Chapter 8: Off to Training

Zander POV

I strolled through the mansion and walked past Cleo's room. I wasn't sure why I headed that direction, because I tried to not to see her much after the date. She probably hated me after that night. I had almost punched her fiancé in the face after all.

Who wouldn't hate someone after that happens? I'd be surprised if she actually didn't hate me. Plus, our date was pretty bad. My wish had come true.

I stopped when I heard her voice say, "Mom, do I seriously have to go off to train at another pack? Why can't I stay here?"

I heard her dad's familiar voice sternly state, "You've got to train at another pack, since you aren't with your mate. It'll help make up for the loss of strength you have." He added, "This isn't optional Cleo."

Cleo sounded angry and said, "Okay. I guess I'll go."

Her mom added, "Zander is going to be going with you."

I had to hear what she was going to say about me and stayed a little longer. Cleo's voice rose to anger and she said, "He has to go with me! Are you serious?!"

"Yes. Now go get packing and get going," her dad said.

For some reason, I wanted to check on her but hid until her parents were out of sight. I didn't want them to know I heard everything.

When I went to her room, she was packing up a floral duffel bag. She looked up at me and asked, "What do you want?"

"I was just curious how much packing you had done. I know we're going on a trip together."

"Don't remind me. Now could you go? I don't have time for this Zander."

"See you later princess," I teasingly said.

I left her room and finished packing my stuff. Then I went to stand outside the mansion to lean against my black truck. I hoped we'd take my truck and not her flashy car. Most pack members had expensive cars, but I wanted a simple truck and motorcycle. If only we could've taken that for the trip.

By accident, I overheard Cleo's goodbye to her fiancé. I heard his showoff mustang convertible driving up the road as I sat in the truck bed.

My enhanced hearing picked up Cleo's voice. She sounded close to crying as she said, "I've got to go leave for my trip. I'll miss you so much."

Ash's voice spoke in a sad tone and he said, "I'll miss you too. You're my beautiful girl."

"You're going to make me cry Ash."

She started crying loudly seconds later, and I got off my truck bed to see what was going on. They were embracing, and his arms were around her waist. He even kissed her on the lips, which made me look away.

I heard a final words from Cleo, "Goodbye Ash. I'll see you soon. I love you so much."

I got into my truck and started it and played my rock music. I set it at a volume lower than I liked to hear it and tried to be considerate. Cleo slowly walked over to my truck and I got out.

"Ready to go princess?" I said the last word in a teasing way.

She nodded her head and climbed into the passenger side of my truck. I started to back out of the property and drove off in the direction of the Full Moon pack. They were many miles away from ours. It'd probably take four hours to get there.

After minutes of silence, she asked me a question I wasn't expecting. "Why don't you want to be my mate?"

I decided to tell her truth and took a deep breath. "I can't be your mate because of my mission in life. Since I was a kid, I've been looking for the Rogue wolf who killed my parents." I paused and added, "I can't be distracted by a mate. I won't be able to get my revenge for my parents' sake."

Cleo's face softened as she looked at me and said, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry about your parents. That must've been so hard on you." She paused and added, "Don't worry I won't distract you. I'll keep my distance."

I glanced at her and then back to the road and said, "I'll keep away from you too. I know you want to be with Ash."

She seemed to blush at his name, and we got quiet for a while. I think Cleo liked my music, since she mouthed some of the words as songs played. I turned up the music to hear it better and avoided smiling at Cleo's dance skills.

I just wished my mate wasn't her, because I thought I could fall for her if I let my guard down too much. I realized she was a fascinating, smart, and beautiful girl, as I spent more time with her.

Cleo wore skinny jeans, black Converse, and a tight t-shirt that was a little low. She even had makeup on, and her brown hair was wavy. I noticed what she was wearing when I glanced at her at a stop light.

I wished I had worn something more attractive. My jeans were black ripped ones, and I had a leather jacket over a gray t-shirt. At least I had brushed my hair.

Two hours passed and we stopped to get lunch and have a bathroom break. I pulled off at an exit that had a retro diner.

There was a jukebox that played classic fifties hits placed in the center of the diner. Waitresses wore red dresses of the fifties style and roller-skates. I also spotted black and white checkerboard floors, and booths were red leather with checkered patterns on their tables. Walls were covered with pictures of singers such as Elvis Presley.

I let Cleo slide into a booth first. I slid into the booth opposite of hers and noticed she looked extra beautiful in the light of the diner. Stop it. Pushing away those thoughts, I looked through my menu. My gut feeling was making me want to sit beside her.

Before I thought about it, I moved to sit beside Cleo. She gave me a funny look and asked, "Why are you over here?" She added kindly, "I'm feeling squished."

"I want to be better company."

Cleo gave a faint smile and started looking through her menu. I grabbed my menu from the other end of the table and scanned through it. Was she feeling the stronger attraction towards me? This was the longest we'd been around each other.

I got a strong urge to kiss her and leaned in close before stopping short of her lips. She looked at me with wide eyes.