The Beta and His Runaway Werefox / ✔️

A week had passed by faster than she had anticipated. Every night she would wake up at random times and find Harvey sleeping at her door before she welcomed him in. She had felt herself get more and more comfortable with him as they would share hidden kisses, and sometimes, she would wake up in the mornings to find him staring at her and playing with her hair.

It was the littlest of things that he would do that caused her heart to flutter in her chest. Bella slowly understood the meaning of mates, thanks to the girls and Harvey. He was so courteous around her; however, as she had to initiate the random kisses and hugs, it was as if he wanted to do these things himself but was too scared to do so.

But all of that left her mind when Liam insisted that he would take her out on an adventure. Christy was settling in better than everyone thought and even promised that she would not run away if she went outside. Harvey made Liam give her phone back so that she could contact her family, and she seemed much happier about that. Even her lie made Bella laugh as she told her parents that she was on some business trip looking for mystical creatures and the guy she was with is a little crazy. Liam, however, did not like hearing that.

She jumped off a log with a silent giggle as she enjoyed the slight breeze that blew her hair around her back and neck. Liam was a little taller and wider than Harvey, he had golden-green eyes where Harvey’s were golden-brown, and he had brown hair where Harvey had black. Harvey was softer spoken, whereas Liam was sharp and a little scary. They were polar opposites, just like their parents, but she could still see that they were related and that they were brothers.

“Is my brother treating you well?” Liam randomly asked after a long ten minutes of silence.

She tilted her head, the brightness of the day slightly blinding her as she squinted. “Harvey did not kidnap me, so I am fine.”

“You are a sarcastic one.” He started with a roll of his eyes and a smile forming on his lips. “I heard that you have been on your own for a year or something?”

Bella nodded. “My papa will come back, and then I can go home.”

He seemed taken aback by her words as he frowned down at her. “The pack is your home. The dump that your father raised you in is not a place that any of us will allow you to go back to, even if he comes back.”

The way he said ‘if’ caused her fox to let out a growl. “He will come back! I just know it!”

Liam shrugged, a look she could not figure out crossed his features while she began to recognise her surroundings. “If he were coming back, he would have come back. He would not have left you to fend for yourself for a year, knowing that you were alone. He would have lifted his pathetic rules, for if you ever needed help. He would not have isolated you knowing that you could have died.”

She felt her heart clench at his words, tears threatening to fall as she balled her fists at her sides. “You are wrong! He loved me, and he protected me!”

“If he loved you, then he would have come back by now.”

Her mind was so confused and conflicted that his words were annoyingly true. She had known for quite some time that she had been abandoned, but she did not want to admit it, and she definitely did not want to hear it out loud. Liam had some form of agenda to make her angry and make her upset at the same time while she kept following him.

“He loved me.” She mumbled to herself, her arms wrapping around her body for comfort as she sniffled. “He would never leave me on purpose!”

Liam scoffed. “This pack has taken you in and loved you from the moment Harvey found you. You have been given a roof over your head, food in your stomach and a shower to get rid of all that dirt and hair.” He stated the last part with a disgusted look as she felt her face turn red. Yes, Grace and Sherry told her about shaving and yes, she had been enjoying not being so hairy, but she did not think that everyone would know about it. “You have a mate that is caring for you and trying his hardest to keep his boundaries up to your standard, and last but also the most difficult part of it all, we have been keeping our parents away from you so that you would not be bombarded by a fuck tone of inappropriate questions.”

The comfort she tried to look for in her own warmth instantly turned cold as she had been taking their kindness for granted. She had not planned to stay for so long, but Harvey also promised to look for her father so that she could go back home. “I have met your parents... ” She muttered as she wiped her face from her fallen tears. “And your sister.”

Liam growled, running his fingers through his head in annoyance. “Look, I am giving you the hard truth because you need to hear it, what you want versus what you need are two different things, and if nobody else has the balls to give it to you straight, then I will be the bad guy. You need to see for yourself, with fresh eyes, what type of environment you were living in.”

From those words, they crossed the bridge she remembered crossing with Harvey and broke through the treeline. Rubble and dirt were all her eyes could take in as she stood and stared at what she used to call home. The area screamed danger and death as she spotted her old home and noticed how it was on the edge of collapsing.

Another round of tears formed as she turned to Liam to find him already looking down at her. “I understand.”

He stared into her sliver eyes for a long time, but she refused to look away. She wanted him to see that she is not the same naive girl that Harvey found here. With a satisfied nod, he looked away and grinned. “Let us collect those clothes from that rubble, and I will teach you archery. How does that sound?”

Bella smiled. The heaviness in her heart that she felt at the beginning of this journey was now lifted and gone. “I can’t wait!”