Two

JARED'S POV

I sat in my car massaging my temples as I felt the wave of a massive headache coming in. Just two more years of this and I would be done. And considering I was a werewolf with a ridiculously long lifespan, two years wasn't that long.

If I was being honest, college wasn't that hard, at least not for me. I've always been academically gifted. It however was boring and even though I would never admit this to my sister or the other college students in my pack, it was lonely.

First day of class for junior year would begin tomorrow and I couldn't wait. The whole day I've been having this weird anticipation, like something was gonna happen but I didn't know what.

The most difficult part of my life was having to manage school and governing my pack all at the ripe age of 21.

At 21, I managed to become the youngest alpha in all of the world, well at least with the documented packs. We can't really tell what goes on with the rogues.

It was a lot of pressure. My pack was constantly being attacked by others because their alphas who are much older and experienced think they can take control of us simply because we have a young alpha.

So it's a lot of work keeping us..., I guess the word would be independent.

I knew I had to get out of the car soon or my sister would come looking.

“Jarrr!!" she screamed from outside as she ran towards the car just before I finished that thought.

The most annoying part of her screams is that we're wolves, we have enhanced hearing, which means she doesn't need to, she just does it for the love of the game.

“Becky, you don't need to scream. I can hear you just fine," I said not looking at her.

She rolled her eyes at me.

“You know I hate that nickname. I prefer Becks. How many times are we going to have this conversation?" she asked in a softer tone.

“And you know I hate when you yell but you still do it. So I think we're even," I replied as I got out of the car.

“You were supposed to be back an hour ago," she said pouting at me.

“Yes well I had things to take care of."

“What things?"

“Alpha things," I replied curtly.

“You can tell me. I'm practically alpha too."

“Sister of the alpha doesn't make you alpha," I answered.

“It kinda does," she went on.

“Rebecca!!" I was the one who yelled this time and she promptly shut up. I sighed, immediately feeling bad. It wasn't her fault my head was hurting and I was in a crappy mood.

“Look Becky, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped, I just need to go lie down okay," I said as I resumed walking.

Her face suddenly morphed into one of concern.

“Are you okay?"

“Yeah, my head just hurts."

“We're wolves Jared. Our heads don't hurt," she pointed out.

Fair point, I thought, but maybe it happened on rare occasions like right now.

“You were supposed to give me a tour of the campus. Classes start tomorrow and we won't have time," she whined.

I sighed. “Look, how about this. I'm going to go take a nap and when I do, I can show you around or you can get Dale to do it."

“This was supposed to be a nice brother sister moment, I don't want to do it with Dale," she argued.

“Then you're going to have to wait for me to wake up from my nap."

“What am I supposed to do until then?"

“You're at the pack house Becky. I'm sure there are lots of wolves in here who would love to entertain you," I said then promptly dashed off, not giving her a chance to reply.

As I walked into the house, I was greeted by various wolves. I responded with a nod and made a beeline for my room.

Considering our pack is in the neighborhood, we thought it would make sense for us to have a pack house both on campus and off campus for wolves like myself who wanted to pursue an education. This way we could live amongst ourselves instead of with the humans.

When I got to my room, I immediately stripped and entered the shower. As the water flowed over me, I thought of my sister. She was starting college as a freshman here and needless to say, she was excited.

I already told her there wasn't any need to be but she didn't listen. I thought about my parents and if they were proud of me from wherever they were.

I know I wasn't exactly living the life we planned but I hope they were still proud.

When I got out, I wore some sweats and dropped on the bed. In seconds, I was out.

Next thing I knew, I was in a forest alone. There was nothing around me but trees. All I could hear were animal sounds when suddenly I heard a laugh. Then, I saw her, a flash of golden hair running away.

“Wait”, I called to the girl, as I began chasing after her, somehow unable to catch up to her.

All I heard was her laughter and all I could see was the blur of golden hair. It reminded me of the sun. I couldn't see her face and no matter how much I pleaded with her to stop, she didn't listen, she just kept laughing and running away.

Eventually she came to a stop and I could see why. She was standing on the edge of a cliff, any sudden moves and the girl would fall.

“Who are you?" I asked the girl who still hadn't turned towards me.

No response. She just kept overlooking the cliff. Then she stepped forward.

“Hey watch out!" I yelled, “you could fall."

“Find me," she said as she turned to face me.

Just before I could catch a glimpse of her face, I woke up and was pulled out of the dream, sweat beading on my forehead.

The first thing I noticed was that my headache was gone. Then I immediately remembered the weird dream I just had and decided to just file that under issues to be addressed later.

I checked the time on my phone and noticed two hours had passed. I remembered my sister and wondered if she was still waiting for me or if she had taken me up on my offer with Dale.

Against my better judgement, I texted her.

Me: Where r u?

Her reply came immediately. She must have been glued to her phone.

Lil sis: In the house, waiting for you to wake up from your damned nap.

I rolled my eyes then responded.

Me: You know, most people wouldn't dare to speak to their alpha that way.

Lil sis: Most people aren't the favourite baby sister of their alpha.

Me: You're my only baby sister.

Lil sis: All the more reason I'm you're favorite.

I rolled my eyes, a grin on my face.

Me: I'll be down in ten.

Then I turned off my phone and decided to get dressed. I stood in front of the mirror, admiring the tattoos that ran along both of my arms, from my biceps down to my wrists.

Each tattoo had a special meaning to me, some dedicated to Becky, some to my parents, some to members of the pack and some were just quotes and art I resonated with.

I left the entirety of my chest blank though. That was a space reserved entirely for my mate, whenever I found her.

I found myself thinking of her lately. What would she be like? How would she look? Would she be tall or on the short side? Would she be funny or more serious?

I knew it wouldn't matter though. I knew I would love her no matter how she came and I would protect her and give her the world. Everyone else can find somewhere else to live.

I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a graphic tee. I paired the look with my leather jacket and my trusty vans. I ran my fingers through my still slightly damp hair and just let it fall to my face. I wasn't a model on a runway, nobody cared how I looked. Then I grabbed my keys and went downstairs to find my sister already waiting by the car.

“Eager much?" I teased.

“Very," she said as I unlocked it and she got in.

“How's your head?" she asked as I started the car.

“Fine. It doesn't hurt anymore," I replied.

She looked at me skeptical.

I glanced at her and chuckled.

“Really Rebecca, I'm fine. The nap did me good."

As I said that, I remembered the dream but again, I decided not to think about it since it didn't make sense to me.

"I worry about you. You have a lot on your plate right now. Have you ever thought of... handing the reigns of the pack to Ezra? Just until you graduate," she asked, reducing her voice at the end.

I looked her at before looking back at the road.

“No. Because he's not alpha. I am," I said with more authority than I planned.

“What about dropping out of school to focus on the pack?"

“Out of the question. Not when I'm halfway through."

Becky sighed. “You're really stubborn, you know that. I wish you had a mate so she could talk some sense into you."

I gave a humourless chuckle. “Oh believe me sis, I wish the same but so she could be here to support me not insinuate I can't handle more than one hard thing."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and turned up the radio, indicating the conversation was over.

I sighed. She really got away with disrespecting the alpha because she was his sister. No one else could do that to me. I decided not to comment and just focus on the drive.

Eventually, the tour began. I took Rebecca to all the cool spots on campus, showing her everything she needed. At some point, we got hungry and decided to stop by to eat at the pack owned cafe on campus.

Of course the school didn't know it was run by wolves but it was fun to hide in plain sight.

We were walking to the cafe when Becky said she forgot her bag in the car. I handed her the keys to go get it when I caught sight of it, the golden hair from my dreams.

I was shocked. I almost didn't believe my eyes. It really did look like sunrays. Like she could feel my eyes, she turned around and I finally saw her face and let's just say I'm glad I didn't see it in the dream because I'm sure it wouldn't do her justice.

She had clear baby blue eyes. They reminded me of the morning sky. She had fair skin. It looked so soft. Her hair was long, all the way to her waist.

She wasn't too tall. Probably around 5'9. She had soft but striking features. Her face was round and her lips were so pink, they looked like rose petals at dawn. She was perfect and she was mine.

She reminded me of summer. Great, now I feel like Shakespeare. I couldn't help myself, I wanted to say something to her so I searched for her mind.

“At long last", I said, feeling the immediate confusion that followed. Hmm, something wasn't right.

Just then, the spell was broken when some guy touched her. I felt a pang of jealousy and in order not to do something I would regret, I walked away straight into my sister who I didn't see coming.

“Woah, Jar, are you alright?" she asked, seeing the look on my face.

“You see that girl," I replied, pointing at her retreating figure, still in the arms of the guy whose arms I certainly was going to break later.

“Yeah?" Becky asked, still not understanding.

“I need you to find out whatever you can about her."

“What? Why?" she asked, still confused.

“Because, she's mine."