The Third Wheel BxB (Old + new versions)

OLD VERSION Chapter 15: You can't hide forever

"You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another" (Ernest Hemingway)

Kyle's POV

It was no good: my healing abilities were decreasing and I wasn't sure what the actual reason was. Maybe it had to do with the mating thing: I wasn't supposed to run away from my mates and my wolf was weakening. Usually, it wouldn't take me so long to recover from a stupid trap laid by mere humans. A bear's trap actually. I had managed to free myself before anyone came but my foot had been badly injured and I was still slightly limping. I was now reduced to hide in a small cave near a waterfall, only leaving it at night to hunt small animals like rabits or birds. I was a pathetic excuse of a werewolf, really. The fact that I was twice the size of a regular wolf did not make it any better.

It had been only a week but it felt like months since I had last seen my mates. Again, the increased emotional state I had been going through for the last few days was probably connected to the bonding - or rather, lack of. We should have completed the mating process already and it certainly wasn't healthy for mates to be kept apart for so long.  Maybe, if I hadn't left the camp, Darren and Nate would have make love to me by now. I could only imagine what it would feel like to share a mental link with someone, to be aware of every single thing about them, from their unique scent to their most intimate thoughts. I was also wondering about the sex, being as experimented in this department as a twelve year old boy. But it's not something to be ashamed of, right?

Nate and Darren were certainly lucky to have each other. After living with them for a while, I had come to enjoy their compagny immensely and to love thousands of little things about them. I even missed Nate's snarky remarks or Darren's overprotective nature. In a sense, they hadn't change that much since we were children. Even when he was only eight, you could already tell Darren was a natural born leader and that Nate would follow him to the other side of the world. Nobody had been surprised when they had turned eighteen and the One Eye had declared them mates. 

I had done my best  to resist the temptation, but at times of weakness, I still tried to picture what it would be like to share my body with them, to let them get inside my head. To love and be loved. But Alex's betrayal had brought to light this very harsh truth: I did not deserve anyone's love. I probably sounded like a whining pup right now but I was done crying: I was just stating a cruel fact. Darren and Nate were far better without me and even if I decided to go back to the camp, there was little chance they would welcome me with open arms. When you get a mate, you stick with them, no matter what: that was another unwritten rule of our pack. 

The sound of very loud footsteps brutally interrupted my train of thoughts and I pested at myself for being so uncareful. A massive werewolf was making his way through my hidding place and I was in no condition to fight the newcomer. 

" Well well well, what do we have in here? What is the Beta of the Ravenstgh pack doing so far from his territory?"

I froze. That was it. I was going to die without biding my goodbye to my mates. I was never going to tell them - never mind. I was not scared of anyone anymore. The little teenager who was bullied by his own uncle was dead to the world. I rose my chin in challenge and replied with my most mocking tone:

" Picking up flowers and strawberries for my beloved grandma"

I thought he would get mad at being talked with so much blatant disrespect but he just laughed:

"Yeah, and I am the big bad Alpha Wolf about to eat the Litttle Red Riding Hood"

"Fuck off, Adrien"

This time, he frowned. "Is that any way to talk to your Alpha?"

"You're not my alpha. Worst, you are the leader of the Downhill pack, the pack we are currently at war with"

He started laughing again. Why was the terrifying Alpha in such a happy mood? Oh yeah, because he was about to slaughter one of the best warrior of his enemy pack.

"Well, thank you for reminding me, Kyle. You sure have a death wish. I am not surprised my daughter Miléna has taken a liking in you. She has always had a soft spot for crybabies"

He pretended he did not hear my warning growl and resumed: "And how is my good ol' pal Darren doing?"

"I won't let you talk about my alpha like this!"

" If he is your Alpha, then what are you doing here, Kyle?"

" That's none of your business" I retorted feebily. "Why are you still talking anyways? I thought you had come here to kill me".

He smiled then started advancing to walk towards me and I held my ground the best I could.

" I have never met someone as much in a hurry of dying as you are, Kyle".  "Besides", he added thoughfully, "I am not going to kill you, as tempting as it sounds"

I raised an eyeborw. "No?"

"No" he confirmed. "Miléna would not let me sleep at night if she learned that I killed her protégé"

"What, afraid of a four years old girl, oh, almighty Alpha?"

"Don't test my patience, Kyle" he replied calmly. "I was about to ask you if you wanted to join our pack, since I saw you in combats and it seems that you left your pack"

"You know my answer" I told him honestly, a little bewildered by this turn of events.

"I was not expecting a different one" he admitted regrettfully. "Well, I am leaving you now to your flowers and strawberries"

He started leaving but then stopped and looked at me with curiosity. 

"What are you really doing here, Kyle? You don't look so good, if you are asking me"

I internally debated about whether or not I should tell him the truth. Then again, he had spared my life so maybe it was time to show a bit of humility. 

"My wounds are taking ages to heal. I am too weak to venture in the forest in this present state"

He nodded, then sniffed the air and froze. To my greatest surprise, he started walking in my direction, only pausing  at few centimeters away from me. He approached his nose to my neck and inhaled deeply, making me extremely unconfortable.

" What are you doing, you creep?"

His eyes were now slightly dilated. He shook his head, as if he had just been in a transe and replied with a slightly dazed voice " Darren and Nate are certainly lucky, and if I was them, I would kill to have you as my mate"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, because clearly this Alpha was loosing it. 

He smiled again "You will know soon enough, Kyle. And don't think you can hide from your mates forever. They are coming for you, I can tell"

With that, he left without saying another word. I sighed and thought about his warning: I should leave now, before my mates found me. Yet, I started feeling worse and worse and decided to rest for a bit longer. There would be still time to look for another hidding place in a couple of hours. However, when I woke up, the sun was high in the sky: I had slept for ten hours straight or so. A bit panicked, I shift, hurrily left the cavern and started running. I ran for hours, until I arrived near a source. Bending down to refresh myself, I saw my reflect in the water and my heart skipped a bit. My wolf started howling in joyce but the only thing I could feel was intense despair. I had gone for too long without supressants and now my worst nightmare was getting real. As for now, I was condemned to a life of loneliness.