Page 23

Felix tries to touch my shoulder. A deep voice stops him just before he can touch me.
“Touch her and see what happens.”
The voice made me feel better right away. It’s strange because the voice is supposed to scare everyone else, but for me, it makes me feel better. Felix looks up and sees the man who threatened him. His eyes widen, and he pulls his hand back.
“Talk to you later, Calla,” Felix says angrily, upset that he was interrupted before he could fully explain himself.
“No, you won’t. Get the f**k out of here before Jaxon sees you,” Skyler yells, and Felix shakes with fear as Skyler’s smile grows. I smile at Skyler gratefully after Felix leaves. Felix scared me so much that I’m now shaking and unsure of my “friendship” with him. I can’t explain why, but I immediately wrap my arms around Skyler and bury my face in his chest.
I missed him over the weekend. I missed Jaxon more, but I can’t even think about how things were between us. Skyler is in front of me right now, so I’m going to pay attention to him. He is still my best friend, no matter what kind of animal he is, because he came to my defense. I don’t care that he is a werewolf anymore. I guess that makes me weak for forgiving him so easily, but I need his jokes and swearing in my life.
“Whoa there, Calla,” Skyler laughs as he almost falls over because my hug is so strong. He hugs me back tightly. When he squeezes me too tightly, I remember how strong he is as a werewolf. I tap him on the shoulder lightly to get his attention.
“I can’t breathe,” I squeak to Skyler, who drops his arms and backs away from me as if I teased him. “Shit! Sorry. I forget how weak you are. Are you okay?” he asks with worry. His messy brown curls keep falling in his face, and he angrily pushes them out of the way.
When I laugh, he stops looking worried. “Skyler, I’m fine. Can we go to class?”
We walk to Psychology next to each other without saying anything about what happened. When we sit down, I look at my phone and see that the class should have started two minutes ago, but the teacher isn’t there. I turn to Skyler because I have nothing else to do but wait for her.
“May I ask you something?”
Skyler leans back in his chair and stretches his arms and legs. He yawns loudly, which turns a few heads. “Go ahead and ask,” he says with a smile as he leans back on his hands and looks at me.
I don’t know how to word the question I want to ask, so I just ask it in the simplest way I can. I also speak more softly so that no one else can hear what we’re saying. “How can you tell if someone is a supernatural?”
His eyebrows shoot up and get lost in his brown hair. He sits up and leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. He goes from looking carefree to worried. “Sorry, but you won’t be able to tell. At least not clearly. We werewolves can smell out different supernaturals right away, but you’ll have to look for clues.”
“Like with the vampire, his eyes turned red,” I say softly, more to myself than to him. Skyler can still hear me, and his eyes get so dark that they look almost black. “Skyler… your eyes…” I slowly back away from him, moving my chair back until I’m as far away from him as I can get without looking suspicious to other people.
He shuts his eyes, and a few seconds later they open to show the same brown color that I’m used to seeing. “Sorry,” he says in a rough voice. “Just the thought of that f*****g vampire touching you…”
He laughs in a dark way. “How do you think Jaxon feels? I’m so mad right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if that vampire dies again soon for touching his mate.”
“J-Jaxon is going to k-kill him?” I stammer, biting my lip and gripping the armrests so tightly that my knuckles turn white.
“He’s an Alpha, and his Luna got hurt. He’s going to do a lot more than that.”
I can’t believe it. I can’t believe the vampire will die, but it doesn’t bother me as much as it should. I should be horrified that he will be tortured and suffer, but instead I feel safer. Shouldn’t I feel bad?
I don’t know what to say, so I just nod my head slowly. The doors at the back of the lecture hall open suddenly, and our professor runs down the aisle to the front of the room. She says she’s sorry for being late and asks us to give her a few minutes to get ready. I turn to Skyler shyly while I wait for the lecture to start.
“I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention to you this weekend.”
He just smiles at me and pokes me with his arm. “It’s okay, I understand. That’s a lot to take in.”
“I wasn’t ignoring just you; I wasn’t responding to anyone,” I say, hoping he understands that I just needed some time away from people, not just him.
“Oh, I know,” he laughs as he pulls out his laptop from his bag. “Jaxon has been a little brat all weekend. His room is a mess because he keeps punching walls and stuff. I haven’t had any time with Ezra because he had to take over almost all of the Alpha duties while Jaxon had his mental breakdown.”
I ask, “What? Is he okay?” well, more like the demand to know. As I wait for Skyler to explain, my worry for him grows. My heart is racing and my leg is shaking because I’m so scared.
“No, he’s not okay!” Skyler laughs. Why would he find that funny? “You didn’t let him stay with you, so you ignored him all weekend. He thinks you’re scared of him and will never accept him. We had to stop him from running to your house at least five times,” he says.
I cover my mouth with my hands as I sit there, shocked. I didn’t know that ignoring Jaxon would hurt him that much…
Skyler says, “Of course it affects him!” That’s when I remembered that I said that last part out loud. “I tried to tell you in the car the other day. Now that Jaxon has finally found you, he can’t live without you. Ezra is my mate, and it’s hard to be apart from him for a day. He’s the Beta of the pack, which means he’s second in command after Jaxon, so I didn’t see him much while he was working. Mates are not like anything in human society; we are mentally and physically weaker without each other.”
The professor starts the lecture, and I start taking notes with little enthusiasm. My thoughts go to Jaxon every time the lecture stops for a moment. I should probably go see him soon. But now I’m not afraid of him. I’m scared of how much he loves me. What else is he willing to do if he’s willing to kill for me? I’ve never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. This is the first time I’ve ever liked a guy romantically, and this is not how things usually go. I can’t ask for help from any advice columns. What should I say? “Excuse me, but my werewolf friend is punching walls and killing vampires for me. What does that mean for our relationship?”‘
I feel and hear something on my hands while I’m lost in thought. I look down and see twenty pens that Skyler gave me. The pens can’t stay on the desk again, so most of them fall to the floor and make sounds that probably aren’t too loud. But in the quiet lecture hall, they could be compared to the sound of missiles being fired.
I glare at Skyler, but he just shrugs and can’t help but smile. “I didn’t know if you were going to forgive me or not. I needed a backup plan.”
********
Skyler tried to get me to go to the pack house with him after class to make up with Jaxon. I really wanted to talk to Jaxon, but I couldn’t because I had to work at Steamy Bean Cafe. When I found out what the “pack house” was, I also freaked out.
After the vampire attack, I was taken to this house, which was more like a mansion than a house. Skyler told me that it’s where important members of the pack live. So it’s like a big hunting ground full of werewolves that are much stronger and faster than I am. I really don’t want to go there anytime soon. I might be getting used to the idea that my friends are werewolves, but I’m not ready to meet werewolves. I don’t know!
Skyler still sent me the address in case I changed my mind, but that won’t happen. I still smiled and gave him a hug to reassure him that I would think about it before I left. I walked home, quickly changed into my uniform, and then left again. I got to Steamy Bean Cafe ten minutes before my shift started.
I see that my friend Natalie is working the same shift as me after I clock in. I hurry into the break room and see her on her phone, probably looking at Instagram. When she sees me at the door, she looks up and jumps to her feet right away. She runs up to me and gives me a big hug. I laugh and hug her back just as tightly.
I laugh and say, “Nice to see you too.” Natalie lets go of me, but not before hitting me hard on the shoulder.
“Ow! What was that for?” I whine as I rub the red spot on my arm.
“That’s what you get for ignoring me all weekend! I called and texted a lot, but you never answered,” she says with a pouty face. “I had to hang out with Judy instead,” she says, shivering for effect. I know she doesn’t like Judy, a girl we both went to high school with. Natalie, on the other hand, says she keeps Judy around as a “backup friend” in case any of her real friends can’t be there. I think it’s mean, but Natalie is okay with it.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you got in touch with me. My phone was on silent all weekend.” I make sure my apology sounds real because I don’t want her to be angry. Natalie is very sensitive, and I’ve had to learn to be her friend for a long time by being aware of how her mood changes all the time.
She believes me, which is good, and she smiles at me. “That’s fine. But why was your phone on silent? Were you trying to avoid a guy?” she says with a laugh and then laughs at the idea like it’s the dumbest thing she’s ever said. I just look at her and don’t know what to do or say. Natalie sees that I’m not saying anything and jumps on it.
“OMG! You were avoiding a guy?! Who is he? What’s his name? Is he hot?” All of the questions turn into one long, breathless demand for answers, and I think that if I tell her a little bit, she’ll leave me alone… finally.
“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else.” I don’t want anyone else to know that I’m talking to Jaxon, and I could really use Natalie’s help with guys. She can help me figure out what Jaxon is doing because she’s been with more guys than she has clothes. He is a guy, even though he is a werewolf.
I tell her everything once she promises not to tell anyone. I tell everyone at Steamy Bean Cafe how we met through Skyler and how we started texting and talking on the phone during our shift. I told her about our date, our first kiss, and how we had to go back to my angry mother in the rain. Of course, I don’t tell her about anything supernatural. I don’t know if she would be in danger if she knew, and she probably wouldn’t believe me if I told her.
Natalie stays by my side the whole time I talk to her. Natalie gets really mad when the bell rings to let us know that a new customer is coming in through the front door. It’s like entering the coffee shop is a crime against humanity. She annoyingly takes their order and pushes them to hurry up when they take too long. I have to tell her off a few times for being rude, but all she says is that she wants the customers to leave so she can hear the rest of my story.