What It Means To Be Me

Overstepping The Boundaries

"Oh come on," I groaned, smacking my head on the steering wheel after the third try to get the car to start just ended in silence. Of course it would be the first day of class that the battery died. I knew I hadn't left any lights on, and man. Now I needed to call Rowin to come pick me up, then a truck to tow. With a tired sigh, I shook my head and got my bag back out, then hopped up onto the hood to make the call.

~Tanner~

Woof. Wait, Cole. I knew my fans were important but Coleee! He'd obviously not heard my thoughts over the growing noise the people around me were making, which just made me want to get away from them faster.

"Sorry, guys, but I really need to go talk to the teacher about some stuff, I'll catch you all next class, okay?"

They all frowned and looked at each other, then back at me, pleading with their eyes and sweet words. There wasn't much I could do about it, though, so I shrugged as my wolf screamed in my head Go! Mine!

"W-Well, see you later..." I mumbled awkwardly before I hightailed it out of there in the hopes of getting to see Cole again before he left. Although, I was kinda going to his house right after this, so I had no idea why my wolf wanted me to rush more. When I saw him in the parking lot atop his SUV, I suddenly realized why my wolf was rushing as a strong wave of instincts suddenly slammed into my mind.

I wanna breed him so badly.

Err! His head snapped up when I mentally shouted to myself. Please don't have heard that, please don't have heard that. He seemed a bit surprised to see me, but as I began walking toward him, he thankfully didn't show any hostility in his eyes.

Thank god he didn't hear me.

Putting on a smile to try to hide my guilt, I stopped a few feet away from him and glanced at his car for a moment before looking back up to meet his eyes.

"Is something wrong with your car?"

"U-Uhm..." he stuttered incoherently as his eyes darted around the parking lot. The blush that suddenly bloomed on his cheeks made me want to lick his nose.

"I can jump it if you want," I offered, since he wasn't exactly talking very well.

"I don't think it's that..." he said as he looked down at his pants.

"We can try anyway. Might be it, right?" I tried, not wanting to be useless to him. He shifted nervously on the hood but flipped his phone shut, which I hadn't noticed was even in his hand, and slid off the hood. I reached out automatically, catching him by the waist before I realized I had done it.

"S-Sorry."

I quickly set him down on his feet and told him to wait while I ran to get my car. It only took me a minute to get myself close enough to hook up my jumper cables. Glad I bought an extra-long pair.

Cole sauntered around to my car, chewing his lip with his eyes on the ground... Wait a second.

"Do you know how to do this?" I asked, staring at him in surprise. His face lit up with another adorable blush, and he quickly looked away. Heck, he even scuffed his foot a little on the asphalt.

I swear if I wouldn't get knocked on my ass for it, I'd be on him right now.

"No..."

Okay, I had to laugh at that. He was the alpha and didn't know how to even jump a car. Not that I knew a whole lot about being alpha besides aggression and keeping others in line, but still. With a cocky grin, I grabbed his hand and gently tugged him closer so he could watch.

"Here, I'll show you."

The next fifteen minutes consisted of me trying to show him how to hook up the jumpers while he, for some reason, climbed halfway into the engine area. Then he proceeded to slip, and I had to catch him again, which I'll never complain about, but by the time we were finally done and his car was running again, we were both covered in oil and sweat. This wasn't supposed to be a dirty job...

"You've got oil in your hair and on your...everything," I noted, grinning at Cole. He scoffed at me and smiled. Man, that smile...it was the best thing ever.

"You're not looking too good yourself," he retorted, making me stutter.

"Th-That's because you wanted to climb on everything for no reason."

He took a step forward with his hands on his hips. I knew it was supposed to make him look more dominant as he'd failed to win the argument, but it just made me wanna toss him on the hood of his car and do things that might cause him to lose his job...or at least get me kicked out of school.

"...'anner..."

"...nner!"

Tanner stop!

Blinking, I leaned back slightly. Or, well, pushed myself up a little. Wait...shit! Cole was panting beneath me, his lower lip bleeding a little from where I had bitten him while we kissed. Well, he definitely didn't kiss me back, but damn had I kissed him.

Get...off.

No...

Tanner. We need to get home.

My wolf didn't want to go home, he wanted to do things right then.

Tanner! They have cameras in the parking lot. I can't help you if you take this any further.

Shit! Ryder would kill me if I got into trouble. He was back in California writing songs for our next tour, and it had taken forever to get him to allow me to come all the way here and enroll in school. With a quick shake of my head to dislodge any further unhealthy intentions, I carefully got up and hopped off the hood of Cole's car. He quickly followed, looking none too happy.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to do that," I whispered worriedly. He looked like he was fighting with himself as he silently walked into the forest at the edge of the parking lot. I hesitantly followed, only to be slammed against a tree, then down to the ground in a blur. Cole was on top of me in an instant, his face extremely close to changing as he snarled at me.

"This is your last chance. Submit. Now."

Holy crap! He was talking, but it was being shouted through my mind at the same time. My wolf wanted to struggle against the order, but I wasn't that stupid. Without a second's hesitation, I tilted my head back and bared my throat, wincing when his sharp canines sank into my shoulder. It was a warning bite. If it wasn't, I would be dead.

The tense situation was over after only a moment. Cole got up and walked away, giving me his back. It was normally a fatal move, but my wolf was done fighting for the day. There was nothing that would make him want to retaliate after we submitted, even if it was mainly my decision. Cole and I both silently went back to our cars and drove off. I stopped to get some dinner and rinse off my injury before finding my way back to his house. Now I was standing on the doorstep... wondering if Cole would even let me back into his life again. All I'd probably end up with in this pathetic, messed up relationship was a set of clothing that smelled like the mate I dreamed of having.