Bryce's POV:
"Yeah you're awesome alright... But that offer sounds really nice, if you don't mind I would actually appreciate that." Kari says to us. She steps out the door and adds, "Thanks guys I will see you tomorrow!" She waves, then shuts the door. After we wave back, Trent drives away.
I squeeze my way up into the passenger seat next to Trent. "Dude, I don't know what it is but I'm strangely attracted to her. This has never happened before. I think she might be my mate." I admit honestly to Trent. I see him tense up and grab onto the wheel with force. I give him a strange look.
"She can't be your mate Bryce." He says angrily. I furrow my eyebrows.
"Why not?" I answer with a question furiously. My wolf growls, he can sense the pull toward Kari too. She has to be my mate, she probably hasn't shifted yet and that's why the feelings aren't that strong.
"She's mine. Stay away from her Bryce." He barks with authority.
"What, just because your Alpha now you think that you can boss me around and not allow me to be with my mate?" I spit back angrily.
"Bryce you have to listen to me. Don't make me use my Alpha tone. You're going to regret it." He threatens. What is going on with him right now? "Plus if she was your mate, she would feel the pull too. If that were the case then she wouldn't have accepted that date with me on Saturday." He adds proudly.
Anger pumps through my body, fueling my wolf with hatred and rage. He asked her on a date? I let out a vicious growl. Trent flinches slightly but quickly composes himself.
"You will not go on a date with her Trent, she is mine."
I can feel my wolf taking over, he wants to rip Trent to shreds. He smirks. My wolf struggles to take over. He wants to snap Trent's neck, how dare he try to take my mate away from me.
"I'm sorry, who's the one who gives orders in this pack? Oh that's right. Me. Kari is mine, whether you like it or not." He says then turns to me frowning with an evil gleam in his eyes. "Stay away from her!" He shouts in full Alpha tone. My wolf shrinks down.
I'm surprised by how fast he submits to his alpha. Fear trembles through my bones at his voice. Even though I'm Beta I have no powers against his freaking alpha tone. This sucks. I growl, then lean back into my seat like an angry child. Looking out the window, I wait for us to arrive back at the pack house.
When we finally get back at the house I hop out of the car and slam the door shut. I storm through the halls and straight up to my room without speaking to anyone as I pass. I quickly lock the door.
Rage begins to build in my system again. Out of all people, why does he have to pick my freaking mate? I should have accepted my dad's offer to be Alpha. Even though he is my adopted father and Trent is his real son, he gave me a chance to be the Alpha. I declined it, knowing that being Beta would give me a high position but with much less responsibility. I'm regretting it completely now.
I decide to not even bother with my homework. I mean seriously, there is no way I can focus with all of this going on. My wolf is completely conflicted. He wants to do one thing, but he is being forced to do the exact opposite. My brain is scrambled, thoughts flying all over the place. I quickly shower and get into bed, ignoring the fact that it is only six o'clock. I close my eyes and push away all the thoughts, allowing the darkness to take over.
---
Kari's POV:
"Mom" I say and squint my eyes trying to see. "Is that really you?" I ask.
"It's me honey, come here I have something to tell you." she responds. I walk over to the figure, as I approach I see that it really is my mom. I run up to her and hug her.
Happiness sparks through my body at the feel of her warmth. The familiarity of her presence makes me feel relief. My heart pounds nervously and I feel water rush to my eyes. My hands begin to shake.
"Mom I missed you so much." I say through teary eyes. She hugs me back and whispers into my ear.
"Honey, danger is coming your way. Unfortunately you have taken on the same powers that I had. People will want you for that Kari." She unclasps me from her and looks into my eyes. "I love you, but it's time for me to go." Her angelic voice tells me.
"Mom, no you can't leave me again!" I shout, and grab onto her arm desperately.
Oh no, she can't do this. She can't leave me again. Her eyes look at me with sadness. I see mom's arm start disappearing and I look up to see the rest of her fading away as well.
"Take care of your sister." She adds quickly. Then suddenly, she's gone.
"Mom!" I yell. I turn in every direction, but there is no sign of her. "Mom!" I cry out again. It's no use, she's gone. I fall to my knees and cry. Then I hear a deep laugh. I look up. In front of me is the silhouette of a man, but I can see no features.
Hundreds of wolves with blood red eyes emerge from behind him. Out of the darkness they run straight at me. I cry out, and try to get away but I'm stuck. One wolf reaches me and strikes for my face but I manage to dodge it. Another comes at me but I kick him away. Suddenly I turn and I'm face to face with the man with no features.
"You're next."
I jump up from my slumber drenched in a cold sweat. All of it felt so real. It's as if mom and that man were really there. I look at the time, 5:30. Only ten minutes earlier than the time I usually get up, I walk into the bathroom and wash my face with cold water. I look up and see the horror in my violet eyes. Why do I feel as if that wasn't just a dream? I let out a huge sigh. I'm just crazy, I need to stop thinking about it because it was clearly just a bad nightmare. I walk back into my room and slip on a pair of shorts. Time to wake Evie up. Making my way to her room, I slowly open her door. She's sleeping soundlessly. I walk up to the side of her bed and lightly touch her shoulder. "Evie, it's time to get up." I whisper gently. A soft moan sounds followed by her pretty blue eyes opening.
"Mom?" She asks. I sigh, this happens all the time.
"No it's me, Kari" I reply to her. She sits up and rubs her tired eyes. "I'm going to get your cereal ready, what kind do you want this morning?" I ask.
She thinks for a moment then replies, "May I have Honey Nut Cheerios?"
I nod and head out into the kitchen. On my way out, I turn her bedroom light on. When I get into the kitchen I pull out her breakfast and leave it on the table for her. Then I go and change into my school uniform. When I come out Evie is finishing up her breakfast.
"Morning Kari." She says cheerfully. I smile at her happy face.
"Morning." I answer back. I go to the cabinet and grab a granola bar. I open the wrapper and begin to eat it. "Evie, I'm heading out soon and I think you should too, I don't want you to miss the bus." She sighs.
"Fine, let me get my backpack."
She runs off into her room. I throw out my wrapper and take care of her dishes. Then I grab my backpack from the floor of my room along with my camera and wait for Evie. She comes out with her backpack on.
"Okay I'm ready!" She says.
"Alright lets go then." We walk out of our apartment and I lock the door. Then I see Helen run past me giggling.
"Helen get back here!" Janet shouts after her spastic daughter. She sees me and says, "Ah Kari, could you give this to Helen when you get down to the bus stop?" I nod and she gives me a pencil case. "Thank you so much!" Then she marches back into her apartment.
We continue down the stairs and I see Helen waiting at the post with a boy and his mother. "Helen your mom wants me to give this to you. Why don't you turn around and I will put it in your backpack?" She turns and I place the case in then zip it back up. "You're all set!"
"Thanks Kari!" Helen adds cheerfully and continues to talk to the boy.
Evie turns to me, "I will see you after school sis, love you." I smiles at her and wave.
"See you then, and love you too Evie!"
I make my way down to where my bus stop is. Luckily for me, it is only a couple of streets down. I'm standing at the bus stop when a loud rumbling noise clouds my ears. A familiar blue mustang suddenly appears out of nowhere and stops in front of me. The passenger window rolls down to expose Trent in the driver seat.
"Hey beautiful." He says with a smirk. "Hop on in."
I smile at him and get into the passenger seat. He places his foot on the gas and begins to drive again. I look in the back seat hoping to find Bryce but he isn't there. Huh, maybe they don't drive to school together in the morning?
I must have been staring at the back seat for too long because Trent says, "Bryce isn't coming to school today if you were wondering why he isn't here."
Oh. My heart sinks and I feel sad that I won't be able to see him. "Is he sick?" I asked concerned.
I see his hands tighten on the steering wheel. "No he's just having a rough morning." I decide to drop the matter because it seems to be stressing Trent out. I look out the window.
"Thanks for picking me up." I say. "You saved me a quarter." He laughs at that. I look at him, "I'm actually serious, I could use all the money I can get." I sigh then look out the window.
"Oh." He says realizing the situation.
We stay quiet the rest of the ride, but it isn't awkward, it's just quiet since the music is on a low volume. We make it to school and Trent parks in the same spot he was in yesterday. We hop out of the car and I see Mimi and Macy getting out of their car as well. I hear a squeal.
"Hey Kari!" I feel Mimi hug me from behind. I laugh at her.
"Hey Mimi!" She laughs and then turns me around to face her. She looks at me curiously then squeals again.
"Oh my gosh, are you and Trent a thing? Is that why you guys left school together yesterday and came together today?" She concludes on her own.
Well this is weird because we definitely aren't a thing. I turn to Trent and look at him, asking for help in this situation.
"We're not together yet Mimi, but we're working on it" he says and winks at me. I stare at him wide eyed. Wait what? We will be a thing? Says who? Well I guess I did agree to a date...
"Cool, it's nice to see that Trent finally found someone to settle down with. I though he was going to be a loner his whole life." She laughs and drags me toward the school.
I whisper in her ear, "Uh Mimi. We aren't really a thing." She keeps dragging me to the school.
She looks at me and says quietly, "If Trent really wants you, he will get you..." I look at her completely confused.
"What did you say?" She turns her head and smiles.
"Nothing, just talking to myself..."
I shrug it off, we get into the school and she drags me to the girls bathroom. After a while of talking, fixing our hair, and putting makeup on, the warning bell rings.
"Well I guess it's time to go to first block. It's Friday so we might as well get the day done and over with." She walks to the door. "See you second block!" She says then leaves the bathroom.
I look back into the mirror and see my myself. My eyes are pretty bright violet today. That's nice. I smile then head out of the bathroom and go straight to English class.
When I get in I sit in the back and listen to the lectures about the Scarlett Letter and take notes. By the time she is about halfway through explaining the book, the bell rings. I head to photography, grateful that I'm done with English for the week. When I walk in I see everyone with their cameras ready.
"What's going on?" I asked completely confused.
"I'm letting everyone wander around the campus so they can take pictures and such, so don't get comfortable!" Mr. Whittington says.
"So we can go anywhere we want?" I ask.
She nods her head and fiddles with the things on her desk. Well I guess it's a good thing I brought my camera to school. Mimi comes rushing in screaming.
"Oh my gosh, I can't wait to take pictures of people in the court yard! When can we go Mrs. Whittington?" She asks excitedly and jumps up and down.
Mrs. Whittington sighs, "I suppose you can leave now."
Mimi squeals and practically sprints out the door without saying another word. I walk out and know exactly where I want to go, the woods. I've always loved the woods. It's my sanctuary. As I reach the border line of the woods, I see a leaf that's slightly being weighed down from the dew left on it. I take out my camera and snap a picture. That's when I realize how easy it is to take pictures of nature. I begin to take picture of everything, soon I notice I'm practically in the middle of the woods and I don't know what time it is.
Maybe I should head back to the school. I place my camera back into my backpack, before I put my backpack back on a shooting pain runs through my spine. I scream out. It hurts so much that my whole body is thrown onto the ground. I hear a crack and feel more excruciating pain. It hurts so much that I nearly black out.
It feels like days before the pain subsides, but it must have only been an hour or so. I open my eyes and see the woods in a whole new light. I look around and stand up. The weird thing about standing is that I seem very short. I look down and notice two brown paws beneath me.
Holy crow!
I'm a freaking wolf right now? I guess that can only mean one thing....
I finally had my first change! I howl loudly in excitement and notice my uniform tattered to shreds on the ground... My ears flick back in disappointment. Shit. It's a good thing they give you two uniforms... But what the hell am I going to wear? Oh boy...
I feel the wind rush around me as it blows through my fur.
Suddenly, I can sense a presence. I lift up my snout and sniff the air. My wolf purrs in content from the scent it catches, it's the most amazingly-delectable smell ever. It's like a mixture of masculine and coconut, there's no way to describe it. It's just so amazing. I follow the scent to behind a bush and come to a complete stop from what I see. A huge black wolf is staring me directly in the eyes. My wolf howls in joy and pushes me toward him.
Oh my gosh. This must be my mate. My wolf wouldn't react like this other wise. I cant believe i found him already!
I slowly approach him. That's when I notice how much bigger he is compare to me. Meaning he must be in a high position in a pack. He doesn't move as I get closer. I rub my head on his neck and feel him stiffen. That's weird, as mates, shouldn't he want to return my nuzzle? I nudge him with my nose to see if I can get a response but he doesn't move from his position. What's going on? He lightly growls at me, telling me to stop.
My wolf whimpers and my heart aches a bit. He doesn't want me to touch him?
With rejection beginning to flow through me, I back up slightly and look at him. I see no emotion in his brown eyes and he turns from me. He walks behind a tree. Two seconds later he returns with a button up shirt and drops it in front of me. Then he leaves without giving me another look. What was that about? Did he not realize we were mates or something?
I realize he gave me the shirt because I had nothing else to wear. So at least I know he cares about me... Right? I shift back to human form and slip on my mate's shirt. I inhale the scent and smile. Well now I have his shirt and scent, so if he goes to my school I can easily find him Monday.
-------
Author's note:
Please vote and comment:)