"You aren't even going to believe me if I just tell you," he sighed deeply.
"Well of course I will. I told you I trust you, remember?" I assured him.
"No, this is different," he paused. "Here let's go somewhere I can show you," he said as he turned sharply in the opposite direction we were walking, pulling my hand so that I followed. He was walking back toward his truck.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I jumped into the passenger seat.
"The same place we went yesterday," he responded without taking his eyes off the road.
"Is it something with your family?" I asked. I couldn't figure out what else would have him so worked up, I hadn't seen this side of him before.
"Sort of," was all he said in response.
We sat quietly while he sped down the county road before pulling off into the secluded area and driving out into the woods. He stopped just before the trees parted to reveal the beach from our date yesterday. He came around to my side of the truck, opened my door, helped me out, and led me in front of the truck. He picked me up and placed me on the hood of the truck and I watched him as he returned to the drivers side and opened the door, blocking himself from my view except for his head.
"What are you doing?" I said with a laugh.
"Just trust me, okay? Promise me you won't be afraid?" he asked me as he pulled his shirt off.
"Seriously, Zander... what are you talking about?" I asked him nervously as I jumped off the hood of the truck and backed away slightly. He walked over to me, still shirtless, and my eyes naturally wandered across his body. He intimidated me in that moment. I had never seen his body like that before and my attraction to him intensified. He just seemed so anxious and I was afraid of what he might tell me.
"I would never do anything to hurt you, Rose. I just need you to know what I am. It's going to seem crazy if I explain it all before I show you, so I just want to show you," he said as he grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him. We were chest to chest now, but I still had to look up at him. My hands went to his stomach and traced over his chest and abs. He smiled at me and looked up at the sky in response to my touches. "Of course you would make me feel like this is in this moment," he said with a laugh. I smiled back at him but kept my hands where they were and he kept his arms secured around my waist. Suddenly I was comfortable around him as I saw his personality return despite his anticipation to share something with me. "You said you read a lot, right?" he asked seriously.
"Yes," I responded.
"Well have you ever read about the legends of our town?" he asked me.
"Sure, the mystical wolf pack town? I used to read about it all the time when I'd visit here in the summers. Doesn't the name of the town literally mean mystical, or something like that?" I asked.
"Yeah," he smiled briefly. "Well where do you think those legends came from?" He asked me.
"I don't know?" I laughed. "I assume folklore, ancient peoples, things like that," I told him. He glared back at me and then picked me up by the waist and set me back on the hood of the truck. He moved quicker than I'd ever seen back to his driver side before stripping his remaining clothes behind the coverage of the door and tossing them into his seat. Then he moved so quickly in front of the door that I could barely see the blur of his body before he transformed into a large wolf looking creature of my imagination. I gasped deeply and jumped down from the hood of the truck once again.
"Zander?" I sighed, hardly audible at all, but he looked into my eyes and I knew he understood me. I stepped closer and touched his face, he turned towards me ever so gently in delight. He was ginormous. My head almost reached his shoulder, but he lowered his head in submission to me and touched his face to mine.
I felt strangely drawn to him in this form. For some reason confusion didn't overwhelm me, nor fear, but instead I was comforted. I could tell it was Zander and he wasn't going to hurt me. The same way I knew that this creature wouldn't hurt me in my dreams. He nudged my neck gently and I backed up. The wolf walked back around to the side of the truck and disappeared, leaving Zander in the body I was accustomed to.
He dressed himself again and walked around to find me in the same place I had been standing when his wolf left me. He didn't say a word, but instead, looked at me. He was so strong and muscular, but he touched me with such care and gentleness.
"That was... you?" I said, touching his face.
"Yes," was all he said in response.
"You're a werewolf?" I asked quietly.
"Yes," he said again. We stood there quietly for a minute. His eyes were overtaken with a deep sadness when he looked at my shocked facial expression. He seemed hurt and defeated as his eyes fell to our feet. "Do you still accept me?" he asked, looking down but not at me. He seemed ashamed.
"Zander, look at me," I said grabbing his chin. "Yes. I accept you and I will always accept you. There is no need to look so upset," I told him. He smiled at me. It was clear that I had just lifted a weight from his shoulder.
"Really?" he asked me. I nodded yes with a smile and he picked me up by my hips and spun me around, hugging me tightly. "I'm so happy, Rose. I was so afraid you would freak out," he said smiling brightly.
"I mean, I think I am freaking out a little bit, it just hasn't hit me yet," I said laughing. "I want more information," I said.
"I'll tell you anything you want to know," he said as he set me down onto my feet.
"Is your whole family like that?" I asked him.
"Yes," he said simply.
"Sapphire, and Christian, and all of you?" I asked. The shock came at the idea I would've never known any of this. Before now, werewolves were just creatures of my imagination that I had thought came from all of those books.
"All of us," he responded. "Actually, everyone that ate lunch with us today," he added.
"Alice?!" I was surprised, but it explained her comments today about knowing Zander so well.
"Yes, she's in our pack," he said.
"Your pack?" It seemed there was a whole world I was unaware of.
"Yeah... we are all a part of a pack that sort of protects this town from other packs or rogue wolves without packs that try to attack," he explained.
"So your whole family is in the same pack?" I asked.
"Yes, we run the pack," he said. My jaw dropped. "My dad is the alpha right now, and soon it will be me." He said it so calmly, but my brain couldn't move past it.
"You're going to be the alpha of the pack?" I asked him and he nodded yes. "Is it like the books? Are you more powerful than the others?"
"You might say that," he said chuckling.
"Are you as sought after throughout your pack as the alphas in the books?" I asked. I looked down at my hands. It didn't make sense that he was telling me this. If he was the alpha like he says, then he wouldn't need a human in his life, he would have plenty of women in his pack who wanted to share love and power with him. Suddenly I felt embarrassed about our conversation this morning when he asked me to give him a chance by not entertaining any other men. I realized that all along it should've been me worrying about that.
"Rose? What do you mean?" he asked as he grabbed my hands. "Look at where we are. Listen to what I'm telling you. I would never have shared this with you if I didn't want to pursue you for the rest of my life. I want to win you over and first I had to show you what I am and why you have such strong feelings for me," he said sweetly as he held my hands softly.
"You're telling me that I feel this because you're a werewolf?" I asked him, but he just looked at me with a smile. "That doesn't even make sense. Christian is a werewolf, and Jake, and all of the other guys I've met here," I said.
"Yes, that's true, but you're mine," he said happily as he kissed my hand. I liked the idea of it, but it didn't make sense. Just a few hours ago I was questioning how everyone was so accepting of our affection when we weren't even in an official relationship. But hearing the words you're mine out of Zander's mouth drowned out the noise of all the other thoughts I was having.
"I like that," I blushed a deep red as I admitted it.
"Good because I'm going to need you to get used to it," he said before kissing my cheek, igniting an even brighter red across my cheeks. He examined my face cheerfully and skimmed over my red cheeks with his thumbs as his fingers intertwined in my hair.
"Why did you choose me?" I asked. It was the question on my mind since he said the word alpha. According to the legends, only the most powerful, strongest, and smartest men grow to become alphas. Why would he want me as his partner?
"Well I could tell you. But I'd rather that you chose me as well before that," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"I want to be with you, Rose. I want to make you my girlfriend first, and eventually my wife and my luna. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I've chosen you, you're mine. But I want you to also choose me before I explain this part to you," he explained.
"Okay. I think I can handle that," I told him. It excited me to hear the way he felt because I felt crazy for feeling that way about him before. Nothing made sense to me before but hearing him actually say the words aloud of what he wanted for our future sent me into a frenzy of emotions.
I felt vulnerable in his presence, like even if he ended everything with me in this very moment after all of the love we had shared, it would be worth it. I had never felt that way with someone before. He said he could explain these feelings, but I didn't see how anyone could ever put it into words. It was like we were meant for each other and there was no other way to explain it than that. I had never believed in soulmates, but looking into his eyes and feeling his hands on me forced me to recognize that we had something like that.
He smiled at me and I felt the fire within me grow as I held back the words I love you from escaping my lips. I had a feeling that he knew, but time needed to catch up with me first.
The following week flew by and I enjoyed every moment I spent with Zander. We spent time together everyday and it felt like we had known each other our entire lives. My mother adored him from the moment she met him on the second morning he picked me up from school and he came over for dinner a few times after that. Mom said that she could tell we were in love, she also said that she had never seen a man treat a woman with so much care and respect and she was shocked that he treated me in such a manner already. Zander loved her as well and was so respectful to her.
Alexander Thompson had quickly become my best friend and it was obvious that we were in love whenever we were together. The next step was telling him. I knew that he felt the same way, but he had shared that he wanted to be with me forever, so it was my turn to tell him how I feel.
I sat at my kitchen table watching the clock as 6:44 changed to 6:45. Then, at that moment, his truck pulled into my driveway and within 60 seconds he was inside. He yelled good morning to my mother in her office and pulled me into a tight hug that preceded a gentle but lingering kiss on my lips. Our skins had been waiting to meet again and it seemed that the hours we slept apart from each other were almost too long to be apart.
"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered in my ear.
"Good morning, Zander," I said before opening my eyes from our reunion kiss.
He hesitantly let me go and handed me an iced coffee he had got on his way here and walked the other one back to my mother in her office. I followed him to tell her goodbye after she thanked him multiple times. "No, thank you for letting me spend so much time with your precious daughter," he responded to her thankfulness. I smiled from ear to ear and we headed out towards his truck.
Our conversations on the way to school were filled with our typical desires to learn everything about each other. When we did arrive in the school parking lot, he parked in his normal spot and looked into my eyes intently; I could tell that he wanted to tell me something, but no words were coming from his lips.
"This is going to sound crazy because I've only known you for such a short time, but Zander, I love you," I broke the silence. He looked at me with a strong passion in his eyes as his huge smile overwhelmed his face.
He slid to the small middle section between our seats to hug me tightly before whispering in my ear, "I love you too, Rose."
"I've felt it since I met you, but it's not going away. I don't think it's ever going to go away, so I need you to know," I admitted. Again, he just looked at me with pure joy.
"Rose, will you please be my girlfriend?" he asked seriously, taking my hand. It was a funny question to me because in my heart I already saw him as my boyfriend and so much more.
"Of course I will, silly," I said as I grazed my thumb across his cheek before kissing his lips happily.
"Rose," he interjected our kiss. "This is a little bit further, but I'm hoping that you're as ready as I am, will you meet my family? Like officially? My parents too?" he asked me innocently.
"Sure," I said smiling.
"Okay, tonight for dinner?" he asked.
"Sounds perfect," I said before he kissed me on the cheek. I texted my mom quickly to let her know of my plans and she was ecstatic that I was meeting Zander's family.
"I think I'm ready to talk to you about us now," he said with a sigh. He scooped me up onto his lap and held me close to his chest while looking down at my skin on his.
"What do you mean? Why did you suddenly get less happy?" I asked as I gently touched his bottom lip.
"I have to tell you more stuff that you might not like," he said with a sigh.