The Guardians

After breakfast -and a few failed attempts to get Derek to smile- I head out. I need to pick up food for the house as well as put in a application at the local diner. Sure the house is paid for, but my bills aren’t. And as much as I wish it was possible, my pretty face isn’t going to pay them.

Once I’m through with talking to the owner of the diner, I head out to my car. As I get closer, I notice the deep scratch marks on the driver side of my car. My heart beats grow faster as I feel my blood boiling with anger. “I thought your uncle taught you how to control that Sifred anger of yours?” A female’s voice sounds behind me. I turn around and see Kali and all her evil, psychotic glory.

“Where should I send the detailing bill to?” I ask, showing now tell-tale signs of fear, “because you’re going to owe me for my car.”

“You know you were traded for more than just being a sidekick to a lame excuse of an Alpha,” Kali says, circling me as she slowly talks. “Your uncle trained you for greatness, trained you to work along side us.”

“And I made a change to that plan.” I smirk, “I rather be a sidekick then a blind man’s pet.” Kali growls and gets in my face, a vain attempt to scare me. “You need a tic-tac.” She grabs a hold of my neck and slams me up against my car; forcing my head up against the top of the car.

“You stupid little girl, do you have any idea what you were trained for?” She growls, “Deucalion wasn’t happy when he found out you chose Derek over him. Guardian’s aren’t suppose to have sentimental attachment to the wolves the protect.”

“That’s the reason all of us are dying out.” I choke as her grip tightens. I can feel her claws digging into my neck. Blood begins to trickle down my neck.

“There are two ways we can do this,” Kali says easing up on her grip, “you can either come to Deucalion willingly or we can kill Derek and all of his pack; the choice is yours.”

“Go to hell!” I exclaim before Kali’s grip tightens again, this time causing me to choke.

“You have until the next full moon to decide,” Kali lets go of my neck completely and begins to back away, “hopefully you make the right choice.” As she walks away, I attempt to wipe some of the blood off of my neck; it’s only replaced by more. I shake my head before getting in my car. I start it and squeal out of the parking lot as I begin to race home.

I walk into my house and see Derek sitting in the living room watching Doctor Who on my laptop rather than my TV. I let out a chuckle, causing him to jump a bit before turning to look at me. His eyes immediately go to the wounds on my neck, which stopped bleeding; thankfully.

“Before you say anything, I’m fine.” I tell him. But he doesn’t listen. He places the laptop on the coffee table before getting up and walking over to me to examine the wounds.

“Who did this to you?” He asks, sternly but not harshly.

“I’m fine.” I repeat as I attempt to walk away; only to be stopped when Derek grabs a hold of my bicep then pulls me back to him. He fingers gently glides over the puncture wounds; all five of them.

“An Alpha did this to you.” It wasn’t a question, more like a statement. His eyes begin to glow red as he goes into overprotective mode; something I haven’t seen since we were kids.

“I’m fine.” I repeat once again as I put a hand on Derek’s arm, instantly calming him down. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m going to go clean up and add this shirt to the pile of blood stained shirts I own.” With that I walk away, only to be followed by Derek.

“Why would any of them go after you?” He asks, as we head into my bedroom.

“Leverage, maybe.” I suggest as I pull my shirt over my head, not caring that Derek’s there. He’s seen me more naked than this.

“Maybe.” He mutters, causing me to sigh before turning to look at him. “You’re not telling me everything, are you?”

I bite my lower lip and I can feel my heartbeat rise a bit, “there is a lot I’m not telling you.” I admit. “The Alphas are after me but for a whole other reason that has nothing to do with you. You’re only being brought into my mess for leverage.”

“Leverage for what?” He questions.

“I wasn’t trained to be any Alpha’s guardian,” I begin, attempting to swallow the lump in my throat, “I was trained to be Deucalion’s Guardian; I changed my mind at the last second. Only one other person at the time knew I changed course and that was my Aunt Gwen.”

“So you didn’t train to be my guardian?” He questions, earning a nod from me. “Deucalion is after you because you refuse to be involved with his pack.”

“Guardian’s aren’t suppose to have emotional attachment to whatever wolf they’re protecting,” I explain, paraphrasing Kali. “My dad got shit for being your mother’s Guardian. What’s why when I was suppose to be trained, I was suppose to be trained for another Alpha. But I got trained later than usual and I already formed a bond with a Beta and when you form that bond, you can’t be a guardian for anyone else.”

“I was that bond.” He muses.

“And I’ve got until the next full moon to hand myself over to Deucalion or the Alphas will kill you and Isaac, Peter and Scott.” My voice goes hoarse as tears threaten to fall.

He walks over to me, putting a hand on the majority of the wounds, “I’m not going to let them hurt you.”

“It’s too late…”