Chapter 11 – 'Check Mate'
"SCARLETT, IF YOU'RE NOT UP I'M COMING IN THERE!" Mum bellows for the tenth time, her voice travelling so far it feels as if it's right in my damn ear.
Five more minutes.
The floorboards down the hall creak suspiciously as I hear a soft tap on the stairs thanks to my enhanced hearing.
A curse in the mornings.
I groan loudly, the fuzziness in my brain slowly clearing as I desperately press my face into my pillow hoping to slip back into the warm, comfortable arms of sleep and...
"SCARLETT!"
I resist the urge to grab my pillow and hurl it over my head... or at the door. Instead, with a large sigh, I force my eyes open, squinting at the morning light seeping through the curtains. Groaning in protest I rub a hand over my face, pushing my wild hair out of my eyes.
I am not a morning person.
The constant late nights I've had coming back to haunt me with a vengeance.
"SCARLETT?!" Mum shouts again, obviously taking my silence as an act of early morning warfare.
"I'M UP!!" I screech back, irritatedly hurling my covers off the bed and grumbling things that even I don't understand. I hiss and wince at the bright light filtering through my open curtains, which I'd forgotten to close last night when I passed out. I make a step towards the window and pause. Gold eyes flash before my vision.
He was here again.
My fingers unconsciously grasp at my pyjama bottoms, clenching around the material. Archer's wolf had been right outside the house again. He'd known exactly what room I was in. How could he have possibly guessed that? Those annoying three words circle my mind and I have to clench my jaw to stop the snarl from slipping passed my lips.
No.
I don't believe in this. I was travel sick. He can't be. It's not possible. I won't let it be possible. I'm sure I heard something about avoiding the bond, rejecting it somehow. I just have to avoid him at all costs.
I can do this.
Turning defiantly away from the curtains and window seat I glance around my room, my gaze falling on my laptop that remained closed after the hacker had attacked it. Another question; Who were they? I should have tried to trace them. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble searching for the unwanted guest. Now that's another thing to add to the list. Sighing I brush a hand through my knotted hair; I must have been exhausted the other night... tracing them should have been easy. I didn't even think about it.
I seriously need to get my act together.
Groaning ever so lady like I climb out of the amazingly soft bed, which I'm seriously debating dragging to school with me and trudge towards my wardrobe where I'd hung the last few items of clothing yesterday, so they weren't all creased and shoved into the famous 'black hole' where nothing that lands in the heap ever sees the light of day again. Well, until I find the energy to actually dig through and clean it. Only when I feel daring; you could probably lose a human being in it and I've got a few more years yet.
Yawning, I unhook my clothes from the hanger, relaxing a bit at the feel of the soft fabric. If I'm going to survive school, I need maximum comfort. If I can't have the bed, my hoodie will have to do. Dragging my tired self to the en-suit bathroom I slam the door shut just so I make it clear I'm up. I'm pretty sure it's Mum I can hear 'stealthily' creeping up the stairs.
Rolling my eyes, I speedily jump into the shower, letting the cool water wash away my tiredness, till my bleary eyes focus sharply on the silver decorated white tiles and the stiffness in my muscle's wash away with the swirling water cascading into the plug hole at my feet.
