I dream about a set of particular warm brown eyes, beckoning me to come closer as they glow bright gold. I'm hypnotized by their beauty and reach for them but I’m stopped halfway when they turned to a menacing Alpha red color.
I jerk awake at the sound of the front door slammed shut downstairs, and then I heard deep and soft voices. Gently getting out of bed so as not to wake Lana, she isn't a morning person, I stroll out of the bedroom and down the hallway.
On the first landing of the stairs, I could already see Kale holding his mate by the waist as he makes out with her. I smile as they seem like a teen couple, whose love is still freshly started.
"Eww!" I scrunch my nose at them as I notice Kane's hands going to grab aunt Diana's ass. They don't break apart, but Kale raises his head up, surprised at my presence.
He was a big buff guy with tattoos littered about on his muscular arms. My aunt looks like a dwarf standing beside him. Right now, he's wearing only basketball shorts with his face and body caked in dirt while leaves stick from his hair.
I drop down the last landing of the stairs as his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"Ellie?" He asks incredulously.
"In the flesh," I answer with a nod.
I would go and hug him, but Kale wasn't the type that gets all mushy. He's only like that with my aunt, but to everyone else, he's a big, scary warrior that could break you in half. Plus, he still has his mate in his arms and doesn't seem ready to let go.
"Well, what are you doing here? You never told us you were coming. Did you know about it?" He asks my aunt, who only shakes her head.
"Well, if I knew you were coming to visit us, I would have been home yesterday to welcome you." Kale flashes a smile at me. "Wait a minute. Were you the one we had chased yesterday?" He asks, and I nod in response.
"Oh, sorry about that. I couldn't smell you, and Alpha Jace hadn't told us who you were. That kid is so arrogant sometimes." He sighs like a father who was frustrated with his son's behavior.
"So tell me, to what do we owe this visit? You missing us?" His arms are still around my aunt, but she's facing me right now with her back against him.
She lets out a snort, "More like she's running from her..."
"From the stressful life of College." I abruptly answer before my aunt exposes me. I discreetly send a pleading stare at her, so she won't let Kale know the real reason I'm here. If he did, he would personally call Reagan and wrap me in a gift box before handing me over to him. He's a strong believer in the whole mate bond. My aunt can't even leave the pack without him trailing behind her like a guard dog. Also, he's a warrior trained to never go against his superiors, and Reagan is a very high superior of his.
My aunt is glaring at me right now for making her lie to her mate. Oh, she's definitely not happy.
Kale stares between my aunt and me in confusion before shrugging.
"Okay, I got to go soak myself in a nice warm bath. I stink. Please make me some scrambled eggs and toast." He kisses my aunt on the cheek before flashing me a quick smile and sauntering upstairs. My aunt's judging eyes are still on me all through. They're making me fidget on the spot with my eyes staring at anywhere but her. Only when Kale is out of sight did she sigh.
"Ellie, I want to help. I really do. But Kale is a warrior, and if he keeps things from his superiors, he would be in serious trouble. He might lose his position as the head warrior. He may not turn you in if he finds out the truth, but that will be his decision to make." She walks up to me and lowers her voice so Kale won't be able to eavesdrop on us with his werewolf hearing. But I doubt he's the kind to do so.
I finally raise my head to look at her. "That's why it's better he doesn't know. They can't discipline him for something he's unaware of. All the blame will go to me. I promise" I assure her. She seems hesitant as she mulls over it.
"That's true." She nods in agreement. "Come on, let's go make some scrambled eggs and toast." She states before pulling me into the kitchen with her.
Later in the day, I introduce Lana to Kale so he won't be shocked when he sees a strange girl walking about his apartment. Then he went to take a nap before resuming his duties while aunt Diana went to the Salon. I would have tagged along, but she didn't want people to know I was here. I would be safer that way if news about my disappearance reaches their ear.
So Lana and I spent the whole day together at home. There is never a dull moment with Lana. She comes up with the craziest things for us to do together. We played karaoke in the sitting room together, singing songs by Demi Lovato. Then we played dress-up of our favorite celebrities, and I picked Ariana Grande while she picked Queen Latifah.
Since both our phones were switched off, we couldn't check our social media accounts. We switched them off so no one would be able to track us. And hours without being able to use my phone was dragging me deep into depression. But at least Lana was able to help.
We binge-watched Stranger Things series, stuffing our faces with popcorn and cranberry juice. That was how aunt Diana had met us when she got back from work with two boxes of pizza in hand. It's nice to see her mate, Kale, allows her to earn a living on her own. As I said before, not all Red Moon Pack males allow their mate that freedom. Some still had that archaic mentality of females being useful at home only.
"What are you girls watching?" Aunt Diana comes to sit with us in front of the TV, on the floor. She crosses her leg before cracking her neck.
"Stranger Things," I answer as I pull a pizza box open and take a slice. "How was work?"
"Oh, you know, the usual. The gossips never end." She joins me in taking one slice while Lana reaches for one also. Before stepping out, Kale had mentioned that he was still on patrol this night, so we shouldn't be expecting him.
"Your mum called today, Ellie." Aunt Diana suddenly announces, and my body goes rigid in suspense.
I pause to look at her, "What did she say?"
She sighs, "She was worried about your whereabouts and wanted to know if you were here. Turns out your Prince already paid them a visit."
"And what did you say?" I ask.
She shrugs, "I told them I haven't heard from you." I finally let out a sigh of relief and went back to eating my pizza. I'm not ready to be discovered so soon. I still feel this evident ache in my heart, and I know only one person could cure it. I miss his delicious scent, his warm eyes, and seductive smirk. And I'm tempted to leave here right now and go running to him, but I can't back out now. I've come too far to chicken out.
"Ellie, she's worried sick about you, and so is your father. Are you sure you don't want them to know you're here?" Aunt Diana asks with her soft eyes trained on me.
"Yeah, I'm sure." I nod, and she sighs in defeat. I know she's confused about the whole thing. She wants to help me, but at the same time, she knows something really bad might come out of all this.
"Hey, Diana?" Lana suddenly turns to her, "Can you help with a haircut?"
Aunt Diana nods, "Yeah, what do you wanna do with that pretty black hair?"
Lana rubs her palms together, enthusiastically, "A pixie cut." She announces for Aunt Diana to pause before nodding approvingly.
"Nice. Tell you what, I'll help do that for free only if you give me that cute top." She points at the top Lana has on.
"But it's one of my favorites." Lana pouts as she looks down at the top. It was black with a halter neckline that's made with lace. It really is cute.
Aunt Diana shrugs, making Lana huff in defeat before we went back to watching our movie.
Lana and I remained locked in my aunt's house for the next two days, and I was beginning to get worried about her. She hadn't brought up the topic of her mate anymore, neither does she seem like she's going to approach him anytime soon. I wanted to ask what her decision was when I heard her say,
"I've decided to not let Jace know about me being his mate just yet." She announces with her jaw set in determination. I try to look past her brave facade, but she's good at hiding her emotions. Her black hair was now in the pixie cut she desired, changing her looks to that of a real badass. My aunt's really good.
"What are you talking about? He's your mate. Your other half. The one you can't live without. The last part of your soul. Is this about your insecurities once more?" I cross my arms over my chest as I scrutinized her.
"No, it's not." She sighs as she takes a seat on our bed. "Jace is an Alpha. If he finds out I'm his mate, he's going to mark me, and I won't be able to go back to Los Angeles and complete my college education. Or at least I doubt he'll allow me to. I only have about two years left in college, and when I'm done, I'll come back and see if he would want me." She shrugs nonchalantly, acting like it's no big deal.
I sigh, exasperated as I shift to sit beside her and take both her hands in mine. "Lana, you need to think this through. What if he has marked another she-wolf before then. He's an Alpha. He's expected to choose a Luna as soon as possible to strengthen his pack."
Lana shrugs once more but I can see her eyes had darkened when I mentioned another she-wolf. "I'm ready to take my chances."
I can see, though, that she's still a bit insecure, trying to hide away from her fears with this excuse.
"Lana, I'll support you in whatever decision you make. But you have to understand that being away from your mate after finding out about them can be very painful, and I'm talking from experience."
I'm not only talking about Brad but Reagan too. I can feel myself slowly slide back into that state of depression I once had been in when Brad had marked Stacy. Even my wolf keeps whimpering and squirming in my head like she's in pain.
"Promise me you'll think about it." I plead with her, not wanting her to go through the same thing I did. She hesitates before nodding in agreement.
Just then, a knock resounds on our door, and my eyebrows knit as I wondered who it was. Aunt Diana was at the Salon by this time of the day, and Kale had stepped out a few minutes ago as he had been summoned by his Alpha. I turn to Lana to see her also having a confused expression on.
"Who is it?" I ask out loud.
"It's me, Kale. May I come in?" I hear a familiar deep voice from behind the door. That's odd. I thought Alpha Jace called him to the packhouse. He had said it was something important, so why was he Knocking on our room door now?
"Come in." I finally answered, and he gently swung the door open before walking in. His large, muscular body makes the room suddenly look small, and his piercing gaze is directed at me. I knew then I was in big trouble.
"Ellie, there's someone at the packhouse claiming to be your mate." A chill runs down my spine at his words, and my heart begins to thump a fast rhythm. He's here. I have only been here for three days and got busted. My wolf's ears perk up at his statement and she begins to wag her tail in excitement.
"Is there something you want to talk to me about?" I can see from the dark look in his eyes that he's not happy I kept this from him. I swallow past the lump in my throat as I slowly stand up.
"I...I can explain." I stutter out with my body trembling. I don't know if it's out of fear or excitement.
Kale frowns at my reaction before his eyes go soft. "It's okay. You only should have told me right from the start the real reason you're here. Did he do something bad to you?" He strides across the room as he studies me in concern. "Because if he did..."
"No, he didn't do anything." I quickly say, my heart turning warm at how concerned he looked even though he couldn't stand up to a Prince.
He scrutinizes me for a few more seconds before nodding, "Okay, we gotta go. He said to bring you to the woods. Is that okay with you?" I know Reagan would never do anything to harm me. He might be mad, but maybe he'll listen to me now instead of treating me like his prisoner.
I look to Lana, who smiles encouragingly at me before turning back to Kale. This was what I had been waiting for, a confrontation between Reagan and me.
I nod, "Take me to him."
We pass through the forest at the back of the house, walking for a few minutes before we get to a clearing. I nod for Kale to go and that I'll be alright. Hesitantly, he left.
I look around for any sign of Reagan, my heart thumping in anticipation. I've never felt this much excitement before. After three excruciating days, I get to finally see his golden hair, perfect cheekbones, and warm brown eyes. I get to finally breathe in that manly scent of pinewood and fresh morning dew that deliciously assaults my senses.
But I don't get any of that when a figure emerges from behind the trees. Instead, I see jet black hair with bright blue eyes holding this sick sinister look in them. A muscular body, arrogantly striding towards me with a malicious grin on.
I gasp with my eyes wide open, "Brad?!"