41. Caught

Previous Chapter

Instinctively, I tried to be as still as possible. Maybe the man just thought he saw someone.

I heard a rustling behind me and felt a tug at the fur around my neck as someone grabbed me out from under the bushes with immense strength. I pulled free from his grip once I was out of the bushes and spun to see who it was.

I was looking at one of Quinn’s bodyguards, a man whose name I couldn’t remember, and whose face was a vague imprint in my mind. Quinn’s bodyguards weren’t Alpha, but they were stronger and more powerful than normal werewolves, suited for the task of guarding the Alpha. The man’s muscles were huge, tattoos covering most of the expanse of his arms. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized my fur. Even though it was dark, the moon was still nearly full and it shone off my white coat. “You,” He said. “There’s only one wolf around here like you. Why are you eavesdropping on the meeting? Why are you here?”

Of course, I couldn’t answer in my current form, and I really didn’t want to change back just to talk to him naked. I only sat there and tried to look non-threatening.

“I think something’s going on outside,” I heard Lilith say. “Did anyone else hear anything?”

“I did, we should probably have a look,” Quinn said.

A minute later, the whole group came outside to observe the scene. “It’s Selene, why is she here?” Randall asked.

“She isn’t changing back,” The guard said as the second one walked up.

“Well of course she’s not. She’s stronger in that form,” Susan said. “She’s probably looking for a fight, to challenge someone.”

“Maybe she heard Lucille was going to be here and she wanted to try to kill her,” Her husband said.

“She wanted to get the jump on poor Lucille?” Another elder spoke up, looking nervous.

I saw Randall disappear into the house, a look of disgust on his face. He had just been defending me inside there and now he couldn’t even stay by my side. I’d broken his trust again. It had been stupid for me to come.

I flattened my ears against my head and tucked my tail in, trying to make myself as small and insignificant as possible as accusations and harsh words were thrown at me. Tears leaked from my eyes and into my fur as I sat there, not knowing what to do.

A few minutes after going inside, Randall appeared with a large blanket, the one from his bed. He came up to me and draped it over my body. “Change back now, Selene. You can cover yourself with that.”

I nodded, grateful that he came back and happy that he remembered my discomfort at being naked in front of others. I slowly changed back to my human form, gripping the blanket once I had hands and pulling it tightly around myself when I was fully human.
“Why are you here?” Quinn asked once I could speak.

“I heard that there was going to be some kind of meeting of the leader and elders tonight with Li-Lucille, and I wanted to know what it was about and if it concerned me as well.” I said, catching myself from saying Lilith’s name and replacing it with her fake one. I could only fight one battle at a time and I needed to get out of trouble first, if that was possible.

“Coming to listen to our conversation from outside wouldn’t have changed your fate,” Susan said, her voice harsh.

“I was…worried. I wanted to know right away. I’m scared,” I looked to Randall when I said the word “scared.” “I don’t want to be kicked out of the Pack, you guys are like my family. More than family, at least I was accepted here for what I was.” I felt the tears coming again and I brushed them away with the edges of the blanket.

Lilith came up and hugged me, giving me a private smile that no one else could see. It was a smile full of malice and greed; quite different from the innocent look she replaced it with. “I understand the feeling, Selene,” She said as she hugged me. I wanted to pull away, but it would probably look unfavorable if I did. Instead, I hugged her back, pretending to get along. “My other pack hated me for what I was, and I just wanted to find somewhere to belong. I don’t want that to happen to you.” She looked over to Quinn. “Please overlook this episode and overlook the past for now, sir. I can tell that she’s a good person. She’s just a little too worried about what others think of her. I can live in this pack at peace with her as long as she is willing to do the same.”

The eyes stayed on me as Lilith pulled away. I wrapped the blanket around myself tighter as they stared. “I can do it,” I said. “If you’ll let me,” I looked to Quinn who sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“You’re still going to be on probation,” He said to me. “And no more of this sneaking around. If you’re not invited to something, don’t invite yourself.”

I nodded as everyone began to go inside, leaving me there in the blanket. Only Randall stood there, leaning in the doorway, hands crossed over his chest. When they all went inside, he closed the door and walked up to me. I looked down at my bare feet and said, “You defended me in there.”

“I don’t know if it was the right thing to do,” He said. “You’ve been acting strangely the last few days.”

“I’m sorry, for everything, for lying and breaking your trust, for sneaking around like this. I just wanted us to be together and to be happy, and we were for a while. Hopefully we can go back to that someday.”

“Well, dad’s letting both of you stay for now, but you have to be on your best behavior. You have to be perfect. No mishaps.”

Lilith walked back outside, carrying her meal in a Tupperware container. She smiled at me and Randall standing there and walked up to me, offering the dish. “Hungry?”

I could smell the steak and potatoes through the plastic. It smelled fantastic as I realized I hadn’t eaten since the night before. I thanked her and took the bowl from her. I would eat it when I could, though once I had the thought of food in my mind, it was hard to shake the hunger.

“I’ll drive you home,” Randall said. “I don’t want you running back in that form. It’s too risky. You could have been seen, what were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t really thinking, just doing,” I said as I watched Lilith walk off, presumably in the direction of her car.

“Do you still think she’s a vampire?” He asked.

I thought about my answer to him. Of course Lilith was a vampire, but he didn’t believe it and neither would anyone else. I had two options. My first was I could stand by the truth and argue that she was a vampire, which could potentially damage my reputation and make him angrier with me, especially since I had no definitive proof. I took the second option: more lies.

I walked closer to him and hugged him tightly, crying into his chest. I didn’t want him to sense more lies, but strong emotions would it harder to be able to tell with his Alpha senses. “I’m so sorry, Randall. I’m sorry for lying to you last night and making up stories about Lucille. I was just so jealous and confused. I won’t do it again, I promise! Just please forgive me!” I was lying to fix lies, but it was better than the alternative. I would have to find a way to deal with Lilith on my own.

He was silent for several minutes as I sobbed into his chest, breathing in his musky scent and hoping he would believe me. Finally, he said, “I can forgive you for the lies, but I won’t forget that you did lie. You have to be honest with me from here on out. Just like you’re on probation with the Pack, you’re on probation with me too. I can’t be with someone who lies to me all the time. You’re lucky Lucille seems to have no interest in me, otherwise dad would be pushing me onto her even more than he’s already tried. He thinks I told her something to make her disinterested in me,” He laughed. “Now let’s get you back…unless you want to stay the night?” He made it a question, an invitation.

I was somewhat taken aback by his offer. Was he no longer upset with me? Was it that easy to make up with him? I figured he would be mad at me for much longer than only a day.

“I can’t stay mad at you, Selene,” He said, reading my expression like he was reading my mind. “I care about you too much to stay mad at you. The way you were acting did make me angry, and it did hurt my feelings, but the full moon fueled some of my actions, it enhanced my anger. I’m sorry for how harsh I was to you. I don’t want to lose you, Selene.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” I said as I followed him inside, feeling better than I had felt in a while.

Quinn and Sylvea were off somewhere, probably still talking with the Elders in a private place. I ate the food Lilith gave me before we went off to bed, the steak as good as I remembered. It gave me a little satisfaction to know that Lilith wouldn’t ever be able to taste something that good, but I could. After I finished the meal, Randall and I went to his room.

I didn’t have any extra clothes at Randall’s house, but he lent me a t-shirt and some boxers to wear. Though I was covering all the essential parts, I still felt somewhat unclothed. It shouldn’t have bothered me, though. He’d seen me naked before. The whole pack had. But it still did.

The simplicity of the clothing made fooling around a bit easier, as there was no bra or underwear to get in the way. The world around me narrowed to only Randall, his breath on my skin, the touch of his fingers, more exploratory than ever before. I let him do what he wished. It was something my body had wanted for a while, but my mind had been too timid to ask for.

Hands, fingers, tongue, it was all a rush as his lips found mine then went to explore for a few minutes before returning. He tasted the skin of my shoulders after slipping the sleeves of the loose shirt up. He proceeded to my collarbone, my back, stretching the fabric to uncover only the parts he wanted to lick, bite, and kiss. No words were exchanged as we explored. We didn’t need any words.

After he got his taste, I moved, slowly, to find my own spots to stimulate him. I copied him in some ways, nipping at his collarbone, his neck and shoulders. I went for the ear, licking and nibbling until I gave him goose bumps. He moaned and continued to touch me with his hands as I went along with my lips.

Even Tala enjoyed the experience, waking up from her doze to give me a few pointers. Apparently, my instinct knew more than I did about how to arouse a guy. Judging from his reaction and the noises that came from his mouth, he enjoyed my boldness. The clothes came off slowly. As we continued on, I forced away my feelings of discomfort and soon forgot why I even had them in the first place. I was with Randall, my Randall. I didn’t need to feel uncomfortable around him. He liked me for who I was.

The contact of my bare skin against his felt even better, even though we were still only exploring. I was at that point where I could have given him everything I had, but we still weren’t ready for that. It wasn’t the right time.

It wasn’t long before the day’s events overcame me and the exhaustion took over. The change and the run had taken a lot out of me, and I was still weaker than I would have liked, thanks to Lilith. After a while, I gave Randall one last kiss and just curled up next to him, still unclothed but warm, safe, and happy. I slept with his arms around me, and dreamt of a better future.

-----

A/N: This chapter was a little bit difficult. I don't really know if Selene's getting away with too much or if it's believable enough. I also don't know if I should put any disclaimer on the blog or not, since Selene and Randall are getting a little bolder. I probably will if they actually have sex or if I make it explicit, which I haven't really decided if I will. I'm not too good at writing that kind of stuff. It's funny how Selene's little mistake made their relationship stronger, though I don't think that's how I originally planned it.

The next few chapters are going to be kind of filler and character development chapters. I have to kill some time and help Lilith gather support from the Pack and since Halloween is coming up in the story, I plan to have a little fun with that.