The Red Wolf (1st book Red Series) (Completed)

Chapter 30 (Edited)

Claire looked at her son and blinked. Her whole posture seemed to change when Cooper walked in. "Yes, why weren't you there?" Her voice was hard as stone, causing me to look at her with a frown.

"Alpha was training," I said, causing both of them to look at me. I shrugged. "He had to do a bit more extra work than the others because of his... shifting problems."She frowned. "You still can't shift?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "An Alpha needs to shift to protect their pack."

I bit back a sigh and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I didn't know what her problem was, but it couldn't be good if she was treating her son as if he was something less. "He is still doing better than some of the Wolves of your pack, Luna," I said. "He is working harder than them, also."

Claire looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you standing up for him even though he rejected you?" She was confused as to why, but she was his mother. She shouldn't act like blaming something on him and treating him like dirt.

I shrugged, keeping my face blank. "I rejected him," I replied. "He didn't reject me."

"I still don't understand why," Cooper said, causing my pack and I to growl softly. "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong."

Again, I growled. "That's fucking bull shit, and you know it." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my frayed nerves. "I didn't do anything to deserve this treatment." My voice cracked while I looked down.

"You did too," Cooper replied. "You kill-"

"I DID NOT KILL THEM!" I roared, glaring at him. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my anger in check. "I-I wouldn't." I leaned back into Gigi, feeling my anger disappear some. I was still on edge and knew that I would break if he didn't just shut up. "Do you want to know the real reason why I rejected you?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Cooper shifted on his feet before nodding his head.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I still remembered the day as it it had just happened yesterday, even though it was three years ago.

***

3 years ago

"Come on, Ry," Gigi said. "Why do you want to give him this by yourself?" She gestured to the present that I was wrapping. "Your brother is with Alpha Cameron, and you will not have any protection."

"I know," I replied. "This is why I wanted to give it to him, now."

"You know his other friends will be there," Gigi said. "I think you can stop your crush on-"

"Idon'thaveacrushonCooper!" I exclaimed, blushing furiously. It wasn't a secret that I liked liked Cooper, even though I tried not to.

Gigi blinked, frowning. "Could've fooled me," she replied. She sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair, knowing that I wasn't going to budge. "Look, I just don't want you to get hurt." She glanced down at my covered up arms, frowning.

"Don't worry, I won't cut myself," I reassured her. I tied a ribbon around the gift. "He isn't worth it." My heart breaked a little when I said that. Who was I kidding? I was going to hurt me, but I needed to make sure that the people that I cared about the most didn't know.

She gave me a small smile and nodded her head. "Good, now get going."

I smiled at her before grabbing the present and running to wherever Cooper was, which happened to to be the forest. A frown appeared on my face while I started to take cautious steps towards them. "Ummm," I said, glancing down when the group turned around and looked at me.

"What is it, Parent Killer?" Cooper sneered.

I glanced down, feeling slightly self conscious in my baggy clothes. "I... um... I-I got you a gift. I am sorry that it is late," I said, blushing slightly. I kept my face down and made sure that my hair covered my flaming cheeks while my heart skipped a beat. I held out the book. "I hope you like it."