Un.Requited (Claimed Series) (13 page)

Hayden didn’t know what kind of risks
she
was taking by becoming a member of his pack. Nonetheless, she remained silent, knowing he was trying to take the sting out of his earlier words.

The hand from her shoulder danced lightly across her neck before cupping her chin. Slowly, surely, he turned her face up further to meet his eyes. Despite her firm resolve, Hayden shivered at his contact, the path of his fingers producing lingering shock-like sensations.

“I will not always protect you when you face the discrimination of the other werewolves. You must promise me that you will be strong in the face of their prejudice.” A lopsided grin
appeared on his face, as if something amused him greatly. “You have a very strong-willed wolf, Hayden. Don’t let anything or anyone push you down.” With one last searching look, Cole released her chin and began walking away.

Hayden furrowed her brows, staring at the spot where his eyes once were. Apparently, he didn’t think the werewolves’ discrimination had blown over quite yet.

“Will you be going to bed?” she suddenly demanded, turning to look at his nude back.

Cole looked over his shoulder, his muscles flexing at the action. “Why?”

Pivoting her body around, Hayden placed her hands on her hips. The whole reason behind getting out of bed was to convince Cole to go back to sleep. “Because I need some sleep. And I won’t get any if you’re up, pacing.” She grimaced. “And you haven’t seen me sleep deprived yet. It’s not something you should willingly provoke.”

The Alpha offered a crooked grin, revealing his strong, white teeth. “Thank you for the warning. I’ll keep that in mind, Hayden.” His dark gaze treated her figure with one last sweep before he prowled toward his bedroom on the main level. 

Watching him go, Hayden had a feeling she wasn’t anywhere close to understanding him yet. A part of her believed she would never fully comprehend him, and then she wondered why she even wanted to know everything about him.

_______________

“These look good,” Fergus murmured in appreciation. He held up a pair of woman’s jeans to his waist, intending to show them in their best light. Waggling his eyebrows suggestively, he turned this way and that as he peered into the mirror. “What do you say, Hayden?”

She stared at him in disbelief. There had to be a reasonable explanation as to why Fergus turned out so different from his twin, but she couldn’t come up with one if her life depended on it.

Without waiting for a response, Fergus winked at her, tossing the pair of jeans into the cart.

Originally, Devan was supposed to bring Hayden shopping this morning. Cole had given her the credit card and asked her to get clothes for Hayden. As soon as he had walked out of the
room, Devan had flicked the card toward Hayden before leaving the house without another word. As a silent spectator, Fergus had gleefully volunteered in her place and Addie was quick to come along.

“Pink?” Fergus inquired airily. “Or do you prefer black?” He held up two shirts, leveling them in front of his body again.

“Black,” Hayden responded, amused.

She checked the price tag on the jeans, making sure he was picking out reasonably priced clothes. She didn’t need to burn a hole through Cole’s pocket, no matter how enthusiastic Fergus was about grabbing a shirt from every rack.

“No, no, get pink,” Addie argued. “You would look beautiful in that color, Hayden.”

Fergus looked between Hayden and Addie before slyly putting both shirts into the cart when he thought no one was looking. 

Hayden leaned her head on her open palm, lazily looking through the hangers with her opposite hand. Shopping was her least favorite pastime, even more so when it reminded her of home when her mother used to drag her to the stores in New York.

Back in New York, her mother had many stores at her disposal. Fortunately, Albertville only had a handful of stores with a decent clothing selection. If she were lucky, they would finish within the hour.

“So what’s so special about her?” asked a hushed, but audible inquiry.

Amber eyes slowly looked up, spying a small group of werewolves gathered only a short distance away. The majority of the group was male, but there were two females littered throughout. Most of them were surveying Hayden with curiosity, some with suspicion.

Immediately on edge, Hayden straightened, never looking away from their inquisitive gazes. She remembered Cole’s words from the night before and stood her ground. They would hate her because of her Sire, even more so because of the mating mark on her neck, but they could never walk over her.

“Only that she has Nicolas’ claim on her neck,” a boy responded, eyeing Hayden in intrigue. “The Alpha’s think she’s going to lure trouble into town.”

Looking deeper, Hayden not only saw disgust in their expressions, but she could also see the fear. What Hayden didn’t understand was why everyone was so insistent that
she
would be the reason Nicolas and the rogues came to their town.

Didn’t they know that Cole and Nicolas had a fierce rivalry? The only reason Nicolas had claimed Hayden was because he thought Cole was interested in her as well.

She watched the group retreat, apparently having accomplished their mission of catching a glimpse of her. Her newness would wear off eventually. She just had to put on a front until then. 

“Excuse me?”

Hayden turned at the stony and startled exclamation. Addie and Fergus stood behind her, appearing flabbergasted. Surprisingly, Addie had asked the question. Her blue eyes were hard as she stared at the mark on Hayden’s neck.

“I had thought Cole…” she trailed off, lost for words.

They hadn’t known. Cole hadn’t told them.

Fergus and Addie were the only two who had accepted Hayden into the pack. They were the only ones who made her feel comfortable enough not to hide away in her bedroom all day. Seeing their horrified expressions made Hayden realize just how much she depended on them. While she could handle the strangers’ disgust and fear, she couldn’t handle her pack members’ rejection.

Slowly removing her hands from the clothes rack, Hayden turned her back on them. 

“Hayden…” Fergus struggled for words.

In a sense of panic, Hayden quickly bypassed their shell-shocked forms and hurried out of the store. The strong feeling of confinement was back again, and the only way to soothe it was by leaving. This time, it was the thought of having nowhere to turn that triggered the feeling. Cole
and Blake briefly entered her mind, but she pushed it away. They had already done so much for her. She didn’t want burden them all the time. 

Lacking any real direction, Hayden walked down the sidewalk in a slight daze. She had left her scarf at Cole’s house, thinking that she hadn’t needed it. She had believed all the secrets were out, yet Addie and Fergus were clearly still in the dark. Cole hadn’t told them and she was the one to suffer because of it. Why hadn’t he told them?

“Umm, are you coming in?” a voice questioned with a slight hitch.

Blinking, Hayden found herself standing lifelessly in front of a bowling alley. A boy, around her age, stood at the door. His hand was just about to turn the sign from ‘closed’ to ‘open’ on the front window. Realizing he was human, Hayden’s hands jerked, only to fall at her sides when she remembered she didn’t have her scarf with her.

“I didn’t realize we had such a crowd on Saturdays,” he joked, frowning when he saw her face. “That’s cool if you want to stay outside. It’s a good day for… walking.”

Slowly flipping the sign over, the boy shut the door. He stood on the other side briefly, blinking at Hayden before turning and traveling deeper into the bowling alley. 

Hayden realized she must have startled the boy with her lack of response. Truthfully, she had been more shocked than anything to see
him
. She knew humans and werewolves inhabited this town, but she hadn’t expected to run into a human so suddenly. She shouldn’t follow the boy, especially without her scarf or Cole around to pacify her.

Doubtless
of the forewarnings, she found herself entering after the human. She had nowhere else to go and she didn’t have enough courage to confront Addie and Fergus yet.

Inside, the empty and isolated alley was enough to calm her racing nerves. It was clean, quaint, and the lanes were polished and the bowling balls glossed. There were ten lanes and a small concession
was placed
on a raised platform.

“Bowling for one?”

His voice broke through her daze.
Again.

Hayden found herself grinning hesitantly when she noticed he was standing professionally behind a podium. “Actually, I was wondering if you had a cup of water.”

His eyes widened before he nodded. “Follow me.”

The boy was clothed in a dark uniform consisting of black slacks and a charcoal bowling shirt. As he led Hayden across the alley, he moved with a sense of awkwardness, almost as if he hadn’t grown into his body yet. His stature was tall and his shoulders were broad. If it wasn’t for the alluring scent of human, Hayden might have even thought he was a young werewolf.

Sitting on the offered stool, Hayden watched as he filled a cup up with water and slid it across the serving table toward her. After thanking him, Hayden sipped the water, giving herself something to do as she devised what to do next.

Eventually, she would have to go back to Addie and Fergus. As much as Hayden would like to find another pack to stay with, she knew that it would be similar to her current predicament. What she needed to do was calm herself, her insecurities, and go apologize about the secrecy.

The human suddenly leaned his upper torso on the concession bar, giving a thin-lipped smile. “I’m Shane Donovan by the way.” He paused, considering her. A few strands of his light brown hair fell into his equally brown eyes. “I haven’t seen you in town, what pack are you settled with?”

Hayden almost choked on her water. “Excuse me?”

He looked uncertainly at her amber eyes. “Well, you’re a werewolf, aren’t you?”

Glancing around the alley, Hayden was thankful to see it empty. “How did you know?” She turned back to him, studying him closer and sniffing. He still smelt human.

“I…” he trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
“
I live with my grandfather, Red Donovan. Both he and I know about werewolves. Actually, we live right next to Falco’s property. We’re the only humans living on the south side of town. All the other humans live north of town.”

Setting her cup down, Hayden deliberated him closely
. 
She had only met one human who knew about werewolves. Even for having a brother as a werewolf, Gregory Martin had still given off a nervous air when he was around Hayden. This boy seemed confident and intrigued.

“Aren’t you afraid to be near me?” she asked wryly.

Shane gave an uncertain smile, as if he wasn’t sure what she was asking. “No. Should I be?”

Pausing, Hayden considered the question. “You smell appealing to me.” 

Shane tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow in interest. “You’re a newborn, aren’t you? Your craving for humans will eventually diminish. Once you and your wolf coincide, you’ll have better control over your wolf instincts.” He scratched his nose. “I find werewolves extremely fascinating creatures; it’s actually why I moved here to Albertville.” 

His knowledge certainly exceeded that of a simple human who was just aware of werewolves. He clearly knew more than Hayden did. His exuberance over werewolves was
completely foreign
to her.

“I don’t know what’s so fascinating,” she hedged. “I’d give anything to be human again.”

His chocolate-brown eyes squinted at her. “You’re a newborn,” he said again, as if she hadn’t already known that. “You haven’t had your first moon, have you?” At her negative response, he continued. “Most newborns change their perception after the first transformation. And once you bond with your pack, there is no bond stronger.” A wistful smile crossed his lips.

He was so sure, so confident, that Hayden wondered if he could be right. She had never let herself think about the positives of being a werewolf. She was always thinking about the negatives.
Hopefully,
he was right and the full moon
would
change her perception.

As if reading her mind, Shane offered an explanation. “I did a lot of thinking on the subject of newborns versus Purebred werewolves. Your negativity in regards to your wolf is probably why you and most newborns have trouble controlling themselves in their human form. You’re trying to resist your wolf and your wolf is trying to resist you back.”

Hayden looked down at the cup of water. His reasoning made an awful lot of sense, but it was a bit unnerving to hear that there was something
else
inside her, as if she had two personalities.

“You know a lot about werewolves for someone who just expresses simple curiosity,” Hayden accused lightly, offering him a light grin.

Shane’s cheeks turned rosy and he leaned away from her, shrugging his shoulders innocently. “You know, I never did catch your name or
your
Alpha.”