Chapter 2 - Wesley
I headed back towards the pack lines but I was finding it difficult. My heart felt heavy and my legs felt like led. I had to snap out of this but it was always so hard whenever I left Nick.
I was so angry when I realized I was mates with a vampire. I was always raised thinking vampires were cold hearted murders that didn't care about life in the slightest. Just undead things that fed off the universe's energies to selfishly extend their pathetic lives indefinitely.
But Nick wasn't anything like that. He was warm and caring. He was so smart and funny. When I first saw him I didn't even consider he was a vampire. He didn't smell like one to me and he wasn't pale or sickly looking. Later Nick told me that was a stereotype but I still think there's something to it.
We met at the mall one day. He was shopping at Abercrombie and Fitch, go figure, and I had just gotten out of a movie with my girlfriend at the time, Stacy. I saw him first, looking through shirts in the back of the store. I started walking towards him and his scent just got stronger and stronger, it was amazing, like lavender and that smell right after it rains. I didn't realize Stacy was trying to warn me about what he was, she thought I was going to start shit, but I just wanted to hear his voice.
"Hi," I said and he turned around. His eyes were a beautiful bright blue, I would almost swear they were neon. They went from a look of confusion to a look of surprise and then defense.
"What do you want?" he asked as he took a step back, his eyes flashing red for a second, and for some reason that made me sad. Stacy was pulling on my shirt but I wasn't listening, I had to know him.
"What's your name?" I asked and he looked puzzled.
"Nicholas Keegan, first class member of the Horation Clan, why does a werewolf want to know?" he said a little defensively. I was shocked at first, I didn't believe him in fact, he couldn't be a vampire. But I could sense something between us and I knew he could sense something too. Vampires don't have mates like werewolves do, but humans that end up being mates with them feel the pull, if not a little weaker than the wolf, so why not vampires? But that's never happened before, not that I know of anyway.
"I-I just, I thought...I wanted to get to know you," I said suddenly losing my confidence. If he was a 1st class member that meant he knew how to fight or he was really smart. I was a hunter in the pack, the only wolves above me were the elders and the Alpha and his Beta, but I couldn't start a fight here. Human territory was neutral territory, any fights here would just cause a war that neither side wanted.
Nicholas seemed to look around paranoid for a second before he looked back at me. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbled something down and handed it to me. It was his phone number.
"I'd like to get to know you too," he said with a smile before running out of the store.
I stood there dazed for a while, I didn't realize I had a huge smile on my face before Stacy hit me in the arm. She was a hunter too so it hurt pretty bad.
"Hey," I scowled at her.
She sighed. "You found your mate didn't you?" she asked sadly, she knew we couldn't keep dating if I'd found my mate.
"I think so," I said still smiling but I was more confused.
"How is that possible, he's a vampire, and he smells rank Wes," she said as we walked back to the car.
"I don't know, and no he doesn't" I defended, it felt like the right thing to do, plus he didn't smell bad, he smelled amazing.
"Whatever, just take a long shower today okay? Anyone will be able to catch that stench from a mile away, and if they ever find out you know they're going to hand you your ass on a platter," she warned.
Stacy was always cool like that, she didn't make a big deal about stuff, that's why I liked her. She wouldn't tell anyone about him, I didn't have to ask for her to keep it quiet.
I called him that night and we ended up talking all through the night. I didn't even realize until my alarm went off and I groaned. Hunting on no sleep was going to be a challenge, I just hopped I would be able to play it off like I was sick or something.
For weeks after that we talked on the phone almost every day. It was a good amount of time before we both decided to risk meeting each other in person. We would meet in human territory and we had brainstormed ways to get rid of each other's scent before we went back home.
It had been almost a year now that we had been sneaking off together. We were careful but I knew the secrecy was getting to both of us. I just wanted him to be mine for real. I wanted to come home to him every day. I wanted to hold him whenever I wanted. Most of all I wanted to mark him to let the world know he was mine and I would kill anyone that dared touch him. But I couldn't, if my pack found out they wouldn't hesitate to kill him for it and without my mate I don't think I would be able to keep on living.
I reached the stream that bordered our land from the humans and I took off my clothes. I brought some of the scent spray Nick had been using and some soap and shampoo and placed them on the bank as I got in. It was still early and the lake was still chilly. I shivered a little but made sure to wash off my body with the soap before changing into my wolf.
It always felt good to let him out after meeting with Nick and you know, doing what we did. He missed Nick even more than I did if you can believe it. I washed my fur as best I could with the shampoo in wolf form before changing back and rinsing off once again. When I got out of the river I sprayed myself with the scent spray just to be extra sure.
I slipped my shorts back on but shoved everything else back into my bag before running back towards the living area. To anyone else it would look like a small neighborhood in the middle of the woods, which it was I guess, but we were all werewolves. My house was settled on the edge of the woods which made it perfect for sneaking back into before the horn was blown singling the start of the hunt.
We were the Sol pack, we lived at the base of the mountain. There was another pack on the other side, the Kuro pack, we weren't exactly friendly with them, we've had problems in the past but they have less numbers and the last time they tried something we cut that number in half. We are separated by hunter territory, human hunters. They set traps and don't hesitate to shoot any living thing they find so we steer clear.
Even though we lived in houses and had a lot of conveniences that humans did we were still pretty traditional as far as werewolves go. We still hunted for all our food, we just chopped it up and cooked it instead of eating it raw. Some of the elders still ate raw meat but I couldn't bring myself to do it, it just looked wrong.
We had ranks just like any pack of wolves. In order: Alpha, elders, Beta, hunters, gatherers, and omegas. Everyone except for the omegas were permitted to go to school, I was currently in my senior year of high school. I planned on going to college but I still had to ask the Alpha if it would be ok. It was really a tossup if he would agree or not, but the main reason I wanted to go was so I could be close to Nick. He said he might be able to convince his clan's master to let him go to school again, and if I could get into the same school it would be perfect.
By the time I reached my house I knew I only had a minute or two to get going but thinking about Nick and I in college together had greatly improved my mood from before. I dropped my bag just as I heard the horn and ran to the center of the village. Most of the wolves were already there and greeted me when I ran up including my best friend Colin.
"Hey buddy, you ready for this?" he asked bringing me into a half hug and slapping me on the back.
"You bet, let's get enough for the pack to gorge themselves tonight," I laughed and we joined the rest of the circle.
Stacy was there along with a few of the other hunters, there were quite a few of us so we rotated shifts every couple days. Colin and Stacy were my best friends. I didn't have any family left so I relied on them a lot. I got paid for being a hunter and I kept my parent's house after they were killed so I didn't have to worry too much. Colin didn't know about Nick, I didn't want to tell him because I knew he would say it was some kind of mistake and I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing, but I did feel bad for not telling him.
Before I knew it Holly, the leader of our hunting party today, had finished her pep talk and we were off into the woods. We all stripped our clothes and changed into our wolves. Everyone was always jealous of my coat. I was a brown wolf but I had gold strands of fur throughout, they shinned in the sun and I must say I was damn pretty to look at. Stacy said when she was dating me all the other girl wolves were really jealous, even some of the guys. I showed my wolf to Nick a few times, he was speechless the first time and it made my wolf wine in happiness for a week. I always thought it made me look girly but knowing Nick liked the way I looked as a wolf was all that mattered and now I loved it.
We trotted into the woods together for a while until Holly caught onto the scent of a herd nearby. We all spread out and took our positions. I was a power wolf, which meant I would be one of the ones taking them down. Colin was a speed wolf so he would be chasing the herd towards us. Stacy was also a power wolf but she took her place a few meters down from me and then we waited.
This part had always been difficult for me since I met Nick. As a power wolf I had to be quiet, not make a sound. Hide behind something and wait for the herd to come my way. I had to listen and anticipate their movements, but I got so distracted now. One second I would be listening and the next I would be thinking about Nick. What I would talk to him about on the phone tonight, new ways to try and get him to have phone sex with me, the next time we would meet, his face when he smiles. Dammit I'm doing it again!
I took a deep breath and glanced at Stacy. She looked focused, waiting behind a rock ready to pounce at any second. I tried to concentrate as well, thoughts of Nick could wait until I got back home. I closed my eyes and listened intently. That's when I heard it, hooves running far away, coming this way.
I opened my eyes and focused on where they were coming from. When the first buck came through the trees I let him go and focused on the next couple. Finding a decent sized one in a thinner part of the herd I bolted from my spot and jumped at it. I grabbed it by the neck with my teeth and snapped it, knocking it into the other side of the trees. I glanced to my side and Stacy had missed hers but was ready to go again, and so was I. I crouched down again and waited for the right opening. There were always a few stragglers at the end of the herd. This time was no exception. I spotted a smaller one and lunged at it. I didn't snap its neck in time though and it managed to kick me in the ribs, that was going to leave a bruise for a few hours. I quickly killed it and took a breath. Two in one run, I impress myself.
The runners had finally caught up with us and Colin approached me and changed, I did the same. As much as I wished the stories about telepathy in wolf form were true, they weren't. We could sense things but we couldn't send thoughts back and forth. Colin stood in front of me naked but it didn't faze me, especially being a hunter, nudity was the norm amongst males and females. Besides the only person I wanted to think about naked in that way was my mate.
"Two in one go, good job man!" Colin said high-fiving me.
"What can I say, I'm amazing," I said laughing and then Stacy walked up in human form as well.
"I would have had two if the other one didn't bump into me and make me lose concentration," she grumbled and I just laughed.
"I told you, you gotta go for it when the herd thins out or shit like that happens."
"Whatever at least I didn't let it break one of my ribs," she growled and punched me in the side where the buck managed to kick me.
"Ouch. Dammit Stac, it's still healing," I complained and Colin laughed.
"Let that little guy get ya huh?" he asked and I just glared, it would be healed soon, he didn't have to make a big deal about it.
The rest of the hunting party came back over and Holly dictated the next line of attack. A few hours later we made it back to the pack with enough meat for the next three days, all the families were going to be eating well tonight. Hell even the omegas would be able to stuff themselves, that made me smile. I hated when some of the other hunting parties were lazy and didn't come back with enough for the omegas, they kicked their little butts cleaning up after us all day long and they thought it was ok to starve them? Sometimes this wolf hierarchy didn't make any sense to me.
"Great job today everyone! Go home and get some rest, you deserve it," Holly announced and we were officially off duty.
"Dude, I got the new a new game for my X-box yesterday, come over and let me pound your ass," Colin said and I chocked at the innuendo. Think before you speak Colin!
"Maybe, yeah, I think I'm going to take a nap though first, I'll head over later," I told him and he nodded.
When I got back to my house I grabbed my phone and plopped down on the couch. It's was only 1pm, Nick would still be sleeping, I couldn't wake him up after keeping him up so late. I sighed, I really was tired, maybe I will take a nap.
a/n: I couldn't wait to put chapter 2 up because I wanted you guys to get a feel for Wes too. More to come! =)