JoelI was having more fun than I ever thought was possible in this place.I was nervous at first about having to talk with all these high ranking guests, but really when it came down to it, they were very easy to get along with.And by that, I mean it was very easy to read them, and tell them what they wanted to hear.The next lady to come in was very pretty, but gosh, did she know it. She looked like she didn’t want to be here, and that she was doing us all a service by allowing us to be in her presence.“Good evening Miss. May I take your coat?”She didn’t answer me, but began taking her coat off. It was this cream fur monstrosity that I am sure probably only had a heartbeat yesterday.“My, my, this is exquisite!” I said enthusiastically as she handed me her coat. “I’ll make sure I put this one with the family coats and keep a close eye on it,” in case it suddenly runs off on it’s own!This earned me a half look of acknowledgement. Well I tried!She didn’t seem to make any move to
CasperThe first person I bumped into when I walked into the ballroom was my father. I fought hard not to roll my eyes at my bad luck.He always seemed to take it personally when I didn’t find my mate, and usually took out his frustration on me, like I was some kind of failure.I braced myself for it.“So, did you meet her?” he asked with a glint in his eye.I was momentarily thrown. Did it look like I had found my mate? I held back my sarcastic reply, and instead said, “No, not this time.”My dad frowned briefly but then his face cleared as he said, “No, not your mate, I was talking about Miss Hartley.”“Oh, yes,” I said in response, but then immediately grew suspicious at his tone. “Why, what have you got planned Dad?”“Oh nothing, nothing,” he said patting my shoulder lightly.I knew him better than that. But I also knew it wouldn’t be wise to push him either. I’m sure I would find out soon enough.“Where is she anyway?” my dad asked.“Oh, I’ve assigned a member of staff to h
JoelI made my way back to Miss Hartley, hoping that my recent encounter with the Alpha didn’t show on the outside. On the inside I was still a quivering mess.Miss Hartley was sat on her own watching couples dance around the ballroom. I stood behind her right shoulder. Not close enough to be seen as being with her, but close enough so she could interact with me if she needed anything.I glanced around the ballroom watching all the couples dance to a waltz that was being played by the small band on the stage. It really was quite a spectacle. It was like taking a step back in time, like getting a glimpse into the days of Jane Austen and the glamorous balls described in her books. No I didn’t read Jane Austen, but we had studied two of her books in school.It was actually very calming watching the mass of bodies twirling round and round to the music, and I found myself calming down from my previous encounter.I knew that the Alpha was scary, and I’d heard stories about his short tem
CasperI watched them laughing together.Did he not realise he was going to get himself in trouble again?To look at them you would have thought they were close friends. The way they leaned over to one another when they spoke, and the way they laughed, like they didn’t have a care in the world.I looked at Emily Hartley. There was no doubt that she was beautiful. Especially when she let go of herself like she was now. Her whole body had come alive; her eyes were sparkling, and her smile was beaming.I felt a stab of jealousy twist like a knife through my chest. He wasn’t supposed to be talking to her. I was. He was just staff; I was going to be the next Alpha. I should be making her look like that, not him.He turned and looked right at me. I quickly relaxed my face muscles from the scowl I was wearing and kept my face neutral. There was no way I was going to let him think he could have this effect on me. I shouldn’t be jealous. He was nothing. How could I be jealous when he was so in
JoelI was exhausted. While the four course meal was being served, I busied myself cleaning up the lounge and ballroom, clearing away all the empty glasses, and putting the furniture back, no doubt only to be moved again later.I also helped out a little in the dining room. Mainly just bussing away the dirty plates.After the meal, Casper stuck to Miss Hartley like glue. I won’t lie - it hurt a little. I told myself it was because I liked Miss Hartley’s company and wanted the chance to talk to her again. But in truth I was jealous. I was jealous that she got to spend so much time with Casper.Why did he have to be so goddamn hot?!Towards the end of the evening I was stationed back in my cloakroom distributing coats out to departing guests. I only had a handful left when Miss Hartley appeared at the hatch.“Hello Miss Hartley.” I said, “I hope you enjoyed your evening?”“Yes, very much,” she replied. “I only wish I had managed to spend more time with you. Casper can be a bit…
Lyla:I paced round nervously.“Should we go back, and see if he needs any help?” I directed at Mark, who was casually sat on a large rock peeling the bark off a stick.“There’s not really much we can do now,” replied Mark, “he’s probably already out of the game, and the last thing he would want is for us to go and get caught after he sacrificed himself so we could get away.”Mark had a good point, but that didn’t make me feel any better.I stared at him, wondering how on earth he could look so calm. How could he not care that we’d just left poor Joel facing that beast of a wolf?Mark sighed. “It’s because I have faith in him. Don’t you?”It took me a few seconds to realise that he must have been able to tell what I was thinking, by the scowl that was directed his way.“Of course I have faith in him” I replied, although there was uncertainty in my voice.Mark just smirked and went back to his stick.“I can worry as well you know,” I said, getting increasingly annoyed by Mark. “He’
Casper:“Stop stressing about it!” I said to Jamie, getting a little tired of his sulking.“But it wasn’t fair!” he moaned.I sighed and rolled my eyes. He didn’t see me though because he was laid out on his back on the grass with his arm over his eyes.“The green team won. They didn’t break any of the rules.”He opened his eyes and looked at me intently. “Of course he broke the rules! He pissed in my territory! How’s that not breaking the rules?!”There was just no talking my beta out of this one. He was fiercely competitive, as all beta’s are, but it drove me a little mad sometimes. It was, after all, only a game.“It’s not breaking the rules,” I said. “Sure, it was a little disrespectful, but I think that was the whole point. He wanted to distract you, and the best way to do that was to get you angry. No one thinks straight when they’re angry.”“Yes, but he also pushed you off that branch earlier. How can you not be mad about that?”I just shrugged.“SERIOUSLY!?!” he shoute
Joel:I walked down the corridor in a bit of a daze.Was I dreaming? Did that really just happen?I walked into the kitchen and dropped off the tray. Only without the extra weight, did I realise my hands were shaking.Was he going to kiss me? I wandered aimlessly down the corridor and somehow found myself outside my uncle’s office.The door opened and my uncle appeared on the other side.“Come in Joel, sit down.”I walked in, my head feeling increasingly foggy as I sat down.“I needed to see you,” my uncle started, “because Miss Hartley has been invited for evening dinner tomorrow, and she has specifically asked for you to attend to her.”I stared at my uncle, not really processing his words, not that it mattered seen as I knew about Miss Hartley already.Did Casper like me? Was he attracted to me? Or was he just messing with me?“Joel, did you hear what I said?”“Sorry, what?” I replied, having been snapped from my thoughts.My uncle frowned at me, and I could feel his gaze giv
EmilyCole was avoiding me.He somehow managed to completely disappear on Saturday, despite me spending the best part of an hour looking for him.I had a sneaky feeling Annabell was helping him, as I saw her a couple of times with a mischievous grin on her face as she watched me walk by.From the little I had seen of him though, he looked like he was doing better. The black circles under his eyes had gone, and his smile looked real instead of forced, like it was last week.I just hoped that he was finally moving on.It wasn’t until Thursday that I realised I was missing something, when Casper asked,“How was Cole on Saturday?”I found the question odd, as Casper made it clear he didn’t want to be involved when I asked him to speak to Nathan last week.Casper was not one to pry into other people’s business. He was a very private person himself and so he didn’t enjoy those sort of conversations, and avoided them at all costs.“He was doing better, why do you ask?” I said, carefully ob
NathanI ran down the stairs taking two at a time.It wasn’t that I was in a rush, it was just that I felt like I had so much energy to burn.I rounded the corner and nearly bumped straight into Emily.“Woah there tiger!” she said, holding her arms up in anticipation of an impact.I managed to holt just centimeters away from her hands.“Oops, sorry,” I said with a smile before stepping to the side to go around her.“Hang on a second,” she said, and I turned back to see a confused frown on her face.I raised my eyebrows slightly waiting for her to continue.She walked over and paced around me in a full circle, her eyes roving over me as if she was trying to work something out.I just watched her in amusement.“What’s got you in such a good mood?” she said, stopping in front of me, her head tipped slightly to one side.“The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful day, why wouldn’t I be in a good mood?” I replied, as I again stepped around her and headed into the kitchen to grab something to ea
ColeI made my way slowly to Highfield Hall. It had been 8 weeks since I had seen Nathan.I thought that over time, the pain of the rejection would go away, that it would hurt less. I was wrong. Every Saturday it seemed to be getting harder and harder to motivate myself to walk the short distance to the Hall.Sure, once I was there, I usually managed to lose myself in what I was there to do. But just going to the place, physically putting one foot in front of the other to go to the place that I first saw Nathan required so much effort that once I got there I was already exhausted.It didn’t help that I hadn’t slept properly in weeks.I walked in through the front gate, something I still managed to chuckle about, despite my mood, and walked over to where I saw James and Emily looking over our latest plans.“Hey Cole, how’s thi….woah you look rough, are you feeling ok?” Emily said, coming over to me and giving me the once over, before settling for looking directly into my eyes.“I’m
NathanIt had been exactly 6 weeks since I’d seen Cole. 6 long torturous weeks.It was Saturday again which meant only one thing. Cole would be coming to Highfield Hall later today.I hated Saturdays. I hated them so much. I basically spent the whole day pacing around my room, desperate to go out, desperate to be anywhere but staring at these four walls.But I couldn’t. Because I didn’t trust myself not to sneak a peek at him. You know, just to see if he was alright.But of course he was alright. There was barely a day that went by without someone mentioning his name. You see he turned out to be a bit of a whizz at this ecology stuff, and well, he sort of became James the gardener’s right hand man. And of course Annabell just worshiped the ground he walked on. Every sentence she said seemed to start with, ‘do you know what Cole said….’ or ‘do you know what me and Cole did…..’”It was torture. Pure torture. And to make it worse, I think they knew exactly what they were doing
ColeI felt…….I don’t know.I suppose the only way to describe it would be numb.Did that really just happen? There was so much to think about that I didn't know what to start with.Maybe I should start with the fact that there are such things as werewolves!!That was…..amazing. I probably should be freaking out about that, but to be honest it was the only thing about tonight that made me feel in the least bit happy.For one, it made me realise that I wasn’t going mad. I knew there was something up with those dogs at the Hall, and I knew that I’d seen something odd when Percy bit that guy.But knowing that, knowing that they were werewolves made them…..well it made them less scary.I know that sounds stupid, but it really wasn’t in my mind. It made them different. It made them secretive, and less sure around people. It made them hide from the spotlight, and hide from being who they really wanted to be. It made them…..human?It made them more like me.I could feel the damp of t
NathanI banged angrily on the horn on my steering wheel.“FUCKING MOVE!!” I shouted at the taxi that had just decided to stop in the middle of the road.Some drunken tart with a skirt up her arse and heels the size of tower blocks tottered over to the taxi, throwing a middle finger in my direction before getting in.I drew in a deep breath through my nose. I couldn’t lose my temper. It might cause me to be delayed further.I still couldn’t believe it took me so long to see the text from Cole. I always had my phone on me, yet tonight for some reason i’d left it in my bedroom.On the one night he needed me.As I drove like a maniac down the road I tried to rationalise with my thoughtsWhat if he’s badly hurt?That’s unlikely. He did manage to send a text.Yes but what if something happened after he sent that text, afterall, it took you long enough to read it.He’s bound to be fine. And then I can yell at him for texting me when I specifically told him to only text about the project
ColeOne second Percy was next to me, the next he was gone, and the only clue I had as to where he had gone were the screams now coming from behind me.I slowly turned round and gaped at what I saw. In just a few seconds the whole room seemed to be full of brawling bodies. I saw fists flying, and heard glass smashing, and everywhere I looked I could see bruises and cuts appearing on people’s faces.I wanted to run. I needed to run. But something kept me rooted to the spot. I needed to know that Natalie and Percy were alright.I couldn’t see either of them in the chaos in front of me, but I knew I would have to move if I wanted to find them.Slowly I edged my way into the mass of bodies. Ducking a flying chair and leaping over a pair wrestling on the floor, I eventually spotted Natalie cowering behind an armchair.I quickly dove behind the chair next to her.“Come one, we need to get out of here,” I said.I turned to look at Natalie and I could see the tears beginning to fall down
Cole“P to the A to the R T Y - It’s PARTY TIME! Whoop Whooop!”I swear there was something medically wrong with her sometimes.“My god girl, you’ve not even had a drink yet!” I said to Natalie as we walked up the street where the party was being held.“That’s what you think,” she said with an overly exaggerated wink.“Oh man, I’m going to be carrying you out of here tonight, aren’t I?” I said with a groan.“Hey, just think of it as payback for last time,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.Ah, I guess she had a point there.I looked up at the house that was now infront of us. It was a large detached stone house, with a huge drive, lined by immaculately pruned conifer trees. I could never quite get my head around how people managed to have parties in homes like these. Where were the parents? Surely they couldn’t know what was going on. The damage alone from a party like this would probably cost hundreds if not thousands to put right.As if someone could read my mind, th
NathanI didn’t want to be here. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to leave.Well, actually, that wasn’t quite true. My heart was screaming for me to stay, but every other part of me just wanted to get as far away as possible.I hated Ronan and his big idea. I knew Cole would be here. I just knew it. Why wouldn’t he listen to me?!The moment I entered into the lecture theatre I could sense him in the room. And before long, I caught his scent. That was the thing about mates. You became highly attuned to their scent meaning you could pick it out easily among a group of people, and from a distance too.God he smelled good. Like the forest just after a heavy downpour.I forced myself to breathe through my mouth to not be drawn in by it any further.I needed to look at the silver lining here. Ronan had said that if Cole got involved, I could pass the project onto someone else. And it’s not like I wanted to do this in the first place. Why would I want to have to make conve