Chapter 34: Chapter 34

THIRTY-FOUR

“Yeah, sure.” Charlotte rolled her eyes and looked through stood up to check Willow’s closet. “Look at that, almost all your clothes are not in here.”

“That’s because I usually leave my clothes in Black’s washer,” Willow replied and stretched her body on the bed. “Why are you so bent on this anyways? Black and I started dating a few months ago, isn’t it normal for some of my clothes to be at his place?”

“Exactly, you guys started dating a few months ago and he calls his house ‘yours’ as well.”

Willow’s eyebrows scrunched up. “I thought you liked Black?” She asked with clear confusion.

“Yeah, I do. He seems like a good guy but gathering from what I’ve heard about his family, I’m scared that you’ll also become a stay-at-home baby mama.” Charlotte replied before taking a seat on the bed.

“We’ve been through this Char, Aleisa is not a “stay-at-home housewife or baby mama”. She works as well and anyways I’m not having kids anytime soon, I have to get a degree first.”

“You sure?” Charlotte asked with a side-eye. “You guys can’t keep your hands off each other, I found you on top of him in our living room.”

Willow groaned loudly and cringed. “Please don’t remind me, that was so embarrassing.” She said and raised her body. “Don’t worry, I take pills.”

“I don’t mean to be like this, I’m just worried about you. I want you to be fully independent before you depend on a man...I’d rather you depend on me entirely than a man.”

“Don’t worry Char, Black is just like you about this university stuff. He literally forces me to study.”

“Good. Sometimes it just seems to me like Black has put all of himself into this relationship...like he’s too serious.” Charlotte said with a thoughtful face.

“Isn’t that what everyone wants...a serious relationship?”

“Yeah but...I don’t know how to even put this.”

Willow rolled her eyes and got off the bed. She picked up her books and packed them in her backpack. I’m going for my afternoon class, if Caleb comes by you should entertain him until Levi picks him up.”

“Caleb, again! That kid drains my energy and the food in the refrigerator. How did Levi even end up dating Black’s cousin? If he had told me he was gay, I would have taken him to a gay bar.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Willow said before throwing the backpack over her shoulder. “Bye!” She waved as she walked out of the room and out of the apartment.

She hailed a taxi and got in. The University was not far from their apartment, at the most it was a thirty-minute walk that she could manage if she did everything on time and started off early. But being an exhausted student, drove out any thoughts of walking for thirty minutes.

It had only been a month and a half since she had started studying but it felt longer. The bags under her eyes and slouching posture could agree with her. For her, interior designing had been something fun. She would see a few pictures on Pinterest and deem them worthy but learning interior design meant so much more. It was so much more than falling in love with pictures on her phone.

Sure, she had made a few friends and the professors were not bad, but all the assignments and papers she had to do were proving to be too much. She kept pushing forward, knowing that she would like the end product and would be able to do the work that she loved. Not a lot of people could say that. But despite everything she had gone through, she could still pursue her dreams thanks to the support of those around her.

When she entered her afternoon class, everyone looked just like her, exhausted and ready to leave. The professor drawled on and on before the class came to an end and Willow packed her books. It was amazing how three hours could go by so slowly when learning. Dragging her feet, she walked over to where one of her new friends, Valerie was.”

“Can you believe this woman? Why do we need to submit another paper on this shit?” Valerie said, full of disbelief and pointed at the sheets of paper in her hands.

Willow laughed. “I just want to sleep.” She said as they walked together out of the class and down the halls. “Do you have any other classes?”

Valerie shook her head. “I’m meeting up with Lincoln at the cafe. Do you wanna join?”

Lincoln was Valerie’s cousin and he was freakishly smart. Valerie always went on and on about how he was not a human. After a while of awkward conversations, Lincoln had also become Willow’s friend. Unlike the first impression she had of him, Lincoln was neither shy nor an awkward infant he was sassy and reminded her a lot of Caleb.

“Sorry, I can’t. Black is picking me up.” She replied with a sad face.

“Why are you giving me that sad face? I’d choose your hot boyfriend over anything if I were you.” Valerie said.

“Tell Lincoln I said hi and bye!” She waved before walking off in the opposite direction.

Black’s car was in the driveway of the university when she walked out of the building. She beamed and rushed towards his car and got in. She leaned over and kissed him.

“You must have missed me,” He said with a smug grin.

Willow buckled the seatbelt and looked at him. “I haven’t seen you for three days, I’m allowed to miss you.”

“It felt longer,” Black stated before starting the car. “What’s the first thing you want to do?” He asked her.

“Sleep.” She replies without hesitation. “I want to sleep next to you.”

“Once upon a time, you loved going on dates with me,” Black said with a sullen look.

“We went on a date three weeks ago,” Willow replied, her tone filled with amusement.

“Three weeks too long.”

“Fine, let’s go on a date tomorrow but today we cuddle.” She gave in and settled back into the seat after sighing heavily.

Black saw the exhaustion written all over her face. Ever since she started her studies, she always looked exhausted and he wishes he could help her relax. Whenever she came over to his house on the weekends, he did all he could to help her rest and relax. He had even taken Zaira’s advice and bought many bath bombs and other relaxing shower gels.

Black placed his hand on her thigh. “Should I set up another relaxing bath when we reach home?” He asked and Willow nodded.

“At first I had thought all that stuff was dumb but I like them very much now. To think, just taking a bath with a lot of expensive shit would be so relaxing.”

“I should probably join you then,” Black said suggestively.

“Forget the relaxing effect then.” She said with a small chuckle.

Willow slept for the rest of the car ride and when Black stopped in front of the house, he carried her inside. He woke her up after placing her on the bed and preparing her bath.

“You aren’t going to join?” She asked after entering and her body was underneath the water.

“Tempting.” He said but shook his head. “I’m certain that you haven’t had anything to eat.” He said before leaning down and kissing her. Willow responded immediately and kissed him back.

“Don’t sleep like last time.” He told her before walking out of the bathroom.

Willow looked at the coloured water as she let her body relax in the water. Through such things, that’s how she was certain that she really adored Black more than she told him. He supported her when she needed it and he always did small things like this to take care of her. He cooked for her, prepared baths for her and complimented her endlessly. Perhaps others did not believe in a perfect relationship but Black made it seem almost perfect.

When she got out of the bath, she wore one of Black’s button huge shirts on top of her tights. With body craving sleep, she walked downstairs and followed the smell of food into the kitchen. She hugged Black after he set their food.

“Mm, you must have really missed me.” He said and hugged her back.

“Thanks.” She said and breathed in his scent that she still could not get over despite always wearing clothes.

“You don’t have to say thanks, baby.” He told her and kissed the top of her head.

“Yeah, but I always forget to tell you how much I love you.” She said and pulled away. “Thanks, I love you.” She said with a smile.

Black looked down at her like he always did, eyes full of adoration. He leaned down and captured her lips with his. She reciprocated by kissing back and wrapping her arms around his neck. Willow could count how many times they had kissed before and she would not say that this time was different because Black always kisses her with so much emotion. Even when he touched her, it was like he was handling a fragile priceless artefact.

Even as they kissed now, with their tongues intertwined and hands on each other, Willow only felt love. And whether these were her own pure emotions or those spurred on by the mate bond, she still liked it very much. Feeling like this for Black was easy and it did not scare her anymore. Even when she looked into his eyes and they were a shade darker, she had come to like it. There was no need for her to be scared anymore. Black would not hurt her as Louis had.

Black had given her another purpose, he had given her a bigger family and because of him she finally felt like she was living. She was not just a spectator, watching others progress with their lives while she remained in the same place. Loving someone in such a manner felt dangerous. She had begun to depend on him a lot, perhaps the deepest being emotional. Charlotte had aired her concerns and had told her about the fear of depending on another person too much, but Willow had no worries or fear. She knew that she could depend on Black and he would not disappoint her.

“I love you,” Black said after pulling away and resting his forehead against hers. “Come on, let’s eat and I’ll tell you about how much I loved you the first time I saw you.” He ushered her into her seat.

“Liar!” She hit his arm. “The first time you saw me, you thought I was a rogue.”

Black took a seat. “No, I wondered why you smelled like a rogue and a human at the same time.” He corrected.

“You hated me.” Willow countered.

“I thought you were beautiful.”

“You suck at lying. What about all those intense questions?” Willow laughed and started eating.

“I was just worried about my pack and I do think you’re beautiful so I’m not lying.” He replied with a grin.

Willow’s cheeks heated up because of the compliment and she tried to cover it up by rolling her eyes and looking down at the food. Black was about to tease her about how easily she blushed but the sound of a growl disturbed his plans. He averted his eyes to the windows. Something felt off, even his wolf felt uneasy.

Willow watched silently as Black stood up and went to the windows and looked out. “What’s wrong?” She asked and followed him.

Black remained silent and continued searching for any abnormality. Willow was about to ask him once again when they both saw the cause of Black’s uneasiness. A large wolf with a dirty brown coat emerged from behind the trees and growled. Willow felt a chill run down her spine and it was not the good type of chill. The calculated movements and bright eyes of the wolf, trained on them affirmed that she was looking at a werewolf.

Out of instinct, she held on to Black’s arm and took a few steps back. Black sensed Willow’s fear and pulled her to his side. He directly glared at the wolf with his jaw clenched. Even through the window, the wolf seemed to be glaring back at him.

“A rogue,” Black said through clenched teeth. Willow’s fear only spiked up more after Black’s words.

Black wondered how a rogue got inside the pack and so close to his house. The pack’s boundaries were so far from his house and they had a twenty-four-hour patrol always patrolling the boundaries. Someone should have been able to spot a rogue before it got so far.

“Willow, I need you to get my phone and call either Alex or Isaac.” He told her. A lone rogue could not have made it so far, he had to make sure that it was alone. To ensure the Willow’s safety and that of the entire pack he had to eliminate the threat.

“Where is it?” She asked, her voice quivering.

Black removed his phone from his pockets and handed it to her. “I’m going to take care of this.” He said and tried to walk towards the door but Willow held on to him tightly.

“You can’t go out there.”

Black looked into her eyes. “Don’t worry about me, just make the phone call.” He told her before kissing her cheek and walking out of the house.

Willow’s eyes followed Black as he walked unnervingly closer to the rogue. She bit her lip nervously and hoped that no harm would come to him. Her body was shaking with fear and she looked down at the phone before searching through Black’s contact list for either Isaac or Alex.

She looked up once again and saw Black shifting into his wolf’s form. A gasp escapes her lips when she sees him on all his fours, with black fur and piercing darker eyes that she had seen before whenever Black lost control of his wolf. It was a scary sight, something that she was certain she could not get used to but while looking at his wolf, she thought it looked majestic. Despite how only the moon and stars were illuminating the night, she could see how shiny the coat of the wolf was and she wanted to run her hands through it.

As if Black could feel her gaze on him, his wolf looked toward the window and she gulped but still held his gaze. When Black’s wolf turned away, it jumped at the rogue, clawing at it. Willow winced when the rogue landed a few hits. The violence that ensued in front of her scared her. Even though she could tell that Black was clearly winning, she could not help but worry.

She clicked on Isaac’s contact and muttered ‘pick up’ multiple times under her breath. She hurriedly told Isaac what was going on in a panicky voice when he picked up and when he said that he would be there soon, she did not doubt it.

Just when Black’s wolf got on top of the rogue and sliced its neck, two more rogues emerged from the darkness. Willow who witnessed the death of the first rogue could not even dwell on the fact that she had just witnessed the violent slaughter of a person—well, a werewolf. She became extremely worried as Black fought a 2-one-1 fight against the new rogues. It made her wonder just how many were out there and just how useless she was in such a situation because she could not fight.

Black fought expertly and it was very evident that he was a well-trained and far better fighter than the rogues. Willow crossed her fingers and prayed that Isaac would arrive soon. She closed her eyes and winced when Black plunged his claws into one of the rogues and threw it to the floor, leaving it for death.

When she opened her eyes, he was fighting with the other wolf and slashed his claws on its face before finding enough space to bite through its side and impelling it into the ground. Black’s wolf sniffed the air before it growled loudly and shifted back into human form.

Willow closed her eyes when she saw him stark naked. She slowly opened her eyes when she remembered that she had seen him naked a lot of times and watched him shamelessly walk back into the house.

“Fuck this.” Black cursed and walked to the sink to watch his hands which were covered in blood.

Willow winced when she saw the scratches on his back and the deep wound on the back of his right thigh.

“B-Black...” She called out in a small voice and he turned. “You’re...you’re hurt.” She told him and he looked down at the wound.

“Help me with the first aid box, it will heal after cleaning it.” He replied and she hurriedly searched for the first aid box.

“Come on, I’ll clean it.” She took his hand and helped him to the bathroom of the guest room that was on the same floor. “You’re going to have to remain standing as I clean it, okay?” She instructed and he nodded.

Black groaned a few times as she cleaned the wound and did the first aid. “Are you sure it’s going to he—” Her eyes widened as the wound that looked unbearable started to slowly heal and his skin looked just as it had before.

She straightened her body and looked at his back, the scratches were also gone. Black turned to face her and smirked.

“Perks of being a werewolf.” He said before stretching his once-injured leg.

“That’s scary,” Willow said before looking down at Black’s chest and blushing. “Put some clothes on.” She said and rushed out of the bathroom.

“The clothes are upstairs, please get them for me!” Black yelled out with a small laugh.

“Why don’t you just go upstairs? You were walking around naked a while ago.” She replied.

“Do you want everyone to see me naked?” Black asked and Willow’s face scrunched in confusion she was about to ask what he meant but the door opened and Isaac’s voice called for Black.

“Fine.” She said before walking out of the room.

Isaac and Alex were in the living room. “Where’s Black?” Alex asked as he walked to the kitchen and opened the back door. “Damn! How did they manage to get this far?” He wondered as he looked at the carnage Black had caused.

Isaac followed Alex and looked put as well. “Call for a meeting with whoever is patrolling today. These rogues couldn’t have gotten so far without help from inside.”

“Where’s Black?” Alex asked once again.

“Um...he's...he’s coming.” She replied before dashing up the stairs and picking out some sweatpants and a shirt.

When she went back downstairs and gave Black the clothes, he wore them swiftly before walking out of the room with her.

“You better give me the rat that did this,” Black said when he walked into the kitchen. Alex and Isaac were still looking at the mess and discussing what to do. “That one is still alive, interrogate him all you want.” He added and pointed to the last rogue he fought with.

Willow watched silently by the entrance of the kitchen with her arms wrapped around her and lips pursed together. Everything had happened so quickly, the plates with the half-eaten food were still on the table.

“I’ll kill the fool that decided it was good to betray the pack and send untrained rogues to attack me and my mate.”

......

After an interrogation, Isaac had a name. It did not take much, the rogue gave away the name before he even asked the question. There was a rat in the pack and that bothered him very much. How could a pack member betray the pack? After completely finishing off the rogue that Black had left alive, he walked out of the room and went to Alex.

“It’s fucking Gavin. Call Levi, I need him to verify something.” He told Alex. As Alex called Levi, Isaac ordered one of the warriors to bring Gavin, one of the pack members.

When Gavin was brought in, Isaac ordered them to restrain him and lock him up. Isaac clenched his hands every time Gavin yelled out that they had no reason to hold him like this and that he had not done anything wrong. Despite his withering calmness, Isaac waited until Levi arrived.

“What happened?” Levi asked as he came closer and bowed lightly.

“Rogues entered the pack and attacked Black and Willow. I need you to tell me if you’ve ever seen the man in that room.” He replied and pointed to the cell that held Gavin.

“Are they fine?” Levi asked, concerned. Isaac nodded before directing him to the cell. “Do you have any recollection of this man being in Louis’ club?”

Gavin looked at Levi and panic crossed his features and he quickly looked down. But the short moment when their eyes met was enough for Levi to recognise him.

“I’ve seen this man before. He tried to flirt with Willow I’m the club.” Levi said and Gavin immediately looked up and shook his head.

“Why are you lying? Alpha, will you really believe a rogue over me?”

Isaac stepped closer and slapped Gavin. “How dare you disrespect my family?”

“You called me a filthy rogue and tried to flirt with my best friend, I wouldn’t forget something like that,” Levi spoke up.

Isaac poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue before dialling Black’s number. “I’ve got your man.” He said after Black picked up.

“Why did you do this Gavin?” Isaac asked after cutting the call.

The questioned male looked at the floor with a clenched jaw and refused to speak. Isaac walked closer and looked into his eyes. He grabbed a hold of Gavin’s fingers and twisted them.

“Should I freeze the blood coursing through her veins?” He asked as Gavin screamed out in pain.

“Fine!...fucking fine!” Gavin yelled out. Isaac let go of his fingers. “I used to go to Louis’ club to have fun. He became my friend and when you killed him, his business went under as well.”

Isaac sighed heavily. “I can’t believe a man like you is part of my pack.” He said with a shake of his head. “Let’s go Levi.” He said and walked out of the room.

Levi looked at Gavin for a few seconds before walking out of the room and following behind Isaac. “What’s going to happen to him?” He asked curiously.

“Whatever Black sees fit.”