Chapter Two

NATHAN

      It was really hard for me to leave her, she looked so beautiful while she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. Now she's going to think I used her for sex and ran away, ever since I left her house I haven't been able to get her out of my head. I don't understand why I feel this way all of a sudden. She floods my brain without even trying to and every time I think about that dammed smile, I smile, I blush and I think of times when she's next to me with that wide beautiful smile on her face as she greets me good morning.

Right now I'm drawing her beautiful face on my sketchpad, her face is unforgettable I don't know if I can go by each day without wanting to see her again, without wanting to talk to her again. I stop drawing and I sigh, I look around my room and at the bookshelf, she has read so many books that I've read. I don't know why I'm keeping that in mind considering I'm the one that decided to leave without saying goodbye.

The last relationship I was in wasn't fulfilling, I thought I was in love with her turned out I just loved the idea of us, something I wished I had. It was hard to break things off with Katherine but I had to do it for her sake and mine. I saw an opportunity at love and I ran away from it. I don't know how the pack expects us not to fall in love with humans there's a reason why we decided to mingle around them in the first place.

We wolves have been living in the woods for centuries away from the humans it wasn't until werewolf hunters began to raid our home that we decided to live amongst the humans so it'll be hard for them to find us.

We still live close to the woods though, we can't be turning into beasts in town and be walking around the streets like we're not gonna get shot or taken to the zoo.

Right now I'm in the house I grew up in, I just came to Texas to spend time with my parents and my brother for a few days then I leave. Maybe if I leave I'll forget about her, if that's even possible.

Katherine and I were like a power couple back at Princeton. Everyone loved our relationship because little did people know that we weren't really in love with each other, did we love each other? Yes, but we were not in love at least I wasn't.

Katherine took the breakup hard though. We broke up in the summer after junior year of college she hadn't spoken or looked at me since then. The easy-going and party-loving Katherine was gone and was replaced by a heartbroken girl who didn't believe in love anymore. I really broke her heart huh.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear a knock on the door. The person opens without me saying they can come in and I knew it was already, my little brother, Tyrone he doesn't wait for anyone to invite him in he just invites himself in. Right now he's wearing a grey hoodie, grey sweatpants, and flip flops, his red hair is what makes him, him, we used to call him Archie but without the charm to attract girls. He's handsome though, who could say no to those beautiful brown eyes of his?

Tyrone has never had a girlfriend. We even asked him if he was even attracted to girls he said he was. We told him if he wasn't attracted to girls he should just say so and he still insisted that he was. He was telling the truth because when he was sixteen he had a crush on Penny Lockhart, she was pretty, Tye thought so but she didn't think he was pretty. It was so hard to watch my brother turn around in disappointment after confessing his love for her when she turned him down.

I and his friends tried cheering him up but he didn't want it. The thing with him is that he bottles up his feelings, he acts like he doesn't need anyone's help or sympathy, I would like to know what he's thinking.

Now that he has a nice haircut and he's muscular all the girls in our pack (even the human ones) want to date him but he keeps rejecting them, he hasn't looked at any of the hot girls at all, not even Blair Stone whom his mates think is hot. Oh well, I guess not all straight guys want to date girls all the time.

"I knew you weren't going to wait for me to tell you to come in." I throw a pillow at him and he catches it. Ugh, werewolf reflexes. I miss the days when werewolf puberty hadn't hit him, it was easy for me to bully him and he not doing anything about it.

"You know me so well." He says and puts on a sarcastic grin. "Mom wants you to come down for breakfast." He's looking at the drawing I did of the lady I had sex with last night, I just wish I knew her name at least.

Hmm, I just got a crazy idea maybe I should go ask that bartender. It seemed like they knew each other, but would he even tell me her name. He'd assume that I'm a creep.

"Woah, who's this?" He asks while admiring the beautiful drawing.

"Uh, a model."

"She's pretty, what are you in love with her or something?"

"Shut up," I say getting up and shoving him aside. I walk ahead and he leaves the sketchpad and he follows me.

My Dad is the alpha of the pack, and no that's not the reason why he has a big house, he just has a good job that pays well. My Dad has been the alpha since he was nineteen and when his parents died he had to take full responsibility. Wolf hunters were what killed them, those bastards and their vendetta against us.

My Dad wanted me to be the alpha but I chose college over leadership, Tye did that too. And luckily our dad isn't like those insisting fathers who force their kids to do what they want. My dad has always encouraged us to do what our hearts desired, one of the reasons why I love him is because he's understanding just like my mom.

My parents are perfect for each other, my parents have always made me believe in love, seeing them together all the time gives me so much hope, I'm sure they would want me to be happy, with a werewolf, not a human. That's one thing my parents won't support me for, dating a human or even marrying a human is taboo. A law against nature, they say. That's unless you decide to turn the human into a werewolf, that method isn't necessarily accepted by all conservatives who frown upon turning humans into werewolves.

"Good morning guys." I interrupt my mom, she and dad were having a conversation, they're always talking to each other and they also gossip like they're teenagers.

"Oh, good morning honey." My mom, Melissa Carmello is beaming at me, she's on light make-up, Tyrone got his red hair from her, although I look more like her, I got my brown hair from my dad and Tye looks like the younger version of him. My parents have been married for twenty-six years and they've been stronger than ever. This is something I wish to have someday, their relationship is beautiful and hopeful I never did worry they were going to get a divorce. Looking at them is like looking at what happens to the couple that ended up together in a romantic movie after the movie ends.

"There's our boy." My dad, Gerald Carmello says as he puts coffee in his favorite mug mom got for him which says world's greatest dad. "What did you do last night?"

Not having sex with a human that's what.

I sit next to him and Tyrone joins us.

"Uh, nothing much just went to a bar to have a few drinks then I came home." I put toast bread in my mouth and I avoid their eyes, I catch my brother staring at me, he can see through my bullshit. I look away from him and now I'm looking at the ceiling.

"Oh, honey I'm so happy you came to spend time with us," Mom says and she's smiling at me. "Tye here has been keeping us company, I think he's getting tired of us."

"I don't think that's possible mom." Tyrone puts that fake smile of his on his face and I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"It's not too late to want to take over being alpha of the pack, " dad says to both of us and we both look at each other.

Tyrone and I weren't born leaders we both know this. I'm an artist with a gallery back in California and Tye is a dance instructor who teaches amateurs how to dance. I kinda wish he'd use his talent to branch higher but he doesn't want that, he's not ready for that I suppose.

"Naa," I say.

"We're good, dad."

"Okay." He raises his hands. "The offer still stands."

"How's your gallery, Nathan?" Mom asks then I watch her put bacon in her mouth, we wolves love meat.

"It's doing fine. People come in they see what they like and they pay for it. They've bought my paintings mostly which is flattering and I'm just happy I have a job at least."

I really am, a celebrity even bought one of my work, I was so happy and excited. I still don't know who the celebrity is could be George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, or Angelina Jolie. I never knew all I know is that a celebrity's agent walked into my gallery and got one of my best pieces. A painting of a wolf and a girl. Hollywood does love werewolves even though the unrealistic depiction of werewolves in Twilight is laughable and bizarre.

You know what, I'm going to see her again. I can't continue to kill myself just because I have an animal inside of me. She doesn't have to know that, it's not like we're going to get married or anything. I'll try my best to see her again I can't leave Texas without seeing that beautiful angel. But I have to be productive.

Ugh! Can't believe I have to hide this from Tyrone. I can hide this from my parents but not him. Tye and I tell each other everything. We've been doing that since we were puppies, well I'm the one who spills my secrets out, each time I have to force Tye to open up sometimes. This is something I have to keep from him because I know he won't approve of it either.

CHLOE

       I'm at Monet's, a restaurant. I come here every day except Fridays to Sundays to meet up with other writers. They've been so positive and helpful really. I met them at the beginning of the year when I came to get a cup of coffee, my paperwork fell out of my bag and a woman in her early thirties helped me pick it up.

"Thanks," I told her, I was a little bit embarrassed because all I could think about was her thinking that I was careless. She was pretty, black short hair, caramel skin, nice full lips, and her eyelashes were long, natural and her eyes made her look even more beautiful. It was like I was looking at one of the models from America's Next Top Model.

"Woah, you're a writer too." She said and she had that wide smile on, her perfectly white teeth almost blinded my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm guessing you're a writer."

"Yep, fantasy."

"Romance." We shook hands and then she paused.

"Wait, did we just introduce each other based on the genre we write and not our actual names?" We both giggled.

"Yes. That wasn't weird at all." She laughed.

"I like you already, let's start this again. I'm Cindy Bellman."

"Chloe Fint." We shook hands and we both laughed again. It was like I found a friend, someone I could relate to. We both wrote in different genres but we were still writers and I loved it when the writing community supported each other.

"Hey, there's a writers club that's being held here every day except the weekends, would you like to join? We talk about the perks of being a writer and the joys of being a writer and we also talk about our favorite books and authors. We start at twelve pm." I didn't know that a writing club was what I wanted, I didn't think I'd have the time to write and be at a restaurant for three hours every day. But I wanted to give it a try, and she was very convincing all she had to do was shine her perfect teeth and I'd be all hers.

"Okay, yeah I'd love to join."

"Really?" She clasped her hands in excitement. "Oh, the others will be thrilled to have you, let's exchange numbers so we'll be able to keep in touch." A start of a new friendship. I wasn't good at making friends because I was always focused on my work and I loved being alone. Being alone with a good book and alcohol or caffeine is the best feeling in the world, probably better than sex.

The next day I walked into Monet's and I met a group of ladies who were fine as hell. I was relieved to see there were no men here, at least if there was going to be a man he should be gay and we all agreed to that.

We were six. Cindy Bellman, Aisha Mohammed, Drew Finch, Jessica Boston, Lexi Hale, and me. We were just six beautiful ladies who loved to talk about our favorite books and rant about how JK Rowling is a bitch for her transphobic tweets. Sometimes we'd just go out to have some fun. We weren't just a book club we were a sisterhood.

Lexi's mystery thriller novel will be out next month and I'm so happy for her, there's no room for jealousy or spite because as women who moan over hot fictional characters like Christian Grey we can not bash each other all we have is love for each other.

Jessica's science fiction novel is in the publishing stage. I was so happy for her when she told me that they accepted her work. Of course, her work got rejected four times and she didn't stop, maybe I should have learned a few things from her instead of going to a club to drink and having sex with a stranger, I regret all that.

Layla Abrams joined us last month. She said she couldn't look at the Harry Potter books the same way because of JK's insensitive tweets. She sold her books to a little girl who didn't know what it meant to be transphobic or just a plain bigot.

She just joined us but it already feels like she was here from the beginning.

I spot my girls, and they're laughing loudly I smile and turn to look at them, they're at our usual table, and there's a man with them. Hmm, maybe Cindy knows him.

"The usual," I tell Daphne, the person behind the registrar. She knows what I and my group of friends love. I love coffee with lots of sugar and cream. My mom has always told me to stop taking lots of sugar but I never listen, I'm a sweet tooth it's something she should know by now.

"Thank you." I tip her and I collect my coffee and head toward the girls. The guy they're laughing with is cute.

He has dark hair, his eyes look green, they are green. He has brown skin and I love his smile it's nice. He dresses nice too.

He's wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black pants, and blue sneakers. He looks like a lady's man. That's why my girls are laughing like maniacs. 

"Hey, guys," I say and they stop laughing when they see me. Well, Aisha is still laughing.

"Oh hey." They say in unison.

"Chloe let me introduce you to our newest member Christian Joshua," Cindy says what the fuck did she just say to me?

"Hey." He gets up, "nice to meet you." We shake hands and I'm putting on a fake smile. This can't be happening, a man, in our club?

"Nice to meet you too." I hope they don't notice how I'm screaming inside. Why is this man in our club and why is he smiling at me like I want him here.

This man better be gay.