Isabella’s P.O.V.It feels too good to be true.
Whenever I say this, Rose always ends up calling me a pessimist, but I’d rather be a realist than anything else. Everything is too perfect to believe, finding Mason, Caleb distancing himself away from me without much of a fight, Mason’s mom accepting me without actually knowing me in person and not to forget the mind-blowing date followed by today’s breakfast. Something inside me keeps on bugging me; I don’t really know about what but it is there, the voice at the back of my head warning me about the storm that lies ahead.
If it was only me who felt this than it wouldn’t have been this big of a problem, but Aurora’s on edge too. It’s like she is continuously on foot, striding from here to there; it’s maddening when I can’t know the reason behind it. Even when I asked about what was bothering her and all she said was, it doesn’t feel right.
What is that supposed to mean?
I’ve been trying to avoid the restless feeling for the past two days, it’s been there since I came back from that blissful date; but when that bitchy waitress warned me before leaving, that’s all that I’ve been thinking about, I can’t even help the thoughts now. Mason assured me that it wasn’t something to worry about but all the way from that breakfast diner to the locker’s that’s all what was running through my head.
When we reached the locker’s Ryan, Rose and Matt were standing there, Caleb was missing like he has been for the past few days; which is weird. I have a feeling that maybe something happened between the gang that I don’t know about or else Caleb is hiding something from all of us, which is very unlikely him. He may hide things from others but not me, never from me; and I know the distance that is added between us is not because of me finding my mate. Of course, Caleb was pissed about it but he did accept it eventually and things were fine; but since the past few days it’s like he is avoiding us and when he is with us, he ends up being on edge. It’s just not his usual behavior and I kind of find it fishy, call me nosy but I know I’m right about it.
I throw the thoughts about Caleb at the back of my mind and move my attention on the ones that are actually present at this moment; Mason departs to walk towards his group of friends to greet them. I greet mine with a normal, “Hey guys.” Rose is the first one to react as she shrugs Matt’s hands away from her waist and jumps on me, wrapping her arms around me as she shouts, “Bellaaaaaaa.”
Someone looks too happy.
I engulf her in a warm hug as I say, “Whoa, someone’s happy” letting myself enjoy the warmth of my best friend, her scent has always calmed me down just like Mason’s does; it’s weird though, not the hug but her scent.
She kind of smells funny.
“What perfume are you using Rosy, it’s weird?” I ask her, she pushes me a little away from her as she asks, “What perfume?”
“The smell on you” I answer, she looks at me with concentration, her eyes forming into slits as if daring me to complete the sentence and call her stinky. Rose is too immature for someone who is a Luna, I shake my head at her thoughts and clear her doubts by saying, “I’m not saying that you’re stinky woman, you just smell funny.”
“Funny is not a smell Bella, for someone who is going to be the Luna of the most powerful pack; you are damn stupid” she retorts back, I smirk at her comment and reply with, “I could say the same about you girl friend.”
Our banter comes to a stop as Caleb comes speed walking towards us, he looks as if he just had a cat-fight; his hair is messy, breathing is labored and the t-shirt is crumpled. I look at him once over before asking, “Who did you have a cat fight with?” Hearing my question, he stops moving as if he has turned into a statue, I eye him suspiciously when I notice a small cut on the inner side of his lower lip.
Weird!
Don’t you get a cut on your lip when you fight? It looks like someone bit him and I’m a Warrior head, for fuck sake I know that no one bites on your lip while fighting, it happens only when you’re having a hardcore make-out ses…..
“What the fuck?” I shout as the truth hits me like a brick, my voice attracts attention from a lot of people but most importantly Mason and his group as I see him running towards me from the corner of my eye. Mentally cursing myself for shouting I turn my attention back towards Caleb as I ask, “Where were you Cal?”
He is still standing there as if he just didn’t do something like what I’ve suspected, but his eyes which are avoiding mine answer that question for me. His silence is pissing me off, why would he hide it from us if he found his mate? Yes his mate, I know he did find her; because when we were kids, he made up this stupid rule that only his mate will be allowed to have a full mouth, tongue down his throat kind of kiss and from my personal experience with my mate, I can tell that the bite was from that kind of kiss. The kiss is not the problem her, the main question that arises is why is he hiding her?
I’m brought back from my mental analysis about one of my best friend’s mate by the voice of my mate as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me towards him, with my back touching his front as he asks, “Is everything okay baby?”
His baby voice makes me smile, he is very cautious with me whenever he speaks with me; he makes sure that his alpha voice never comes out directed at me. I tilt my head to look at him as I assure him, “Yeah baby, everything’s fine.” With that said, I feel his nerve calm down as I move my attention back towards Caleb as I ask, “So, Do you want to tell us?”
He composes himself before he asks, “About what?” acting totally oblivious to the fact that he is caught. I can’t control the anger as it rises up within me as I growl, “Where were you Caleb?” I feel everyone tense up at my words, more like at my growl; even Mason but he is also the first one to compose himself from the shock as he mumbles, “Calm down baby” as he places a small peck on my shoulder, his actions do help me calm down a little as I release a breath and ask again, “Answer me Caleb.”
He doesn’t respond and now Ryan speaks up, “Answer her Caleb, where were you?” He moves his attention towards Ryan with a look of disgust on his face as he seethes, “Shut up Ryan.”
His words hit as a shock to all of us as all our faces have confusion clearly evident on our faces; Matt clears his throat as he asks, “Where were you Caleb?” Everyone asks the same question but every time we are rewarded with silence, because he doesn’t answer it properly, not even to Matt as he is answered with, “I’m not enforced to tell you anything Matthew.”
His silence towards me and the Shut up towards Ryan wasn’t that big of a problem, but his words towards Matthew cause a problem as Matthew growls, “ENOUGH!” his voice passes a shudder through everyone as I see Rachel, Ryan, Caleb, Blake and even Aiden shiver at it; the only people not affected by it are me, Rose and Mason. Caleb shrinks at his voice as he takes a step back, Rose instantly wraps an arm around Matt’s waist as she pulls him in a hug and mumbles something, trying her level best to calm him down. Mason tightens his arm around me as he turns me around and grabs my face in his hands, looking in my eyes as if searching something; after a few seconds he asks, “You okay?” I give him a small smile as I wrap him in a warm hug as I mumble, “Of course I’m baby, after all I’m with you.” I sense his chest move and look p towards his face to see him laughing, amusement dancing in his eyes as he dips his head down to latch our lips together.
I can’t help but respond to his kiss with a more feverish one, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me as I feel his hand sliding down towards my butt; I know where this is going but I can’t find it in myself to pull away from him. His kisses are just too intoxicating to be avoiding and that’s why I continue giving into him with the same excitement as him, a small yelp leaves out my mouth as I feel him grab my butt which allows him to enter his tongue which explores my mouth with such urgency like it’s been years since we last kissed when in reality we did it a few minutes ago. He squeezes it hard enough for me to release a moan which is followed by someone clearing their throat, the voice brings me back to reality as the thought of standing in the middle of the hall with a few tens of students around us watching our make-out session, more like enjoying the live session crosses my mind. I loosen my grip on his neck as I push him away finally bringing him back from the high that our kiss took him to.
He rests his forehead on mine as we both try to calm our breaths; a smirk is imprinted on his lips as he looks at me and mumbles, “That was fantastic.” I blush at his words as I hit his chest and whisper, “Shut up Mason.” Another clear of throat makes us turn towards the origin of the voice and we see everyone staring at us; Blake and Aiden with smug expressions, Rachel and Rose with teasing smirks, Matthew with a shocked expression, Ryan with a disgusted expression and the last person being Caleb with an impassive look.
“This is embarrassing” I mumble which does not go unnoticed by Mason as he shrugs and pecks my head before whispering, “It’s okay baby. Don’t be.” I huff before clearing my throat and say, “I’m getting late for class” as I move out of Mason’s hold, giving him a small smile as I start walking towards my lecture hall. I hear the guys laugh as Rachel comes running to walk beside me and at the same time Rose informs Ryan to go to class as well. Ryan soon joins us, with a sour expression on his face as he murmurs, “Never in a million years do I want to see that ever again.”
I sigh at his words as Rachel responds with, “We’ll see when you find your mate Ryan.” He shrugs it off making gagging expressions at her as he says, “You’re a girl Rach and you won’t understand the pain of watching your sister shove her tongue down a guy’s throat.”
“Shut up jerk. That’s my brother you’re talking about and by the way, he is not some guy, he is her mate. It’s totally normal” she seethes back at him. Dear Goddess, these two are always fighting about one thing or the other; it’s annoying. As soon as we reach the hall and get settled, our professor walks in and starts today’s class.
The classes went pretty well, but I was distracted for most of the time as my mind went back towards Caleb’s mate. He finding her is good news, a great one I think; but why is he hiding her from us. By what we all witnessed today, even a blind person could say that they are more than involved with each other and haven’t rejected each other. So if he hasn’t rejected her means he accepted her, then why is he hiding her from us. It’s damn weird, what is he trying to do?
Soon enough, the lectures are done and it’s time for lunch as we three walk side by side towards the cafeteria. On the way there, Rach asks, “Bella, are you going to sit with us?” I don’t even think about it for a second as I say, “No.” The look on her face makes me regret my words as she looks sad but at the same time Ryan has a victorious smile on his face, I’m pretty much sure that he is dancing inside his head at the thought of me choosing them over Mason’s friends.
Such an immature kid.
I think about it as I ask Rach, “How about we all sit together?” She instantly cheers up as she shouts, “Great idea. This way I get to hang out with both, you and Rose.” I smile at her as I nod at her words, entering the cafeteria walking towards out table with Rachel and Ryan following me. Once we reach our destination and settle down, Matt and Rose greet Rach as Rose asks her about the boys, they are busy talking when I see Mason and the boys entering the cafeteria doors. Mason’s eyes instantly travel up to our table as they settle on me and a smile forms on his lips as he winks at me, making a blush rise on my face.
Blake points something to Mason as he turns his attention to the person sitting beside me and is amazed to see his sister here. They all start walking towards us and within a few seconds, Mason is settled beside me and Blake beside Rach with Aiden in front of us, sitting beside Matt followed by Rose and Ryan.
Caleb is missing again.
I ignore the thought as I hear Blake ask Rach, “Babe, are we sitting here today?” She nods as she answers, “Yup. Is it okay?” He gives her a heartwarming smile as she sighs in comfort at his arm draping over her shoulder. Mason places his hand on my thigh as he mumble asks, “Are you okay with us sitting here baby?” I place my hand on his as I say, “I suggested it to Rach Mason.” He relaxes at my words and I take is as my cue to continue, “I was thinking, that maybe instead of me sitting with you’ll or you sitting with us; how about we all sit together from today onwards? Would that be okay for you?” I look at our hands that are now laced together resting on my thigh as he pecks my cheek before saying, “As you wish love.” His words make me blush even more than I was; he shakes his head with a smile on his lips as he gets up to get us food. The boys leave to get food and it’s only us girls, when Rose asks, “Bella, mind telling me what happened in the morning with Caleb?” I look at her with a blank expression as I tell her, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him Rose. He is acting weird, isn’t he?”
“Yes and that is the exact reason why I asked you, whether you know the reason why” she says. All this time Rach is just listening to our conversation, least interested in Caleb’s whereabouts but she still pays attention to it, so that we don’t feel offended by her ignorance. I look at Rose as I inform her about my assumption, “I think he found his mate.”
Rose is looking at me with her mouth hanging open as Rach asks, “Isn’t that a good thing?” I smile at her words as I confirm, “Exactly my point. But my question is that if he found her than why is he hiding her from us?” Rose totally ignores my question as she mumbles, “That answers the cut on his lip and it’s from a make-out session. He is getting some, don’t you things Bells?”
“Yeah, I think so too” Listening me say this, her expression changes from shocked to furious in a matter of seconds as she grumbles, “Who do you think it is, that he has to hide her from us? It’s obvious that he didn’t reject her which is great news but if he did accept her than why isn’t he introducing her to us? Don’t we mean anything to him anymore?”
She is too dramatic.
“Whoa woman, where is this coming from?” I ask her, she mumbles something as she scoffs at the thought. I look at her as I ask, “What are you guys hiding from me?” She looks like a deer caught in headlight as she stutters, “Wh… What do you mean, hiding from you? We aren’t…” before she could complete the sentence the boys come back and settle down in their places. I look at her suspiciously, before dropping the topic for now, in order to avoid catching too much attention on it.
Everyone is busy talking with someone or another, Mason is busy eating while rubbing his hand on my thigh as I show him some of my old pictures from the various trips to the cabin with my group. Suddenly someone walks inside the café, grabbing my attention towards her.
Veronica.
I look at her as she stares at me before moving her attention somewhere else, her stare reminds me of the day I saw her in McDonalds. As the thought passes my mind, it reminds me the scene from the store when I went grocery shopping. I turn towards Mason as I ask him, “Mason” my call grabs his attention as he looks at me with a curious look as I continue to ask, “Has Veronica found her mate?”
He looks a little taken aback at my question and silence consumes us as everyone stops talking on our table, their attention towards us, waiting for Mason’s answer just like me. He clears his throat before he answers, “I don’t think so baby.” I nod at his words as I turn to look at my phone again, when he speaks again, “Why do you ask that love?” I shrug my shoulders at his question as I reply with, “I just saw her at the supermarket that day” pausing a little, thinking about how to say it out loud. My silence bugs Mason as he impatiently asks, “And?”
“And I saw her buying something, which I don’t think an unmated wolf needs” I complete my sentence with a sigh. Rose and Rach have curious-excited expressions on their faces on hearing this.
Oh Goddess, these girls just love to gossip.
Ryan is the one who breaks the silence as he asks, “What did she buy? I’m pretty sure, it wasn’t a vibrator.” Everyone stares at him with an amused expression as Rose smacks his head and shouts, “You seriously need to learn, when to shut up Ryan.” He looks at her a little offended that she hit him, rubbing his head with his palm as he grumbles, “What did I say so wrong?”
Matt shakes his head and once again everyone’s attention is back on me as I look at Mason, taking a deep breath as I say, “She bought the Morning after pill.”
“What?” this time it’s Rachel’s voice cutting my sentence as she looks as me and then at Mason. Mason has a similar expression on his face like mine, confusion engraved on it as I ask, “What is it Rach?” She doesn’t say anything as he eyes cloud which is when I realize that she is mind-linking with someone. I turn to look at Mason and notice his eyes clouded as well, I wait for them to finish their talk when I hear Mason shout, “What the fuck, no” This grip tightens on my thigh as his eyes slowly turn back to normal, his eyes moves from Rachel to me as a troubled expression swathes his face. I wrap me hand on his hand as I rub circles with my thumb on it. Rach looks calm now but Mason is on edge about it, I turn to Rach as I ask, “What happened Rach? Why does he look troubled?”
She just smiles at me as she answers, “My thoughts caught him off guard, nothing to worry about though. It’s not what I thought it was.” I nod at her words, still not understanding her words as I turn to Mason who is still in thought. I peck his cheek before I mumble, “Hey are you okay. She was just messing with you. Chill baby.” He wraps his arm around me, pulling me to him as he inhales my scent and visibly calms down. Everything goes back to normal, when we hear someone ask, “What the fuck are they sitting over here?” grabbing all our attention towards him.
Caleb.