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Chapter 33

Mason slowly pulled away, and I let go of a big breath I was holding. Mason looked down at me with a smirk on his face, his eyes then went back down to my lips then up to my eyes.

"There," he whispered. "All better." Mason backed away and I couldn't help smiling at him, the smirk on his face vanished and turned into a smile.

"Thanks," I whispered. "But you didn't have to," I told him with amusement laced in my voice. A chuckle came out of his mouth and he placed his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, trust me. I wanted to." He said. I felt my cheeks redden and I looked down to the ground. I heard another chuckle escape his mouth which caused me to look up.

"What's so funny?" I asked. He stepped closer to me and raised his hand, softly touching my cheek with his finger. My eyes widened at this action, and also when I realized how close our bodies were.

"You blushing," he answered. "I don't get to see that often."

"Take a picture, because you won't see it for a long time." I joked. His smile grew and he stepped back, grabbing his phone from his pocket.

"Oh, that's exactly what I was going to do." He said and immediately snapped a picture. My eyes widened and I gave him a disbelieving look.

"Hey! I was kidding! Delete that picture now," I told him and crossed my arms against my chest. Mason smirked and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't have time," he said looking down to his wrist, which might I add, was bare. "I have to go. I'll be sure to stare at your picture whenever I have time." His smirk grew and I glared at him.

"Oh no you won't," I warned him and stepped closer to him. As soon as I did that, he chuckled and was out of the room before I could do anything. I sighed and shook my head, a smile crawling onto my lips at what he said.

"Idiot," I muttered to myself and walked out of the medical room. I started walking towards my room to place a small bandaid on my lip, wanting to cover the bruise until it completely healed. I silently walked to my room thinking about Mason, a chuckle escaped my lips at the memory of him taking my picture. How embarrassing, I'll find a way to delete it. I shook my head and entered my room, embracing the silence that surrounded me. I let a sigh escape my mouth and walked towards my bathroom.

I looked in the mirror and snickered at my appearance. What a lame throw, she could have tried better. Even though she was able to cause a bruise to form on my lips, I couldn't help thinking that if I was in her place, I would have thrown a stronger one. I chuckled and nodded my head, doesn't sound too bad. I might as well arrange that. I scrunched down to the cabinet that was under the sink and opened it, looking around for a bandaid.

"I'm pretty sure I had some around here," I muttered to myself. I groaned out in frustration when I couldn't find any. I brought my head closer to the cabinet not wanting to give up. I groaned again and placed the tip of my head inside the cabinet, digging for whatever I could find. Now I know my appearance might have looked weird, but what can I do? The cabinet was pretty big so the bandaid could be anywhere. But I was pretty sure that I looked like a dog digging his grave.

I smiled when I saw the small box of bandaids resting deep through the pile of rubbish that remained in the dusty cabinet.

"Ah, there you are." I sighed out and grabbed the box, but as soon as I did that a voice spoke from behind me, making a gasp of shock escape my mouth and leading my head to be hit against the roof of the cabinet.

"What the hell are you doing?" The voice asked. I groaned out in pain and pulled my head out, turning my head to an amused Lina.

"I was looking for this, but can you not do that next time?" I told her and showed her the box that was in my hands. A laugh came out of her and I groaned again and rubbed the palm of my hands against my head.

"That freaking hurt," I whined. Her laughter died down and she crossed her arms against her chest.

"Why do you need that for?" She asked. I rolled my eyes and stood up, facing her. I pointed at my lip and raised a brow.

"Are you blind, Lina? Can you not see this?" I asked. She frowned and looked down at my lip, a gasp soon coming out of her mouth.

"Oh my God, Tiana! How did that happen? Oh my gosh," she pulled me into a hug and started to fake cry. "Please don't leave me. Don't die on me, my friend." I rolled my eyes and pushed her, seeing a smile crawling onto her lips.

"Haha, very funny," I grumbled. She broke out into laughter and wiped a fake tear from her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help doing that. But seriously, what happened?" She asked. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms against my chest.

"Chloe happened," I told her. Her smiling expression vanished and was replaced with an angry one.

"What do you mean? You're saying Chloe was the one who did this?" She asked. I nodded my head.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying," I confirmed. A growl escaped her lips and she shook her head.

"I'm going to show that b*tch, who does she think she is?" Lina growled. I rolled my eyes and placed the box on the counter, facing the mirror.

"Apparently, the Luna." I muttered. Lina rolled her eyes. "The rumors that have been wandering around gave her the ability to play Ms. Victim," I told her. Lina's frown deepened and she stepped closer towards me.

"Yeah, I heard a couple of people talking about it, but don't worry, I taught them a lesson they'll never forget." She said the last part with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and she only chuckled. "Besides, these will soon fade away. It's only a faze. And as long as Mason is on your side then you have nothing to worry about."

I glanced at her and gave her a smile. Thinking about Mason made me feel a little better, I shouldn't care what anyone else thought of me. It's what I think of myself that truly matters. I looked back at the mirror and sighed.

"Hopefully," I whispered and opened the box. I grabbed a bandaid and peeled the plastic that was on it, then placed it on the bruise. "Anyways," I said, then turned over to Lina. "What are you planning on doing today?" She shrugged her shoulder and we walked out of the bathroom.

"I don't know really. What about you?" Lina asked. I shrugged my shoulders as well and turned over to her.

"I don't know either, but I'm going out to the yard to watch Adam train. He told me to come over and stop by." I answered. Lina nodded her head and walked towards my bedroom door, she turned over to me and gave me a smile.

"Well, I'm going to go check up on Nick, see if he needs any help. If you need me make sure to tell me through the mind link." Lina told me. I nodded my head and returned the smile.

"Ok, bye," I said.

"Bye." And with that, she was out of my room. I ran a hand through my hair and walked out of my room a little after she did. I walked down the stairs and towards the back door, walking to the yard. I rolled my eyes and ignored the stares I got from the pack members, I also ignored the whispers that didn't surprise me.

I let out a sigh as soon as I stepped foot outside the packhouse. I walked towards the yard to see the pack warriors in training running around the track. I spot Adam in the distance running, I smiled at him and he returned the smile. Adam turned his attention to someone else and continued running. I walked towards a bench and sat on it, staring at the pack warriors working out. I couldn't disagree but damn were those men good looking. I snickered at myself and rolled my eyes when my wolf started nagging at me. Telling me to not look at any other male other than our mate.

I mentally shook my head and blocked my wolf out. I looked back at the warriors and saw Adam looking at me, he waved at me and smiled. I waved back at him and he turned around and went back to training. I didn't mind sitting out here and watching Adam train. It's actually quite relaxing. Adam is my best friend and I know that all his life he always wanted to be a pack warrior, I don't know why but it's his dream. And since he's my best friend then I needed to be the good friend I am and support him, and watch his training every now and then. Besides, I would rather sit out here than sit inside the packhouse.

The air around me was quiet and smooth. I closed my eyes and inhaled, inhaling the clean air that surrounded me. The wind blew in a soft melody which caused my muscles to relax. I slowly opened my eyes and sighed. I was the type of person who appreciated nature, I liked to be outdoors more than indoors. And I liked to sit on the soft grass every now and then and close my eyes, and listen to the birds chirping and the wind blowing. This not only calmed me down but my wolf too. My wolf is usually nagging at me and she's always hurting my head, so I have two solutions, the first is either blocking her out, and the second is calming her down. Which might I add, is really hard to do.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Mason's scent hit my nostrils. I snapped my head in the direction of his scent to see him walking towards the pack warriors. He stopped and turned his attention over to me, his eyes perked up and a small smirk crawled onto his lips. I rolled my eyes and he looked away and continued to walk towards the warriors. He was talking to them and they were all nodding their heads, then they all started running the track again. I watched in silence as Mason started training the warriors.

I snapped my head to the right when I heard someone behind me running towards me, gasping for air. I frowned as I saw a shaken Ryder running towards me with a pleading look on his face. I raised a brow at him as he stood in front of me, gasping for air. He inhaled and placed his hands on his knee. As soon as he caught his breath he sat next to me and placed his hands on mine.

"Tiana, my best friend." He said with a fake smile on his face. "How are you doing? Hope well! You know that you're my favorite person in the whole wide world?" He said. I crossed my arms against my chest and sighed.

"What do you want, Ryder?" I asked. He let out a nervous laugh and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"What?" He asked. "I can't hang out with my best friend?" I rolled my eyes and gave him a pointed look.

"Ryder? What do you want?" I asked but shook my head. "The question is, what did you do?" Ryder groaned and ran his hand through his hair, then looked around and sighed out in relief.

What on earth happened to him?

"Listen, Tiana. I got myself into deep shit, and I mean deep shit. I need your help to get me out of it." He said. I frowned at his words. What did this idiot do this time?

"What the hell did you do?" I asked. He let out a shaky breath and scooted closer to me.

"Let's just say that a possessive male mate is after me." He said. My eyes widened and I shook my head.

"And why is that?" I questioned, even though I knew exactly what he has done.

"I was flirting with a girl, but how should I know that she was mated? Her mate heard me inviting her to eat lunch together and he went all caveman on me. I thank the Lord I was able to get away from him, but he's still on my chase." Ryder explained. I shook my head again and whacked him on his head.

"You idiot! You deserve it. You don't flirt with a girl who has a mate," I lectured him. He shook his head and rubbed the spot I hit him with a frown.

"As I said, I didn't know she had a mate." He groaned. His eyes then widened as he looked behind us. I raised a brow and turned around to see a tall, buff man running towards us. Shit, what has he gotten himself into? Especially with a guy that huge? I mentally shook my head at his stupidity. You will be missed, Ryder.

"Shit shit shit," Ryder muttered under his breath. He looked at me with a pleading look and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Please get me out of this, Tiana! I'm dead, I'm too young to die," he begged. I frowned at him.

"How on earth can I get you out of this mess? Besides, I have nothing to do with this." I told him. Ryder wasn't able to say anything else because the buff guy was in front of us, boiling in anger. Ryder and I both gulped as we stared at the guy that was shooting death glares at Ryder.

"Listen, buddy." Ryder started. "You got this all wrong, I wasn't flirting with your mate." The guy let out a growl and gabbed Ryder by his shirt. I stood up as the guys spoke.

"Do I look stupid to you?" He asked. "I know what I heard. You invited my mate to a date!" He growled. I stared at them with wide eyes and didn't know if I should interfere or not. Ryder shook his head and gave the guy a pleading smile.

"No no, buddy! I wasn't asking her on a date. You see this girl over here," Ryder said then pointed at me. "She's your mate's friend and she told me to tell your mate that she wants to have lunch with her today. That's all. Don't kill the messenger." Ryder explained. My eyes widened at his words and the buff guy turned over to me and stared at me, inspecting me. His angry face relaxed a bit and he dropped Ryder to the ground. I gave Ryder a death glare as he gave me a pleading look, begging me to play along. Oh goodness, what has he gotten me into? The tall guy walked towards me, with a hard expression plastered on his face.

"You're my mate's friend? I have never seen you around her before," he said. I glanced over at Ryder and sighed. He owes me big time. I brought my attention back to the big guy that was in front of me and nodded my head.

"Yes, we're friends. We met recently and I told Ryder, the guy you're trying to kill, to tell her that we're having lunch today." I explained to him, trying to sound convincing. The guy gave me a look telling me that he didn't believe me. He crossed his arms against his chest and asked me a question that I dreaded.

"Well, since you're her friend, then tell me what's her name." He said. I gulped and glanced at Ryder, planning his death ceremony in my head, that's if I don't die today. Ryder smiled at me and told me to relax. I glared even harder at him and looked back at the guy, who was waiting for an answer.

"Her name is Crystal," Ryder told me through the mind link. I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, Ryder would know her name. He knows every single girl in this pack. I guess I can postpone his death ceremony.

"Her name is Crystal," I told the guy. The guy slowly nodded his head and stepped back, giving a glare at Ryder then at me.

"I expect to see you both eating lunch today," he said and stepped another step back then turned around and walked off. My eyes widened and I snapped my direction over at Ryder. What does he expect me to do now? Ask the girl to eat lunch with me. Ryder scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" I growled at him. "What did you get me into?" Ryder frowned and stepped closer to me.

"Listen, Tiana. I'm sorry but please help me. Just talk to the girl and ask her to eat lunch with you, that's it." Ryder begged. I sighed out and crossed my arms against my chest.

"I don't even know the girl," I said.

"I'll show you her, and all you got to do is meet her and become friends. It's not that hard." Ryder continued to beg. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"It's not that easy either," I told him. He gave me a pout and looked down at the ground. I rolled my eyes and shook my head again, the things I do will soon lead to my death.

"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me," I said. Ryder looked at me and a smile grew on his face. He pulled me into a hug and squeezed me to the point where I couldn't breathe.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He said out happily and pulled away. "You're the best."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," I muttered. I averted my eyes towards Mason's direction as I saw him walking towards us with an emotionless expression on his face, not looking too happy. I completely forgot that he was here. Ryder stepped away from me and gave me one more smile before walking off, guessing that he didn't want to deal with another angry male. I looked back at Mason as he walked up to me, he glanced over at Ryder that was not too far away from us then back at me.

"What was he doing here?" He asked. I raised a brow at his question.

"Nothing really, just stopping by," I told him. I didn't want to tell him the truth because I thought it would be better if no one else knew. Mason nodded his head and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Ok," he muttered, not sounding too happy. "What about the guy that was here a while ago?" My eyes widened slightly and I looked down at the ground, then back at him. Moments like these where I just wished that someone would come and interrupt us.

"Ugh..well," I started and scratched the back of my head. "He's one of Ryder's friends," I lied. They're definitely not friends. Mason slowly nodded his head and backed away.

"Ok then. I need to get back, just wanted to make sure everything was ok." Mason said. I nodded my head.

"Everything's ok. Don't worry," I assured him. He nodded his head again and turned around and walked off. I let out a breath of relief and shook my head.

Ryder will be the death of me.

"You're coming with me!" I demanded. Ryder shook his head and groaned.

"No, I'm not. The guy was going to kill me for God's sake. I'm not risking it," Ryder argued. I crossed my arms against my chest and growled at him.

"You got me into this mess, Ryder! So you're coming with me to confront the girl," I said. Ryder groaned again and stood up from the couch, staring at me with a face that said he wasn't going to budge.

"No, I'm not, Tiana! Please don't make me! I'll show you the girl and you do the rest. I'm not going to risk the chance of her possessive mate seeing me," Ryder told me. I groaned this time and stood up.

"Fine, but I'm not letting you off the hook," I said. I'm going to get revenge on him, sooner or later. Ryder smiled and nodded his head, soon pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He squealed. I rolled my eyes and pushed him away.

"Let's just get over with it," I grumbled. "Come with me and show me the girl." Ryder nodded his head and placed his arm around my shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.