Kept Secret

Chapter 2

Lia~

"So, Leia *kiss* how long * kiss* have you *kiss* had a *kiss* crush on me?" Lucas leaves a trail of wet kisses on Lia's neck. She tries to focus on his question but her ability to concentrate on anything besides the feeling of his lips on her skin left the building a long time ago.

She can't help the moan that leaves her lips the moment he bites down on her skin, hard enough to draw blood and leave a mark.

A mark...

I stop dead in my tracks as the realization of what actually happened in the dream hits me. "He... he marked me?"

***
I know I told Maddie that I would be there in 5 minutes but I decide to take a short detour through the park on my way to Regalia High's private "bus stop". The wind blows through my hair, carrying the smell of fresh spring flowers. I can see the big oak tree in the distance and the memories all hit me like a cement truck.

My father...

My hero and my greatest sorrow. Losing my father had possibly been the greatest pain I had ever experienced. The day he died would forever be stuck in the deepest parts of my mind, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a trigger to remind me of everything I could've had but those memories can't hurt me anymore. I've made peace with my father's death 8 years ago and now all that's left are the wonderful memories we've shared.

The dream I had pops into my mind as I stroll past the oak tree and a conversation I had with my father all those years ago is brought into the light...

I giggle as my father picks up my mother and twirls her around like she weighs nothing. I could see the love in both of their eyes and even at 7 years old I knew that my mommy and daddy were absolutely perfect for each other. They weren't that close to me but I could still hear my father's words to my mother. "I love you, my mate."

Mate...

This confused me. I didn't know what a mate was but it sounded interesting.

Later that night, after the picnic in the park, I ask daddy what the word mate meant. "Well, honey you know how you can see really well even in the dark and how you're faster than all the other kids at playgroup?" I nod already knowing this. I was always the fastest, strongest and my senses were always better than most of the other kids. "Well that's because you're no ordinary girl, my princess, you're special." I giggle knowing that he's always called me his special little princess.

"I know daddy but what does that have to do with a mate?" my daddy laughs as he picks up an old book and shows me a picture of a beautiful and enormous white wolf. "Daddy, what is that?" I couldn't stop staring at the creature. Most girls would be scared of its huge teeth and glowing eyes but I almost felt connected to it.

"That is a werewolf my dear, and that is what you will one day be able to turn into." I tilt my head in confusion. Creatures like werewolves and witches were just stories so how was I going to turn into one?

"I don't understand daddy." he chuckles at the obvious confusion on my face.

"in 11 years time, on your 18th birthday, you'll turn into your wolf and you'll be able to find your mate, the person you're destined to be with, the person who'll love you forever."

***

I spot Maddie and she... looks terrible. Her fingers are digging into her scalp and her hair is sticking up every which way. "Yo, Mads what's the code orange?" I see something sticking out of her hair and remove it. "Um... dude there are leaves in your hair."

"Yeah, well I kind of had to sneak out of the window this morning and I fell into a bush." I stare at her until I knew she knew that I thought she was completely crazy.

"Maddie, your room is on the 3rd floor!"

She blushes slightly but I can still see the panic in her eyes so I decide to cut to the chase. "Okay girl spill, what happened?" she takes a deep breath to prepare herself and I knew then and there that we'd probably be late for school.

"Okay, so this morning when I woke up, it was a bright and sunny day and I was happy, thought it was gonna be a good day yah know, but then I heard a car outside and I peeked through the curtains to see who it was and guess who!" She doesn't give me time to guess. "It's that stuck-up first-class premium-grade a-hole, Adam Newman! AT MY HOUSE!" she screams so loud I swear I could've still been in bed and I would've been able to hear her perfectly.

Adam Newman aka the biggest royal stuck up at school has been crushing on Maddie since the beginning of ninth grade after the big masquerade ball at the start of the first term. They were paired and had the honor of the first dance. Maddie was on cloud 9 right up until midnight when they announced that it was time to take off the masks. All she had seen all night was his striking green eyes and sandy blonde hair and to this day she wishes that it had stayed that way. Needless to say, the night didn't end so well for poor Adam. He's totally in love but he has an odd way of showing it. He's arrogant and bossy with an ego the size of Texas and a superiority complex to go with it and it shows.

"Okay, so what happened then? Why did your dumbass jump out of a third-story window?"

She gives me a look of confusion before realization hits her and she starts laughing, "Relax silly I didn't exactly jump to my doom. The trampoline was still outside so I jumped onto it but shot straight into a bush, luckily it was the soft kind of bush and not one of mom's rose bushes." She shudders.

Yikes! That would've hurt.

"What made you jump, though? He's been to your house before, what was so different this time?"

"Well, I went downstairs to see what the hell he wanted but right before I could walk in I heard my mom say something along the lines of I was wondering when you were going to propose. Girl! I have never halted in my stride as fast and as hard as I did this morning. That's when I heard his annoyingly cute nervous laugh and him saying something like I wanted to ask for your permission first, Queen Ophelia, in his, once again, annoyingly fake British accent. Needless to say, I ran as quietly as I could and that's when I jumped out the window."

I wait a couple of seconds to make sure that she's finished and think about my reply carefully." So let me get this straight, a hot prince asks for your hand in marriage and your first reaction is to jump out of a third-story window into a bush?"