"Hey, guys." Audrey squeaked as she walked into the dining room filled with razor cutting tension , not long after their parents had left. She stopped in her tracks, observing their demeanor as the weight of the tension in the room made their presence known on her shoulders.
Her curiosity piqued to a very high volume.
"Tris, what's wrong? What happened?" She asked going to sit beside the Tristan, keeping her eyes wide and glistening, glancing back to the others.
"Nothing that should bother you, Audrey." Theo said, not lifting his eye from his phone but his voice steady and cold, causing Audrey to frown deeply.
"I'm just worried. You didn't have to scold me in that manner." She said, her face carrying a heavy frown, her voice lighter.
She had overheard Sampson reminding them that there weren't supposed to be any secrets between them.
And now she couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about. Her curiosity obviously fueled her response hoping it could work as an emotional blackmail.
But Theo had always seen through her façade. Her calculated words and glances, her subtle reflex actions and overreactions. But his brothers never took his thoughts about it serious so he just kept it to himself..
"You cannot tell me what to do, Audrey." He said, his voice so grave the smaller woman couldn't help but shudder under it. It piqued his brothers attention, not the sound of his voice, but the fact that he was bringing out a side he only reserved for 'special' people, people in the pack already saw him as the evil one in the three.
Lifting his eyes, unhurriedly and undecipherable, his gaze bore into her. "And you sure as hell wouldn't ignore or disrespect me right now. If you want to live of course." He said, calmly, his voice and face devoid of any emotions other than hate.
Swallowing hard, Audrey scrambled out of the room, shutting the door silently beside her, the attention of his brothers focused on him now.
"Your hatred for her grows each day, Theo." Tristan said, his gaze on his brother as he observed him. "I think you should put it in check." He said cooly, not wanting to sound imposing. None of them did well with that, but he knew his brother understood the message.
Unlike what Theo thought, he wasn't completely blind to Audrey's shameless advances but he couldn't exactly push her away. She was their best friend's sister, so she was just like a sister to him as well.
And Troy felt the same way. But,Theo, as sensitive as always, has never been able to understand that. But they had to give it to him, he always knew how to put her in her place.
He really could be a devil sometimes.
"I'm not gonna do that. If she doesn't want to stick to her place, I'm going to make her." He said with a tone of finality, his brothers nodding, understanding that there was no point pushing forward.
"You have to pick her later, right?" Troy asked, changing the subject completely, the atmosphere shifting from being heavily tensed, to being warm and sentimental.
"Yeah, I have to. I've texted her, but she hasn't replied yet. Probably still asleep." He said calmly, a hint of disappointment and longing in his voice. The rest of the guys humming in response, reflected on the things they had to do while waiting for six'o clock.
They all knew the day was going to be agonizingly slow, but not agonizing enough to tamper with the longing in their hearts.
-----
Cole Bellingham passed by a room in the pack house but stopped in his tracks when he heard muffled sobs coming from the other side of the door.
He thought of ignoring it, but couldn't get himself to, so he went in, only to find his sister, Audrey, sitting at the foot of the bed, her knees to her chest, bawling her eyes out.
Filled with urgency, he ran to her side, kneeling beside her, his hand already at the base of the back of her neck, rubbing soothingly.
He wanted to ask her what had happened, but decided to let her finish crying. She could explain to him when she was ready.
After a few minutes of shaky breaths and snotting into different tissues, she was ready to talk.
"What happened, Drey? Were you bullied?" Cole asked his voice laced with anger.
Theo who had creeped to the side of the door outside,snorted silently at Cole's question.
'Bullied? She does the bullying.' He replied in his mind, listening in to hear Audrey's reply.
"No, I wish I was." She said, sadness and anger lacing her voice, Cole who was confused as hell couldn't help but gasp.
"Are you out of your mind?" He asked, his voice louder than before. He was getting pissed.
"Yes!" Audrey shouted, gripping her hair so tight from the roots, Theo couldn't help but smile at her frustration. Pure joy flowing through him blissfully.
"Yes! I'm out of my damn mind! I do everything for them! I keep myself clean for them, my hair, everything! I even lathered myself with their favorite colognes hoping that somehow they would consider me for just a minute! But no, I keep getting rejected!" She said, a fresh set of tears already falling down her cheeks, leaving Cole stunned to his toes.
"I'm here." She said half chuckling, its sound disgusting to listen to. "I've always been here, Cole. At their beck and call, waiting to be used, touched, abused by them. But they keep seeing me as a sister." She said, dragging the last part and scrunching her eyebrows like it tasted sour on her tongue.
"A fucking sister, Cole! Can you imagine?! I'm sexy! Alluring! I even grew my hair longer so they could pull on it whenever they wanted! But they keep ignoring me and it's getting to my bones, Cole. It's getting to my fucking bones! I'm tired of getting rejected!"
"Then fucking stop!" Coke scolded, not able to take the nonsense any longer. "Do you know how pathetic you sound?! You're the fucking Beta's daughter for God's sake, Audrey! A sister to their best friend! What else are they supposed to see you as?!" He asked, his eyes wide with an annoying mix of anger, confusion and frustration.
"As a potential mate! As their slave!" She screamed right back and that did it. She had pulled the last string on Cole's restraint, earning an ear shattering slap across her cheek.
The sound was so damning, Theo could swear people in the two floors below definitely shuddered at the sound, but he just stood there absorbing the after shock.
The sound was nothing more than music in his ears, a punishment well given.
The look in Cole's eyes was deadly as he stared at his sisters hunched figure.
"You have lost it, Audrey." He said, his voice grave, he had had enough. "You've lost it completely. The next time I even as much perceive you around them, you'd regret ever placing your eyes on them." He spat venomously, bolting out of the room into the hallway, too blinded by anger to notice Theo's presence.
Theo walked out of where he hid, coming to face the room. He took in her still hunched figure on the ground, her filthy hair covering Cole's handprint he was sure was sitting gracefully on her cheek.
A sharp smirk forming in his face, he walked away from the entrance.
That had just made his remaining hours before six less agonizing.