Chapter 19: Chapter 19

NINETEEN

Caleb’s POV

I actually looked forward to school, I had woken up early despite going to sleep during the early hours of the morning. I just snapped awake and unexplained anticipation filled my body. Aleisa and my brother could not help it comment about how weird it was to see me early and at the breakfast table.

Even as I pulled up at school and parked my car, I could not shake off the unexplained feeling of excitement. I could feel it wafting off from my wolf as well. After a while, I pegged it as a late reaction to actually having a friend. Perhaps I had been so miserable on my own that even my wolf could not hide its excitement at meeting a newfound friend.

When I finally met Edward, somehow the feeling had not died down. After a few hours of exhausting classes and a chemistry test, I managed to forget about everything. Like always, Edward stuck by my side while he continued blabbering about his day. When I had first seen him, I would not have guessed that he was much of a conversationalist but each day I spent with him proved otherwise.

After multiple tries to convince me to eat lunch with him in the cafeteria, Edward had given up. He stuck with just joining me on the roof rather than forcing me out of my comfort zone. I appreciated his tries but not only had I gotten used to having lunch in isolation but I also rather avoid everyone else. Sparing them the time in between classes to see my face and gossip about me.

“Seriously, why don’t you try football?”

“Aren’t try-outs already over and besides I’m not interested,” I replied for the nth time today.

Edward had made it his purpose to advertise every sport to me. We had been on this topic for the longest time, him suggesting different sports clubs and me turning them down with a sensible reason which is, ‘I’m not interested’. If there is anything I had learnt over the past weeks is that Edward never gives up, you might think he has finally forgotten or given up on something but he will spring it up immediately he has the chance.

“You’ve never even given it a chance. How do you know if you’re interested or not?” Edward pressed. He was seated next to me on the ledge, eating his hamburger with fries.

That was where he was wrong. I had given multiple sports a chance but every chance had fallen through. Not because I was terrible but because I was bored, and in the end, esports won. Perhaps gaming is my true calling, that is what I had told Isaac after I had decided that neither basketball nor football was for me.

“I’d rather not,” I shrugged and looked at the trees once again, reminding myself once again why I liked this spot so much.

Aleisa was right when she told me that the forest almost calls out to you, with how the wind blows and the trees sway around and the sound of life, it was such a wonder how I had not yet given in the urge of going for a run.

“You’re gonna regret this Caleb. You can’t stare at your phone forever you know.” Edward went on to say After swallowing his food. “I mean, either you’ll damage your eyes or just get bored later on and realize that maybe finding a hobby would have been better.”

I rolled my eyes and drank some of my sprite. “You sound like Ni—” I caught myself and paused. Edward looked at me, expecting me to go on. “...um you sound like a parent,” I changed my statement quickly and turned to stare at the trees once again.

I never liked explaining the situation of not having both parents. Whenever I brought up the death of my parents, people always expected me to go further. I did not like it. My time with them had been cut short and while I appreciated Nina very much, I still yearned for my mother and father. Everyone around me treated me like a small egg that needed protection and even if I liked it, sometimes it went overboard.

“You were about to say something else.” Edward prodded and I huffed.

I stood up and moved away from the edge. I dusted my pants and ran a hand through my hair before looking at Edward. He still looked expectant, waiting for me to give him any clue about my life beyond this place. I felt guilty for always crushing his hope. Edward always told me about his family but I could not do the same.

How could I bring about my brother without talking about his powers, Aleisa or Kace? How could I talk about my family without bringing up the fact that I could turn into a wolf? The less he knew, the better it was for everyone. Even if I wished to tell him, I could not. Werewolves also had laws to follow and keeping our existence away from humans is one of those top laws. If he were my mate, it would have been a totally different situation.

I sighed. “Let’s not talk about it. Come on, lunch is almost over.” I told him and turned around. I opened the door and went down the stairs.

I could hear Edward following behind me, trying to catch up. When he finally caught up to me, he slung his arm around my shoulders and smiled at me. It was his way of assuring me that he sought real friendship and that I could trust him.

“I’m your friend, okay?” He said with a blinding smile and I nodded.

How disappointing.

;-)

I wanted to spend some time with Edward. Okay, maybe I actually wanted to spend a lot of time with Edward. I waited for him by my car after class. Unlike me, Edward had other friends and he still had to spend some time with them as well. I had not seen him since he had hugged me.

A huge part of me refused to admit that I had actually missed his company. It is just that I had gotten so used to having him glued next to me that it felt weird to not hear his voice. Maybe it was because he was the first person to show genuine intention to be my friend, but I was growing too attached to him.

I watched Edward from the corner of my eye, talking to his friends right in front of the school as I pretended to stare at my phone. My back leaned against the car and my legs stretched out, the sun had started bothering my skin. I groaned and straightened my body, I was wondering whether to enter the car or continue waiting outside.

Just as I made up my mind to wait in the car, Edward jogged over to me with a smile gracing his face. I had to hold my tongue to not compliment his long, shining hair. Even the piercings on his face were shining, I wondered if only I could see it. Edward was good-looking and I wondered why he did not have many girls running after him. Perhaps there were girls that proposed to him and I was only unaware.

“Are you waiting for me?” He could not hide the mild excitement in his voice. Edward stopped in front of me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Of course, what does it look like? It’s not like I like standing around for nothing after school.” I replied and walked around the car to the driver’s seat.

Edward got into the car as well. “Ya know, you don’t need to drive me home. It’s so near.” He said after wearing his seatbelt.

I hummed and started the car. “Would you rather walk?” I asked with an amused smile because I knew that he did not want that.

Edward scoffed. “This unromantic asshole,” He muttered under his breath, obviously thinking I could not hear him.

“In a normal boy–boy situation, you were supposed to say something like ‘Oh don’t worry about it, I actually love driving you around’ or perhaps something like ‘I like spending time with you’,” Edward told me.

I chuckled as we pulled out of the school’s driveway. “Why would I say that? You’re not my girlfriend.”

Edward released an exasperated breath. I watched him, slightly amused and waiting for what his response would be.

“Yeah right, I’m so much better than any girl. Why would you want a girlfriend?” He replied just as we neared his house. “Ugh! Why is it so near? I never thought I’d hate living so close to school.” Edward added with a groan.

I did not say it out loud but I most certainly would have preferred it if his house was actually where he had first taken me.

Edward shifted in his seat and turned to face me. “Let’s go get some food.” His excitement was infectious.

“You have another restaurant in mind?” I asked just as I stopped the car in front of his house.

“I have a lot of places in mind and I’ll happily show you just as long as you pay the bill.” He said.

“You really are just using me,” I told him before starting the car once again. “Where are we going?” I asked him and he smiled brightly.

He soon started giving me directions on where to go. Edward seemed more excited to do this than last time and I could not help the smile on my face when I saw his smile. After a few minutes, he told me to stop in front of a cafe. I looked at the building and turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve heard that they’ve got killer muffins here and since you’re paying, I’d like to try ‘em.” He replied and shrugged before he opened the door and undid his seatbelt.

“Do you constantly have to remind me that I’m paying?” I asked as I got out of the car and locked it.

“Of course, I can’t risk you forgetting.” He replied.

“Goddess are you lucky that I actually like you?” I said.

He turned to me. “Are you one of those people that believe in gods and goddesses, like you know Greek mythology?” He asked and I realised that I used ‘goddess’ unlike most people that used ‘god’.

I tucked my hands into my pocket and nodded. “Well, I don’t like restricting myself to one belief,” I said and directed him to the front in order to evade any other incoming questions.

Edward ordered food for both of us. Afterwards, we took a seat at one of the tables. I was glad that the set up of the cafe was not open and I just had to focus on the person who was seated with me, the tables being booth–like. I silently listened as Edward talked about his pet and his troublesome younger sibling.

Soon, a waitress walked over to our table and set down the food. She looked at both of us with a friendly smile, the customer-appropriate smile. It was relieving to receive a smile that was not inviting you to have sex with a woman you barely knew in a restaurant stall.

“Would you like anything else?” She asked and I shook my head. Edward on the other hand seemed to be contemplating the idea, I glared at him and he laughed with his hands raised.

“Just kidding,” He said.

“How cute,” the waitress cooed. “You two must have recently started dating.” She concluded with a big fond smile.

I almost choked on my spit, and I could feel my body heating up. Edward looked over at me and I could see how flustered he was. Did we look like a couple to everyone else that saw us? What if people at school thought the same?

“No, it’s noth—” Edward tried to deny but the woman shook her head and flicked him off.

“Nonsense, this is the twenty-first century. We don’t judge.” She said before walking away.

Edward coughed awkwardly and started drinking his milkshake. I leaned against the seat and tried to ignore the woman’s words. I had started liking Edward, maybe a little bit too much than I acknowledged. But I had decided to ignore any foreign feelings that led to nothing other than friendship. I was not even certain about his sexuality.

Even if I was certain about who I liked, I could not advance on those feelings. I could risk losing the only friend I had. He called me his friend, I did not want to risk that with the danger of making things awkward between us.

I cleared my throat and finally looked at him. “Are you not going to get something else?” I asked.

“But you glared at me,”

“It’s okay. You can even tell them to pack some food. I’m rich, aren’t I?”

He laughed and I was glad that the air of awkwardness between us had disappeared that easily. He took a bit of his muffin and groaned with a look of satisfaction on his face. I turned my face to the side to hide my flushed cheeks. I had to get rid of these thoughts before I went crazy.

“Am I your charity case? Huh?” He asked me after washing down the food with his drink with a slight smirk on his face. Something told me that he would not be offended if I agreed.

I looked at him and was about to disagree when the notification sounds from my phone rang in my pocket. I took out my phone and looked at the message from Aleisa. She was asking if I could pick up some food once again. I rolled my eyes at the message and sent a simple ‘ok’ as a reply.

When I looked up, Edward was looking at me with a questioning frown. “My sister i—” I stopped myself and made a show of coughing and took a sip of water. Edward looked worried after I finished coughing.

“Are you okay?” He asked and I nodded.

“My sister texted me to get her something on the way back,” I said and put my phone in my pocket. “Do you mind if we end this here and I drive you back home?” I asked and he shook his head.

We asked for the food to be packed and Edward took me up on the offer of getting something else. After a few minutes of waiting for the food, I was driving Edward back to his house.

“I had no idea that you had a sister.” He said.

“Oh yeah, she um...she went to a boarding school,” I replied. “She didn’t want to go to the same school as Isaac and I.”

I had once wanted to go to a boarding school for werewolves. I knew what awaited me at a school where Isaac was and I did not want to experience it. But Nina and Isaac had insisted that taking me to a werewolf school would put me at risk. The risk of rogue attacks was much more common with such schools and Isaac wanted to avoid anyone finding out that I was his brother.

Edward nodded. “Wow, that’s the first thing I know about your family that others don’t. I feel exceptional.” He said with a smile and I felt guilty for lying to him.

It’s not like I could just tell him that my brother and Aleisa are mates and that they have a child. Especially since Aleisa had also gone to our school and she had already been weird as it is. One day I hope I can just tell him that they fell in love, got married young and started their family a little while later.

I stopped the car in front of his house just like the other times I dropped him off. I always rejected his offer to go inside, I pray one day that I will be brave enough to meet his family. Edward grabbed the packed food from the back and smiled at me.

“Thanks,” He told me. “If you keep treating me like this I might accept to be your boyfriend.” He teased and got out of the car with a grin on his face.

I kept quiet and only watched him walk into the house before I started driving the car and drove away. Driving Edward’s comment out of my mind was hard and even as I parked the car in front of a restaurant, I could not forget about him. I groaned and took a few minutes to breathe.

After getting out of the car, I looked around and could not shake off the goosebumps on my skin. This town was infested with rogues, Isaac had told me to avoid the place and I only knew that Black’s mate lived in this town. It was on the outskirts of the city and close to our pack. I figured it would be easier to get food here but most shops and restaurants were closed and after a while of driving, the restaurant in front of me was open and looked decent enough.

When I entered the restaurant two women were at the counter. When one of them asked me about what I would like, I told her to give me a second so that I could ask Aleisa what she wanted to eat. Typically, Aleisa replied with ‘anything’.

When I looked up and told the woman that anything dinner worthy was okay, her scent hit my nose and I scowled at her. She was clearly a human but she smelled like a rogue—no like multiple rogues. It was faint but any werewolf could sense it. She was obviously taken aback when she saw the look of apprehension on my face but a second later it was like realization dawned on her and her eyes widened.

After a moment she stuttered out a ‘sure’ and almost bolted away. She escaped to the back and I remained with the other blonde woman. She smiled at me and looked over at the door worriedly.

“Um...your order will be ready in just a bit. You can take a seat.” She told me and I shook my head.

“I would like it to-go please,” I told her and nodded.

Just as I was about to walk away and take a seat at one of the tables, another customer walked in and this time their scent hit me but a different reaction stemmed from my wolf. The hair on my body stood and I turned abruptly to face the owner of the amazing scent.

My wolf pranced around excitedly shouting ‘mate’ multiple times. His jade green eyes remained on me, eying me from top to bottom. I almost felt inadequate under his scrutiny. His eyes glazed over and anticipation filled me up, waiting to see what he would do.

He was suddenly in front of me with his face in the crook of my neck. “Mate.” He growled lowly.

Excitement filled my entire body. I finally met my mate and he wanted me, he was not going to reject me.

Somehow through my haze-filled mind, I remembered that we were in a restaurant with humans and a waitress right in front of us. I looked up and the blonde-haired woman was no longer there. I moved away from my mate and immediately disappointment and hurt crossed his face. I felt guilty for making him think negatively and so I took his hand in mine and dragged him out of the restaurant.

The conversation we were about to have was not one to be had with humans looking at us. My car was still in front of the building and I looked around for anywhere hidden and settled on the side of the building. I led us to the side of the building, taking a corner and hiding in between two buildings.

I looked up at him. I wanted to say so much but it was so hard when everything I could focus on was his scent and his beautiful eyes. And the way he looked down at me made my senses turn to mush.

Once again he moved closer to me. “May I?” He asked after a while. I nodded slowly and he immediately rested his hands on my sides. He bent down to take another whiff of my scent.

“Mate,” He said once again sounding ecstatic as he kept sniffing me.

I was about to tell him my name when I felt his lips press against my neck and all sense of resolve left my mind. I rested my hands on either side of his face and pulled him up to my lips. Sparks of pleasure went through my entire body and the risk of overstimulation was very high.

I wrapped my hands around his neck just as he deepened the kiss and our tongues met. Our fangs clashed and a muffled moan left my lips. Sparks ignited everywhere he touched me, travelling to the bottom of my body.

Before we could do anything else, someone came around the corner and just like that my mate’s warmth was taken away. I immediately missed his lips and I had to hold myself from complaining.

Things immediately turned a whole different degree before I could even complain. The woman from earlier on was shouting at my mate as he tried to explain. I realised that they were friends and he had not told her about his sexuality. After she told him how disappointed she was, she walked away, telling him that she would call. When my mate turned to face me the hurt look on his face broke me and I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him.

He breathed in my scent, his mood having plummeted after their argument. Despite their argument, I was happy that I had gotten his name. I wanted to say it out loud, to test it on my tongue.

“Levi,” I whispered and he pulled away to look at me with a questioning look. I smiled. “I just wanted to say your name,” I admitted and I was glad that he smiled when I said that.

He wrapped his arms around me once again and I rested my head on his chest, him being taller than me. “I also want to say your name.” He told me and my smile grew wider.

“Caleb,”

He hummed and kissed my temple. “Caleb.” He said and my stomach churned in delight.

I had finally met my mate and other than that I could not wait to tell Black that I had also run into his mate. Things just took a twisted turn, and I was wondering how everything would work out.