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Realizing that I am watching Warrick not only cheat on me, but doing it when he knows I am here somewhere, my heart shatters. “I can’t believe I fell for you,” I gasp.

Warrick lifts his head up and looks over at me. He almost looks guilty to find me standing there, as if the possibility of me being here never crossed his mind. “Aspen,” he whispers before shoving the girl off of him as he fumbles with his zipper.

Before he can say anything else, I run to the parking lot in search of Hazel and Willow, hoping against all hope that they haven’t left yet, thinking I was riding with Warrick. My cell phone tumbles out of my pocket in my haste to find them. Dialing Hazel’s number, it rings only once before she picks up. “What’s up?”

“Please tell me you guys haven’t left yet,” I squeeze out before a sob rips from my throat.

“What’s going on?” I hear Willow say in the background.

“I don’t know, but Aspen is bawling her eyes out. If that jerk did something to her, I will put Nair in his shampoo,” Hazel says back to Willow.

“Where…are…you…guys…at?” I ask, in between sniffles as the tears stream down my face.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We left, but we haven’t made it very far. Willow is turning around and we are coming! Don’t worry! We got you! Can you go to where we parked earlier?”

Nodding my head, I say, “Yeah, hopefully, he stays with her and doesn’t bother chasing me down.”

“Oh, that motherfucker is dead. What did he do?” I hear Willow yell from the driver's seat.

In a gentle tone, Hazel asks, “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to forget about it? You tell me what you want, Aspen, and that’s what we will do.”

“I’ll tell you guys what happened, but then I want to forget about all things Warrick–at least until I have to face him Monday morning in class again. I am going to be the laughingstock of the school. They already thought it was stupid we were dating.” My chest is heaving as the pain lances through me. “I was such an idiot, Hazel. I knew it. A guy like Warrick couldn’t really be into a girl like me. What was I even thinking of agreeing to this?”

“Aspen, sweetie, you got to take some calming breaths for me. I know it hurts, but we are almost there.”

Deciding my legs can’t hold my weight any longer, I plop down onto the parking curb as I wait for the girls to get here. Willow’s cussing up a storm in the background, threatening to do all sorts of bodily harm to him. I can’t help the hiccuping laugh thatbubbles out of me. I am sure, if given the chance, she would go through with it.

It’s not long before Willow’s Altima is flying into the parking lot and coming to a screeching halt in front of me. Before I can even stand, she is barreling out of the driver’s side door and storming towards me. “Where the fuck is he?”

Leaning back away from her, I look up at my fuming best friend. She is quite terrifying when she is in her protective mode. I don’t know that I would actually tell her where he was, even if I knew.

“Don’t you defend him, Aspen. He deserves what I am going to do to him.”

Meekly, I say to her, “I haven’t even told you what he has done. How do you know he deserves it?”

“You see those tears streaming down your face? The panic in your voice when you called? Whatever it is he has done, he deserves what I will do to him. Now, do you know where he is or not?” Willow barks out.

I know her anger isn’t directedatme, but I still bow my head down and shake it slightly.

Hazel kneels down beside me as she puts her arm around me. “Do you just want to go home?”

I nod my head without looking up.

“Let’s just take her home, Willow. You can plot your revenge from there, but for right now, our best friend needs us more,” Hazel pleads.

Looking between the two of us, her anger is still pouring off of her in waves when she says, “Fine, but he will not get away withthis.” With that, she turns and storms back to her car, ripping the driver’s side door open and slamming herself down into the seat.

The boom of her door shutting makes me jump before Hazel gently says in my ear, “Come on, Aspen, let’s go cuddle on the couch together.”

Nodding my head, I allow her to pull me up to my feet. When we rounded Willow’s car, I thought Hazel would take the front seat. Instead, she slides into the backseat with me, pulling me into her embrace.

“It’s going to be okay. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but high school boys come and go. Learn from this and decide what you won’t tolerate in guys. Just know you are beautiful, smart, caring, and loved. It’s his loss if he can’t see that.”

We rode in silence to my house. My parents’ log cabin is dark besides the lights glowing in the living room. They knew I was at the football game with the girls to watch Warrick play. Our wolf pack encourages us to build these friendship bonds and closeness, even from a young age.

Willow, Hazel, and I were all born in the same year, only a few months apart. The pack quickly introduces new pups to other pups born around the same time, fostering friendship. We believe that, like our fated mates, there are friendship bonds that are gifted to us by the goddess. They become your twin flame, who you just immediately click with them. I was lucky to have bonded with these two, even though they say they are the lucky ones.

As Hazel holds me close, I glance up and realize I would be lost without these two. She glances down at me as I look at her, her hand gently sweeping the hair that is sticking to my tear streaks. I feel so loved and cared for here in her embrace. Therewere glimpses of moments where I felt seen with Warrick, where I thought he understood me like Willow and Hazel, but I felt as though he wasn’t ever truly with me when we were together. As if his mind was somewhere else or I guess on someone else. I would spend hours talking to him and only get ‘yeahs’ and ‘uh huhs’ from him.