49

LOGAN

Valeria laughed at my question, and at the same time, stayed clear of the path, to avoid bumping into random students who walked on the path between us.

I slowed my steps waiting for her. We resumed walking again and stuck a bit closer to me. Probably not to give room for more students to walk in our midst.

“She couldn't believe it when I told her you were the one borrowing the book,” Valeria explained.

“Why's that?“ I asked, slightly amused by the whole thing,

“Well, you don't look like the type that read books,“

”Are you fucking serious right now?” I chuckled, this was some silly joke,

“Yeah, I am,“ She nodded with a smile.

”Well, I didn't know reading came with looks, or that I had to put a huge sign on my forehead that says I READ BOOKS,“

She laughed at my little sarcasm, and yeah, she seems to be the type that laughs a lot. Or it had to do with me, rather than her personality. Either way, it was a beautiful sight. This side of her beats the hell out of her grumpy side and her feisty side.

“Nope, not that. It's just something about your looks,”

“My looks?” I asked, and she nodded, ”What, about my looks?”

”Not sure how to put it, but you got a condescending look. A bit haughtiness and arrogance…“

“That puts you off or turns you on?” I asked, unable to just listen to her paint me into the devil himself.

Her cheeks turned rosy from my question and she lowered her head, avoiding my stare.

“A little of both,“ She admitted.

“I see,“ I was amused, and a burst of full-blown laughter would have done it for me. But I just settled for a chuckle instead.

We walked aimlessly down the hallway, just discussing random stuff. I got to know she was a transfer student from Spain. And she got to know that I was an undeclared major for four years, and this way, I decided to take up an English major.

To her, this major was her dream and it meant a lot to her. She was here because she had passion for it. I couldn't relate, I took up this course to ruin my life even more, and to piss my Father off. Has nothing to do with passion. When she gushed about the courses and how she loved her two weeks here so far, I couldn't relate to that either.

I saw a full list of all the courses offered and I had the instant feeling that wouldn't like any of them.

She asked what I was doing at the nightclub and I told her I was unwinding with my friends and brothers. We had a bad day and needed to forget.

”And you? What were you doing there?“ I asked her in return, but I wasn't a bit curious. It was just for the formality's sake. I mean, she asked, so I should ask in return.

“Just having fun with my girl. It was the night we arrived here in California,” She replied.

Nice, I didn't feel the need to ask deeper questions about the friend, why she decided to transfer here, or any personal questions. I hate to meddle, so I try not to.

She went on and on about how she always wanted to live in California and her other wild wishes. I didn't say a word, but I just listened. Not that I was bored or uninterested, nah, on the contrary, I felt entertained by her talks.

For the last four years and this year included, I've been staying away from females and the drama that brings with them. I avoided them like plagues to the point that having the slightest conversations with them now feels awkward. She's the first girl I've spoken with this long for the past four years. And surprisingly, it doesn't feel awkward being in a conversation with her.

She wasn't trying to force the talk on me or trying hard to impress me, it was all natural with her. Got me wrong on my stalker claims about her. All stalkers engage in forced conversations, but she isn't forcing anything. Without her bitchy aura around her, she just might be the one to go to when you wanna get your mind off your worries. And yeah, I don't think she's a stalker.

So what then? If she wasn't a stalker, then why did she have to show up in the places I go to? Was this the universe at work? Are the heavens trying to conspire against me? Was the moon Goddess on this too? Was this fate? What fucking strings is it trying to pull in my life? Making our paths align more than once in a way that it gets suspicious, and making her have the scent of my mate – it just seems to me that the universe was up to something. I just hope whatever it is doesn't stand in my way of getting back with my mate.

“So I'll see you in the evening?” She asked, glancing up at me, “To start working on the project. I'll give you a brief of it and we get to choose our reference for the project,”

”Can't. My brothers got some practice in the evening. I gotta be there to cheer them on,“ I explained to her.

“Football?“

“Yeah, football and basketball,“

If there was one thing that fascinated me the most in human territory, that thing was sport. Basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, you name it. I loved them all. And yeah, like I said, they fascinate me.

”You don't play?“ She asked.

“No, I don't,“ It was hard to admit without a notch of sadness in my voice.

”Why not?“

“Personal reasons,“ I replied blandly, not wanting to divulge the details to her. But it had to do with my wolf side.

Jake was a quarterback for the football team, and Charles was an MVP(most valuable player) for the basketball team.

Drake was a good pitcher for the baseball team. It's just me who doesn't get to be involved. And it is all because of Flynn.

I had the most vicious wolf in history, and he got a mind of his own. Flynn and I could only talk and agree on a few things. But most times, I find myself trying to do all I could to keep him in check.

Flynn breaks loose at every slightest chance he gets. Like some untamed beast, on the hunt for prey. He's always hungry to run the forest or slit some throats or get into some challenges.

When I play football or any sport at all, and I get the adrenaline rush, It goes down to Flynn's head and he starts struggling to break free and feel the heat of the game directly. For the few times I tried fighting him down, I almost went through forceful shifts. The guys would always knock me off so that I would go unconscious. That's the only way to keep my wolf from breaking out.

It was torture, so even though it hurt and still hurts, I had to give up on sports. Because if I continued, I might just not be able to keep him on a leash someday and go ahead to expose my wolf side to the humans.

”Wanna share?“ She persisted, nudging me playfully.

“I'd rather not,“ I replied.

She seemed a bit disappointed but she gave it a rest.

“Uh, Logan, I'm sorry but I gotta go to my next class,“ She said.

“Oh, okay. Catch you later,“ I said. I was already turning to leave but my wolf wasn't having it.

'Go with her', he demanded harshly.

'What? Why would I do that?' I retorted, hating just how pushy he was becoming

'The scent,' he grated out.

Right, so I follow her around like a dog all because of the scent. I didn't sign up for that. All I agreed to do was to keep her close. Not become her dog.

Still, I turned to her and asked, “Can I come with you? That's if you don't mind. We have the same classes anyway,“ I said.

When I took up English - Literature as a major, I never said I was gonna attend the classes or show the slightest interest in them. But here I was, opting to follow her to all classes she had for the day, all because I had the craziest wolf ever.

“Sure, why not,“ She accepted and headed to her classes.

We spent six hours going from one class to another, listening to the same kind of boring lecture. Four years –now into the fifth year– in college but I'm never gonna get used to the boring monologues from most of the professors. They were insufferable and most times I'm tempted to 'boo' them out of the class. I just don't do it because I'm not the crazy ass jerk in the group. That spot was already taken by Alejandro and Drake. Those jerks have booed out enough professors to last a lifetime.

When she was done with her classes, I was already blasting Flynn through the mind link for putting me up to such a tedious job. Staying through all these classes was the fastest way to lose one's mind.

He didn't give a fuck though, all he wanted was for me to stick to Valeria, even though I was having a hard time.

“We need to head back to Professor Sam's office. He has the files we need for the project,“ She informed me as we strode down the hallway again.

“Professor what?” I repeated, unsure of who she was referring to.

”Professor Sam. The man we left his office hours ago?” She scoffed out a laugh, ”Jesus Christ, how do you not know his name?“

“He never mentioned it,“

“It was on the glass nameplate on his table,“

”I didn't notice," And that was the whole truth, I didn't notice. Pretty much because my attention was taken up by her and the scent.

She knocked and we both went inside. He looked up at us with a broad smile,

”Good to see you both are already deep into the spirit of teamwork,“ He said,

“Thank you, Sir,“ Valeria replied, with her polite smile, “I'm here for the files?“

“Sure, here you go,“ He handed over the files to her, “I was gonna send for you to come get it, but I've been busy going over this list,”

”What list is that, Sir?“ Valeria asked. I wasn't bothered about what least it was, not until he replied,

“The transfer students for the year, you're on the list, as you should be, right?“ He winked at her and got his gaze back to the papers.

A comprehensive list of the newly transferred for the year. Just what I needed.

I kicked in my werewolf side and standing inches away from the table, it was humanly impossible to get a view of the list from where I stood.

But I did, I went through every name on the papers, Valeria's name was on it, a thousand other names too, but the one name that mattered wasn't on it. Daisy's name.

It broke my heart to pieces to know I waited for nothing. This was a college filled with lots of werewolves. She was on hiatus. I fixed the dots and somehow, I convinced myself that she was coming here. It hurts to realize how wrong I was.

Dejectedly, I walked out of the office. I heard Valeria's footsteps behind me, and almost immediately, she yelped.

In a flash, I turned around and caught her hand before she could hit the ground.

“Are you alright?“ I asked sharply, and goddess did I sound really worried.

”Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped. Thanks for not letting me hit the ground,“ She said.

I was still holding her hand when I heard my name.

“Logan,“ I looked up. Charles, Alejandro, and Drake were headed my way. No Jake.

They got to where we stood, and I let go of her hand.

”Hold on, isn't she that bitch from the nightclub?” Drake stated, pointing at Valeria.

”She's not a bitch, Drake. Her name is Valeria,“ I turned to her with an apologetic smile, “Valeria, these are my brothers. Drake. Charles. Alejandro. And there's Jake, but he isn't here right now,“

“He went back to the apartment,“ Drake chirped in.

Already?

“Nice to meet you all,“ Valeria chuckled nervously, stretching out a hand for a shake. But they didn't bulge. Their faces were void of emotions and they just stared blankly at her, “I'll go ahead. Later,“

“Sure,“ I watched her leave, and when she was out of sight, my gaze was back to the guys, ”It wouldn't hurt to shake her hand, you know. Ignoring her like that wasn't called for,”

”So all of a sudden, you defending her? What happened to the hate you felt for her,“

“Hate is a strong word, Charles. And I never hated her. I just disliked her guts,“

“Right. So now you fell in love with them?” Charles persisted.

”No, we got teamed up for a project so literally, I should go wherever she goes, and vice versa. Why? You got a problem with that?“

I didn't wait for an answer and just brushed past them, heading home to go see what Jake was about.

But as for Valeria, I was only keeping her for the scent. It was nothing deeper than that. Just for the scent.