Astronomical (girlxgirl)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven (Rose's POV)

I pulled into the crowded parking lot on Monday morning, not really paying attention to the cold silence between Annie and Nate.

She had snapped at him for changing the radio station, and he had been sulking ever since.

I get to see my mate again today, I told my reflection in the rear-view mirror as I vibrated in excitement.

I was grateful that Father had thought a few years ago to ensure the principal of Westwood High was a werewolf. He had been strategising about if any of the werewolf students had a meltdown and needed to be excused from class for reasons that human administrators wouldn't understand.

Now, it allowed me to seamlessly enrol back into regular high school - as if I had never left to begin with. I just had to go to the office and sort out a few forms and find out what classes Mum had enrolled me in, and then I was free to find Skye.

I left Nate with a pat on the back and Annie with a kiss to the forehead, promising to tell them how my day went through the mind link if we didn't share any classes.

The receptionist of Westwood was a human but seemed happy to let me through to speak with Principal Jones. After some paperwork and many heartfelt promises that no I would not cause any unnecessary fights, or talk back to my teachers or be a general little bitch to everyone, the stern principal let me go.

As I trailed the hallways, my mental map of where everything was came back to me, and I moved through the buildings with more confidence. It was a little overwhelming to take in everything going on - how do people do this every day? - as teenagers messed around in the halls, and all spoke at once.

It took me a minute to sort through the mess of stimuli until I found a familiar heartbeat.

I knew the marker of a mate was different for everyone - Mum had told me it was Father's scent she first noticed, before having a conversation with him and then realising he was her mate.

For Nate's parents, their eyes had only to meet from across a crowded pack gathering for them to realise they were mates.

Mickey maintained that he heard of a mated couple who didn't realise they were mates for a week - it was only when the woman reflected on how much she enjoyed arguing with this man that she recognised the mating bond at work.

There were no hard and fast rules for mating; most wolves found their mates when they were young adults, and others were unlucky enough to meet their mates after they had already settled down with someone else and had children. It was generally accepted that if you found your mate, you would pursue the bond and they would be your life-long partner; for others, they would choose to reject the bond and continue their lives without their mate.

Rejecting your mate wasn't really a big deal, at least if you did it when you first recognised the bond; if you waited a few years until the bond was strengthened, and then rejected your mate – I heard it was an emotional train wreck.

I suddenly remembered Annie's brother, who had turned Feral when his mate of seven years had died in childbirth and shuddered. I really need to be sure about Skye before I let the bond form too strongly; after a certain point, there is no going back without a massive fallout...

As I followed the slightly raised heartbeat down the corridor, I finally saw the top of Skye's head. I keep forgetting how short she is, I chuckled to myself as I walked faster to get to her sooner. 

I opened my mouth to speak the carefully thought out quip I had agonised over for hours this morning, and what fell out was "Hey".

"Hey"?! Jesus fucking Christ, Rose - you are a dumbass!