by M. D. Butler
Hopefully, they’re amenable because we can’t prepare her the way she needs here, and there’s no way we’re leaving her behind.
It’s hard to focus because I’m so distracted by her scent. It seems like it’s everywhere right now, but I know that’s not possible. I think I’m just excited to finally have found her after looking for the past five years.
Feels like it’s taken forever and a day.
Now that she’s within reach, we have to do everything in our power to keep her safe, and stay by her side.
Sealing the bond is paramount to unbinding her, and I can’t wait for that soul deep connection. It shouldn’t be too hard. From what I could see, she’s pretty with all of that wild, white hair, and beautiful brown skin. I can’t wait to see her up close. Bet she’s gorgeous.
First things first, though. Why the fuck did she run, and how the hell do we keep her from doing it again?
Mavrin
I hate being stared at. I should be used to it by now, but I don’t think I can ever get accustomed to feeling everyone’s eyes on me like this. I would feel better if I knew it would stop when the newness of us wore off, but I’d be lying to myself.
It’s because I’m black with blonde hair. People think it’s exotic, but my family line goes back to a tribe in Africa that’s ripe with dark-skinned blondes. You’d think that modern day people wouldn’t be so ignorant, but here we are. They stare wherever I go.
It makes me nervous, but I have to hide it. Can’t let people know that the big, black dude is shy as fuck. Always have to keep up the tough guy façade.
Ugh.
At least now I have something else to help distract me. And she’s exotic looking like I am, so she can probably understand what I’m going through. Even more so with her hair being such a bright white color. I wonder if my boys can tell that I’m swirling her scent around us. It might make it hard to track her, but I can’t help it.
I crave her scent like a crack addict. What better way to use my air than to draw her scent to me?
We approach our lockers, and I stop playing with her scent. Much to my deep disappointment. Seventeen schools in five years does make the whole process of starting over easier, but pretty boring. Everything is always the same. Lockers, classes, students. Nothing unique about any of it.
Except for her.
We should try to find her. She shouldn’t run from us like that. Somethings not right.
I jump a little when I hear Krix’s voice in my head. I guess I was a little too deep in my own thoughts.
Nothing new there, but I ignore it as I add my own input.
We should just go to our classes for now. No use looking for her when we only have a few minutes before class starts.
Mav’s right. Maybe she’s in one of our classes.
I’m shocked by Den. He’s usually not the one to be reasonable. He tends to be a little hotheaded. Figures with his affinity being fire.
Get it? Fire? Hot head? I find myself rather funny at times.
Fine, says Krix.
I can hear the reluctance in his mental voice. He must be feeling the need to bond already.
We go to our classes and keep an eye out for her. Make sure you guys pay attention to what’s going on around here, too. If the way she was acting is any indicator, I think she might be sort of on the outside of the social circle here. She hides behind her hair, and nobody was talking to her. We have to find out more about her before we move forward with any bonding.
With that, we open our lockers, all of them along the same hall, and head to our classes. We got here early to get a tour, and to make sure we could find where everything was. Mainly, the exits. We were trained to always find the exits as soon as we walk into a building. With a war coming, we have to know how to get our mate out of harm’s way if something breaks out that’s bigger than we can collectively handle.
Most of our classes are advanced and honors. It’s not like we’re trying to be valedictorian, or anything. Academics just come easy for us. We soak shit up like sponges. That might have something to do with our training, too. We’ve gotten used to learning things at an accelerated rate with all the moving around.
I head towards my first class of the day, annoyed that I still feel people looking at me. As I walk through the door, I walk towards the back of the room to an empty seat. Unfortunately, I end up sitting next to a cluster of girls who preen as I sit down.
I don’t smell my mate anywhere, and that makes my annoyance worse. That’s saying a lot because I’m usually a level-headed person.
I’ve never been attracted to anyone. Never noticed other girls before. Kind of hard to do that when you know there’s someone out there that’s destined to be yours for life. Everyone else just pales in comparison to that type of bond, even if it’s not locked into place yet.
One of the girls looks me up, and down, then smirks as I glance up at her. I don’t know why she would smirk. I haven’t done anything.
Females confuse me. Especially she-wolves. Wolves, in general, are more sexual by nature, and they can be pretty forceful. There’s an uneven balance in the male to female ratio, so the females think that all males want them.
The boys and I try to play ourselves down to discourage them. We make sure to dress as casual and unassuming as possible to keep from standing out, but it never works. She must be drawn to my hair/skin combination. It wouldn’t surprise me.
I look towards the front of the room, away from her. Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll get the message that I’m not interested without me coming off as rude. I so hate being rude.
I hear her clear her throat when a minute goes by without me looking at her again. I turn back her way at the sound while keeping my face blank.
“Hi. Are you new here?” Her friends are all staring at us. A couple actually giggle like, well, school girls. There’s three of them watching us with rapt attention.
I try to channel Den with a muttered “Yes.” I leave it at that, hoping she’ll get bored at my bluntness.
No such luck. Only Denahi can channel Denahi.
“Really? Good thing I met you first. I can tell you everything you need to know about the school. Maybe show you around a little?” Her voice grates on my nerves for some reason. It’s chirpy and sounds fake.
“I’m good, thanks.” I turn back to the front of the room, praying that the teacher will make an appearance expeditiously.
T.I. has gotten that word stuck in my head.
I see her blink at me from the corner of my eye. Apparently, I’ve shocked her. Good. Maybe now she’ll leave me alone. It took a lot of effort to be rude because I’m a naturally gentle person. It takes a special person to bring me out of character, but she might be said person if she doesn’t let up.
I don’t think it would be beneficial for me to accept her help, though. She seems like the popular type, and my mate doesn’t look like the kind of girl who fits in with them.
“I’m Blythe.”
Mother, this girl is persistent. I turn towards her to see a fake smile plastered across her face. She tries to look coy, but it fails at it. I guess she has to play a part for her crew since they’re still watching.
“Okay,” I say just as the teacher walks in and closes the door.
She’s about to say something else when he calls the room to attention. Thank the Mother for that. I ignore the looks that the group is sending me and get my things out for the class.
I relax in my seat, but freeze for a second as a feeling of excited pleasure from Cashel shoots through the link I have with the boys. Just as I’m about to link him to see what’s going on, I hear his voice in my head.
She’s in chemistry with me!
I can’t help but feel a little jealous. I start to ask him if he’s her lab partner, but he beats me to it.
She’s the only one without a partner, so the teacher is putting me with her. I get the impression that she doesn’t want to, but whatever. Fate is in my favor this morning, boy! I wo
nder if I can make our chemistry ignite. See what I did there?
Leave it to Cashel to make a stupid ass joke.
Don’t fucking scare her off, you idiot! You saw how she ran this morning. Calm your ass down.
Den is back to being his usual asshole self. I knew he couldn’t hold it in for long.
Have you spoken to her yet?
Of course, Krix wants to get straight to the point. I knew he would be biting at the bit for details.
No. He sounds a little nervous with a tinge of sadness now. I’m sitting next to her at the table, but not too close. You guys won’t believe the nerves coming off of her. I can practically taste the fear in her pheromones, it’s so strong. I can tell that she’s trying to hide it, but I think I can sense because she’s our mate. No one else seems to notice. I can’t remember if that’s how it works. Something’s not right, guys. She hasn’t lifted her head since I came in. Why the fuck is she so scared of me?!
Panic is creeping into his voice. Maybe Cash wasn’t the best person for her to meet first. He’s awesome with making you laugh, but clueless when it comes to emotions. The guy runs from his little sisters when one of them tears up.
So does Den, for that matter. Speaking of…
Stop fucking scaring her!
Way to ease the pressure, Denahi.
Just try to ease her into a friendship. Be gentle with her. We have to get her used to us, but try not to push her too hard. Keep us updated.
I send a prayer up to the mother that he takes my advice. I’d hate for her to run even harder in the opposite direction from us if Cash can’t get this right.
I force myself to focus back on my French class as the teacher begins the lesson while still ignoring the frowns being thrown my way from the girls to my left. I definitely don’t need that kind of distraction, but we have to find a way to fit in with the crowd around here. We need to get acclimated to this school because it looks like we’ll be staying here for a while.
Chapter 4
Cashel
I was feeling so excited as I walked through the door to chemistry, and her scent nearly put me on my ass at the door. It meant that she was here. It’s like I’d won rock, paper scissors, and she’s the prize.
That excitement slowly morphed into panic when I smelled her nerves and fear after I sat next to her at the table. She never once looked up at me, but I know she recognizes my scent because I hear her taking in deep lung-fills of air.
I’m now looking around at the handful of other wolves in the room to see if they’ve caught a whiff of the fear rolling off of her. Wolves tend to swarm when they smell weakness, but the others didn’t seem to notice. I guess I can smell her emotions so strongly because I’m her mate. Maybe it’s because I can’t feel them through a bond yet, so it’s the Mother’s way of helping me out with understanding her.
Men need all the help they can get, you know?
Either way, I still feel so damn lost because I don’t know what’s making her feel this way. Is it me? I know I’m kind of big, but she has to know that I’d never hurt her.
What the fuck am I supposed to do?
Mav says to be her friend, but how do I do that if she won’t even look at me?
She’s wearing long sleeves and jeans a couple sizes too big. It’s like they’re not her clothes. Hand-me-downs, maybe? It’s December, so maybe she could be wearing bigger clothes because she’s wearing layers underneath. She’s so small that she might have to do all she can to preserve body heat. At least she’s not wearing that big ass coat that I see sitting on top of her bag on the floor. Something tells me that she absolutely drowns in it. Then, I wouldn’t really have a view of her at all!
I wish I could reach over and move her hair out of her face so that I can get a good look. Hell, I just want to touch her damn hair. It’s so thick and curly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with naturally white hair.
At least, I think it’s natural.
I’m not exactly an expert on things that involve the opposite sex. I try to stay away from my little sisters, and so do my pack brothers. Them and our moms are the only females we interact with, though others have tried to change that.
We have only ever belonged to her, even before we met her.
“Hi,” I say in my gentlest voice. Hard to do when I’m the boisterous one in the group.
I wait a bit to see if she’ll respond. I almost give up when I hear her.
“H-hey.”
Oh, Mother. Her voice is soft, but has a bit of rasp to it, as though it doesn’t get used much. Despite the rasp, it’s still musical. Kind of sweet, you know?
I relay this to boys and feel their excitement buzz through the link.
Try to keep her talking. See what you can glean from her.
Krix can be annoyingly persistent when he wants details.
Ask her what the hell her problem is!
Fucking Den. Why does he always have to yell in my head?
Take it easy with her. Don’t push. We can’t scare her any more than she already is, Krix. Shut the fuck up, Den. Blurting something out like that will definitely send her running to the hills.
Thank the Mother for Mavrin being the mediator of the group.
I turn a little towards her so she can see that she has my full attention.
“I’m Cashel, but you call me Cash. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Okay, so tacking on the “finally” may have been a bit much, but can you blame me? I’ve been looking for her my whole life.
She glances up, and I almost fall out of my seat.
Purple
Her eyes are fucking purple.
Well, not Barney purple. They’re a softer lavender color. Doesn’t make them any less unusual, though.
Absolutely stunning. Never seen eyes like hers. Unique. I’m not telling them about this. I want to see their reaction, so I’m keeping this to myself.
I guess I didn’t hide my reaction that well because her gaze shoots back to the tabletop, allowing her hair to once again hide her face.
I can’t stop myself when I blurt out with, “You’re our mate.”
Way to be subtle, jackass.
“Is that what this is?” Again, with the voice like an angel. I have to keep her talking.
“Definitely.” I start to ask her why she questions it, but decide to let it go. She might not have been taught much about it.
If I can get her use to me, then I’ll be able to introduce her to Mav. He’ll be better at this shit.
“What’s your name?”
She hesitates a bit before she answers. “Jahla.”
I whisper her name to the others and feel their pleasure as they turn it over in their heads. Seems fitting since we all of sort of have unique names. Glad she’s not another Jessica or something like that. Not that I’d be less drawn to her if she was.
She interrupts my musings when she speaks again. “You said ‘our’.”
“What?”
She hesitates again before she clears my confusion. “You said ‘our mate’. W-what do you mean b-by that?” Her nerves are making her stutter, but I can’t help thinking that it’s cute.
“You saw us in the lot, right? The four of us?” She nods, so I continue. “We all belong to you. We knew you were close the second we smelled your scent. It was like coming home when I looked into your eyes.”
“H-how?”
“How what, babe?”
Her whole head turns to me at that. I can’t tell if she liked it or not, but I definitely shocked her with the endearment.
“How are you my m-mates? How are there f-four of you?”
I’m thrown off by her first question, so I try to gain clarification once again. “What do you mean, how? Every wolf has a fated mate. You can find and connect with your mate after your first shift.”
“I know that p-part, but it’s not p-possible for me. I can’t have a m-mate.”
“Why not?” She’s serious. She really believes this, despite the nerves that I ca
n still hear in her voice.
“I’ve never shifted.”
I can tell that she thought that would shock me. Luckily, that part is supposed to happen. I guess her parents know nothing about the prophecy. Doesn’t surprise me. Very few do for the lunar child’s safety. Can’t have my babe getting killed before her time, you know?
“I know.” Now she’s she one in complete shock. Ha! “You’re not supposed to until you’ve bonded to your mates. It’s to help keep you hidden. You’re supposed to be bound from birth by the Mother. You can only sense your wolf, and use her enhanced sense and strength, right?
“Y-yeah, but why?”
I start to answer her when the teacher taps our table.
“You two should be paying attention. You really can’t afford to get behind before you even start, Mr. O’Neill. You’re already at a disadvantage with you coming in at the middle of the semester.”
I look up at her, but she’s looking at Jahla with a disapproving frown. She smells like a wolf. If she’s from the same pack as Jahla, why is she being so negative towards her?
“Sorry, Ms. Umbridge. Jahla was just giving me some tips on the class because I asked her what it’s like.” I throw in a smile to try to sweeten her up and get her attention solely on me. I don’t want her blaming my girl for anything.
My babe. My girl. My mate. I can’t help but to think of her as mine.
“Just pay attention. Your assignment is on the board. I want the experiment done within the next thirty minutes so it can be checked before you leave.” With that, she turns around to the front of the room, making her way back to her desk while the class snickers as us.
Fuck them. I can tell from just a glance between the board and their desks that half of them are doing the experiment wrong, anyway.
I turn back to Jahla as she silently starts to take out the things we need to get started. Guess she knows her shit, which is good. Maybe her mind is like ours. No, she obviously hasn’t had any training since she didn’t even know about being bound. Maybe she’s just smart.