Alone Until I Met You

Jackie’s eyes settled on mine as soon as Colt took a step away from me and I knew that she sensed that something was wrong between him and me. I wanted to go up to Jackie right then and there and drag her off somewhere private so that I could just lay everything out to her but I knew that it would be the wrong thing to do. One thing would end up leading to another and I would most likely say something that would be better off not knowing. So I simply shook my head at her and silently hoped that she would just let it go but as soon as I saw her lips pucker I knew that it wasn’t going to happen.

Linc must have noticed that something was bothering me as well because instead of greeting his longtime friend, he brushed right by him and skipped over to me. His smile was friendly as he skidded to a halt beside me before slinging his arm around my shoulders.

“What’s a pretty lady like you frowning about?” He asked with a gentle but amusing smile on his face.

Whenever Linc was around me he made me feel like the center of attention and given the way he had just ignore Colt like that made me feel like I was a more important friend. However because I really didn’t know all that much about him or how to really react around him I just ended up staring at him.

Did he really just blow off Colt to come see what was wrong with me? I glanced over at Colt and ended up wishing that I hadn’t. His arms were crossed over his broad chest and legs were spread apart showing both his displeasure and dominance. An all too familiar tingle shimmed its way up my spine from staring at his intimidating figure and I quickly had to avert my eyes.

“Are you two fighting or something?” Linc asked worriedly as his eyes flickered between Colt and me.

Not wanting Colt’s and my fight to be the main point of the evening I quickly denied it. “Oh no, we’re not fighting we’re just…” I bit the inside of my cheek as I thought of believable lie but nothing was really coming to mind.

Luckily Colt ended up saving me from the embarrassment of lying and answered Linc, “I think we’re both a little cranky.”

Both Linc and I looked over at him as he made his way closer to the two of us. With each step that he took I could feel my heart beat harder inside of me. The way he moved so stealthily and full of purpose was enough to make the other wolves in the bar turn their heads, but those hard green eyes of his were trained on only one person; me. Those striking green eyes held my every attention as he neared, almost challenging me to disagree with what he was saying.

“The building next to mine was having some work done and neither of us could stand all the noise that came with the repairs.” He stopped only a few steps away from me and leaned on his right leg to make it look like he was at ease but I could see the tension in his shoulders.

“Is that so?” Linc asked suspiciously with his left eyebrow arched.

“Yeah,” I spoke with a tight throat but my voice managed to come out normal. “The noise is really putting us on edge and we’ve been at each other’s throats later but don’t worry too much about it okay? The construction workers shouldn’t be there much longer anyway so we’ll be back to normal soon.” I ended my lie with a shy smile to Linc.

“We’re actually really gratefully that you invited us out here so that we could get away from all of that.” Colt added with a smile of his own at Linc making any bit of doubt that he had about our lie wash away. “So what was the reason for inviting us out here?”

Linc’s smile broadened as his eyes found Jackie. “Well I think the news might be a little better coming from my wife.”

Jackie giggled more to herself than to any of us as she slowly made her way over to her husband. The glow that was coming from the two of them was magnificent and I could feel there happiness and excitement like a gentle caress. Jackie linked her arm around him and leaned up against him before looking over at Colt. Colt looked back over at me to probably see if I was as curious as he was as to why they had called us out to dinner, but since I already knew why I simply smiled over at him knowingly.

“Well you see,” Jackie started out with a large smile. “I’m pregnant.”

As if I was hearing this for the first time all over again I let out a laugh of excitement before running over to Jackie and embracing her in a hug.

“Congratulations!” I squealed loudly and ended up making Jackie laugh.

“Thanks.”

I held her there for a moment and just let the smell of pumpkin spice fill the air around us. When I finally managed to pry myself away from her I could feel a little catch in the back of my throat as well as see the misty glaze that covered my eyes. I knew that I was being overemotional but I couldn’t help it. Because I had been alone for most of my life I had never seen a pup or baby before and now that Jackie was pregnant, I felt as if some unheard wish was being granted.

Without even thinking about it I suddenly touched a hand to my own stomach and wondered when I would be able to have a pup. My eyes drifted over to Colt, who had been strangely quiet the whole time, and I felt a slight flutter in the pit of my stomach knowing that this strong dominant wolf would be the father of my pups one day. But when that would happen was beyond me. Colt wouldn’t even completely mate with me because he was afraid that Kirk would find out and try to kill me. As if that wasn’t already happening. I thought.

I let my hand fall from my lower abdomen but kept my gaze on Colt. His shoulders were squared and the knuckles on his tightly closed fists were white. It wasn’t normally an odd thing to see Colt this way but at a moment that was meant to be so joyous I knew that something was definitely off. Slowly, so I didn’t rise any suspicion with Jackie or Linc, I moved away from Jackie and quietly made my way closer to Colt. He was so busy glaring at Jackie’s stomach that he didn’t even notice me until I touched his shoulder.

“Colt,” I whispered so that I didn’t draw Jackie and Linc’s attention. When he didn’t respond immediately to me I squeezed my hands on his shoulder cautiously making him snapped out of his trance. “Is something wrong?”

He scuffed. “It’s nothing.”

“Colt.” I spoke in a warning tone.

Colt let out a low sigh before reaching up and brushing my hand off of his shoulder. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

I nodded my head hesitantly before nudging him with my elbow. “Well hurry up and congratulate them before they think that something is up.”

“I will but first,” He turned his hard gaze down to me and asked roughly. “Was this the secret you were keeping from me?”

I blinked up at him confused. “Yes?” I said hesitantly.

He gave me a nod before giving his attention back to his old friends. “Good, don’t let happen again.”

Then he left me standing there shaking with anger. ”Don’t’ let it happen again.” he had said. Was he serious? The man kept secrets from me all the time and I kept one and he gets pissed? What the hell? Just thinking about all of the things he hadn’t told me about was getting me worked up even more. What about the reason for Kirk hating him so much? What about him getting pissed at Jackie being pregnant? What about the big secret shrouding Hailey’s death? But did my so called mate actually plan on filling me in on any of these things? Probably not.

Jackie was basking in a happy glow while Colt patted Linc’s back in congratulations. Seeing as how both Linc and Colt were occupied with each other I sprinted over to Jackie and grabbed her arm in the process. Jackie looked down at my serious expression with surprise and was about to say something but I shushed her and started to drag her to the woman’s bathroom. It ended up being a single stall room with one sink and a big door that locked. I quickly moved the both of us in there before slamming the door shut and clicking the lock. With a sigh I leaned against the door, happy that nobody had been in here and even more so that Colt hadn’t seen us.

“Okay what was that all about?” Jackie questioned with her arms folded over her chest.

“I really needed to talk to you.” I pushed myself off of the door and turned my body towards her.

Her right eyebrow rose suspiciously. “You could have just said something out in the bar Allie, you didn’t need to kidnap me to a nasty bathroom stall.”

“Alone.” I said seriously making her expression drop. “I needed to talk to you alone.” Jackie slowly unfolded her arms and placed a gently hand on her stomach. I realized that this was starting to become some kind of habit of hers when she was cautious and immediately lightened my tone.

“I need to talk to you about Hailey.” I started and instantly saw the spark in her eyes. Jackie didn’t know that Hailey was dead because Colt refused to tell her for some reason. I would have told her if I wasn’t her friend but because I was her friend I didn’t want to see her cry or be the one to bring the bad news.

So when she said, “Did you get her new number for me?” I simply shook my head at her.

“No.” That little spark of hope in her eyes faded and as she lowered her gaze.

“Oh well than what is it?”

I leaned my hip against the yellow sink that had at one point in time been white. “Colt has some things tucked away in a drawer at the apartment and I was just wondering if you could tell if they were hers or not.”

Jackie’s eyes widened in surprise but she managed to keep a normal tone when she asked. “Sure but what makes you think that they might be Hailey’s?”

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. “There was a picture of them together in the drawer.”

Jackie let out a little gasp and rose her hand up to cover her mouth. “You don’t think that he still has feelings for her do you?”

The inside of my stomach and chest was going haywire at that. Of course I knew that Colt still had feelings for Hailey because he had known her for years and her passing was just two years ago, but I tried to not let that bother me. However I could help the tight feeling of pain twitching near my heart.

“It’s possible.” I spoke truthfully.

Jackie instantly started shaking her head in denial. “No he can’t. I mean she is a mated wolf and he’s living with you now. Besides that man is obviously in love with you.”

My head snapped back up at the word love. “What?”

She nodded her head with a smile sprouting on her face. “Well duh, I mean haven’t you noticed the way that he’s always looking at you? Or how when you’re not around he fidgets and is in a bad mood until you come back? I think it’s so cute of him.”

Instantly I felt depressed again at her reasoning. Colt was probably always watching me because he was afraid that I would say something that giveaway the fact that I wasn’t an Alpha, and then he was most likely nervous when I wasn’t around because of the whole Kirk ordeal, and not because he loved me.

Of course I didn’t want to explain any of this to Jackie so I put that smile back on my face and nodded in reply. “Yeah I suppose you’re right.”

She laughed, “Of course I’m right. I’m always right.” Jackie then took a piece of her long chestnut colored hair into her hand and started twirling it around her fingers. “So what was all in the drawer?”

“Well,” I started before shifting my hip on the sink. “There was an old wilted rose, a plastic ring, and a worn handwritten book.”

“Maybe a diary?” She suggested.

I simple shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know that’s kind of what I was hoping you could help me out with.”

Jackie lifted up on of her hands to scratch the back of her head while the other positioned itself on her hip. She stayed that way for a while and I was about to give up hope when she suddenly blurted out. “You know I bet you that both the rose and the ring are from Prom.”

“Ahh of course Prom….what’s Prom?”

She laughed at my cluelessness. “I forgot that you were raised in the wild I’m sorry Allie, Prom is a big formal dance for teenagers in high school. The girls were some big flashy dresses and the guys normally wear tuxes. There is a lot of dancing, flirting, and sometimes booze.” She raised up her left hand to her face and point a finger to the shiny band around her fourth finger. “The plastic ring was most likely the school’s way of making sure that teens didn’t get wasted after Prom or have sex, but we all did it anyway.”

Her expression froze for a second before she started stammering out. “What I meant to say was that a small few of us did that kind of stuff. I-I’m sure…no positive that Colt and Hailey didn’t do any of that.”

Something nasty dropped into the bottom of my stomach and for a second I felt like I was going to get sick. My face and hands felt clammy and cold along with the inside of my chest. I had never played with the idea that Colt and Hailey had done anything other than kiss and even that seemed like a stretch for me. Sex was something that you were meant to do with your mate, it was the special thing that sealed the bond between the two of them, and to find out that Colt had been sleeping around with someone else left me heartbroken.

I felt as if my chest was too tight and suddenly I was off balance. My hand shot out to the yellow sink to steady myself against and I quickly used up that moment to take in a few calming breaths. Colt had dated a beautiful gorgeous woman when he was young and I couldn’t fault him for something that he had done before he had even met me. After I repeated the same thought in my head over and over again I slowly started to believe it. Colt was my mate now and I had to deal…I had to love him no matter what.

Jackie was about to come over to me and I could tell by the painfully expression that she was wearing that she meant to apologize for what she had said. I simply rose up a hand to her and shook my head. “It’s fine.” I said a little shaky. “What is important right now is finding out about Hailey.”

Jackie simply watched me for a moment longer to make sure that I was really okay before nodding her head. “Okay fine. Um the Diary bit I can’t really help you out with unless I can read it.”

I thought about moving the thing out of Colt room but then I would have to worry about Jackie getting her scent on it and I knew that it was a bad idea. “Actually I was hoping that you could teach me to read.”

“You want me to teach you-

“Yeah.” I cut in. “Colt is obviously pretty secretive about the thing and he might know if we move it.”

She nodded her head thoughtfully. “Okay I see your point.”

I smiled over at her. “So you’ll teach me?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Well sure, I mean what else are we going to do while the boys are a work?”

I laughed a little bit too hard at her. “It feels like we are secretly babysitting each other.”

She smiled back at me. “I don’t think it’s a secret.”

She said before placing a hand on her stomach and suddenly it hit me. The reason why Colt was frowning when Jackie told him about her being with child, and the way he was glaring at her stomach afterwards, all made sense now. The reason why Colt had been so upset was because Jackie couldn’t babysit me anymore. Or rather she couldn’t protect me if Kirk came after me.

“Is something wrong Allie?” Jackie asked worriedly.

I looked over at her and could feel the anger start to build its way up my throat. How could Colt use one of his friends as my personal bodyguard? I mean I could understand using the pack but his old friend? And what made it even worse is that he hadn’t even told Jackie that she was supposed to protect me but rather expected it of her.

I was about to ride on that anger I felt inside of me and tell Jackie everything about Hailey, the two of us being mated, and Kirk when I suddenly smelled something. I looked over at the door with a frown and gestured for Jackie to keep quite. The hard smell had my stomach dropping and my heart racing. It was a smell that I had only experienced once in my life and it was something that I prayed to never encounter again.

“What’s wrong?” Jackie asked and I could hear the slight tremble in her voice as she spoke.

I didn’t take my gaze away from the door when I replied. “Do you smell that?”

I heard her take in a deep sniff. “What you mean the smoky smell? One of the cooks probably just burnt a chicken or something.”

I could feel my throat grow tight as the smell started to grow heavier. I shook my head at her. “The scent is too strong be a bunch of burnt food but we would have heard the wolves in the bar yelling right?”

When Jackie didn’t immediately respond back to me I looked over at her and felt the air being sucked out of my lungs. Her face was pale white and she was trembling all over with her tiny pale hands touching her stomach. Her frightened wide eyes fell onto me as her mouth formed quiet words.

She was too quiet for me to understand so I stood up and took a step towards her. “Jackie I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

She grabbed onto my hand painfully and yelled. “The bathroom is soundproof.”

I could feel my own blood freeze over inside of me. The word soundproof was pretty self-explanatory so I didn’t even have to ask her what it meant. I tighten my grip on her hand and shook it slightly trying not to get her too worked up. “Maybe you were right and I’m just over exaggerating it all.”

She nodded her head eagerly at my words and for a moment I hoped that I was wrong. I looked back over at the door and let myself take a deep cleansing breath. “There is only one way to find out for sure.”

I wiggled my hand out of Jackie’s and made my way over to the bathroom door. As soon as my hand touched the warm knob I knew exactly what was going to be behind the door but just because I didn’t want to believe it I opened it anyway. The click of the door unlocking itself was all but lost in the noise of wood falling to the ground and bright red flames licking the frame of the door. The heavy thick smoke filled the air in the bathroom and stung my eyes but I couldn’t seem to close them.

The hot flames of the fire warmed my arms making me yank my hand away from the door. In the back of my mind I could hear Jackie’s screams from behind me but I still couldn’t manage to tear my eyes away from the flames that covered the place. The realization of the danger we were both almost brought me to my knees. The Lou Pine's was on fire and Jackie and I were stuck in the bathroom alone. This was becoming a very aggravating day.