Alpha Clark Knight has requested to send you a message. Friend request from Alpha Clark Knight. Well, aren't you full of yourself, Mr. Knight? Rolls eyes. Ugh, fine. Click.
"Hi Adi."
"It's Clark."
"Sorry... you knew that. You can obviously see my name, lol."
"Adi, I'm sorry. Can we talk, please? Can you call me?"
"I'm so sorry about last night... please call me when you get this. I just want to explain myself in person."
"Goodnight, Adi."
I sigh. Void in my head says, To respond or not to respond... that is the question. I giggle at her sarcasm. Shut up, girly. Shaking my head, I reply:
"Goodnight, Alpha Clark."
Luna Donna has requested to send you a message.
Wow, someone is enthusiastic... Okay, Ms. Wannabe. Rolling my eyes, I click.
"HA!"
Delete. Block.
I laugh and shake my head. This b***... Void is laughing in my head too. "Hey, Void, how come you don't seem affected by Clark's rejection?" I ask my wolf.
"Because you're not," she quickly replies.
Oh wow. "But I still feel the mate bond. I feel a pull towards him, like I wonder what his touch feels like on my skin, or his taste in my mouth." Ugh, I slap myself. "How about you, girl?"
"I feel it too, but we haven't spent much time with him or his wolf for me to go head-over-heels. Besides, we're really good at keeping our emotions in check." She grins with pride.
Huh, I guess we are. I've never thought about that. I don't get worked up by others' words. Sure, I get frustrated sometimes when someone does something stupid, but I'm quick to get over it once I figure out how to deal with it. "Focus on the solution, not the problem, right, Void?" I tell her, smiling at myself. I am wise beyond my years. I laugh at myself as I lie back in bed. Void just rolls her eyes at me, and I drift off.
My alarm starts blaring. Ugh, why did I set the alarm again? I'm staying in bed today. I turn off my alarm and roll over. Ding! Ugh, great. I open one eye to scan the notifications on my phone screen. Messenger app icon followed by Camilla's name and Alpha Clark... ugh. I close my eyes, contemplating why I even entertained the idea of talking to Clark. Damn this OCD. Click.
Camilla: "I'm in the kitchen... Mama made me breakfast, and I brought you iced coffee! smiley face emoji"
I smile. Ahhh, a woman after my own heart. Finally, something worth getting up for.
Click.
Alpha Clark Knight: "Good morning. Call me when you're ready to talk, please. – Clark."
Did he really just sign his name? Wow. Okay, Alpha Bighead. I shake my head and chuckle.
I get ready and walk down to the kitchen. I immediately see Camilla seated on a high stool, leaning over the counter. I look around, but I don't see my parents.
"Morning, Panda." She turns around on her stool, giving me sad, imploring eyes.
"Don't... where's my iced coffee?"
"Here you go, your majesty." She pushes the drink over and smirks.
"Stop it. I don't want that face, please. I want my crazy best friend." I grab a bowl and fill it with oatmeal, sitting across from her to eat.
I can feel her eyes on me. I raise an eyebrow at her. "What?"
"Where did you go last night?" Her voice has a hint of concern.
"Run."
She narrows her eyes at me. "Run where?"
"To the beach." I look down at my oatmeal.
"What? That's like hundreds of miles away! Why did you have to run that far?"
I roll my eyes. "Because I wanted to be away from everything... from him."
"Oh honey." She walks around the counter and wraps her arms around me. "You can run away from everything here and away from Clark, but you can never run away from me." She flicks my forehead with her finger.
I flinch. "Ow!" We both laugh and hug each other.
"I'm sorry. I should have mind-linked you when I left," I say.
She pulls away. "Pish posh. So... Void?" Her eyebrow raises.
I push her back. "Oh my goddess! I swear my mother is such a tattletale!"
She laughs in my face and walks back to her seat. "Ugh, that woman is unbelievable. What else did she tell you?"
"Oh, nothing else... just everything." She bursts out laughing.
"Shut up, man." I pout.
"Wow, of all the names... I mean, wow... Void. Like a weird scary name!" She continues to laugh at my expense.
I roll my eyes and finish my oatmeal. "She picked it; I didn't."
"Yeah, your mom told me. That's weird. Never in the history of were-kind has any wolf asked their human to name them. They get their name from the goddess before they're assigned to us. Just wow, Adi. I think your wolf is kind of special."
My mom also told me she's all black—almost like Clark's wolf. Oh shoot, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say he-who-must-not-be-named," she chuckles.
"It's okay. His name does nothing to me," I lie. "Besides, I've already accepted his rejection, and my wolf feels nothing." Another lie.
"Really? Damn." She looks at me, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of a reaction that indicates I'm lying.
"Wow, Adi. I know you're mentally strong, but I didn't know you were this strong. Your aura is... I don't know... non-existent. I don't see it."
"Wait... you can see people's auras?" I ask, curious.
"Oh right," she says, hurling a kitchen towel at me. "That's for leaving before you met my wolf!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, hun."
"It's okay; I'm just being dramatic. Anyway, my wolf is gorgeous. Her name is Lana. She's white with a black diamond on her forehead and cute black paws, and her eyes are purple/violet. She can see people's auras around them. I think it's meant to weed out good and bad people. Dad says she's special, and I agree." She grins with pride.
I take her hands in mine. "Congratulations, love! I'm so proud of you."
Then she cuts me off. "But enough about me... what time of the night did you shift? I didn't see you shift during the banquet. What happened?"
"Well, I kind of shifted during my run. I didn't even know I had shifted until I reached the beach and saw my paws and reflection in the water." I pause. "And you're right—Void looks like Clark's wolf, but not her eyes. Her eyes are black with a blue tinge that sparkles." I say this with pride.
We laugh, followed by loud, ugly sobbing as we hug each other. "Our wolves are so gorgeous!" more sobbing. "They're going to be the best of friends!" even more sobbing. "I love your wolf already!" sobbing gets louder. "I love your wolf too!" sobbing increases. "I love you so much!" sobbing turns ugly. "I love you too!" sobbing uncontrollably loud. "I'm so sorry about my idiot brother!" more uncontrolled sobbing. "I'm so sorry too about your idiot brother!" still loud sobbing. "I wish you were my real sister!" sobbing now heard through mind-link. "I wish you were my real sister too!" sobbing gets louder, both through mind-link and out loud. "We should stop crying!" while still sobbing nonstop. "Yeah, we sho—"
