Chapter 17 :

Camila woke up the next morning still in her workout clothes from the previous night. The events that had taken place in the forest had worn her out and all she could do was simply roll into bed and pass out.

She trudged down the stairs desperately in need of coffee. Wolves could stay awake and alert all night but it was the morning hours that they all struggled with. She didn't know how Taine could wake up so damn early. Lost in her thoughts she didn't see Taine and Beta Ivory sitting at the kitchen counter.

Ivory greeted her in a clipped formal tone, "Good morning Camila."

Camila was mid-yawn and responded to the greeting by a casual salute. Taine didn't even glance up to look at her.

"I am making myself some coffee, does anyone want anything?"

As Camila was climbing on top of the kitchen counter to retrieve three mugs she heard Ivory gasp in shock, "Oh my, Camila what happened to your leg?"

Still, in a sleepy haze, Mila could not respond back with anything over two syllables. "wha?"

Ivory was looking at the back of her leg in surprise and so was Taine, except surprise on his face looked a lot like the emotions of a concrete wall. She craned her neck to see the back of her body.

On the back of her leg, just below the hem of her shorts was an ugly bruise that was turning an angry shade of purple. It had been a painful fall when she had tripped yesterday, but the adrenaline and anger made her unaware. On her darker skin, the colour of the bruise meant it was going to take a long time to heal.

Camila wasn't fazed, she'd had worse. She climbed down from the counter and carelessly responded, "Yeah, Taine did that."

Ivory's eyes turned from surprised to appalled as she looked at her Alpha. "You hit her?"

To her disappointment, Camila didn't get much of a reaction out of Taine. He simply glanced at her and then at Ivory and said, "She liked it."

Her jaw dropped, all traces of sleepiness was gone and she was about to give Taine an earful when a very embarrassed Ivory cut her train of thought.

"Alpha Taine, ehem, I think we should get back to work."

Taine looked at Camila signalling her to leave.

Rude. He can make his own damn coffee. She decided.

Before she left the kitchen she remembered something. "Ivory, before you leave, could I please talk to you about something?"

-

Camila felt so awkward around Ivory.

It wasn't that she wasn't a nice person, it is just that she was so stiff and serious. Ivory never grinned or raised her voice above 30 decibels, or made jokes... If Mila needed to talk to Libby she wouldn't need to 'ask' or filter anything. She could just speak her mind and it was effortless and easy. But Ivory was the only female she had met in this pack and she was the Beta, so it was important that she at least tried. Maybe opening up was the first step in forming some kind of friendship.

Taine must love Ivory's lack for the superfluous, but Camila...Not so much.

Every time she interacted with Ivory she wondered what she would be like drunk (more fun probably) and how she could make that happen...

She placed her now empty mug in the sink before taking Taine's now empty seat. She whispered to Ivory, "just so you know, Taine didn't hit me, but the bruise is technically his fault."

Ivory's eyes softened, "yes I know." Camila loved Ivory's green eyes. Although they were often expressionless, they looked bright at this moment. They were so similar to her mothers' eyes...

She continued, "what did you want to talk about Camila?"

"Well..." Camila bit her lip. She didn't know how to approach this subject.

"I think I'm ready to join the pack. Officially."

Ivory smiled, "That's great news. Alpha Taine didn't mention it."

"Yeah well, I haven't told him yet...I just don't know how to tell him."

Ivory looked slightly confused. "Is everything okay between you two?"

Camila laughed dryly, "I don't know what okay even looks like for us. I thought things were looking up but we just keep butting heads."

Ivory didn't say anything to sympathise with or console her. Mila assumed it was because her loyalty lied first and foremost with her Alpha... So, she would listen, but not contribute. Even if she could read Taine like a book, Ivory knew that they could figure it out on their own.

At that moment Taine entered the kitchen.

Throwing her in the deep end, Ivory calmly said, "Alpha, Camila needs to tell you something."

She sent a panicked glance Ivory's way. Ivory just nodded at her, in a way that was supposed to be encouraging. Maybe she could lie and say she was dying, or pregnant? Suddenly she was doubting herself.

Taine and her were not in a good place, at all. So she knew that she was only doing this to earn a little freedom and trust. It was selfish but necessary. She could figure the rest out later.

Swivelling the chair to face Taine, and feining a sense of confidence, she responded to his questioning eyes, "I think I am ready to join the pack."

Taine searched her face to confirm she was being serious. His inspection didn't reveal what he was thinking.

"Well it's about time. You stink."

-

Later that night Camila had a sour expression on her face and was stabbing her food angrily. Taine entered the kitchen and she didn't stop mutilating her dinner until he asked her why she was so angry at her chicken.

"I really want to run but, I can't run in my wolf form until I am officially part of the pack and I can't go on my normal late-night runs anymore."

"Why can't you?"

She looked up at him in annoyance. "I just assumed that after our little adventure I wouldn't be allowed to anymore."

"I didn't say that."

Camila briefly paused the disfiguration of her food. "You mean I can go?"

It put Taine on edge to say yes, but he also wanted to show her that she had some of his trust.

He looked at the silent plea in her brown eyes and found that he couldn't refuse her.

"Yes. I don't have a problem with it, as long as you stay in the area behind the house, I will make sure nobody bothers you. I understand it must be hard for you to be confined all day."

Camila barely let him finish before she jumped off her seat and ran into her room to change into her clothes.

As she ran out the door she yelled "bye" to the house.

She ran all night.