I go back to my locker, not looking at her, and shrug. “Oh you know. Same ol’ same ol’ with the alpha. Just using my lack of sleep as a way to try and get me into the pack.” I know that wasn’t what he was doing, Ness and I truly believed the concern was genuine which doesn’t make me hate him less.
“Uhhh. Try again sister. I know what I saw and you NEVER let Nate get that close to you.” She says pointedly.
“Nate?” I say back, looking at her now. “Since when do you refer to him as Nate?” I know that I am angrier than I should be, but I also know that there aren’t many people he lets call him by that nickname. He wants to keep the separation between pack and alpha. He has to keep the line between classmate and alpha clear.
Now it’s Melody’s turn to shrug, but I can see the guilt behind her eyes. “I don’t know, last week or something…” Her eyes don’t meet mine and I know that there is more to this.
I shut my locker and cross my arms over my chest. “Since last week Mel? What happened last week?” I’m trying to keep my anger in check here. Mel doesn’t know that he’s my mate, but she also doesn’t know that he isn’t her’s. She hasn’t turned 18 yet so in her mind there is still a chance.
“Listen, babe.” She starts, trying to put on her ‘gives no shits, everything is cool’ fasade so that I don’t see through her.
Even if I couldn’t feel people’s emotions, I would know what was going on with her. Mel has been my best friend since my first day of school.
May had dropped me off and the secretary took me to my first class. I was six and hadn’t been around other kids before so I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but the first one to walk up to me that day was Mel. Deep brown eyes with chocolate brown hair to match and a smile, fully loaded with two adorable dimples, that would prove to get her out of every bad situation she put herself in.
She strides above me at about 5’7 and has curves that have all the guys and girls begging. She’s a killer at softball and loves to lift weights, she says it makes her feel even more like a badass than she already is.
Melody is also super confident in herself but not in away that makes her self-centered, just in away that makes her not give a shit about what other people say about her. One of the many reasons she is my best friend.
“Don’t babe me, Melody. Just tell me.” I say sternly.
“Damn, full name okay.” She huffs and finally looks up at me.
“I had coffee with him, okay?”
“Annnd?” I retort.
“And, that’s it.” She says, like I should know what all went down.
I roll my eyes and pray for the patience. “Mel, you gotta give me more then that. Did you ask him, did he ask you? Did he SAY you could call him Nate?”
“I asked him… and not exactly. He didn’t SAAAY it, but he also doesn’t get coffee with just anyone, so I figured it was implied.”
I really consider homing into her emotions, but I don’t like the idea of manipulating my best friend. It’s not fair because she can’t do the same, and I feel like it is a violation of her trust.
“Listen,” I say calmly, putting my hands on top of her shoulders. “I love you, and I am glad that you had the confidence to ask him for coffee. I am assuming that he was nice, otherwise the whole seeing him just now would have gone a lot different. However,” I start, and she rolls her eyes.
“Yeah yeah,” she says, “I know, I shouldn’t call him that until he explicitly invites me to.”
I rub her should before letting go, placing my hands on the straps of my backpack. “I know that he seems like a good alpha, but I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I still don’t understand why you won’t join the pack.” She pouts.
“And on that note, I am heading to class.” I give her a two-finger salute and turn to go the other direction.
“Well Ness, that was an interesting start to our day.” I say, already tired and ready to go home.
She snorts back at me, “Interesting doesn’t even cover it.”
The day is boring and slow for the most part, tuning out people's emotions and turning in on myselfinstead. I’m having a hard time focusing because my mind keeps going back to the Alpha. Specifically, the differences.“Why would he smell different, Ness?” I just can’t shake it. It had to of been him.“I don’t know.” She replies. “His woof was…”She doesn’t finish and that piques my interest further. “What, Ness? His woof was what?”She doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I begin to wonder what she could be feeling that she isn’t ready to share.The bell rings, signaling that my class is over and it’s time for lunch. I gather my things and start heading out with the rest of the class. I’m not really paying attention to what’s going on, until I smell it.Cinnamon… and firewood.I look around, trying desperately to
I decide not to go to school the next day, opting for a mental health day in the forest instead. There is just so much happening, and it all started when I evolved. Since then, it feels like everything is different, shifting and evolving with me. My senses, the emotions, the mate bond, the twins. God, the twins. I don’t understand. There are so many questions, so many missing pieces. Part of me wants to find the answers, figure out what they have been hiding. But the other part… the other part of me wonders if I should just leave. I walk to our waterfall; mine, and Nessa’s. It’s almost more my home than the cabin is. It’s where it all started and is my favorite place to think. “Okay.” I start. “Okay.” Ness says back. “Here is what we know. Nathaniel has a twin.” “Yep. Twins. Check.” Nessa says with a smile I can hear. “Okay miss cheery wolf, calm down.” “What?” she says. “This is exciting! Not one, but TWO mates
He’s standing in front of me, naked. I keep eye contact, not daring to look anywhere else. But damn why did he have to be naked. ‘Oh come on, just a little peak.’ Nessa wines. ‘Nessa. No.’ I masked the mate bond the second I sensed someone coming, partially out of habit, and partially out of assumption. I’m not sure who else would come out here, if not one of the twins looking for me. “Who are you?” I ask again. Nothing. “Listen, I know you aren’t Nathaniel and I know that It was you talking to me at my locker yesterday. So just get on with it already.” Again. Nothing. “Are you going to say anything or just stand there, staring at me…. naked.” He smirks. He goddamn smirks. “Okay. Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to go now.” I salute him and start walking away, with no destination in mind, just somewhere away from here. “You aren’t the least bit curious?” He asks. I stop, but don’t t
Before Ness and I get the chance to test her theory the twins break their link and face me. “Okay. So you want to know about us and we want to know about you.” No name says. “And we think the best solution to that is to propose a trade.” Nathaniel adds. “For every one thing we tell you about us, you tell us something about you.” “Me? Why the hell would you want to know about me?” I ask. “Oh come on Princess.” Nathaniel says with a smirk. “You are the only wolf who doesn’t want to be a part of the pack, that makes you a little interesting.” “Not to mention the fact that you don’t seem to be surprised or the least bit freaked out by the twin thing.” No name mentions. ‘What do you think Ness? This seems kind of dangerous.’ ‘Roo, babe, it’s going to be fine. Remember we are their mate. That’s a bond for life girlfriend. You might as well start the process of getting to know them now while they are willing to share.’ Ness ha
“You?” Nathaniel says, with an angry tone to his voice. “You have abilities?’ His anger catches me off guard. “I thought this is what you wanted? Why are you angry with me?” I ask him, not hiding the rising anger in my own voice. “I am so sick of this Roo,” Nathaniel almost spits out my name. “I thought you were going to give us the truth, but here you are deflecting again; trying to get us to believe that you are like us. Did you really think that was going to work? huh? You aren’t an alpha; you can’t have special abilities.” He is more than angry now. His face is turning red and his fists are balled up at his sides. I look to no name, hoping that he is on my side, but he doesn’t believe me either. I can feel it. I can see it. ‘Show them Roo.’ Nessa speaks. ‘Prove it to them.’ “Okay fine. You don’t believe me. I’ll prove it to you then. I have heightened senses, all of them. I can see things, hear things, feel things, even taste
Just as I am about to ask my next question, Nathaniel’s phone rings. He looks at the phone, seeing who is calling, and then looks to no name. “Unfortunately, we are going to have to cut this little game of our short.” He says, his tone changing back to the authoritative alpha I know him to be. “You can take that call.” I say, “I don’t mind.” I shrug at him. “Since we have discovered your supersonic hearing, and this is going to be about pack business, I think it’s best that we go.” Nathaniel puts his phone back in his pocket and nods to his brother. They start to head away from me, back the way no name had entered earlier in the day, when Nathaniel stops. No name takes a few steps before stopping to look back at his brother, and then to me. No name walks back towards me, gathering our hands at my side, and leans in to
I’m restless. From the minute I got back to my cabin I couldn’t sit down. I’ve been pacing back and forth in my bedroom for the past hour just waiting for the sun to go down. I need to run. Ness needs to shift. I need to work through all this in my head, but my body needs a release first. So many things happened back in the forest. So many things I’m trying to process that just don’t make sense. Nathaniel’s confession has me completely shaken. He can feel emotions, just like me, but I’m the exception to his abilities. Except when he’s kissing me. He can feel my matching desire when he’s kissing me... or so he says. He could have just been reading my body, my reaction to him, but something is telling me it's more. That Goddamn kiss. My body flushes just thinking about how his lips felt on mine, how goddam good it felt. It’s not fair. I didn’t want this
I stand up, ignoring my body’s protests, and glare at him. “What the fuck? Why are you in my house?” I demand from him. He just chuckles, crossing his arms over his muscular chest as he leans against my doorway. “Tell me what those dreams were about and I’ll tell you why I’m here.” He counters. “Seriously? I cross my arms to match. “I can smell it on you, you know…” His grin is wide and all I want to do is wipe it off his face. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t care why you are here, but feel free to leave.” With that I stalk towards my bathroom and turn on the shower. I relieve myself, stretch a little, and hop into the steaming shower. I let the scalding hot water pound over my aching muscles. I have to admit that I wish I would have had the mental strength to at least crawl into my best last night. I wash my hair and body, taking my time, wondering about the twin that may or may not still be lingering in my house so