Four

            Over 2 weeks had passed since my run in with the King and I was still completely unable to get him out of my mind. Every night I was having the same dream, over and over again.

            I found myself in a green field, surrounded with towering trees along the outskirts. There was a white path below my bare feet, which I had followed into the centre of the field. Amongst me, there were hundreds of flower beds consuming the field. The sun shon down on the beautiful lilies and dandelions, making their colours shine brighter.

            Before me stood a lone blossom tree, in the middle of the field. The branches hung as the blossom had bloomed. It was shaped almost like an umbrella. Under the tree stood a man on his own, but I was too far to see his face. Instead, the sweet scent of vanilla cookies consumed me and I was desperate to reach the source.

            The scent took me closer and closer to the man and the tree.

            As I got closer, I recognised the man stood in front of me. His emerald eyes connected with mine and he smiled. Upon seeing his smile, my heart skipped a beat. His dark brown hair was blowing in the wind but I was now concentrating on his bare torso. His bulky chest housed a wolf on the right hand side. The wolf had ocean blue eyes, the same as mine. His arms were covered in tattoos, all which seemed to have a meaning. Above his wrist, at the end of his tattooed right arm was a date. As I got closer to him, I could see the date marked. 

            15.05.2003.

            Wait… that’s my birthday, I realised. Why did Nate have my birthday tattooed on him?

            I ran towards him. He opened his arms and I threw myself into them. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He spun me around whilst nuzzling his face in my neck. 

            “I missed you” Nate sighed.

            He placed me down against the tree and I trailed my hand down his ripped torso, making sure to feel every ab in sight before my eyes scanned the prominently defined V which led down to his shorts.

            “Nate, why is my birthday tattooed on your arm?” I looked up at him.

            “Be patient little one, the time will come.”

            And just like that, the dream ended. Every single time. 

            It was clear Nate had been avoiding me as he never seemed to be around, even though my new friends told me he was usually heavily involved in the students lives. I shouldn’t care anyway, it wasn’t like anything had actually happened. Granted, we had a strange, intense moment but that was all it was… a moment. Nothing more, nothing less. 

    I shouldn’t even be paying it any mind, yet it’s all I seem able to think about. Maybe I was just a horny teenager with a crush on a man with authority, it’s not exactly unusual. However, something was nagging at me. He seemed just as invested as I was, in that moment, if not more so. There was more to it, I was certain. But it felt like a puzzle and someone had hid the missing piece.

            I had seen him once though, when he was training. He was out on the field, taking on over 6 students, demonstrating how to defeat your enemy even when you were severely outnumbered.

            I knew he was strong, but I didn’t expect him to have the academy’s strongest warriors on the floor within moments. However, when I watched him all I could think about was how much I wanted him to put me on the floor and straddle me.

            Since he left my room, he hadn’t spoken a word to me but I had still caught him numerous times watching me from a distance. Clearly he was trying to make sure I wasn’t admiring any other men, but why shouldn’t I when I was getting no attention from him?

            I had asked Maddie if the King was the jealous type and she told me they had never noticed him caring about any of the women he slept with. To be truthful, hearing he had slept with other women caused my heart pain. I’m not sure why though. We hadn’t slept together and without access to my wolf, I wasn’t even sure it was possible for me to have a mate. Plus, if he was my mate then why wouldn’t he tell me? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, putting the feelings down to just an insane crush on the King. If he thought he could tell me what to do like I was another one of his conquests, he was going to be shocked.

            As the days passed, I had become more and more infuriated at the King’s avoidance. On my first day, Maddie had told me the quickest way to get into trouble was for I appropriate clothing. So taking my new best friends accidental advice, today I was going to get dressed in the sexiest clothes I had in hopes of being sent to the King.

            After Maddie and I had our coffee on the balcony, which has quickly become a morning ritual, I rushed to the shower.

            “He’s going to kill you” Maddie laughed.

            I had told her all about the interaction with Nate and what my plan was for the day.

            “I don’t mind a little punishment if he’s the one punishing me” I winked back at her.

            After washing my body and ensuring the only hair I had on me was on top of my head, I walked out to my wardrobe to choose an outfit.

            “Shower is free Mads” I shouted.

            Shaking her head and laughing at me whilst I was I inspecting all the clothes I had, Maddie started to get ready for the day.

            I pulled out a pink shorts and sports bra set from Bo & Tee. The shade of pink was bright but not quite hot pink, more like a coral shade.

            The sports bra had spaghetti straps, which led to a v-neck. It was fair to say only a little bit of my chest was left to the imagination. The shorts were short-shorts, but high waisted and came up just above my pierced belly button. My bum was covered but the shorts only stretched down to around 4cm of my thigh.

            I looked in the mirror and smiled. The coral set perfectly complemented my olive skin. You could even see my nipple piercings slightly through the top. I chucked on my white adidas runners and sat at my vanity table.

            I curled the end of my long blonde hair before brushing out the curls, leaving a wavy effect. I applied some tinted moisturiser and a clear lipgloss.

            “You are such a tease” Maddie joked.

            I turned round to see her stood in pair of purple cycling shorts and a matching purple sports bra which zipped up at the front.

            “I’m technically not breaking any rules, I’m in sportswear” I smirked.

            Maddie shook her head, laughing.

            “Excuse me Miss, let’s unzip the sports bra a little. I’ve seen you checking out Joe” I winked at her.

            Maddie giggled and looked in the mirror, whilst pulling down her sports bra zip slightly.

            She spun around and linked my arm.

            “Let’s go”.

            We ate breakfast in the dining room with our friends Katie, Amber, Joe and Archie. I had seen Joe watching Maddie and I could tell he liked her. Every time she spoke his eyes lit up. He would always sit next to him and listen attentively to what she was saying. They often giggled between themselves.

            Maddie noticed Joe eyeing up her sports bra before looking back at me smiling. I winked back at her and thought about how much I loved my friends here. I had technically met Joe first, he was the one who had spoken to my father through his car window when I first arrived. Little did I know at the time he would become one of my best friends.

            He was also the packs strongest warrior, after Nate. Once he has finished his university studies with the academy he would be stepping up to Nate’s second in command.

            “You know he’s gonna lose his shit when he sees you dressed like that, S?” Joe laughed.

            “I told her!” Maddie protested

            “I feel like you guys aren’t understanding.. that is the point of wearing this!” I stuck my tongue out at them both.

            “Well if I was straight, I’d fancy you in it S” Archie joked, resting his head on my shoulder.

            “I think everyone fancies her in it” Katie laughed, nodding her head towards the rest of the room.

            I looked round to see a bunch of lust hungry males reviewing my outfit.

            “Well you know what they say.. if you’ve got it, flaunt it” we all laughed at my comment.

            Before we knew it, it was time for our first class of the day.

            We walked as a group to History of Wolves, making our way through dozens of students.

            Suddenly, the smell of vanilla  consumed me as the hairs on my neck stood up.

            “SERENA BLACKMORE, MY OFFICE. NOW” the King thundered behind me, turning on his heels and striding towards his office.

            My friends turned round to look at me and laughed.

            With a worried look on her face, Maddie grabbed my arm. “Don’t be stupid please. I’ll tell Mr Edwards you are running late”.

            I nodded and turned to follow Nate, excitement rushing through my body.

            I hadn’t expected to bump into him this early, in fact I presumed I was going to be sent to his office by one of my lecturers.

            Thinking back to the Kings growl as I watched him storm ahead, arousal consumed my body. 

            I could have sworn a vein was due to pop out of his neck, which only turned me on more knowing I could make him this angry.

            Arriving at his office, I walked in and he slammed the door shut behind me.

            On the white desk sat his MacBook and 3 large files. His white desk chair had its back to the grey walls. A tall white bookshelf took up a 3rd of the wall on the left, completely filled with numerous werewolf history books. 

            On the right hand side of his desk stood a large floor to ceiling window, the same as in my room, which allowed him to supervise activities on the field. 

            The room was complimented with the same white marble floor the foyer had.

            I turned to see a very angry Nate looking at me. His jaw was clenched as he ran his hand through his luscious dark brown locks.

            He was wearing slim fit grey suit bottoms and another white suit shirt.

            Honestly if looks could kill, I’d have been laid on the floor 2 minutes ago.

            “Care to explain yourself, Serena?” His tone was dark and angry, but the second he spoke to me the world stopped.