks for Reading!

“Bailey, we’re here.”

A soft, warm touch prodded my
 
shoulder, and I opened my eyes to find
my face was pressed up against the van window, daylight burning through my
tired eyes. It took a minute for me to adjust, and then I saw the familiar
white beach house with a pink trim.

“Trent,” I said, feeling his presence inside. I didn’t know
how I knew, but I did, like the heat of him was radiating from the front corner
of the house where his room was.

Nick was sitting next to me where Sierra had been.

“Bailey, I wanted to bring you to Trent because I know you
both really want to see each other, but I have to warn you. Lola might be home,
and if she is…well, I’m going to have to take you back to your apartment—”

“She isn’t home,” Brandon interjected from the front seat.
They must have switched places while I was sleeping.

“Where’s Sierra?” I asked, undoing my seatbelt with nervous
excitement.

“We dropped her off at your apartment. We brought Martin
with us since he’s already aware of things…but not Sierra.”

“So you didn’t tell her anything?” I said, confused. How did
they get her to call me? How did they get away without telling her anything?

“He wiped her memory,” Martin said in a hushed voice. I
could sense a small tremor of fear in it.

“You what?” My eyes grew wide. “Nick, how could you?”

He looked away from me, his lips falling into a terse,
straight line. “I’m not doing my job if everyone knows about the pack.”

“The pa—” but I was cut off by a strong pull to my
heart, and I suddenly saw a flash of Trent, pale and lying in his bed, his eyes
half-opened.

“Whatever, we’ll talk about this later,” I said, moving to
get out of the van. Nick didn’t say anything, he just lifted his body off the
backseat and followed Martin out of van onto the pale, aggregate driveway.

I took in a deep breath of the humid, salty beach air and
followed them inside.

The house was darker and quieter than usual. All the blinds
were drawn, and the familiar drone of the television was missing. I had this
strange, pulling sensation inside me that made me aware of two presences in the
house—one hotter and the other sweeter, softer.

But I didn’t have time to wonder about it. I rushed over to
Trent’s room and pushed the door open, my heart stopping in my chest as I
caught sight of his pale face, exactly as I had seen him in my mind’s eye.
There was a huge gash across the side of his face, dark red and in the process
of clotting. There were bruises and slashes all along his arms. He gave me a
slight smile.

“Hey,” he said. “I would’ve opened the door but, well. I’m
feeling a little under the weather.”

I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders,
fighting the tears as I pressed my face against the side of his head. I felt
his hand reach up around my shoulder, patting me gingerly.

“Hey,” he said, “it’s okay, I’m okay.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a gruff, southern voice said behind
us. I turned to see Trent’s landlord, Dr. McAlister, with an orange pill bottle
and a cup of water. “But I just picked up Trent’s prescription. Ms. Bailey,” he
said politely, nodding in my direction.

“Hi Dr. McAlister,” I replied, unable to pull myself away
from Trent.

“Just Mac would be fine,” he said, and I realized that the
hot presence I had felt before was radiating off of his body. He placed the
pill bottle and cup on the nightstand before turning to leave.

“We’ll be in the living room,” Brandon said, giving Nick a
look.

“Good to see you’re okay,” Nick said before closing the door
and leaving us alone.

“Please don’t be mad,” Trent murmured softly. I couldn’t
help but laugh. I was so filled with hurt and confusion and fear, and that was
the best he could do. But it worked—I wasn’t mad.

“I should be, but I’m not. Honestly, I was just really
worried.” He moved over on the bed, and I sat down beside him. It was seamless,
the way we spoke with just our bodies. It always had been. But I couldn’t
ignore the strange magnetism between us— it was stronger than the bond we
had before.

“I was too,” he said, frowning. I could see a peak of anger
on his face. “I swear if I ever get my hands on that fucking Aamir guy—”

“Hey,” I said, taking his hand into mine and squeezing it.
The heat that pulsed between us caused me to gasp.

“What the hell is that?” I said, looking down to our hands
for an explanation. But they just looked like our hands, my small fingers
curled over his larger ones.

“I’m sure someone has told you by now,” he said, a slight
blush coming to his pallid cheeks as he looked away.

“Trent…what’s going on…everyone keeps saying you
imprinted
me, and then I saw that image, and Brandon can speak to me in my mind…”

“Yeah…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. But that’s why I was
trying my hardest not to talk to you after we hooked up,” he said, his gray
eyes finally boring into mine. I shivered under their gaze, but didn’t look
away. They were filled with the truth—something I needed to know no
matter how hard of a pill it was to swallow.

“I was fighting it. But it took me over. That’s why I had to
leave that night, to transform. The urge to imprint was so strong and…I’m
sorry,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“What does that mean, exactly?” I said, my mouth going dry.
I had a vague idea of what he meant, but it didn’t quite click with me. He
wasn’t a baby bird looking for his mother for the first time.

“It means…dammit Bailey, it means exactly what it feels
like. It means that even when we’re hundreds of miles apart, I can see you get
the energy sucked out from your body, and you know that I’ve been in a nasty
brawl. It means that you can sense me, and everyone in my pack. It means that
sometimes, we can even communicate with our thoughts…it means that…for the rest
of our lives.”

I closed my eyes and tried to understand what he was saying
to me. I took slow, steadying breaths.

‘
Like I said, I’m
sorry
.’

My eyes snapped open. “You didn’t say that aloud, did you?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have entered your
thoughts without your permission, it’s a pretty important rule. But, you’re
part of the pack now. This is what we can do.”

“What pack?” I asked, my hands slightly shaking.

“Brandon, Mac, Allison…” he said, referring to Lola’s sister
and his fourth roommate. “And Lola.”

“Wait,
what
?” I could
feel my head spinning. “Lola’s a werewolf also? And Dr. McAlister, I mean
Mac
, and Allison…?”

He nodded, his expression grim. “And you’ll be able to sense
them, and communicate with them. Not in the same way, but still…you’re bound to
them, even if you don’t want to be.”

“How does this happen?” I said. “What about Lola, didn’t you
imprint her?”

He shook his head and was quiet for a minute. I had struck a
nerve. “I wasn’t ready to imprint…like I said, it was an accident.”

“But why?” I asked, squeezing his hand and feeling
desperate. “How does something like this happen, Trent? You can’t just tell me
it was an accident. There was still a reason.”

“Because I love you, okay? Is that what you wanted me to
say?” he snapped. Then he shook his head and cast down his fierce eyes in
shame. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I didn’t want this to happen. And as soon as we
hooked up…dammit Bailey, we shouldn’t have done that.”

I felt my heart sink at his words. I pulled my hand away.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone. I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I
said quietly, getting up to my feet and turning to leave.

I felt his hand grip my wrist. I turned to look at him, and
he pulled my wrist with a fierce determination in his eyes, causing me to fall
over onto him, my face only inches away from his. He closed the gap between us,
kissing me passionately, his free hand moving to my neck to hold me in place.

There, against his perfect lips, I felt it—every bit
of love, possession, fear, everything he had ever felt for me. It was hard and
round, with a soft candy center. It burst through his touch and inside of me,
consuming me and taking me as its prisoner. There, in his arms, I melted. The
tears burst forth, unable to be contained any longer.

“Well isn’t this cute,” a vicious voice hissed behind us. I
pulled away quickly, and turned around to see Lola, her arms crossed over her
chest as she eyed the both of us. Boy, did she look pissed.

And that’s when I realized it. Staring into her green eyes,
I felt a strong pull of familiarity.

“You’re the one,” I said, my voice wavering with anger.
“You’re the one
 
that attacked him.”

“Very good, tramp,” she spat.

“Lola,” Trent warned. I could feel the tension mounting in
the room, nervous and tight.

“What? She is one. Although I guess I should be welcoming
her since she’s a part of the family now.” Her voice was cruel, laced with a
poisonous bite.

“Listen Lola, I get it. What I did was really fucked up, but
you didn’t have to attack Trent,” I said, balling my fists up at my side, even
though I knew she could kill me in a matter of seconds.

She took a few steps towards me, a wicked, humorless smile
on her pink lips. “It takes two to tango, sweet heart.”

“Stay away from her,” Trent growled. But she just moved
closer. I had a feeling anything Trent said would make it worse.

“How does it feel, stealing someone’s fiancé? Does it feel
good?” she pressed a finger to my chest, her eyes level with mine. “Just
remember, once a cheater, always a cheater. Don’t think you’re so special that
he’d never do it to you,” she said before turning on her heel and slamming the
door behind her.

“Don’t listen to her,” Trent said, but I could hear the hurt
in his voice. She had struck a nerve.

I turned around to see he was looking down into his open
palms, his gaze blank, as though he wasn’t seeing anything.

“I’m sorry,” I said, the guilt bubbling in my heart as I
felt something hot shame fill me.

“It’s not your fault,” he said solemnly. “It was mine. I
kissed you first, and I would say I don’t regret it but—”

“But you do,” I finished for him, casting my eyes to my
sneakers as I fought back the tears.

“Bailey, you don’t understand. You shouldn’t be with someone
like me, you deserve someone better, someone who won’t hurt you—”

“Like Aamir?” I snapped sourly, feeling awful as soon as his
name left my lips. It wasn’t fair for me to bring him up in front of him, and
yet, I still couldn’t help but feel bitter about his possessive nature when he
didn’t even want to have me in the most uncomplicated sense of the word.

“That guy is no good for you.” His voice turned low and
deadly. “I saw what happen to you, and I swear if I ever get my hands on him,
he’ll regret the day he was born.”

“That wasn’t even his fault,” I pointed out, folding my arms
over my chest. “He didn’t do that, the nymph girl did.”

“Bailey, there’s a lot you don’t understand about those people.
They’re dangerous, that ‘nymph girl,’” he said, giving the word a nasty
emphasis, “could’ve killed you.”

“Well, she wanted to because you imprinted on me,” I pointed
out.

“Exactly. Even if Aamir likes you, the rest of his freaky
cult doesn’t.”

“What are you talking about?” I snapped. “A minute ago you
love me, and now you’re insulting me. I don’t know what to believe with you.”

“I do love you,” he said, a fierceness in his gaze. “That’s
why I want to protect you. From that freak…and from me too.”

“Well, what if I don’t want to be protected?” I said, the
force between us drawing me nearer to him. It was like the angrier I got, the
closer I wanted to be to him. No, not wanted. Needed.

I needed him.

‘
Hot damn, this is
insane
.’

“Well that’s too bad,” he said, his fists balling up into
the sheets. “Dammit Bailey, stop getting closer to me, I can’t resist you.”

I sat down on the bed, and leaned my head towards his,
pausing just before his lips.

“Then don’t.”

I pressed my lips to his and the world was gone.