Chapter 20

The days after the heated confrontation between Nicholas and I were surprisingly calm. The brother’s seemed to be ignoring me, even though their presence around me seemed to be becoming more often.

I began to notice them come into the room I was in for no apparent reason, and just linger. One afternoon I was reading in the library and Brian came and sat a few tables away and started sketching.

One morning I was eating breakfast and Cheney sat at the other end of the table, drinking coffee and staring out the window. He acted as though I wasn’t even in the room.

Many times I would turn a corner in the house only to bump into Nicholas who seemed to have been leaning against the wall outside of the room I had just left.

At school, they, and their minions kept the verbal abuse to a minimum as well. It was nice, but seemed to me like the calm before the storm.

The triplets were busy planning the upcoming school events. They weren’t a part of any official group, but their innate authority gave them the deciding power in pretty much everything that went on in the school.

The upcoming homecoming dance was on their agenda, but more pressing was the events leading up to homecoming. They were planning little things all throughout the week to get the school spirit built up to the big day.

Today, while we were all gathered in the lunch room, they were discussing the options for what they could do that week.

“We could have everyone dress as something different every day, and then the last day be school colors. What do you think Nicholas?” Anna was beside him, looking intently into his face, impatiently waiting for him to answer her.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Doesn’t that seem a bit juvenile?” He glanced at her, but then looked over at his brother’s to see what they thought of the idea. Brian kept his head down, sketching in his notebook, seemingly not caring about anything they were talking about.

“Maybe, man, but it might be funny to see what everyone comes up with.” Cheney was sitting on top of the table with girls all around him. None of them seemed to be listening to anything but were all staring at him and rubbing his legs, trying to win his attention.

I sat towards the back of the room with Lily, picking at my lunch, and not meaning to listen in, but I could hear everything that was said at their table.

“We can think about it I guess, but lets try to come up with something a little less childish.” Nicholas didn’t outright dismiss the idea, but I could see from the look on Anna’s face that the blow hit her pretty hard.

I wondered to myself why she needed his approval so much. Why should any woman want a man’s approval so badly? He’s her ideal mate, even though he’ll never be hers. Deep down she probably knows that and just doesn’t want to admit it.

Wynter and I had been communicating more and more recently, almost as if her thoughts were just mine and vice versa. My wolf was closer to me than she had ever been before, and I had never been more comfortable with that idea.

“I’m done, I think. Are you about ready to go?” I looked over at Lily, who was, as usually, staring over at the triplets. “Hmm?” She was, again, as usually, not listening to me, too caught up in her daydreams about the brothers.

I gently bumped my elbow into hers and repeated myself. “Oh! I’m sorry. I was lost in thought. I’m almost done, give me a few more minutes.” I smiled to myself, knowing she had forgotten to finish her food because she was too busy mooning over the boys.

“Ok, I’ll be right back.” I stood and walked to the back corner of the room to throw my trash away, then headed to the bathroom. As I was coming back out, I heard raised voices in the lunchroom. “What the hell do you think you’re doing you ignorant bitch!”

Nicholas was yelling at a girl I had seen around the school, but I didn’t know her name. She looked terrified, and I immediately became angry, thinking of the fight between Nicholas and I. I wouldn’t stand by and let them treat anyone else like that either.

I stomped to the girls side, “Nicholas, back off. Stop yelling at this poor girl!” Anger flared in his eyes, which were now directed at me.

“How is this any of your business Beryl? Why are you even over here? Get the hell out of here and leave it alone.” He was almost growling, his eyes showing his wolf was close to the surface.

“No, I won’t ignore your abusiveness any more!” I raised my voice to match his, the room falling silent around us, everyone waiting to see what would happen. A tentative hand reached from behind me to pull on my elbow.

“Beryl…” I whirled around, and was face to face with a confused Lily. “What are you doing?” She asked with genuine shock. “I’m standing up for this poor girl that Nicholas was abusing!” My voice was still high with anger.

“But Beryl, do you not know what’s going on?” Everyone was looking at me now, some with confusion and some with anger. I looked back at Lily, confused myself now.

“Sh-she’s been sent to Nicholas for punishment. She was caught abusing animals in the forest earlier today. She’s been doing it for awhile now, but they couldn’t ever catch her doing it. They finally did this morning.”

Shock and embarrassment washed over me. In my frustration with Nicholas and his brothers I had immediately thought they were in the wrong. I didn’t even stop to think that something else could be going wrong.

So many things ran through my head in that moment. What should I do? Should I just walk away? No, I couldn’t do that. That’s something a coward would do, and my parents didn’t raise me to be a coward.

I looked over at the girl, who I had just moments ago been defending. The look on her face showed me what Lily had said was true, and she was guilty. I took a deep breath and turned to Nicholas, anger wiped away from my face, but still shone on his.

“Nicholas…” I spoke softly, genuinely sorry for what I’d done, and looked up into his wolf eyes, and knew I had to apologize for my behavior, regardless of how angry I still was at him.

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I had no right to butt in like that.” Shock immediately replaced the anger on his face.

“Oh.” Was all he seemed to be able to say. The rest of the room remained silent, and it felt like everyone was holding their breath. I nodded at him, glancing over and seeing a small smile on Brian’s face. I smiled back, and then turned and left the room.