The Beast's Possession
4: You tricked me.

**Aife

pov**

Up until this moment, my days morphed into one, massive jumbled mess. I couldn't sleep, eat or breathe without thinking about him. My mate, my Bane, the same man who wanted to kill me. Funny how fate played games with us, huh? All that show of killing the pack, blowing up the packhouse and the torment I endured, for what? For everything to return back to the same places? Just like he took me from my father, he sent me right back into his arms. Well, not exactly Bane, but Zion did. He sent me back to the only family I knew..

Sure, the brighter part of this mess was that I met my wolf, she finally surfaced, but I couldn't say she called me her friend or her other half. She was angry, bitter and very spiteful. I forced her to leave her mate, or at least that was what she claimed, so we never spoke.

She fought every shift and refused to tell me her name, so at the end of the day, I was pretty much as alone as I had always been. Nothing I had to get used to, but something I didn't expect.

All my life I thought my wolf would be my best friend. Look how fate slapped me across the face, ha.

But the biggest slap of them all was what I was doing right now. I was sitting in the bathroom for the very reason I never thought I would. At least not this early.

For the past thirty minutes, I had been staring at the little white plastic device on the edge of the bathtub, too scared to move a muscle and take a peek.

I literally sat in the corner of the bathroom like a true coward and kept willing myself to get this over with so I could keep living one way or another. It didn't matter, did it?

*"Don't be a chicken, you fool. Take a peek."* Her voice echoed in my mind, taking me by a surprise.

I actually gasped in disbelief. Was it my wolf, suddenly speaking to me?

*"No, it's Mozart, rising from his grave to announce that you are the next top model of this century."* She huffed.

I rolled my eyes at the attitude. "I haven't done anything to you for you to act like I'm the fucking dirt under your paws," I whisper-hissed.

Okay, maybe some things had changed about me. Ever since I returned to my father and his new friends, I too had grown more bitter and no longer worried about being rude.

*"And that's not true. You keep lying to yourself to make yourself feel better about the shit you have done. Like it or not, but I prefer calling things as they are. And yes, you did something. You took away my mate. Bet you wouldn't be too happy if I did the same shit to you."*

"Isn't it convenient that you happen to forget the part where he tried to kill me?" I asked and instantly chuckled, shaking my head.

Deep down, I still didn't believe it. Bane was a lot of things, but he wasn't a mate killer. I saw how he was acting with my own eyes, I felt the danger and saw the intentions in his gaze, but I still tried to convince myself that nothing would have happened to me if I stood my ground. How stupid.

The wolf in my head groaned, showing off the attitude I was used to already. *"Whatever. Now get your lazy ass up and look at that thing. I want to know."*

Just to annoy her the same as she had been annoying me for months, I decided to defy her demands. "I don't feel like getting up, I'm too comfortable over here. And besides, can't you feel shit like that? Oh no, don't tell me you're a defective one and that's why you refuse to shift."

It was a low blow and while I was sure that hurt her, I felt immense sense of pride. For once, I was standing up for myself, even against those who were the closest to me.

*"I can't feel it. We're not connected like that yet. At least not on a level like that,” she admitted, sounding surprisingly sad.

Sighing, I felt my old self come back as I whispered, "why do you hate me so much?"

The brief moment of silence made me worry, but once she mimicked my sigh, I knew she was about to tell me something important. *"I don't hate you, okay? I couldn't hate a part of myself. We're one, you know. It's just that..."* I bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for her to continue, but she never did. "It's just that?" I repeated her words.

*"It's just that I might be a little butt hurt. Jealous even," she finally finished.

I felt how my eyebrows pulled together while I tried to figure out what she was on about. This didn't make sense. What could she possibly be jealous of? It wasn't like I had something that she didn't have. Mine was hers, after all. *"You got time with him. Closer to your birthday, there were a few moments I could force my way to the surface for a brief second and see him too. I watched him through your eyes and knew before you did. I'm jealous because you had those moments when he looked at you with so much love and adoration that it made me feel like the last wolf alive. You had that time with him and I never had a chance to introduce myself to mate, let alone enjoy his embrace or hear him speak. Doormat wolves, before they're ready to surface, we don't hear anything but the human side's thoughts. I don't know his voice. I don't know his words. I don't know his touch and love. But you do, so I'm jealous. There, I admitted everything, now get up and glance at the thing, I'm dying of curiosity."*

How could I, if her words left me glued to the tiled floor, completely dumbfounded. I was such a fool for never thinking this deep. She was so right. Goddess, she was right. I never acknowledged those things and looked past them as if they didn't matter. I looked past her pain and everything she lost before she had a true chance to have it all.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling genuinely sorry for the pain I had caused her. I was such a shitty person..

*"I'll get over it. Honestly, I already feel a little better now that you know. Maybe I was too hard on you too. How about we start all over again? Like this is the first time we have met?"* She offered.

A smile spread across my lips as I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "I would really like that," I agreed, sounding so happy, the moment felt unreal.

My wolf cleared her throat. *"So, the first thing on the list would be to introduce ourselves to each other, right? I know that your name is Aife, so it's only fear if I share mine too. It's Clove. Nice to meet you, my human self," she added a giggle for a good measure.

"Clove," I repeated. "That's such a dreamy name. Is it because of the color of your fur? I think it's absolutely stunning, by the way. I've never seen anything more beautiful. Oh, and I'm really glad to meet you for real too. No hate this time." *"Pleasantries aside, hop on your feet and get that plastic thing, i want to see,"* she barked, excitement oozing from her words.

I chuckled and shook my head. "You tricked me."

*"Every weapon is good in love in war or whatever the saying was. Now, check, please. And then we eat, yes, we feast. I will hunt down the biggest and tastiest buck for you."*

Although Clove's promise left my stomach in knots and raised an insane need for me to vomit all over the place, I didn't mention that. On shaky legs, I stood up and walked towards the bath, filled with both excitement and dread from what I was about to see.

Yep. There it was. As bright as a fucking day. Two lines.