Chapter Four

ALLIE

Ever felt like you could barely breathe? Like your lungs were squeezing shut. At this moment as I sat across from Zane at the small restaurant table, I was having that feeling - my nerves were suffocating me.

“Are you going to eat, or just stare at the plate?” Zane spoke up.

I twirled my fork in the pasta. How could I eat when I was this nervous?

“Ok, well, I did want to eat my meal while it was hot but it looks like you aren’t going to eat until we get this over with.” Zane sighed, putting his knife and fork down.

How was he so calm while my heart was thumping outside my chest! Did he even care just how huge this whole thing was?

“You and I, well…. we are, umm…” He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, we’re mates.” He shifted uncomfortably. I take that back, he does know how huge this is.

While a part of my body was thrilled, another part, the larger part, was disgusted and was deciding if running was appropriate.

“Now that we have got the obvious out of the way, how about we move onto what the hell are we going to do?” I wasn't hiding my panic. The panic was clear in my voice and was clearly painted on my face.

My plan had always been to get out of here - to move away and never look back, and now…. he could lock me down here forever.

The amount of terror I felt couldn’t be explained.

“Well, what do you think we should do?” He gave me that look, which somehow knocked the air from my lungs. He slowly arched an eyebrow as I continued to stare at him.

“I think we should pretend this never happened,” I gushed; my words tumbling into each other and it was entirely his fault for looking so bloody good!

“Well, that isn’t going to work,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes and acting as if he had a better idea. “You know it won’t. We will end up fighting it, and then you will end up falling in love with me, and I’ll end up giving into my wolf, and before you know it, we will be as whipped as a married couple.”

I gulped. He just detailed my nightmare.

“So…” I swallowed sharply. “So, what do we do to stop it?”

“Come on, don’t you want to be madly in love with me?” He smirked, his eyes flickering with dangerous charm.

“Zane, you better have a plan.” I glared across at him. I would not fall for his charm.

“A plan?” He laughed. “I’m not a fucking spy or anything.”

“Great, we are doomed.” I dropped my head into my hands. I am doomed to fall in love with his stupid boyish grin, and then I’ll be stuck here - forever.

“Look, why don’t we just try and prolong this as much as possible?” Zane offered, watching me with an amused smirk. “At this point, nothing has to change. I don’t want to be with you, and you don’t want to be with me; however, wolf Zane thinks a hell of a lot of you, so he will want to be with you.”

With wide eyes, I just stared back at him.

“So why don’t we just try and be friends. You know the saying, happy wolf, happy life.” Zane smirked at me, taking a gulp of his water. “So, what do you think?”

“Friends, you and I?” I snapped myself out of the shock.

“Yeah, we can catch a movie sometime or tea, or just hang out at school or something. Look, I’m not going to lie and say I want to do this, but we don’t get a choice.” He sighed frustrated and ran a hand through his hair. “This way we can still do what we want. I can still keep, you know, seeing people, and um, you…” He threw a hand out at me, suddenly looking very awkward. “You can still keep seeing people too.”

He suddenly looked nervous and was watching me with caution. What was he waiting for, me to come across and attack him?

“Ok.” I nodded my head. “That sounds good.” I slowly smiled at him.

“Really?” His eyebrows furrowed together. “Wasn’t expecting that,” he muttered to himself.

“So, we do friends? We can do that.” I was saying the words, but I wasn’t sure if I actually believed them, and even as Zane nodded his head I knew he was thinking the same; could we really do this?

 

***

It took a few days and, to be honest, I was really annoyed with myself it had taken that long, but I had figured it out, there were two Zanes. There was restaurant Zane, he was relaxed, flirty, and bearable, and then there was school Zane. School Zane had short-term memory loss and pretended like I was invisible. School Zane ignored me and was a stuck-up selfish prick.

It had taken me three days to work out there were two Zanes. Boy did that piss me off. I had wasted my Monday being nice to him. On Tuesday he ignored me - hell, I was still nice to him, and then Wednesday afternoon it clicked. I was sitting in English, listening to him talk to that dick, Taylor, about the girls last weekend and that’s when I discovered school Zane.

I took a seat in the middle of the classroom, leaving an empty seat next to me for Blake. The bell rang, and the students were filing in.

There was one more development that happened across the three days; a development I really didn’t want to admit. Zane and my wolf had connected mentally. That’s right, Zane now could invade my mind whenever he liked.

“Hey, Allie?” Blake waved his hand in front of my face, bringing me out of my self-pity.

“Sorry.” I shot him a smile and brought myself back to the present. “Where have you been?”

“It’s first period, Allie.” Blake looked at me confused.

Right, it is the start of the day. “Right.”

“You ok?” He placed a hand on my knee.

‘Allie, your boyfriend is speaking to you.’ Zane’s sweet velvet voice swiped through my mind.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.” I put my hand over his, and, for some reason, I felt calmer. "Just a headache."

‘Are you ignoring me?’ Zane’s voice spiked with interest.

‘Leave me alone,’ I snapped back at him while smiling at Blake. ‘And who told you Blake was my boyfriend?’

‘Wait, you’re actually dating him?’ Zane’s voice flooded my mind again, and this time it was surprised.

All week he had ignored me, so why he was showing an interest in me now was beyond me. It was clear now he had been ignoring me because Blake and I had never hidden our relationship.

“Blake?” There were times in life, times when actions speak louder than words and this was one of those moments.

“Umm?” He was messaging someone, and his eyes were focused on the phone. I squeezed his hand a little tighter and moved in closer to him.

I placed my other hand on the back of his head, and immediately his eyes flickered up to mine. Then I attacked. I moved forward so quickly it took him by surprise.

His lips were my home, and they felt amazing. I could feel his lips curve into a slight smirk. Blake and I were many things, and we were great at a lot of them, but there was one thing we didn’t do well, and that was knowing when to stop.

“Winters, Falcon!” The teacher called for our attention.

‘You could have just said yes.’ Zane’s voice flooded my mind again, and I really wished I could block him out.

‘Piss off, Zane.’

Mates aren’t meant to have secrets so they become one, so, of course, it makes sense we can share thoughts. The only downside is there is no block. I didn’t have a shield or anything to put up to block him out. All I got was a feeling of tension before he invaded.

“So, um tonight, are you still coming around?” Blake cleared his throat and that cute dazed look on his face begun to fade.

“I don’t know. Mom is, um, well, you know.” I sighed while playing with my pen. “It’s dad’s birthday today, so she is more insane than normal.”

“Sorry.” Blake’s face twisted in pity.

I shrugged my shoulders. What else could I say or do? It was what it was, and it sucked.

“Well, maybe after you’ve seen her you can come around?” Blake sounded hopeful, causing me to grin.

“Missing me, are you?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I guess I can sneak out.” I leaned in closer to him and lowered my voice. “You don’t mind sharing your bed with me, do you?”

“My bed is your bed.” He winked.

‘I’ve got it, Allie, you have a boyfriend. You can stop the show now.’ Zane’s irritated voice boomed in my mind, and I really wanted to just turn around and tell him to piss off!

I hadn’t even been putting on a show. I had tried and succeeded to forget about him.

‘Zane, get out of my head,’ I snapped back into his head.

‘Stop flirting with your boyfriend in front of me then.’

I looked over my shoulder and glared at him. I wasn’t surprised to meet his heated eyes. He only had himself to blame if his wolf was stirring. He could just stop looking at us!

‘Zane, listen to yourself! Get some control and stop invading my thoughts!’

I took my hand off Blake’s and turned my focus onto my school work.

"You alright, Allie, as you look more angry than normal?" Blake asked.

"I'm fine. It is just this annoying headache won't go away." I hoped Zane picked up on the hint.

"I've got some Panadol in my locker." Blake tucked the stray hairs that had fallen across my face behind my ears. "Anger doesn't suit you, Allie."

"Angry Allie, it kind of has a ring to it though." I grinned at him, causing him to shake his head.

Zane could keep screwing his women, and I could keep my relationship with Blake. Well, that was until we couldn't fight the attraction any longer. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, we could fight it forever because I would rather die an early death than be stuck in this town for the rest of my life.