With my phone pressed to my ear. I sneak a glance at Max. His hands are in his pockets, and even though he stands casually, no one with all their senses intact can ever mistake him for casual. I inspected him further. Stacy was spot on in her observation. The man had a dangerous air about him, and it's a testament to my viceral reaction to him that I didn't notice it earlier on. No matter how many times I've seen him, I honestly don't think I'll ever get used to his beauty. When I look at him, I know that God truly has his favourites. His hair, so black it seems to absorb the dark of the night, highlights the blue of his eye, and as for his bone structure,two words, My my. "Callie, you there?" I'd totally forgotten I was still on a call with Neela"Yeah, I'm here." Max takes his phone out, and I guess he gets a call because he walks a few feet away and starts speaking to someone on the phone. As I'm staring at him, I feel a wave of determination descend upon me. Ever since the accid
It's crazy how hope works. One minute, it's there, another minute, it's gone. I was doing really well so far. I had a few moments where I envisioned happiness, but before I could grab it for myself, it was ripped away brutally. After we left the club, Max took me to his car. A car, which I must say, matches the owner to the tee. I am totally unknowledgable about cars, so I don't recognise what make or model it is, but for one thing, the exterior is black, and the interior is pristine and weirdly, but unsurprisingly blue. Right now, the weather is mirroring my mood. What started as a slight drizzle has since turned into a full-on downpour. Neela's head is on my shoulder. Right now, I envy her. She's sleeping without a care in the world. I wish I could do that. I'm brought out of my reverie when a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning illumines the car, bringing Max's face in the rear view mirror into focus. His eyes are on the road, so thankfully, he doesn't see me, but occasion
"You were dreaming about Max turning into a wolf?""Yes.""During a sex dream?" "Yes, Neela," I say, exasperated. We are walking to the coffee shop, and our shift begins in a few minutes. We are raking a shortcut to the cafe. A dirt path snaking out of the back of Neela's faculty building. Someone bumps into me."Umpfh" What hits me first is the stench that emanates from him. This one is unlike anything I've ever smelt. The smell is cold and frigid...it is so pungent, my eyes water. I imagine that if death had a smell, this would be it. Something else about the stranger puts me on edge, I can't really place my finger on it, but this time, it's less of a smell and more of a feeling. I turn to look over at him, and my blood freezes in my veins. Every single instinct I have screams at me to run, but my my body doesn't cooperate. My shock holds me in place. My foot is stuck to the ground, and my heart feels like it's stopped beating.He has a greasy mousy brown hair that makes the ext
What seem like million things happen at once. The wolf leaps at me and time slows down. My senses sharpen, bringing the world into sharp focus. My sense of self-preservation kicks in and I'm regretting my vulnerable position right now, too late. I stretch my right hand out and try to grab on to something, anything at all that I can use for a weapon.The wolf lands on me and all breath vanishes from my lungs. I barely manage to keep my eyes on it. My heart pounds like mad drums and bood rushes to my head. The wolf lets out a growl, thick pools of saliva falls on my shirt. Faster than my eye can track he bends his head and bites my arm. It's teeth sinking into my skin feels like a thousand sharp needles piercing me. I let out an ear splitting scream. The wolf savagely rips out a chunk of flesh leaving my hand a mangled mess, I can't help the whimper that escapes me. The pain almost makes me black out. I feel the blood oozing out. It's hot and cold at the same time, like in some twiste
Max's Pov.It was a mess. Everything was one big horrible mess. She just lay there, so still. Her eyes closed, and the skin on her chest was so mauled that it looked like ground beef, and her blood was everywhere.Only years of training kept my control from fracturing. I turn to Natalie"Hurry," I growl out. She looks up at me, and her expression tells me more than she can say. "She's losing too much blood,""There isn't much that I can do, Max." Her calm demeanour contrasts with the urgency of the situation. It pushes my control. I let out a growl, but her hands keep on moving without stopping even as she adds, "She isn't a Wolf, and there isn't much I can do for her here, She needs a doctor,""You're a doctor," she gives me an arched look." She needs a human doctor and a human hospital.""Can we move her?" "Yes, quickly she's still losing a lot of blood." Panic roars through me threatening to fracture my control, but I wrench it back, regaining mastery over myself."The car
I get out of the car and walk away to clear my head."Well, that was interesting," Luke says from behind me as other pack members trickle out from the woods with the body of a rogue wolf carried by two pack soldiers. "Guard her." I order Luke, and then i walk towards the soldiers holding the wolf. As soon as I walk over, the soldiers incline their head with respect. I ignore it. I notice absently that I tower over them. I stare at the rogue wolf, not quite comprehending how it is that he managed to escape Calista's protective detail. I tilt my head studying the mouse brown of his fur. He had all the indications of a rogue wolf. His fur was patchy and discoloured. Even dead, his stench was still revolting. But what I could not quite grasp was why he was after Calista."Report"Joel, the golden haired, Amber eyed one that gives off surfer vibes, speaks up."Somehow, he got past our guards and came after her. After we got to the site of the attack, we engaged him and finished him off
I float in a void of nothingness, my consciousness, a thing of the past as I'm sucked into a memory. "Callie" someone screams, slamming my bedroom door open. "Happy birthday day to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy birthday, Happy birthday to you." I blink rapidly clearing the fog of sleep from my eyes, half hoping I'm still dreaming. I observe my mum in her pyjamas and fuzzy slippers singing the happy birthday song in a very off-key tone, as usual. "Mom!" I scream. I'd specially asked her not to do this, but in true mom style, I guess she had to make sure I was thoroughly embarrassed. "Happy birthday, sweetie," she laughs instead, her hand reaching out to ruffle my hair. I duck and hide under my pillow. "Canon ball," Nicole, my younger sister, screams running into my room. I remove my head from under my pillow just in time to see her barrel into me. "Umpfh," I grunt and catch her. She smiles up at me cheekily."Daddy messed up the cake, but he's bringing up a cup
Max's Pov"So, I talked to Tarla," Luke says from the chair he's sprawled on. I look up from across the room and the scotch I'm pouring"What is it now?" I ask my Beta exasperated. We are currently in my study discussing pack matters. I know he's about to say something to me about Calista, he's very casual about it but I know him well enough to recognise his tells. From the seemingly casual position to the overly casual manner with which he begins this particular conversation.And I also know that ever since Tarla got back from the Ridgewell pack, and saw Calista’s condition she has been pissed and mean as hell, it stands to reason she would have told Luke, hoping my best friend would speak sense into me."When were you going to tell me?" He asks still maintaining the pose, which might have fooled an average observer, but only a wolf would recognize the set of his shoulders and the slight shifts in his scent from wolf to man.The fact that it fluctuates at all is proof of the magnitu