Five

"So, you're the wolf that visits me every night?" I inquire, looking at Andrew. "Why do you treat me so poorly at school and around others, only to reveal your true self when we're alone?"

Andrew sighs, appearing slightly embarrassed. "When I walked into our first class together and felt that connection to you, I was furious. I couldn't believe I had imprinted on someone like you. You're nobody, and well, I'm me," he explains.

"You should be ashamed. My father and stepmother may not live in a fancy house like yours, but they're not poor peasants," I retort, feeling a surge of anger.

"Let me go, Andrew. I won't play these games with you. And what do you mean by imprinting on me?" I demand, trying to break free from his grasp.

"Come back and sit down, Billie, and I'll explain it to you," he calmly suggests. Reluctantly, I comply and return to the fire pit where we were sitting before. "Okay, explain to me what you mean by imprinting on me," I say, my voice filled with curiosity.

Andrew clears his throat and begins to explain. "When a wolf imprints on their mate, it's not a choice. It just happens, and it's never when they want it to happen. Well, except for my brother over there. It happened to him when he was young, so he was able to be friends with her until the time was right. I hoped one of my past girlfriends would be the one, but it never happened. So, when I walked into that classroom and my wolf almost gave us away, I was angry because I hadn't even met you, introduced myself, or gotten to know you as a person. I tried to fight it, but my wolf has a mind of his own, and he's in love with you."

I'm speechless for a few moments, my mouth dry. "Andrew, that first day you approached me at my locker and said you rejected me, why didn't it work? And can the person who was imprinted on reject the wolf?" I ask, searching for answers.

He looks at me strangely as he explains, "The rejection has to come from the wolf, not the person. The problem is, nobody has ever attempted to reject their wolf after being imprinted on, so I don't know if it's even possible."

Of course, no one has tried. If they all looked like Andrew and his brother, why would they want to resist? But I want a say in who I love. "Well, there's a first time for everything. I, Billie Green, reject you, Andrew Board," I declare, storming off towards the house and my car.

As I reach my car, panic sets in when I realize my keys are missing. Frustrated, I turn around and head back towards the house to retrieve them. To my surprise, Andrew is standing there with a mischievous smile, holding my keys. "Give them back to me," I demand.

"Nope," he responds, stepping closer to me. "It didn't work, Billie. You rejected me, not my wolf."

"Well, I reject your wolf now. Give me my keys," I yell at him, growing more frustrated.

"It's not working, Billie, because deep down, you actually like my wolf. Your rejections are weak," he says, smirking.

He's right. I do like the wolf. "So, how does this work? Do you bite me, and I become a wolf?" I ask, trying to understand.

Andrew laughs. "No, Billie, we're not werewolves. You grow fond of our wolf side, and then you fall for our human side. We're very protective of our women and children."

"Children?" I squeak, feeling overwhelmed.

"They'll come later in life, Billie," Andrew reassures me.

"Why does this feel like an arranged marriage?" I question, feeling uneasy.

"Because you're overthinking it," Andrew replies. "Will you come back inside so you don't have to explain to your parents why you came home early from a sleepover?"

He's right again. I don't want to come up with an excuse. So, I reluctantly follow him back into the house and out to the backyard where Kade, Shaylee, and Andrew's brother are waiting. I notice Shaylee and Caci cuddled up together, seemingly unaffected by the news of her wolf.

When Kade sees me returning, he walks over and asks how I'm doing. "Well, it's not every day you find out someone is a wolf," I responded, looking at him. "Where do you fit into all this, Kade? Are you a wolf too?"

"No," Kade answers. "I am your guide. Well, actually, I'm Andrew's guide, but we also get assigned to our wolf imprints." He chuckles. "You can think of me as your Jiminy Cricket."

I laugh along with him. "So, what do you guide us in?" I inquire.

"Anything you need guidance in. If you have questions, come to me. If you have problems with something or someone, come to me," Kade explains. "But for now, if you guys are okay and can talk things through on your own, I'm going to go home and give you some privacy."

"We'll be fine, buddy," Andrew assures him, fist-bumping Kade as he leaves.

As Kade departs, I turn to Caci. "Why don't you have a guide?" I ask him.

"Because everyone knew my girl wouldn't freak out on me. We've been close since kindergarten. Leave it to my brother to imprint on an outsider," Caci remarks, his tone apologetic. Suddenly, I hear a growl behind me and turn to see Andrew's lips curling up.

"You can't do that every time someone says something wrong to me," I tell Andrew.

"You're worth protecting," Caci says. "It's in our blood to protect our women."

"Oh, brother," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "This isn't the 19th century. We can protect ourselves just fine."

"Speak for yourself, Billie. I quite find it lovely," Shaylee said, giving Caci goo-goo eyes. I sighed and sat back down in my chair, watching the fire burn.

"Do you want the wolf back? You seem to have a bond with him," Andrew asked me.

"No, not tonight," I replied. "But what's his name?"

"Loki. It means mischief," Andrew smirked.

Of course it does. He looks like a wild one. I don't know him well, but I bet he beats his opponents every time. Plus, he has the upper hand with his wolf.

"What are you thinking, Billie?" Andrew asked, sitting beside me on the arm of the chair.

"I don't really know. It's all so much to take in... in one night, you know?"

"Yes, I know. My brother and I didn't know we were wolves until about three years ago on our 16th birthday, when we changed for the first time. It was scary at first, but Kade helped us through it. Then he became just my guide because Caci had it all figured out."

"Well, to be fair, I am a couple months older than you."

"A couple months?" I asked, shocked. How does that happen?

"When both parents are wolves, they mate faster than humans can. Trust me, we thought one of us was adopted our whole lives," Caci explained.

"Well, Shaylee and I are going to leave you two to yourselves and have a chat of our own," Caci winked at his brother.

Oh, brother. Boys will be boys, I guess. Shaylee walked over and gave me a hug, whispering in my ear, "Things will be great, you'll see." I nodded in response.

Once they left the area, it grew silent. Andrew cleared his throat. "You can ask me anything else you want to know. I'll try to answer the best I can."

I sat there for a moment, then looked up at him. "How can you be human when both of your parents are wolves?"

"Because our parents are human as well. One of their parents is human, either their father or mother. We'll never know because both of our grandparents died when our parents were young," Andrew explained. I wanted to ask how they died, but I didn't want to be rude. Maybe one day he'll tell me, but for now, I just sat and watched the fire until I got sleepy. I yawned and closed my eyes to rest.

The next morning, I woke up in a strange bed with an arm draped over my waist. Oh boy, where am I? I looked down to make sure my clothes were still on, and they were. When I turned my head to look behind me, I saw Andrew, sound asleep, fully clothed. Thank the lord.

I carefully slipped out from under his arm and headed into his attached bathroom. I had to relieve myself before I exploded. Once I was done, I washed my hands and returned to Andrew's room. He was still sleeping, so I quietly left his room and walked down the hallway. No one was awake, so I snuck to the front of the house. My car keys and cell phone were on the table by the door, so I grabbed them and headed to the front door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a male voice said, causing me to jump. "Oh, yeah? And why is that?" I asked, turning around to face Andrew.

"Because there's an alarm set, and it would go off, waking everyone in the house. Come on, let's get some breakfast," he replied, then turned and walked toward the kitchen.

"You were sound asleep when I left your room just a minute ago. How did you know I was gone?" I questioned.

"Loki senses everything you do. So he woke me up," Andrew explained.

"Little narc," I muttered.

Andrew laughed. "Baby, you haven't seen anything yet."

Why does that word make me shiver? I shook off the thought. "So, what are we having for breakfast?" I asked him.

"Whatever Ms. Diamond is cooking for us this morning," Andrew replied, pointing to his chef.

"Good morning, young Andrew and Miss Billie. What would you like this morning?" Ms. Diamond asked us.

I settled for a couple pieces of toast and a bowl of whatever cereal they had. Luckily, they had Lucky Charms, my favorite. But somehow, I think they knew that, because that's what I always choose for breakfast.

Once we finished eating and Caci and Shaylee were up and about, we all headed out to go shopping, as planned by the guys' mother.

When we arrived at the clothing store, a woman greeted the boys by name. They must come here often. "So, what are we doing today?" the woman asked them.

"We would like our girls to be treated to the best of your clothes. It'll go on our tab," Caci said.

Shaylee looked at me, and we giggled. "I've never been pampered before," Shaylee said.

"Same," I replied.

"Well, get used to it, baby, because you'll be spoiled from now on," Caci told Shaylee, pulling her in for a kiss.

He's really sweet with her. It's kind of gross.

The girls and I followed the store clerk to the women's dressing room. "You can go into the dressing room, and I'll bring you a few outfits at a time. Hang up what you like, and drape the rest over the door," the clerk instructed.

We entered the biggest dressing room they had, which could fit about ten people. We waited for the clerk to bring us our first set of clothes to try on. We did this for about 20 minutes, and by the time we were finished, we each had five bags to carry home. I had only planned on getting two outfits, but Andrew insisted I keep shopping.

It's still so weird to have someone buy me things. I'm used to buying everything on my own, and I haven't been around my dad and Page long enough for them to spoil me. Which I wouldn't want, anyway. So, when I get my next paycheck, I'll give half of the money back to Andrew.

The guys dropped us off at our houses, and I assumed they went off to do their own thing. When I walked into the house, it was quiet, indicating that my family was at work. I started cleaning the house for Page, and once I was done, I began preparing dinner.

After I finished eating, I headed upstairs to take a shower and get ready to relax with a book. As I was gathering my clothes, I heard a howl at the window. Sure enough, when I opened it, there he was, waiting for me. "Can you come up?" I asked him.

He shifted back into his human form. "Move out of the way," he whispered. I stepped aside, and before I knew it, Andrew was standing in my room.

I stared at Andrew in surprise, my mouth hanging open. "How did you...?" I began, but he cut me off with a smirk.

"I have my ways," he said cryptically. "But I couldn't resist seeing you again so soon."

I shook my head, trying to process the fact that he had just appeared in my room like magic. "You can't just keep popping up like this," I said, my voice a mix of annoyance and amusement.

I need to go take a shower. Please stay here and if my dad or stepmother return, please hide. I don't want them to see a boy in my room.

After quickly finishing my shower, I return to my bedroom where Andrew is still lying on my bed in his wolf form, Loki. I greet him with a smile and sit down beside him. "You know, it would be nice if you could stay like this every time you visit me," I playfully teased Andrew. He tilts his head slightly and growls in response.

"Lighten up a little," I tell him, gently rubbing his ears. He moves closer to me, allowing me to continue petting him. I giggle and continue to stroke his ears for a little while longer.

"Alright, it's time for you to go since I have school in the morning," I inform him. However, instead of shifting back into his human form and leaving for the night, he simply scoots further up into my bed and closes his eyes. "Are you sure your parents won't worry about you?" I ask, to which he shakes his head at me. Resigned, I lay down in my bed and continued to rub him until I eventually fell asleep.

As I drift off to sleep, I can't help but feel a sense of comfort and contentment with Andrew by my side. It's strange, but having him in his wolf form feels oddly soothing and safe. I find myself snuggling closer to him, feeling the warmth of his fur against my skin.

In the quiet of the night, I can hear his steady breathing and the soft sound of his paws shifting against the sheets. It's a comforting lullaby that helps me relax and let go of the worries of the day.

As I start to drift deeper into sleep, I have a dream. In the dream, Andrew and I are running through a vast forest, the moonlight casting a silver glow on the trees. We're laughing and playing, completely free and uninhibited. It's a dream of freedom and joy, a dream that feels so real and alive.

When I wake up the next morning, the sun is streaming through my window, and I find myself alone in bed. Andrew has shifted back into his human form and is nowhere to be seen. I can't help but feel a pang of disappointment, but I quickly shake it off. After all, it was just a dream, right?

I get ready for school, my mind still filled with the memory of the dream and the warmth of Andrew's presence.