-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
-AURE-I thought we were supposed to talk. Wasn’t like it was a desire more so than a need. Although…I’d have been lying had I said that there was a bit of that involved as well. Still, though, it didn’t change the necessity of the conversation. We truly did need to talk. I just… I wanted to understand. I needed to. Didn’t he? Did he not long to feel the way that he did when around me as I did him when we first met? Longing, that was the only way to describe the ache and need that had ignited in me since the first time I’d run into the stranger. Pathetic? Pitiful? I didn’t know which word to use or just to consider myself both because I certainly felt like a mixture of the two. These questions and notions had been plaguing my mind on repeat for an insurmountable time and I just couldn’t shake it. My thoughts were so intrusive that I had completely forgotten for a moment or so that I had a
-Colter-There was a lot on my mind as I stared out into the horizon. It was about time to leave for our journey but my best friend and second in command was nowhere to be found. Probably that new friend of hers that she had been going on about for the last week. In all my short years, I had never known Madison to be so taken by someone-man or woman. I couldn’t help but hope that this wouldn’t start to become a problem. “Alpha, everyone is ready to move out when you are.” I heard my Delta announce to me. I turned away from the beautiful morning sunrise, walked past Nathan and moved ahead of the line of those waiting for me. We started to the forest’s edge where we usually stood when we were about to head out. As everyone began to transition into their beastly form, I sensed a presence behind me. “Was beginning to think that you wouldn’t show up.” I said as my best friend approached. “Sorry, I’m late! Crisis prevention!” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her remark. Crisis
‘-Aure-“Au-Aurelia?!” Madison’s voice was good to hear, even despite how loud she was. I looked around nervously. I didn’t want anyone walking up on two half naked young women standing in the forest.Where it was clear that I was nervous, Madison seemed not to have a care in the world. “Aurelia, I…I can’t believe this!” Madison rushed toward me, an ecstatic look in her eyes. Nevermind the fact that we both were bare in the moonlight. She wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so glad to see you again!”“Ha, thanks!” I chuckled. “It’s-I’m glad to see you too.”Madison pulled away from her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, as she steadily began to put on the remainder of her clothes. “I…well, I came back home for my…” It was hard to even mention her mom around others. “For?” Madison pressed, but not in an intolerable sort of way. She was curious as I remembered her to be. “My mom,” I finally replied. “Oh! Ms. Char! How is she? I think about her often. Is everything okay?”I tried
-Colter-I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Her face…those eyes. I had to find her. I had to find out if it was really her. “We both know that it was. There was no mistaking that scent.”“I shouldn’t be still…her scent shouldn’t still be so…noticeable though…right? I rejected her. I…I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t still feel her like this…right? I did the rejection right…right?” “You did…we have never had to reject someone before, so to go by the book I can only assume that we have taken the right process in rejecting her.”I knew that it frustrated my wolf to even have this conversation about Aurelia, but ultimately it needed to be had. Still Maxim’s clear hesitation brought another thought to mind. One that I was curious to explore.“Hey, honey.”Josephine’s melodic voice broke through my concentration. I quickly tried to cover up my frustrations and concerns with a small smile.“Hi, Jose,”She wrapped her arms around my neck. “So, how are we feeling? The big day is three days away, now a
-Aurelia-Was that him? Was…was it really him?I had no time to convince myself that I was seeing things before that persistent voice popped up in my head.“You know that it was, Lia,” the throaty guttural feminine voice whispered in my mind, an alter ego of myself. And she most certainly was an ego all her own.“Be as snide as you’d like, love, but the facts remain.”“Yes, thank you, Sephara!” I hissed, through the loud whistling of the wind as I cycled through the highway to get home. It was a good thing that I was on my motorcycle and winding down the road at a fierce speed. There was no one around to hear me talking to myself. My other half stopped talking for the rest of the ride. I was glad for that, thinking that she’d have dropped it.“You have to deal with this eventually.”Then she picked it up again. With a sigh, I removed my helmet, and headed to the house. “I don’t, Seph. I don’t have to deal with it at all. I was rejected, remember?” I cut her off and headed into the
-Colter-Three Years Later….Sex.The one thing that we were never lacking in, and the one thing that we seemed unable to get enough of.I laid there in bed, next to my Josephine, her face emitting the dewey glow one would have after three hours of rough passion. The corner of her light eyes wrinkled with satisfaction as she laid there across from me, staring.“You never disappoint, alpha.” she grinned.I smiled. “If I did, I’d never hear the end of it,” I teased. And then turned on my side, back facing her as I started to drift off.“Wait, baby,” she said with her subtle Moors accent. “I want to talk a little more.” I knew what she wanted to talk about and to be honest, I wasn’t in the mood too.“And I’m listening, sweetheart.”“Okay, well,” she took a deep breath and then asked. “How are you feeling? About the ceremony?”I rolled my eyes. “Fine, Jose, but I’ve told you this.”“Have you gotten a speech ready? This…this is a big deal, Colter. You don’t want to embarrass anyone.”“The
-Aure-Following that horrific night at the bar, things in my stomach couldn’t settle.I wasn’t sure if it was simple anxiety, stress, or that I just never fully recovered from that mysterious bout of illness that I had suffered through a few nights prior.It didn’t matter one way or another. The only thing that did matter was the humiliation that hovered over me like a dark cloud that night at the bar with Madi, Colter Sloan and his mysterious, beautiful, and insufferably condescending girlfriend.I wasn’t aware of most of what the girl was talking about which only served to make me feel even more inadequate than I had already felt being there.Madison and Colter seemed like laid back
-Colter-The meeting ran long and frustration set in as this constant waiting only allowed for further anxiety to set in. What was she going to say about the situation I’d found myself in? Would he consider me irresponsible? Probably.Not like I handled that situation at the bar that night the greatest. “Hey, kid,” I looked up, Kenneth standing there at the door of my father’s office, his officers, and more prominent pack members lining out.“The old man’s ready for you.” I stood up from where I sat, nervously scratching my nose. “Are you coming in?” I asked.I tried to seem nonchalant about it, but my uncle knew me well enough to know that I was not nonchalant at all. That I had hoped deep down that he’d go in with me. I was not looking forward to this conversation. It was also quite clear that dad probably knew just as much as Kenneth did.“I think this conversation is better suited to be between you and your father, nephew. But I won’t be far away if you need me.” He then tu
-Colter-The tension between Aurelia and I was palpable, thick in the air like a fog. Josephine's arrival had thrown everything into even more disarray than what was already evident before. Had I known that Madison would pull a stunt, inviting Aurelia, I would have never done the same with Josephine.“Hello, everyone.” Josephine greeted everyone in a sing-song voice that made me swoon almost every single time. I was forced to restrain myself at this moment, however.“Jose,” I said with a small smile. “I’m glad you made it here safely.”“So am I,” Josephine replied. “Though it is hard not to arrive anywhere safely with the detail that I have.” she attempted at a joke but everyone was too tense to chuckle.I forced one out, ignoring the curious glare of my best friend. I also noticed something else. Josephine’s gaze was set one on one particular individual at the table, and it was not me.Her eyes had been on Aurelia almost since her arrival at the table. There was almost a spark of rec
The day seemed to go down hill from the moment that Colt blew me off. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was going to happen soon, and that it probably wasn’t going to be good. Not for me anyway. Following the last class, I found myself wandering around the college campus, my mind afloat with frustrations and confusion concerning this thing with Colter Sloan.My phone rang, and I immediately knew that it was my mother checking in on me again. There wasn’t much to talk about on the phone. Her conversation consisted entirely of how I’d been taking care of myself. She was a worry wart, my mother. I loved her for it, but truth be told, I just didn’t have it in me to talk right now.Politely, I decided to end the conversation early.“Okay, mom, I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later. I love you too.” We exchanged, and then I headed to my dorm.“Hey Aure!” Madison greeted me from her desk as I came into our shared dorm.“Hey, Mads.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t return Mad’s gre
-Aurelia-Hours had come and gone of us talking and learning about one another. Colter Sloan I had learned, was not as surly, and easily aggravated as I initially thought him to be. I guess first impressions aren’t everything.The statuesquely handsome young man was far more charming than I had ever imagined he could be. He was patient, and very considerate of this inexplicable pain that I’d been wrought with over the last couple of days. He was attentive to me and even concerned. Odd, considering he hardly knows me well enough to call me by my first name. As we studied each other throughout the night, I also couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a pang of guilt in his eyes. Almost as if he had something to hide from me. When I began to think along those lines, I was forced to ask myself what on earth he could be hiding from me in the first place? He neither knew me nor owed me anything enough to have secrets from me. And still….I could not shake that feeling that some part of