The Young Mate

Chapter 17 (Edited)

Lila

We were in the woods in no time. He knew where the perfect place was. It was a stream her was talking about. He said there is a small field next to it. Its on the very edge of the property. If you listen very carefully you can hear the sounds of cars. He spread out the blanket and set the basket on it. He still seemed sore though.

"I'm not that hungry right now so you can go ahead." He opened the lid and laid in the sunny spot. Inside was avocado sandwiches, dill pickle popcorn, sour punch straws, and a thermos. I opened it and there was pink lemonade with fresh lemons and kiwi (A/N I couldn't think of any special food so I just put my weird favorites lmao).

"Do you like any of this?" I asked with a laugh. "I have a really weird palate."

"To tell the truth I hate pickles and I'm allergic to kiwis." He covered his eyes with his forearm and smiled. I gasped dramatically.

"You hate pickles?!" I put a hand over my heart. "They are the only thing keeping me alive in my lonely life." It was his turn to be dramatic.

"And what am I? Chopped liver? Do I not fill your will to live?" He peeked at at me with a grin.

"I mean your sister is pretty cool. So are Jason and Jackson." He grumbled when I mentioned the twins. Maybe I should get Oliver to come out... "They are good looking aren't they? With those beautiful eyes and those muscles..." Another grumble went threw the trees. He stood up quickly.

"I'm two times the man they will ever think to be. I have more muscles mass and my d-" His eyes changed quicker than I have ever seen. "You didn't need to hear that." Oliver said quietly. He sat down on the ground, criss-cross-apple sauce. He seemed more rigid than Landon. I wonder what he was going to say though.

"I was joking. Your even more cute than them. I don't really like blondes." I playfully punched his arm.

"That's not their real hair color. They convinced their wolves to change it." My mouth gaped.

"Your wolf can change how you look?" I was more concerned with that part of the confession.

"Only small things like tone of voice, hair color, how hairy or hairless you are. Most of the time they change certain aspects to fit what their mate finds attractive. But they didn't like how they looked with brown hair so they convinced them to change it." He smiled but only a small one.

"Wow. I'm surprised." I took a long drink of lemonade when a bead of sweat fell down my face. It's getting warm quick this spring.

"Yeah you should see their baby pictures. Or any picture up until the age of 16."

"That's going to be interesting." I ate like a sandwich and a half before sitting down opposite of him. Then I remembered why we came out there. "Are you going to phase?"

"Oh yeah I forgot about that part." He laughed and stood up. He cracked his knuckles and took his shirt off. I slapped my hands over my eyes because I knew what was coming off next. After some clothes ruffling, silence, bone cracking, and more silence I opened my eyes. A black and white wolf with striking green eyes stood before me. I stood and my head barely reached his neck. He is big. And to think I felt small before.

"Your beautiful." I whispered. He bowed his head a bit as if saying thank you. I reached his fingers out and he met me half way. He put the crown of his head under my palm. His fur is so soft! I twirled some between my fingers. "So, do you condition?" I joked. He rolled his eyes at me. He licked my elbow and I giggled. He stood straight and stepped back. His big head pointed to the stream behind him. I took my shoes off and rolled my pants up.

I walked in the inch deep water. It was cool but we are in the woods. Snakes love stupid kids like me. Thank God for Oliver's acute ears. The funny thing is, is that he grabbed one and threw it. He just threw it. I couldn't help but laugh. But it was really pretty. For a second he looked away and I hid behind a big rock. His head snapped back and he looked around for me.

His eyes narrowed and he sniffed the air. I peaked my head out and we made eye contact. I pulled my head back and waited for him to come over. But there was a quick splash then silence. I looked out again and he was gone. I walked out from the behind the boulder and was splashed with water. I was soaked head to toe. And there stood an almost perfectly dry wolf. I got as much as I could and splashed him back. His chest area got a little damp that's about it.

"Oh come on. This isn't a fair fight." A raspy sound came from him which I think is a laugh. I crossed my arms. "Fine then." I turned and ran. I ran up the stream until is tapered off into the woods. I climbed up to the nearest tree and hid behind it. It was maybe a foot from the creek. I contained a giggle when I heard leaves stir a little bit away. He must've came up from the stream to find me quicker.

I was expecting to smell rain like usual but that's not even close to the scent I could pick up. It smelled like rotting meat and rust. My nose wrinkled. I heard multiple heavy steps behind me and a low guttural growl. Nothing like Oliver or Landon's playful ones. I slowly turned around and there were three wolves behind me. None of them were Oliver. They were all shades of brown and mangy. Something red stained their teeth and muzzle. I didn't want to think of what it was.

Then I got scared.

They all started growling again and closing in on me. One snapped their jaws at me and I jumped. I didn't even think about yelling for help. I thought all wolves were nice? My nails dug into the bark of the tree. I couldn't tell if it hurt. From about a mile away I heard a howl. My head turned for a second. But when I looked back the biggest one was an inch from my face. I opened my mouth, and screamed my throat raw.