Prologue

 

Angeline’s POV

When I sent those pictures, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that he could send them to his friends. And honestly, why would I even consider that scenario? I trusted him. I loved him. All I thought about was how he looked at me when I finally let him make love to me, finally let him glance at my naked body as I lay in front of him. When he asked me if I would send him those pictures, the way he looked at me made me feel sexy, and I wanted to make him happy. He wanted to see me naked. He wanted my body. He didn’t want the other girls; he wanted me.

When I sent him those pictures, I didn’t think about how degraded I would feel the next day when I realized that everyone at school knew what my body looked like. I only thought about what he would be doing to his body as he looked at them. I thought that maybe he would stay with me at least a little bit longer before he moved on to one of the other girls at his next school.

In the end, the situation was way worse than being left behind because I didn’t give it up. In the end, I lost way more than my boyfriend. I lost everything. I lost my friends, my relationship with my mom, and my self-respect. I lost my dignity. Everything.

 

Chapter 1

 

The leaves on the ground fell apart under my paws, the pads pushing themselves into the damp earth. The color green almost completely dominated my vision, but the sunlight was forcing its way through the full, green leaves of the coming summer, lighting up my path like a streetlamp in the middle of the night. The air was still damp and had a faint bite of chilly wind, causing life to stir in the forest we now considered our territory.  

Every one of my family members had gotten their game caught and eaten by the time I had made it into the house, despite the fact that I was one of the fastest when in wolf form. I really wasn’t in the mood for a random deer, though. I had eaten nothing but deer for the last eight years, and now that we were in an area with a higher population of mountain lions, I was so going for those creatures.

My family - or pack, if you want to get technical - have always found time to have a nice little morning hunt. I can't remember a time when we didn't do this. We all had our favorites. Abel, my wolf, really liked mountain lions.

After the morning hunt, I took a quick shower to wash away the grime and sweat from the exertion. Then I ate my breakfast and listened to my sister, Diana, argue with my father about moving here. All he had to do was ask her to pass the salt.

“Why don't you just use your Alpha-voice on me so you know that I'll do it? That's what you do any other time,” she said with an attitude she was now accustomed to using, especially with my father.

“Diana, you are eighteen years old. Stop acting like a child and hand me the salt, please. I don't feel like arguing with you today,” he said sternly. It seemed like that was the only way they ever talked to each other anymore.

She reached for the salt and placed it on the table in front of him, using more force than needed with him sitting right next to her. “I hate this freaking house. I hate this place, altogether. We were fine just where we were. I finally started to feel normal!” she said with a huff, standing up, crossing her arms, and looking exactly like the child Father said she was acting like.

Everyone at the table rolled their eyes, annoyed with this everlasting argument. It was kind of funny at first, but ever since she figured out that we were actually moving, she's acted like this. My dad looked about ready to back-hand her across the room.

“Diana Michelle Horst, you know exactly why we moved here!” His voice rumbled through the house. He was on the verge of using his Alpha-voice. “I will not have you disrespecting me like this in my own house. Now sit back down and finish your meal!” There’s the Alpha voice.

She sat back down automatically, looking only at her plate as she finished her meal. She didn't even really respond until after her plate was clean.

“Ugggggghhh!!” she screamed. “I HATE YOU!!!” She was leaning forward with the power of her voice. Her fists were balled up and pulled back, her arms straight; she literally looked like a child throwing a tantrum.

One of my cousins decided to step in. “Yeah, DiDi, we all hate you too. Now can you storm out of the room like you normally do and let us finish our meal?” he said in the calmest voice imaginable.

She looked over at him in shock, huffed out an angry breath, then stormed out of the room. Guess she's not one to disappoint. The rest of the table laughed, except for my father and my mother, who were both trying to hold in their laughter with their hands.

Believe it or not, this was normal.

After the big argument, my father decided that he should explain to everyone, yet again, why we had to move.

“The shape-shifters were trying to start a war between us and the other packs. We can't afford this right now. I'm still Alpha, and what I say goes. This is better for us.”

We nodded, and continued on with our meal. This was all normal.

I didn't realize that things would be different today.

Later that morning, I walked  into Cunningham High School for the first day. Despite what my brothers and cousins were saying, you could tell that there were a couple of girls worth looking at around this part of the country. We were in a public school, so there was a pretty decent variety; girls of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. I liked variety. A lot.

Speaking of girls, a group of them walked by, definitely getting an eyeful of me. There were three of them: one Mexican, and two white. One of the white girls had unnaturally red hair, and the other had brown hair. They looked at me and giggled as I walked by. I looked back as they walked past.

Hope I have a class with one of them, I thought to myself as I grabbed my backpack from my shoulder and unzipped it, filing through my brand-new binders and folders to find the one with my schedule in it. When I got to the dark green folder, I pulled out my schedule and crammed my folder into my backpack, all the while looking for my locker number and combination.

“H143... H143,” I whispered under my breath.

I started walking down the hall, my backpack slung across my shoulder. I glanced around and finally found it... Right next to a full trashcan hammered into the wall. Great, I thought as I trudged toward my destination. I looked at my schedule again, sighed, then put in my combo. I listened for a click, then it opened. I shoved my backpack in and grabbed a pencil and notebook, along with my first period textbook for Chemistry. The room number was 118.

The room across from my locker was 120, so I started walking down the hall back the way I came. I maneuvered myself between my peers and spotted my brother, Neil, flirting with some girls already. I rolled my eyes, thinking that he really couldn't survive if he had a mate. Guess there isn't going to be an Alpha title for him, I thought, laughing a little. Then I realized that I don't really have a mate either, and I was checking out three girls just two minutes ago.

When I found room 118, I walked in and gave the teacher my schedule. When I sat down, I felt something, maybe my wolf instincts, pulling me. My wolf wanted out.

Abel, my wolf, shoved and pushed at my walls, growling and biting, searching for control.

Dude, he said, let me out!

We're in the middle of school. I said reasonably. Why would I let you out? I guess you don't remember that you like to eat flesh.

Not human flesh, you idiot. And newsflash: you do too.

I guess that's true; it's not like I have much of a choice, though.  

I ignored his attempts to get free and tried to focus on the lecture. That instinct kept pulling at me, almost forcing me out of my seat to go see what the big deal was. When the bell rang, I got out my seat, and walked up the stairs, the instinct winning out. When I got upstairs, I asked Abel what was going on.

I know about as much as you do, bro, he said.

I shrugged my shoulders as I watched a girl walk out of a classroom and down the hall. Without even realizing what I was doing, I started to follow her. My wolf began to wag his tail and bounce up and down like a golden retriever.

With my heart going a mile a minute, I called out to her.

“HEY!!” I yelled.

 

Chapter 2

**Angeline's POV

I looked back at the voice, wondering who was calling out to who. When I saw who everyone else was looking at, I froze. I don't know why, but I think it was because he was really hot.

He had thick black hair that was almost long enough to cover his forehead. It was in a messy disarray around his lightly tanned face. His bright blue-green eyes shone out through a thick fringe of eyelashes. His straight nose lead my eyes down to his lips, definitely a pair of lips I wouldn’t mind kissing. I found myself checking out the rest of him. His thick, strong shoulders supported his perfect head, the muscles poking out from the shirt. He had a broad chest, with a tiny waist below. His legs were long, but they were covered by the baggy jeans that hung on his hips, which made my mouth water. His right arm held his books at his side, his other raised in the air to call attention to himself – which wasn't really needed. The best part about the whole thing: his bright eyes were directed right at me.

I blushed a little, surprised that this man was looking at me. Maybe he wants to tell me that I have something in my hair. I walked towards him, the blood still rushing to my cheeks.

I looked around to see if someone was responding to him, but instead he walked towards me. Everyone began to whisper and snicker, looking from me to him, and back again. I ignored them, which wasn't that hard with a hot guy standing in front of me. He didn't seem to notice at all.

“Hi, I'm Keagan,” he said in deep voice. I blinked, unsure of what to do. He acted as if he knew me from somewhere, but I was sure that I would have remembered him if I had seen him before.

The bell rang again, indicating that the people standing in the hall were late to class. They scrambled.

“Umm... Hi. I'm Angeline.” He smiled, which lit up the entire hallway, despite the sun's efforts through the tiny, dirty windows that graced the walls.

She glanced back at me, looking confused and a little hopeful, then looked around at the people surrounding us in the hall. When her eyes finally met mine, her body froze and her jaw dropped. I almost laughed at her priceless expression - pure shock. My books were gathered in my right arm, my left arm held over my head.

She took a few steps toward me, and all I could think about was how beautiful she was. It was like God had made her just for me - big honey-colored eyes, long, dark brown hair, heart-shaped face, pouty lips.  Her smile was perfect, complete with straight, white teeth. Her long hair was wavy, looking like it reached her waist. She looked around again as she started to walk toward me, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. I had to be closer to her, so I closed the distance between us with a few large steps.

Her eyes were traveling everywhere, trying to figure out if her brain recognized my face. In reality, she might have seen me before. Studies have shown that werewolves’ mates tend to dream about them before they actually meet for the first time. Fun little fact.

Anyway, her eyes really called attention to me. Every time I looked into them, all I saw was the rest of my life staring back at me. According to my father, this was normal. Then I realized that I was just staring at her like a creeper, so I tried to make my mouth and brain form coherent words before she started running away screaming.

“Hi, I’m Keagan. What’s your name?” I said. Not the smoothest introduction, but it was a start, I guess.

My question was met with a brief silence before she answered. “Um... Yeah, my name’s Angeline,” she stated quietly.

My wolf jumped with joy at the sound of her voice.

We know her name! We know her name! We know our mate's name! He said, a big wolfy smile on his face.

What!! MATE??!! Are you serious? Are you playing with me right now, dude? I asked him. If I have a mate, this means I'm a runner-up for the Alpha position. Double whammy! My excitement flared.

Abel nodded.

I looked into her honey-colored eyes, and I could feel the bond. I grinned at her. I can already feel my love for her, growing and almost bursting through my heart, and I'm so happy she's mine. I almost kissed her perfect, plump lips right then and there, but then I smelled the aroma of human blood – her's a little bit sweeter because she was mine – and I realized that the smell was coming from her.

Human – the thought echoed through my head – and I suddenly felt this fierce protectiveness wash over me. I took a step away from her, away from the roller coaster of emotions. Happiness, excitement, sadness, vigilance, and all at the same time and at different times... All of it so enhanced. I wondered if it was just because I found my mate, or because my mate was human.

Her slight smile dropped when I moved away, and I moved closer to her again, not wanting to be the cause of her pain. God, I'm already whipped.

“Uhh,” she said, “I have to get to class, so... What's up?”

“Oh, I – I mean, I wanted to ask you if  you could help me find this room. I'm new here, and I have no clue where I'm going.” And with that, I felt like a chick – I mean, seriously, don't chicks do this kind of thing? Aren't guys supposed to act like they know where they are going? - but my wolf was eager to talk to her, to get to know her, to take her into a closet and get her alone, take off her clothes and –

And I couldn't be thinking about that kind of stuff, because she was a human and her, um, instincts weren't the same as mine when she met her mate.

“Right, yeah, of course. Can I get a look at your schedule?”

I opened up my Chemistry notebook and grabbed the folded piece of paper from the top. I placed it in her hand and she unfolded it, and when she found what she was looking for, her eyes widened.

“You almost have every class with me. All of them except first period,” she glanced up at me like she was a little scared.

My wolf was too busy jumping with glee to notice this, though. Yes!! he said. We get to spend almost every minute with her!!

I guess I’m the only one that thinks this is too weird, but okay. I was still pretty excited though, and with all this good stuff happening, I was really liking the idea of spending my days with her.

“Are you serious?” I asked her. I widened my eyes a little so she wouldn't see the joy I felt; that would have probably made her think that I was her stalker.

She shook her head, causing her chocolate waves to fall into her face. She took a deep breath, laughed a little bit under her breath, then looked back up at me and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I guess it happens sometimes. It just surprised me, was all.” She smiled at me, and I had to take a couple of breaths before she started talking again. “I guess we better get going, then. Ms. Green doesn't like it much when we're late.” She turned around and started walking, expecting me to follow, which I did. Because I'm whipped.

Impressum

Texte: Kaitlyn Sumner
Bildmaterialien: DeviantArt (not sure of the user)
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.02.2015

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