(3) Painstaker

Four: Sorry, Brother

"So, when are you going to tell me what's really bothering you?" Twenty-eight minutes into our reunion and she was already pestering.

I pursed my lips. "Nothing at all," I insisted with a twitch of a shrug. "Why would you think that?"

Ella's eyebrow arched at my try at lying. "Oh, I don't know... maybe because you've been checking your phone every two seconds. Should I be worried?"

I waved my hand at her. "No! Nope! You don't need to be worried at all!" Humming to myself, I skipped over to the fridge. "Want some vodka?"

"It's ten in the morning."

"Yeah. So?"

"I'll stick with water, thanks."

Shrugging indifferently, I got her a glass, filling mine up with orange juice and vodka. I wasn't an alcoholic or anything, but the booze helped me calm my nerves. The nerves that had me waking up every night in a cold sweat with blood seeping from my lips... those nerves.

When Ella's eyes narrowed in on my glass, I saw that obvious worry flicker. "Crystal..."

I raised my hand to stop her. "A-ah. No lectures, please. Not in the mood."

"I'm not buying it."

I shrugged my shoulders. "That sounds like a you problem." I started sipping at my drink, feeling as each muscle in my body began relaxing. Dear Goddess, maybe I am turning into an alcoholic... well, maybe not. Alcoholics are in denial, aren't they? Hell if I know. I shook my head in a sad attempt to nudge out those thoughts and instead turned my full attention on my friend.

Ella Calloway. I used to blame everything on her. My father's behaviour and why Donovan and I had drifted apart. As much as I loved her as a friend, I also hated her, too. It was unfair, yes, but I needed someone to blame.

The only reason Jackson Calloway left his house on the night of the attack was to keep Ella safe. She had been playing out in the forest, or so she claimed. Whenever anyone asked her why she was out in the forest that day, she only replied with a 'Fluffoo told me to.' Kind of freaky, but nobody bothered looking into it.

She'd gone too far and a few werewolf hybrids caught Alpha scent on her. They attacked her but, thankfully, help had come before they made severe damage. When she woke up, she couldn't remember a thing. Not even any scratches stuck around to have her wondering what happened.

Then, that night, Jackson decided to go search around their house because he told Ella's parents that he thought there were more out there, coming for her. Then, Jackson never returned, he turned into some hybrid weapon thing, and everything inside of the pack became amped up in severity and strictness.

That was when my father decided that Donovan and I needed to be focused more on our goal than each other. That was when my father started looking at me like I was a warrior and not his daughter. A warrior who, in the end, couldn't make him proud.

"Um, Earth to Crystal?"

Snapping out of it, I blinked several times and looked over at my friend who was staring at me like I'd grown three heads and a beard. "Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night. Have you checked up on Carter?"

She was well aware that I purposely changed the subject, yet she didn't prod. "I have. I'm still trying to figure out why you don't like Summer."

My face scrunched up at the name. "Gah. I don't want to explain myself today. Are you sure you don't want any vodka? Not even a Sangria? What about a tipsy milkshake?"

Ella laughed, shaking her head at me. That was when I noticed it. Oh Goddess, no. Not Ella too... No! No! No! Her fingertips lightly grazed her stomach and that damn smile on her face. The woman was practically glowing. "Probably not the best idea," she muttered.