Run With The Wolves
☾ XXII ☽

Channing and Henri do not get along.

It’s not shocking. Henri can make cheeky comments that’s irritating, and Channing has the shortest temper on the planet. Honestly, Henri doesn’t have to speak and Channing would blow a fuse. He just makes it worse by egging Channing on by making snide remarks when he knows he shouldn’t.

The tension between them had really grown in the past three hours, and no one else wanted to stop it. The future wasn't that hard to tell at this point. They were going to end up fighting.

I should be grateful that we're not anywhere where people could hear the fight ensue. The recently burned area is in the middle of the forest and I doubt someone would be wandering around here for the fun of it. Yet, this area was big enough for a fight to happen. As much as I thought Channing's brothers would get in between them, they were literally just standing there watching as Channing and Henri yelled at each other.

Someone has to stop them.

I went over to Henri first because I felt like it would be easier to calm him down. “Can we please not do this?” I begged, looking up at Henri because if I had put my hands on Channing, he really would’ve gotten mad. Henri let me push him back, but he was about to say something he shouldn’t. “Come on, Henri. Please don’t irritate him.” I tried to get his attention.

He really did not like that I was defending Channing more. “If anyone is being irritating-”

“Henri!” I stopped him.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Channing’s older brothers holding him back. There was this cold look in his eyes, like for a split second he would’ve shifted and a real fight would’ve happened.

“Are you trying to give Channing a reason to kill you?” I asked Henri as he backed away from me, pacing around with frustration.

“This was just a waste of time.” Henri said angrily. “If I knew he would’ve been this thick headed, I would’ve just let them figure this out themselves-”

Channing started yelling. “We wouldn’t have a problem if you were actually helpful!-”

“You should be grateful that I’m helping you, considering all your failed attempts!-”

There was more yelling going on, but for a split second, it was like I wasn’t there. Henri really put gasoline over the fire this time. I blinked once, and he wasn’t in front of me anymore. The yelling got louder, and in the next second there was a loud roar behind me. By the time I turned around, the black wolf was trying to bite into Henri, but Henri kept his mouth open for as long as he could.

“Stop them!” I yelled towards the other Martin brothers. None of them moved when they heard me. That's what made me more frightened.

I had to do something.

“Gabriel, don’t get involved-”

“They’ll kill each other!”

No one seemed to listen. They were just going to watch Henri and Channing go at it without trying to stop it. I don’t care that they don’t get along. The two of them coming up with a plan is the only way to solve this huge problem. If his brothers won’t stop them, then I will!

Henri was fast enough to get out of being bit into and put distance between him and the large animal that roared at him. He was crouched down and had a vicious glare in his eyes as he focused his gaze on the wolf. It would only take seconds for him to decide to go for the kill. That’s the same amount of time that it would take Channing to decide the same thing.

A petty argument sparked into a full blown fight.

I ran in between them. I had this thought that maybe if a human stood between them, then they would stop their fight out of fear of hurting me. There was all this yelling and growling, and so much was happening in a second, but the only thing I focused on was the black wolf that was so close to me that I could feel him breathing.

Had he taken another stride forward, he would’ve collided into me. I would’ve been the one to get injuries out of that collision.

His blue eyes were as cold as ice, glaring right at me with a fury I couldn’t describe into words. He bared his sharp teeth at me, growling lowly at me. Warning me. Threatening me.

Yet he didn’t move.

If he had, the white wolf that was standing behind me would’ve struck him, and that would’ve been worse.

In just a matter of seconds, Ty saw what was about to happen and put himself between his brother and Henri, because I did. He doesn’t care about Henri. It becomes his issue when I’m involved. I should be grateful that Ty was quick enough to back me up in this situation. He wouldn't let me get hurt. But I began to wonder what would happen if he wasn't here.

Would Channing really hurt me?

I wasn’t going to replace out today.

Channing continued to glare at me, not at his brother who was growling at him. I don’t doubt that Channing has had enough of me getting in his way. I don’t doubt that he actually wants me to stay put so he could rip Henri to shreds. If I wasn’t here, they would be trying to kill each other, but I can’t let that happen. I don’t care if Channing is the alpha male.

I don’t care if Henri has a problem with him.

They need to get over it so no one else gets hurt.

After a few seconds of intense staring, the black wolf sat obediently on his hind legs and his growling stopped. There was still a terrible glare in his eyes, yet he didn’t seem as threatening as he was before.

“Gabriel!” Cina shouted my way. “Move!”

I didn’t.

I was more concerned that Channing understood that he needs to control his temper for the better of his town. I shouldn’t have to stop him from trying to kill Henri out of pettiness.

I didn’t move out of the way until I was sure that Channing would take me seriously.

Once that happened, I stepped aside, and the animal beside me brushed up against me, rubbing my head gently and breathing over me.

Cina came over to us, yanking on my hand and dragging me away. “You’re fucking insane.” He just about shouted at me. “You think Channing is going to listen to you because you can stare him down-”

“You’re supposed to help him!” I yelled back. “Channing already has a lot going on, but all of you just want to let him lash out!” I literally had to put myself in danger to stop Channing and Henri from ripping each other apart.

Yet, I’m the one getting yelled at.

Brendan pushed Cina out of the way to get to me. “That’s no reason for you to get involved!” He rose his voice louder just before I could give my response. “Remember you’re just a human, Gabriel. You shouldn’t be putting yourself between any one of us!”

“Then stop fighting!” I shouted, absolutely frustrated with everything that has been going on. This is the first time I was able to let it out and it felt awful. “I shouldn’t have to tell you there’s bigger issues than a petty argument with Henri! He’s the only one trying to help you but you’re not taking him seriously.” I yelled at all of them.

All of them are to blame for this.

I turned around sharply to glare at Henri. He was at fault, too. “You know baiting Channing was going to lead to a fight yet you did it anyway!” I yelled at him just as loudly. I saw the way his expression became surprised from hearing me raise my voice. He started this and he knows it. “Stop picking a fight and help like you say you will.” I demanded.

I shouldn’t have to yell at them.

I shouldn’t have to keep them focused.

I’m the human here. They should be comforting me and protecting me and making sure that I’m okay. I can’t babysit them. I can’t be the one to make sure they don’t kill each other.

“I shouldn’t have to be doing this.” I looked among all of them.

The kind of anxiety I felt, it’s not something I’m used to. I hated this feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever yelled this hard in my life. I don’t want to do it again.

I turned away so I could leave.

After all that, I just felt worse. So now I want to go home. As much as I can scream and yell at them to get along, I can’t make them. After all, I’m just a human. I need to remember that more often so I stop putting myself in harm’s way.

I went straight to my mom when I got home, and she hugged me kindly, the kind of love that a child needs after having a rough day.

I really did believe today would be productive. I had so much hope that we could come up with a plan to solve this whole vampire issue. Instead I had to yell so loud that my voice cracked. I can't even say it was embarrassing because I literally had to stop Henri and Channing from going at it.

Today was definitely a rough day.

“Why is my baby upset?” My mom asked, running her hand through my hair gently.

My dad was not occupied enough to ignore her behavior towards me. He stopped cutting up vegetables with the knife to look at her. “Anne.” He warned her. “Stop treating him like a child.” He would scold her about it, but he immediately put his attention on me. “What did you do?”

“I had to yell at my friends because they were fighting.” I admitted.

My dad raised his eyebrow with interest. “Seriously?” He asked. “You’re not a yeller.” He seemed surprised.

“He’s a lover, not a fighter.” Mom hugged me tighter against her.

“Anne.” My dad groaned. “Gabriel needs to stand up for himself and his friends. The whole nice guy act only gets you so far.” He was serious about that one.

“Being stressed enough to yell is not good.” Mom said. “Don’t bottle things up like your dad.” She said to me.

“Anne!”

“Am I wrong?” She asked him. When he didn’t answer, she placed her hands gently on my face. “I guess being firm is a good trait, too.” she sighed.

“I just want everyone to be okay.” I said quietly.

If only I could tell her how serious everything was, how frightened I was, how afraid I was for them, for everyone. I was genuinely scared. It’s better that they don’t know what’s really going on. I can’t let them know what I know.

“You’re going to be a provider.” My mom said kindly.

“Anne, did you replace your old tarot cards again?”

She remained quiet for a second, not meeting his stern gaze because he didn’t like when she got into fortune telling and being one with the forces of nature. “No...” She lied.

“If you have to yell, then you yell.” My dad told me. “No one else is going to do it for you. But if you have to yell at your friends for them to realize there’s something wrong, then that’s already a problem.”

Should I feel bad about that? Should I excuse the behavior? Channing has been trying to get this vampire issue resolved, and Henri says he wants to help. Them fighting won’t get them anywhere. It’s wasting time. But should I be the one saying this?

I can’t say it’s not my problem.

I saw what the vampires did to Monique Shaw and the twins.

I’ve been watching the news.

People are scared. I’m scared. I had just hoped having a common goal would make Henri and the Martin brothers more likely to work together without problems. Maybe I thought too much about it.

I didn’t want to give up hope, but I guess I preferred to be alone after having a sudden realization that I might have to deal with my fear instead. “Thanks...” I said quietly as I turned away. “I’ll be in my room...”

Late at night, I went down into the basement to let Ty in. I hadn’t heard from him all day, though I didn’t exactly try to reach out to him either. A lot happened. I don’t know if he talked to Channing or Henri, but at this point I didn’t want to know.

“Sorry...for earlier...” Ty said nervously, looking away as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“What are you sorry for?” I asked.

I had some time to clear my head, and for me to blame all of them was rash. I was angry, so I’m not surprised by how quick I was to say that they were at fault. Then again, they should be able to put aside their differences for their common goal.

Yet, I crossed my arms and looked up at Ty, curious about what he would apologize to me for. “You were behind me the entire time.” I said.

“I know...” he sighed. He wasn’t doing it for Channing or Henri. He was doing it for me. “But you were right. We shouldn’t just let Channing handle everything. And we should be...more welcoming to Henri.”

“He did piss Channing off though, so I can’t exactly be surprised all that happened.” I groaned. “I just wish that everyone would get along and none of this would happen.” I trudged over to the bed and sat down.

“After you frightened everyone and left,” he emphasized the fact that I may have scared everyone, which I probably didn’t, “Channing finally calmed down enough to talk to Henri again. It went a little better.”

I didn’t know what to say for a moment. I just stared at the ground and tried to think, but even then I had trouble putting my words together. I had to admit I felt a little better. Ty came and sat next to me, taking my hand in his gently.

“Did I really scare everyone?”

“Jackie was shocked you even put yourself in front of Channing like that.”

That’s surprising. I don’t know if I should be proud or worried about the consequences of facing off to Channing. Then I thought about what that was like for Ty. He had to go against his brother for me. I’ve always been telling him to not do that, but I put him in that position when I didn’t mean to.

“I’m sorry for putting you in between them, too.”

Ty shrugged, however. I wonder if he was freaking out on the inside. He does this thing where he hides his emotions. Yet, there was this lingering feeling like he wasn’t as paranoid as he usually would be. He didn’t say anything about my comment, but he did lean his head on to my shoulder.

He’s probably exhausted.

Everything is an emotional roller coaster.

“So, I told my dad I yelled at you guys and he was genuinely surprised.” I laughed quietly. “I think he was a little bit proud.” I can’t get over the look on his face when I told him that happened. Ty should’ve been there.

“He should be. You literally humbled Channing enough for him to swallow his anger and get through another hour of dealing with Henri.” He said.

“Humbled is definitely strong wording.” I didn’t believe that I got through to Channing that much. I know I stared at him as hard as I could, but that’s hardly going against Channing.

Ty lifted his head to look at me. “For a second, I thought you became the alpha male of the pack.” he scoffed.

If I knew my actions would have that much weight on how Channing saw me, I wouldn’t have done anything. He probably really hates me now. That’s definitely not what I wanted. “You told him I’m sorry right?” I asked Ty seriously. “I didn’t mean any of it.”

He smiled despite the fact that I was being serious with him. I had to admit that made me feel a little better about what happened. Maybe it’s not that serious...It probably was incredibly serious and I should worry about it.

But I’m glad I was actually able to put some sense into all of them.

For the first night in weeks, I was able to get a full night’s rest. I woke up in the morning ready to go about my day, which has not happened in a long time. Even when I got to school I was in a good mood.

A hand hit the locker next to mine, causing me to jolt abruptly and drop my book on the floor. I was frightened by the sudden movement, but then my eyes looked up towards Cina, and the last thing I needed to do was show I was some “damsel” in distress. He feeds off that.

“I woke up in a good mood, Cina.” I warned him to not change that for me today.

“What a coincidence.” he came closer to me, and pushed my locker door shut so he could have my attention. “I did, too, pumpkin-”

“My brass knuckles are in my bag.” I tried something different because he barely even blinked at my first warning.

He just smiled though as he leaned against the lockers, keeping me from going anywhere. It’s just easier to let him do this instead of fighting him. When I show resistance, he puts in more effort.

“You left so quickly yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to tell you how hot you looked.”

I rolled my eyes. He has to be joking. There is no way he means what he just said. I couldn’t take the comment seriously. “Don’t worry, Ty came over to let me know.”

“Ouch. You’re breaking my heart, Gabriel.” He moved, now in front of me. He was clearly showing me he was taller than I was. In a matter of seconds, there was that threatening demeanor he very rarely has.

I did something wrong.

He wants me to know it.

“You’re lucky nothing happened to you.” He was smiling, but I knew deep down he was irritated with me. Cina has been the one telling me about safety, and when I go and put myself in danger, he doesn’t exactly take that very well. I have to admit that I was a little scared. “Next time you might not be so lucky.”

“Don’t trust your brother?” My back pressed up against the locker. I wanted to put space between us but there was nowhere for me to go. I was stuck.

“Think you can tame a pack of beasts?”

I met his gaze. His question was serious. Do I really think I can control a whole group of werewolves? My heart raced as I took a second to think about my answer. Yesterday was proof that I meant something. “You’re the one who said I run with the wolves, Cina.” I reminded him.

The subtle twitch in his smile gave me the indication that he was irritated.

Before I knew it, someone grabbed his jacket and yanked him back. “Ty’s going to kick your ass one day.” Brendan put distance between us, which I was really thankful for.

Cina was not. “Yeah, yeah.” he didn’t take what Brendan said seriously.

“Come to make your comments, too, Brendan?-”

“About you being stupid?” he asked without missing a beat. I had to be quick to hide my shock, I was seconds away from letting my jaw drop. “No, Cina needs to help me with a project.”

We definitely need to address what he just said before.

Before I could make a comment, Brendan was already pushing Cina down the hall, and I didn’t have a chance to say a comeback. All I could do was watch them leave, slightly in shock because Brendan has no problem taking jabs at me. Cina is just like him.

I picked up my book off the floor just as the bell rang, and I put it in my locker. I thought about skipping class. I was sure I was in a good mood. Or maybe I just wanted to sit outside and bask in the sun for a little bit. It’s not that I need time to think, I just want to have a moment to myself. I only want peace.

I decided to take some time to myself outside. Missing a part of first period wouldn’t kill me. I sat down at the tables outside where it wasn’t shaded. I wanted to feel the sun’s ray on my skin. This is different than in the extremely cold weather. This is the first day that I’m not wearing a long sleeve shirt and it feels great.

There was a bit of shuffling behind me. Someone was sitting at my table but I didn’t turn to see who it was. I closed my eyes instead and focused on the heat over my skin. As cold as it is today, it’s the hottest it’s ever been. I wanted to focus on that. Whoever was sitting at the table didn’t say anything for a second.

“So...” Henri started slowly, “after having some time to actually feel bad about what I said to the dog-” he stopped immediately to correct himself “-Channing,” he cleared his throat, “we came up with a rather risky plan that can get the job done.”

I can’t give Henri the silent treatment.

I turned around to look at him, putting my hands on the table. “Risky?” I was curious about what that meant. All of what’s happening is risky. So is their plan worse than that? “Henri-”

“The goal is to run the vampires out, just like Channing wanted all along.” he said before I could start to convince of trying to replace a different plan.

So by risky, he definitely meant dangerous. And by the way he didn’t add anymore to his statement, I had a feeling like it was more than that. Someone was going to get hurt.

“Henri...”

“It’s going to be fine, Gabriel.” he smiled weakly at me. It wasn’t the same bright smile he always has, the one that makes me think he’s the sun. “Trust us. We’ll have everything settled in no time.” He tried to sound as reassuring as he could.

I don’t doubt that they figured something out.

I shouldn’t expect everything to go smoothly without any problems. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. It’s not like I can do something about it. All I can hope is that everything is taken care of like Henri is promising me.

I nodded towards him, wanting to make him feel better since he did try to ease my worry. If he could, he would control my emotions to make me calm. It’s just easier to show that I believe him even if I was scared of something happening.