Can you hear me?

Chapter Six- Alpha Trace

*Picture of Jillian*

Something was wrong. I drop the carton of milk that was in my hand and Nick snaps his head up to look at me.

"What's wrong?" He asks around a mouthful of chicken.

"Something happened. It's Skyler. Something's wrong with Skyler," I say without thinking. I haven't told him, or anyone, that she's my mate yet.

"Skyler? How would you....wait, what? Why the fuck didn't you tell me?" He says, throwing his hands up.

"I was going too, okay? Buy right now I really need to leave. Skyler needs me, we'll talk about it later," I say. There's a finality in my voice but it doesn't seem to register with Nick.

"You should have told me! I'm one of her only friends, I was suppose to protect her!" He yells.

"You don't need to protect her anymore," I say, my voice icy. Nicks eyes flash with the last of his anger and he looks back down at his food in defeat. I immediately feel bad for saying that but I don't have time to apologize right now. Skyler needs me.

I all but sprint out the back door and to my car, starting it up and tearing out of the driveway. I speed down the roads leading to Skyler's school. I can hear her screaming at someone inside the school before I even get out there.

"Because News Fucking Flash, Jillian. Everybody's Different!" She yells. I assume I'm only catching the tail end of the argument.

I burst through the doors just as Skyler is about to sprint out of them. Her eyes are black. Like, all of it. The whites of her eye have disappeared completely and I can literally hear her teeth shrinking back to it's normal size. She must have really lost it.

I look around, making sure that there were no bodily injuries due to her. I look over Skyler to make sure she isn't hurt either.

"Are you okay?" I ask. She nods and I relax.

"Come with me," I say, placing a protective arm around her waist. Tingles shoot through me from where we touch and it's all I can do not to kiss her beautiful lips right here in the middle of the school.

I help her into my car and we take off. I want to take her back to the clearing, she seemed to like it there. She stares out the window most of the time, not trying for conversation. I don't mind. It's a comfortable silence. When we reach the clearing I help her out the car and we go to sit in the center of the field.

"Do you want to tell me what happened back there?" I ask gently, not wanting to push her. Her eyes have returned to their normal golden color and she looks at me, exasperated.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want too," I say. Her eyes soften and she looks down at her hands.

"Jillian was just being...Jillian. I kind of lost it. I've never been angry like that before...I don't know what's happening to me," She says, her voice breaking at the end. My wolf whimpers for me to comfort her.

I get closer to her so that she's close enough to kiss. I try to stay far enough away that she can still read my lips. I really need to learn sign language. I lift her chin up with my finger so that she is looking at me and her breath catches in her throat. She's so beautiful and my wolf is basically screaming at me to kiss her. Her eyes drift down to my lips and I smile a little.

"Skyler, you're going to be alright, okay? I'm going to help you, I will always be here to help you," I say. Her eyes flash back up to mine and I lean in a little closer. She smiles and suddenly our lips our touching.

Our lips move together like dancing and I pull her onto my lap, holding her close. I place my hands on her hips and lick her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She denies.

I growl low in my throat and move my hands down to her butt, holding it tightly and making her gasp. I slip my tongue into her mouth and suddenly it's a fight for dominance.

I eventually win, but it's all over to soon. We pull away, gasping for air, with our foreheads lightly resting on each other. My smile is so big it's starting to hurt my cheeks but I can't help it.

My wolf is still whimpering, hating me for stopping, but I didn't want to push her to far. We may be mates but we still barely know each other.

Skyler straightens up. Even with her messy hair and swollen lips she's beautiful.

"We should go," I say after a while. She nods and I steal one more kiss before we head to the car, my lips still tingling from our kisses.

-------------

I stop in front of Skyler's house but she doesn't get out immediately. She looks up at me, no smile this time. Her face is one of utter concentration.

"Can you teach me?" She asks, her eyebrows furred.

"Teach you what?" I ask, confused.

"Can you teach me to shift," She says, sounding sure of herself. I don't even think about it.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow after school and we'll go back to the clearing. But you have to do something for me." She looks at me with questioning eyes. "If I teach you to shift then you have to teach me sign language."

She smiles her dazzling smile and leans over to me, placing a soft kiss on my lips, but I don't let it end there. I unsnap my seat belt and lean further into her lips, burying my hands in her soft hair.

A few minutes later she's in my lap again, the fact that we're sitting outside her house momentarily forgotten. Our lips move together and our tongues dance. I trail a hands from her hair to her waist and play with the hem of her shirt.

Her hands fist in my hair and I growl lightly. I detach my lips from hers and trail soft kisses down her throat, electing a small moan from her. She pulls away, with a flushed face and swollen-lips.

"I should probably go inside," She says quietly. I nod and she places one last kiss on my lips before climbing off of my lap and out the car.

"Bye Trace," she says.

"Bye," I say. She closes the door and walks across the grass to her front door. I don't drive off until she's safely inside. I guess it's time to talk to Nick.

------------------------

I knock lightly on Nick's door. There was shuffling from inside before the door swung open. Nick was standing there with his hair going every which way and his shirt winkled. I look over his shoulder and see Darren slipping a shirt on. I roll my eyes I couldn't really blame them they were mates. I understand now that it is really hard to be around your mate without touching or kissing them.

"What do you want, we're busy," he says. I raise my eyebrows.

"I can see that," I say. Nick rolls his eyes and comes into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"What?" He says, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I says. "I thought it was too soon, and I didn't want to accept it at first."

"Didn't want to accept what? The fact that a deaf girl is your mate?" He says, his voice dangerously calm.

I look down at my shoes, sheepishly. "Yes, actually."

"Really, Trace! Are you that fucking shallow! What does it matter that she's deaf? She's funny and smart and fucking beautiful, not to mention the fact that she's your mate!" He says heatedly, making sure to keep his voice low so that we don't wake up anyone. His body started to shake and I knew he was trying to keep his wolf under control. "You seriously thought about rejecting her?"

I nod my head and look up just in time to see Nick's fist fly toward my face and connect with my jaw. I clutch my face in my hands as pain radiates up my jaw.

"What the hell, Nick!" I exclaim. My wolf is mad at the disrespect. I didn't care that he was my best friend I'm still Alpha and he wont disrespect me without consequences. He gets really close now, so close that I can see the freckles on his nose.

"I swear to god, Trace. If you hurt her I will kill you," he says quietly before backing up and going into his room.