Soul Mates

Scented

Friday, September 24, 1999

*Carolina's POV*

I wake up the day of my first date, thinking about Logan instead of Max. I try to remind myself that Logan is only afraid of losing my friendship. All my life has revolved around him. He's always had my undivided attention and now there's someone else. He's just being... territorial, yes, that's the word. Once I convince myself that last night meant nothing, I jump out of bed and get ready for school.

School was surprisingly uneventful. Logan didn't bring the prior night up and he didn't mention Max at all. He did seem a little distracted, like he had something important on his mind, but he wouldn't tell me what.

I'm usually a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, but I find myself going through my closet for something different to wear to my date. I've never cared about clothes because I don't care what people think about my outfits and Logan has already seen me in my tattered, old, comfy pajamas. Most of what I own is from the clearance racks and from second hand stores, so wearing something chic and stylish is almost impossible.

I finally settle for a destructed denim skirt that hits two inches above my knees, a grey fitted shirt that says "A wise man once said I don't know ask a girl" on it, a jean jacket and my black Converse. I put hair gel on my curls, hoping to tame the beast and leave it loose. Lip gloss, mascara and bronzer complete my look.

"Whoa, hermanita." I turn to find my brother Diego looking at me. "Is it too much? It's too much! What was I thinking? Dios mio, I need to change.", I scramble into the closet to get my normal jeans, when Diego stops me. "Sis, it looks good. Besides, Max is already here and I saw mom taking pictures of him. She's two minutes from going full Puerto Rican on him." I run down the stairs, before my mom can start telling Max about how she'll kill him if he hurts me.

I walk into the kitchen to find Max looking all kinds of hot. He looks up at me and his eyes actually seem to sparkle when he sees me. "You look beautiful, Leena." I blush, I've never been called beautiful before. "Thanks, now let's get out of here. Bye, Mami.", I say dragging Max by the arm before my mom wants more pictures of us together.

The date goes well, we decide to walk to a restaurant by the beach and have a nice dinner on the patio. Max tells me all about the life of an army brat and how he's been able to surf in a lot of places thanks to it. I tell him about my father, about my aspirations to go to Harvard and about Logan. Well, I sort of gloss over about Logan because I could tell it made him jealous.

It feels nice being with Max. We even hold hands on the walk back home. We get to my house and then I get nervous. Is he going to kiss me? Do I want him to kiss me? "Well, tonight was fun.", I say, trying to fill the awkward silence growing between us. "It was.", he replies, taking a step closer to me. I feel one of his hands on my waist and the other on the side of my face. I've never been kissed, so I don't know what to do. I hesitate a fraction of a second and then the door to my house is flung open. We quickly step away from each other, thinking it's my mother.

"Get inside, Mia." Startled, I look up to find a livid Logan standing at the door. He's gripping it so hard the wood creaks a little. His eyes are the darkest shade of amber and the vein on his neck looks like it's about to burst. I'm about to tell him to get lost, but something tells me to listen to him. He looks like he's a second away from strangling Max.

"Thanks for dinner, Max", I move towards the door when Max pulls me into a hug. He smells my neck and my hair just like Logan's done a thousand times. The hug lasts only a second before Logan pulls me inside by the hand and slams the door shut.

"What has gotten into...", the rest of my question is silenced by Logan's lips on mine. He pushes me softly against the wall and kisses me. His lips are soft at first, like his staking his claim and tasting my lips at the same time. I deepen the kiss, I can't help it. I'm not in control anymore. I waited for this moment for so long that I lose myself in the feel of his lips on mine, his hands rubbing my back, pulling me closer to his body, his hair in my hands. A low moan escapes me and he growls into my mouth. It sounds like he says "MINE" and then he stops. He looks at me with a horrified expression. "I'm sorry, Mia. This is a mistake, a horrible mistake.", he says before he runs out the door.

I walk like a zombie to my room and I don't allow the tears to come until I'm in my bed. How can that be a mistake? It felt right, so right. What do I do now? I can't just pretend it didn't happen. He FELT that, he had to. I fall asleep crying and holding a wolf plushie that Logan gave me for my 15th birthday.

*Logan's POV*

I'd like to blame Raegor for losing control and kissing Mia, but the truth is that I've wanted to kiss her for years now. I've always denied it, even to myself, but it's the truth. Still it was a mistake. Come Monday, all the wolves in the school will be able to smell me on her. They'll know that we kissed and that I've scented her. Oh, moon goddess, I scented her!

Scenting is when a wolf marks their mate to let the rest of the pack know that they are together. Way to go, Raegor! 'Mine. She's mine and they will know it.'. he says proud of himself. 'Ours'. I reply and make up my mind to go talk to the Alpha and explain my actions. I make my way to the pack house. Once there, I don't even get a word out before the Alpha speaks.

"You smell like your little human girl. What do you have to say for yourself?" I look up at my Alpha, I can't be afraid of him if I'm to follow in his footsteps. "Uncle, my wolf wants to claim her. Raegor has been telling me for years that she belongs to us but I've kept it quiet. I've denied it, even to myself. But I can't deny it any longer, we want to claim her as our mate."

I can feel the rage coming off of my uncle, my Alpha. "I will only say this once, I forbid it. It's impossible for a human to be a wolf's true mate. It never ends well, one day you'll find your real mate and you'll just leave her without a second thought. You won't be able to stop yourself. Look at your father, Logan. It happened to him and it destroyed your mother. It turned her into an alcoholic because she couldn't handle losing him. I warned him but he was the Alpha back then, young and in love with your mother. Nobody could reason with him, but you can do better. Do you want Carolina to suffer like your mom?"

I lower my head. This is true. There is only one true mate for a wolf and once we find each other, nothing else matters. I can't put Mia through that, I just can't.