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Chapter 25

I hopped into the shower and immediately sighed out in relief when the warm water hit my tense muscles. I placed my head back in satisfaction and closed my eyes for a moment. This was heaven. I opened my eyes and grabbed some shampoo and placed it on my hair. After I was done with everything I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body then looked at the mirrors. I frowned when I saw the bags that were under my eyes. This whole week has been hectic.

It's been a whole week since we left that island and let me tell you, this whole week was tiring and boring. After what happened that night I avoided Mason at all cost. Whenever I saw him I immediately turned away and walked off. I barely made eye contact with him but when I did I averted my eyes away. I didn't want to confront him nor talk to him. It's too hard to explain why but I can't get caught in these feelings. It's better this way.

I don't know if Mason is catching on that I'm avoiding him but it's like he's trying to talk to me but of course I always find a way to walk away before he could actually do anything. Besides, I don't think he'll really care. Also this whole week he's mostly been outside of the pack doing some business. He would return after a while then go back. I guess it's an alpha thing but I saw this as an advantage. Maybe with him gone for a while, I can get my thoughts back together and brush these unwanted feelings off. Hopefully.

I shook my head and pushed those thoughts aside. I grabbed a toothbrush then brushed my teeth. I dressed in my clothes and then blow-dried my hair. I exited the bathroom and walked out of my room. I was going to go to Lina's room to see if she wanted to do something today. This whole week we've been helping around the packhouse so I think we deserve a day out. I definitely need one. Once I was in front of her door I knocked on it and waited for her to open it.

The door soon opened to reveal a happy Lina in front of me.

"Hey," she greeted me and then pulled me into a hug. I smiled and hugged her back and then pulled away.

"Hi, how's your morning?" I asked.

"It's fabulous since you're here," she gushed. I chuckled and entered her room then sat on her bed.

"Do you have any plans for today?" I asked her. She shook her head and then sat next to me on the bed.

"No, not really. Why? Do you want to go somewhere?" She asked. I smiled at her and shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, kind of. I was thinking of going outside or something," I stated. She smiled at me and nodded her head.

"That sounds good. Also, Mason isn't here to stop us," she said with a huge grin plastered on her face. I awkwardly nodded my head in agreement. True.

"Ok, so we'll head out later. I first need to let my wolf out for a run and grab some breakfast and then we'll head off," I explained to her. She nodded her head and then walked towards her closet.

"Sure. I'll get ready and we'll meet up in the dining room for breakfast," she said. I got up from the bed and walked towards the door.

"Ok, bye," I said before opening her room door and walking off. I went downstairs and greeted some pack members before walking out of the packhouse. My wolf has been nagging for a while now to be let out and run around in the woods. So I figured she wasn't going to stop until I let her. Can't blame her though, she needs to have control every now and then.

I started to walk towards the woods but stopped when I smelled a familiar scent that immediately caused me to stiffen and stop dead at my track. I snapped my head towards the direction of the scent to make eye contact with a smirking Kyle looking at me. I frowned at him as his smirk remained on his face not looking like it was going away any time soon. He wasn't too far away from me but not too close either. He raised his hand and gave me a small wave as his smirk on his face grew. This sent shivers down my spine.

I haven't seen him in about three weeks since that incident happened with Mason, Adam, and him. He was locked up in the dungeons for two weeks. He must have been released last week but I haven't seen him roam around the packhouse nor the pack in this whole week.

I furrowed my brows at him and turned my head elsewhere. I ignored his presence and continued walking towards the woods as I felt his stare burn holes through the back of my neck. This guy was weird and I didn't want anything to do with him, especially after that problem that happened three weeks ago.

I finally made it into the woods and stopped to observe the beautiful nature around me. Birds chirping's floated around the air as the quiet wind stroked my face in a soft manner. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them I started taking my clothes off and immediately shifted into my wolf.

My wolf started running against the wind as fast as she could and moved her paws against the hard ground as hard as she can. My brown fur danced in the wind as we continued to run. I passed numerous trees, lakes, rocks, animals, and anything you would find in the huge woods. I ran for a long distance and when I noticed that I was getting closer to the pack borders I would turn around and run the other direction.

My wolf was in a pleasant mood at this moment. Her tongue was out as the wind hit her face and yelping in joy. After a while of running, I headed back to where my clothes were and shifted back. I guess that was enough running for today. Once I shifted I grabbed my clothes and immediately put them on before anyone who was roaming the woods could have seen me.

I wore my shoes and was about to turn around and head back to the packhouse when a hard voice stops me.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked. I snapped my head towards the direction of the voice and was met with an emotionless Mason. I frowned at him and wondered why he was here. I wasn't expecting him to return to the pack this soon. He continued to stare at me and stepped a couple of steps closer to me.

"I was out for a run," I answered him. He frowned and took another step closer.

"You shouldn't have run too deep into the woods, don't do that again without my permission" he stated. My frown deepened.

"And why is that?" I asked him. His eyes turned dark and he took another step closer to me.

"Because I said so," he said in a hard tone. I scoffed and shook my head. Of course, he was going to say that. I decided that I didn't want to go into a childish argument with him and I didn't want to be in his presence from the beginning so it would be better if I just walked off.

"Whatever," I muttered then turned around. Before I could take two steps Mason grabbed my hand. I turned around and looked at him with a frown plastered on my face.

"What?" I asked as I tried to release his grip on my hand which by the way was sending a tingling sensation throughout my body because of the skin contact.

"Explain," he ordered. I furrowed my brows at him in confusion.

"Explain what?" I asked annoyed. He growled lowly and pulled me closer to him.

"Don't act as if you don't know what I'm talking about. Explain to me why you keep running off when I appear," he growled. My eyes widened and I stared at him for a moment.

"What are you talking about?" I asked trying to sound stupid.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Tiana." He growled. I looked down at my feet before looking up at him with a hard look.

"No, I don't," I told him.

He growled and tightened the grip on my hand.

"Tiana, answer me. That is an order." He growled. I huffed out in annoyance and in anger that he used that on me.

"Maybe I just don't want to be around you, just leave me alone and forget whatever happened between us because I want nothing to do with you," I stated in a harsh tone. His face was caught off guard and a look on his face crossed his features before immediately disappearing and a hard emotionless face appeared on his face. I then regretted my words and knew I said it in a really rude way.

Shit.

He let go of my hand and roughly pushed me against a tree in an aggressive manner as his eyes turned a pitch black shade. He growled lowly as I gasped in shock.

"Listen here," he growled. "Don't think because we had a couple of nice moments that means you mean anything to me. All those times my wolf took control and I did it only for his sake so it was never me. It was my wolf. So don't have any ideas that I have any sort of feeling towards you. You are nothing to me. I am your alpha and you will respect me and not raise your voice on me. Do you hear me?"

I remained shocked and when I didn't answer he growled loudly.

"Do I make myself clear?" He asked roughly. I knew what I said wasn't necessary and it was really rude of me but his words lit a fire in me and all I wanted to do was punch him in the face even though his words affected me a little. I couldn't deny that. My wolf was whining in pain and begged me to apologize to him but I knew if his words were right then I wanted nothing to do with him and it was better this way, maybe this was making it easier to completely forget about what happened between us. Call me selfish but I know this is for the best.

"Yes," I growled. He pulled away from me and clenched his fist.

"Good, now head back to the packhouse." He ordered. I growled in frustration one more time before running off towards the packhouse. I kept telling myself that this was for the better and I would thank myself in the future. However, my wolf was filling me with guilt and it wasn't making me feel any better.

I walked into the packhouse and ran into Lina's room to find her fixing her hair. She turned over to me and smiled.

"You ready?" She asked. I walked up to her and nodded my head.

"One problem though," I said. She furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Your brother is here," I told her. Her eyes widened and she frowned.

"Really? Dammit. Now we won't be able to go anywhere," she whined. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe he'll leave again later today," I told her. She sighed and nodded her head.

"Hopefully, let's just go get some breakfast and we'll see what happens there." She said. I nodded my head and followed her. We walked out of her room, down the stairs, and towards the dining room. There were a couple of pack members eating their food when we walked in.

We grabbed some food that was on the table and sat down. We started eating silently as I tried to push the memories of what happened not too long ago away. I looked over to Lina when I saw her place her fork down and stare into space. She looked zoned out like how you would look when you're communicating with someone through the mind link. I furrowed my brows in confusion and wondered who she would be talking to.

After a couple of seconds, she snapped out of it and turned to me.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Mason, he informed me that there is a pack meeting after an hour and he wants everyone to attend it. He says it's important," Lina answered. I frowned when his name came out of her mouth. I tried not to think too much about it but couldn't help wondering why Mason would want to have a pack meeting with the whole pack.

"Oh. I hope it's nothing bad," I said. She nodded her head but then shrugged her shoulders.

"Me too, but I don't think so." She muttered. She went back to eating while I just stared at my plate. I sighed and mentally shook my head. I need to get those thoughts out of my head.

After eating I told Lina that I was going to see Adam and I was going to meet up with her at the meeting. I walked up to Adam's room and knocked on his door. Adam soon opened the door looking tired as hell and then went back and laid down on his bed without saying anything to me. I frowned at his sight and walked into the room.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked and sat at the edge of his bed. He groaned and turned his head towards me.

"I'm really tired," he grunted.

"Why? Did you not sleep well?" I questioned. He shook his head and groaned again.

"No, not at all," he raised his head from the pillow and pouted. "Nick was really hard on us yesterday. Training, training, and more training. I barely slept a wink, why am I a pack warrior again?" He whined like a baby. I raised my brow at him in amusement and patted his head.

"Aww, poor Adam," I said in a childish voice. He groaned and pouted.

"I'm serious, Tiana." He whined. I chuckled and nodded my head.

"Yeah, I know. You just have to hang in there. Being a pack warrior was always your dream, remember?" I stated. He sighed and nodded his head.

"Yes, I remember. But thinking about it was always easy," Adam answered. I shook my head and slapped his arm.

"Stop being a baby," I joked. He looked at me and pouted even more.

"Ouch. That hit me right here," he said and pointed at his chest. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Did you hear about the pack meeting we're having today?" I asked him. He sat up and nodded his head.

"Yeah, Nick brought it up yesterday." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Do you know why?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nope, not a single clue." I nodded my head and got up.

"Well, you get ready so we can head out together," I ordered in a playful manner. He narrowed his eyes at me and stood up.

"Are you ordering me around?" He asked. I smirked and shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe," I said. "If I didn't then you would be lost in life." I chuckled. He growled playfully and grabbed me and flipped me upside down on his shoulders. I squealed in shock as Adam opened his bedroom door and gently yet playfully fell me on my bum outside of his room.

"You wait out here until I get dressed," he ordered with a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and got up when he closed the door. Did he really just do that? I stood outside of his room in silence and waited for Adam to get ready. While I was standing there I smelled Mason's scent around me. I immediately stiffened and snapped my head towards the direction of the scent.

I saw Mason walking in my direction. He stopped dead in his track and looked at me. His face immediately went blank. I didn't move nor look anywhere else. After a couple of seconds, Mason looked away and continued to walk. He passed me and walked down the stairs as if I wasn't there. I kept staring at him until he was out of sight. I sighed and placed my head back on the wall and inhaled. His scent lingered around the air which caused my wolf to whine. I huffed out in annoyance.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, Adam finally opened the door. I looked at him to see him smiling.

"What took you so long?" I asked jokingly trying to lighten up the mood with my inner self and my wolf that kept spreading negative vibes. "Had to take time on your makeup and hair?"

His eyes lightened up in amusement and he nodded his head as a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Yes, a matter of fact I did. I ran out of foundation so it took me a while to find a new one in my drawer and opening it. It was a hustle," he joked sarcastically. I burst into laughter at his words and he then started to laugh as well. I pretended to wipe an invisible tear as we started walking.

"What on earth am I ever going to do with you?" I asked. He rolled his eyes but smiled.

"It should be me who's asking that question," he stated. I chuckled and shook my head as we walked down the stairs. After we went to the living room we greeted a couple of pack members and Adam's friends he made in the training sessions he takes. We sat on the couches for a while just chatting and I used that opportunity to not think about anything that had to do with Mason because in awhile I was going to have to face him whether I liked it or not.

And let me tell you, I was not too excited. My wolf thought otherwise.

After half an hour or so it was time for the pack meeting. The pack meeting is taking place in the back of the packhouse. Adam and I got up and walked towards the back door with a couple of other pack members. We exited the packhouse to be greeted by many other pack members standing and waiting for the meeting to begin. I saw Lina and started walking in her direction. When she saw me she smiled and waved.

Adam walked beside me as I walked up to her.

"Hey," Adam greeted.

"Hi, Adam. How is your training going?" Lina asked. Adam sighed and I smirked up at him.

"It's going good," he answered. Lina nodded her head and turned her face to me.

"Tiana, come here for a second," she said and stepped away from us. I furrowed my brows in confusion but gave a shrug to Adam and walked closer to Lina.

"What is it?" I asked. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Did anything happen between you and Mason?" Lina asked. My eyes widened and I slowly yet hesitantly shook my head.

"No, why? Did something happen?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders then crossed her arms against her chest.

"Not really. It's just that I'm noticing that somethings off with him. He's like in an angry mood," she explained. I sighed but shook my head again.

"I don't know, maybe it's something else," I suggested. She nodded her head slowly.

"Maybe," she muttered then looked up in the direction where everyone else was looking at. I looked up to see Mason, Nick, and the third in command which I never really met nor talked to come into sight. They walked on this stage that was placed as everyone else remained silent and kept all their focus on them.

"The meeting started," Adam said as he stood next to me. I nodded my head and looked upon the stage to see Mason looking straight at me. I immediately averted my eyes and looked over at Nick which was talking to someone. After a moment I looked back to see Mason looking elsewhere. I sighed and waited for one of them to speak up.

"I know I gathered you guys here today with a late notice but I have received some warnings that couldn't wait. This past week I have been in several other packs discussing this issue. Thankfully we are not in threat but I have received some warnings which can not be thought about lightly and we must keep our guards up." Mason spoke. Once he stopped everyone burst into questions and had confusion written all over their faces.