Mate

Seven

As I walked down the hall in school the next day, my head down, clutching my bag close to my chest as I try to hide my anxiety, I avoid any way I could possibly run into Julian or his sister.

I let out a breath, attempting to calm my nerves, and open my locker to put my book bag away and grab what I need for math. A finger tapped my shoulder and I whipped around, ready to punch whoever was there, but relax when seeing Toni there.

He was biting his lip and looked kind of nervous. "Morning," he stated.

"Are you ok?" I question and close my locker, worried about what might be making him so nervous.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he murmured and ran his long, thin fingers through his dark hair. "I just met this really hot guy yesterday at Starbucks."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Of course he would meet a hot guy at Starbucks, just like any cliché white girl. "And...?" I query and begin to walk to my class. He follows beside me.

"And I felt really weird. Kind of like I was being drawn to him or something," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I've seen a lot of pretty delicious guys, but this man was just... Yum."

"How old was he? Did you talk to him?" I furrowed my brows.

"Well, not exactly. But I heard him order a white mocha latte, and he had the most beautiful voice ever," Toni continued to babble dreamily. I frowned a bit as we stopped in front of my class.

"Wait, what? He was staring at you? Like, a creeper stare?" I stopped his rant.

"No, more like he was checking me out," his cheeks flushed bright red. Toni never blushes. Heck, I didn't even know he could blush.

I hummed in response. "You need to get to class," I told him suddenly. "Bye, Toni."

He did as told, hurrying off to his first class. I watched his retreating form for a moment, thinking over what he had said about this mystery man he met. I decided it was nothing and headed into class, prepared to listen to the teacher drone on and on about math.

The day seemed to drag on as if time had been slow. Like a minute was an hour and an hour was a year. I wanted to go home but it was only lunch, though I was feeling rather faint.

I'd nearly fallen asleep in every class so far and my breath was coming out in quiet pants as I dragged myself to the lunch room, my head spinning with a pounding headache as if a caveman had decided to move into my brain. It was close to unbearable by now.

I got food and sat at Toni and I's usual table, eating quietly as he continued his rant from this morning as if he'd never stopped.

"You should've seen him, Pen," his chin fell into the palm of his hand lazy and he set down the spoon he was using to scoop up his pudding. "He was absolutely breathtaking."

"I bet," I mumbled, placing my fork on my tray and massaging my temples. "Sorry, I've got this huge headache going on."

He lifted his head and offered me an apologetic smile. "My rambling must not be helping, then, huh?" He questioned softly.

I shrugged.

"I'll shut up now."

And so we spent the rest of lunch in silence, just enjoying each other's company. That is, until Julian strode up to us, casting an almost envious look at Toni before turning to me, his shoulders tense and his posture tall as he crosses his arms over his muscular chest.

"You've been avoiding me," he stated lowly. I ignored him, glad that I wasn't a werewolf, so wasn't completely affected by the mate bond just yet.

"Aspen. We need to talk," he told me lowly.

"I don't want to talk. Go away," I focused on my food. Just as I was about to take another bite, Julian's large hand clasped my shoulder roughly, causing me to drop my fork and gasp in surprise as Toni stood abruptly with a dark look in his eyes. Toni, being like my brother, looked like he wanted to murder Julian for touching me when I wanted to be left alone. It's moments like this when I wish Toni would just mind his own business and not be so overprotective: he won't win in a fight against Julian.

"Get your hand off her," Toni demanded seriously, glowering at Julian.

Julian didn't falter. He was staring at me, waiting for me to come with him so we could talk. I went to stand, but was pushed back down by Toni, who had somehow gotten to my side in the blink of an eye.

"Don't listen to him, Aspen. I don't know what happened between you two, but he has no right to force you to do anything," Toni stated, pushing Julian away from me and standing between us. Julian growled. I stood quickly.

"Get out of my way," Julian ordered in a threatening tone. I swallowed.

"Julian, don't-"

"Make me," Toni challenged with narrow eyes. The entire student body in the cafeteria was staring at the two boys, anticipating a fight. My eyes widened as Julian's eyes turned black and he lunged for Toni.