Hayden held Beth’s hand and the now crushed bottle of water that he had been drinking in one of his hands. The other hand was clenched into a tight fist. His eyes glowed faintly as he battled with his wolf for control, and Beth suffered the brunt of his wolf’s wrath. She had tried to take the bottle from him when he was done drinking, but she was oblivious to his instability so he had grabbed her hand.
He was still seated while Beth tried to take her hand out of his. There was a crack as her bone snapped and she screamed again, but he was too far gone to even notice.
His wolf wanted to hurt and kill, and he was fighting that feral instinct.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Silver asked with widened eyes.
“It’s not him, it’s his wolf.” Carl replied and Silver noticed that everyone around them was slowly backing away from the scene. The scent of fear was thick in the air, and the predator in her would have reveled in it if not for Beth’s screams.
“Are you all crazy? She needs help.” Silver said as she took a step forward but Derek held her back.
“Silver, don’t. He’s… not in his right mind. Ever since we lost our Luna, his wolf has been near feral. If you try to do anything, the wolf will see you as a threat and attack you. He won’t stop till you’re in pieces. Alpha Hayden is trying to get himself under control, we don’t know what triggered him so we can’t do anything.
Beth tried to struggle with Hayden to free her hand, but his other hand wrapped around her throat. Silver moved out of Derek’s hold before he could stop her again and moved close to the scene.
“Let her go, Hayden.” Silver said sternly, and Hayden turned to face her with a growl. Beth gasped as she crumpled to the floor, and in a split second Hayden was right in front of Silver. Before she could say a word, his hand was wrapped around her throat. She didn’t move or try to stop him, she just arched her brow at him.
“If that is your way of trying to scare me, let me just tell you that it won’t work.” Silver said to him and he growled. Then he leaned into her and she bit her lip to stifle a moan as he nuzzled her neck.
Just as suddenly as he held her, he let her go and walked out.
“Okay, what on earth just happened?” Mara asked after several minutes of silence.
“You better get her to the pack doctor before the broken bone heals wrongly. Then it would have to be broken again so it can be set properly and that would hurt worse.” Silver said and a male wolf moved to help Beth.
“And I’ll be expecting you later tonight, Derek.” Silver said with a smirk and Derek groaned.
“I hate board games.” he said and she chuckled.
“That’s not my problem. Next time, make sure you win.”
“What did you bet on?” Mara asked.
Silver smiled because she had successfully changed the topic of the conversation. She didn’t know what she would reply if they asked her how she was able to calm Hayden’s wolf down. She wouldn’t risk telling anyone they were each other’s second chance mates, just in case Hayden decided to reject her regardless of the quest.
“He has to play board games with me every night for the next month.” Silver replied to Mara’s question.
“And what would have happened if he had won?” Mara asked.
“She would have automatically consented to bearing my pups.” Derek said and Mara’s eyes widened.
“What? Are you crazy? I don’t even know which of you I should reprimand. I can’t believe you made such a proposal, Derek, and I can’t believe you agreed to it, Silver.”
“Calm down.” Derek chuckled.
“I was just kidding.”
“If he had won, then I would have had to kiss him.” Silver said.
“Well then, it’s a good thing you won, Silver. Trust me, you do not want to know where that mouth of his has been over the years.” Mara said and scrunched up her face.
“I can only imagine.” She laughed and they left the indoor training hall together.
***
Hayden came down for lunch. Silver usually ate hers upstairs so he wasn’t bothered about seeing her there. But as he stepped into the dining hall, he heard her voice and froze. She was laughing at something Mara said. He took a step back, and she looked up at him. He didn’t wait for another second, he just turned around and left. It was getting harder to resist marking her every time he saw her.
Later that night, he felt guilty for what he had done so he decided to apologise. But that was really just an excuse. He just wanted to talk to her. She had been avoiding him as much as he had been avoiding her, and he knew that it was all his fault. He got to her door and tried to knock but then he heard her voice so he paused to listen.
“Naughty boy, you are so bad at this.” Silver said and Hayden clenched his fists.
Boy? Why did she have a male in her room so late at night? What were they doing in there?
“It’s late, you should get going.” She said again.
“Now that I’m actually starting to have fun, you’re sending me away. You’re mean.”
Hayden internally growled as he realised that it was Derek in there with her. He didn’t want to alert them to his presence so he went to his room but he listened through his closed door.
“Shoo! Get off my bed. See you tomorrow night.” she said and Derek laughed.
‘Shoo? I’m not a fly.”
“No, you’re an annoying wolf.” she said, and there was a thud as Silver pushed Derek off her bed and he fell to the floor.
“Alright, alright, I’m going geez! You don’t have to be so mean.” Derek said as he stood and she walked him to the door.
“See you tomorrow night.” she said to him and tried to close her door, but he stopped her.
“Just like that, baby? No good night kiss?” he asked with a smirk.
“Good night Derek.” she said and closed the door in his face. He chuckled as he began to walk back to his room, but then he was slammed to the wall just as he got to the stairs. His eyes widened when he saw who it was and fear spread through every cell in his body.