Lessons in Love

Chapter 35: The Stone

POV: Delta Rick Wallis

I walked into the high school lobby, a little disgruntled that this had somehow become our little club house.

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“Where’s Ben?” Riley asked, looking behind me.

“Oh, hi everyone, good to see you too.” I said sarcastically. They all looked a little bashful at my remark, but no one said anything. “Ben will be here in a few minutes. I just dropped his father off, and Ben was at home with his mother.”

“And you just left them there?” Riley growled at me.

I growled back at her. “I’ll forgive that accusation only once.”

“Easy,” Sam said gently.

Riley rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry.” She said softly. “I know you wouldn’t. He’s very angry right now.” She started pacing.

“I know, but he doesn’t like anyone around if things are going to get out of hand.” I managed not to growl. I wasn’t mad at her. I was as worried as she was. We loitered in the lobby another twenty minutes before Ben came in. His clothes were rumpled, and there was a spot of blood on his shirt sleeve.

Riley moved toward him and stopped short. “Are you okay?” She asked, genuinely concerned.

He barely gave her a nod before jumping in. “What have you got, Rick?” Riley looked hurt by his curt response.

“Are you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. I could see his aura was peaking, I’d seen him like this before, and I knew it would explode when I told him about the stone in my pocket. Ben let out a vicious growl and turned his back to us. He paced around, growling and clenching his fists tightly.

“I’m good.” He growled a little. He raked his hand through his hair and stopped pacing. He let out a heavy breath and looked me in the eye. “I’m good.” He said again, this time calmly.

“The good news is, we have an ally at Ridgeline.” I started. “She was willing to communicate some things that were pretty interesting.”

“Information about what?” Ben gritted his teeth, his frustration and anger just below the surface.

“First, George was there to talk to Tyler. It was closed door meetings all day. I have no idea what they met about. I don’t think Tyler had fun, and his mother, Luna Isobel Delvain Curdon, seemed less impressed with him. I think she’ll be willing to continue feeding us information.”

“What information?” Ben snapped.

“All she could tell me was that it was to hurt you.” I said, pulling the bag out of my pocket. Ben stared at it, shaking his head ever so slightly, as he watched me open it and pour the stone into my hand. I heard Riley gasp at the sight of it.

Ben let out a violent growl, he swung around, and slammed his fist into the brick wall behind him. I smelled blood on his knuckles immediately. At the sound of it, Riley started to shake. Katherine put her arm around Riley. The way Riley leaned in, I realized she was crying, not shaking. She wasn’t afraid. She was hurt.

“Look,” I said quickly. “I know this looks bad …”

“Looks bad!” Ben yelled. “I’m going to rip his f*****g heart out!” He punched the wall again with a furious growl. I tucked the stone back in the bag and put it in my pocket. I grabbed Ben’s arm at the elbow before he could take another swing.

“Hey,” I said firmly. He looked at me, gripping my arm back. His hand shook, and his eyes were the saddest I’d ever seen them.

Ben’s bottom lip quivered as his face squinted against the tears building in his eyes. “Why does he hate me so much?” He whispered to me as the tears fell. He looked away but didn’t let go of me.

I’d never felt his pain as much I did in that moment and swallowed against the lump in my throat.

I looked around the lobby. Riley’s silent tears were now soft, audible sobs as she clung desperately to Katherine. I felt a pang of guilt at my own relief knowing she could actually feel his pain where for me it was more like a phantom pain; a guess as to how much he was hurting. Katherine wiped delicately at her eyes and Sam seemed to be blinking rapidly as his as he stared up at the ceiling. Everyone had heard him. Everyone felt Ben’s pain, fear, and utter defeat in their own way.

I started to growl. I gripped Ben’s arm tighter. “f**k him.” I said firmly. “f**k him, Ben! We are not losing to him. Not anymore. Not ever again. This is where it ends.”

Ben shook his head. “Ben, look at me.” I growled. He took a deep breath and turned his tearful eyes on me. “Focus and rage.” I growled more to keep my own emotions in check. “Focus. And. Rage.”

Ben squeezed his eyes shut, tears still falling down his face, but he growled back. His hand steadied on my arm as his growl broadened. I gave him a moment to pull himself together before I spoke again. “You with me co-alpha?” I said with a slight smile.

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “I’m with you.” He said quietly, but his voice was steady.

“Good, now let’s go rip his office apart. There’s got to be some kind of clue …”

“There isn’t.” Ben said, finally relinquishing his grip on my arm. He braced himself against the wall with his back still to the room. Riley seemed to be doing a bit better now that Ben had calmed down, but it occurred to me that Ben couldn’t look at her after what he’d made her feel.

“I was in there today looking for the stone and anything else that would help us.” He said. “But I did see Dr. Wilder coming out of Marcus’s suite.” He told us about the conversation he’d had with the doctor. “Riley,” his voice shook a little as he finally turned around. “Do you think your father could offer the doctor and his mate help relocating?”

Riley pulled out her phone. “When?”

“Tonight.” Ben said. We all looked at him, slack jawed. “If we can get them out tonight, then we disrupt his plans. Safe passage means Dr. Wilder will owe us. I’m expecting the truth as payment.” Ben let his growl resurface. Riley already had the phone to her ear. I heard her greet her father as she wandered into her classroom and closed the door.

“Can you two stay here with Riley?” Ben asked.

“Ben, I really think you should wait for her to finish on the phone.” Katherine said firmly. Ben looked down at his feet. He was embarrassed about reaction to the stone and didn’t want to face her, I thought.

“You might want to consider dropping the no touching rule.” Sam added.

“I can’t.” Ben said, his voice getting strained. “I can’t do that to her. None of this is real.”

“We have no definitive way to say if that stone is even for you and Riley.” I said quickly. Ben practically rolled his eyes at me. “Listen to me, there are a lot of ways a curse could hurt you, Ben. The illusion of matehood is merely one of them.”

“I think what Rick is trying to say,” Katherine gave me a stern, disapproving look. “Is that we don’t have enough information. We need to wait for her friend to arrive next week. There is no point in making any decisions until then.”

The classroom door opened. “Dad says to send them to Forest Pines. He’ll talk to Alpha Diego in the morning about them staying there. If they can’t stay permanently, he’ll help them relocate to another pack.”

“Thanks.” He gave a nod in her direction and turned to me. “Let’s go.”

“No,” I said gently. “No, you need a minute.” I looked over at Riley.

“We’ll wait for you outside.” Katherine told Riley. She took Sam’s hand and led him out. Ben looked at me, pleading with me to not leave him.

“You need to talk to her.” I said firmly. He lowered his head and nodded. I gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t give up on this.” I whispered and headed outside to wait with Sam and Katherine.