My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

the bedrooms to branch off from the center of the house. After I set the bags down Sarah was there rifling through them. Ailith was right behind her, talking about making something to eat.

I didn’t bother to talk, just standing there making sure they didn’t ask for anything else, like I had been ordered. But Ailith bumped me in the shoulder, smiling up at me as though she hadn’t just been cuddling up with another male. I tried to smile back and she gave me a concerned look. I just shrugged it off.

When Cory came over to stand next to her I lost my head. I should of kept my mouth shut. I knew I should have then, but it opened on its own accord. Words just kept coming out until I was ready to cut my own tongue out. It would have been less painful.

“So have you showed him your tattoo yet?” I asked. Ailith froze giving me a stunned look while the other two reacted.

“Tattoo?!” they both stared at her.

“You have a tattoo?” Cory asked her, she barely glanced at him, instead looking at me like I was possessed.

“Um, yeah, I got it a few months ago,” she answered him absently then turned to me. “How did you know, I haven’t told anyone about it?” I shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cory asked, the hurt obvious in his expression.

“I figured she would have,” I answered before she could, then I turned on her. “You trusted him enough to sleep with him, I thought you would have told him about it by now.” Her expression turned from cautious confusion to mortification, then pained, as I realized that Zeke was standing in the living room.

“What?” he asked, stepping forward. Ailith turned around running a hand through her hair, Cory grimaced before turning to look at his brother. “You slept with her?”

“Just once, it happened after you broke up,” he answered.

“How could you do that? You knew how much I liked her!” Cory scoffed.

“You just wanted to get in her pants and you know it!”

“So…what? You decided to one up me? Prove that you could succeed where I failed?”

“Of course not, I didn’t plan it, it just kind of happened.” By now Ailith was just crouched down, leaning against the refrigerator with her head in her hands.

“Whatever!” Zeke snapped, before going into the bedroom to slam the door closed. Cory ran a hand through his hair and muttered something under his breath before walking out of the house. Sarah had watched the whole thing from the end of the kitchen counter.

“Wow,” she breathed, moving over to Ailith. “Are you okay?” Ailith looked up at her and nodded.

“Yeah.” Sarah nodded and glanced around before looking down at her again.

“So…you slept with Cory?”

“Yeah.” She nodded again.

“It was after you and Zeke broke up?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ailith rose a brow at her, and she nodded. “You’re right, dumb question.” She waited a second. “Was it worth it?” she asked instead. Ailith looked like she thought long and hard on that one, until finally she nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, that’s good enough for me. I’m gonna go talk to Zeke, see if I can calm him down. You going to be alright?” At Ailith’s nod Sarah moved to go to the bedroom, but was interrupted by her Dad walking in looking troubled.

“Why did I just see Cory driving off like a maniac?” he asked, casting glances behind him as if he could still see it.

“Dad, you don’t want to know,” Sarah answered, and he thought about that for a second before nodding his head and putting an oblivious expression on his face.

“Good enough for me.” And then he happily plopped down on the couch and started channel surfing.

Ailith stood up and I tried to meet her eyes. But she looked at me with so much anger and betrayal I had a difficult time of it. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she shook her head before simply walking out. I followed just in time to see her drive off.

I had planned on giving her a few days. Alright so I was procrastinating. But I knew I had to apologize for this one and I didn’t know how. What was I going to say? I’m sorry for ousting your past relationship, I just lost my mind when I saw you with him? I really didn’t see that working out very well. And even if it did it would lead to a conversation I was not willing to have.

But instead of getting those few days to think it through, I got a call from Drake. He said that since we had worked so well together last week he wanted me to take Ailith on a border run. We would be trapped in a car together as we drove the border line watching for rogues crossing illegally. The worst part? It was an all night job. We would be taking the night shift. Which meant from sun down to sun up I was trapped with a female that had every right to be pissed at me.

However, I still had a job to do. So about an hour before the sun set I was sitting in her driveway. She came out and climbed in without saying a word. This was supposed to be educational for her. So she could see part of what she might be expected to do when she got any wolves under her command.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. For three hours we sat in tense silence. We hit a spot that had seen regular traffic, so we sat there watching and waiting, while nothing happened. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ailith,” I started, but she cut me off.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She never looked away from her window.

“I’m sorry.” I could hear the pleading in my own voice. It was enough to take any male down a few pegs.

“I don’t…want to talk about it,” she said again. So I just nodded and the silence continued. Until five minutes later when her phone rang. She answered it without looking, and then sat up straight.

“I’m on my way,” she turned to me, alarm lighting up her eyes. “I have to go to the hospital.” I started the engine without answering, picking up my own phone in the process.

“I need someone to cover the north border, we have an emergency we have to answer.” I pulled away, knowing that someone would be there in mere minutes.

The hospital was just on the other side of the county line. The county line was the border line for the territory. We had an agreement with the alpha of that territory since we only had a town clinic, we could travel to the hospital without offense.

We walked through the sliding glass doors to see Zeke and Sarah pacing just in front of the receptionists’ desk. Sarah saw us first and threw herself into Ailith’s arms. Zeke held back but after Ailith got the girl to unclench her arms from around her neck, she opened her arms to him. He hesitated for half a second before stepping into her.

“Now, what happened?” she asked after he stepped back, wiping at his face.

“The cops said that they found him in the park in the next town. He was scratched up really bad, and unconscious. He said that he was attacked by dogs?” Ailith looked at me. I knew what she was thinking, and I hoped she was wrong.

“Where’s your dad?”

“The doctor had to redress the bandages, and they said that we couldn’t be in there. So he sent us to get food, he’s still sitting in the hall outside his room.”

“Okay, you two go with Sadler and eat. I’ll go check on them.” Sarah nodded, and Ailith strode down the hallway. Ever since she had figured out how to follow someone’s scent she never bothered to ask questions.

A half hour later the two had eaten and brought a meal back for their dad. We walked down the hall to where they said Cory’s room was. Dave was still sitting in the hall, staring at the window that showed the inside of the room. The kids handed him the bag of food, and I leaned against the wall.

I could see Ailith sitting on the edge of the bed. She held one of Cory’s hands while he talked to her. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, the glass was too thick, so I would have to wait until she told me.

“She hasn’t changed,” Dave muttered. I looked down at him, but he didn’t even glance away.

“She’s different,” Zeke answered, but Dave shook his head.

“She is different, but she hasn’t changed.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, not entirely sure what he was getting at. He finally looked up at me. His hair was a mess, as were his clothes. His eyes were slightly glazed, the way a worried father should look.

“She just shows up anytime someone needs her. She shows up and takes care of it, no matter what it is. No matter the problem. That’s the way she’s always been.” I turned to look at the topic of conversation. Cory was falling asleep, so she stood and made her way into the hallway.

As soon as she surfaced Dave stood. She told him that Cory was sleeping but the doctor said that they could go back in. They didn’t hesitate. She stood there and watched them silently for several moments. She started to talk, but her back was to me.

“The doctor was a wolf from this pack. He told me that he was attacked by four wolves.”

“Rogues?” I asked, she shook her head.

“Pack, I could still smell them on him. They had shifted, he thinks he was attacked by wild dogs.”

“I’ll call Drake, he needs to know.”

“No,” I looked up at her, stunned. “There’s nothing he can do, it was a misunderstanding.”

“What?”

“They thought he was a rogue. When they realized he was human they called an ambulance and ran.”

“Why do you think they thought he was rogue?” I asked, stepping up next to her. She tilted her head to look up at me. She was miserable.

“He was attacked because my scent was on him. They thought he was me.” I floundered for a moment. I have never been close to a human. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for someone I cared about to get attacked because I was close to them.

“Then we’ll have Drake keep him guarded until they leave.” She shook her head.

“He can’t survive in my world anymore. And he won’t leave until I tell him too.” Then she walked away.

I couldn’t just let her leave like that. So I took three long steps, grabbing her arm and making her face me. The emotionless mask was firmly in place as she gazed up at me. When I first met her, I was impressed by the way she held onto her emotions. But now every time I saw that look I wanted to shake her until it fell off. I didn’t know what I was going to say but...

“I’m so sorry.” Was what came out. She gently pulled her arm out of my grip.

“You should be,” she started and I felt my stomach clench, “but not for this.” This time when she walked away, I let her. I went ahead and told the family that we were leaving, and then followed her out.

Three days later she asked me to take her over to the pack house. Well, actually I was picking her up for another border run since we had to cut the other one short. Cory had just been let out of the hospital and she wanted to stop by and see him. When we pulled into the driveway he was just climbing out of the backseat. I heard her take a deep breath before climbing out.

He beamed at her when he looked up. Then his eyes traveled to me and his smile dimmed