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Hurt, Hope, and Devastation

Scarlett

I waited excitedly on my porch for Osprey to come walk me to school. Every time someone appeared at the end of our short street, my heart sped up in anticipation, but it was never him. My mom came out onto the porch and put her hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t think he’s coming, honey.”

My eyes filled with tears as I looked up at her. “But he said he would be here.”

She smiled at me sadly. “Come on. We should get you to school before you’re late.”

“But… he promised,” I whispered.

“Maybe he overslept or something. I’m sure he’ll be there this afternoon to walk you home.”

I sighed but followed her down the stairs, defeated. “Yeah… sure.”

I walked with my head down as tears continued to run down my face. He had never missed walking me to school in the mornings. Well, he had twice, but it was because he was really sick. I stopped, grabbing my mother’s arm.

“Mom, have you spoken to Raul today?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Did he mention Osprey?”

She nodded slowly. “He did, yes.”

“Is he okay? I mean, did he say Osprey is sick?”

“No. He said Osprey was on a hunt with Elena and Tasha.”

“Oh,” I said as my shoulders slumped when my hurt feelings killed my hope. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

She patted my hand, and I stuck it in my pocket. ”Scarlett, what’s going on between you and Osprey?”

“Nothing.”

“Your brother told me what happened during dinner the other night, along with what happened yesterday when you guys went to pick him up from school.”

“He’s my best friend.”

“Honey, do you like Osprey?”

I sighed. “Yes. He’s…” I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t know. Maybe. I thought… he said we would be friends forever.”

She hugged me. “He’s family. He will always be family. Nobody can take that from you.”

I pulled away from her. “NO! I thought he liked me, too. He told me he did! HE DIDN’T LIE!” I screamed before running into the school building.

I ran past all the classrooms until I reached the last one. I went inside, threw my bag on the floor beside my desk, and laid my head on the table. Why didn’t he show up? Was he mad at me? If he was mad at me, what did I do? How could I fix it? Someone touched my shoulder.

“Scar?”

I shrugged her hand off my shoulder. “Leave me alone, Elena.”

She sighed. “So, you're mad at the world, too.”

I lifted my head to glare at her. “I am not mad at the world!”

“Yeah, that’s what he said this morning, too,” she mumbled as she walked away.

“Who?” I called out after her.

She sat at her desk before turning her head to meet my eyes. “Osprey.”

My heart sped up at the mention of his name, and I went to ask her a question when our teacher called for our attention. I put my head back on the desk. I was determined to talk to her during our break. Maybe she would know why he didn’t come this morning. I kept my head down as I did my classwork. I hated math, so I rushed through it. I knew half of them were wrong, but quite frankly, I didn’t care. I had already been moved up to the advanced lessons. What was the worst they could do? Put me back on multiplication tables? I pulled my book out to read until the next assignment was handed out, when tears immediately filled my eyes again.

I ran my fingers over the hand-sewn leather bookmark that Osprey had given me for my 10th birthday. I shook my head. Stupid. This was stupid. I put the bookmark under my book and picked up where I had left off. My mind drifted to him as my fingers played with the gold-braided material at the top of the bookmark. I wondered what he was doing and if he was missing me, too. I sighed as I sat back in my seat. The minute the teacher dismissed us, I rushed over to Elena to grab her arm to drag her out of the building.

“What’s wrong with him?”

She sighed. “Do you like my brother, Auntie?”

I tensed a little. “So what if I do?”

She glanced over her shoulder before taking me further away from the teacher. “Listen to me. Osprey told me during our hunt this morning that my father talked to him yesterday. He told him to leave you alone.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

She nodded. “I heard my father talking to our mom this morning after Osprey left for school. She is pissed. She told him to stay out of it. That if Osprey thought you were his mate, that was between the two of you. I’ve never seen her slap him before. She was so angry.”

“What? He thinks I’m his mate?”

She nodded. “She reminded him that when your mom was still pregnant with you, Osprey was crazy about you and told them you were his mate. I know I tease you two a lot, but you guys are so cute. If you want to like him, that’s okay with me and our mom.” She hugged me. “Go talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Mom always says to do that, even if it hurts.”

I couldn’t help but beam at her. “He really thinks I’m his mate?”

She rolled her eyes as a small smile played around on her lips. “Why am I not surprised that’s what you're stuck on?”

I shoved her a little. “Shut up!”

She flipped me off and took off towards her friends when the teacher yelled her name. I did a little happy dance, wrapping my arms around my waist. The rest of the day passed in a blur as I focused on what Elena had said. Mate. I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t know a lot about the bear community, but mates had been explained to me. A soulmate of sorts with an unbreakable bond. Just like mine and his. I loved watching my brother with his mates. Not to mention the way Aunt Tara was with hers, and Aunt Mona with Uncle Adam.

“Earth to Scarlett!” Elena laughed, shaking me.

I blinked. “What?”

“The bell rang. Are you ready?”

“The bell?”

She rolled her eyes. “Or you can stay here, but I’m going home.”

I immediately jumped to my feet and snatched my bag off the floor. She pointed to my last assignment.

“I would not turn that in. See if you can do it tomorrow.”

“What?”

“You’re paper. It’s a mess.”

I looked down at the science paper on my desk, groaning when it was covered in pictures of bears and hearts. I had even written Osprey on it half a dozen times. I blushed as I shoved it in my bag.

“Yeah. I’ll turn it in tomorrow,” I mumbled.

I rushed her out of the room, and in no time we were turning down her street. I slowed as my nerves took over. When I stopped, Elena leaned against the fence post, watching me.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you sure he thinks that?” I asked, twisting my hands together.

“Yes. He adores you. Remember when he let us put him in that pink foo-foo dress just to be close to you? What guy does that? He didn’t even care when we posted it all over the internet.”

I giggled a little, remembering the way he had posed for his sisters. I relaxed and took her hand. “Come on.”

“What are you going to ask him?”

When I slowed again, she tugged me along. “I don’t know.”

“You should ask him to be your boyfriend.”

“What? No! He’s in high school.”

She laughed. “He’s a freshman. Relax. It’s not a big deal.”

As we rounded the corner of their house, I almost stopped again when Vanessa sat on the porch with Osprey. I watched him lean over to tap a paper on the desk. She smiled at me before responding to him. When he turned his head to look at her, she kissed him. I immediately froze while Elena yelled at my side. He jerked back and jumped to his feet when he saw me. Elena sprinted towards the porch while he came towards me. I turned on my heel and sprinted away from their house.

“SCARLETT! WAIT!”

I ignored him to race home, praying that he wouldn’t shift. There was no chance for me to escape if he did that. At least in human form, I was able to keep away from him. I heard a sorrowful howl from my right and I pushed myself faster. I kept my eyes trained on my house looming in front of me. Godric came barreling out of the trees, and I screamed as I skidded to a halt. I backed away from him, panting as he stared at me with his chest heaving.

“Leave me alone!” I yelled at him. “Go home! Get out of here!”

“Scarlett?”

“Mom! I want to go inside. Make him move! Please,” I begged.

She came down the stairs, wiping her wet hands on her pants before putting her arm over my shoulders. She went to guide me around him when he sidestepped, growling at us. She narrowed her eyes on him.

“TASHA!”

“Valerie? What’s- Osprey? Godric, what are you doing?”

As we took another step, he moved forward. Tasha came running down the stairs and shifted. She stood between us and her son with her teeth bared, uttering little growls that held him in place as my mother ushered me inside. Once the door was shut, she turned me towards her and ran her hands over me. I pushed her away from me to stomp upstairs.

“What in the hell happened?”

I stopped at the top of the stairs to look down at her. “I hate Raul. I hate Elena. I hate Osprey. I hate everybody. Just leave me alone!”

I went into my room and threw myself down on my bed. I pulled my pillow down to curl my body around it as I cried. At that moment, I did hate them all. But I hated myself most of all for believing that he thought I was his mate.

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