REGRET S

SHAWN I run deeper into the woods so that I won't think about what a big jerk I once was to Valerie, for just a few hours. The look on her face says it all. As that image pops in my head, I come to an abrupt halt and give a loud howl. I run further deep into the woods to calm myself. My wolf doesn't want this run, he wants to be with his mate which is what I want too but I also need time to think. To think of different ways to rectify everything I ever did to her in the past. When I realise that I'm far away from everyone, I stop and howl again. I lounge on the ground to stop panting. I was shocked as well as impressed when Oscar told me that she is their Pack's Beta. She reeks of power stronger than any she-wolf I have ever known. She just stands out among those wolves. There is something about her which I can't seem to figure out. My mate. My Valerie. I don't know what has happened to her in the last six years. After years of searching her, we almost thought she was dead but still kept on looking for her. Her sudden arrival as a strong wolf is quite a shock to everyone in the Pack! I want to ask her everything but she's constantly avoiding my gaze and when I tried to approach her, Oscar had the audacity to stop me. It took everything in me to stop my wolf from tearing him apart. I was one step away from shifting into my wolf! The thoughts running in the heads of my Pack members especially males were all audible in my head. I wanted to kill them all for having filthy thoughts about my mate. I was mad at Valerie when she refused to join my Pack, but after what she said I knew I deserved it. Even then I wanted to convince her to join my Pack. That is why I took the first opportunity I got and held her in my arms. Her scent overwhelmed me. I couldn't describe what I was feeling when I held her in my arms. I wanted to take her there and then. I felt myself getting stronger when she was with me, touching her soft skin and kissing it was too much to take. Her soft groans made me lose any self-control I had. I wanted to mark her very badly when she started leaning into me. My heart was pounding against me and I felt my canines starting to come out to make her mine. I would have marked Valerie, if she wouldn't have shoved me away. The thought of her being away from my arms was not something which I liked. I wanted her close to me, to be able to hold her and feel her. When I tried to hold her again, she pushed me and that wasn't appreciated by my wolf and me. A repeat of that just ignited the anger in me. In a swift movement, I held her and pressed her against a wall. She was avoiding my gaze as if looking at me would be a mistake. But when she raised those dark lashes and looked at me, what I saw was like a dagger to my heart. Her dark brown eyes were watery. Tears were flowing from her eyes and each drop of those tears reminded me about how much I hurt her in the past. I recalled her looking at me like that with those same watery eyes and wet cheeks whenever I would hurt her. She used to look at me like that silently asking me why, whenever I threw a ball at her or whenever i would make her trip and fall or whenever I would lock her in a dark room or when I threw eggs on her or when I almost killed her by throwing her in a pool. I never realised how much I hurt her all in the name of prank. She was like a punching bag to me where I would vent my anger at. She was hurt each and every single day by me and never complained. She went through all that pain alone. I gulped when I saw more tears and loosened the hold I had on her and ran from there because I knew I was hurting her by holding her so tightly when she clearly didn't want me to. I wonder what would have happened if she had stayed two more months and I would have found out that she was my mate. I would have never rejected her because my mother had always told me that mates are never to be taken lightly. They are yours to be loved and cherished. I never realized her value at all! But now that I have found her and know that she is my mate...mine to be protected... I will never ever hurt her! And to start it all, I need to apologize to Valerie for being such an ass. 'Shawn, man where are you?' I hear Jasper's voice in my head when I'm heading towards the Pack house where my mate is. Jasper has found his mate too and I saw her and Valerie sticking to each other. Must be a close friend of Valerie, because she refused point blank to go with Jasper to his house. 'Heading towards the pack house, why?' I ask him. 'Uh- come to the attack scene soon, something is happening to Valerie.' I hear him saying and I run as fast as my limbs would take me. It helps that I'm still in my wolf form because I can run much faster. 'What is happening to my mate?" I ask threateningly to everyone in my Pack. 'We don't know. I can't understand and nobody here is telling us anything.' Abed replies. I reach the attack scene only to see Valerie standing with her hands kept on her side and eyes closed. Her breathing is soft and slow. Her Pack members are yelling her name out but there's no response from her. It looks like she's in a different world. "Valerie" Oscar yells her name and I growl loudly at him for using that tone on her. Suddenly, she comes out of whatever trance she was in and blinks a few times. "What happened?" Evie asks her in a whisper which wouldn't have been audible if it wasn't for my werewolf sense. "You scared us for a minute there." Oscar says while still holding her arms and I growl loudly. How dare he touch what is mine? I hate that guy already. I want to tear him limb to limb. Valerie looks at me and immediately recognise my wolf, but her mind seems to be somewhere else because she walks away from everyone, ignoring all their calls. "Did they attack the temple?" she asks and there's a no as reply from Jasper. The rogues didn't attack the temple and I sure as hell won't let them get close to it. "Where was the piece kept?" I hear her asking again and I look at my Pack members who are looking at my mate with a confused expression. 'Answer her' I roar at them loudly through the link. Fools. "It was kept upon a dead body of a guard." Abed finally answers her. I can never know what is happening to my mate if I'm in my wolf form like this. 'Get me shorts immediately!' I order and notice Dave running towards the car. When I look at my mate, I see her storming towards her car with her Pack following her. I shift and change into the shorts. Jasper and I get inside Abed's car and start driving towards the Pack House. "She is mad as hell." Jasper says softly. "She glared at mother and made her shut her mouth." He says, giving a small chuckle. "That's the first in six years" Abed agrees. It's true that Amelia went all crazy when Valerie left. Idris is the only one who used to put up with her. "I can't blame her either." I say, making Abed to raise his eyebrows. "Alpha, accepting his mistake?" he asks leering and I growl at him. That shuts his mouth. When I arrive at the Pack house, Idris and my old man are there too. He has been travelling for five years and he's barely present in the Pack. "Dad" I say dryly and he nods at me. Jasper and Abed bow their heads in respect to him. "I hope everything is fine in the Pack?" he asks me and I prefer not to answer him. Since when did he start caring about the Pack? I'm not here to have a talk with him; I came here for my mate! Just then, Amelia comes into the Pack House with some bags in her hand and I raise an eyebrow at her. "I was arranging Valerie's room." She tells me while smiling and I growl at her. My mate will stay with me, where she belongs. Not in this place with other male wolves around her! "I can see who is back in the Pack. Thank heavens the girl has finally shifted though it is useless to the Pack." my dad says while chuckling. My wolf hates his words and I clench my fists. I take a step towards him to teach him his place when I hear growls coming from upstairs which are followed by a loud crashing noise. I rush upstairs to see what might be going on, with Jasper, Abed, Amelia and that old man following my trail. I follow the noise which only seems to be increasing. I come to an abrupt halt when I realise that it's coming from the room where my mate is. I stand near the doorway and look at Valerie breaking everything in the room. The bed is broken, the curtains are torn, vases are broken, glass pieces are scattered everywhere in the floor, the pillows are ripped with feathers flying in the air. There are claw marks on the couch, the closet door is broken into two pieces, dresses on the floor, and magazines are torn with paper pieces lying on the floor and all this is being done by Valerie. One moment I see her tearing some dresses and then the next moment she is destroying the dressing table. Throwing perfumes, makeup kits, everything everywhere. What happened to cause her this much anger? I have never seen her like this! "Valerie, I arranged the room for you." Amelia says while sobbing and then I realise why Valerie is doing this. If my mate wants to destroy the decorated room, then I won't stop her so I lean back against the wall watching my mate vent her anger for the first time. I look at her Pack members who are standing silently in a corner of the room opposite to the door and are letting her destroy everything present in the room. Jasper is also standing silently and not consoling Amelia who is crying for Valerie to stop. "Valerie, please stop it. Honey, listen to me." Amelia wails. At that Valerie comes to an immediate halt. She's still growling and I notice a photo frame in her hand. It has a picture of Valerie, Jasper, Sheila, Amelia and Idris. It's their family photo. "Valerie. Please honey....." Amelia starts off but stops when Valerie growls at her and breaks the frame into half. Her brown eyes are turning into a different colour now. I hear Amelia gasping loudly when she throws the frame piece into a nearby wall still glaring at her mother. She turns and does the same with the other photo frames while Amelia runs out of the room still sobbing. Idris follows her. "That's enough Valerie. Just because you have shifted into a wolf doesn't give you the right to do this, remember who you once were!" My dad shouts, glaring at Valerie and I growl loudly at him. How dare he talk to my mate like that? There are growls from everyone in their Pack but they stop when there's another growl louder than anyone of us. I look at Valerie who still has her back towards me. When she turns around, I see her eyes. The brown eyes are replaced by dark red ones meaning her wolf is awake. Her hands are in clenched fists and her body is shaking with anger. Red colored eyes. I have never seen that in a wolf before! She looks ready to kill. "Drop that voice and that gaze, now!" Valerie orders my dad through gritted teeth. I raise an eyebrow because I have never seen Valerie like this before. She was always a silent one who never spoke back but now her words match the deadly look she's giving to my dad. When it comes to my dad, she never looked him in the eye. I knew she was most scared of him, but standing in front of me is a complete different Valerie who has a staring match going on with my father. The new Valerie is damn sexy and I love it! My father looks away first from her gaze and I smirk at that. It serves right for that blue haired old man! 'How did this 180-degree change of personality happen?' Abed asks stunningly, through the link and I growl at him. I have no problem with this new personality of my mate. 'I was just wondering Alpha' Abed says while lowering his gaze when I glare at him. I'm busy glaring at Abed such that I don't even see my dad charging at Valerie. "Val," I heard Evie screaming loudly when my dad lunges at Valerie from behind, digging his claws into her skin. I push him roughly away from her and have him thrown to a nearby wall but it's late because he already has Valerie down by then. When I look at the blood at my mate's back, I growl loudly and in a moment I hold that old geezer by his collar. "You dared hurt my mate?" I ask him threateningly. His eyes widen when he realises that Valerie is my mate!