“I don't reach for the bottle of whiskey

Straight on the rocks

But you don't see me popping the pills

Cause if you want the pain to go away, in a second make it fade

You're the only thing that will

You're my medicine, medicine.”

---

"Yes, Ryder." I said. "He's my mate."

As soon as those words left my throat, Ryder's face paled and he held a shocked expression on his face.

I kind of felt bad for hiding it, but it was like I had no choice.

"I..he...oh my god...why did...oh wait..." He started spluttering but nothing he said made sense to me.

Keeping a hand on his shoulder, I asked him to calm down and he looked at me earnestly.

"That explains the way he acts around you," he said, frowning.

"Yeah." I muttered, picking on the grass.

"Why hasn't he marked you get?" He asked me and I bit my lip, not really wanting to answer that.

What do I tell me? That my mate pushed me off (literally) on the first day we met, spread rumors about me, told me to stay away from him and ignored me when I tried to go near him?

It sounded horrible and pathetic and I didn't want him to pity for me.

But then again, I have had enough of hiding stuff from him and he deserved to know.

So I told him.

From the beginning. How the met, my birthday party, what happened in detention, another stupid party, false heat, Lupus, rogue attack— everything.

By the time I was done, Ryder was livid. No wait, he was fuming. Without a single word said, he stood on his feet and dashed towards the pack house.

"Oh god! Ryder! Where are you going?" I ran after him, clutching his elbow, I pulled him back. But he tried to tug and pull away from my hold.

"Let me go, Livy. I'll kill that motherfucker." A growl left his throat and his eyes turned black, telling me that he was going to shift soon.

"Ryder, please calm down," I placed my hands on my shoulder, and tried to calm him down. "It's okay, I'm okay you don't have to hurt him."

"You're okay?" he said, baffled. His voice holding sarcasm and accusation.

"What do you think I am? Blind? You really expect me to believe that you are okay? I might not say it Livy. But I can see. I can see how upset you've been. How you keep spacing out when we're talking. How you have a permanent frown on your face rather than the carefree smile you used to have. How your makeup doesn't do shit to hide your under eye bags. How your eyes turn watery whenever you look at him. I can see it all, Livy. I can see you are hurting."

His words left me ashtonished as I hung my head low.

"Sorry..." I whispered.

"Oh moon goddess! Why are you saying sorry?" His voice turned soft and he engulfed me in his arms. "You don't have to be sorry. You did nothing."

"That's the point Ryder. I did nothing. I-I don't know what to do, Ray." I whispered, my voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

My tears were wetting his t- shirt but as long he didn't complain, I didn't care.

"You really want to give him another chance? You know he doesn't deserve it right?" He told me and I sighed.

I tilted my head so that I could see the setting sun and my eyes enjoyed the view as I soaked in the truth of the situation.

"I know Ryder. I know. He's not worth it. But our relationship is. It's not him who I am giving another shot, it's us. I need him, Ray. I need him because I know no one can make me feel the way he does. He's my mate. There's no one else for me, but him. And how can I not give him a chance when he's my only chance in life?"

<><><>

The evening went that way, me and Ryder talked about life. He promised me to not kill chance till I asked him to and I promised to him that I'll not give into his charms easily.

After the sunset it wasn't very dark, with the moon shining above us and I asked Ryder something I have always wanted to.

"How does your wolf look like?" I asked him and he looked at me with a smile. His eyes shined at the mention of his wolf and I could tell he he was proud of his wolf.

"Why don't you see him yourself?" He said and my eyes lit up with excitement.

"His name is Ferox." He told me. "It means fierce in Latin. That's what I wanted my wolf to be like. Fierce. But just at the same time. Authoritive. But someone everyone could look up to."

The pride in his eyes wee evident and I turned around as he shifted. I heard the familiar cracks of bones and I howl made me turn around as I witnessed one of the most beautiful wolves I have seen.

He had a silver fur. Just like his father. Two strong, distinctive and beautiful stripes going around his neck and his fur was sort of snow white around the base. It was like was glowing in the moonlight. His eyes were sea blue. Just like Ryder's. They were blue, but like Lupus'. Lupus' eyes were something different. They were icy blue. Something so refreshing and beautiful that I could stare all day.

Ryder had a huge wolf too, but a bit shorter than Chance, and way bigger than my father.

This made me wish I'll be able to shift soon. I wanted to know what my wolf looks like. I wanted to be able to talk her. And go for runs in the woods with Chance and Ryder and Kat.

Ferox poked my forehead and I giggled.

"Ferox! Stop!" Ferox grinned at his name being called and wiggled his tail at me before running away in the opposite direction.

"FEROX!" I called his name, but he didn't stop and I knew he wanted me to follow him.

So I did.

Next day at school was different. Everyone wasn't giving me cold and blank stares— like they had been in a while. There were no whispering nor any snide remarks were passed at me.

It was pleasant to say the least. My first 2 classes went smooth without any sort of drama and I wondered what made this happen. Did they move on to another gossip? Did they find out the truth.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I made my way to my locker with my books in my hand. I was humming a Beatles song when I saw a familiar tuft of brunette hair running towards me.

"Oh....my....god..." He panted, clenching his stomach as he leaned against my locker. "W-What are you doing h-here?"

He didn't know about my 4 day blackout, because he was human and we had no explanation for that.

So for him I had been abducted by aliens or something like that.

I frowned in confusion and turned towards him. "What are you talking about, Andrew?"

He shook his head furiously and looked around. "Shouldn't you be in the gym rightnow like everyone else?"

I was first confused at his statement but then I looked around to see that the corridor were actually empty and nobody was here.

"Everyone's in the gym?" I asked him, closing my locker.

"Yup, we should go too." He said, grabbing my hand.

I squealed as he suddenly pulled me forward and practically dragged me to the big Halls of the gym.

"Andrew!" I reprimanded, trying to break free but his next words caught me off guard.

"I have heard that Chance and Reece have gotten into a fist fight there."

My eyes widened and I started moving myself as the words sank in.

Chance and Reece were fighting? But why? They are best friends for crying out loud! Why are they fighting?

We reached in front of the gym and all my doubts were answered as soon as I saw the situation before my eyes.

Suffice to say, I was shocked.

Have you heard about how penguins live in the cold? They share body heat. And no don't get your mind to the dirty, I mean— the innocent, platonic type of body heat sharing. The penguins stay huddled together and keep each other warm.

They had a reason to do that though, my school mates didn't. The first thing I saw when I entered the gym was that they stood in a circle huddled together, like the penguins I talked about.

I furrowed my brows and frowned. It looked like almost the entire senior year was here. Had Andrew and I been the only ones out?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when their attention fell at me and they started whispering amongst themselves.

"She's here,"

"Oh god, why her?"

"He could have done better,"

"Whatever, I think she's gorgeous,"

Some whispers I understood, made no sense to me— but I could tell more half of them were not pleasant (no surprises there though). I stood there till Andrew grabbed my hand and guided me towards the crowd.

My eyes widened and I shook my head. They will make me a target again if I confront them. I am not a coward, I just don't want more drama in my life.

The crowd parted like the dead sea when we made our way towards the centre and my eyes landed on what was actually in the centre of the room and I gasped.

Right in the centre of the room stood a table on which a box of donuts was placed. The box was closed but if you look closely, on the top it was written

"

This doesn't make any sense...I am the only Olivia in this school. And why would someone give me donuts?

I threw a confused glance at Andrew who looked as much perplexed as me and he whispered to himself, "But Kat told me that..."

He never finished his sentence, and I looked at him with raised eyebrow. To which he just shook his head and looked away.

Weird.

I felt a sudden push on my back and I turned to see Katherine standing there, looking all perky and energetic.

"Go! Open it!" She urged and I nodded, stupidly.

My eyebrows drew together in contemplation as I lifted the lid of the box. My eyes followed the moment and my they widened as soon I saw what was inside.

The donuts inside weren't usual, normal donuts. They had some stuff written on them. Each donut individually had a word written, which together formed a sentence.

“

I read the message over and over again, trying to grasp the idea of someone doing this for me. At first I wondered of the baker confused my name with someone else's, or if someone was pulling an April fool's prank in the month of July.

"Boo." Said a voice from me. A little squeak escaped my lips as I turned around to see Chance standing there with a huge grin on his face.

"You scared me," I whispered, placing ahabd over my heart, which made him chuckle. I looked away, embarrased but he took my hand and pulled me towards himself.

His eyes found mine and I tried not to get lost in them. The crowd around us suddenly vanished and I tried not to blush about the fact that everyone was watching us.

Call me weak, but it warmed my heart to know what he did for me. And more than anything, what mattered was the fact that he wasn't afraid to ask me out in front of the entire school. It was like indirectly telling them I didn't force him to stay with me that night. And all the allegations they made on me were false.

He was interested in starting afresh with me, and he wasn't afraid to show it to everyone.

I haven't forgiven him, obviously, but I was willing to- in the future.

"So?" He asked, his eyes leaving mine to beckon at the box and he looked back at me with nervousness in them.

"Will you go on a date with me?" He voiced out what was written on the donuts, will holding my hand, in front of everyone— and I couldn't ask for something more romantic.

I smiled like no tomorrow and without any doubt or hesitation replied with a big. "Hell yeah!"

💝

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