Angel Blackwood (7 page)

“You
ne
ed to keep those walls up,
Angel,” his voice echoes in my mind.

“I don’t know how to do
that, Nixon. Or if I’m even doing it right; I still have so much to
learn,” I link back with him.

“Just think about
something else. Let that take over your whole minds focus, so all
they see is the picture your thinking about. It’s hard at first,
but after a while it will become second nature to you.”

I think about the
waterfall in Point Bright and the sound the water makes as it
trickles down the rocks. That was always a place of peace for me,
seems fitting that I use that as my barrier.

“There, that’s good.” I
realise his arms are still wrapped around me, but I can’t seem to
let go.

“I’m
going to have a word with Alpha about
them if they don’t stop tormenting you.” His chest vibrates against
my cheek as he grinds out the words.

I pull away and
move my
hair out of my face. I
make sure to communicate the words to him without saying them out
loud; I can’t risk anyone hearing me.

“No, you
mustn’t
tell my father
anything, Nixon! I don’t know how he’ll react when he finds out
what they’ve done. I’m scared he’ll banish them from the pack or
worse, hurt them. I’ll tell him everything as soon as I’ve figured
it out myself. I need to try and handle this on my own.”

My words
obviously displease him but he
doesn’t argue, just pulls me back into his warmth. “You won’t be on
your own, Angel. I’ll be right here if you need
anything.”

He rubs my back
and I hear a growl in the distance followed by a
similar rumble coming from Nixon’s
chest. I pull away and look up at him again. His eyes glare off
into the distance. Following his line of sight I spot the twins
standing near a car. Tyler stands with his arm resting on his open
door glaring our way. Talon stares much the same, but instead his
eyes are focused on Nixon, the muscles in his neck tense, his jaw
stiff and his hands in fists at his side as he tries to control his
wolf.

“Their wolves
want us. They don’t want to see us in another man’s arms,”
Faith says within me, sounding
melancholy.

“Well you can
tell their wolves that I don’t enjoy seeing other girls in their
arms either,”
I think back as
I slowly disengage myself from Nixon’s arms.

A few seconds
into our
staring contest I
hear two louder growls and the boys eyes shining in the distance;
obviously Faith passed along the message.

“I see his
hands on you again, I’ll rip them off. I don’t care if we aren’t
together, you are still our mate and you
better show some fucking respect,”
Tyler echoes in my head.

“You two are
such fucking hypocrites
,”
I growl back full
of anger. I hope they can feel the burn of the glare I send their
way. I turn back to face Nixon.

“Angel
, wait…
please.”
I hear Talon’s
despondent voice in my head, but the walls are back up and I’m not
letting those two back in.

I look Nixon over and
notice his chest heaving, the knuckles on his balled fists are
white and his lips curled in an evident snarl. I place my hand on
his bicep ignoring the growls from behind me.

“Let’s go
inside
, Nixon,” I whisper
calmly. He whips his head down to where my small hand lies, then
looks up at me as his anger slowly dissipates.

I pull him towards his
front door and he follows. Once we’re inside Nixon shows me the
guest bedroom. I flop down onto the lavender coloured comforter and
look up at the ceiling, thinking about Nixon instead of my own
issues. From the corner of my eye I see Nixon leaning against the
door.

“So your parents told
you, huh?” He says.

I turn my head to look at
him and nod. “You should have told me. I don’t understand why Jax’s
pack was so horrible to you.” I lay in the same position on the bed
not having the energy to lift myself into a seated
position.

“One day I’ll
tell you my
story, but right
now you don’t need to take on the burden of my past as well. Even
though we don’t know each other all that well, from what I’ve seen
at Point Bright and here, you allow other peoples issues to torment
you. Stop worrying. All you need to focus on right now is the now.”
He sighs as he flops down next to me on the bed.

After a
few
minutes of silence I say
softly, “The name Nixon suits you better though. I like it.” I turn
my head to look back at him and smile. He smiles back and we both
continue to look to the ceiling in comfortable silence, before the
sleep that has become so elusive finally takes over.

****

I’m woken up in
the morning by Faith’s voice nagging
at me to let her run free. I get out of bed and walk
through Nixon’s quiet cabin. I can hear him snoring in the room at
the end of the hall so I tiptoe my way down the hall with my duffle
bag in one hand and shoes in the other. Making my way out of his
house I make sure to close his front door without making a noise.
The sun is about to rise as I quickly make my way through the foggy
woods towards the lake. The nights fog still rests over the lake
and the morning air is still crisp and fresh.

I
stop at the wooden dock and look out
into the lake taking in the beautiful scene. After a few moments I
find a bush, making sure that I’m hidden from sight before I start
stripping. I’m feeling really hesitant about shifting
again.

“Will it hurt
like it did the first time?”
I
ask Faith.

“No honey, you
may be a little st
iff and it
may be a little uncomfortable, but it most certainly won’t be like
your first shift
,” Faith says
in a soft voice. I stand there naked behind the bush and try to
even out my breathing to calm myself.

“You can do
this sweetie
. Just think
about your wolf form.”

I do
as she says and soon feel the
tingling in my bones. I close my eyes as I hear my bones bend and
break into position. Once I feel myself on all fours, I let out a
deep breath.

“It gets
better.”
I can hear the smile
in her voice.

“Why does it
take so long? When I see other
s shift it’s quick, you don’t even get a chance to see them
naked. By the time their clothes are shredded and have fallen to
the ground they’ve already shifted into their wolf.”
I walk my way around the bush and
into the woods.

“You
will
be as quick as them too,
my lovely. Now let’s go for that run,”
she says with excitement.

I spend the next two
hours running through the woods feeling free; I can tell Faith
loves the freedom as well.

Sauntering back
to my bag, I think back to my human self and feel my body
shif
t. When I feel the breeze
on my naked human body, I open my eyes to see I’m still alone
behind the bush. I stretch my stiff muscles still fully enjoying
the cool air against my skin. I don’t relish in the moment too long
afraid someone will walk by, so I quickly put a bra and underwear
on. I look over the bush to see if anyone has come down to the lake
and when the coast is clear, I run toward the water with my duffle
bag in tow.

I
walk to the end of the dock, dropping
my bag.

I look down at
the water then look to
where
the sun is rising; it’s so quiet out here and the water is calling
my name.

I
don’t waste another minute second
guessing myself, I just do it. I jump into the cold water with a
squeal and resurface giggling. I float on my back, adjusting to the
temperature of the water and look up to the clear blue
sky.

Today is a
going to be a good day
! I
smile trying to convince myself.

I lay there for
a couple more minutes humming to myself and looking at the
beautiful sky
, making sure to
keep all thoughts of the twins out of my head. I’m gonna take
Nixon’s advice and I’m gonna live in the now… well… I’m gonna live
in the now until my past catches up to me.

When I turn to
swim back to
the dock, I
scream and manage to choke on a little water.

“What the hell, Tyler!
How long have you been watching me?” I yell at him as I make my way
to the little ladder near his legs.

“Since you jumped in,” he
says flatly, not looking all that happy. I feel his eyes on my body
as I pull myself out the water.

The tension between us is thick
and awkward.

I walk past him
toward
s my bag, wringing my
long hair out. When I bend down to dig in my bag I hear a loud
intake of breath followed by an angry snarl.

“Shit!
” I whisper,
quickly grabbing my hoodie and putting it on to cover the scars on
my back; its long enough to cover my underwear too so I don’t
bother wasting time putting shorts on. I pick up my shoes and throw
the duffle over one shoulder. I turn and I’m immediately assaulted
by Tyler’s delicious scent. He stands right in front of me with a
compassionate look on his face. I can feel him trying to break the
walls down to get into my head, but I won’t let him.

I shove past
him
, but he grabs me and pulls
me to his chest. I really want to hold him tight and take in his
scent. It’s so addictive, but I can’t allow myself to give
in.

“I’m
sorry
, Angel,” he says, his
voice low and husky. I didn’t expect that to come out of his
mouth.

“Those scars…” He
continues and my eyes flicker up to his face. I can feel his hurt
and his pain as he tries to find the words. “…they haven’t healed…
are… are they from the attack?”

I look away and start thinking
about the waterfall back in Point Bright.

He grabs my jaw and
forces me to look into his eyes. “Don’t do that! Don’t block me
out, Angel. Let me in.”

His eyes. God… those beautiful
eyes.

His words make
me want to do just that
, but I
can’t; not now when all I can picture is him sitting on the porch
swing cuddling up to Kate. Seeing Kate looking into his eyes,
holding his body close to hers, her hands feeling him where my
hands now rest against his chest.

I
swa
llow the lump in my throat
and look back down.

“Just let me
in, tell me what ha
ppened!” He
yells into my face, looks away and then shakes his head when I
don’t respond. He lowers his hands to the base of my neck then to
my shoulders, his grip firm. Softening his voice, he speaks with
such tenderness and I realise that Tyler… the sweet Tyler I once
knew is in there… somewhere.

“You don’t know
how
much it kills me to know
that you were hurt, to see the scars on your beautiful skin. You
don’t realise how hard it was for me, and my brother to see you in
pain for weeks and not be able to help you. To watch you lock
yourself in your room, needing to heal on your own when all we
wanted was to be there for you. I know you didn’t need us then,
but… we needed
you
. I have so much
hate and anger built up inside of me for whoever did
this
to you.”

He pulls me closer into
his chest. His warm hand reaches behind me, running his fingers
gently along to find the thick grooves of the scars. He pulls away
from me, but still holds me close infront of him.

“I need to find whoever
caused your pain and make them pay for ever laying a hand on you.”
I stand quietly staring at his chest in front of me, still reeling
from the affect his hands on my bare scars had on me; not daring to
look back up into his beautiful eyes.

“Tell me who did it!” His
loud voice softens to a pleading whisper. “Please, Angel… tell
me.”

I look up at
his face knowing I’m going to regret it
. Once my eyes meet his blue ones, I know it’s a
mistake.

“Tyler,
” I say,
watching as a small breath leaves his lips compelling me to look
down at his lips.
Bad
move.

I feel drawn to
him and to his wolf
Gunner.
The bond we share, the bond that he has yet to accept has me
curling closer into his warmth. I know he feels it too, his right
hand moves from my shoulder toward the base of my neck, his thumb
moving back and forth.

I feel the
accelerated
beats of his heart
under my hand and can hear every breath he takes clearly. He leans
in closer and I know he’s losing the battle against the pull our
bonds have on us. The Fates want us to be together and I can feel
that Tyler wants it just as much. If only he could open his heart
and forgive me for the pain I’ve caused him in the past, giving us
a chance to move towards our future. Together.