Her Chosen Mate

Chapter 8 - Crush

Lucy cautiously made her way through the living room, the sound of broken glass crunching loudly under her feet as she went. The house looked like a tornado had passed through it. There were lamps broken, furniture upended, even curtains had been torn. Had there been a break in? The lights were on; but aside from that there were no other signs of life in the house. She could hear the phone beeping from the floor where it had been tossed and warily bent to retrieve it. She was just about to dial 911 when she heard muffled sounds coming from upstairs.

Lucy ventured up the stairs still clutching the receiver tightly against her chest. The sounds appeared to be coming from her parents’ bedroom. She inched her way closer to the door when she noticed that it was slightly ajar. “Calm down Steph,” she immediately recognized her father’s voice, followed by an unintelligible scream from her mother. She hesitated for a moment before shoving the door fully open.

Lucy was shocked by what she saw, her father stood there with his hands raised; while her mother threatened him with a baseball bat. Both her parents immediately turned their attentions to her, before her father sprung into action, using the opportunity to pounce on her mother. “Luc! Call 911!” he yelled. “Tell them we need an ambulance!”

Lucy stood frozen as she watched her mother struggle against her father’s hold. She had never known her mother to act like this and the sight of it terrified her.

“Lucy!” yelled her father, bringing her out of her shocked state.

Her fingers found the buttons as if they were on autopilot and she quickly dialed 911. The ambulance was there in minutes and her mother was strapped onto a gurney. “Lucy don’t let them do this to me! Don’t let them kill me!” yelled her mother as they closed the door of the ambulance.

"Come on Luc. Your brother is going to meet us at the hospital," said her father, hopping into his truck.

She felt like her head was spinning, every thing was happening so fast. “W-What’s happening?” she managed to ask on the car ride over to the hospital. Those were the first words she had uttered since her call to 911.

“Your mother is sick hun, she needs help,” replied her father.

It was the middle of the night when Lucy and Tim arrived at the hospital. Lucy couldn't help but feel intimidated by the florescent lights, it reminded her of a scene from a horror movie. They made their way over to the front desk and was quickly directed to where her mother’s bed was. Lucy approached the curtain slowly, she couldn’t see her mother; but she knew she was there as she could hear her singing loudly behind the curtain. She watched as several doctors and nurses went behind the curtain to check on her mother and finally Lucy couldn’t hold the tears back any longer, they came streaming down her face uncontrollably. It was like a dam had been broken.

“It’s ok,” said Derrick as her pulled her into a hug.

She hadn’t even heard him come up to her. “Derrick,” she sobbed, leaning into her brother’s embrace.

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here,” he comforted, rocking her back and forth. “It’s ok, everything will be ok.”

Suddenly a loud piercing scream echoed throughout the hospital, like a banshee signaling the advent of death. Lucy woke with a start, as if someone had abruptly shook her awake. She sniffled as the tears continued to stream down her face, the dream still fresh in her memory. It had been so vivid, like she had been reliving the whole ordeal again. Her sheets laid in a crumpled heap on the floor, indicating that she had been tossing and turning in her sleep. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged herself as she cried. She knew she would not be able to go back to sleep. The thought worried her, this was how her mother’s symptoms began. The nightmares, the lack of sleep. She felt like she had no one to talk to. She knew if her father found out, he would take her to therapy and she was not crazy. She already knew what he would say, he had given them that look when he found out that Bipolar disorder was a hereditary illness. She couldn’t put her family through that, the thought of that alone was about to drive her insane. She turned on the TV hoping it would calm her mind. Sleep would be a welcome relief; but the dreams that came with it she would gladly forego.

….........

Lucy was barely able to make it through the day. She hardly got any sleep the night before and it took everything in her to stay focused. She yawned tiredly as she dragged herself slowly in the direction of her locker. She was already halfway down the hall when she heard Tina’s shrill voice coming from a distance.

Lucy let out an irritated sigh, she really wasn’t in a conversational mood today. She quickened her pace down the hallway, hoping to make her getaway before Tina spotted her. She turned the corner quickly and slammed into the human version of a brick wall; her books slipped from her hands and fell with a loud thud on the floor.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was-.” 

She paused as she looked into the eyes of the person she had just bumped into. It was no other than Brea McIntosh.  Brea didn’t say anything, she didn’t even move. She just stood still with a pained expression on her face.  Lucy stared at her in complete shock, a thousand thoughts running through her mind. Brea looked even more daunting up close and Lucy felt her heart skip a beat. She was beautiful, where anyone else would have looked whitewashed; her dark hair glistened in the harsh light of the hallway complementing her beautiful sun kissed skin. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she looked down at Lucy which prompted her to get lost in them. She was perfect, there wasn’t a single flaw in sight. Then suddenly Brea did the unthinkable, she smiled at Lucy. Lucy’s heart did an instant flip-flop. She was so beautiful, especially when she smiled.

Lucy knew her heart couldn't take any more of this activity and if she didn't move soon she would go into cardiac arrest; but she couldn't move, she stood still staring, suddenly feeling inadequate in the face of perfection.  It took a moment for her to realize that Brea had broken the silence between them.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, completely missing what Brea had said.

“I asked if everything was alright?” her seductive voice caused Lucy’s blood to instantly quicken in her veins.

“Umm yea-.”

“Hey Brea, time to go. We can’t be late,” a deep voice called from behind Lucy. She immediately recognized it as Caleb's.

Brea nodded and without another word picked Lucy’s books off the floor, handed them to her and left.

Lucy felt stuck, she couldn’t believe that just happened. She had just bumped into the most popular girl in school and when the opportunity came to speak she couldn’t even say a word. She must think I’m an i***t, thought Lucy. She felt the wave of embarrassment wash over her.

Brea's wolf stirred anxiously. No other wolf, let alone a human had ever prompted this kind of reaction from her before. Yet, every time she was in close contact with Lucy, her wolf felt the burning desire to spring free. She felt irritated, she had no idea what was causing this and worse she had no idea how to control it. She needed an outlet for her frustration and her brother seemed like the perfect target. 

“What the hell did you do that for?” she snapped as she gave him an irritated.

“You know why. Didn’t father tell you to keep your distance?” retorted Caleb.

“Look she just bumped into me. What was I supposed to do?”

“What would you have done had it been anyone else?”

She shot Caleb another irritated look, she hated when he was right; but Lucy Hayle wasn’t just anyone else. Brea could hardly control herself when she was around her. She made her feel things she’d never felt before. From the very first time she laid eyes on her, Brea knew how special she was.

“Did you hear me?” Caleb’s voice cut through Brea’s thoughts like an icy blade.

“What was that?”

"Father says he has an assignment for us, apparently there’s a new pack that’s been trying to encroach on our territory. We need to investigate and report back to him.”

“How long is that gonna to take?”

“As long as it takes,” snapped Caleb.

Brea knew better than to argue with her brother when he had the same authoritative tone as their father; besides arguing made no sense, if the job was not done she’d have her father to answer to and dealing with him was no walk in the park.