-Aure-I’d been on the phone with Mom for what felt like hours, my mind wandering as she talked about her day at the office. The usual stuff: a particularly difficult client, a coworker who’d spilled coffee on her new blouse. I tried to focus, to sound engaged, but my thoughts kept drifting back to Colter and Madison, my new roommate. It had been three days since I’d seen Madi and even longer since I’d heard any sign of the mystery man that I could not seem to get off of my mind. What was worse was the fact that despite me not knowing them nearly well enough to feel like this, I couldn’t shake the loneliness that came with their absence.“Have you made any friends yet? Met any guys that you’re interested in?” Mom asked, pulling me out of my reverie. I could hear the hopeful anticipation in her voice.“Mom, I’ve not been here long enough to-”“You’ve been there for well over a week now, dear. Surely, you’ve met someone in that amount of time.” She was right, of course, I had met someo
-Colter-Monday had come and gone into Tuesday, and still the Moorlands still lingered in my mind. A vivid tapestry of rolling hills, ancient forests, beautiful bodies of water, and the haunting beauty of the Moor wolves; it was like living in another world.Then there was Josephine, with her mesmerizing and hazy yellow-green eyes, who had captured me in ways that I could never have imagined. Our time together had been a whirlwind of passion and excitement that I didn’t expect when agreeing to this trip to the Moors.Even with this past extraordinary weekend, the weight of my obligations to Aurelia and what to do with her started to settle on me. She was my mate, after all. I promised myself that I would figure out what I should do about our mating bond before making any decisions going forward. Yet, Josephine had tempted me; the she-wolf had completely swept me away in a tide of excitement and desire. As I walked away from the classroom, I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t even r
-Aure-Central Washington University. This was the college that I was meant to go to. Was it the best college or worst? To be honest, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t care. Although the place looked positively expensive. Then again, what college or university didn’t?None of that mattered to me, truth be told. I no longer even wanted to attend any university. Not since dad. Nevertheless, this wasn’t just about what I wanted. It was about starting over. Me and mom.I was trying to be as agreeable as I possibly could. After all, I wasn’t the only one that was grieving. I wasn’t the only one who had to readjust to life. I just wanted to be agreeable. For mom. But….it wasn’t easy.My stomach churned with anxiety I got this nagging sense; a sense of something almost calling to me. I was feeling retraction and attraction to that building at the same time. Frustrating? the word didn’t cover how I was feeling.‘He’s here…’Now I was talking to myself, hallucinating random words. He’s here? What does th
-Colter-A human?!This can’t be! Her?! My mate?! No! No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not!She wasn’t a bad looking human girl. She was pretty? I guess? She had a pair of mesmerizing eyes-even for a human; it was that heterochromic thing that some humans were born with. Hers wasn’t extremely noticeable, but if you looked long enough you could see that, while both eyes were a rich whiskey brown, one had hints of green in them. Her even richer latte brown skin, seemed to make her eyes even more noticeable.Still, despite all of these positive physical aspects I could sense her insecurity. She had no confidence, at all, judging by her baggy, faded T-shirt, and those hideous, distressed bell bottom jeans. Her hair was in a haphazard bun at the top of her head. I loved women with messy buns, but something about the way that she wore it…The girl wasn’t taking care of herself, that much was for sure. She had a clean face and she smelled really good, but…her scent…. her mating scent was hardly
-Aure-“Who are you?”Who was I? As I recalled the conversation that I had earlier with that nameless, mysterious and ridiculously handsome guy, I couldn’t believe how he so blatantly asked me that. But even more than that I couldn’t believe that I actually answered him.“Aurelia…Aurelia Smith,” I had said to him and without hesitation.Why didn’t I hesitate? Hesitation was always my MO when it came to engaging others. But I didn’t.His momentary bouts of silence were frightening, as despite the comfort that he somehow provoked from me, in the back of my mind, I kept the common sense that I did not know him and that he had me locked in the boys’ bathroom with him.Still, in his silence, I could tell that there was a reason for it. He obviously was feeling a confusion akin to my own. And maybe a sense of intrigue. Just as I did.I usually was never one to carry on a conversation with anyone. In past situations, I made it a point to end the conversation and leave the situation as fast as
-Colter-“Run it one more time! Then we’ll call it for the evening!”I could hear my uncle bellowing orders from halfway across the training field. He was always near some sort of training course as he was the Delta of Sno Wolf pack, and his whole life revolved around being prepared.I couldn’t help but wonder if he would be prepared for what I was about to tell him.By the time I approached, the younger recruits had already begun filing off of the training field and to their respective destinations.“Hope you’re not trying to sneak up on me. If so, I must say, I’m disappointed in you, nephew.”“It’d be hard to sneak up on you on a good day, Sloan. We both know that.”He laughed, shrugged and turned around to face me. “I would disagree with you there, but who am I to argue against the truth?” he joked, though we both knew that it was one hundred percent true. “So, how’s my favorite nephew?”“Favorite nephew or only nephew?”“Ah no need for specifics. What’s going on?” he asked as he pi
-Aure-“So, we’ve talked about just about everything since meeting, and I…Aurelia Smith, have decided that I like you.”Madison had been grilling me since the moment she stepped through the door of our dorm room. Was I mad about it? No. Was I more than amused by her inquiries? Definitely. I found it refreshing to talk about such mundane things as what my favorite color is or what type of shows I like to binge on.I chuckled, then nodded in agreement as I had come to the conclusion that I liked her too. “You’re not so bad yourself.”“Hahaha, I know.” Madison took a sip of her drink.We were out in the yard after our last class and decided to have lunch at a table out on the lawn.“So, tell me more…about this guy that swept you off your feet. And on the first day you met him! He must be some sort of charmer.”“Well,” I sighed. “Don’t know about that, really. Doesn’t seem that he likes very much.”“Really?” Madison seemed caught off guard by realization. “That’s weird. You’re a real looke
-AURE-Kenneth stared at his nephew blankly when he thought that Colter wasn’t looking. The young alpha didn’t have to look, though, as he could feel his uncle’s eyes boring into the back of his head.“I wish you would stop staring like that.”“I…I’m sorry, nephew,” said Kenneth finally. “I just…I…this is a rare occurrence. An inhuman and a human.” He chuckled dryly. It wasn’t a chuckle of amusement or heckling. There was clear concern in his tone.When Colter finally faced his uncle, he realized that Kenneth was still staring blankly at him.Impatiently, Colter rolled his eyes. “Anything else you want to say?”“I…well,” Kenneth exhaled. “To be honest, nothing comes to mind. Nothing that would add any value to your situation anyway.”Seeing his uncle this seemingly nervous only succeeded in making Colter even more reluctant than he already was to tell his father about this. “You know…you’re not making me feel any type of reassurance when it comes to telling dad about this, right?”“Lis