Scarlett
I waited excitedly on my porch for Osprey to come walk me to school. Every time someone appeared at the end of our short street, my heart sped up in anticipation, but it was never him. My mom came out onto the porch and put her hand on my shoulder.
“I don’t think he’s coming, honey.”
My eyes filled with tears as I looked up at her. “But he said he would be here.”
She smiled at me sadly. “Come on. We should get you to school before you’re late.”
“But… he promised,” I whispered.
“Maybe he overslept or something. I’m sure he’ll be there this afternoon to walk you home.”
I sighed but followed her down the stairs, defeated. “Yeah… sure.”
I walked with my head down as tears continued to run down my face. He had never missed walking me to school in the mornings. Well, he had twice, but it was because he was really sick. I stopped, grabbing my mother’s arm.
“Mom, have you spoken to Raul today?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Did he mention Osprey?”
She nodded slowly. “He did, yes.”
“Is he okay? I mean, did he say Osprey is sick?”
“No. He said Osprey was on a hunt with Elena and Tasha.”
“Oh,” I said as my shoulders slumped when my hurt feelings killed my hope. “I’m glad he’s okay.”
She patted my hand, and I stuck it in my pocket. ”Scarlett, what’s going on between you and Osprey?”
“Nothing.”
“Your brother told me what happened during dinner the other night, along with what happened yesterday when you guys went to pick him up from school.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Honey, do you like Osprey?”
I sighed. “Yes. He’s…” I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t know. Maybe. I thought… he said we would be friends forever.”
She hugged me. “He’s family. He will always be family. Nobody can take that from you.”
I pulled away from her. “NO! I thought he liked me, too. He told me he did! HE DIDN’T LIE!” I screamed before running into the school building.
I ran past all the classrooms until I reached the last one. I went inside, threw my bag on the floor beside my desk, and laid my head on the table. Why didn’t he show up? Was he mad at me? If he was mad at me, what did I do? How could I fix it? Someone touched my shoulder.
“Scar?”
I shrugged her hand off my shoulder. “Leave me alone, Elena.”
She sighed. “So, you're mad at the world, too.”
I lifted my head to glare at her. “I am not mad at the world!”
“Yeah, that’s what he said this morning, too,” she mumbled as she walked away.
“Who?” I called out after her.
She sat at her desk before turning her head to meet my eyes. “Osprey.”
My heart sped up at the mention of his name, and I went to ask her a question when our teacher called for our attention. I put my head back on the desk. I was determined to talk to her during our break. Maybe she would know why he didn’t come this morning. I kept my head down as I did my classwork. I hated math, so I rushed through it. I knew half of them were wrong, but quite frankly, I didn’t care. I had already been moved up to the advanced lessons. What was the worst they could do? Put me back on multiplication tables? I pulled my book out to read until the next assignment was handed out, when tears immediately filled my eyes again.
I ran my fingers over the hand-sewn leather bookmark that Osprey had given me for my 10th birthday. I shook my head. Stupid. This was stupid. I put the bookmark under my book and picked up where I had left off. My mind drifted to him as my fingers played with the gold-braided material at the top of the bookmark. I wondered what he was doing and if he was missing me, too. I sighed as I sat back in my seat. The minute the teacher dismissed us, I rushed over to Elena to grab her arm to drag her out of the building.
“What’s wrong with him?”
She sighed. “Do you like my brother, Auntie?”
I tensed a little. “So what if I do?”
She glanced over her shoulder before taking me further away from the teacher. “Listen to me. Osprey told me during our hunt this morning that my father talked to him yesterday. He told him to leave you alone.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
She nodded. “I heard my father talking to our mom this morning after Osprey left for school. She is pissed. She told him to stay out of it. That if Osprey thought you were his mate, that was between the two of you. I’ve never seen her slap him before. She was so angry.”
“What? He thinks I’m his mate?”
She nodded. “She reminded him that when your mom was still pregnant with you, Osprey was crazy about you and told them you were his mate. I know I tease you two a lot, but you guys are so cute. If you want to like him, that’s okay with me and our mom.” She hugged me. “Go talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Mom always says to do that, even if it hurts.”
I couldn’t help but beam at her. “He really thinks I’m his mate?”
She rolled her eyes as a small smile played around on her lips. “Why am I not surprised that’s what you're stuck on?”
I shoved her a little. “Shut up!”
She flipped me off and took off towards her friends when the teacher yelled her name. I did a little happy dance, wrapping my arms around my waist. The rest of the day passed in a blur as I focused on what Elena had said. Mate. I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t know a lot about the bear community, but mates had been explained to me. A soulmate of sorts with an unbreakable bond. Just like mine and his. I loved watching my brother with his mates. Not to mention the way Aunt Tara was with hers, and Aunt Mona with Uncle Adam.
“Earth to Scarlett!” Elena laughed, shaking me.
I blinked. “What?”
“The bell rang. Are you ready?”
“The bell?”
She rolled her eyes. “Or you can stay here, but I’m going home.”
I immediately jumped to my feet and snatched my bag off the floor. She pointed to my last assignment.
“I would not turn that in. See if you can do it tomorrow.”
“What?”
“You’re paper. It’s a mess.”
I looked down at the science paper on my desk, groaning when it was covered in pictures of bears and hearts. I had even written Osprey on it half a dozen times. I blushed as I shoved it in my bag.
“Yeah. I’ll turn it in tomorrow,” I mumbled.
I rushed her out of the room, and in no time we were turning down her street. I slowed as my nerves took over. When I stopped, Elena leaned against the fence post, watching me.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you sure he thinks that?” I asked, twisting my hands together.
“Yes. He adores you. Remember when he let us put him in that pink foo-foo dress just to be close to you? What guy does that? He didn’t even care when we posted it all over the internet.”
I giggled a little, remembering the way he had posed for his sisters. I relaxed and took her hand. “Come on.”
“What are you going to ask him?”
When I slowed again, she tugged me along. “I don’t know.”
“You should ask him to be your boyfriend.”
“What? No! He’s in high school.”
She laughed. “He’s a freshman. Relax. It’s not a big deal.”
As we rounded the corner of their house, I almost stopped again when Vanessa sat on the porch with Osprey. I watched him lean over to tap a paper on the desk. She smiled at me before responding to him. When he turned his head to look at her, she kissed him. I immediately froze while Elena yelled at my side. He jerked back and jumped to his feet when he saw me. Elena sprinted towards the porch while he came towards me. I turned on my heel and sprinted away from their house.
“SCARLETT! WAIT!”
I ignored him to race home, praying that he wouldn’t shift. There was no chance for me to escape if he did that. At least in human form, I was able to keep away from him. I heard a sorrowful howl from my right and I pushed myself faster. I kept my eyes trained on my house looming in front of me. Godric came barreling out of the trees, and I screamed as I skidded to a halt. I backed away from him, panting as he stared at me with his chest heaving.
“Leave me alone!” I yelled at him. “Go home! Get out of here!”
“Scarlett?”
“Mom! I want to go inside. Make him move! Please,” I begged.
She came down the stairs, wiping her wet hands on her pants before putting her arm over my shoulders. She went to guide me around him when he sidestepped, growling at us. She narrowed her eyes on him.
“TASHA!”
“Valerie? What’s- Osprey? Godric, what are you doing?”
As we took another step, he moved forward. Tasha came running down the stairs and shifted. She stood between us and her son with her teeth bared, uttering little growls that held him in place as my mother ushered me inside. Once the door was shut, she turned me towards her and ran her hands over me. I pushed her away from me to stomp upstairs.
“What in the hell happened?”
I stopped at the top of the stairs to look down at her. “I hate Raul. I hate Elena. I hate Osprey. I hate everybody. Just leave me alone!”
I went into my room and threw myself down on my bed. I pulled my pillow down to curl my body around it as I cried. At that moment, I did hate them all. But I hated myself most of all for believing that he thought I was his mate.
Scarlett (Three Months Later)I kept my head down as my mother drove me to school. I had begged my mother to move back to the city after the night I spent with Osprey. I had stopped talking to Elena, and I hated it. I missed her even though she had been playing me just like her brother had. I had lost a lot of weight. Even though my body screamed that it was starving, I couldn’t eat, and when I did, I always threw it up. My body was suffering as much as my brain and heart were. I was weak, and my mother had started me on daily IV feedings.It crushed me every day when I had to see the pity on her face. I rubbed my shoulder to stop it from itching, wincing at the pain that coursed through me. I couldn’t keep seeing his bite on my shoulder, so I had tried to dig it out with a pocketknife, only stopping when I had passed out in the shower. I had woken up still in the shower, freezing with all my skin pruned up. I scratched it again.This stupid thing didn’t want to heal, nor did it want
Vanessa“VANESSA! YOU HAVE A GUEST!”I rolled my eyes as I went to snatch my door open. I hated that my father was the way he was. Sometimes he didn’t understand his role. He was my servant. He had no business yelling at me. He only thought I listened to him. I never did. Not anymore, anyway. I had learned a year ago that all I had to do was say that I wanted to live with my mother, and he stopped trying to boss me around.“WHO IS IT?” I yelled down to my father.“SILVER!?”“SEND HIM UP!”“VANESSA! NO BOYS IN YOUR ROOM!”I glared at the stairs, wishing he could see my face. “MOM TRUSTS ME!” I screamed.Seconds later, Silver was walking up the stairs. I smiled at him as I stepped back to let him into my room. He frowned as he looked around my bedroom, making me roll my eyes. My room was no different than any other time he had been here. He laid down on my bed, smirking up at me.“Are you really this dense, Ness?”I grabbed my brush as I sat down at my desk. “What are you talking about?
OspreyI stared down at her as I carried her to her house. She was going to be the death of me, and right now, after our dinner, I was going to willingly walk into the lion’s den covered in barbeque sauce and lay down in front of the damned lion.“Bon appetit. I taste fucking delicious,” I mumbled under my breath.She kissed me again, and I groaned as her tongue moved over mine. When I shifted her in my arms, she wrapped herself more fully around me. My cock throbbed as her body rubbed against mine. I shifted my hands, cupping her ass as I ground against her core. I could feel her hot wetness through the thin material of her so-called pants. I shifted her again so that she sat on my arm as I wiggled my other hand between us to tear a hole in her leggings to rub closer to her pussy. My breath caught in my lungs when my fingers never hit underwear as they slid into her moistness.“Scarlett,” I barely managed to get out as she started moving her hips, riding my fingers while her muscles
Scarlett (one month later)I groaned when my bedroom door bounced open. Elena and Priscilla dashed in, giggling while multiple male voices yelled angrily behind them. They dove over my bed, hiding on the floor beside it. I glanced down at them before turning toward the door, smiling as Beanie and Gerald ran in.“WHERE ARE THEY?!” Gerald bellowed.I burst out laughing when I took in their clothes covered in pink glitter and bright red lips. I put my arm over my stomach as I continued to howl with laughter.“What did they do to you guys?”“WE GOT GLITTER BOMBED! WHERE ARE THEY?!”I touched my lip, still giggling. “You got a little something there.”Gerald wiped at his lips furiously while Beanie scowled at me. “They put super glue and lipstick in a chapstick tube. Now the fucking shit won’t come off!”I shook my head. “Sorry, boys. They went into the bathroom. I think I heard the window open.”They both growled as they rushed out of the room. Elena sprang up to lock my door before both
OspreyAfter my third round of push-ups, I sat in the chair in front of the desk in my room at my Aunt’s house. I picked up a pencil to do my homework, quickly giving up when I couldn’t pull my thoughts from Scarlett and the conversation with Valerie. I was worried about Scarlett. I couldn’t help it. I loved her. More than I loved anything else. I tapped my pencil on the desk, wondering if she was doing as poorly as Valerie had said she was. If she was, that was just one more thing that was my fault.I sighed as I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes. Everything Valerie said about how I was feeling was true, leading me to question if she knew something that I didn’t. The feeling that she did grew with the things she said about Scarlett not knowing stuff. I pulled my phone out and set it on the desk in front of me. I had never hesitated when it came to Scarlett before, but now everything was different. I had done so much wrong. The minute Raul warned me about seeing her, my world h
ValerieAfter the rest of the kids left for school, I watched Tasha move around the kitchen with Lee and Sebastian. Their morning dance as they cooked the house breakfast was fluid and easy. It was very obvious that they were all one soul that had been split up into 8 pieces. They were like ballroom dancers, anticipating each other's movements before they even thought about their next move. I sighed. Every morning, I was reminded of how I would never have my dance again. I was glad that Osprey had used his mate bond with Scarlett to help heal her from her father’s death, but I didn’t have anybody that could heal me like that. All I had was Scarlett.“Valerie?”I smiled at Tasha. “Yeah?”“What’s on your mind? You haven’t touched your food. I put it in front of you five minutes ago.”“Sorry, I was just thinking about Victor.”“Oh. Do you want to talk about it?”“Not really. Can I ask you something?”“Sure.”“Why did Osprey leave?”“Do you want the official story or what we suspect the t