Page 33 of The Wolf's Bullied Mate
Ray watched me with curious eyes. “What’s an ‘atelier’?”
“A place where you learn art under the guidance of someone much more skilled at it,” I flashed a smile. “Unfortunately, the atelier where luna Aria and alpha Ryder learned art closed because the Master of the Atelier grew old andretired. He didn’t accept people younger than sixteen, though, anyway,” I thought out loud. “But I could ask the luna or the alpha to teach Ray if he’s interested in becoming an artist—what do you think, Pauline?”
Pauline looked at me wide-eyed, as if the thought scared her. “I wouldn’t want to bother the luna or the alpha with Ray’s education.”
“Oh, it wouldn’t be a bother. Ryder and I have been close friends for years. Ray is my family now. I’m sure Ryder would be happy to help out,” I said as if the proposal was the most logical thing, the simplest action in the world.
Tears welled up in Pauline’s eyes.
My mouth fell open. I felt alarmed. What had I done to make her cry? I didn’t want Pauline to cry. Had I messed up again?
With her free hand, Pauline wiped at the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, Oliver. You’re really doing so much for us.”
“It’s nothing,” I mumbled, suddenly embarrassed.
It really was nothing, right? I was just doing what anyone would do for their family.
“Hey, Oliver!”
I turned around to see Bruce, one of my old high school friends, call out to me. He walked in our direction with two more of our friends from adolescence, Rick and Andy. They were all strong wolves—enforcers fighting under Caden’s leadership to protect Moondust Hollow. Of course, their role didn’t involve much fighting now because now the pack was at peace with everyone.
Come to think of it, these people weren’t just my friends. Pauline had known them, too. In high school, I sometimes pulled her nose out of a book long enough to hang out with them.
I looked over at Pauline to see her visibly pale and swaying on her feet. My wolf growled. We both recognized the fear in her scent.
Pauline was afraid of our three friends, and I had no idea why.
“Oh, isn’t that…?” Andy whistled. He looked Pauline up and down like a leering dog. “That’s Pauline Anderson, isn’t it?”
I wanted to smack that lustful look off of his face.
Rick checked Pauline out again. “Thatisher!”
“She’s not Anderson anymore,” I spat through gritted teeth. I let go of Ray’s hand so I wouldn’t accidentally hurt him as my own hand balled into a fist. “She’s Norton now.”
“Ah, yeah, you got hitched, didn’t ya?” Bruce boomed in his low voice. “Married to the freak—out of all the women ya could have had?”
“What did you call her?” I frowned.
The words rang a bell to me, though I didn’t know where I had heard them first. How could anyone call Pauline a freak? She was the sweetest girl there was—had always been.
The three enforcers gave me a confused look. “The freak? Cos she’s, like, weird and stuff?”
“Weird, how?” I couldn’t help but ask.
I got the feeling that I should just remove Ray and, Pauline, and myself from this unpleasant situation, but I suspected that if I stayed, I could learn something pivotal—maybe even the missing piece to explain the difficulties of my relationship with Pauline. Somehow my intuition told me Bruce, Andy and Rick knew something about Pauline that I didn’t, something Pauline had avoided telling me.
“Cos she’s ahhh…” Rick trailed off. Smart, he was not. He never had been. “…She’s the school weirdo—you know.”
I arched my eyebrows. “We’re not in school anymore, though. Why are you picking on her? We’ve got an anti-bullying policy in the pack, and you as enforcers should know better.”
“But,” Andy protested, “you were the first one to call her a freak.”
I opened my mouth to call him out on that ridiculous accusation when suddenly a memory resurfaced.
Pauline, back in high school, was standing next to the giant oak tree, her hand on its bark. She clutched a book in her arms. I put my hand next to hers and leaned in closer.
“You can’t run from the company of others, Pauline,” I whispered in what I imagined back then was a flirty tone. “Come, let me whisk you away.”
