"Strength is all in the mind," his grandfather told him. "It doesn't matter how you look at the end of the day, or who you are. Strength comes from within.""How will I know that I am strong then?" he asked him. His grandfather was so much taller than him. He never felt like he was growing at all with his grandfather standing next to him."You will know you are strong when you must use that strength," he said. "And it is only then that you will be able to realize just how much of that strength you have.""Shiro, are you even listening to me?!" Tammy snapped him out of his thoughts. They were at lunch at the time."You were talking about how worried you were about your finals tomorrow," Shiro said. He had been distracted quite a lot lately. But he would not let his mind grow stagnant like it wanted to. He had to stay sharp."No, Shiro," Tammy pointed at him. "I'm worried about you and your tests tomorrow.""It would be best that you worry about yourself, Tammy," Shiro shook his head. "

Oh, how he wanted to punch something.No, not something. He wanted to punch himself."Why are you back up here again?" Bree asked. "What happened?""I'm a fucking idiot," he paced on the roof again. "That's what happened.""What happened?" Alex climbed up there with them. "Did his girlfriend come over?"It looked like Blake was climbing up as well. Great. He might as well just have a damn party on the roof at this point!"No," he rubbed his face, his body moving faster than before as he walked back and forth along the peak of the roof."What did I miss?" Blake asked."Jett found his mate," Alex said. "Long story short; it's Shiro, he was supposed to talk to him today about it; and now it seems he's fucked up.""Wait," Blake looked shocked. "No one told me that he found his mate! When was this?!""Why are you all up here?!" Jett snapped at them all. He was already losing his mind, and all of his friends were too busy celebrating the mate that had just ran from him."I mean," Blake poin

"Hey, Grandpa?" He walked along the sidewalk of the long empty streets."Yes, Shiro?" he watched him curiously as Shiro balanced himself on the small stone wall that they had been walking beside."What's it like to find your mate?""It's indescribable bliss," he smiled at him. "Finding your mate is finding the other half of your soul. Not only do they complete you, but they bring you happiness and peace for the rest of your days.""Do you think I'll find mine?" he stopped and sat down on the wall, looking at his grandfather with excitement."Of course, you will Shiro," his grandfather chuckled and put a hand on his small shoulders. "You are a Wang. And the Spirit of the Moon blesses our family with mates right when they are of age.""What do you think they will be like?""That's a good question," he said. "The Spirit of the Moon doesn't like telling her secrets when it comes to that.""But I didn't ask the moon," Shiro huffed. "I asked you, Grandpa.""Well," the tall man laughed again

The garden was one of the places that Shiro had always loved to go explore in when he was a kid. His grandfather taught him how to care for each of the plants that they had. He loved to learn everything he could. It was amazing to him back then just how much knowledge there was in the world, even about the things that he could not see. And learning it from his grandfather made it all the more special.He wished he could ask him about what to do now. He wished he could ask someone for advice at the moment. There was nothing that could calm his heart or his thoughts and he absolutely hated it. He had learned to control so many things of himself; to be able to hide and distract. But he could not control himself with that scent in the air and the sound of him walking closer. He could not control the worry that he had about this situation. He still didn't know what he was going to say."This is a lovely garden," Jett was the first to speak, his voice low and calm. Shiro wished that he coul

"What was what?" Geo asked, locking the door behind him. At least this way his parents would just think he was asleep or something. And no one else would try and go in there. It really must have just happened on the spot for Miki, if she forgot to even lock the door."That smell?" Alex looked at him curiously."What smell?" he started leading him down the halls again."Oh, come on!" Alex laughed. "The look on your face when you got out said it all!""I really don't know what you're talking about," he shook his head.If Miki was gone for their plan of distracting everyone, that meant that there was someone who wasn't getting looked over. Geo would probably have to go and distract them as well now. Which was going to be annoying, but doable."Hiroko," he called out to her first. He was worried about Shiro. He knew that he was new to all the romance stuff. It was something that he never explored due to all the pack responsibilities. "How's Shiro?""I was hoping that I could talk to you a