Chapter 22: Chapter 22

The school was canceled for a week due to some reports about animal attacks near the school grounds. I have no idea how Tyrelle and his packs managed it, but none of the regular students seemed aware of the events that happened the other day.

I was sitting by my window while listening to some music. My whole body still hurts from the wounds, bruises, and sore muscles I got three days ago. I even got a few stitches on my back from where the wolf dug its claws in.

Being the reported student who was attacked in the woods, I was having a hard time resting, especially since there were reporters outside of our house trying to get any sort of scoop from me.

I hid behind the drapes while I assessed the situation. I could already see a handful of them taking shots of our house through my window. After the attack, the Gridon pack was kind enough to send a few guys to guard our home. I observed one of the guys approach a reporter and seize the man's camera, which had just taken a picture of our house. I stood there for a bit, watching them argue, before returning as soon as my door burst open.

“Gabriella,” My mom entered the room when her hands on her hips. “What are you going standing there? You should be in bed.” She hastily moved to my side and assisted me until I was tucked in my bed.

“Mom, I have been in bed for three days. The wounds don’t hurt that anymore.” I protested.

“Nonetheless, I want it to heal before you go walking around again.” She told me sternly. I had to fight off the urge to roll my eyes. I have been in bed for far too long already, and I am sick of it.

A knock brought our attention to the door where an unexpected visitor stood patiently. “Is this a bad time? Mr. Bryce let me in.” Al smiled at us. It was the first time that I had seen him since the day of the attack. I don’t know if I should feel relieved or not that he’s here, to be honest.

My mother didn’t hide her happiness when she saw him. “Aelfric, it’s good to see you!” She headed to Al and gave him a brief side hug that he returned. “How are you? You suddenly disappeared after bringing Gabriella to the hospital. We didn’t even get the chance to thank you or even attend to your wounds fully.”

“I’m sorry. I was back home recovering on my own. We have a family doctor, so I healed just fine.” He told her, which was a complete lie since he has a fast regenerative ability. “I brought flowers.” He chirped and brought out a bouquet that he was hiding behind his back.

My brows furrowed together when I realized something. Aren’t those flowers from the school garden?!

Thankfully my mom hadn’t noticed it and instead looked pleased, “Oh my! These are wonderful! Thank you for this.” She grabbed the flowers from Al and glanced back at me with a wink. “That reminds me, I just baked some cookies. They should be ready by now. I’ll go and place these in a vase. Then I’ll come back with some snacks! Al, can you stay here and make sure that Gabriella rests? But only when you’re sitting in that chair in the corner.” She said the last words with a bit of warning to him before leaving.

“Thanks, mom!” Al chuckled just before the door closed behind her.

As soon as the door closed, I looked at him with my arms crossed over my chest. “What are you doing here?” I demanded. “And don’t call my mother ‘mom’.”

Al strode into my room and sat at my study chair at the corner of the room lazily. “Geez, baby girl. I saved your life, and yet I still get a cold shoulder from you.” He sniffed and placed a hand dramatically to his heart. “Can’t you be a little sensitive to me?”

Though I hate to admit it, he was right. Well, at least he did bring me to a hospital before I passed out from blood loss. Maybe he does deserve a bit of gratitude.

I sighed in resignation. “Fine, thank you for bringing me to the hospital, Al,” I grumbled under my breath.

Even though the words almost came out as a whisper, Al heard it with his enhanced hearing. His eyes widened and he became teary eyes when he looked at me. “I don’t believe it.” He gasped. “My darling just thanked me.”

“Stop calling me darling or any other pet names for that matter.” I slumped in my bed and gritted my teeth when the bedframe hit my back. Al noticed it too and seemed like he was going to come over to me. “I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m healing well.”

“Not fast enough.”

I huffed. “Not everyone can have fast healing like you and-” My tongue got caught in my throat like I had forgotten how to speak.

“You mean that mutt, Tyrelle?” Al finished for me. When I looked at him, I saw that he had a grim look on his face. “Stop thinking about him too much. He’s not worth it. People like him who can’t even accept a woman for who she is worthless.”

I closed my eyes and pulled the sheets over my shoulder. “I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t bother me.” I averted my gaze and laid down on my bed. “You’re done checking me, right? I’m alive so you can go now.”

“Oh, come on!” I jumped at Al’s outbursts. He was looking at me with rage in his eyes. Well, more like he was addressing a particular werewolf guy through me. “That guy just did what I already expected him to do. He was running off like some scared little shit. Forget about him. Or, don’t tell me that you actually like that person?” I shivered at the dangerous shift in his tone of voice. His eyes had that crazy and shaken-up look into them. No way. Is he going to into rage again? This is bad. I have to stop him before he would go on a rampage.

“Hey, calm down.” I used my elbow to push myself half up to face him, but the movement and effort I exerted on my shoulder muscle hurt my wounds. And before I knew it, Al was at my side and helping me sit back up by placing a pillow behind my back that I could lean.

Then the door began to open, and he was out in a flash and headed back to his seat just before my mother entered the room. She smiled, showing us the tray that she was carrying with a plate full of cookies and two glasses of milk. “I brought snacks!” She chirps.

Al, pretending not to leave his spot the whole time, got up from his seat and headed over to my mother. “Thank you, mom!” He smiled sweetly at her and took the tray from her hands. “Do you think you can permit me to sit beside Gabriella so we can share? There are also things that I wanted to talk to her about.”

My mother smiled, pleased at the fact that Al was asking for her permission in the first place. “That’s very respectful of you, Al. Because of that, I am going to trust you. You better not make me regret it.”

“I promise to be at my best behavior,” Al assured her.

My mom turned her attention to me and gave me a pointed look. “Be nice.” Are the words that she said to me before leaving.

Al placed the tray on my bedside table after waiting for the door to close behind her. Then he drew a chair and took a seat next to me. Even as he began to consume the cookies, I kept a close eye on him. “Wow! These are great!" He exclaimed with delight. "Would you like some?" He offered.

“What do you want, Al?” I asked him.

When he stopped smiling and turned to address me, it appeared to shift his attitude dramatically. Before speaking to me, he placed the last of his cookie into his mouth and swallowed. “You know, I was being considerate by letting you rest for a few days before I came to visit. But then I heard that the mutt sent out bodyguards in your home, which concerned me a bit. I thought that he would be here as well. I can’t believe that he has no guts to show his face and simply sent out bodyguards. What’s his deal?”

That’s right. I forgot that Al must not have known about my deal with Tyrelle. I contemplated on whether I should tell him.

Well, I guess it won’t matter anyway since I doubt that Tyrelle would even approach me after what happened.

I sighed. “He has no choice. Whether he is scared or not, we still have a deal to fulfill.”

Al sat back on the chair while looking at me intently. “What deal?” His eyes narrowed when he asked the question.

I paused as I thought of the right words to explain the situation to him. And then my eyes went to my window where I last saw the bodyguard that he sent.

“Don’t worry. Those guys can’t hear a thing. There are too many obstructions for them to hear out conversation.” Al said when he noticed my worried gaze.

I anxiously fiddled with my fingers before telling him about the act Tyrelle and I had to do in front of his pack mates to persuade them that he and I were in a relationship and that I accepted to be his future mate. Then I explained to him the rest of the details as briefly as possible while leaving out some elements of the contract.

The expression on Al’s face was changing rapidly from sour to dark. It seemed like the longer he was listening to me, the worse his mood was becoming. “So let me get this straight.” Al cut me off after a long time. “You made a deal about pretending to be in love with a guy?”

I nodded, “Uh-huh.”

“And it’s so that he could assure his father about the arrangement so he could leave for his football competition?”

“Yes,” I nodded again.

“And there is no motive in that whole ordeal to make me jealous?”

“It was the opposite. Tyrelle threw in a special bonus that he would help to keep you away from me as best as he could. That was the driving force that made me agree to the deal.” I blatantly admitted.

Al blinked at me a few times before he threw his head back and laughed, “Oh babe. I knew that you had feelings for me all along!”

I gave him a look as if he had lost his mind, “Excuse me?”

The hybrid grinned at me mischievously and flirtatiously brushed his hair behind him. “You said it yourself. I was the driving force that made you accept the deal. You were doing it all for me!”

I waved my hands in front of me as if it would clear out the misunderstanding or delusion he was having. “No. Weren’t you even listening? I was doing all of this so that I won’t have to deal with you anymore.”

“Baby, stop. You’re going to make me blush.” The weirdo dared to blush.

My face morphed into a mixture of disgust and confusion. I have no idea what he was thinking of the situation or what made him have the sort of delusion that makes everything that I say to him the opposite. Is this guy a fantasist? Because that seems like the only reasonable explanation for the weird shit that he is thinking.

I cringed the moment that Al turned to me with a look of determination on his face, “I have decided.”

“D-Decided on what?” I was a bit hesitant and scared to ask.

“Decided that I would partake in this deal that you are in and act like a jealous third wheel. That way, big ol papaw of that cowardly mutt would allow him to return to his football game or whatever. The sooner that he leaves, the better I would say.” He grinned.

Something at the back of my head was warning me that this would be a bad idea. And it wasn’t just an average sort of push of alarm. It was like a blazing firetruck that was telling me to stop him. “No! You don’t have to do anything!”

But I guess I should have known - or I should have expected that a delusional guy like Al would think differently about my reaction. “Shh! Baby girl, you don’t have to explain.” He cut me off by placing a finger to my lips, smearing it with some of his salivae when he licked his finger after eating some more cookies. I shrieked and slapped his hand away and began to wipe my lips using the sleeves of my pajamas.

“It hurts me more than it should hurt you. But I am going to do this for the sake of our future together.”

“Excuse me, just what kind of fucking delusion are you having?!?”

Al didn't respond to my question, but instead leaned his elbow on his knees and grinned at me with dreamy eyes. It was the type of smile that made his face glow. And, for a brief period, I was captivated by his dark enticing face. He was such a weirdo that I had long forgotten how attractive he was.

Sadly, all that look was wasted on an oddball like him.

“Don’t worry, babe.” He says softly with a grin. His cheeks gave out a reddish hue at his cheerful attitude. “I’ll be sure to support you so we can get rid of the mutt as soon as possible.”

I snapped out of my trance the moment that he began to talk. I swear, if only he could act like a normal person then I wouldn’t even hate him. “Are you even listening to what I just said?” I was getting tired at this point.

Al suddenly stood up, looking determined for whatever reason was running through his mind. “Gabbie poo, I will help you out as much as I can. I will make sure to act as jealous as I can, especially in front of his pack. Well, assuming that the little pup got over his fear of your smile.”

“You know? That sudden pain that I had in my shoulders temporarily made me unable to move my fingers. But right now, after hearing what you just said, I could suddenly move just to show you my middle finger.”

Al closed his eyes and nodded. “That’s a good act, Gabbie poo. Act like you hate me even though you love me. Who knows if they are eavesdropping on us?”

All of my strength was eating me the longer that I talk with him. The guy only hears what he wants to hear!

I sighed and leaned back against my pillow. In frustration, I covered my face with my hands. I wanted to shout, but I didn't want my mom to hear me and misinterpret anything. Furthermore, the Gridon pack is standing watch right outside our door. Not to mention the reporters who are hoping for an exciting scoop.

“You seem tired, Gabbie poo. I guess I should leave.” I heard Al say. “And rest assured that when I leave, I will make sure to put up a broken-hearted front to make it seem like you rejected me.”

“I don’t care. Just leave.” My voice cracked as I almost pleaded with him.

Al chuckled. “You’re taking this acting to a whole new level!” He sounded amused. “Alright, baby doll. You rest well. I’ll take care of the rest. And these cookies too.” My hands were still covering my face, but I heard the slight rattle of the plate on my bedside table before the door finally closed.