I decided to go to the office and sign-out. There was no reason to go back to class. All we were doing was studying for finals. We had to make our own study guides. It wasn't something I couldn't do at home.
Scratch that. It wasn't something I couldn't do where I lived. That place isn't even close to a home. Not for me at least.
Some more thoughts went through my mind as I walked home in silence. I stopped when I heard some rustling coming from the trees to my right. We lived close to the forest.
I turned to see what made the sound when a puppy walked out that looked a lot like a wolf pup. He walked straight up to me and started whining at my feet. I bent down to pet him.
"Hey cutie. Are you lost too? I don't see a collar on you," I spoke softly as I rubbed his ears. "Tell you what. You can come home with me but you have to be quiet because I can't have pets okay?" He looked at me and whined again. "Let's go," I said picking him up.
***
I was at home alone and had fed my puppy who made himself comfortable on my bed. It was nice to have someone to talk to. I heard Tamara and Pete's car pull up with Jason in it and panicked.
"Puppy I need you to be real quiet." He cocked his head and I threw the covers over him just as Jason walked by my room. He popped his head in my room.
"Crybaby," he said and walked away.
"Jerk," I said back.
"What did you just call me?" he asked storming into my room.
"You heard me. Or maybe you didn't because you're an airhead."
"You- SLAP!" He smacked me across the face. I was stunned for a moment before I decided that I had enough with him. I made a fist and punched him in his sniffer with such a force that he flew back all the way outside my room and left a hole in the wall where his head met with it. "Freak!" he spat out before hobbling to his room.
I looked down at my hand in shock. It didn't even hurt. How the heck did I do that?! I was never the strong type! I quickly shut my door and pulled the covers off the puppy who was growling at my door.
"I know I hate him too and I've had enough of this. Which is why we're running away." I hastily packed the necessities in a bag and grabbed the rope I had hidden in my closet months ago in case I had to run away.
I opened the window and let the rope down. I grabbed my puppy and put him in my backpack with his head still out so he could breathe, then lowered myself down the rope. Once my feet hit the ground, I sprinted towards the woods.
For some reason I had always been drawn to the forest. I felt like it was a safe place for me. I wasn't scared of any animals.
I don't know for how long I walked. I just kept going and going until sheer exhaustion brought me to a stop. I placed my things down at the roots of a big tree that would give us shelter and I found a cozy spot to make a makeshift bed in the roots.
My puppy crawled out of my backpack and snuggled up next to me after I got a fire going. I was really tired and fell asleep almost instantly.
***
I woke up alone in the early morning. I had that dream again. My fire was out and my puppy was missing. I began to search for him.
"Puppy? Puppy! Come on where are you?"
I walked backwards and spin around only to bump into something, or should I say someone. I screamed when I saw that it was a guy, a very handsome guy, carrying firewood, which he dropped when I bumped into him, and clad in only boxers. I let out a scream and so did he.
"What, who, where, who are you?! And why are wearing boxers in the forest?! Oh my God did you rape me?! What the heck is wrong with you?!"
The voice in my head that spoke to me before I tried to commit suicide spoke up again. Run to him! He's our mate!
I found myself talking back to her which was beyond weird but felt perfectly normal. What the heck's a mate? I asked still not taking my eyes off the hot guy in boxers. Why was I calling him hot? And why did I have a strong urge to listen to that voice in my head and kiss him? Dang he had abs...
"Hey hey! Calm down. One, I'm Ryder. Two, I'll explain that later. Three, no I did not rape you. I- ow! What the? Stop throwing rocks at me!"
"Get away from me!" Ryder grabbed my hand to stop it from throwing more rock and I felt like I had been electrocuted, but in a good way. A fire burned everywhere our skin touched. I yanked my arm away. "What did you do?"
Don't throw rocks at our mate! Stop asking questions and just let him take us to his home!
"I didn't do anything. It's part of our bond."
"Bond? What bond? I don't know you."
He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair giving it a tousled look. It looked good on him. Stop it! Snap out of it!
"Okay I guess I'll just come out with it." I gave him a confused look. He slipped off his boxers but I looked away before I could lose my innocence.
"What are you doing?! Are you not naked enough!" I heard what sounded like someone popping their knuckles and looked up to see a mutant wolf staring back at me. He let out a whine and I fainted.
(Ryder's POV)
Dang it! I just made her faint. That's just great.
Well what do you expect smart one? You couldn't have explained it first? My wolf Blaze piped up with his thoughts on the matter.
She's a werewolf too! She shouldn't have freaked out!
Idiot you really don't pay attention in history lessons do you? I ignored him and focused on the situation at hand. I shifted back and put on my boxers before picking my mate up and her things.
Our close proximity made her mumble about something and set my feelings on fire. My parents are gonna kill me when they find out this is how I'm bringing my mate home.
I took off at a sprint towards my castle hoping that my parents could explain to me what Blaze meant by not paying attention at history lessons.
(Hayden's POV)
I heard an unfamiliar voice when I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a bed and I didn't remember how I got there. I slowly sat up.
"I must of hit my head on a rock or something..."
"Oh you're awake!" I looked to see who spoke up to find a middle-aged kind looking women rush to my side. "I promise you're safe here."
"Okay. Anything is better than being stuck in the woods with boxer boy." She gave me a confused look. "I must of hit my head really hard when I fainted because the last thing I remember was a guy in boxers who ended up removing his boxers and changing into a mutant wolf!" I rushed out.
The door opened and I heard an animalistic growl. "Mine!"
I screamed when I saw boxer boy and hid behind the woman. Was Ryder his name? Oh well I don't care.
He is our mate! You should!
Okay why is there a voice inside my head?
I'm not just a voice. My name's Jasmine.
Okay, Jasmine, could you stop calling this guy our mate?
But he is our mate!
I didn't wan't to listen to the voice anymore so I just shut her out. Immediately it felt like there was a mental barrier in my mind and I couldn't hear Jasmine anymore. Creepy.
"Ryder the girl's gone through enough. Let her sleep and get some rest."
"She can sleep with me," he growled.
"What?!" I screeched. Although for some odd reason the idea seemed tempting. Ew, what's wrong with me?!
"Ryder I will not hesitate to kick your butt out this room. I've watched you grow up and I don't care how big an Alpha you are. Now shoo!" she said shooing him out the door.
"Thanks," I said once the door was closed.
"No problem child. I'm, well was, his nanny so he has a right to be afraid. I know too much about him." She winked. I laughed. "My name's Gigi."
"My name's Hayden. Do you know why Ryder called me his and, this is gonna sound crazy, but there's this voice in my head that says his my mate! And why did you call him Alpha?"
Gigi looked at me like everything I just said was perfectly normal.
"You don't seem shocked about the things I just told you."
"Well, to get your answers I'm afraid you'll have to sit through dinner with 'boxer boy' and his parents."
"Great," I said as I fell face first onto my pillow.