Chapter 2: Lips of the Mortal

VALKYRIE

The Storm Hill High was swarming with one hundred percent ordinary humans, that was for sure. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing because there was really something strange about that fact. Zymir, the Alpha of our allied pack, the Wolf Grave, told us that some of their betas and deltas were attending at the other school, the nearest from their territory so he had suggested that we should cover this area instead. Scouting wasn't really our job but our lookouts couldn't cover up some wide area such as this school where most of the young people go to. That would be suspicious too if the minors of our pack would transfer here altogether along with us. We were just chosen to attend here because school was less dangerous for the reason that it was a crowded place and my mother strictly wanted us to have a proper education. We needed to be put in the education system so that we could support our pack in the future. We weren't like vampires who have all the time in the world to educate themselves.

Those immortal bloodsuckers! As much as I could, I didn't want to run into them. I was a bit glad that I didn't see one yet because I would rip them apart without any hesitation. But if we couldn't feel something out of ordinary here, there was also a possibility that the hybrid couldn't be sensed at all. Hence why we needed to be more careful as my mother had warned us.

"Which crowd to join?" Vance asked, scanning the busy cafeteria. Esther and I walked ahead, noticing that we were getting a lot of attention.

Actually, I was a bit uncomfortable since this morning because of the stares and murmurs aiming at us. Why couldn't they just approach us and see for themselves, instead of talking about us in whispers?

"Let them come. They won't be able to anyway because of the intimidating glow your sister has been unshackling around her since this morning," Esther remarked, yanking her mate towards the rack of food.

I trailed behind them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Esther leered at me. "Don't act so innocent, Val. You've been using that charm to get what you want in our school before."

"It's not my fault if they find me attractive," I countered, trying not to sound condescending. 

Vance impishly tousled my blonde hair, causing me to growl at him. "You're too spoiled alright. I pray to all the living gods and goddesses that you find your mate already so that I won't have to break any more bones and scare more slut just to leave you alone."

A loud giggle escaped from Esther while I tossed his hand away from my head, clearly annoyed. "I didn't ask you to do that and can you stop about that mate thing?! Someone might hear you and think we're creeps."

Vance just shrugged his shoulder.

Once we had finally picked our meal, we sat at the empty table farthest from the exit. I started to bore myself with the cupcake on the plate, murdering it with my fork. I hate to admit it but I was actually missing my former school. The deltas in our pack around my age were also attending there and it had become our territory. But since we all had moved here, I guess they could only transfer every year so that it wouldn't be too suspicious. Or they could just settle being homeschooled.

"At least the food here is great. So far, almost everything here looks bland," Vance commented in a grey tone, guzzling down his lunch nevertheless.

Esther nodded in agreement. "What do you expect? This is a small town. I'd rather run around the woods and listen to the tale about our ancestors. It's more interesting and productive. Right, Val?"

I was about to react, however, a guy appeared out of nowhere as he sat down next to me, interrupting us. He stared in each of us with smugness on his face, his dark black eyes filled with deceit. Ahh, I knew all about this type of guy and they seemed to exist everywhere. You know, the one whose brain is between their legs.

"Hey, guys, welcome to Storm Hill," he greeted, leaning her elbow on the table and propping his defined jaw casually with his hand. His gaze danced around at the three of us when we refused to answer at all. "I get it, you are all shy but you are gonna be alright. We're all nice here... as long as you know who's in charge."

That caused one of my brows to raise. "And I'm assuming it's you. You don't look like it——"

"Cayde," he interjected, smirking at me. "My name is Cayde. And I'm not the one in charge here nor you'll ever be."

"Look, Cayde. We're not here to play royals like you," Esther said firmly.

The ginger-haired boy shifted his eyes to Esther. "Shame, you look like the princess who was moaning under me just two days ago," he taunted, licking his upper lip and causing Vance to grip his collar all of a sudden.

"Do you have a death wish?! No one talks to her like that!" my brother snarled, clenching his jaw in anger. Oh, boy...

'Vance, control yourself. He's just a pathetic human,'

I mentally persuaded my brother while Esther held him around his arm. The whole cafeteria was watching us in whispers and silence, making me want to roll my eyes.

"Relax, dude. I'm just kidding. I'm just trying to make it interesting for all of you." Cayde laughed, holding his hands up in defense and it astounded me that he could endure Vance's threatening influence over him. He was fuming mad because this Cayde literally disrespected his mate on his face. But I could see that he was trying not to let the rampant wolf take over him. Otherwise, Cayde would be peeing in his pant this instant.

'Vance, I want to kill him too but he's not worth it!'

'I don't give a damn!'

'Let him go.'

To my relief, Vance just shoved him away from our table and stood up in his protective stance. Cayde straightened up taller than my brother but the latter was more buff and intimidating. Their eyes locked in a silent battle and I prepared myself for the worst as I got up to my feet, just in case.

But before they could even lunge at each other, someone walked over between them, freezing me on my spot. My breathing slowed down a second as my senses narrowed towards a certain direction. Flopping down on the seat weakly, I gawked at the girl who was talking to that pathetic and my body started to heat up in a bizarre manner, recognizing the parts of my soul. My heart then pounded at an abnormal rate when she slightly turned and our eyes met for the first time.

My stomach roiled in a good sense as I held her expressive auburn eyes. And all I wanted was to sink at the bottom of those majestic orbs and let her embrace all of me. I began to yearn for her existence, wanting to caress her fair smooth skin and to run my fingers through her jet-black wavy hair. On how much I desired to rub my nose through her cheeks and kissed them softly. And don't even get me started when her mouth curved up just slightly, turning my attention to her lips.

The lips of the mortal who was going to be my bliss and at the same time, my despair. My throat dried up and I gulped, eyeing her lips still like a dumbass who just met her first crush. I wished time stops at this moment so that I could stare at her for eternity.

However, time betrayed me when she was pulled away. Deeply rooted on my spot, my eyes followed her movement as she stormed away, aching me severely. But I was ecstatic beyond else when she turned her head to acknowledge my presence again before she disappeared behind the door of the cafeteria. 

That urged me to move and run out of the place to get a glimpse of her again. I needed to see her once again. Her absence was fùcking suffocating me already.

"Val?" I heard Vance called out to me but I disregarded him without any care in the world.

I only needed to see her. Whatever her name was, I needed her to be mine. So when I couldn't find her anymore in the hallway, I felt an abysmal sadness in my heart as it kept on thumping on my chest.

"Val, what happened?" I heard Esther questioned behind me, causing me to turn. She looked at me puzzled along with Vance who looked confused as well.

I placed my palm on my chest in disbelief. "So this is it? I-I get it now, Van."

My twin brother's eyes bulged out. "Don't tell me he's——"

"No." I shook my head so fast, my mouth was slightly ajar. "No, you're wrong. She is——"

Esther appeared to find the pieces together, covering her gasp. "Oh good lord, you found your mate!"

"Which one?" Vance asked, his voice was also full of excitement.

I grimaced. "Didn't you see her? She was there!"

Esther giggled. "Oh how cute you are, Val. There were two girls who were there to stop that Cayde. You were just too absorbed in your newly-found mate that you weren't even aware of the surrounding. She shut off your enhanced senses!"

"Is she the one who has pink and black ombre hair?"

"No, the one with stunning brown eyes and dark wavy hair," I answered Vance, the same time the bell rang for class. The students began to walk out of the cafeteria so we headed to our classes as well, with me being disoriented still.

Esther hopped in enthusiasm. "Oh, that girl. She's pretty, Val. You're so lucky! And I can already feel she's going to wrap you around her finger in no time."

My cheeks heated up. "She—She's a human."

"Doesn't matter," Vance muttered, then snaking his arms around Esther. "But we have to get to class now. See you after."

I nodded, rushing towards the opposite way to get my stuff in my new locker. I had three more classes for the afternoon but my focus had waned gradually because all I could think about was her. Just this morning, I was refusing the idea of being mated with another being. I'd initially thought I could reject those kinds of feelings that Vance had tried to explain to me in detail. I'd thought it was just a little spark in your heart that you couldn't get rid of. But the encounter we had just a while ago showed that it was more than that.

How could I even describe it anyway? Physically, seeing her made me feel so hot all over and my heart was still racing out of my chest as if it would break free. Not to mention, seeing her lips made me thirsty and I wanted to squeeze her inside my arms forever. My spirit was elated upon recognizing her for the first time. Those were the best things about some of it.

The worst thing: she's a human. Sure, we had fair numbers of humans living with their wolf mates in our pack. My family certainly would welcome her with open arms. Vance was right that her being human wasn't really irrelevant.

But that wasn't the point. The point is we were at war and I wasn't going to involve her in this. I'd seen a lot of agony through the eyes of our warriors when they'd failed to protect their human counterparts. I knew that I was already thinking ahead for the future even though I didn't even know her name yet but she was my mate. We would eventually claim each other and be one as it was already fated. This pull I had with her was so hard to resist now that I was experiencing it.

Just my luck! Maybe because Vance and Esther kept on jinxing it since this morning. I didn't expect that I would find her in this town though. Honestly, I'd prefer having a wolf mate because I didn't have to explain things about the supernatural stuff anymore. So in summary, having a human mate was going to be problematic. She might even reject me if ever I tell her that I wasn't really ordinary. And just thinking about it scraped my heart in emptiness.

Dámmit! I'm so dead!

Although my mate was nowhere in my sight right now, I still could feel her presence within my boundary. We must be rooms apart and knowing that irked me more. Control—— I needed to control myself and think hard about what to do with this mate thing. Should I accept this bond or just let it be?

The bell screeched for the last class. Sensing her presence caused diverse emotions within me and I just wanted to get away from here and maybe ask for advice from my mother later. But when I stepped into my last class, my heart rate instantly increased as I spotted her inside the room.

My mate was chatting with a stupid guy next to her seat. She had this bubbly smile on her lips and eyes sparkling in joy that almost melt my soul. Was she flirting with him? Wait?! Was she in a relationship with that dumb Cayde? And what about that ombre girl she was with in the cafeteria? Was she into girls at all?

An involuntary growl freed from my mouth when that pathetic low-born guy bent closer to my mate, holding out his phone for her to see. I could hear them talking about a great place for dating or something. Automatically, my mind started to come up with scenarios on how to slaughter him later after school.

'I can hear you, Sis.'

'Shut up!'

'Did you find her again? This is going to be interesting,' Esther said, joining into our pack link.

"Please have a seat," the teacher said to me as soon as he entered the room. His announcement caused all of the students to shift their eyes at the front, particularly aiming at me. Yup, the new kid here!

Apparently, I wasn't concerned about their stares but I was more prickly when she gazed at me in such a way that I couldn't even understand. Even though she couldn't recognize our bond for each other because humans had no greater sense with that stuff, I knew that she could feel a bit of something towards me.

Unfortunately, the only vacant seat was behind her and when I walked past her, her scent almost lured me to pull her into my arms and to kiss those entrancing lips. As I sat behind her, I clenched my fist, trying to control myself. She smelled so good——like a strawberry and a tad of sweet mint. Was it her shampoo or her body wash? Or was it just her natural scent?

I couldn't tell but it caused my inside to flip and being closer to her made me feel so hungry. I wanted to touch her but I stopped myself, giving my best to just focus my attention on the lecture instead.

'Ugh, I can't concentrate. She's here sitting in front of me,' I mentally grumbled.

Vance laughed at me. 'Try to talk to her. Drop your pen towards her and let her pick it up for you.'

'That's lame and overused, Van.'

Esther giggled at our exchange. 'How about you just casually ask her about the lecture?'

'And let her think that I'm stupid and dumb? I'm not planning to talk to her anyway.'

'What?! Are you out of your mind?' Vance mentally retorted. 'She's your mate. No matter how much you resist her, believe me, you'd eventually break.'

'Is it because she's a girl and you're not into that kinky stuff?' Esther questioned, her tone was almost disheartened.

'What?! No! It doesn't matter if she's a girl or not. And what kinky stuff are you talking about?'

'You know, those finger-licking stuff.'

"Esther!"

I hissed unintentionally, just enough for the girl in front of me to hear. My cheeks heat up in awkwardness from what Esther was insinuating. Why she had blurted it out while I was here trying to control myself not to jump on my mate this instant?

My mate turned her body slightly so I immediately dropped down my eyes on the desk, refusing to look at her eyes. Internally cursing at myself, I pretended to write some stuff on my paper as I felt her gaze at me, and in my relief, her phone vibrated which earned her attention away.

'Don't hide the dirty immaculate in you, Val.' Esther kept on nagging me while Vance was laughing mentally at my reaction. 'We both know how much you play with mud in that head of yours. Your mate is not an exception.'

'I'll stuff your wolf aśs down at the bottom of the dungeon later,' I warned her, glaring at the same boy who was next to my half, hinting that he was the one who had sent a message to my mate when they stared at each other with a knowing look. Damn! I'd never wanted to kill someone like this before.

'You'd have to get through me before you could even do that,' Vance said protectively, earning a roll of eyes from me.

'Whatever you say,' I said, then blocked them out altogether.

The class was fairly boring as our teacher explained what to expect every week. Pop quiz, yay! Note the sarcasm on that tone. And when the bell rang, declaring the end of the class, I quickly shoved my notes in my bag so that I could get away from here——away from her.

However, halfway through, she suddenly turned around and leaned her forearms over the backrest of her chair.

"Hi, my name is Sage. May I know yours, if you don't mind?" she said, her velvety voice gave me goosebumps all over my body. And the smile on her face produced a pair of dimples on her cheeks, causing internal drives in my heart. At the same time, I was more than glad that I could put a name in my mate already. Sage, what a beautiful and unique name.

I gathered everything in me to act calmly at this moment. "I'm Val— short for Valkyrie."

"So it's not Esther."

"W-What?" I stammered uncoolly.

Sage still kept her smile as she rested her chin on her arms. "Well, I heard you calling that name and I thought you were just scolding yourself for some reason."

"Ah no, I was just—— I just didn't like the way my best friend kept on nagging me through text in the middle of the class."

Yup, Val! Keep on stuttering!

"Oh, is she that Esther? The one you were with in the cafeteria?" she concluded, nodding at herself. "Speaking of, I just want to say sorry about Cayde. Believe me, he's not usually like that."

"It's fine. And you don't have to say sorry for your boyfriend though," I retorted sneakily, silently hoping that Cayde wasn't her boyfriend.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, making my heart sunk. Then she stood up, wrapping the strap of her backpack around her shoulder, looking down at me expectedly. "Want to walk with me?"

Shoving my book inside my bag, I stood up and nodded at her in agreement. "Sure."

Evidently, I didn't have any choice but to follow her as we both walked out of the classroom next to each other. My heart was still thumping out of my chest for her but felt disappointed that she was with that Cayde. I knew that our bond was so strong for each other and she'd eventually break things off with him though. Heck, she was even the one who had approached me first.

Sage felt our connection somehow but I was still undecided about this. If avoiding her was the only way to keep her away from harm and from this brewing war, I should have flatly refused her.

But that wasn't happening right now. Geez, I had no clue how to reject her at all!

I'm so dead.

......