Alpha's Girl

Chapter Three

"What?" I said, trying to pull myself away from his chest. 

"They won't be taking you away from me," Cole replied. I could feel his wolf's power radiating from him with his words. I didn't know how to respond for a moment. I felt myself longing to be with him, longing to stay in his arms, wrapped up in his warm embrace. But I knew we would only have a few more minutes like this. 

"I don't want you to go," I mumbled. "It's been so long..." My voice was quiet but he heard the emotion behind them.

"I don't think I can leave you behind," Cole says, searching in my eyes. They flick down as heat rises to my face. Something about his words have effected me in a way I did not expect, stirring something in me that makes me want to pull away. The feeling of being left behind is something I have become all too familiar with these past few years.

Cole registers the hurt in my face, and places his hands on my shoulders, pulling me in once again. "I thought about you everyday," He whispered, kissing my temple. My blush deepened as the sparks tingled across my skin. Cole smiled crookedly. "I love that you blush around me."

"When can we talk again?" I asked him. I knew our time was short, and I knew our conversation was not technically private. They could all be listening easily from upstairs. 

Cole's thumb brushed lightly across my cheek. "We leave tomorrow. Tonight, after the Introduction Ceremony, meet me by the border. We can go for a run, if you'd like," He suggests. 

My eyes widened a little. "I'm not allowed to run once it gets dark. Alpha's orders." I roll my eyes. It was true. The rest of the pack minors had a strict curfew of 11 pm, but Owen worried when I was out past sun down in the woods. Truthfully, I didn't mind the rule because the dark scared me. Darkness held a promise of the unknown. My father's confidence and trust in the woods had cost him his life. But I felt embarrassed telling Cole this, especially because his facial expression had me under the impression that he did not agree with Owen on this. 

Cole's lips pressed into a thin line. "Sun down? You don't mean to say you've never run into the woods at night?" He questioned. My words seemed to have unsettled him. 

"Owen and my mom...you know how they are," I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Cole raised his eyebrow as if he didn't know and wanted to ask more, but his eyes glazed over and I knew he was being mind linked. I was grateful for the shift in conversation, but a flash of panic hit me as I realized he would be gone in just a moment.

"We can talk tonight," He said, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles. In a split second I was left alone, and he was already up the steps, leaving me to wonder how I was possibly expected to move forward now. 

There was one person I wanted to see, and I knew right where to look. Carlos was already waiting outside of the pack house as I walked down the steps. "Hey," I said, my feet bouncing down the stairs in a blur. 

"Where are ya headed," He asked curiously, raising a brow as he followed next to me in perfect beat. 

I didn't answer. I wasn't trying to be rude, but my head was spinning with everything that had just happened. I had just met my mate, who was my childhood best friend, who my brothers now wanted to kill, and my life may have just changed forever...I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the overwhelming anxiety that was making my stomach hurt.

"Mom!"I yelled as I entered my destination. The Luna Center. This is where I could find my mother most hours of the day. It was the children's wing of the pack, and served as a multitude of different services for the pack's mothers and children. When I didn't find her on the first floor wing, I skipped the steps up to the second floor, nodding at the pack members politely. As I reached the top step, I caught my mother's scent, and my eyes shot towards the direction they came.