And Then There Were Four by Lilith Carrie

They say when something traumatic happens in a person’s life that, every individual handles it differently. Some cry their eyes out, and some get absolutely drunk. But to me, well, that was a completely different story.

I pretended that none of it even happened.

Pushing in my headphones, I let Fitz blast in my ears, pretending that my life was going to be okay. School had started before I knew it, and I had dropped into my regular routine of going to classes and then coming back and doing school work.

Unfortunately for the guys, I hadn’t been very forthcoming. James daily was trying to get me to reason with him and talk to him. He took every chance he could to hold my hand or touch me, and I knew, without a doubt, it was driving him insane with the silent treatment I kept offering.

But I wanted them to realize I wasn’t some floozy college girl who would do everything they wanted or said, and while they argued amongst themselves for how to win me over, I did research on werewolves.

I was intrigued to learn that such things exist, and I didn’t want to rely on them to tell me everything because there was a chance they would hide the truth. At one point, I had considered asking my father, but then at the same time, I wasn’t sure if he knew.

My eyes slid over the campus courtyard, and to my surprise, it was packed with students trying to soak up the last bit of sun from the summer before the clouds and cold rolled in, and we were stuck in sweaters, coats, and tons of snow.

“Ivy!” The distance call of my name caused me to turn and smile at Kate before taking one side of my headphones out. “I was wondering how loud you had that thing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “you know me–”

“Super focused,” she finished causing us both to laugh.

With everything that had been going on with me and the guys lately, Kate had become my escape. I, of course, couldn’t tell her the guys werewolves, but I did have to explain the mark on my neck was from kinky bondage sex with James, so she didn’t think they were cannibals.

“Are you still not talking to him?” Kate questioned while smirking at me.

“What do you mean? Of course, I talk to him.” I mumbled, shifting my stuff in my hands, trying to avoid the conversation. I wanted to climb in his lap and f u k him hard all week, but at the same time, a girl had to have principles.

“Who are you trying to lie to?” She cackled, shaking her head, “look at that poor guy.”

Kate pointed behind me, and my eyes followed to where she was looking. Talon, Hale, and James all stood by the truck. Talon looked angry about something as usual and was arguing with Hale. But James simply had his eyes on me. A sad, depressing look across his face seemed to break my heart.

Sighing, I looked back towards Kate and rolled my eyes, “what do you expect me to do?”

“Try giving them a chance to make it right,” Kate suggested causing me to groan. She was right. In a way, I had made them suffer for over a week over what had happened, and instead of being wrapped up within the three of them, I was only making myself suffer.

“Fine.” I groaned before grabbing her hand and forcing her to come with me. If I was going to go over there, I wasn’t doing it alone. I already knew if the three of them surrounded me, I was going to lose my mind.

James’ eyes widened as I approached, and Hale smiled as Talon seemed just as stunned as James. You would have thought that they were watching a miracle happen as I walked towards them.

“Ivy–” James said softly, causing them all to straighten up. “Are you okay?”

“Look–” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. “I am not saying that I forgive you guys for hiding things from me, but–”

Taking a deep breath, I looked at Kate once more, who gave me ‘the look’ to continue. It had happened to be the same look my mother was fond of giving me. Looking at James, I considered everything I wanted to do. I wanted to kiss him, and I wanted to be with him and have him make me feel all the things he did, but at the same time, they had to realize I was my own person.

“–but?” He asked as if expecting me to reject him and send him on his way.

“Show me you guys are serious, and I can trust you, and perhaps I will let you guys get close to me.”

James’ eyes lit up in surprise, and his smile widened even more, “are you serious?”

I had a feeling that part of me was going to regret agreeing to this, but then at the same time, I couldn’t take being away from James. Every time I closed my eyes, I dreamt of him, and every morning when I woke, I felt an emptiness inside of me from his absence.

“Yes, now I have to go.” Turning quickly, I hastened my pace, trying to put distance between us. Just because I had agreed didn’t mean I was going to stick around and just start acting like everything was okay.

“Ivy, wait!” James called, forcing me to stop and watch as he jogged to catch up to me. “We have a small problem, and I need to tell you, so you don’t think I am hiding things from you.”

I didn’t like the way James seemed nervous, but I could understand it considering the fact I had just agreed to give him a chance to show he was serious about me. “What’s the problem?”

“Damian is back. He got in an hour ago, and he doesn’t know anything yet.”

A gut-wrenching feeling filled me at that moment. I knew that I should not have cared, but in a way, I did. I had disobeyed Damian and allowed something to develop with James even though I wasn’t supposed to. Not to mention Hale and Talon both wanted me as well.

“Is there a way we can not tell him anything? At least not right now?”

My question seemed to make James hesitate, and for some reason, I felt bad asking this of him. Damian was his brother, and I had just reprimanded them for keeping things from me, but then I was asking him to keep things from Damian.

“Well, we could try, but the problem is that I don’t know how long that will work.”

Nodding my head, I smiled, “we will figure it out. Let’s talk about it later tonight. It’s Friday, and I really want to get this last class over with and go home.”