Celestina's P.O.V :
Once we reached home, I ran to my room throwing myself face down on my bed and resumed my waterworks without bothering to lock the door, because that won't be stopping my big brothers from getting into my room, no one or nothing especially my poor door, stands a chance against two pissed off alpha brothers being protective over their little sister. And I was right. Just a second later my brothers come into my room. Abel, being the oldest and the mature one, climbed on to my bed and pulled me into his lap and started saying soothing words to calm me but Cal is not as calm as Abel, he is fuming, seeing that their best friend hurt their baby sister. It continued until I was exhausted from crying and slipped into a dreamless sleep in my brother's arms, I was dead to the world that I don't even know when my parents got home.
Next day being Saturday they let me sleep in, so I woke by noon. After freshening up I went downstairs to grab something to eat, and the delicious smell from the kitchen told me that mom is home.
"Good morning mom", I greeted her as I walked into the kitchen.
"It's already afternoon Tina...anyway Good afternoon. Hope you are well rested, Your brothers insisted on letting you sleep in", Mom said while she is mixing something in a bowl.
"Yea I am feeling rested. Is there any leftovers from lunch mom?? I'm hungry."
"Oh! I will fix you a sandwich now. I was out this morning shopping with your aunt Cathy. The boys fixed something for themselves and your dad was with Beta Joshua. The house was empty when I got back, of course, you were there still....", mom keeps on ranting about her day but my mind got stuck where I heard Beta Joshua and Aunt Catherine's name, Mike's parents. I don't know when mom stopped talking but a touch on my shoulder brought me back, I blinked to get rid of the unshed tears in my eyes.
"Listen, baby, your brothers told me what happened at the gym yesterday. I think you should give him a chance to explain, it might not be what you are thinking.", she let me go and pushed the chicken and egg sandwich she made towards me.
I nodded at her and took the plate with me to eat in my room wanting to avoid any more of this awkward conversation, "I will eat in my room mom, I want to finish the book I have been reading."
"Okay. But think about what I said. Cathy told me Mike is in no better condition than you.", I just nodded and left the kitchen, I heard her murmur 'kids' under her breath before walking away.
Once I got to room, I searched my collection for a good book to read, since I am feeling so sad and heartbroken my hand and heart reach out to Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan and ended up selecting 'A Walk To Remember'. I read as I ate and once I am done with the sandwich I left the plate on the nightstand without bothering to wash up I snuggled into the blanket, getting comfortable and losing myself in the book.
"Tina... Dinner time."
I woke up with a startle when Callahan called me for dinner. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and get freshened up and the zombie in the mirror almost gave me a heart attack. There are two holes where my eyes are supposed to be and big purple bags under those holes. My hair is a tangled mess; I tried to run my finger through it but winced when I tugged at a knot. So I just smoothed it at the front and pulled the rest into a ponytail. Only after climbing halfway down the stairs I remember about the plate I left on the nightstand and mom will have my head if I don't bring it down with me she is so keen on hygiene, so I have to rush back and get it and rush back down before mom starts yelling.
Only the five of us are there. Mom, dad, Abel, Cal and me. Family dinners are very important to us. Dad says no matter how busy things are you should be home for dinner, he says it's our bonding time.
Dad gives me a sympathetic smile when he sees me; I tried to reply with a cheerful smile but ended up with a weak one. My brothers are extra nice to me. They did not pull my ponytail like normal or made any jokes at my expense, Cal actually even served the curry to me. Shocking? I know, wow.
After dinner, Abel and Cal asked me to join them for a movie and even allowed me to pick one. Well, I chose transformers, the relief is so evident on their faces when they see I am not going to some romantic chick flick movie, considering my current mood.
Cal went to get the popcorn and is back by the time the movie started. He jumped on to one of the couches and started munching on the popcorn. I curled up comfortably against Abel's side on the other couch.
By the time movie is over Cal is passed out on the couch. After a few fruitless efforts to wake him up, Abel and I decided to leave him there for the night. He is gonna get a sprained neck in the morning for sure, well it's his own fault.
Once I am back in my room, the loneliness engulfed me. I looked at the photo of me and Mike, taken at his sixteenth birthday, that has a permanent place on my nightstand. Again I felt like crying and once more I cried myself to sleep.
I wake up late on Sunday as well, mom and dad are not there when I woke up, they are having lunch at Uncle Joshua's place. Sunday lunches are always like this, either at our place or at their place. Usually, it's the whole family but this Sunday, I don't want to go cause I am not in the right frame of mind to see Mike or meet his 'mate'. Abel and Cal also stayed in saying they want more bonding time with their sister and they can get it only when Mike is not around. I really doubt they were jealous of Mike but it was nice to have them around.
We are in the entertainment room playing call of duty when we heard a car pull over from the sound of it, it's Mike's car. I started to panic thinking he might be here to pay back for hitting his mate. I have heard that guys do all this weird stuff when it comes to their mate. Male wolves are extremely possessive and aggressive when it comes to their mate, especially alphas and betas. My brothers caught on to my thoughts and they know that I am not yet ready to see him. They went outside to tell him that I don't want to talk to him. I heard the argument outside and started to get worried if one of them would lose control and attack each other. When I heard his car starting and take off, I let go of the breath that I didn't know I was holding.
In the evening, Mike's mother (aunt Catherine) and her four daughters came over. Like me, he is also the youngest of them all. He has four older sisters, Jane, Ebony, Tania, and Ruby, they are the only girls I like in the pack. They are way older than me and all of them are mated, still, they are the only ones who are nice to me and help me out with all girl stuff. I am planning to get advice from these girls when I go for my first date. They always treat me like their younger sister.
But today, I didn't want to meet them. I don't know what they will be thinking about me now; I just attacked their new sister-in-law.
"Celestine Mary Lucas! What the hell you are doing here without coming to meet your big sisters?!"
I was just sulking in my room when Ruby, the youngest among them, burst into my room.
"I... umm... I was just doing some...mmm.. some work.", I smiled sheepishly at her.
"Work?? Seriously. hmm... Come downstairs this instant or I will drag you down the stairs making sure your head hits every railing." She said giving me a challenging look. I sighed and followed her downstairs. The rest of the girls gave me a hell of a time for sulking in my room just because of a guy, that guy being their baby brother, and made me promise that whatever happens between Mike and I will not affect our friendship.
Not Aunt Cathy or the girls say a single word about Mike or his mate. They just said whatever is going on between me and Mike we need to figure it out on our own and no one else is going to interfere with it. They said their goodbyes around eight that night and I was so sleepy but I knew that there is something I must do before I rest today. So I went in search of my brothers and find them in the garage,
"Hi Abel, Hi Cal...", I was cut off even before I could say another word by two worried boys rushing to my side.
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"Did that idiot tried to hurt you?"
"Wow wow.. Calm down, guys... I am perfectly okay. No Mike hasn't even contacted me yet and aunt Cathy and his sister were not here to take his side. You guys should have come and said 'hi', it was rude to avoid them like that", they just nodded and looked down so I continued,"So I want a favor from you guys."
"Anything Tina, we will do anything for you..", Abel said with a small assuring smile on his face.
Taking my confidence from his smile I continued," I want you two to go and talk to Mike, not to try and fix things between me and him, as the mothers and the girls said it is our's to solve, but I don't want the friendship of you three to break up because of me."
"But Tina..", Cal started and I stopped him with my hand and continued talking,"Your friendship started even before I was born, it was even older than me, I don't want it to finish just because I came into the picture. Please.. do it for me... Go and talk to him, now .. not tomorrow but now. Please do it for me."
"Hmmm... okay.. we will go.. but only because you told us to", with that being said I walked toward the woods and I heard them shifting into their wolves and running off to the direction of Mike's house. After that, I went inside and my eyes are already droopy, I was out the moment my head hit the pillow, so no pity party tonight.
Monday morning, the day I dread the most. Not that that's unusual, everybody hates Mondays. But this Monday is special, there is a chance for me to run into Mike and his mate at the campus. I can't hide from him anymore. I tried to play sick and skip school. But my parents are not hearing about it. Then my brothers came to the rescue and promised that they will keep Mike away from me.
Now I feel it is good that I persuaded them to go and talk to him last night. I don't want to break their long and steady friendship because of my silly insecurity. Now they are all fine and back to the bro code. Well, I am glad it is so because they can now keep Mike away from me.
Dad drops me off at school, our campus is similar to a university campus starting from kindergarten to primary school to middle school to high school to college is in there. I'm doing the seventh grade in there and my brothers are in college there, both of them and Mike are doing their graduation there in different streams and levels.
(Authors Note: The educational system mentioned here is similar to the Indian educational system because that is the only one I am familiar with. We start kindergarten at around 4 years old and starts the first grade or first standard at the age of 6. When we are 15 we are supposed to pass 10th grade or 10th standard. there is an 11th grade (16-year-old ) and 12th grade (17-year-old) before you do starts your college. Arts and Science degrees or graduation level is 3-year course and the post graduation classes are two years long. If you are choosing an engineering course after a common entrance exam then it is a 4 years course.)
I went straight to my locker to collect my books and caught Michael's scent and looked up just in time to see Cal pulling him towards the stairs. I went straight to my first class. The whole day went the same way, whenever I caught Mike's scent I will see one of my brothers or any of their friends directing him in the opposite direction, I did not see the girl who was with him the other day yet. I should apologize to her for slapping her, but I don't think I am ready to talk to her yet. Once I got home I went straight to do my homework. I heard the sound of his car and look out of the window to see him driving by, with his eyes focused on my window. I immediately moved out of view, and he just drove off. After dinner, I got into bed and had a restless night.
My birthday is in a day, that's this Wednesday. And I will get in touch with my wolf by Wednesday night at midnight. I will be having restless sleep and have a temper until Wednesday since the wolf is readying herself to connect with me. We both are nervous I guess, well I am. I hope she will be happy to have me, as her human. The bond with our wolf is pretty important for us, as they are apart of us, we are basically the same person.
Tuesday went just like Monday, I avoided Mike like the plague. I don't know whether he minded or not, but I do. I am feeling so weak, down and depressed, and the wolf transition is not helping either. I am all grumpy during classes. I sometimes growled at some of the fellow students and teachers, once even to the principal. Thank god my dad is the alpha; otherwise, I would have been expelled by now.
By night I know I am losing it, Mike used to be the one who always wished me a happy birthday first every year. This year I don't even know whether he will remember my birthday, I stared at our photo for a long time before getting into bed. I was drifting into sleep when I feel like I am forgetting something but sleep consumed me before I could ponder anymore about it.
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I woke up hearing a thud; suddenly I remembered what I forgot last night.
"Shoot!! I forgot to close my window."
I slightly opened my eyes to see that it's already morning and the sunlight is coming in through the window and closed my eyes fast. But I don't dare to make a move. I lay there still as a statue as I expand my senses hearing soft rustling as someone moved about my room, I heard them taking a deep breath and I did the same, I smell a sweet scent permeating my room...mmmm... chocolate and oranges I love it. Sweet yet masculine.
"Wow!! When does chocolate become masculine??!!" I giggled internally at my silly thought.
Then I felt something, something on my cheek, soft caressing and I got electrified instantly and heard a gasp, I screamed out and opened my eyes to stare into two ocean blue orbs. They are so beautiful that I felt like my life force depends on it. I feel myself getting sucked into it like my whole world is revolving around it. Those eyes widened in surprise as well.
In the background, I could feel my parents and siblings bursting into my room. They keep asking us what happened.
Then a single word slipped from him that stopped the world around me.
"Mate". Mike whispered.
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Hi friends,
Thank you for choosing my book to read.Hope you people like it . If so please vote and comment.
Love,
Niranjana