Chapter 3

Elise

“Elise, we aren’t supposed to be here. Your mom is gonna kill us if she finds out. My dad will kill us. You dad will go insane! We will be double killed! I mean being late for school is one thing, but leaving the territory is an entirely different level of punishment... and without security? I’ll be grounded for life!”

“Calm down Sammi. She isn’t going to find out."

"She's your mom and our Luna! She knows everything." Sammi is flipping out.

"We’re only going to be gone for an hour, they won’t even miss us. We will be back before school even starts. Besides I’m eighteen now!” I pull the car into the lot and we hop out. It is definitely not in the best neighborhood, that's for sure.

“You have been eighteen for all of two days, and that doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules. Are you sure this is where the shop is?” Sammi asks and I look around doubting myself and the information I was given, but this has to be it. It simply has to be.

“Come, I think it’s this way.” I grab Sammi's arm and drag her through an alley.

My mother and father have their anniversary party on Saturdaythey will be married, and Alpha and Luna of our beloved pack, for twenty years. There are no two people on earth that I cherish more. When they were first married my father gave my mother a locket with a unique wolf carving on the back, it had been in his family for centuries. Years later my mother lost it in a fight protecting our pack from rogues and I have been searching for it ever since. Yesterday it showed up on a website at a pawn shop in human territory, a place I was told never to go. But, I'm determined to get that locket back and present it to my parents for their anniversary.

“Here, it’s down here.” A staircase leads down to a door that has a sign on it reading 'New To You-24 Hour Pawn Shop'. We open the door and I am instantly overwhelmed with the smell of cigarettes. The further we make our way into the shop the stronger the smell gets until we discover the source. A man with slicked-back blonde hair and an unruly mustache leans over the counter and just stares at us with a cigar hanging from his mouth.

“Can I help you little pretties with somethin’?” He asks and Sammi grabs my hand and squeezes it hard.

I muster up some courage and walk up to the counter.

“Yes, we saw a locket on your website yesterday. One with a wolf on it? Do you still have it?”

The man doesn't say anything, he just takes the cigar from his mouth, sticks it in an overstuffed ashtray of leftover butts, and pulls a box from the shelf behind him.

“This thing?” He asks as he sets it in front of me and opens the lid. I try to hide my excitement, but inside I'm rejoicing. Finally, I have found it, but I don't want this creepy man to know how much I want it.

“Yes, that’s it. How much?” I asked calmly.

“Well, how much ya little girls got?”

Sammi leans over and whispers in my ear. “This is bad news, I’m telling you.” I shoot her a look and return to the man.

“Well, I have fifty dollars, I don’t think it’s worth much more than that.” I stand up tall and make my offer, and I am ready to have the man be happy with it and make the deal.

“It may not be worth much more than that to anyone else, but I think it’s worth a whole lot more to you two. Two pretty young girls comin’ into my shop wearin’ designer dresses and purses that I can get top dollar for. I bet this thing is worth a whole lot more.”

I hadn’t thought of our appearance or where we are in the city, but he's right. He can see right through us.

“A thousand dollars.” He says and I nearly choke in shock. I'm instantly furious.

“A thousand dollars?! I - I don’t have that kind of money. I can give you two hundred, and ... and this purse and hers.” I grab Sammi’s purse and she grabs it back.

“No way!” She yelps.

The man puts the locket back in the box and sticks it back on the shelf.

“Two thousand dollars and it’s yours.” He says with a smirk on his face.

“No. No way! Sir, that locket belongs in my family and I am going to have it back!” I slam my hand on the counter and he stands up and looks at me cold.

“Look little girl, I told you the price, pay or get the hell out of my shop.”

“Hey Frank, there’s a big box in the alley you want me to bring it in? Uh...What's going on here?”

The most beautiful boy I have ever seen walks in from the back of the shop and is standing next to this horrible man at the counter. He is easily six feet tall and has a thick head of unruly curly black hair. He's wearing a pair of sunglasses and a ratty sweatshirt and jeans, but I can tell he is perfect underneath it. And through the thick haze of smoke, I can smell the most wonderful scent of evergreens and cocoa. My wolf grows restless within me at the site of him.

“These little darlings want to buy that locket you found last week.” He smirks and lights up another cigar.

The boy shrugs and pulls the box from the shelf. “This?” he opens it and I can barely get a squeak out.

“Elise, earth to Elise!” Sami knocks me in the shoulder and I snap out of it.

“Uh, um yes that one.” I can't stop staring at him.

“So, how much Frank?” The boy asks and I finally find my words again.

“I offered him two hundred and he told me two thousand. It’s absurd.” I can feel my anger come back and I'm thankful for it, remembering why I came here and how awful the man has been.

“Don’t be silly,” The boy slaps him on the back. “Two hundred is fine. Frank, it's way more than anyone else would give ya. It looks all rusted and the chain is broken. Whatever stone was in it is missing. It’s a fair price.”

“Really?” I beam at him and he nods and smiles an absolutely devastatingly beautiful smile.

“Leo, you always were a softie for the ladies, I’ll need to keep you away from the counter next time.” The terrible man playfully slaps the boy on the back of the head and I hand over the money as he slides the package over the counter, but I can't seem to move. I just stand there like a puppy looking up at him.

“Okaaaay, well, I have to go get the shit kicked out of me at school, wish me luck, Frank.”

I watch as the boy leaves and heads out the back of the store and I grab Sammi and we take off out the front.

“Come on, we have to find him.” I pull her and run around the corner, seeing him flip his hoodie up and head down the street.

“Elise, we're going to be late for school. We have to get back!”

“Sammi, I think I just found my mate!"

Leo

I spent the night at the pawn shop again. The group home that I’m assigned to has seventeen kids in it and is only supposed to have six. There’s no room to even think there, let alone do homework or get a decent night’s sleep, and anything you might have of any value will certainly be taken before morning if you’re not careful. So, I spend most nights at the shop.

I met Frank, the owner of the shop, when I was fifteen. I was sleeping in the alley behind the shop before the state caught up with me and dumped me in the group home. Frank offered me a couch to sleep on if I would work unloading boxes and doing odd shit jobs around the shop. He’s a dick to most people that come in, but he isn’t a bad guy. Last night I waited for the nightly check-in, got my lunch voucher, and then easily snuck out unseen. They never bothered with a morning check-in. We all were supposed to be in school, so as long as we made it there at night no one ever cared.

I hear a commotion in the front of the store and as I walk out I’m shocked when I see two girls standing at the counter. I have never seen them before and I know they aren’t from around here. They are both beautiful, but the one girl I can’t stop staring at. I’m thankful I put my glasses on and she can’t tell that I can't take my eyes off her. She is stunning, with bright green eyes and long brown hair down to her waist.

'Mate'

I ignore the voice in my head and try and shake the odd feeling I have off. I make a deal with the girls quickly and leave. I dash out the back door, throw my hoodie up, and make my way to school, all the while I can’t get the girl’s face out of my mind and the voice in my head keeps getting louder.