Turning off the engine of my old and beat-up Ford, I drew in an encouraging breath and looked around into the crowded parking lot, casually watching kids from the school leave their cars and gathering around in small groups, meeting their friends and chatting about before heading to the school's entrance.
I took my backpack from the front passenger seat and got out of the car, not even bothering to lock it before I flung the backpack over my shoulder and started trudging my way towards the entrance of our daily jail time.
*Why does it have to be Monday again?* I mentally whined. I freaking hated Mondays but hey, who didn't? It was the longest day of the week after all, and the most tiresome.
I bit back a yawn at the thought of that, feeling so envious of my cousins who were still back at my place, sleeping their asses off as my auntie and uncle had pulled them out of school for the whole week, just so they could spend some more time with us.
I was almost at the steps leading to those double doors when a slap over my ass had me startling as if I'd been electrocuted, feeling myself yanked back by an arm firmly looping around my own.
I didn't even need to turn my head to the side and take a look. I already knew who was now standing next to me.
"Good morning, my little blonde Barbie,"
"Kayla," I uttered her name after a tired sigh, noticing that stupid and very white grin plastered over her tanned face as soon as I finally turned my head to look at her.
"How was your weekend, baby?" She asked with an overly chirpy tone after slapping a loud kiss over my cheek, however not even giving me the time to answer as she proceeded to drag me inside the school building and then to our lockers, all the while she kept yammering about Christian and his apparently great abs and how amazing he is and all the nasty things they did together this weekend.
*Yuck.*
I struggled to contain that grossed-out grimace that threatened to take form over my face as she'd just finished spilling so many definitely unwanted details about his "magical penis" and the *massive size* of it, feeling like I was already knowing him way too intimately for my own sanity by the end of that one-sided conversation.
I knew that she was a sexual person. Very much so. We've known each other since kindergarten, that meaning that I knew every single detail regarding her life. All those little "experiments" in her early teens, followed by a series of boyfriends and wild sex-capades. She was a little freaky. I knew that. Which was why I also knew the real reason behind her mad attraction to this Christian guy. He was actually the future king's delta. A pack wolf. A wolf from not just any pack but the royal one. And with a high rank at that, pointing towards one certain thing; he was meant to be was strong. And big in every aspect. And with an endless stamina. And with a sexual appetite big enough to rival a raging bull's. It was common knowledge amongst all children of the Moon Goddess. All pack wolves were meant to be like that. Especially the higher-ranked ones. And she was only human. Of course she would be vulnerable to his supernatural prowess and charm.
What I wasn't so sure of though, was the possibility of them being mates. I could see that they were attracted to each other, very much so. And yet she didn't seem to carry any visible marks on her skin -permanent or not. She didn't seem to know anything about our true nature either.
Maybe they were just having some fun together. But if that was the case, I just hoped so with all my heart, that she wasn't falling in love with him.
Because that would be disastrous. For obvious reasons.
I blinked a few times and lightly shook my head after that grim thought, snapping back to reality just in time to listen to her rant about how she was missing him already and that she was actually planning to have some more fun with him at lunch time.
"Dude, stop. You're killing me," I complained with a giggle, watching her express a mocking pout.
"I can feel my ears bleeding," She lightly pushed at my shoulder at the sound of that, both breaking into a fit of giggles right after that.
"I'm telling you, you should go ahead and try one for yourself too, since Carrie can't seem to make up her mind on them. I think our old little Nate would be an absolutely wild fuck," Her light green eyes gleamed as she spoke, making me internally cringe with mad revulsion at the thought of me trying to do such thing with the future Alpha king, a.k.a my best friend's soulmate.
*Eww. Nope. No thank you.*
"But on the other hand, David doesn't seem too bad either. If anything, he kinda gives me mad sicko vibes. He's all sweet and nice but I can bet you that he's a fucking psycho in bed. The kind that leaves you bruised and wanting for more," She expressed a devilish grin, for some reason my heart starting to pick up its pace as I dared think about the king's beta in such a scandalous and forbidden manner.
Sure, I did find him hot. The hottest of them all, in my opinion, but never did I ever pause to think about him in such a way. Up until now.
Would he be as sick and twisted as she says he might be, or sweet and gentle, exactly like he is in his daily life?
I almost gasped out loud with sheer outrage at my own self before those mental images could even take form inside my head, already scolding myself for ever daring to think about him at all.
*Jessica Aelyn Fey! You naughty, insolent wolf! Get your head out of the damned gutter! He's a pack wolf, and one of our superiors at that! He's the enemy, remember? One of our timeless oppressors!*
That is exactly what my mother would say. I could almost hear her stern voice echoing in my head as I blankly stared at Kayla, my gaze eventually narrowing into a disapproving glower. Why do I ever listen to all that incessant crap that keeps flowing out of her stupid mouth?
She didn't seem to mind me though, her own gaze suddenly widening as her attention averted somewhere past me, her face lighting up with glee mere moments before she screeched out,
"Oh my god she's back!"
"Care-beeeaaaar!!!"
I spun around, barely noticing Kayla dart past me as I noticed Carrie and Dre coming towards us, Kayla's girly shrieks filling up the entire hallway as she ran and tackled Care into a tight hug with me in tow.
She was back. She was finally back. Dre said that she'd contacted some weird nasty virus and that she had to be quarantined at some hospital with Nathan since he'd somehow gotten it too, but I knew the truth. The real reason why she's been out of school for an entire week.
He bit her. He put his mating mark on her neck and made her go into heat -how he managed to do that I have no freaking faintest idea since she's still human- but anyway, the point is that he somehow managed to do it and that only resulted in her feeling so sick that he had to take her someplace safe and...do whatever he could to make her feel better.
That's what all new mates did as far as I knew. Once you had your mate's mark on your neck you had to start doing the nasty business with him or her, otherwise the heat would become unbearable, driving you basically nuts.
Ugh...I mildly shivered at the thought. Whoever my mate was, I just hoped that he or she wouldn't try to forcefully mark me before I was ready. I mean, it's not like I was still a virgin but still, I kinda wanted it to be my choice. I knew that once you've found your mate they would have certain rights over you and that some wolves didn't exactly enjoy waiting but still, I wanted to go through all that because I chose to, not because I was forced to.
Anyways, whoever my mate was I just prayed to the Moon Goddess that they wouldn't be a pack wolf either. *Goddess, anything but that.* Hell, I would even take a savage wolf any other day over that.
"We missed you so much, dude," Kayla said to Carrie just as she linked her arm with her sister's, I myself choosing to flank Care's side as we started walking to our first class after taking everything we needed from our lockers.
"It's only been like, a freaking week dude," She simply said in reply as I walked with them and absently listened to their conversation, still thinking about the whole ordeal with the future alpha king and him being her mate on top of all that.
Goddess knows I wouldn't want to be in her shoes.
"Yeah but still, it felt like a lot you know,"
"Yeah I missed you too, bitch,"
We all laughed as they kept making stupid faces at each other like two little children, carelessly walking down the hallway until our Care-bear abruptly stopped in her tracks, forcing us to do the same.
I turned my head to throw her a confused look, noticing the way her gaze slightly widened, her delicate features contorting to express her inner turmoil as she stared at the school's news board.
It didn't take a genius to know exactly which picture she was looking at from the multitude of them.
Hers with David.
It was a photo of them from the Fall Prom, that specific angle from which it had been taken making it seem as if they were passionately kissing as you could only see his back to the camera and her thin arms wrapped around his waist, holding him close whilst his head was dipped forward.
I knew better though. I was there to witness it when it happened. It was just a hug, actually. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was there that night, standing in line with Zara at the photo booth since she was my date for the night -well, not that I was complaining or anything but she was the first to ask me and I didn't...exactly feel brave enough to say no. But anyway, we were there, patiently waiting for our turn to have some goofy photos together when we saw them, one moment they were laughing together and the next she suddenly freaked out for some reason, almost on the verge of a panic attack. And of course because David was such a sweet and caring guy like he proved himself to be in these last few weeks, he immediately tried to help her in any way he could at that specific moment.
I knew why she freaked out the way she just did though. She was worried about her how her mate would react upon seeing it.
"You guys had some fun that night, didn't you?"
I turned my head to the side to throw Kayla an incredulous look upon hearing those stupid words coming out of her mouth, just in time to watch her wiggling her eyebrows at Carrie as she sported a sly grin.
*What the fuck?*
"Did you finally go all the way? Is our Davy-woo the one who won the prize, who had the honour of popping that sweet and precious cherry?"
*Oh my god.*
I tried to stop her, silently pleading with my gaze as I insistently looked at her but it didn't work. She didn't even bat an eyelash at me.
"Is our little Care-bear finally down to...fun? Did he make a woman out of you? Ooh, did you try the other stuff too?"
I could practically feel that coiling tension rolling off of Carrie's locked-up body, noticing the way her hands had balled into fists at her sides, clearly about to unleash her frustration upon Kayla's oblivious self when the air suddenly shifted, my skin tingling with a slight buzz of electricity.
I could feel them. I didn't even need to turn around and look. They were here. And they were coming straight to us.