Chapter 6: Secret Savior
Cassidy winced at Elias’ words, and she started to whimper. But his wolf, Darcus, had already taken over. He wanted nothing more than to make her pay for her action, which made him tighten his already firm grip on her hand.
“P-please… Let… let me go,” Cassidy pleaded to no avail. “I’m… I’m sorry… We were just… just having some fun.”
“You call this fun?” Elias sneered.
His voice was morphed. It was a mixture of his own and that of the great beast within him, a tone he usually tried to avoid. But this time he didn’t even try to hold his wolf back.
Elias was so furious with Cassidy’s blatant disrespect toward her future Luna that he wanted to be seen in his true form. He wanted to be feared so that the entire pack would know that they would suffer the consequences if they dared to harm Fay.
“Elias,” Tybalt said, tugging on his shirt. “Let her go. Fay is the one who needs your attention right now.”
Elias furrowed his brows as Tybalt’s words slowly pierced through the fog that clouded his mind. His Beta was right. Fay was probably panicking and afraid, yet instead of being there for her, he was wasting time on her bullies.
Tybalt must’ve realized that his trick worked, because he grabbed onto Elias’ wrist as he stepped closer.
“Drop Fay’s things before you leave,” Tybalt said in a loud whisper.
Cassidy immediately did as she was told, and Elias let go of her hand. With that, she and her groupies rushed off. Elias was still seeing red. The urge to follow them so he could deliver punishment was overwhelming.
He turned in the direction they went, then took a step forward, but Tybalt tightened his grip.
“We have to deal with the issue at hand. Fay’s wellbeing is far more pressing than your rage,” Tybalt reminded him.
Elias nodded in agreement. He would’ve gone in himself to make sure that she was okay, but he didn’t want to frighten her any more than Cassidy already did, so he had to come up with another plan. Thinking back, he remembered just how close Sabel and Fay had become.
“Sabel!” he said through the mind link. “I need you to come to the girls’ locker room right away. Please bring a change of clothes with you.”
“I’ll be right there,“ Sable responded.
A couple of minutes later, Sabel came running around the corner with a sports bag in hand.
“That was fast,” Elias remarked.
“I was in the area. Fay was doing laps, and I wanted to check in on her,” Sabel said as she tried to catch her breath. “I found her bag next to the track.”
Sabel held up the bag, which allowed Elias to let out a sigh of relief. Thank God for the girl’s intuitive nature, he thought to himself.
“Fay is in there and she’s in desperate need of those clothes you’re holding,” Elias said as he pointed to the door. “Go to her. Make sure she’s okay, but don’t tell her I sent you. I don’t want her to know that I’m aware of this.”
Sabel nodded before making her way to the locker room. Elias had no problem with Fay believing that Sabel saved the day, but there was no way he was going to leave until he saw her with his own eyes.
His wolf needed to know that she was fine. And so did he.
***
Fay was crouching in the shower with her arms wrapped around her legs while tears streamed down her face. She was rocking back and forth, reliving a memory triggered by the incident.
Vanessa had done something similar once. Fay was forced to leave the room naked. When she got outside, she saw that the entire pack was gathered in front of the door.
She was horrified and tried to flee but their laughter followed her wherever she went. While running she bumped into Luke, which made matters so much worse. Rumors of her being a slut that wanted everyone to see her naked were spread. They circulated for months after that.
It was a living nightmare that caused some of the pack members to be very disrespectful toward her. She was grabbed inappropriately, which often forced Fay to run away so she could protect her dignity.
Fay was trembling where she sat, afraid that the same thing would happen again. The thought alone made her feel like she was completely helpless. The only people she had mind links with were her parents and the Alpha, but she didn’t want either of them to see her like that.
She didn’t want to be seen in such a compromising position by anyone, so she decided to just stay put until she could come up with a plan. There had to be some way for her to get out of here without being seen.
“Fay?” she heard Sabel calling out. “Are you in here?”
“Sabel?” she breathed in astonishment.
But her relief was quick to fade. Fay pushed back against the wall, hoping she wouldn’t be seen. Fay didn’t want her only friend to look at her as if she were a laughingstock.
No, she would wait until the coast was clear, then she would find a way to sneak out.
Suddenly the curtain that kept her hidden was pulled aside, exposing her, and Sabel stepped in.
“Oh, honey, what happened?” Sabel asked as she crouched down, wiping Fay’s dripping hair aside.
Instead of laughing, like Fay thought she would, Sabel radiated with sympathy. She seemed genuinely concerned about Fay’s situation, if not a little irritated by it.
“I don’t know,” Fay said through chattering teeth. “When I finished my shower, all my things were gone.”
Sabel shook her head as she draped a towel over Fay’s shoulders before helping her to her feet.
Fay was so grateful that she didn’t even think to question Sabel until she was dressed.
“How did you find me? And how did you know I didn’t have any clothes?” Fay asked as her shock started wearing off.
Sabel shifted from one foot to another, which made her look like she was extremely uncomfortable. But the assumption was quickly doused when she gave Fay a warm smile before wrapping her arm around her.
“I came to see how you were doing, that’s how I found your bag, but you were nowhere to be seen,” Sabel said as she led Fay out of the room. “Then I saw Cassidy and her bootlickers leaving the locker room with some clothes in their hands.”
“So you put two and two together,” Fay said with a nod. “Thanks for coming. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
The story was a little suspicious, but it didn’t bother Fay. She was just so grateful for Sabel’s help that she didn’t care about the little details of the rescue.
As the girls stepped out of the locker room, Fay tried to let out a sigh of relief, but it got lodged in her throat when she saw Elias and Tybalt standing mere inches from the door.
Fay’s face flushed a bright red as the comfort her friend offered faded. It was quickly replaced with the embarrassment she felt moments ago. For a minute, she wished she could be back in that shower hiding from the world.
If Fay knew they were waiting for her, she wouldn’t have left so quickly. She was in that position because she tried to avoid them, after all.
Not knowing what else to do, Fay turned to her friend and pressed her finger to her pursed lips, hoping Sabel would get the hint. Sabel gave her a subtle nod so the two girls resumed their walk.
Fay saw Sabel winking in Elias’ general direction, but paid no attention to it.
“Hey, are you okay?” Elias asked as they reached him. He cupped her face as he stared into the depths of her eyes, which kind of scared her a little.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, feigning innocence.
His brows pulled together, and his concern was evident in his gaze. Fay studied his reaction curiously, wondering why he acted the way he did.
“I thought…” he started, but trailed off when he leaned closer.
Fay found his actions astonishing. The level of distress he was showing was not normal under any circumstances. No Alpha would be that concerned about one of his pack members, especially not about a pack member as low ranking as her.
Elias’ behavior stirred a cocktail of mixed emotions within Fay’s chest. On the one hand, she liked the attention and the comfort he offered her. But on the other, it made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
She glanced at Tybalt, who seemed to be just as bewildered as she was, but he snapped out of it as soon as their eyes met. Tybalt cleared his throat as he stepped forward and rested a hand on Elias’ shoulder.
“I think we should call it a day, don’t you?” Tybalt asked, but he got no response from the Alpha. “Elias, it’s time to go.”
Fay saw Tybalt’s knuckles turn white as he squeezed down on Elias’ shoulder, which encouraged Elias to let go of her face.
“Your promise still stands, right?” Elias asked, catching Fay completely off guard.
She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let you know if I’m in trouble.”
“Good.” He took a step back, but he seemed reluctant to leave.
“Sorry, Alpha, but we gotta go. Fay’s parents are waiting for her,” Sabel said as she hooked her arm with Fay’s and pulled her away.
Sabel escorted Fay all the way to her house and left her at the front door, but Fay didn’t go in. She just stood there, staring at the ground, as she tried to come up with an excuse for being home so late.
Fay didn’t want to worry her parents by informing them that she was getting bullied again, but the only way to do that was to lie to them. She was getting fed up with telling lie after lie, of deceiving everyone around her.
But what other choice did she have?
“Fay Walker! You are two hours late!” Finch snapped as she walked through the door. “Where on earth have you been?”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she mumbled as she played with the hem of her shirt. “I was chatting to Sabel… I must’ve lost track of time.”
Melanie glared at Fay with a disbelieving look in her warm blue eyes. It was clear that at least one of her parents wasn’t buying her story and she knew that, if the truth came out, she’d be in a world of trouble.
