Page 83 of Chasing The Alpha's Son
“That’s not possible.” I wince. “Only rogues are like that. I’m not a—”
“Max, you snapped at me.” She won’t look me in the eye, just stares at a loose thread of her sweater she’s tugging at. “I recognized your wolf and so I tried to approach you to calm you down or ask what was wrong, and when I did you came for me.”
“What? No, I would never… Katie, I… I’m so sorry.” A pain erupts in my back and I jerk to the side. Katie flinches. “I’m sorry. You know I would never.”
She takes a breath. “No, I know you wouldn’t hurt me, but it was like you were gone and it was some strange wild wolf. Anyway, Jasper shifted too; he stepped in front of me and growled at you—you know, in that alpha-command way he can. And you stopped attacking but you didn’t back down. You growled right back at him. And when it looked like you were about to attack again, he tackled you.”
“He what?”
“He had to. You fought him, Max. You fought Jasper’s wolf.”
“I did? I…”
Suddenly, I’m very aware that I have no idea where Jasper is.
“Did I…?”
“Jasper? No he’s fine; he stayed on the defensive, trying to keep you away from the group.”
“And did I… Did anyone else get hurt?”
“No. Morven started telling people to run, to head back here, then he shifted too. I think even in the state you were in you knew you couldn’t take on Jasper and an alpha, so you ran off, down the mountainside. Jasper went after you and Morven sent a couple of his wolves to follow.”
“And what happened then?”
“I don’t know. Jasper said he found you in the morning in the ranger station. You’d shifted back and were curled up under a blanket. He thinks you must have passed out at some point.”
My face is burning, sweat is dripping off me like a waterfall. I don’t understand what happened—is still happening, making me feel out of control in my own body.
“Max, do you remember anything?”
I try, I really try, to think back to last night, but the last thing I remember clearly is Jasper’s face: he was saying something, only I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then everything went red. I close my eyes and shake my head.
Katie reaches out and takes my hand, and instantly a searing pain shoots through the right side of my brain. I cry out and pull my hand away.
“What is it?” Katie asks, backing away.
“Nothing, it’s…” I try to explain it away, but I can’t; I have no idea what’s happening to me. Why can’t I touch my best friend? And why does she look so scared of me?
As she backs away, the pain decreases until I finally feel like I can breathe again.
“Why do you look so terrified?”
“I’m sorry. You just scared me.” She stays where she is, back against the wall.
“I’m not going to shift,” I tell her. “It’s not like last night; I don’t know what it is but I think that part is over.”
Katie eyes me suspiciously and I feel a different pang of hurt, this one in my chest. Cautiously, she comes forward again, but she doesn’t sit back down.
“Thank you, for staying with me,” I say, starting to feel a little calmer, a little less like my brain is about to dissolve.
“I’ve actually only been here a little while. Jasper wouldn’t leave your side. He’s been here all night.”
Oh.
“He was so worried, Max. He didn’t say but I could tell. I don’t think he even slept; he looked pretty wrecked when I popped in just now.”
“Where is he?”
