My Genius Mate

Introduction

We stared at the little bug crawling around on Henry's arm. His face was scrunched up, and he looked like he might be sick. Ronan looked at it with disgust. "I don't wanna touch it."

"Well, someone has to get it off of me!" Henry screamed, tears glossing over his eyes. His voice was strained as he wanted to sob.

I pushed Ronan's shoulder with my own as a smirk appeared. "Here, you babies."

I scooped up the little ladybug and let it walk in my hand. I moved my hands one over another for the bug to crawl onto as Ronan and Henry stood on either side, watching with me. I giggled as its tiny legs moved so quickly on my skin. Ronan dropped his head to look at my eyes, his bright blues staring into my lime greens. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because it tickles."

The ladybug opened its wings and buzzed them around a few times before taking flight, leaving me with a pout. Ronan saw this; he wasted no time to hug me. He would always wrapped his arms around me as tight as possible and pat my back where his hands landed. "It's ok. I won't leave you like that stupid bug."

Henry joined our hug as we put all our heads together. We looked at each other, thinking it was funny. Our eyes were so close this way, it made everything distorted and weird. Ronan's forehead was warm against mine as it always was. I smiled more at how much funnier Henry looked like this, as he was missing one of his two front teeth.

That was us, the three musketeers, three troublemakers, and the ones everyone made an effort to greet us and try to be our friends. Mostly because Ronan was the Alpha's son, and Henry was the Beta's. I just happened to be their best friend. My house's backyard had no fence, so it opened into a large field. It didn't look like much, but from my back porch, if you ran straight ahead, you'd find the pack house where Ronan lived and Henry spent most of his time. There was where you could find me as well. I wasn't old enough for my wolf yet, but that didn't stop me from running over there whenever I could.

"Alright, kids. It's time to line up to go back inside! First graders, over here!" Our teacher shouted from the door as a few parents showed up for collection.

Henry ran to her, trying to reach the front of the line. Ronan took my hand as usual and led me to the door. He always did that for as long as I had known him. He was either holding my hand or just touching me somehow. Even during nap time, he would find a place next to me and crawl over when he could to use my stomach or arm as his makeshift pillow. I didn't mind, ever. It made me happy whenever he held me or wanted to be next to me.

"Ronan, wait, my shoe is untied."

I reached down to fix it, but I had just switched to laces and struggled to remember. Ronan's hands came from nowhere, taking the laces from me. I sat down with my foot out for him, watching how he did it. "It's ok, I know how!"

He tied my shoe for me as a teacher approached us. We stood back up, and he retook my hand. She clicked her tongue at us in a disapproved way. "Ronan, Ali, how often have I told you that we do not hold hands when playing outside?"

"But she's my favorite person," Ronan said, his tone blunt while looking at me with a confused expression.

"You're my favorite too," I confirmed, also confused.

There were two chuckles behind us, getting our attention. We smiled and ran to our moms, still holding hands, only letting go until we were being picked up. My mother, who had the same tan skin and black hair as me, also shared the white poliosis in the front of her hairline. We both had a chunk of our left side turned white from the mutation. Hers was a much more prominent spot than mine however. She kissed my cheek and held me close while turning to face Luna, who looked like she had just walked out of a salon. "Aren't they just the cutest?"

"Indeed, you and I make some pretty cute kids." My mom's smile never faded. She complimented Ronan and I, earning a sweet grin from Luna, her best friend. They went along well together. Luna looked like a movie star with her brown cinnamon hair and perfect looks. She made a statement with everything that she did. My mom also grabbed people's attention with her hair and good looks. The two of them were also extremely friendly, saying hello to everyone and chatting with whoever was around.

"Ronan helped tie my shoe!" I kicked my foot out to show them.

"Really? You are so nice and did such a good job!" Luna hugged Ronan and kissed him on his head. He smiled and looked at me bashfully, knowing I was showing him off.

"Very nice of you, Ronan. You're such a good friend to Ali." My mom said sweetly, reaching over to hold his cheek and run a thumb along his cheekbone. He liked it when she did this; it was her version of a pat on the back.

The teacher cleared her throat to get all of our attention. "We try to teach them not to hold hands while on the playground. In case one is running faster and pulls the other down on accident, hurting one if not both of them."

There was a pause as our moms thought about it; she had a good point. As future Alpha, Ronan was and always would be stronger and faster than me. Suddenly, there were little sniffles as he started to cry. "Ronan, honey, what's wrong?"

His mom held his face as he looked up at me with big eyes. He tried to wipe away his tears as they fell. "She thinks I'm gonna hurt Ali. I would never do that!"

I wiggled out of my mom's hands, and Ronan did the same. We hugged, and I patted his back as he did earlier. "It's ok, I know you wouldn't"

Our moms once again smiled at us before turning their angry expressions to the teacher. She waved her hands in defense as she backed away from the situation. I kept hugging Ronan until he stopped crying. I stood in front of him and smiled at him. He looked at me wide-eyed and stunned. He hesitated before leaning over and kissing me—our first kiss together.

Our moms quickly dug into their purses for a camera, trying to capture the moment while squealing about it being so cute. When he pulled away, Ronan was grinning from ear to ear. I was shocked. Although we were only five, just a couple of kids, I wanted to kiss him again.

I wanted us to grow up to be mates.