Voices chatting woke Julie from sleep. Julie opened her eyes to see Stacy, Darcy, and Elizabeth sitting on chairs in the dining room. Julie moved onto her back and she extended her limbs, pointing her fingers and toes in a long stretch. A loud yawn escaped her lips as she sat up catching the attention of her friends.
"Well, look who's awake?" Stacy said with a smile.
"Sleeping Beauty finally makes an appearance," quipped Darcy.
I've been awake for a while now, you slept for a long time. Jewels sounded grouchy.
Ignoring them, Julie stood up and took stock of how she was feeling. She had hurt so much after the shifts that moving had been torture, but now she felt...alive and powerful. No pain.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked her friends.
"A whole day. It's after 4 PM." Elizabeth informed her.
"I slept on the couch for over 12 hours and I don't even feel stiff," she said in amazement.
"That's the wolf. You will heal quicker than before and shifting will no longer hurt. That first shift takes a lot out of you and your wolf. Remember how I slept almost 18 hrs afterward?" Stacy said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Julie said. "Are my parents at work?"
"They are, they said they'd be home with dinner at the regular time. We're your babysitters" Darcy laughed.
Julie giggled at the idea and sat down at the table. "So, what are we doing now?" She asked them.
Darcy gasped, "Did you forget what is happening tomorrow?" Stacy and Elizabeth exchanged amused glances.
"Oh my gosh, the concert!" Julie said with a start.
"That's right, sleeping beauty, and we still need to go shopping," Stacy replied.
"Don't worry, my expedition yesterday yielded some excellent results. I came bearing gifts." Darcy ran to the front door where she had left a couple of bags and brought them to the table. She pulled out an ensemble for each girl. Elizabeth had a midnight blue dress shirt with black leggings. Stacy was in a purple tank top, see-through overshirt and miniskirt. Darcy placed an emerald green shirt and low rise black jeans in front of Julie.
The girls tried on their selections and Julie saw an immediate problem with her outfit. "I don't have the underwear for this style of jeans. This is far sexier than I normally go for."
Darcy pulls out a small pink bag, "Who loves you?" The girls laugh while Julie groaned at the very tiny thong inside.
"This scrap of lace doesn't count as underwear. I'm better off going commando," Julie threw it on the table.
"Well that's one way to catch a mate's attention," Stacy quipped and the girls cracked up laughing.
"Maybe your mate will be at the concert," Elizabeth said.
"Thousands of screaming fangirls?" Julie raised a brow.
"Hey, Midnight has fanboys, too. You never know." Elizabeth urged.
"The world knows that werewolves mate for life. You know every fan going to this concert will be dying to be the one those guys are looking for." Stacy said.
"I just want the mate destined for me," Julie sighed.
"Who would you pick to be your mate out of Midnight?" Darcy asked the group.
"Give me Taekwoon," Stacy purred.
"With his reputation?" Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"Exactly," Stacy raised her eyebrows suggestively, "that boy knows what he's doing."
Everyone laughed. "Who would you pick, Julie?"
"Who else? Give me Jungwoo," she said.
"The strong silent type, eh?" Stacy said.
"He's too serious, Give me Jaeson or Hoon," Darcy said.
"You always like the goofy ones," Julie smiled at Darcy.
"Jaeson is not goofy. He just likes to do practical jokes to lighten the tension and stress his members deal with and Hoon is just funny. That man can make me laugh with just a smile." Darcy hugged herself and smiled.
"Well, you all can play with the babies, give me Seokmin any day," Elizabeth said.
"Always going for the Alpha?" Stacy teased.
"Shut up," they all grinned. "Seokmin isn't an Alpha and you know it. He's just a good leader and he takes care of his members. A girl can trust she's in careful hands with him. He won't be a heartbreaker like some others we could name." Elizabeth eyed Stacy sarcastically.
"The difference between the two of us, dear, is that you are looking for your destined mate, and I'm just looking for a good time. That's two totally different things. I don't expect happily ever after from Taekwoon-" Stacy got up quickly and stood to face the door. The fun mood evaporated as footsteps were heard approaching the door.
A low warning grown vibrated through Stacy. Julie stood up and bit her lip. Darcy and Elizabeth looked between both of their friends, then each other, and then took places beside Julie. A knock sounded and Julie hesitated for a moment.
This can't be avoided. End things with him now or he will only cause more trouble. Jewels advised. Julie could feel the distaste Jewels had for her former best friend. Julie closed her eyes as a second knock pounded against the door.
"Come on Julie, open up. We need to talk this out. I won't let us end this way. I need to explain to you what happened." Nathan yelled through the door.
"There is nothing more to talk about, Nathan," Julie yelled back.
"I don't love her. It was a mistake. I couldn't control my wolf at that moment. He wants her, not me." Nathan yelled.
Julie gasped and opened the door in anger. "What the hell does that even mean, Nathan?"
"You haven't found your mate yet, you don't know the drive the wolves create to mate. It was driving me crazy trying to stay away from her. But I was doing it. I wanted you for my mate. But yesterday, she ambushed me and my wolf took over. " Nathan gave Julie his 'I'm sorry' look.
Julie wasn't buying it. "I'm sorry Nathan, if you had told me this all from the beginning, maybe I would believe you, but you hid this from me. Then the first thing that happened upon getting my new senses is smelled her sex on you. Now I have to face a formal challenge over you. My wolf has no interest in you and your wolf and I'm so disappointed in you, Nathan. You are not the man I thought you were."
"I was ashamed, don't you understand? We both know the reputation she has and I've since learned that its all true. How can I accept her?" Nathan whined a little as he tried to explain.
"So she's a slut, huh?" Julie said flatly.
"Yeah. I can't trust her," Nathan said.
"You know, more than half of the people we've all speculated have slept with her were at my party last night. Guess who I didn't smell on them? Only one person in that entire room spelled like Michelle." Julie folded her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry Nathan, but for now, we are done being friends. I won't hang out with you or talk to you until you straighten this out with Michelle. One way or another, you have to take care of her and your wolf first." Julie started to turn away.
"I will take care of this situation and then I will come back for you, Julie. I won't give you up so easily. You belong to me. " he cried.
"According to the Moon Goddess, I was never yours to begin with," Julie sighed and closed the door.
"Julie!" Nathan called out in a strangled voice but Julie didn't move or reopen the door. Reluctantly, Nathan walked away with heavy steps.
"Ouch. That was harsh." Elizabeth said.
"He deserved it, he still won't take responsibility for his actions. I would never have thought Nathan would be that sort of person." Stacy growled.
"How can he turn his back on fate? We all know that your mate is your best chance at happiness." Darcy said.
"Not all mates are happy together. The wolves may be a match, but sometimes the human partnerd is are real assholes. I'm sorry to say this about someone we grew up with and thought we knew, but I think you've dodged a bullet with this one, Julie. " Stacy said.
"So it would seem. My mate has to be somewhere out there. Jewels is quite uneasy that we haven't found them close by." Julie worried.
"The Moon Goddess will bring you guys together when the time is right," Darcy said faithfully. "But first, be thankful that you aren't mated yet. Can you imagine how much of a damper that would be going to your first Kpop concert? Who needs a mate when you have 7 hot dancing werewolves to drool over?"'
The girls all looked at each other and started laughing.