Bold & Beautiful

by Christin Lovell

  And then I heard her chuckle. The sound went straight to my soul and had my wolf damn near purring. Her eyes lit up as a smile split her face. She was gorgeous when she smiled. “You guys are serious about your food.”

  “Hell yeah,” Brody exclaimed, taking another big bite to accentuate his point.

  I loved seeing the lighter side of her. “You never told me your name.”

  “Aura.” She held up the sandwich. “And, thanks for the sandwich.”

  “Thank Brody for that one, Aura.” I loved the sound of her name on my lips. Ay. I really was becoming a pile of mush around her. Ugh. I was making myself sick. Was love really as sappy as the movies made it out to be?

  Chapter 16

  AURA

  Hm. Jonas and Brody. Clearly they were best friends, though I did find it strange that both of them moved to town together. Most families wouldn’t have made that sort of life change together. Although I could have it wrong. Maybe they were stepbrothers.

  “Thanks, Brody.” I started to unwrap the food. As much as I wanted to refuse it, my stomach wouldn’t let me. And seeing Jonas’ genuine concern gave me the final push. I didn’t know why, but I got the feeling that my initial knee jerk reaction was wrong, that Jonas perhaps wasn’t out to figure me out and move on. He showed a bit more interest, a bit more… feeling.

  “No problem.” Brody winked, scarfing down the last bite of his sandwich.

  “What class do you have next?” Jonas asked. His gaze seemed to penetrate me. I’d wanted to take a big bite of the sandwich, swallow fast to stop my stomach’s noises sooner, but couldn’t eat like the fat pig most thought I was when he was watching me so closely.

  “Art. You?” I tore off a moderate piece of the sandwich and ate it.

  “P.E. What about fourth period?”

  “English.”

  He smiled wide. “With Mrs. Clusky?” I nodded. “We’ll see you there then.”

  “You both have the same schedule?”

  “The alpha made sure of it,” Brody said.

  “He means my dad,” Jonas quickly amended his friend’s words.

  I wanted to dig deeper, but I didn’t want them digging into my life so I left it alone.

  We sat in amicable silence for a few minutes while I steadily ate my sandwich. Jonas and I kept stealing glances at each other, catching each other at times. There was something about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  “What is there to do around this town?” he asked.

  “Not much really. You’d have to go to Gregory, the town over. They have a movie theatre and a small shopping mall.”

  “Is that what you do?” He watched me.

  I shook my head. “I don’t go out much.”

  “Why not?”

  That was a loaded question. There were so many ways I could answer that, but I didn’t. Instead, I just shrugged my shoulders and took another bite of the sandwich.

  “You’re good at avoiding questions.”

  “Where did you move from?” That seemed like a safe question, and deviation.

  “Chicago. Better weather and a heck of a lot more to do.”

  “I can imagine.” I’d never been, but had read about the ‘Windy City.’

  “What are your plans for college?”

  Damn. He was asking hard questions, questions that required an answer linked to my home life, answers that would reveal more than I ever wanted to.

  I gave him a wary look and shrugged my shoulders again.

  “I’m trying to get to know you better, Aura. You’re not exactly making that easy.”

  “Why?” When he raised his brows in questions, I continued. “I mean, why do you want to get to know me better?”

  He took a deep breath and crowded my space. He hovered inches from my lips. I found myself holding my breath. “Because I want to.” He kissed my cheek, the soft skin of his lips searing my flesh.

  A shiver ran down my spine, rocking me to my core. I knew my mouth was slightly ajar as I stared at him. I couldn’t seem to move, to pull myself together. Apparently he enjoyed my reaction though because he chuckled lightly and smirked. My heart felt like it was going to leap right out of my chest.

  I needed to get away from him. My original assessment was right. He was dangerous. He was going to be my downfall. I never thought I’d have that problem. I never thought I’d have to worry about a man reducing me to a whimpering, fumbling lump of sappy mush, but he did. Somehow, in this short amount of time, he wiggled through my usually solid defenses and had an affect on me.

  “I’ll, uh… I’ll see you later.” I shoved my book and half-eaten sandwich in my backpack and nearly jumped up.

  Concern wrinkled his forehead for a moment. “Um, okay. See ya.”

  “See ya, Aura.” Brody jutted his chin out in goodbye.

  I couldn’t escape fast enough. I stopped as I rounded the corner of the building. I groaned, hating myself for running, just like my mother did every time the money ran out.

  Chapter 17

  JONAS

  “What the hell?” I shook my head, trying to make sense of what happened.

  “Talk about skittish. Sorry, my man, but you’ve got a mate with a lot of scars.”

  My wolf growled. This was way harder than I originally thought. I couldn’t walk away from her, it wasn’t possible, but it seemed like I also couldn’t get anywhere with her. She was locked up tighter than Fort Knox.

  I looked at my future beta. “Aura seemed to know the coffee shop lady pretty well. You think I could get her to talk; you know, help me out a little with her?”

  Brody shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

  “You wanna ride home with the Juniors or tag along with me?”

  He harrumphed. “You think I wanna hang with the munchkins?”

  I threw my hands up. “I didn’t insinuate anything. I just asked.”

  He nodded. “Thanks, but I’ll hang.”

  ~*~

  By the time we got to English, the classroom was nearly full. Aura had already taken a seat in the front row near the center. Clearly she enjoyed English.

  I spent the next hour and a half listening to the teacher ramble on about this semester’s syllabus, the books we’d be reading and a general outline of the assignment due dates. I couldn’t pull myself from Aura though. She focused on the papers in front of her, taking notes and marking certain things. I found her concentration and enthusiasm for the subject adorable.

  When the final bell rang, relief washed over me. The first day was over, without too many incidences either.

  “Ugh. Finally.” Brody sighed.

  I laughed. “It wasn’t too bad.”

  “That’s because your mind didn’t spend the whole day at school.”

  He had me there. I shoved the papers into my book bag and quickly stood. I wanted to walk out with Aura, see if I could get anything out of her. When I looked to where she was sitting though, she was gone. I looked out over the crowd, but didn’t see her in the mix of kids trying to cram through the door. How had I missed her? I was so aware of her.

  “Follow her scent,” Brody droned. I could tell he was already over the whole best friend being lovesick thing.

  “See you at the car.” I skipped out into the throngs of students, all anxious to escape.

  I called upon my alpha aura, a strong pheromone that we released when we took control. It subconsciously urged people to pay attention to us, or in this case, to move for me. Slowly people responded, instinctually moving out of my way. I was a man on a mission.

  I followed her scent outside to the school parking lot, but, among the mix of exhaust fumes, I lost her. My wolf howled, pushing his paws against me. I knew if I shifted I could quickly find her since my senses were further heightened in my animal form, but I couldn’t risk it.

  I sighed in defeat and headed for the Jeep. Brody was already inside waiting for me.

  “Do I even want to know how you got in without a key?” I asked as I got in.r />
  “No.”

  I pursed my lips and nodded. I shoved the keys in the ignition, started the car and pulled out into the quickly thinning traffic.

  “I think we might need to chance the diner. I’m starving man.” Brody rubbed his stomach.

  My stomach chose that moment to rumble. “The food better be worth it.”

  As much as werewolves loved to eat, we generally disliked restaurants. Our sensitive noses were overwhelmed by the millions of odors stuffed into one business; colognes, deodorants, laundry detergents, sweat, musk, dirt and grime, plus the different foods cooking, and not cooking, in the kitchen. Add the noise factor in and it was our version of hell most of the time.

  We were about a mile away from the school when I saw her. She was walking, her book bag crammed with all of her books, weighing down her shoulders. My pulse quickened, the need to protect rising up within me. I pulled along the curb, rolling down Brody’s window.

  “Aura!” I called. She turned towards her name. She seemed startled to see me. “Get in and I’ll give you a ride.”

  She immediately shook her head ‘no.’ “That’s okay, thanks.”

  “We don’t mind.”

  She continued to adamantly shake her head. “I’m fine, really.” She kept walking, picking up her pace.

  Something close to panic in the tone of her voice had me on edge. “Just get in, Aura. We’ll drive you straight home.”

  She stopped. I watched as her chest rose and fell. The car behind me honked the horn and made her jump.

  “I’m not leaving you here to walk.” I didn’t care if I had to go alpha on her. It was hot as hell outside, her face was already flush, plus her book bag looked like it weighed too much for her short frame.

  The car honked again.

  “He’s serious, sweetie. Please just get in,” Brody said. I was surprised by his endearment. Did that mean he liked my mate?

  She looked at Brody then the car behind us. She hesitated another minute but she finally opened the back door. I immediately relaxed the second she was inside the car. My wolf even sat back for a moment.

  “Just tell me where to go,” I said as I put the car in drive again.

  “Straight.” She slipped her backpack off her shoulders and held it in her lap, clutching it tightly.

  “Persistent little fuck, isn’t he?” Brody asked Aura.

  In the rearview mirror, I saw her lips curl up slightly in the corners.

  I elbowed my future beta. “No one should be walking in this heat. I’m surprised my shoes haven’t melted yet.”

  “Turn right at the light,” she said.

  As we drove down the main street of town, my gut began to tighten. She walked all this way? I looked at my mileage. So far we were four miles from school.

  “Turn left up here. You can drop me off at the corner.”

  “No. I said I’d take you home and I plan to drop you off at home.”

  I glanced at my beta. Apparently I wasn’t the only one worried. His brows were drawn inward as he scanned the area.

  “It’s not that far from here. I’ll be fine.” She sounded like she was trying to reassure me, to coerce me into letting her out too soon.

  The hairs on my wolf stood straight up; my chest tightened. Something definitely wasn’t right. “Just tell me where to go, Aura.”

  In the mirror, I saw her worrying her lip as I turned left. “At the next street over make another left.”

  She weaved us around another seven blocks before we pulled into a single building apartment complex. She threw the door open and quickly got out. “Thanks guys.”

  I was out of the car before I could even think it through, catching up to her easily.

  A county electrician appeared from the side of the building.

  “Hi, Bob.” Aura gave the man a warm smile.

  He stopped walking. He stared at her, regret on his face. “I’m sorry, Aura.”

  I watched as Aura’s face paled. She numbly nodded her head at the man.

  Bob looked at me and then Aura again before he left us standing there.

  When Aura faced me, she’d plastered an overly enthused smile on her face. “Thanks again for the ride, Jonas. I can walk myself to my door. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She began backing away.

  Fear and anxiety snaked through my veins. Something was very wrong here and she was trying to shut me out of it. I didn’t know if she was trying to protect me or protect herself.

  “My dad always taught me to make sure it’s safe inside before I leave a woman alone.” The sentence didn’t even make sense to me, but I was desperate.

  Looking at the five-story building, I could tell it wasn’t the nicest place in town, but my instincts told me there was more. My wolf was demanding to know more.

  The smile disappeared from her face. “Jonas, please just go.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, the plea in her small voice strong.

  “As soon as I make sure you’re safe inside.” I set my jaw, focusing my hard gaze on her.

  I hated being such a dick, but I didn’t know how else to make sure she was truly okay. I got the sick feeling like she hadn’t been for a while, but no one cared enough to check. My instincts as her mate had me pushing the envelope. I never ignored my instincts; they’d always protected me and my wolf. They drove every decision I’d made and would make in the future for the pack.

  Chapter 18

  AURA

  Panic washed through me, followed by dread. Jonas was a persistent fuck, just like Brody said. I knew that look from Bob; I understood his words. I didn’t want Jonas to though. I didn’t need anyone finding out the truth of my situation. People in this town didn’t need something else to make fun of me for.

  At the determination in his stance though, I found myself ambling towards the building. I opened the front door and strolled right to the stairs going up the center of the building with apartments on either side. I hadn’t even taken two steps yet when Jonas slid my book bag off of me.

  “I’ll carry this,” he said.

  I nodded in agreement and kept going up. My heartbeat grew louder and more erratic the closer we got to my apartment. By the time we reached the fourth floor, my palms were sweating and my body was trembling. I’d tried to think of someway to slip inside without him following, but he was too strong, too quick, and I was too big, my book bag too bulky.

  There was no way around it. It looked like the guy I’d seen twice and knew very little about was going to learn a lot about me very quickly.

  I slipped my key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I turned to face him, blocking the doorknob. Fear forced me to try again to dissuade him from entering. “Um, thanks again. I’m good from here.”

  He frowned. My backpack was in one hand, but he put the other hand on the doorframe beside my head. He leaned in. “I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, Aura, but trust me when I say there’s nothing that could make me lose interest in you.”

  I gazed into his eyes, shocked to find that he was telling the truth. I looked past him at the stairwell before returning my gaze to him. My stomach twisted in knots. “You’re just going to peek inside and then leave, right?”

  He pushed off the doorframe, dropping his arm back to his side. He gave me a tight, reassuring smile. “Right.”

  “Okay.” I slid to the side, allowing him to pass.

  Chapter 19

  JONAS

  Hearing her irregular heartbeat didn’t sit well with me. Her hesitation to let me inside further drove my neuroticism. I braced myself, unsure of what I’d find behind the door.

  Inside seemed… well, normal. The apartment looked outdated, but in working order. There wasn’t much furniture, but the furniture that was there seemed of high quality. I heard Aura enter behind me. She waited by the door as I checked the kitchen and bedrooms. My pulse sped up at the sight of her room.

  A twin-sized bed was pushed into a corner with a small nightstand beside it. A few books were piled on top o
f it. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a tall dresser. The intimacy of seeing her personal space was a shock to my soul, an extra beat to my heart.

  Back in the living room, I found Aura waiting by the door still. She was fidgeting terribly. It was obvious she was extremely uncomfortable. I felt bad for pushing the issue. The last thing I wanted to do was upset her, and apparently I’d done so for no reason.

  I set her book bag on the couch. I gave her a small smile. “You’re safe.”

  She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Thanks.”

  “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

  She nodded. She continued to fiddle with her fingers like she wouldn’t be completely calm until I left. I’d really messed up this time. I guess it was curiosity rather than real concern driving my instincts now. I was too far-gone, my need to claim her clouding my judgment.

  I looked around the living room one last time. There were no lights on the ceiling like I was accustomed to. Instead I noticed a tall floor lamp in the corner. The least I could do was turn it on. I couldn’t see her reaching the nob on its side without climbing.

  As I made my way towards it, Aura shouted, “No!”

  I immediately halted and turned to face her. The nagging feeling returned. There was nothing but distress in her features.

  “Um, I… prefer the dark,” she stumbled.

  It clicked for me. The electric company worker’s comment, the color draining from her face then her not wanting to let me in.

  I stalked to the kitchen and flipped the switch, but nothing happened. I walked back down the hall to the bathroom, but again, the lights didn’t turn on.

  I remembered her walking into class with dripping wet hair. There was no way she walked all those miles without at least part of her hair drying.

  I turned the nobs on the faucet, but nothing came out. I tried the shower with the same result.

  Anger rose up inside me before I could clamp down on it. Who the hell let their child live in this? I didn’t even want to know where she showered this morning. I fisted my hands, my limbs shaking frantically.

  “Shit.” My wolf was clawing close to my surface. I’d slipped. I focused on breathing through it. Now was definitely not the time.