Chapter 6 - Brooks
I feel the bed lightly dipping beside me, but I keep my eyes closed to feign sleep until I’m sure she isn’t trying to escape.
Did she really think I didn’t know that’s what she had in mind when she went to the window? The demon must be somewhere close, and there’s no way she can leave without being caught. I stifle the urge to scoff, letting a few moments pass before I hear her sigh, and I’m sure she’s asleep.
Instead of making any sound that might wake her, I slowly turn enough to glance over my shoulder, noticing how her lips are parted as she softly breathes.
Relief washes over me, only because I won’t have to do any more chasing for the rest of the night. But what comes next takes me by surprise when it flows through my being and settles in my core.
Gulping hard, I try removing my eyes from Rissa’s sleeping face, but end up failing dismally, finding myself mesmerized by how stunning her sleeping face is.
Her features are ethereal, from the way her plump upper lip curves at her cupid’s bow as if she’s smiling without trying, to the way her button nose sits perfectly in the center of her face. Rissa is out-of-this-world beautiful.
I don’t even think she realizes it.
I’ve barely accepted it myself.
Finally tearing my gaze away, I feel a lump forming in my throat, reminding me of how small this hut is. The constricting space does little to defuse my heinous thoughts about the she-wolf lying beside me, especially when I can smell her scent all around me.
The method she’d used to mask our werewolf scent has long worn off, leaving behind floating traces of sweet florals, as if we’re not cooped up in this hut because of the mess she’d made.
I feel like a feral animal who’s been caged up in this place, and the discomfort seems to let my mind work overtime with thoughts that reignite my anger.
Am I supposed to ignore the fact that she’s caused me so much stress over the past few hours? We almost lost our lives because of her!
As I stare at the ceiling angrily, a faint voice inside my head reminds me that, despite how angry I am with Rissa, I can’t ignore the undeniable.
I’ve made some mistakes of my own, and I shouldn’t avoid being accountable for them.
I should have been more cautious and anticipated the demon’s appearance long before the attack.
But that’s not the only transgression I’ve ever made in my life.
I’ve been making them for years, hoping that they would be swept under the rug and forgotten. Rissa clearly hasn’t forgotten about any of it.
***
Ten Years Ago
“Yo, man!” Connor pounds a fist on my shoulder when he approaches me. “I thought you weren’t gonna make it for graduation night!”
I chuckle dryly under my breath, rolling my eyes at my best friend. “You think my parents would let me miss this?” I nod toward the spot on the bleachers where my parents are sitting.
Connor follows my gaze, then sighs when he turns back to me.
“They still giving you shit about bootcamp?”
I shrug diffidently as I say, “I was born to be an alpha, Con. They won’t let me rest unless I make it through the trials and get chosen. Elias McGruff has already set the bar high.”
Conner snickers. “Just so you know, the competition is tough this year.”
I raise a speculative brow at my best friend. “Just ‘cause Thane and Dawson—”
Connor cuts me off by clicking his tongue. “It’s not them you should be worried about, Brooks. I’m talking about me,” he says as he wiggles his brows suggestively.
It earns him a playful punch to his ribs as I chuckle bemusedly.
In two days, we’re going to join the Alpha training camp together after graduating from the local high school tonight.
I have every reason to be picked as one of Alpha Elias’s subordinate alphas, since my father was an alpha until five years ago.
The next generation of leaders of this pack will be picked through the trials in Alpha Camp, and since I’m my parents’ only child, I have to live up to my father’s legacy. I’ve grown up knowing that this is a pivotal moment in my life, and I don’t plan on disappointing them.
“You'd better watch what you say to me, Con,” I lightheartedly warn Connor with a coy grin. “If I become sub-alpha, you’ll be my beta, remember?”
“Not if I become alpha before you,” Connor snorts, and though he’s only teasing, my eyes land on someone across the field who makes his statement ring somewhat true if I’m not careful.
A distraction, in the form of the most ethereal creature I’ve ever seen. My heart skips a beat when she turns her head, a bubbly smile lighting up her emerald eyes as she giggles with her group of friends.
She sticks out from the crowd, and it’s hard not to notice her with her sprightly golden-brown curls framing her face, magnifying her lusciously plump lips. Her bronzed flesh appears carved in the Moon Goddess’s image, along with her slim waist that tapers out into perfect curves.
Rissa Rudolph…
I shouldn’t find her as irresistible as I do, but I can’t help myself, my body reacting with rising heat flowing out to the most unthinkable places, where I shouldn’t be feeling awareness at her approaching footsteps.
Receiving my wolf three moons ago hasn’t made it easier to ignore her presence, especially when I’m forced to attend some classes with her.
As if searching for an escape, my eyes flicker to my parents in the bleachers, and I’m reminded of the duties and the responsibilities I shoulder as their son. I can’t become distracted during this time, especially not by a lowly omega.
Omega Rissa Rudolph’s inferior status in the pack feels like a crime, or perhaps it’s how irresistible I find her that’s the real misdeed, especially since she’s an orphaned she-wolf and I’m vying for the sub-Alpha position.
Her family was weak, and so is she. There’s no reason for a future alpha to be drooling over her presence as if my inner wolf craves to be near her.
Frowning in irritation, the thought of her lowly status drives me as I march forward, approaching the group of young she-wolves who notice me and begin staring with star-struck eyes.
Their gaze is a reminder that I’m a promising, prominent figure in the pack, and I have every right to do what I’ve been doing best for the better part of this year.
“Ladies…” I address the she-wolves, purposely avoiding meeting Rissa’s eyes, even though my inner wolf is raging within as if purring her name. “Congratulations to you all. I’ve heard everyone has passed the final exam.”
There’s a chorus of sheepish giggles that I allow to pass before finally setting eyes on Rissa.
“Though not all of you deserved it,” I remark just as Connor joins me in front of the group.
“Who didn’t deserve it, Brooks?” Connor asks right on cue, and I chuckle as I pointedly stare at Rissa with a raised brow.
“This little, unimportant Omega, of course,” I snicker as Rissa frowns at me. It’s not the first time she’s faced my bullying antics, but it still seems to come as a surprise every time.
She has no idea what she does to me, but she’s become the target of my disdain ever since I discovered how much my inner wolf craves her closeness. I need to push her away, deny my inner wolf’s foolishness, and keep my eyes on the ultimate prize.
Becoming the sub-Alpha of Snehvolk.
I’d rather be caught dead than let the others suspect that I feel a pull toward Rissa. After all, she’s just an omega with no status in the pack, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint my parents by being entangled with a worthless omega.
It’s just that deep inside, I can’t help but notice the disappointment flashing in Rissa’s eyes when the others giggle and titter because of my derogatory remark. But I just can’t stand to see her smile when her lips curl like that, beckon to my inner wolf.
Reminding myself that I have to fight the inner demons that want me to be around her, I take a deep breath and continue.
“It’s not like you’re gonna amount to anything, isn’t that right, Omega?” I spit out her rank as if it’s poison on my tongue, a reminder that she’s nothing more than the orphaned omega who makes me restless.
She opens her mouth to say something, but clamps her lips tight again when one of her friends in the group saunters forward, placing a manicured set of fingers on my chest.
“Who will you be dancing with tonight?” the blonde-haired she-wolf purrs, batting her lashes seductively at me.
I would have been repulsed by her touch if it weren’t for Rissa standing right there. I wield the blonde’s seduction as a weapon as I place my hand on her wrist and square my gaze at her.
“Not with you, since you’re friends with the resident scum,” I retort with a bitter chuckle.
The blonde gasps as if I’d just slapped her with that remark, then glances over her shoulder at Rissa.
“Friends?” the blonde giggles. “I’m not friends with her.”
Rissa pales when the she-wolf makes the statement, and I know she’s just been betrayed by someone she considered a friend.
“Good,” I croon as I fold my fingers around the blonde’s hand. “Then I guess I’ll be dancing with you tonight,” I smirk at her, catching Rissa’s shock as every last drop of blood seeps from her cheeks.
The others are alight with laughter, as if I just cracked the funniest joke, and their uproar redoubles when Rissa spins around and races off the field in the opposite direction.
I only spend a fleeting second watching her disappear, feeling only a flicker of remorse for humiliating her once again. It’s not like I can help myself.
It’s the only way I can ensure I don’t become distracted by her. She isn’t worth my time, or this incessant pull I feel whenever she’s in front of me.
No one asked her to be the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on, while being the lowest omega in our age bracket.
***
Present
Rissa Rudolph remains the most beautiful creature in Girdwood even after a decade, and I can’t stand it.