Fangs and Claws

Fangs and Claws - 5

“Hey Judd,” I said, looking over at him. 

“Yeah?”

“What’s a paramour?” I asked him, noticing that Colton had stiffened up a bit, staring at the both of us along with Alex, who just seemed amused and had this smirk on his face. 

Judd let out a deep breath, stealing a glance at Colton before he looked at me. “It’s kind of like … your soul mate, I guess. Each werewolf has one, somewhere in the world. They usually find each other too. Only about ten percent of us werewolves in the world don’t find our paramour. But if we don’t, we can still get married and stuff like that. It’s just that their connection to each other won’t be as … strong as it would be if they were each other’s paramour.” 

I stared at him, sort of understanding this Paramour thing. “So … it’s pretty much just a mating thing?” 

Alex chuckled a bit as he replied with a nod. “Pretty much.”

I scrunched up my nose. “You guys sure make it sound as though it were something more … important than love.” I said, unsure if I had used the right word. 

Colton was uncharacteristically quiet as he just sat there, listening in on our conversation. But I just ignored it with a shrug. But Judd and Alex had laughed at my little comment. “That’s because to those who actually found their paramour find it a really big deal,” Alex commented, standing up from the table, waiting a bit so we had time to get up as well before he started walking to the door. 

“Hey. So who has a paramour among the people I have met so far?” I asked, hoping to get an answer. But it seemed to fall on deaf ears as Colton turned to Judd.

“You need to get ready right?” Judd answered with a nod, looking at him a bit confused. “I’ll … go with you.” Colton simply said. Judd nodded in understanding as confusion left his face. 

I waved bye to Judd and Colton as they both left to go change and trailed after Alex back to the pool. I smiled when I saw Jared, Lily, and a guy, whom I am presuming is her paramour. I waved at them before I sprinted over to Jared, who was standing at the edge of the pool. I tackled him down, causing the both of us to fall in the pool. I quickly let go of him and swam up to the surface, laughing as he quickly followed suit, spluttering out water, eyes wide with shock. “Are you crazy!” He yelled at me, stating it more than questioning me. I nodded my head as I grinned at him, laughing even harder as I heard him groan. 

I swam to the edge of the pool, waving frantically at Lily. “Hi Lily and Stranger! I’m Jay! Come in the pool!” I yelled at them before I felt someone drag me under the water. I came up coughing up water and swung my head around to face a laughing Jared

I glared at him as he held his hands out in front of him, still laughing. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?” he said to me, grinning widely as I glared harder at him. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly before I pulled myself out of the pull, turning my back on him before I pretended to sulk, hearing laughter coming from Lily, Alex, the stranger, Colton, and Judd. Eh, they must have just come, I thought, noting that something was blocking my sunlight. I looked up to see Colton smiling at me. Wait, he was smiling at me? I raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Are you bi-polar or something?” I asked him, scooting away from him as his smile diseappeared. “I mean… this IS the first time I’ve seen YOU smile,” I told him, emphasizing my point to him. He just shrugged before he took a seat next to me. That’s when I noticed he was only wearing swim trunks, which hung limply around his hips, showing off his freaking six pack. It wasn’t defined to the point it was disgusting, but you were still able to tell that he does work out. I looked up at his face, only to see him smirking down at me. 

“Like what you see?”

I blushed, looking up at the sky instead, hearing him chuckle lightly. Wow, he can be nice, I thought, looking out at the pool. It seemed as the rest of the group had decided to play chicken fight. Lily was up on that guy’s shoulders while Jared, the smallest guy here, sat on Judd’s shoulders. Jared and Lily were trying desperately to shove the other in the pool while Judd and stranger guy just talked. I couldn’t help but laugh at the comical scene.

I jumped when I felt a hand cover mine. I looked over at Colton, who looked at the group as though he did nothing. I just smiled a bit before I leaned back, forcing him to lie down with me. “Who’s that guy with Lily?” I asked him, turning my head so I was staring at him. He turned his head towards me, looking at me, as though he was calculating something.

“He’s Luke. Luke’s her paramour. They’ve been dating ever since they’ve met, so about 2 years.” My jaw dropped. 

“Wow…that’s a long time.” He just chuckled, bringing our intertwined hands up, soon playing with my hand between two of his. 

I looked over at him. Could he be my … nah. I better not think about it. If anything, he’ll tell me if he is my paramour or not. I sighed before I sat back up, pulling my hand away from him before standing up.

He looked at me confused as I pulled him up, dragging him over to the area where the others were playing. “Let’s go and join them,” I said, smiling at him. I was relieved when he smiled back at me and agreed. Soon, I was up on his shoulders, all of us having fun the rest of the afternoon as we continued to play and get to know each other better.