‘Did she really tell you that she wasn’t going to break the bond, to punish you?’ Garrett asked, smirking widely, obviously enjoying his friend’s misery.
Hudson took a sip of his milkshake as he scowled, the two teenagers were sat across from each other in a booth at a local diner and the Alpha had just finished filling his best friend in on what had happened in the library.
Garrett let out a low whistle, ‘Luna is bad ass’ he muttered respectfully.
‘Don’t call her that, she isn’t the Luna’ Hudson snapped back angrily.
‘Whatever you say’ the beta replied with a wave of his hand. ‘So, what next?’ he asked, taking a sip of his own chocolate shake.
Hudson gripped his glass as he glowered at the table, ‘what can I do, she said no.’
Garrett sighed, ‘yeah so you need to convince her to change her mind’ he retorted. ‘Unless you want to be stuck in this loop for eternity of course, in which case, please feel free to continue with your self pity party for one.’
Casting his friend a dirty look, Hudson muttered under his breath, ‘I was doing her a favour as much as me you know. Once she’s free of our bond she can go and find her real mate.’
His beta nodded with mock severity, ‘I cannot understand why she wouldn’t jump at your proposal, especially when you told her the only reason you were there was because the Moon Goddess is angry with you. Why on earth would that girl not be falling over herself to help you, especially as you’ve treated her so well up till now.’
He smirked as his Alpha snarled back at him, not at all phased by the other boy’s ire.
‘If you are not going to help, then you are welcome to leave’ he growled back.
Garrett shook his head vehemently, ‘oh no’ he said, grinning widely, ‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world.’
Letting his Alpha stew for a few more minutes, the Beta finally relented, leaning forward with a serious expression. ‘You need to talkto her again Huds’ he stated.
‘No shit sherlock’ his best friend snarled back, ‘but I don’t think she’s going to be that receptive to me.’
Garrett rolled his eyes, ‘well you have been a complete dick’ he reasoned, ‘maybe next time don’t lead with asking for a favour? Try and find out how breaking the bond with you could benefit her instead.’
Hudson frowned, staring moodily at his glass, ‘and if she brushes me off?’ he asked.
‘Keep trying’ his friend replied, ‘you have five more days to convince her to accept your rejection before you rewind again, that’s a lot of time to work on her.’
The Alpha nodded as he took a sip through his straw, ‘yeah’ he mumbled, ‘that’s loads of time.’ Glancing up he gave the beta a wry smile, ‘if all else fails, maybe I’ll annoy her enough with my presence that she’ll accept just to get rid of me.’
Garrett laughed as he leaned over and clapped the other teenager on the shoulder, ‘that’s the spirit’ he encouraged, ‘if you can’t talk a girl into doing your bidding, just annoy them until they can’t bare to see your face anymore.’
Finishing their drinks, Hudson dropped some money on the table and the two boys head out to his truck to return to the pack house.
The next morning, Hudson climbed out of his truck with a determined look on his face. Garrett rounded the hood and joined him, his own eyes moving over the sea of students curiously.
‘Do you see her?’ he asked hopefully, ‘what does she look like?’
‘Short, red hair, really pretty green eyes, slim build’ Hudson replied automatically. Noticing Garrett’s questioning look, he scowled, ‘what, she was my mate, of course I noticed that she was pretty’ he muttered defensively.
Shaking his head, Garrett went back to searching the other teenagers as they made their way across the parking lot and entered the building.
‘Is that her?’ the beta asked, pointing at a girl with hair down her hack that was dyed fire engine red.
‘No’ Hudson snorted, ‘she’s a natural red head, it’s like an auburn colour but takes on like a copper tint when it catches the light.’
‘OK, so really pretty green eyes with auburn hair that sparkles in the sunlight, got it’ his best friend replied as he tried to smother his laughter.
‘Shut up’ the Alpha mumbled, ‘how did I end up with you as a beta? Should have asked Dante, he wouldn’t be giving me this shit.’
Garrett scoffed, ‘please, Dante couldn’t even hold his own in a fight with Tilly let alone take me on.’
Ignoring his friend, Hudson pushed through the crowds, scouring each corridor for that familiar red hair. As he was about to give up, he spotted her at the end of the corridor ahead of them.
‘Quinn!’ he yelled, waving madly as she turned around in confusion, her brow furrowing when she realised who it was.
‘Dude, what are you doing? You look like a loony’ Garrett hissed, elbowing the Alpha who dropped his arm sheepishly.
‘Just trying to get her attention’ he replied quickly.
The beta raised his chin, watching the redhead, ‘well you better hurry up and get over there because it looks like she saw you and by the way she’s running down the corridor in the other direction, I don’t think she is going to stop and chat voluntarily.’
Looking up again, Hudson cursed as he set off running, chasing the she wolf down the corridor as people leapt out of his way.
‘Quinn!’ he shouted, skidding around the corner just in time to see a flash of red disappear at the end of the next walkway. ‘Goddess, how is she so fast’ he muttered as Harvey gave him his speed and he flew down the corridor to the end.
Turning again, he frowned at the empty hall in front of him. Walking slowly, he glanced into each window, checking the students for his mate. As he neared the end, swearing under his breath, he spotted the female toilets.
Tilting his head slightly, the Alpha smiled, ‘oh little mate’ he muttered, ‘did you really think that hiding in the girl’s bathroom would keep me away?’
Pushing open the door, he strode in, taking in the clean space with mirrors above the sinks and walls painted in a nice pastel colour.
‘What the hell?’ he huffed softly, ‘the boys restrooms don’t look like this!’
To his right, the sound of flushing could be heard before the door opened and Quinn stepped out, startling as she came face to face with him.
‘What are you doing?’ she growled, ‘this is the girl’s restroom, boys is down the hall.’
Not waiting for an answer, she shoved past him, making sure to knock into his arm with her shoulder as she passed, heading toward the sinks so she could wash her hands.
‘I just wanted to talk to you’ he muttered grumpily.
‘Surely the fact I heard you call me, acknowledged you and then didn’t wait was a clear indication that I didn’t want to listen’ the she wolf huffed, squirting handwash into her palm and rubbing her hands together.
‘I’m an Alpha’ Hudson grated out, annoyed, ‘you should respect me and stop if I call you.’
Shaking the water off her hands, Quinn turned to face him and laughed, threw her head back as the sound burst from her. Hudson watched her, mesmerised, not sure how to react to her outburst. In his head, Harvey was wagging his tail happily, ‘mate has lovely laugh, I like her’ he barked.
‘Not our mate!’ Hudson snapped back, ‘and completely disrespectful of our rank.’
Harvey snorted, ‘disrespectful of you because you are an ass’ he corrected, ‘mate never been disrespectful to me, if I came forward she would be nice.’
Hudson scoffed loudly, the noise cutting off Quinn’s chuckles as her face darkened, ‘again’ she stated, ‘you are not my Alpha, I owe you nothing. I am not a member of your pack so I can choose whether I wish to talk to you or not at any time.’
Hudson’s anger was rising, his temper not helped by his own wolf purring toward the she wolf, obviously liking her feisty side.
‘You will obey me’ he growled, his aura slipping out and crashing over her, 'I don't allow disrespect from anyone'.
Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, shrugging her shoulders, ‘is that all you’ve got?’ she asked with a taunting smile, ‘the warriors at my pack can put out more intimidation than this.’
Taking an uncertain step back, the Alpha stared in bewilderment at the small she wolf who had crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him in challenge.
‘Why aren’t you affected?’ he questioned in confusion, ‘I can bring Alphas to their knees.’
His mate grinned widely, ‘oh, just a little trick I learned from my Alpha’ she replied before stepping to the side and walking past him, out of the restroom and heading toward her first class of the day.