TYLER POV
When we got to the cafeteria we noticed that Nova wasn’t there yet. So we sat at the same table and sat there waiting for her.
But when we saw Lexie come into the cafeteria alone and she sat at the table next to us, the whole three of us got uncomfortable.
“Where is she?” Koda mind linked Lexie.
“She didn’t get much sleep last night. She went home while she had a chance to get some rest.” Lexie answered.
“Her stepdad is a drunk and doesn’t work. She’s not going to let any sleep at home.” Dean said.
“I don’t know what to tell you. That’s what she told me. Maybe she knows that he’s not going to be there. Or he’ll be passed out or something. I really don’t know.” Lexie said.
We all looked at each other and we knew that there was something going on.
I wanted to go to her house to make sure that she was alright but dad had made it very clear how we were the future Alpha’s and we needed to make a good example for our pack.
Skipping classes wasn’t a good example and he insisted that we get good grades. We needed to make sure that we were capable of taking care of the pack when it was our turn to take over.
We knew that we couldn’t leave because the principal would call dad if we didn’t show up for the rest of our classes.
As soon as school was over that afternoon the three of us got out of there as fast as possible and we drove straight to Nova’s house.
We pulled up down the road from her house so her parents wouldn’t hear our car and we walked through the forest towards her house.
We got to the treeline and stood there trying to hear for any noises inside.
We could hear her stepfather snoring but that was about it. There were no other noises coming from the house.
I saw the tree beside the house that looked into Nova’s bedroom so I walked over to it and I walked over to it and I started climbing it to the top.
I looked into Nova’s bedroom and I moved myself around until I could see her bed and there she was.
Nova was asleep in her bed, so I jumped back down to the ground.
“Is everything alright?” Koda asked.
“She’s in her bed. Looks like she’s sleeping.” I said.
“Well, we can see her stepfather through the window downstairs here. He’s completely passed out.” Dean said.
“I think she’s safe for now. We don’t need to worry. We have to go back and meet dad.” Koda said.
“You guys go. I’m staying here.” I said.
“What?” Dean asked, confused.
“You can see that she’s safe.” Koda said.
“Yeah. For now. Look at what we barged in on last time. It doesn’t mean she’s going to be safe forever. I want to make sure that nothing happens to her. Her stepfather isn’t her only problem. Her mother is as well.” I said.
The guys looked at each other and after a bit of hesitation they decided to leave. So I sat by that tree next to Nova’s window, looking up and waiting to hear any sort of movement from her room.
I couldn’t hear anything for a while, but when she did finally get up I stood up and went back to the treeline so she couldn’t see me.
I didn’t want her to think I was stalking her or anything like that. That would be pretty bad right now.
I saw her get out of bed and I couldn’t believe that she looked even more beautiful now than if she’d been awake all day.
She just had this natural beauty about her that no woman could contend with.
I tried not to watch her getting changed, but it was a little hard to look away and pretty soon she was walking down the stairs.
I heard her leave the house and I hid the best I could as I saw her walked behind the house and straight into the forest.
I knew that the forest around here wasn’t safe, so I started following her at a safe distance. But she seemed to know what she was doing.
She actually looked like a pretty advanced hiker and she didn’t have anything with her except for a water bottle.
Not many humans can do that. But then again, I guess she’s had plenty of practice fleeing her house and finding her way around wherever she lived.
I saw Nova turn a bend up on the path that she was following and she was out of my sight for only a couple of seconds, but by the time I got to the bend, I couldn’t see her at all.
I looked around everywhere, but it almost looked like she vanished.
I started walking down the path to see if she might have started jogging or something but there was nothing in front of me.
“Why are you following me?” Nova asked, from the trees that were beside me.
I practically jumped out of my skin when she did that. She scared the hell out of me and how the hell was she able to hide so efficiently from me?
I couldn’t hear a heartbeat or her breathing or anything.
“You scared the crap out of me.” I said.
“Good. Why are you following me?” She repeated.
“Because these woods are dangerous.” I said.
“Try again.” She said, stepping out of the trees to face me on the path.
“I went to your house before and I saw you leaving so I followed you.” I said.
“Why were you at my house?” She asked.
“I just wanted to talk to you. You weren’t at school this afternoon and I really wanted to talk to you.” I said. But she cocked her head and looked at me really weirdly.
“You and your brothers haven’t bothered saying two words me to me until you showed up at my house while I was fighting with my mother. Why did you want to talk to me today?” She asked.
I could understand her skepticism.
I would be really skeptical if I were her. My brothers and I haven’t really conducted ourselves in the best manner.
“That’s sort of why I wanted to talk to you. Because I know that my brothers and I might come off a little creepy. Koda especially. But we’re not. We’re really not trying to scare you at all.” He said
“I hope not. Because I don’t scare that easily.” She smirked.
“Yeah. I’ve noticed that. I don’t know. I guess, I just finally wanted to talk to you and maybe get to know you.” I said. Everything was obviously a lie. But I had to come up with something that she would believe. I couldn’t exactly come straight out and tell her that I was a werewolf and she was my mate.
She’d think I was crazy and scream bloody murder. And I don’t want her to be scared of me. That’s the last thing I want.
“Well, I’m not finished with this hike. I guess you can tag along for a while.” She said.
“You don’t mind? I thought Jasper usually comes on these hikes with you.” I said.
“Not all of them. Honestly, the dude can be a little annoying sometimes.” She said. And I started laughing.
“Yeah. We’ve seen that. He doesn’t really know when to shut.” I said as we started walking along the path.
“I like having company on my hikes. But it has to be an actual conversation. Not some idiot trying to prove that he’s smarter than everyone else in the room.” She said. And I nodded my head.
“It didn’t take you long at all to realize that he was like that.” I mused.
“It didn’t take long because he’s been hanging around a lot.” She said.
My phone started ringing and I saw that it was Koda that was trying to call me. But I just stared at the screen for a minute.
“Do you need to get that?” She asked.
“No. It’s nothing important.” I said, putting my phone on silent and putting it back in my pocket.
I really didn’t want anyone to ruin this moment for me.
I was the first one that was actually getting close to our mate and talking to her. This was my chance to get to know her. And no one was going to fuck that up for me.