"I honestly don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this," Jane confessed to Elle, worried that her best friend had officially gone crazy after the confirmation of her maturity this morning. In a split second Elle had transformed from a sleeping corpse into an ecstatic teenage girl and forced Jane to take a seat whilst Elle gave her a makeover.
Makeover.
The very word sent a fearful shiver through her and here she was at the mercy of her makeover-fanatic best friend. It's not that she detested makeup or the idea of looking a little prettier than she usually would, but she couldn't sit still and have someone poke at her face and tug at her hair it was just... she shuddered.
Elle steered Jane into her desk chair and stood in front of her with a calculating look muttering, "I'm going to ignore what you just said and pretend that you're just as excited as I am to meet your mate."
"It's not that I'm not excited," she sighed unsure of how to explain the whirlwind of emotions that were happening beneath her numbed from shock – exterior, "Because I am, truly! It's just..."
Elle pulled on her hair with the curling iron, "Don't worry I understand. You've been on your own for so long that you're not used to the responsibility that comes with having a mate. I know I wasn't when I met Mike."
Jane knew deep down that what Elle was saying was right, but she also knew that Elle wasn't aware of the real reason she was fretting over her newfound maturity. Elle didn't know what it was like to have been waiting for her mate for so long that now the prospect of actually finding him felt like jumping off a cliff. Absolutely terrifying.
She was so scared that her hands were trembling and her stomach was alight with flittering butterflies, not to mention she was trying to get used to the presence of her wolf in the back of her mind.
It was like suddenly her own mind wasn't just hers anymore like all her thoughts and secrets were privy to this second entity inside her head. Her wolf had always been there but it'd been the presence of a creature far younger than she felt, they weren't equal she was the one taking care of her wolf. But now, now that was not the case.
Now she could feel the intelligence and cunning of the animal within the back of her mind, like reuniting with an old friend that she hadn't seen in years and had all of a sudden morphed into an adult version of the child she knew. It was all so new to Jane and strange. It was taking a lot of adjusting to and having the added pressure of meeting her mate for the first time, was sending her into a panic. So much so, that all that positive crap Elle had been feeding her, flew right out the window.
"But Elle, you knew the moment you met Mike that he wasn't going to reject you. You're pretty much every man's dream you didn't have as much to worry about as I do. And I'm definitely not as beautiful as- Ouch!"
Her nervous rant was cut short as Elle pulled her hair painfully and Jane jerked her head around to glare at her best friend, "What was that for?!"
"I'm tired of you putting yourself down, Janie!" Elle demanded folding her arms across her chest, "It's always; I'm too short, or I'm not that attractive, or I'm really not that smart. You always treat yourself like you're dirt and you're not. You are beautiful and you are intelligent. So what you've failed a couple of tests and not every guy on the planet is attracted to you. Not every guy on the planet is attracted to me either."
Jane lowered her eyes from her frustrated friend, right before Elle sighed, "Look Janie. You let people take advantage of you because you don't have any respect for yourself. I'm your best friend and sometimes even I find it hard to respect you."
Ouch.
She winced at the criticism but allowed Elle to continue, "You need to stop jabbing at yourself every time you make a mistake or every time you stand out in the crowd. Everybody's different that's a good thing. Now shut up with your whining and I'll stop my bitching and maybe you can have a look in the mirror and see how cute you look."
Adhering with her friends request, Jane looked past Elle into the small mirror, propped up on the vanity and was astounded to see that Elle had made her look cute. She hadn't slathered her face in makeup and really the only thing she'd done was accentuate her brown eyes and given her pale complexion a darker tone. But Jane really liked how Elle had curled her hair and positioned it in a high ponytail with a bow.
She really didn't look too bad.
Jane went to thank Elle for all the hard work she'd done, but Elle held up her hand, "Just buy me some coffee later and hurry and get changed so we can get to class."
Jane knew that stepping outside of this room meant that there was a chance she could meet her mate. Chances were slim, but still there was a chance that as soon as she walked onto campus today and attended her classes and lectures that she could find her mate.
She didn't think she could be any more terrified than she was in that moment.
***
Rereading through her notes that she'd taken in her chemistry class, Jane was so emerged in studying for her test that she didn't notice Elle's presence until the last possible second. She still hadn't quite been able to use her new senses to their full potential yet. She became aware of her best friend when a red tray slammed down in front of her. As Elle excitedly dragged her grumpy-looking mate down beside her. Mike definitely did not look happy being hauled around like that.
"Have you found him yet?" Elle asked like an energetic three-year-old in the midst of a sugar rush.
Jane shook her head, closing her notes over, welcoming the short reprieve from the intense amount of study. Just as Mike chuckled, "Glasses again? You leave your contacts back in your room?"
Nodding at the dark haired, grey eyed jock she took a bite out of the pasta she'd left to cool in front of her, "Cassie had another... guest in our room last night, I think his name was Brad or Ben or something... either way, they kicked me out. I barely had time to rescue my laptop let alone my contacts. Plus I was already wearing these bad boys."
Mike chuckled and Elle waved off their trivial conversation, "Yeah Cassie's annoying, we know- now tell us about your mate!"
"Didn't you hear her baby?" Mike nuzzled up into Elle as he spoke to her, "Janie just said she hadn't found him yet."
Grateful that at least one of them was listening to her, Jane peered back down at her notes, cracking them open just a little as Elle growled, "You're studying?! Your mate could be in this lunch hall somewhere and you're sitting here studying?"
"You act like I'm worshiping Satan or something?!"
Well, seeing as it was chemistry that Jane was studying, she could see the similarities.
"You might as well be!" Elle exclaimed, "Look, Janie. Put the book in your bag."
When Jane didn't move Elle growled, "Now!... Good girl. Then lift your nose to the air and take in a good whiff. Yes! Good. Now tell me what you smell?"
Rolling her eyes Jane went along with Elle's crazy demands and took in a deep breath of the air around her and her nose recoiled instantly, "I smell a lot of cheese. A lot of cologne and perfume. Heaps of sweat. Sweaty shoes. Sweaty socks. Sweaty people."
She faked gagged and Elle rolled her eyes, "Look past all that. Do you smell anything... intriguing, like a smell that grabs your attention and that's not sweaty."
"Look Elle, I don't know what-" She stopped mid-sentence.
In the back of her mind, she felt the presence of her wolf stir as Jane picked up the faint traces of a distinctive scent. It was fading but as she inhaled it, a tingling wave spread throughout her body and made butterflies erupt in her stomach. The dwindling scent was a mixture of earthen smells like clean cut grass and fresh air, yet it also had a tangible, manly musk that combined to create one alluring aroma.
She breathed in again deeply trying to hang on to the remains of the fading scent, but the heavenly aroma was wanning and quickly. She suddenly stood from her seat and gave Elle a fleeting glance, before she allowed her newly awakened senses to consume her and take a hold of her. This sudden primal need she'd developed to follow the scent.
She wove through the throngs of people as she followed that delicious scent. Her wolf moving excitedly in her mind as her heart raced and her stomach clenched in anticipation. She ran to one of the buildings that she didn't pass through very often and scanned the empty halls to see a few loitering people.
It was at the end of the hall she spotted the back of a head. The unique dirty blonde colour of his hair catching in the light as he turned around the corner. Time stopped as she watched his tall, muscular profile, stroll around the corner. It felt like her heart had skipped out of her chest and ran over to him jumping into his hand.
It's him.
Her wolf informed her excitedly and Jane tried to muster the slight athletic ability she had and ran down the hall, following that attractive head.
Was it weird to say she was in love with the back of a head? Probably. She didn't care.
She ran after him and just as she made it around the corner that he had disappeared behind, she made it to another hallway and was frantically looking for him only to watch him turn left again. She could feel her wolf urging her to run quicker and to catch up with him, but she was beginning to feel it was a pointless attempt. He was so tall and his strides so much longer compared to her, it was like a cricket trying to hop after a giraffe.
And after she rounded the fourth hallway, she had lost sight of him altogether and began manically spinning around a few times feeling concerned growing concerned and panicked that she couldn't see him. His scent was too fresh that it was making her misguided and she nearly began to have a panic attack when she heard the most delectable voice known to mankind, "Why're you following me?"
She jumped from the shock and turned around only to come face to face with her mate. The chiselled features, intense grey eyes and artfully messy blonde made him look like a God. And at his height, he was easily towering over her as he popped out from the doorway he'd been hiding behind.
But the daze his attractiveness had cast her in, shattered the moment she realized who he was. The son of her Alpha, Levi Jackson.
***
Authors Note
Even though I haven't gotten a lot of reads, I still want to keep up with this story. Just to know that even some people are interested makes me smile. So please vote & comment
:)
Jasmine