Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘Do you promise?’ she asks after a moment of silence.
I open the door and sit next to the tub on the floor.
The bubbles are up to her neck. She most likely poured an entire bottle into the bath. I smile to myself, thinking of the washing machine incident.
We turn our heads facing each other.
‘I’m scared, Magnus. Moss’s mum is going to come after us. I just know it.’
‘I won’t let her harm you.’
‘But what if she finds a way?’
‘Mark my word, Nina, I will kill her before she ever lays a finger on you again.’
‘I wish if it was something else you could mark.’ She whispers and stares sadly into my eyes.
Just like I have powerful feelings for Nina, she has practically just confessed her feelings to me. Our faces lean in slowly, our lips brush as we are about to kiss. Then she quickly sits back, taking in a deep breath.
‘Magnus, we can’t do this. We aren’t mates. It would be wrong of us. It’s forbidden for us to even consider being together.’ She sobs.
I want to hold her; I want to kiss her and make love to her and never let her go. Seeing her so sad like this is breaking my heart.
I reach my hand out to caress her cheek.
‘Magnus, please, don’t. I need you to stop. I need you to go.’
‘But…’
‘Go!’
I stand up and immediately leave the bathroom. As soon as I shut the door, I hear Nina burst into tears. I’m overwhelmed and confused; I need some air. Leaving the room, I bump into May, causing her to drop the clothes she carries. I don’t stop to help pick up the clothes, instead; I speed walk out of the motel altogether as she yells after me.
‘Magnus, is everything ok?’ I ignore her.
Running up a hill, I sit on top and stare up at the moon.
‘What’s wrong with me? Why do I have feelings for Nina when she isn’t my mate? Why does it have to be forbidden to have a chosen mate instead of a fated mate?’ I cry into my hands and remain there for hours.
I return to the motel to find a frantic Leon.
‘Where have you been?’ he says and takes in my morbid-looking face.
‘What happened Magnus? You look worse than Nina does.’ He frowns.
I don’t answer and walk into our room, kicking my shoes off and pulling my shirt over my head, and tossing it aside. I climb into the closest bed and cover myself, including my face with the covers, and sleep.
Leon wakes me up.
‘I know you have had little sleep, Magnus, but we need to go so we can get through a few towns.’
Leon passes me my shirt. I take a quick shower and get dressed, and walk straight to the car. May is already in the front passenger’s seat, which I was hoping to take. Gianna is in the back seat and Leon is in the driver’s seat. I notice Nina isn’t in the car yet. I open the back passenger door and sit beside Gianna, and we wait for Nina.
‘Is everything okay, Magnus? You seemed a bit upset last night. I noticed Nina was upset, too. Did you two have a fight or something?’ May asks.
I shrug my shoulders and sit back. Nina exits the motel wearing clean track pants and a plain shirt.
‘The motel had a lost and found compartment which had lots of clothes. The manager told me to help myself.’ May explains.
I notice Gianna is wearing clean overalls and a shirt, too. Nina steps into the car.
‘Let’s go.’ She murmurs.
After a few hours of driving, we stop for a toilet break and for some lunch.
Sitting at the table eating, everyone speaks, except for Nina and me. We sit as far away from each other as possible. It was obvious to everyone something was up, but they also knew not to get involved and say anything.
‘How much longer until we get to Shadow Crest?’ Gianna asks.
‘At this rate, two more nights. Which would be the night before Nina’s wolf ceremony, which the Alpha and Luna are already organising.’ Leon says.
Nina looks even sadder now that Leon mentioned her wolf ceremony. She abruptly stands up and walks away from the table and to the car.
‘I guess that’s our cue to get back on the road then.’ May says.
The silent drive is almost deafening. I can tell May is struggling to not say anything.
It’s nightfall and we arrive at a motel. They only have one room available with two double beds.
‘Who is going to sleep on the floor?’ May asks.
‘I’ll sleep in the car. You all go in.’ I say.
‘Are you sure?
No, I’m not alright. I want to be by Nina’s side, even if it means sleeping on the floor. I’m upset Nina rejected me and that it’s forbidden for us to be together, but I don’t tell May that.
‘Yes, I’m sure.’ I grizzle and walk back to the car.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t stop thinking about Nina. I felt like it was almost killing me. The thought of never being with Nina was almost too much to bear.
As soon as the sun rose, Leon came out to the car.
‘You look worse every time I see you, Magnus.’
‘Are the girls ready to go? I want to get out of here.’ I say, ignoring his observations of me.
‘Yeah, I’ll tell them to hurry it up.’
‘Good.’ I say and sit in the front passenger’s seat.
The girls climb in the back, talking to one another as I stare out the front window. I pull the visor in front of me down and slide the panel across, exposing the small mirror. Leon wasn’t wrong when he commented about my appearance. The bags under my eyes have only gotten bigger and darker. I notice May give Nina a look and gesture her head at me. She was hinting to Nina to say something to me. Nina gives May a glare and shakes her head no and looks out the side window, avoiding me.
Leon enters the driver’s seat and puts the radio on to break the silence.
May sings along to half the songs throughout the day. We stop for petrol and Leon buys snacks for everyone while we are there. The girls tell Leon they are going to the lady’s room. Leon offers me to take some snacks but I refuse. I haven’t really eaten much since Nina told me to go.