Chapter 19
Before leaving Layton’s house, his parents told me the pack needed to know who I was. Apparently, it was tradition for the Luna, or future Luna in our case, to be introduced to the pack during a gathering.
They’d both cornered me into accepting to go over to their house in the weekend for the celebration.
Layton drove me home late that night. He planned on driving my car home and then sneaking in when I was in my room. I still looked pale and felt weak. His mark had really taken a toll on me. I was only thankful that at least I looked presentable.
I made enough noise as I walked in my house so that my parents knew I’d arrived.
“I’m home!” I yelled to them and quickly headed for the stairs, hoping they wouldn’t say anything. They yelled back ‘hello’s’ and ‘have a goodnight’. I let out a sigh in relief when they didn’t call for me. I knew they must’ve been up to something of their own.
When I opened my door, Layton was jumping in through the window.
“I’m going to go change. You can change here if you want to,” I told him as I made my way to my bathroom.
I looked at myself in the mirror to check out the damage. Layton hadn’t given me any time alone when I was at his house to really inspect the bite.
I frowned when I noticed it still wasn’t healing. The bite didn’t look infected, but it was prominent in my skin. The only conclusion I came to was that even though I was a Legen, my healing gift respected Layton’s claim.
In all the rush of trying to take care of my wound, I hadn’t given a piece of my mind to Layton for marking me without permission.
When I came out of the bathroom, I found Layton sitting down in my bed, wearing only basketball shorts. I almost got distracted by staring at him and how great he looked without a shirt. The bond between us really did things to me.
I shook my head to try and get my thoughts back together. I couldn’t get sidetracked, not even if Layton looked really good.
“Why did you bite me?”
Layton looked surprised that I brought up the subject.
“I wanted you to meet the pack today. You’re going to be their Luna in a few months.”
“Meeting them obviously didn’t go too well. You should’ve warned me about it in the middle of, you know… kissing. You should’ve told me that you were going to bite down. I would’ve at least prepared myself,” I told him, remembering how painful it had been.
“If I had told you I was planning on marking you, you would’ve said ‘no’,” Layton explained, shrugging.
Again he was acting like if it hadn’t been a big deal.
“Of course I would’ve said no!”
Layton gave me a flat look and shook his head at me.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re mine and my mark proves it. Come on, we have school tomorrow. Let’s just go to sleep.”
Layton got into bed and patted the spot next to him. I glared at him as I stomped my way into bed.
I got in roughly, and lied down far from him. At first, we both stayed still in the bed. When I felt his hand creeping over my waist, I slapped it away.
Layton chuckled but took the opportunity to move closer to me. When he noticed that I didn’t push him away, he got even closer. I was too tired to tell him to get away from me, and it was almost impossible to stay mad at him when we were so close.
By the time I woke up the next morning, Layton was already gone. I was glad for that too, because my dad had woken me up that morning, asking me if I wanted breakfast.
If Layton had been in bed with me, I didn’t even want to imagine what my dad would’ve done to both of us.
With my dad’s invitation of bacon and eggs, I left downstairs and ate breakfast with both my parents. They were in a too cheery mood for such an early hour.
When I noticed the teasing looks my mom was sending my dad, I smiled and looked away. They’d definitely been up to something the previous night.
I got to school with just enough time to go to my locker and get my books. Micah was at my locker waiting for me. As soon as he saw me, he scrunched up his nose and frowned.
“He marked you?” Micah asked, as he opened my locker.
“If you must know— yes, he did. And I’m not exactly jumping with joy,” I told him, harshly.
I didn’t mean to take it out on Micah. I was just still annoyed at Layton for claiming me without asking.
“Wait, he forced himself onto you? You didn’t want it?”
Micah was starting to look worked up. I could see his clear blue eyes darkening with ever second I took to reply.
“Calm down,” I told him, running my hand over his arm.
“What happened?” He asked through gritted teeth.
I was surprised when he tucked my hair back so he could take a closer look at the bite mark. I moved my head to the side, allowing him to get a better look.
I wasn’t wearing the gauze anymore. It called too much attention and the bite wasn’t even healing. The only thing I did was let my hair down, and it was enough to cover my bite properly.
“Let’s just say he caught me by surprise and unexpected things went down,” I told him.
Micah started walking me to class. He was still looking at me weirdly.
“You’re not mated. I would’ve smelled it on you,” Micah said, seeming to be in serious thought.
“What?” I asked, rather loudly.
My reaction earned me some looks from people passing by or standing around. One glare from Micah was enough to make them look away and disperse.
“It’s a Werewolf thing. That’s how I know he marked you. His scent is all over you, but I could tell you two are unmated.”
“Wow, talk about ultimate privacy,” I sarcastically remarked.
Micah laughed at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“You’re going to become the Luna of Blue Bloods Pack. After that happens, we’ll talk about ultimate privacy,” he said, grinning at me devilishly.
I narrowed my eyes at him, and caught his hand before he walked away.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him, my frown growing deeper.
I didn’t like what Micah had implied with his words.
“You’ll see,” was all he said.
I could hear him chuckling while he walked away. It only served to unsettle me more.
Layton wasn’t in his seat when I got to first period.
I did see Nate, who gave me the same frown Micah had when he saw my mark.
“You let him bite you?” Nate asked, sounding disappointed.
“He’s my mate,” I replied.
The way Nate was looking at me made me feel guilty.
“How did it happen?” He asked.
He hadn’t stopped looking at my neck, even though it was covered by my hair.
“It was last night, before a pack meeting,” I replied, and gave him a small smile.
Nate just shook his head, and turned to the front. He didn’t talk to me for the rest of the period.
I was sure Zev was going to hear about it before lunch came around.
I was more than surprised when I walked into Art and found Tyler, Jared, and Nick missing. Layton was gone, and so were they. It worried me that something was going on. He hadn’t told me they’d be absent and he had left my house in the morning before I’d woken up.
I tried not to think about their absence. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t focus on anything else but them.
When Zev asked me to go with him and the guys to the diner, I quickly accepted. I hadn’t stopped thinking about Layton, and I knew the guys would be able to distract me.
I was glad that they spent the entire lunch period goofing around and making fun of everything.
Most of the jokes were about Layton and me, and the recent claim on my neck.
Zev seemed slightly worried with how it had happened. He only let it go when I repeatedly reassured him that I was fine. I wasn’t, and I was still ticked at Layton. I just didn’t need to give either Layton or Zev a reason to be fighting with each other.
History was usually the class that I spent alone. Although I did talk to some girls in the class, most of our conversations were one sided. They were usually more interested in Layton or Zev, and asking me the latest gossip about both guys.
Science was lonely without Tyler. I knew he wouldn’t show up. He hadn’t been in Art either. I still couldn’t help but wonder where Layton and the guys were at.
By the time I got to PE, I was more than ready for the day to end. Instead of going to the locker room, I headed straight for the gym. I wasn’t in the mood for changing.
Zev was already sitting at the bleachers, and he smiled down at me when he saw me.
“You don’t look too happy,” he told me, while I took a seat next to him.
“Do you know why Layton and the guys are not here?”
I’d been considering calling or texting Layton, just to reassure myself that everything was okay. I felt uneasy, like if something bad was about to happen. I didn’t know if I was being paranoid, but something felt off.
“Not really, I hardly hear anything from them. Other than the usual fights between us, we don’t keep tabs on each other,” Zev replied, shrugging casually.
“It’s just— they’re all gone,” I said, not knowing how to explain their absence.
“Don’t tell me that you’re missing him?” Zev asked, grinning at me teasingly. “It’s the claim,” he said, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“What?”
“You know you are,” he said, nodding at me with a stupid grin on his face.
“No way! I’m just saying it’s a little out of the ordinary that all of them decided to be absent the same day.” My reply sounded defensive and it caused Zev to grin even wider.
“I think you’re just missing him,” Zev teased.
I glared at him and huffed. He wasn’t even answering my question.
“I’m being serious. I have a bad feeling about this.”
I didn’t expect for Zev’s grin to completely disappear and a hard look to come over his face.
“You have a bad feeling? Does it have to do with Layton?” Zev asked, sternly.
“I don’t know. I feel weird. I just want to see Layton and make sure everything’s fine,” I replied, not knowing how to explain it.
“Now that Layton claimed you, you’re more susceptible to his feelings. If he’s scared, happy, angry, or… horny,” Zev smirked as he said the last emotion, “you will be able to feel it.”
“Right,” I told him, because he was still smirking at me.
“Call him and find out which one it is. If it’s something bad, it could affect my pack as well,” Zeverus said.
For the first time since we traded numbers, I was calling Layton instead of the other way around. His phone rang once before he answered it.
“Is anything wrong?” Layton asked, sounding worried.
“I was calling to ask you that.” He had confirmed that something was happening with the way he picked up the phone.
“There’s a problem with the pack. I’m picking you up right after school.”
“What? Why? I brought my car. I can’t just leave it here,” I told him, not knowing what exactly to say.
Zev was listening in on our conversation.
“I’m running to school. Don’t get out of campus until you I text you. I’ll drive your car here.”
Just as always, he wasn’t asking, he was shouting orders.
“Should I be worried?” I asked, even though I knew his answer would be cryptic.
“No, I’m taking care of everything. I’ll come get you after school,” he said.
I could hear him moving around on the other side of the line, but I had no idea what he was up to.
“Uh, ok,” I finally replied.
“I’ll see you after school. Bye,” With that, Layton hung up.
After the call ended, I stared at my phone.
“Something’s wrong,” Zev stated.
“He didn’t even tell me what happened,” I said, shaking my head in disapproval. “Typical.”
Zev had a faraway look in his eyes. He was probably ignoring me too. I let out a sigh, and closed my eyes.
I had been too busy trying to come up with anything that might be going on with Layton’s pack— I missed when Micah and Jonas walked up to us.
“I’m staying here with Cass until school lets out. Jonas, go and warn my dad. I’m not sure what’s happening, but something has Layton’s pack running around.”
Jonas nodded at Zev’s order without even asking a question.
“Will she be okay leaving with Layton?” Micah asked Zev.
“Hello, you’re talking about me, in front of me,” I told him, waving my hand.
Micah rolled his eyes, and gave me a smile.
“I’m just worried about you, Cass,” Micah shrugged.
“I don’t know what’s going on in Blue Bloods, but I think Layton can protect Cassidy. In any case, I can’t fight him for her. It’s not like Layton’s just going to let me take her,” Zev replied.
Zev turned to face me, and took my hand in his.
“Besides, I think she’s already missing him,” he continued, grinning down at me.
“How did you know what was happening?” I asked Micah, trying to chance the subject.
I didn’t need for Zev to continue teasing me about missing Layton.
“Mind link,” Micah replied, pointing at his forehead with his index and middle finger.
“The forty Wolves from Blue Bloods that ditched school today should’ve been a dead giveaway that something was up,” Zev said.
“And here I thought we were lucky the dogs had taken a day off,” Micah commented, trying joke about it.
Even though they were acting cool, I could tell they were worried.
“There are forty Wolves from Layton’s pack here in school?”
I was shocked to hear that. The school had a lot of students. It was the only high school within three neighboring towns, so it wasn’t exactly small. To think that I passed Wolves down the halls every day without noticing was just crazy.
“Actually, there are forty-five Wolves from his pack here. Five of them didn’t skip school and have been watching you all day. I thought his pack just had a meeting or something. I should’ve known something was going on,” Zev said, shaking his head.
“How many people from school are in your pack?”
I knew I was being nosy. I just couldn’t help but wonder about his pack as well.
“We have thirty-eight Wolves from New Elite here in school.”
“Less than Layton?”
Zev smiled at me, and shook his head.
“My pack is about forty members smaller than Layton’s,” Zev said.
“I wasn’t trying to-”
“I know. I’m not ashamed of it either. I still know I can kick his ass,” Zev said, grinning down at me.
I rolled my eyes at his comment. I couldn’t help but laugh when Micah picked up on the jokes everyone was making about Layton and me.
Despite how much Layton and Zev pretended to not care for each other, I knew that they did. At least on Zev’s end, he seemed worried about what was going on with Layton and the pack.