*****Edited by krisgee*****

2011 © All Rights Reserved

Chapter 14 (Steven)

            It’s Monday morning, and I’m standing here leaning against the front door of the school anxiously waiting for my blue eyed beauty to arrive.  When she contacted me last night she sounded so broken that it made my own heart bleed for her.  The pain in her voice tore at my very soul and I felt so helpless in reaching out to her.  

            I did as she asked and sent her mental pictures of what I considered some of our most memorable moments together.  It seemed to help her because by the end of our telepathic conversation her voice was not sad any longer, but carried an erotic quality.  But even I know that desire can only temporary replace a deep sadness.

            I wanted to get to the root of the problem.  I wanted to understand my mate in every way possible.  I sat there watching every car that entered the parking lot while tapping my foot.  A rather forceful bump on my shoulder disrupted my car watching.

            “Hey,” I called out while straightening my stance.

            “Hey yourself,” a deep voice answered back.  I looked the guy over carefully from head to toe.  First off I noticed that he was one of the lackeys that typically hung around Zach.  One sniff and I knew he was a wolf too.  I crossed my hands over my chest and casually resumed my previous stance against the wall.

            When the other guy just glared at me I began to get irritated.  I only had one thing on my mind right now, and placating this sidekick of Zach’s was not it.  I ran my eyes over the parking lot once again to see if my blue eyed beauty had arrived yet and felt a tinge of disappointment when I realized that she still wasn’t there.

            Returning my gaze to the guy in front of me I finally asked, “You need something man?”

            “Nope,” he said curtly and continued to glare at me.  Alright, I have had about enough of his shit.

            “Who the hell are you dude?”  I asked.

            A smirk appeared on his face and I had a strong desire to smack it right off of him.  I don’t know what stick was up that prick’s butt, but I was about ready to pull it out for him if he didn’t start coming across with some information about why he was all up in my grill.

            “Jake is the name and I’m Tabitha’s brother,” he said while keeping that intense stare on me.

    “Okay,” I slowly drawled.  “Help me out here dude, who is Tabitha?”  I was completely confused by this guy.  He just shows up stares me down and tells me his name.  What is his agenda, I asked myself.

            “Tabby, Amy’s cousin, my sister,” he said.  “Amy, your mate?” he continued like I was a complete dumbass.  I closed my eyes and asked the Moon Goddess for patience.

            “I know who Amy is,” I growled.  “Now, what is it that you want from me?”

            He continued that freaking stare again and I was really starting to get pissed off.  Several minutes passed as we stared at each other waiting for the other to break.  I don’t have time for this, I thought to myself.  I need to find my mate.  Suddenly, that cat starts to laugh hysterically.  I looked at him like he had lost his ever loving mind.

            “Dude?” I questioned.

            His laughter began to slowly die out and in between chuckles he managed to say, “You’re all right, man.  Just don’t let Zach give you too much grief over the mating.  Amy is a prize, but she’s also Zach’s heart.  Treat her right and we’ll be cool.”

            He gave me a friendly punch in the arm and then turned to walk away.  I stared at his retreating back and had what I like to refer as a WTF moment.  I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair.  

            “Whatever,” I mumbled to myself and turned my gaze to the parking lot.  Finally, I saw the familiar white car that belonged to Tabby and sighed in relief.  Shuffling my feet from side to side I waited impatiently for my beautiful blue eyed beauty to exit the car.

            I finally caught sight of her golden locks and couldn’t restrain myself any longer.  I stalked over towards her moving one foot in front of the other.  My wolf was screaming in my head to make sure that my mate was okay.

            She looked up when I was only feet away from her and that smile of hers had my hormones kicking off into high gear.  I loved that smile.  God only knows how many times in the last week that the baby oil and I have shared a little alone time together while picturing that smile.  Her image does it to me every single time.

            I finally reached her and pulled her into my arms.  I inhaled a deep breath of her aromatic scent and sighed in pleasure.  My mate.  I held her close for several minutes and heard Tabby and Liza mumble their see-you-laters to us before leaving us alone.  

            For a few seconds longer, I just sat there and reveled in the softness of my mate before I had to forcefully set her back from me.  It was time for talking and if she was this close to me, thinking was not an option. 

            She held her hands together and looked at the ground.  I frowned at the action.  I want her to be comfortable talking about anything with me.

            I reached out and cupped her chin.  Carefully, I pulled it up so that I could see her beautiful baby blues.  It was then that I noticed the puffiness from where she had been crying not too long ago.

            “Princess, do you want to tell me what last night was all about?” I asked her softly.  She continued to wring her fingers together so hard that I noticed her knuckles were turning white.  I reached down with my other free hand and stilled the movement.

            “Princess?” I asked again.  “Please talk to me so that I can help you,” I said.  She was quiet for a few seconds and I could see the tears start to well up in her eyes.

            In a rush she blurted out, “My Grandpop’s sick and my family didn’t want me to know.  Aunt Layla says that his prognosis does not look good at all and I’m really scared that I may lose him,” she finished off with tears now running freely down her cheeks.

            “Damn, I am so sorry baby,” I said while wiping the tears away from her precious face.  There wasn’t much I could say to make her feel better about something like that.  I pulled her into my arms and held her close to my chest only wanting to shelter her from the pain.  

            After a few minutes her sobs began to quiet and I felt her hands wrap around my back.  I squeezed her just a little trying to give her an extra little bit of comfort.  I pulled away and looked at her face.  I dried the rest of her face with my hands and pushed the loose tendrils of her hair back behind her ears.

            “Are you going to be okay to attend classes?” I asked her with worry filling my voice.  I only want what’s best for her.  A small smile lifted on her lips as she fought to regain her composure.

            “Yeah, I’ll be alright.  I would rather be here anyways than at home where things constantly remind me of him.”

            I nodded my head in acceptance and brushed a gentle kiss against her lips.  I glanced at my watch and realized we only had about five minutes until the bell would ring.  I lifted her bag over my shoulder and pulled her into my side wrapping my arm around her shoulder.  This felt so right with her tucked into my side.

            “Come on Princess, let me walk you to class,” I said trying to inject more happiness in my tone hoping to bring her spirits up.

            A tentative, “Okay,” sounded from her lips.  As we started to walk off I was still a little hesitant about her mood until she wrapped her arm around my waist.  That was more like my mate.  She might have been a little down, but she was not out for the count.  I will stand by her and help her weather the coming storm, no matter what happens.

            We arrived to her Trig class and I regrettably had to release her.  I handed her the bag she needed and watched her start to walk away from me.

            “Hey,” I called out to her.  She turned around and lifted her brows in question.

            I pointed to my lips and a grin lit her face.  She skipped back over to me and gave me a solid kiss on the lips.  She pecked once, twice and oh lordie, on that third peck she stuck out the wicked tongue and licked along my bottom lip before retreating into the classroom.   

            “You little minx,” I called out to her earning myself a satisfactory smile.  I touched my lips where her tongue caressed mine and sighed in bliss.  I was so whipped.  I turned around and headed off to my US history class.

            Walking in the class room was the same as every other day.  The class was mostly full with the exception of one empty seat next to…you have got to be kidding me.  The only empty seat in the whole freaking class was next to Victoria aka Ms. Easy A.

            I blew out a breath and headed to the seat like I was walking to my own funeral.  I sat in the seat deliberately averting my gaze from the skank sitting beside me.  The class seemed to drag on forever.  All I wanted to do was get away from the girl who couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off of me.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake several times of glancing in her direction hoping that she would some how vaporize into thin air.  Only I could never be that lucky.

            Finally, the bell rang dismissing class and I quickly tried to shove my things into my bag only wanting to get to my mate.  Of course, that was not going to happen.  As I started to stand Victoria blocked my way and made herself comfortable in my lap.

            “Lady,” I squealed, “You need to get your raunchy ass up off me.”  I was tired of playing nice with this girl.  She had already been warned and now she was officially the second person to test my patience today.

            “Ah sweetie, you don’t really mean that,” she said in that high pitched whine of hers.  She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair.

            “Think of how good I could make it for you.  We both know that Little Miss Perfect is not going to give it up any time soon,” she purred seductively.  I flinched back from her touch and growled deep in my chest.

            “I am only going to warn you once more, Get. Off. Of. Me,” I sneered.

            She ran a finger down my chest and I shivered in disgust from the uncomfortable touch of a female other than my mate.  My body started to tremble as her hand went lower and lower.

            “I think somebody likes my magical touch,” she whispered at my ear.

            I was blinded by revulsion and I couldn’t think straight.  Then her hand cupped my sex and reality came flooding back in a hurry.  I jumped up literally dropping the girl on her ass on the floor.

            Standing over her I pointed, “I told you to back the fuck off.”

            The skank looked over at the door and a mischievous smile lifted on her lips as she brought her gaze back to me.  An ominous feeling crept into my bones as I turned to the door of the classroom and caught the retreating back of my mate, my beautiful blue eyed beauty.  Oh shit, I thought to myself.  What the hell did she just witness?