In Our Blood

Chapter Fourteen

        Beca's eyes opened to see the rain-soaked forest around her. She was lying on the ground in muddy clothing, her neck sore from sleeping on the forest floor all night. With a yawn, Beca stood up and stretched, recalling the events of the night before. Her brain flashed memories shortly, from an awkward conversation that led to a kiss with Jimi to attacking Rhydian.
        Shaking her head clear of remorse, she sniffed her way through the woods until she came up to her own house. She figured it was probably still early in the morning, so she would be able to sneak in and take a shower without a problem.
        Beca found the spare key in its hiding spot, unlocking the door and stepping into the building. She shut the door as quietly as she could and relocked it so as not to leave her parents wondering if they forgot to lock it the night before. She let out a sigh and planned to go clean up, tossing the spare key onto the table and turning around.
        Four Wolfbloods were staring at her from the kitchen, each with their own expression of worry and anger. Emma and Maddy were sitting down at the table, both looking exhausted, while Daniel and Rhydian were standing and seemingly restless.
        With raised eyebrows and teeth to her lips, Beca tried to give a small smile. "I'm home?"
        Maddy's eyes narrowed and she barred her nonexistent fangs. "Why didn't you come back to Shann's?"
        Suspicions that this little search party was for her: confirmed. Beca shrugged, keeping her gaze anywhere but on the angry mob in front of her. "I left you a voicemail."
        Maddy stood up and pulled her phone out of her pocket, flipping it open and scrolling through it for a moment. She then looked back up, even more upset. "No, you didn't."
        Slightly confused, Beca nodded. "Yeah, I did. I said that I wasn't going back to Shann's and I asked you to cover for me so she wouldn't come up with anymore insane wolfy theories. And then I told you I'd see you today at home."
        "Well it must not've been me," Maddy insisted, tossing her phone over without warning. Beca caught it easily, looking through any recent calls and seeing Maddy wasn't lying.
        "I used your speed-dial," Beca said, switching to pull out her own device. She pulled through any recent activity and any hope she had left that today might be a good day fell. 

10:16 p.m.
Callie-bear
Sent Call

        Cursing to herself, Beca continued to scroll through the newer calls that she had missed over the night.

10:23 p.m.
Callie-bear
Missed Call

10:29 p.m.
Callie-bear
Missed Call

10:37 p.m.
Callie-bear

Missed Call

12:04 a.m.
Callie-bear
Missed Call

        "Crap," Beca muttered, walking further into the house and tossing her phone onto the kitchen table. "My phone did that stupid 'let's change the speed dials!' thing again."
        Rhydian, as intrigued as everyone else about who she had actually phoned, found himself also curious about her dirt-caked clothing. "Where did you run off to last night?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.
        "I'd like to know that, too, Miss," Emma said strictly, just now taking in Beca's appearance.
        With an annoyed roll of her eyes, Beca let out a breath. "Can I take a shower before you all start interrogating me?"
        She didn't wait for an answer before she started towards the steps, trudging up with mud left behind. She got into the bathroom and turned the water on hot, kicking off her boots and staring at them sadly--those were her favorite combat boots. Now she'd have to buy a new pair. She shook her head and started to unbutton the flannel she had been wearing before tossing it in the bin. It was ruined with mud and now had a hole ripped in the left side. She let out another sad sigh and pulled her white tank top over her head. It could possibly still be salvaged. Her jeans, however, could not. She kicked them off with a groan and stared at herself in the mirror. The only thing she could wear from yesterday's "I'm feeling pretty good" outfit was the underwear.
        Once she had stripped down, she stepped into the shower, the scalding hot water just the right temperature to burn off the remembrance of Jimi's lips and soreness of sleeping on the ground. The bathroom steamed up quickly as she scrubbed the mud off of her skin and out of her hair. She took clean hair for granted way too often.
        When she was done, she walked across the hall and to her bedroom, fishing for a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She found both easily and slipped them on over undergarments, drying her hair the best she could with her towel.
        When she appeared back downstairs--soaked black hair hanging off her right shoulder and appearing a lot less homeless, the Smiths had huddled around the kitchen table while Rhydian was over in the lounge. Beca was grateful and quickly threw herself on the right side of the couch that he was currently occupying. Her muscles were still sore, but the shower had definitely helped.
        Her eyes trailed to Rhydian's shoulder and she quickly sat up when she remembered what she'd done last night. "Oh, god, Rhydian I am so sorry," she started frantically apologizing.

        He glanced over at her and shrugged it off. "It's fine, it wasn't your fault."
        She furrowed her brow. "But I bit you," she said pointedly. "How was that not my fault?"
        "It was instinct, I get it."
        It was an odd experience sometimes talking with Rhydian, because when a normal person confronting Beca would be using a sour tone or sarcasm, he was serious. His eyes held no harsh feelings towards her. He was genuinely letting her know that he understood.
        "I--" Beca stopped talking for a moment to glance over at the others. When she saw they weren't listening, she continued. "I would've killed them, Rhydian. And that really scares me. So... thank you. Really."
        "You don't need to thank me--"
        "No, I do. And I still feel really bad about your shoulder, so we're going to Bernie's sometime and I'm paying. Got it?"
        The stubborn look Beca held in her brown eyes told the other Wolfblood that this was nonnegotiable. He just raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Okay."
        Beca nodded in confirmation before standing up and walking over to the Smiths, stepping into their conversation. "Look, I'm sorry I was out late, okay?" Emma and Daniel gave her a shocked look, as if not expecting her to apologize. "It won't happen again. And next time, you don't have to send out a search party, okay?"
        Beca meant to walk back over to the telly, but Daniel quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Be careful out there alone, okay?" He told her strictly.
        "Why?"
        "The alpha that was chasing your parents; we found some of his wolves in our territory last week."
        "We think they were his wolves," Emma clarified, sensing that Beca would've blown up and stormed out if she found out they kept something else from her. "They could've just been Wildbloods, but if they find you, we're pretty sure they'd try and use you as leverage against your parents."
        Beca stiffened and gulped harshly. She shook her head before speaking. "They're not going to be very successful with that."
        Maddy looked lost now. "Why?" She asked.
        "Because I don't have any other parents than the two of you, and Maddy's my sister. And they're crazy if they think you wouldn't kill them if they did something to me."
        A small smile lit up each of the Smiths' faces, including Beca's. Daniel clapped his hand on her back and nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't worry about them. We gave them a reason to not come back here."
        "I'm sure you did."