*Josh POV*
(Flashback)
"Brooke? What are you doing here?" I asked.
"You're my mate. I've decided that I can't just be with someone who isn't." She said confidently.
I was worried. Beyond worried. This could have bad effects on our chances of making peace between my dad and his brother's pack.
"But what about you? You said you were being watched?"
"I don't care anymore!" She reached for my hands, catching me off-guard.
Suddenly, I began to hear footsteps approaching the house and knew exactly who it was.
"Brooke, go in the room down the hall. Let me deal with Aaron."
She started to shake her head, tears beginning to spill over.
Steadily becoming worried, I said lightly above a whisper, "Brooke, we don't have time! Go!"
Reluctantly, she did as I asked and went down the hallway just in time before Aaron practically plowed through my door.
"HOW COULD YOU!!!" Aaron yelled violently.
"I thought we understood each other! And you steal the girl I love?"
"She's my mate, Aaron. What am I supposed to do about that?" I pleaded.
Snapping back, he asserted bitterly, "You could have let her choose. You should have given her a choice!"
At that moment, Brooke walked out from the room.
'Dang it, I told her to hide!'
"YOU!" Aaron's rage intensified.
"How could you leave me for THIS disgrace of a traitor!" he shouted, pointing towards me with intentional hostility.
Now, I was in shock.
"Me, a traitor? You are the one who left with Gavin. We needed you, and you deserted us!" I exclaimed.
"That's not how I see it. Not at all." He stated in a slow, menacing voice.
Even though I'm an Alpha, the tone of his voice would have been enough to make even someone like me cower. Suddenly, he looked towards Brooke in a way that I didn't like at all.
"I'll be back for you. Hopefully, you will have come to your senses by then!"
Storming out of the room, he slammed the door as hard as he could, causing some picture frames to fall off the wall. I looked over to Brooke whose eyes were full of tears.
"He won't stop, Josh. Not until you're dead."
(End of Flashback)
Tossing and turning all night, I was haunted by past memories of Brooke and Aaron. I hardly got any sleep.
I awoke with a start as I began to experience the same extreme pressure in my chest I felt a few days ago when leaving the pack house. I could hardly breathe and the pain was more intense this time than it was last time.
After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally subsided. When I was able to focus again, I realized that it was only 5 am. Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair and laid back down onto the bed.
'The nightmares never stop, no matter where I go,' I lamented.
***
I couldn't tell you what happened at school today. I was so distracted and tired. I didn't feel like talking or doing much of anything. If I were honest with myself, I felt kind of weakened after the pain I felt this morning. Of course being as stubborn as I am, I wouldn't dare admit it. Consequently, I headed straight home after school to rest a little bit.
Not long after, I heard Tyler begin to speak over the link.
'Hey, are you going to Colt's party tonight?'
After a moment, I responded, 'Yes, are you going?'
'Yes.' he replied.
Sensing my silence, he defended himself,'What? It's a lot better to be able to go to a werewolf party. I can't have fun at a college party very well because drinking would draw too much attention!'
I rolled my eyes sarcastically, 'Yeah, sure. That's why.'
'Shut up,' he laughed.
Looking at the time, I realized the party was about to start in an hour.
'Ok, I'm going to get ready now.' I answered back.
'Alright man, I'll see you then.'
***
I arrived to the house around the same time as Tyler so we walked in together.
I didn't know quite how formal this party was going to be, so I settled for wearing a dark jean jacket slightly lighter than my pants, a white shirt underneath, and dark jeans with matching black shoes.
Tyler however, was wearing a nice blue flannel shirt with dark jeans, converse, and his signature beanie.
I looked at him with mock disapproval, "Can't seem to rid yourself of that beanie, can you?"
"And you can't seem to rid yourself of the color black," he cleverly shot back.
"Touché," I nodded lightly.
After knocking on the door, I added, "But, I can't help it that my eyes are attracted to darker colored clothing."
"It wouldn't kill you to wear brighter colors," he smiled as if he had won the battle.
"But I'm sure it'd kill you to not wear that beanie."
He held onto it, pretending to act defensively and I couldn't help but chuckle.
Colt soon let us in. I thought I was early, but there were already tons of people here already.
We had made our way to some chairs accompanied by a table within a section of the large vestibule near the front door. I had never seen such an enormous house before, aside from the pack house.
Eventually Colt joined us in our conversation and we began to talk for a bit. Then, that's when Jake showed up. He shot me a glare only I caught. However, he quickly changed his expression as he faced towards Colt and Tyler smiling.
'Great. He still doesn't like me, I see.'
'You bet I don't,' I heard Jake respond through the link.
I was inwardly frustrated having had my mind invaded unnecessarily. But, of course, I wouldn't allow Jake to see that he was getting to me.
All four of us continued talking when the door bell rang. Colt jogged over to the door to open it.
And that's when I saw her.
I was so taken aback, I felt like I couldn't breath for a second. As Selena stepped through the door, it seemed as if time had slowed down.
Her brown hair was perfectly curled and her make up was just flawless. But it was the dress that really took me away. It was a red, strapless, lacy dress that really seemed to compliment her hair.
All three of us guys, even Tyler, stood in awe of the girl who just came in and captivated us.
"Wow, Selena looks really pretty in red," I heard Tyler comment.
"Yeah... She really does," Jake muttered in pure astonishment.
I however, couldn't say a word. I was so... stunned. Normally, a guy would have probably gotten mad if other guys were staring at their mate like that, but I was too enraptured by her beauty to even notice, or even care at this point.
All of us just stood there as if we were petrified. I could feel that Jake wanted to walk over to Selena just as I did. However, neither one of us took a step to move. It was like we were having an unspoken battle of who could move first before the other. Except, we stood still.
We turned to look at each other, Jake of course glaring at me, but then, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that another guy had beat us to it. We both instinctively looked back towards Selena. Some kid I had never seen before had approached her and placed his arm on her shoulder.
Now, both Jake and I glared at this guy.
"Trevor..." I heard Jake growl.
"Who is that guy?" I questioned, but Jake didn't bother to answer.
He stormed off towards Selena, leaving me to stand there glaring.
*Selena's POV*
I wasn't even inside yet and I was already greeted by a myriad of colorful lights shining from the windows. As I made my way to the front door, I could easily make out music that was being played.
When the door swung open, it was as if the house had been containing a wild beast that was suddenly released from it's cage. Basically, the music was pretty loud.
"Hey, welcome to the party, baby girl!" Colt greeted me as he brought me into a hug.
"You look really good in that dress, by the way," He winked.
Laughing, and probably slightly blushing, I expressed a "Thank you," before smiling lightly.
I actually wasn't too sure about this dress at first.
When Nicole took me shopping yesterday, we looked at quite a few different outfits, including the one dress. I had my eyes on a flannel shirt, but Nicole, of course, convinced me that the dress looked really good on me.
It was two layers sewn together. The bottom layer was a solid red silk fabric while the top layer was red lace. I did agree that it was pretty, but Nicole was the one that pushed me to get it.
Nicole, on the other hand, decided on a flowery halter dress with simple jewelry so it wouldn't take away from the dress itself.
Afterwards she took me shoe shopping which took forever so I won't get into details. But, I just so happened to find these gorgeous red pumps that matched my dress beautifully.
Thankfully, I didn't have to shop jewelry because I had a nice, black, teardrop beaded necklace at home. Wow, that was a mouthful.
But anyway, although I was unsure of the dress at first, I honestly felt pretty confident in it.
After Colt hugged and greeted Nicole, he stepped to the side as if ushering us in.
"I hope you both have a good time! I'll be starting some dances soon once everyone arrives. But you know the place well. Make yourself at home," he winked once again.
"Thank you, Colt!" Nicole replied, straining her voice above the music.
As we stepped in, I was impressed by the interior decorations. Even though I've been here several times, I am always impressed by how gorgeous Colt and Levi's house is. Their father is unranked, but he's a very smart businessman. He knows money well and it really shows.
As I was admiring the house, I was interrupted when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I turned only to see the one guy I didn't want to deal with right now.
"Wow, Selena. You are even more gorgeous than you normally are. I didn't think it was even possible. I wish you would have told me you were wearing red. I would have matched with you," he winked, which honestly made my skin crawl.
Really, Trevor is not a bad looking guy, but his personality makes me want to gag when I see him. Plus, he's younger than me, but I never really thought age mattered. I kind of just used it as an excuse.
"Trevor, please get your hand off of me. I don't really want to deal with you right now."
"Oh come on. I'm just making conversation, dear. Besides, I just wanted to tell you that I definitely want a dance with you later," he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
I'm gonna be sick to my stomach...
Just as I was feeling desperate, Jake thankfully came to the rescue.
"Trevor, can't you see you're making her uncomfortable?"
Trevor showed clear annoyance on his face.
"Not really. I would say that we were doing just fine until you showed up."
'Man, he really is delusional!' I thought incredulously.
"Why don't you just go play ping pong with yourself?" Jake suggested.
Trevor looked as if he was going to continue to argue until Jake emphasized,
"Before I escort you out myself."
A threatening glare was evident in Jake's eyes. One I had honestly never seen before.
Raising his hands up and off of my shoulder, Trevor slowly began to back away.
"Ok, ok. I don't want any trouble. I just wanted to have some fun."
Jake continued to stare at Trevor until Trevor added, "I'll just... be going now."
And finally, the creeper left the room. I sighed with relief.
I looked towards Jake to thank him when I noticed him staring at me. Whatever I was going to say completely left my mind as I became lost in his eyes for a moment.
"You... you look really beautiful in that dress," Jake genuinely complimented.
I shied away from his eyes momentarily, "Thanks, Jake"
Looking back into his eyes, I felt like there was something different. Something was different about his compliment, his stance, his eyes, his lips...
"Ahem!" I heard Nicole cough, "Are we going to go dance, or are you just going to stand there?"
"Ah, yes! You coming Jake?" I questioned.
"I'll be there in a moment," he smiled, "You go ahead and have fun with Nicole."
"Ok, I'll see you out there!" I commented as Nicole began to drag me out to the dance floor.