Mia's Path

MIA

I was laughing so hard it was impossible to breathe. Of all the thoughts I had this morning I could have not imagined myself laughing with the jerk Alpha. He was actually funny, or he was when he was a teen. “I can’t believe you did that to Kyle! Hair remover on his shampoo? That was low!” I said in between trying to catch my breath and laughing my ass off.

“He dyed my hair first. Bright pink! I had to get even somehow.” He replied still laughing at the memory. “Our mom was so pissed with us that we ended up with shaved heads.”

We laughed a little more and I lost my footing. I braced myself for the cold water. We were walking by the large lake, a few miles into the woods. Although the sun was bright and warm, I was sure that the water was not that inviting, it was almost fall after all. But the water never touched my body.

Instead of colliding with the lake water, I felt myself colliding with something solid. I opened my eyes and saw Drake’s face really close to mine. I could few his breath on my lips. I swallowed hard, suddenly with a lump on my throat. His arms snaked around my waist, avoiding my fall. On pure instinct my hands were resting on his firm and warm chest.

I felt the heat creeping up my cheeks and I knew I would be as red as a tomato. And as embarrassed as I was, I could not move or look away. His grey eyes sparkling with something. Desire? No, I was surely mistaken. What would he want with me, right? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think lowly of myself, I know I’m somewhat attractive and I like to think that I have a good personality.

But Drake should hate me, shouldn’t he?

I almost killed his brother; I brought a bunch of rabid wolves to his pack, and they had to deal with the aftermath while saving my life and wasting precious resources on me. So, there was no reason for him to be mildly interested in me. Okay, maybe he was interested in getting answers but that was all.

So why did his eyes dart to my lips? And why did I lick them, causing his pupils to dilate?

“Are you ok?” his voice was husky, his gaze returned to mine. It was intense, trapping me there. It was like time held still. I could hear no sound. It was just the two of us.

“Yes...” I whispered, this time it was my eyes that focused on his lips. Such kissable lips, it was hard not to look at them. I leaned in and felt his lips graze mine. It was at that moment that we heard a twig snap.

It all happened at the same time. We both looked in the direction of the noise, a beautiful blonde woman was standing near the tree line with a devilish smile on her face.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account, I’m happy just watching.” the woman said in a happy tone.

“Raina!” Drake said surprised, his hands leaving my body and going into his jean’s pockets.

Wait, what?

His hands left my waist. I was still in a weird angle, not at all capable of holding my own weight. So, down I went. Yeah, down to the GODDAMN COLD WATER! I was instantly soaked, and as if it wasn’t punishment enough, I hit a big rock on the bottom of the lake and I felt the pain on my elbow, making me hiss and curse under my breath.

It wasn’t the sound of my body splashing the water or the squeal I’m sure I let out that brought Drake and the woman back to the moment. It was the loud “MOTHERFUCKER” that I said after lifting my elbow and looking at the big gash on it. Great! Just great. I had finally healed and was feeling better and that had to happen. It was bleeding profusely and looked deep enough to need stitches. Here comes the needles again, I just knew it. Shit!

“Red, you’re hurt!” the damn jerk Alpha gasped.

“No shit, Sherlock. You dropped me.” I snapped at him. Ass, I added in my head.

He tried to help me up, but I had it with him for the day. So, I shoved him away from me and got on my feet on my own. My body ached in protest, but I did my best not to show it. I took another look at my arm; it was pretty bad. Damn you, jerk Alpha! Without thinking much of it I took my top off and covered my elbow, applying some pressure to stop the bleeding.

“Mia, I’m so s-” Drake started trying to help me again, but I hissed at him and shoved him away again. “I don’t need your help, Alpha." I spat at him with such venom that he flinched at my words.

“Here, let me help.” Raina – if I’m not mistaken – said taking hold of my injured elbow. I hesitated, pulling my arm away a little. But the small smile playing on her lips and the warmth on her bright blue eyes told me she just wanted to help. Really help, not just fuss about it like some other people would do – like a certain wolf nearby. So, I let her do her thing, whatever it was.

Slowly she took my – now ruined – tank top off my cut and made a face at it. “Looks like it hurts.” I just shrugged. It did, but I had worst. And pretty recently too, so I could handle the stinging sensation. Raina ran her fingertips lightly over my injure while whispering a few words. It was fascinating, I could feel and see the tissue on my arm regenerating and closing the wound leaving no scars behind. Now that was a nice trick.

“There you go, just like new.” Her smile was bigger now, and I couldn’t help but return it. It really was like new, or rather like nothing had happened a few minutes ago. I moved my arm, and it was normal. No pain at all. She handed me my ruined top back and with another shrug I put it on. It was better than returning to the pack house on my bra.

Drake’s face scrunched up with distaste. Well, tough luck, buddy. I scowled at him. You were the one that dropped me and made me bleed, now look at my soaked tank top and weep. Was it bad that I had to used it again, soaked in water and blood? Yeah, it was, but it was better than nothing. Raina seemed to be having fun with our little interaction, she had a smirk on her face and clearly was holding a giggle.

Without another glance at them I started walking towards the hospital. I needed to shower and clean clothes, even if it was a hospital camisole at this point. “Where th–” Drake stopped himself once his hand landed on my shoulder and I glared at him, swatting it away. “You are going in the wrong direction.” He said between gritted teeth.

My glare didn’t faze as I took the other way and started walking again. This time he grabbed my shoulders and pointed me on the right path. Without a second glance his way I went on. There was no way in hell I would say something or even thank him for pointing me in the correct direction. I heard him mumble something behind me and soon enough footsteps were following me.

“Not in a good mood, huh.” Raina stated while running to walk by my side.

“Well, being dropped on cold water can do that to a person.” I retorted giving Drake a dirty look over my shoulder.

“Fair enough.” She shrugged, but a mischievous grin took over her features and she continued “But you have to admit that it was pretty funny. It was like a movie scene; your face was priceless.” She had the courage to laugh at me.

I grumbled something under my breath and glared at her. She was still chuckling, and it was so sincere that made my scowl dissolve into a small smile. I guess if it wasn’t me on the receiving end of the disaster, I would have laughed my ass off. She nudged my shoulder in a playful way and wiggled her eyebrows at me, turning my small smile into a full grin. Okay, maybe she wasn’t so bad.

“Maybe.”

“Oh, come on, friend. At least you are not hurt anymore, hm?”

“Thank you for that, by the way, I really appreciate it.” I said softly and heard an irritated sigh behind us. Looking over my shoulder I could see that Drake had a scowl on his face. Whatever his problem was, he was not happy at the moment. Truth be told, I couldn’t care less about it. The same way he didn’t give a shit about me before letting me fall into the lake a little while ago.