Chasing October

Seven

Sam took me to get ice cream first, smiling in amusement as I danced in annoyance from the brain freeze. As I took another bite of the mint chocolate chip, I held the spoon on my tongue for a second before sticking my tongue out at Sam, grinning as he chuckled.

"Why are you always so serious?" I asked him, taking my chair once more as he took another bite of his ice cream.

"While I am here in my castle I do."

I frowned a little and stole some of his ice cream, watching as he frowned disapprovingly in my direction. As he went to open his mouth, I held up my hand and frowned. "I really don't like strawberry."

Sam started to laugh this time, shaking his head. "How can you not like strawberry? It's the best kind."

"No, it isn't. Chocolate is the best." I told him seriously, a frown on my face. He just continued to laugh as if my disagreeing with him was the funniest thing in the world.

As I quickly finished off my ice cream and hissed at the brain freeze, I massaged my temples and waited until it vanished to throw the cup away. Sam smiled my way as he finished off his ice cream and threw his own cup away, walking with me.

"So where are we going next?" I asked, rubbing my arms as the sun warmed them up. Sam didn't say anything as he took my hand, entangling our fingers together. A few mates passed us, along with the humans that were giggling away with their friends. As they waved to Sam, I stared at my shoes and kicked at some pebbles, biting on my lip.

"What's on your mind, Star?"

As we lowed to a stop, he looked down at me, brushing the hair behind my ear that fell in front of my eyes. "I want to join your pack." I blurted, looking back down at the ground.

Sam didn't say anything for a while, and I took that as a way of him saying no. Getting ready to open my mouth, I bit my lip and started walking, stuffing my hands into my pockets. He followed quickly, grabbing my arm gently.

"Hey, Star, that wasn't a no. I was just thinking about it. Why do you want to come to my pack?"

As I thought about what to say, someone ran passed us, papers flying into the air. I stared after him with a frown on my face, kneeling down to pick up some of the papers before he vanished. "I wonder what that was about," I muttered to myself, looking down at the papers.

Reading, I started to frown, flipping through the papers quickly. "What is it?"

"These are papers to take down my pack, but why? What has my pack done to them?"

Sam took them quickly and I watched his body tense, obviously speaking through the link to his pack. I didn't say anything as I stuffed my hands into my pockets, waiting for him to talk again.

"I will have to take these to my castle for Garrett and my beta to look over. I am sorry to cut this date short, but will you be okay on your own for a while?"

I nodded, watching him smile apologetically before he shifted and started to run, holding the papers in his jaw. Sighing, I started to walk along the sidewalk, chewing on my lip. Everyone acted like someone hadn't just run through the street, and kept their attention on talking on their phones and laughing. I felt a pang of jealousy run through my chest and I opened up the link, looking for Cecily.

Busy? I asked her, hoping to get some time alone with my best friend.

I'm with Troy – we're talking about what we're going to wear for the wedding. What's up?