Love Bites and Bruises

2. The Warden

CARLY

“...Mitosis consists of one stage. Meiosis consists of two. An easy way to remember this is Mitosis: Mi-toe-sis,” she painfully stressed the syllables. “Imagine your sister stepped on your toe. You’d tell her what? You hurt my toe, sis,” she laughed at her terrible joke. Cringing in my seat, I covered my face as the rest of the classroom forced out a sympathetic chuckle.

“When will we ever need to know the difference between mitosis and meiosis? Never. That’s when! Like, seriously? We’ll never use half the stuff we learn in this pointless class in our adult lives!” I ranted through the mind-link directed at Kyle.

“Kyle?” He side-eyed me and scribbled down his notes. “I’m going to kill myself if she doesn’t stop talking,” I dramatically stated, seeking to capture my best friend’s attention.

“Carly, hush! I’m trying to listen!” He shoved his nose into his Biology book.

“I’m serious.” I turned my focus to Kyle’s desk. His lively blue eyes studied me while I lifted my pencil to my face. “I’m going to take this and jab it right into my eye. Straight into my brain for a quick and painless death.”

“That would be so painful! Nothing about it would be quick and painless!” Kyle anxiously raked his russet hand through his brown hair with blue spiked-up fringe.

“Fine, then I would order you to do it.”

“Hell no! I’m not spending the rest of my life in a prison cell for murdering our pack’s Luna! It’s not my fault you can’t handle Mrs. Johnson’s Biology class!”

Mrs. J. cleared her throat, leering at us, then returned to her lecture.

Snickering to myself, I cut the link, feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. When Mrs. J. turned her back to the whiteboard, I retrieved my phone from my jacket. Swiping my finger across the screen, I read a text from Chris, my brother Jared’s best friend. Chris was practically family.

Let me guess. He’s reminding me he’s picking me up today since Daddy and Jar will be out of town.

Warden Hensley:

-Ten minutes, Caralina, I mean it. In and out. 05/04/2012 2:59 PM

His obnoxiously provoking text read.

The nerve of this guy!

Scowling down at the screen, I hid my phone behind my book, replying.

—Would you chill? I’ll meet you outside when I’m ready. I need to hang back and ask one of my teachers something about finals.

I lied—but he didn’t need to know.

-Fine. Fifteen minutes. You have until twenty after, then I’m coming in to get you. 05/04/2012 3:04 PM

He wouldn’t dare! I don’t know what his deal is today! Over the last few months, he has gotten so pushy. I’m over it!

When Mrs. J. wasn’t looking, I stored my phone in my jean jacket pocket.

“Remember, students, your finals are next week. Those will count for twenty percent of your overall grade.”

“You don’t think she heard us, do you?” Kyle nervously wondered.

“Nah. She didn’t call me out for commenting on her awful joke. I think we’re good.”

“That was pretty bad, wasn’t it?” Kyle laughed.

“The worst! Wait! I take it back. What do you call a moody organic compound?

—A-mean-o acid.” I stressed the syllables.

“What about the one she literally says every week? How it’s casual Friday, and she can wear her ‘skinny genes’ to work?”

“Oh God, yes! She’s so lame!” I choked, coughing into my hand.

We flooded the room with our unbridled laughter. Suddenly, Mrs. Johnson’s neck snapped in my direction. Her nostrils flared, her brown eyes blazing behind her glasses.

“I recommend reviewing the material outlined in the syllabus I handed out at the beginning of the semester. This final exam will make or break some of you.” Mrs. Johnson knit her eyebrows at us as the bell rang.

“THANK GOD!” I packed up my books and folders. Seconds later, I flew out of the classroom. This was my last class of the day.

I’m free!

“Carly, wait up!” Kyle called out as I briskly jogged to my locker. I whipped my head to the side, glancing at him. My long, brown, curly hair flowed behind me.

“No time, Kyle. Run faster!” Rounding the corner, I weaved through clusters of students. “Excuse me. Pardon me,” I apologized until I arrived at my locker. My hand spun the dial, inputting my combination, swinging my door open.

I hastily swapped the textbooks and materials, depositing them into my bag. Then I transferred the others into my locker. Finally, I added the recent book I checked out from the library. Using the mirror in my locker, I applied my favorite vanilla cupcake lip gloss, tussled my hair, and added a quick coat of mascara to my hazel eyes. Shutting my locker, his cypress scent hit me.

“Hey, baby.” The heels of my feet bounced like a spring as I pretended to be alarmed.

It’s the simple things that make our relationship work, like allowing him to be the dominant one at times.

“Oh, Stephen, you scared me! I didn’t know you were there.” Clutching my neck, I delivered a little white lie. Being the Alpha’s daughter, Stephen’s no match for me. I’ve felt myself growing stronger over the last few months, much stronger than him. I didn’t think his fragile male ego could take it. My body vaulted toward him as my exposed midriff connected with the chilly red metal wall behind me.

“I know. I love seeing the surprised look on your face!”

Yeah, because it’s only the twentieth time you’ve done this.

Stephen’s arms pulled me in closer, his soft lips finding mine. My tongue coiled around his while my fingers shuffled through his slate-black hair and beard stubble.

“So, what are your plans for the weekend, sexy?” His hands traveled over my tan miniskirt to my waist, wickedly licking his lips.

“I’m not sure. Why? Did you have something in mind?” I whispered in his ear.

“Not exactly. Is your dad in town?”

“Nope. And Jared said he had other Alpha duties to attend to in Rose Moon.”

“So, you’ll have the house to yourself?”

“I mean, Chris will be there, but yeah.”

“Maybe I can sneak over after Chris goes to bed?” Stephen deviously suggested, eyeing me with his piercing blue orbs. His fingers sensually traced over the hem of my pink t-shirt.

“Maybe.” I winked.

“Carly, what’s taking so long?” an exhausted voice interrupted our moment.

Chris. f*****g great. I rolled my eyes, sneering at his presence.

“Gotta go, babe. My ride’s here. I’ll text you.” Stephen embraced me, giving me one last, long goodbye kiss. Peeking my eye open, I observed him staring daggers in Chris’s direction.

It’s so cute how territorial Stephen is toward him!

Chris rudely cleared his throat.

“Ahem! Sometime today would be nice, Rossi! Some of us have better things to do than wait around for you all day.”

I spitefully pecked Stephen on the lips. Swiveling on my wedged heels, I saw Kyle standing in the corridor.

“Carly.” He moved closer.

“Sorry, Kyle, I have to go. The Warden’s here.” Stomping over to Chris, I brandished my pointer finger in his direction. “I told you I would be out when I’m ready!” Chris furrowed his brows at my bony finger poking into his burly chest and growled. “Oh, don’t you EVEN growl at me, Christopher Hensley!” I hissed, digging my nail into his chest until he swatted it away.

“Since when is Greene your teacher?” Chris narrowed his eyes at us. I hesitated.

“Excuse me for wanting to spend some time with my boyfriend!” Flailing my arms in the air, I defended my actions.

“Next time, you’re ready when I say you are, or I’ll leave you here to find your own ride.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I flounced past him down the hall. A powerful hand latched onto my wrist. Exotic tingles prickled along my exposed forearm. Lost in the moment, I gazed up at him.

What the hell was that? Could he feel it, too?

“Chris?” I softened my tone, stopping in my tracks.

“Faster!” he commanded, dragging my feet out of the double doors to his black four-door Jeep Liberty.

“Okay, asshole, let go of me! I can walk by myself!” Gripping his fingers, I pried them off my arm.

“Can you?” Chris furiously swung the jeep’s door open. “Get in,” he ordered, using yet another stupid Alpha command. Having no other option, I rolled my eyes and slid inside. “Continue doing that, and your face will get stuck that way.”

I childishly mocked him under my breath. Removing my purple bag from my shoulders, I flung it on the floorboard before buckling my seat belt. With me situated, he closed my door and strolled to the driver’s side. My vision landed on his hand, grasping the steering wheel and resting his head against it. I studied how his body heaved up and down as uneven breaths departed his mouth.

“Chris... Are you alright?” He didn’t respond.

My eyes scanned their way up from his hands to his arms, appreciating Chris’s yummy, sun-kissed skin and tribal tattoo. Then I admired the way his muscles flexed beneath his black v-neck t-shirt. He raised his head, starting his jeep. I noticed a few small tendrils of hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. The rest of his long brown hair was drawn into a loose bun, slumping atop his head. My view wandered from his hair to his handsome, sharp jawline. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my Native American Adonis.

It looks like he’s growing his beard out.

Shifting from his beard to his pillowy lips, I sinfully recalled the last time they were on mine.

Sweet baby Jesus, help me! Keep it together, Carly!

Without thinking, I removed the stray sticky hairs from his face. My fingertips feathered the shell of his ear, igniting those faint crackling sparks. Chris’s body jolted to life the second we made contact, hotly slapping my hand away. Jerking his head, his mesmerizing brown eyes bored into me.

“Carly,” he voiced my name, agitated.

SHIT! He caught me gawking at him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m sorry. Your hair was bugging me.”

“I don’t care! You know the rules!”

“Which ones?” I played dumb.

“Carly...” he grumbled.

“Sorry, I need a little more clarification, Christopher. Are you talking about the rules Daddy set up for Stephen and me? Or the ones you set up for us?”

“Both. You can’t be doing s**t like making out or letting Stephen grope you in public.”

“So we should continue to do it away from prying eyes. Got it,” I snapped back, awarding Chris a sarcastic grin.

“Yes. No! You shouldn’t be doing it at all.”

A satisfied smile bloomed across my lips but withered hearing his selfish words. He put the jeep in drive, exiting the parking lot.

“Excuse me?”

“Look, we both know you’re going to become Amber Moon’s Luna in a few months. You can’t continue behaving this way.”

“I’m acting just like every other seventeen-year-old girl.”

“But you’re not like them! You have a pack to lead. They will look to you for guidance and—”

“I have to hold myself to this ridiculously higher standard than everyone else. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I know. You’ve told me this how many times?”

“I wouldn’t have to keep telling you if you’d listen the first time.”

Here we go! I mentally rolled my eyes.

“You don’t get it. You’re just like them,” I sighed hopelessly.

“What don’t I get?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t appreciate being lied to,” he dropped his shoulders and tenderly spoke.

“Well, I don’t appreciate being manhandled or embarrassingly dragged through the hallway. So much for following your own rules.”

“If you were ready when I told you to be, it wouldn’t have happened, now would it?”

“And if you weren’t such a possessive, controlling pain in the ass, then—” Chris’s hands swiftly smacked the steering wheel. I yelped, flinching in my seat.

“I’m so tired of you disrespecting me and treating me like I’m nothing more than your lapdog!” he fumed through his clenched teeth.

“You mean you’re not?” I playfully mocked him. The sunlight reflecting off his blazing brown eyes created a lovely golden amber sheen. My mind blanked. My heart skipped a beat. An unfamiliar heat bubbled within my core in the most deliciously frightening way.

“I swear, I CANNOT WAIT for the day you smart off to the wrong person, and they put you in your place!”

“You know better than to raise your voice at me,” I muttered, shrinking into my seat, wishing I could disappear. In my efforts to avoid him, I pulled out my phone to text Stephen. The second I unlocked my screen, Chris snatched it out of my hand, chucking it into the back seat.

“Get off your damn phone. I’m speaking to you!”

“Hey, you asshole, that wasn’t cool. Wait—where are we going? Home’s the other direction.” I pointed at the tinted window.

“You have a dress fitting at four-thirty. The seamstress closes at five, remember? It’s an hour’s drive from the gate at Amber Moon's border to Crescent Pointe. So, we will be pushing it.”

“Oh. I completely forgot.” Brushing my hand through my spiral curls, I blew out a shallow breath.

“You would think you’d be more mindful of your own appointments. Especially since they revolve around your favorite thing in the world—yourself.”

“Why are you acting like such a jerk? I’m sorry. It slipped my mind. You know nothing exciting ever happens in sleepy little Spell Brooke, Colorado. That’s why my ancestors settled Amber Moon inside of this desolate place. They wanted privacy and security. It’s not my fault we have to drive for hours to get to the nearest town. What the hell is your deal today?”

“Nothing,” he puffed out.

“Sure doesn’t sound that way. You know, by the attitude you’re giving me and how you kept eyeballing Stephen and me, it almost sounds like you’re jealous, Christopher.”

“Not even close, Caralina. Why the hell would I be jealous of some rude little girl who has no respect for herself or the people around her?”

Tired of his bullshit, I unbuckled my seat belt.

“Carly, what are you doing?”

Twisting and turning, I maneuvered under the seats, looking for my phone.

“Cut that s**t out! You’re going to make me wreck!”

“Ah-ha, gotcha!” I raved, grasping my phone.

While my stomach was lying flat on the center console, I pressed my hands to the jeep floor. A harsh, unsuspecting hand smacking across my backside left me utterly speechless. My lower muscles clenched in a way they never had before. “Ow!” I sealed my lips together to keep the lewd noise from seeping out. My body tensed up, anticipating the next swat. “Ow! What the f**k? You asshole!”

“Someone needed to do it,” Chris murmured, slapping me again. My n*****s embarrassingly hardened in my bra. I flipped over, sitting upright in my chair, buckling my seat belt. “You were begging for it. That’s part of your problem. Your father never whooped your ass enough when you were younger. Now you’re this spoiled, pampered brat.” Searching for my purple earbuds in my bag, I crammed them into my ears.

“Whatever. I’m tired of you and this conversation.”

I bent down and retrieved my copy of ‘The Awakening’ by Kate Chopin from my bag. Angling away from him, I stared out my dark window, calmly watching the green forest zooming past us on the way to Crescent Pointe. Chris babbled on, and I turned my volume up, drowning him out. He eventually shut his ornery, sexy mouth, allowing me to open my book. Indulging in Kate’s words, they carried me away.

“She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession, ever pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance or recalled in any special or peculiar way his personality; it was his being, his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled her with an incomprehensible longing.”