My Date Has Gone To The Wolves
It's 11 am. Saturday morning and I'm still in bed. The pain was unbearable again last night. Thank you, Logan! I woke up to the pain around midnight, and I had a pillow over my face, trying to muffle the sound of my cries. I think I passed out for a bit. I must've fallen asleep again after that; I'm not sure what time, but now I'm still exhausted.
My wolf Ezra is in agreement with me that our mate is no good for us. The only thing that's between us is the mate pull and attraction that I'm determined to fight.
I spend a good half an hour thinking about my ex-mate Logan as my heart squeezes in pain. I push it aside and spend another half an hour thinking about the confusing lycan named Constantine. He doesn't even want to be friends with me. Why can't I stop thinking about him?
I really should stop obsessing over men who don't want me.
I truly don't feel like getting up, but my stomach growls in hunger. Besides, I smell bacon, eggs, pancakes, and coffee wafting up from the kitchen. I hear voices talking and laughing, the plates and cutlery clinking and clunking together. My sensitive werewolf senses are working against me this morning.
After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I walk down to the kitchen.
“Good afternoon, sunshine!” sings my dad cheerfully.
That stops me on my track. Constantine called me sunshine yesterday.
“Good morning!” Everyone choruses. Everyone is here. By everyone, I mean River, Reese, and Penny who are at the breakfast table with my family. They're stuffing their faces with bacon and eggs and Mom's special pancakes.
“Boy, you look awful.” Autumn observes.
“Gee, thanks.” I return grumpily, taking my seat between Reese and my dad.
“Why are you looking so tired? Are you sick? Have you been staying up late? You shouldn't stay up too late, sweetie,” advises Mom, shoving a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup. My mouth waters.
I steal a glance at my friends who are giving me knowing sympathetic looks.
“Didn't sleep well, that's all,” I answer vaguely. “Thanks, mom. This looks yummy.”
“At least she's not hungover,” remarks dad, to which he gets a smack on the arm by mom.
My friends laugh as my dad winces and rubs at his arm.
“So, we're thinking, maybe we'll go see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them today,” begins Reese.
“And everybody is okay with this?” I ask curiously, looking at Penny.
“Yeah, I love JK Rowlings, so I'm okay with it,” answers Penny happily. Penny's usually very picky with movies.
“Then we'll head off to the beach later,” announces River with a big grin.
“It'll be fun! But don't worry, we'll make sure you'll be home before four this evening, so you can get ready for your date tonight,” says Penny.
I groan...just great Penny.
“You have a date tonight?” questions mom excitedly. Yep, just as I suspected, now mom's all excited.
“With who?” interrogates Autumn and dad at the same time.
“His name's Kevin,” Penny eagerly answers for me.
“Kevin? Do we know him?” inquires dad again.
“He's a human,” answers Reese.
“Oh..” says Autumn, looking unimpressed and suddenly losing interest.
“Well, if he's a good kid, then that's great, sweetheart,” says mom, patting my shoulder.
“It's not like that, mom,” I try to explain. “He's just a friend.”
“Oh, he likes to be more than her friend.” Penny reveals, sounding as excited as my mom. “He wouldn't stop asking her out until she said yes.”
“Oh, a persistent admirer,” exclaims mom. “I'd love to meet this young man.”
Reese and River are about to burst out laughing while my dad is pretending like he didn't hear anything.
I'm wishing that I could strangle Penny to be quiet.
***
It's great to be spending time with my friends. We had a good time at the movie and the beach. The only problem is, I can't stop thinking about Constantine. I don't understand why I can't get him out of my head.
I just had my shower, and now I'm sitting in my bed with Penny doing my nails. She insists on helping me get ready for my date tonight. Reese and River took off somewhere after dropping us off at my house.
“You know this date is not anything special, right?” I ask Penny just to be sure that she understands. I have no interest like that at all in Kevin. I intend to tell Kevin that we're going to stay friends and nothing more.
“I know, but you should always look great. Give it a chance, you might have a good time tonight. You never know. Besides, Kevin is way better than Logan jerkface,”
“Everyone is better than Logan, right now,” I state. “You're sounding just like my mom. Have you two been discussing this?”
“Well...your mom's been worried about you, Gen.” Penny's smile looks guilty. So the two of them have been plotting together. My mom and Penny are a bad combination. Dangerous, even.
Penny insists that I wear a deep purple dress that she found at the back of my closet. I bought that dress two years ago. I've grown quite a bit since then. It was meant to be a bit loose and fell just above my knees. Now it's quite figure hugging and reaches a few inches above my knees.
I let my hair air dry to its natural wave.
Penny does my makeup, eye lining my eyes really dark to enhance my light hazel eyes. Then she adds some purple to my eyelids and some pink shiny lip gloss to my lips.
“Put these babies on, and you're ready,” she announces as she hands me a pair of black pumps.
Just then the doorbell rings. He's right on time.
Mom is already at the door when I get downstairs. She smiles widely at me as she opens the door wider for Kevin.
“Wow! You look really good, Genesis,” says Kevin after he picks his jaw off the floor. Boys!
Kevin is looking nice in his light blue button-down dress shirt and dark jeans. He looks nervous as he hands me two dozen red roses.
Mom looks giddy as I hand her the roses to be put in the water. I almost roll my eyes at her.
Kevin is being really sweet, opening the car door for me and everything, making me feel bad about what I'm about to do.
“You told me the other day that you like Italian, so I made a reservation at Toni Marino's. I hope that's okay,” he inquires as he makes a turn, blending into the traffic.
“Yeah, that's fine.” I smile.
Kevin is not the smartest guy, but he's nice. He's not bad looking and he treats me like I was precious. Like I matter.
I stare at him as he tells me about how his dad made him clean out their garage so that they can work on a 1970 Dodge Challenger they found. His blue eyes shine as he talks about what they're planning to do with it.
His reddish-brown hair is cropped really short. He has a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and a bit on his cheeks. I find that kinda adorable.
Maybe I can make this work. Maybe I can learn to like him if I just give us a chance.
As soon as we step inside the restaurant, I know something is about to go wrong. I can smell Logan and his friends.
I look around, but I can't see them anywhere. Maybe they were here earlier, I reasoned with myself. The scent is still very strong, so they can't be that far.
We are shown to our seats and our waitress promptly brings out a basket of warm breadsticks.
“This is nice, Kevin.” I smile at him warmly. It is a very nice place. The ambiance is amazing, and the smell of food is mouthwatering.
I sense most of the people here are werewolves.
“Hello, Genesis. What a surprise to see you here,” says a familiar voice.
Logan.
Kevin frowns as he notices the group of popular boys from school are here, crowding around our table.
“Good choice, Kevin. This is a nice place. The food is good too. You don't mind us joining you, do you?” Logan says as he pulls another chair from a neighboring table. He slides in and pulls his chair closer to mine. Our thighs are touching.
“Logan,” I growl warningly.
“Yes, sweetheart?” Logan smiles, casually popping a piece of breadstick into his mouth. He sits back comfortably, while his eyes are looking at me and Kevin lazily.
“You know what Kevin? Let's go somewhere else,” I say to Kevin. I grab his hand in mine, trying to get him out of there.
Logan grabs my wrist tightly, almost painfully. “Stay, sweetheart.” He is smiling, but his tone is commanding. The smile doesn't reach his eyes. I grit my teeth while staring at him defiantly.
“This table is too crowded,” I announce.
“If you haven't noticed, Genesis and I are on a date. So if you'll excuse us, “ declares Kevin, putting his other hand on top of mine.
“Is that so?” Logan smiles wolfishly. “There must be some mistake. You see Kevin, this one here is mine. She knew she's not supposed to go out on a date with anyone else.” He curves his arm possessively around my neck.
I try to squirm out of his arm, but he's too strong.
“Screw you, Logan!” I burst. I can't take it anymore. He just has to go and ruin everything. “I'm not yours. Just leave us alone!”
His patience seems to snap at my outburst. He grabs me by the back of my neck roughly and smashes my lips against his. His canines graze my lips, so I know his wolf is not far above the surface. His wolf must be going crazy wanting to mark me. It's natural for his wolf wanting to mark its mate especially when there is a threat of other males around.
Tears pooling in my eyes. This date is over. I can taste my own blood on my lower lip where his canines puncture it.
“Take her home,” he instructs one of his boys.
“I'll do it,” offers Hunter.
Two of his other boys are holding Kevin by his shoulders.
Kevin is well muscled, but Logan and his friends are werewolves. It's not going to be a fair fight. They could kill him pretty easily.
“Let her go!” yells Kevin, but nobody's listening to him.
Hunter tries to pull me out by my waist, but Logan pushes his hands aside and drags me out to the car himself. I struggle in his hold.
We're drawing attention, but he doesn't seem to care.
“No! No! No! Let me go!” I smack his chest and his shoulders ineffectively. “Don't hurt him. You hear me? Logan! Don't you hurt him!”
I sit quietly in the car, trying hard not to cry. Hunter drives silently. I'm thankful that he doesn't say anything or ask any question. However, halfway through the thirty-minute drive, my dam breaks. I cover my face with my hands and sob the rest of the way quietly.
After he parks the car in front of our house, Hunter quietly gathers me into his arms and lets me cry it out. It's nice to be in his arms, but he'll get into trouble if Logan smells me all over him.
“Why is he doing this? He doesn't love me. Why can't he just let me go?” I ask finally.
“No...he doesn't love you,” agrees Hunter with a sigh. “But werewolves are very possessive of their mates, especially the alphas. Logan is also having a problem with his father. They are both very stubborn. Logan has been arguing and rebelling against his dad at every turn since he was very young. His father wants him to mate with you, so that makes him even more determined to mate with Mia.”
I just nod. So I'm just a pawn between Logan and his father. He's putting me through all this pain so he can win this fight he has with his father.
“I'm sorry, Genesis. You deserve so much better.” His voice is heavy.
I pull back and look into his chocolate brown eyes. I see regret in his eyes and something else.
“Thank you, Hunter. Thank you for taking me home and for telling me this...for everything. Oh, can you please make sure they don't kill my date?” I fumble with the door handle.
Hunter looks disappointed, but he nods his head and smiles gently.
“You're a good person, Hunter.” Impulsively I lean forward and quickly peck his cheek. I jump out and then stagger inside the house.
I sneak in as quietly as I can. When the light hit me in my bedroom, I'm thankful that nobody saw me when I sneaked inside. Smudges of black eyeliner and mascara are running down my cheeks. My hair is a mess. There's some trace of dry blood on my lower lip.
My date had gone to the wolves.
Poor Kevin. He doesn't deserve this.