Cursed with an Alpha Soul | Werewolf Romance

Chapter VIII - Long Time No Talk

The icy evening wind blew across Ell’s rosy cheeks. She stood feet from the edge of the tree line, hidden in the shadows, her eyes staring at the back of the familiar castle-like building. Besides the previous weekend, it had been over a year since she stepped foot in that house. A warm sting began to build within her throat as she fought back the urge to cry at the memories that played in her mind. When she stepped off that corkboard, front door welcome mat so long ago, she had promised herself two things: never again would she let herself fall in love with Carlos and this would be the last time she ever stepped foot in that house.

Technically, I broke that promise at the party, she told herself, trying not to turn away and forget all that had happened.

She could hear the faint mumbles of multiple people talking inside but was unable to decipher what was being said. Shadows passed over the curtains as they walked past the many windows around the house. It did not matter how many people were inside, nor who exactly they were, she only cared to speak to one person then get out of there as soon as possible. Her eyes fixed on the far, top left window. It has been left open, as it always was to her memory. The dark blue, cotton curtains had been pushed out, flapping against the brick exterior wall in the breeze. The mixed smell of cinnamon and spruce flooded her nostrils, it was Carlos’s cologne. He had once told her how he simply liked the bottle it came in; the smell was a bonus point. Her hands continuously clenched and unclenched, it was unsettling not knowing how this would end. The last conversation they had ended in screams and tears, at least from Ella. The longer Ella stood there, the more she began to doubt that this was worth it. She wanted to walk home and continue to ignore anything that had already happened. Deep down she knew she couldn’t get through this alone. She didn’t know if he would have any answers, or let alone share them with her, but she had to try. Grunting, knowing she had no other choice, she made her first stride towards the home, not allowing herself time to hesitate. She moved briskly, unknowing to herself of her own speed. Within a few seconds, she was across a large amount of land and was standing beneath the window itself. Ella glanced up at the window, watching the blue curtains swing in the wind.

Her eyes searched around her, trying to figure out how to get up there. There was no tree beside to climb up or long steel ladder. Huffing, she thought to their chase through the woods. The unfathomable wonders she performed without a second thought. Going through the front door, or even the side door, wasn’t an option. There were too many possibilities of someone seeing her. She wanted to avoid any conversation or awkward confrontation from any of the Willis siblings or whoever else was in the home. Ella marched a few feet back, giving herself running room. She gave one last look to the forest, as if it was her last chance to turn back. No one knew she was here; she could make a run for it. Something was pulling Ella towards the home, a feeling that she needed to be inside, that she couldn’t risk walking away. A large huff left her lips, she played out exactly what she wanted to happen in her head, but could she do it? Doubt and worry began to rush over her. Sure, she could jump off cliffs and swing between trees, but that was all under pressure and while she was fueled with adrenaline. All she had in her now was nerves and uncertainty.

A squeak of the glass back door opening broke Ella’s concentration. As the glass backdoor slid open, a tall woman in a crop-top hoodie and jeans stepped out. Her bright red, freshly dyed hair blew in the wind. Ella could smell her sprayed perfume, the amount almost caused Ella to cough as she got a whiff, but she held it in. It was Valerie Willis. As she stepped out, her back was to Ella, but it wouldn’t be long before she turned around and noticed her. It was too late now to run, surely Valerie would see her running towards the woods from the corner of her eye. Ella looked up at the window and ran towards the building, leaping off at the last minute. She pushed with all her strength and reached up from the windowsill. Her body left the ground effortlessly, blades of grass falling from her sneakers as she travelled through the air. Her small fingers gripped onto the edge of the windowsill, tightly grasping the white half-inch wood ledge. Quickly, she pulled herself up and into the room, falling over the bedside table in the process, and landing flat on her back. She stared up at the ceiling, mentally processing what had just happened. It wasn’t as graceful and majestic as she could have done, but it was enough.

The walls were painted in a dark blue, matching the queen-size bed cover. The room was perfectly unchanged from the last she saw it. The same posters and decorations hung on the wall. The oak-wood desk was in the far corner, small rainbow lights blinked on the backside of it. A plastic basketball hoop sat above the bedroom door. His school bag sat beside Ella, nuzzled deep in the carpet which told Ella he was home. Standing on her feet, she rubbed her hands along her thighs, dusting off crumbs and dust she had picked up from the climb in.

“You know it’s really great you’re willing to help me study for this big test.”

Ella froze at the unfamiliar voice. She pushed a lock of her brown hair behind her ear to listen. The quiet sound of footsteps against the wooden stairs rang in Ella’s ear.

“Couldn’t let a sexy girl like yourself fail.” That was Carlos.

Ella rolled her eyes at the snarky, flirtatious response. She listened as their footsteps grew louder. Looking around she tried to figure out where to stand. There was no point in hiding, she wasn’t trying to surprise them. Ella stood beside the door waiting for them to enter. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the wall, counting their steps from the door.

“Well, you should know, I’m open to all kinds of study positions.” the girl responded to him.

Ella’s hands curled into a ball, an unknown feeling growing in her chest. She shouldn’t care about what this girl had to say, nor did she care if Carlos wanted her. Ella didn’t want Carlos. They could try whatever positions they wanted. She just needed to talk to him. Ella shoved the feeling back where it came from, refusing to address it any further. Slowly, the door swung open. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she smelt his fresh scent. Carlos continued into the room; the slight smirk on his lips showed that he knew she was there. He had sensed her too as he had walked up the stairs. Ella’s hand grasped the wooden door, putting herself between the room and the black-haired cheerleader. The girl stopped suddenly, almost running into Ella. She took a step back, her face painted in confusion and annoyance. The girl was the same height as Ella. Her hair was pitch black and worn up in two curly pigtails with gold ribbons on both. She still had the school black and gold cheerleader uniform on.

“Sorry Hunny he’s busy. You’ll have to reschedule.” Ella stated. A fake smile was cast over her lips as she swung the door closed in the face of the shocked cheerleader. As soon as the loud click of the door closing rang in her ears, Ella dropped the smile and turned to face her ex. Her arms crossed over her chest, and she leaned her body back against the door. The cheerleader attempted to push it open but there was no use. She called Ella a distasteful name before storming downstairs and out the front door. Ella listened to each step as her eyes didn’t leave Carlos, he stared right back at her, his hands pushed into his grey sweatpants pockets. He wore his football team jersey to go with it.

“You have some serious explaining to do.” she demanded, not moving from her spot.

Carlos let out a deep chuckle, a devilish grin across his lips. “Long time no talk,” he said running a hair through his long blonde hair, “EP.” His hair was just long enough that it could be put up in a manbun. His curls rolled down below his ears, stopping just at the nape of his neck. His dirty blonde hair with golden brown streaks was an attraction to many of the ladies he got with. His dirty blonde hair with golden brown streaks was an attraction to many of the ladies he got with.

EP. A nickname she hadn’t heard in a very long time. Carlos had made it back to when they first met. He wanted to create something unique for her, a name no one else had ever called her. He didn’t want to use the simple ‘baby’ or other textbook girlfriend names. Heat rushed into Ella’s cheeks, a mixture of anger and blush. Her heart began to pound slightly in her chest.

“Don’t you dare call me that!” she demanded quietly, taking a few steps towards him. “You don’t get to call me that.”

The smirk did not leave his lips. He held his hands up in surrender, though it held no meaning behind the gesture. “You know, I am a very busy man. It wasn’t nice of you to cancel her appointment. May be weeks before she’s able to book another one.”

Carlos flashed his bright white smile. He took a seat on the edge of the bed. His almond eyes stared up at Ella. They both stood in silence for a moment, watching each other, waiting for one to make the next move. His thick pink tongue brushed over his lower lip, drawing Ella’s eyes to watch the motion. As her eyes darted back up to meet his gaze, she realized she had been staring. Quickly she turned away from him, breaking their eye contact. Closing her eyes to compose herself she continued, “Cut the s**t Carlos. You know why I’m here.” Ella said. She began to pull her hair back into a ponytail, her thick brown locks falling into their natural curl. Ella had the dream hair of a cheerleader. It always had a soft, ringlet curl at the end regardless of if worn down or up in a high ponytail.

“Oh right!” Carlos chuckled, snapping his fingers. He leaned back grabbing the small, foam basketball on his bed and rolled it between his palms. “You wanted to schedule an appointment. Well, I have availability,” He stopped to glance at his wrist, “right now.” Ella couldn’t stop the low growl that left her lips as she turned to face him, the sound shocked herself, as she had never heard it before. Carlos shot the basketball up into the hoop behind Ella, but she had reached up and grabbed it. Her gaze never left him. Clenching the ball in her hand, Ella chucked it towards him. The foam ball hurdled through the air towards Carlos but was caught at the last second by him.

“Tell me why you did this to me!” she demanded. Carlos rose from the bed as Ella marched towards him. He crossed his arms over his chest. Ella’s eyes turned to burning rubies, glowing red at him, fueled with frustration. Carlos’s smirk disappeared into a strict, emotionless stare towards her. His bright almond brown eyes slowly faded to black and then to red. The same red eyes Ella had seen the night of the party and the same eyes that had watched her in the woods.

“You really think I did this to you?” he asked.

She stared at him, watching for any sign that he was lying. Ella may have hardly spoken to him for over a year, but she was always able to tell when he wasn’t telling the truth. Her anger faded and her face softened, staring up at him. Her eyes washed away back to their deep brown color. She began to realize that deep down he was just as confused as her. “You didn’t?” she spoke. Ella practically already knew the answer but didn’t know what else to say.

“Nope,” he shook his head, “you really think if I had a choice, I would’ve picked you?” he asked her, turning to his dresser and looking for a fresh set of clothes to change into.

Ouch. Ella thought at her comment, dropping any feeling about his words. She tried to think about what to say.

“If it was my choice then I’d be having some fire, unimaginable supernatural s*x right now.” He glanced over his shoulder toward her, grinning before searching through his drawers.

Ella’s heart began to beat faster as her mind raced. The thought of his hard, sculptured body pinning her between him and the wall as her hands clenched into his long locks. Staring into his burning red eyes drowning in lust and want. His lips pressed against hers, nibbling on her bottom lip demanding her to submit to him. The feeling of his hand reaching into her jeans to feed the burning hunger inside of her for more. Her legs tightly wrapped around his waist pulling him closer, listening to him growl for her. Ella snapped herself out of the trance, realizing that Carlos had been watching her. He now wore a grey T-shirt and maroon jeans; he had fully changed while Ella stood their brain dead.

“If you didn’t, then what did?” she asked, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

Carlos simply shrugged, “I don’t have the answers I assume you came here for E. You know just as much as I do honestly.” He told her, taking a seat on the bed across from her. “How long have you been like this?” she asked him, not knowing what to call it.

“Since that night... at the party.” He told her, the tension between them that had always been there seemed to have faded, almost as if nothing had ever happened between them. There was somehow a feeling of comfort and familiarity between them, there was no one else who could understand what they had been going through. Ella could see his expression change, for a moment he didn’t have the constant smirk or smartass persona, it was the same Carlos she had met that summer break.

“If you’ve known this whole time it was me, then why didn’t you tell me? It would’ve been nice to have someone to talk to about all of this.” Ella said, hurt lingering in her voice. The past few days have been nothing short of hell for her, torn between confusion and insanity. Unsure what was real and what was her mind playing tricks on her. Carlos sat silent for a few minutes, thinking of what to say. Ella watched him, wishing she knew what he had been thinking. As he opened his mouth, Ella felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Both of them stopped, listening to the muffled vibration. Ella pulled it out, seeing Ben’s face across her screen as he was calling her. Ella let it ring for another moment, debating on answering it or not. Unknowingly Carlos was watching through the reflection of her eyes. He could see the photo of Ben on her screen and watched her thumb glide back and forth between answering and denying before the phone stopped ringing. Ella pushed her phone into her pocket, giving Carlos an apologetic look. “You were saying?”.

“I was just bored.” Carlos told her, his tone no longer caring and open. The devious smile crept up his lip as he stared at her. Ella let out a chuckle in disbelief “You were bored? Really Carlos? You left me to spin in circles and go crazy simply because you were bored?” Ella’s voice grew louder as she questioned him. Carlos simply shrugged at her not giving any more of an answer. “I knew this was a mistake coming here.” Ella shook her head at him. She turned towards the door to walk out, if he wasn’t going to help her and if this was only a game to him then she would figure it out on her own. As her hand grasped the doorknob and she began to open it, the door slammed shut. Carlos’s hand pressed against the door, keeping it closed. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and onto her. He stood inches behind her, his eyes staring down at her. Ella could feel the pull between them, she wanted to turn into him and wrap her arms around him. To take in the feeling of comfort of knowing she wasn’t alone, but she didn’t move. Instead, she simply turned around, her back against the door.

“What?” Ella growled towards him, staring into his eyes. “Meet me.” He said blankly. Ella rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head as she let out a laugh, “For what?” she dared him. “I’ll show you how to control it.” He said simply. Ella didn’t know what specifically he was referring to, but she knew just from the few minutes she had spent in this room, Carlos knew more about what was going on inside of them than she did. “Fine. What do you get out of it?” She asked. She knew him. She knew he wouldn’t offer her help out of the kindness of his heart. “Let’s just call it an ‘I owe you’.” Ella stared at him, weighing her options. As much as she wanted to say no, she knew he was her only option. “Deal.” she whispered. Carlos removed his hand, taking a step back from her.

Ella turned to open the door but heard someone coming up the stairs. They could both smell them, the chokingly strong perfume, it was Valerie. Ella glanced at Carlos, he nodded towards the window and Ella understood.

“Put your p***s away Carlos, I’m coming in!” Valerie yelled at the top of the stairs. The two of them held a ‘unique’ relationship to say the least. They were the only two out of all the Willis siblings that were blood related. They had faced countless struggles together through numerous foster homes before being adopted. There were times they seemed to be the only ones who understood one another, that could control the other from getting too out of hand. Although on the outside they both had the play-boy persona, Ella had gotten to experience how they both were when hidden from public view.

Ella couldn’t stop the grin that her lips formed. She swung one leg out the window but stopped to look back at Carlos. “Wait, where do I meet you?” She asked him. “Behind the football field.” Ella simply nodded towards him and squeezed her other leg out the window then jumped. She landed on the grass below, ‘I can get used to this’ she thought, grinning as she had just jumped out a two-story window and felt perfectly fine. Ella glanced up at the window above before she jogged off towards the tree line.

Carlos walked towards the window, watching as Ella disappeared between the trees. He, of course, knew she felt him watching, but he didn’t care, nevertheless. The door behind him flew open and Valerie walked in. Carlos gave little attention to what she was saying. He didn’t know much, hardly anything at all, but he did know that there was a part of him that didn’t want to be more than a few feet from her.