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

had been abusing all of those girls right under my nose for years, and I never even suspected.

“When I had gotten angry with you, it wasn’t because of anything you did, it was a matter of my own hurt pride. But I need you around, Ailith.” She looked up at me like I was blatantly lying to her. “You have this way about you, where everyone trusts you. Everyone knows that they can come to you if they’re having a problem, and I always used to think that I was like that. That they never hesitated to come to me. And I was so wrong.

“It took some time to get used to that. But you…you see everything. You have this natural ability to feel when something is wrong. And when you do you never stop until you figure out what it is. And then you take care of it. By whatever means necessary, even if it takes banding an entire student body together to get the job done.” I smirked down at her and nudged her shoulder. She looked at the ground but I could see her smile.

“It wasn’t the entire student body, more like a quarter of it,” she mumbled. I chuckled and then got serious.

“In the same mission you managed to bring a very valuable ally to this pack. You have done so much for us already, and I just can’t help but feel like there’s so much more to come. You have unlimited potential and I want to see you reach as far as you can.” She didn’t say anything and I took the opportunity to think my next words through carefully. She was also incredibly good at seeing loop holes. “I can’t guarantee that you’ll be on the battlefield.” I expected her to interrupt me, but she just watched, waiting for me to continue.

“But I will see what your females can do. Those who are willing will start training with the males, and I will be getting regular progress reports on them. Until then you and a few that you select will help us prepare. We’ll be doubling our border runs, as well as internal patrols.

“I’ll need you to obey my command, and in return I will keep an open mind when it comes to gauging their capabilities. If you see anything that you feel I need to know about, you bring it to me, and I will listen, intently, to everything you have to say. No more underestimating, no more trying to protect you. For right now, that’s the best I can do.” By the time I finished we had stopped walking, and she was fully facing me.

I didn’t know what to expect from her, but I certainly wasn’t expecting a hug. I wrapped my arms around her after a stunned moment, then she pulled back with a small smile.

“I’ll take it.” Then she walked away, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

I shook my head, making my way into the house. There was never a moments hesitation with that girl. For the first time I felt true regret that she and Asher hadn’t worked out. She would have been a wonderful alpha female for this pack.

Chapter 32

Ailith

 

 

 

I looked around the room. A surprising amount of females took me up on the offer for them to train with the males. Of course, I had explained what all it would entail. Them having to defend the pack houses and such. And they were all for it.

What surprised me the most though, was that they turned out to be an even match for the males. Actually it was a surprise for everyone given the rough training they had had. As a matter of fact some of the males had outright laughed when Bastion explained that they were going to be paired up, male to female, to see how good they were. Three quarters of the females won their matches.

Including Kiera who had been facing off with Asher. I’d never been so proud. Asher even handled it well. Giving her a nod of respect instead of stomping off like when I had faced off with him. Though I thought that was more because I was his ex than the fact that I had ovaries.

I spent most of my time at the compound lately. Not because of the females, but because the house was getting really crowded. Drake hadn’t wasted any time getting his ally on the territory. I had actually had to beat Jaeger in a one on one match to get him to stop laughing when he saw all of the females in the compound. He was a nice guy, but he was only good in small doses. And I was sharing a house with him.

After the first day Bastion reported to Drake and then he decided to pair up a male with a female for every border run and internal patrol. Kiera was paired with Asher, Chris with Dalton, and I was with Sadler. It seemed like they were all good matches since he chose males we were actually able to get along with. Though Kiera constantly complained that all Asher did was complain. Which I found ironic.

But then about a week after everyone showed up, things sort of got a little messy. I had just walked into the kitchen, in a not so great mood. I was sharing my room with five other females, which wasn’t a problem except that with so many bodies together I couldn’t sleep very well. Every male in the house that I hadn’t already been living with, decided that they liked to touch.

It became apparent quickly that they had made it into some kind of game. Depending on which body part they ‘accidentally’ touched, they got a certain number of points. Since Drake and Bastion had decided that every female was going to be assigned to me, it made Chris, Kiera, and I the main targets. Seeing as how Kiera was my second and Chris was my third it made sense in a weird way. But what confused me was that those two didn’t seem to care.

Kiera had explained that it was a pack thing. That socializing and touching was a natural thing. I just wanted to bite them. That special morning I walked through the crowded halls to find the guys already there. Drake, Sadler, and Bastion were standing at the end of the dining table. It had become our war board of sorts.

I walked through, ignoring the several ‘good mornings’ I got and went straight for the coffee pot. A week of little sleep and every waking moment filled with idle hands had me on edge. Kiera walked in with Asher right behind her, back from their night border run.

“For god’s sake will you shut the hell up! I don’t care!” she snapped, spinning to glare at him. He rolled his eyes, closing the door behind them. It would have made me smile if I didn’t catch a male walking behind me in my periphery.

“Do it and I’ll rip your arm off,” I growled. That was how they played their little game. Walking passed and letting their hands graze my body. The room froze, everyone staring at me. I didn’t care, I just took a drink from my cup, glaring at the counter top. Though I noticed that the male hadn’t touched me.

After a moment I made my way over to the table, Kiera shooting me a sympathetic smile as she left the room. I was looking down at the map they had spread out. Drake had chosen a clearing about ten miles from the house, so we could get back quickly after the initial battle. They were discussing where to put the reinforcements where they wouldn’t be noticed.

Then a male walked behind me again, this time his hand grazed my ass. I reached back squeezing his wrist so hard I could feel the bones rub together. I pulled him over and down, his head smacking the corner of the table. He went down, and stayed down.

“Anyone else lays a hand on me and you’ll bleed!” I snarled at the room. Everyone went instantly silent, and several took a step back. Some of them who were leaning against the wall tried but were already as far back as they could get.

“Ailith!” Drake snapped, horrified. The male wasn’t one of his, he was an ally. I didn’t give a damn.

“I can’t live like this anymore, Drake!” my voice more of a growl as I set my coffee cup down on the table sharply. “The crowding and the touching, I just can’t do it anymore!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked, I was ready to snap, but Sadler put a hand on his shoulder.

“Drake, this one is actually perfectly normal.” Drake spun to face him.

“Did you see what she just did to him?” I was too busy by the male groaning and struggling to move to pay attention to them. I growled as he moved, he looked up at me, blood running down the side of his face, terror filling his eyes. He backed away on all fours, and I continued to give a warning growl until he was out of sight.

“Yes, I did. She’s a lone wolf, Drake, not pack. She‘s living in a cramped space surrounded by male wolves. She’s bound to snap sometime.” Drake let out a long breath, running a hand over his hair.

“There’s nothing I can do about it until all of this is over. The pack houses are stuffed tighter than this one.” I didn’t bother looking at them, instead I opted for crossing my arms over my chest and scowling at the table top.

“Well then, she can stay at my place until then.” My head snapped up. He wasn’t looking at me, neither was Drake, and I didn’t know if I wanted him to say yes or not.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Sadler shook his head.

“What choice do we have? If she stays here she might seriously hurt someone.” I gave a sideways nod at his words. It was certainly possible. Drake sighed again then gave me a good hard look.

“Go pack a bag, take the day off, get some sleep, and come back tomorrow with a better attitude!” he had to yell the last three words as I was already making my way up the stairs.

When I walked into Sadler’s loft part of me felt a little awkward being there without him. The majority of me said I’d get over it. That same part was what compelled me to collapse onto his bed. I fully planned on moving to the couch when he came home, but I woke up the next morning still in the bed.

I walked into the living room to see him passed out on the couch. Feeling a little guilty I rummaged through his kitchen, looking for something to make him for breakfast. He didn’t have much food that wasn’t microwaveable, and there was a fine layer of dust on his stovetop. It took the entirety of my self control not to grumble about it.

Eventually I found some eggs, sausage, and bread. It wasn’t great, but I managed to make him fried eggs, sausage patties, and French toast.