Chapter 4

“Awww, look, it’s our teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy Ada coming to the rescue,” Gia shrieks in that annoying drunk-girl way before giggling like a loon.

It was enough to shake me out of my daze and I’m momentarily distracted from sniffing out the source of that intoxicating smell.

A cold gust of air blew through my hair and felt like a bucket of water over my head. “Damn it.” My teeth begin to chatter. Instead of trying to find out which one of the standby male wolves rang me up and told me to fetch my friends to thank him, I focused my attention on the two drunken nitwits who were hugging each other for warmth.

“Ugh, come on. Let’s go home girls.” I grab Gia’s arm none too gently because I’m pissed at her for making me do this shit on my birthday. Meanwhile, Cora is in silent mode, with her head down, occasionally bobbing because she keeps falling asleep and waking up.

“Get up before I drag you up by your weave, Gia,” I say through gritted teeth.

She bats my hands away. “No, no, grandma. Go away. Jay says he likes me and I—”

I don’t let her finish because I drag her up and forcibly put her arm around my neck. “I don’t give a shit who Jay is, but we need to get the hell out of here. My dad is going to murder me when he finds out I took the car.”

“Ha ha, you’re such a daddy’s girl. Daddy’s little girl,” she sing-songs. She leans heavily against my shoulder as she struggles to remain upright.

I shove her into the back seat of my dad’s late-model sedan, then go back for Cora.

“Ada, you dum-dum, you have mismatched shoes!”

Gia is hanging out of the car window, calling after me while laughing out loud.

Embarrassed, I look down at my feet. I’m wearing a pink slipper on my left and an oversized orange slipper, which belongs to my dad, on the right. My traitorous wolf half bursts into guffaws inside my head. I curse myself for being stupid. Okay, in my panic and rush to get here, I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what I put on my feet.

“Cora.” I crouch down before her and she looks up instantly. Her tear-filled eyes worry me.

“I wanted to hook up with someone tonight, but I love Jem. Is it wrong of me to want fu- somebody since Jem won’t have sex with me? I want to fu—” She doesn’t finish the word as I slap my hand over her mouth, shutting her up.

I grab her shoulders. “Cora, there’s a big difference between fuck and love. Once you have sex with someone you don’t care about, you’ll mess your life up and lose the love you’ve been fighting for. If you really love Jem, just hang on a little. It’s just hormones, all right? Settle down. Wait for him.”

Sniffling, she shakes her head then flings her arms around me and squeezes me tight. “Thank you, sissy. I love you!”

Alera is huffing with disgust. “Ugh, drunk people!”

I yank Cora upward and tell her, “Sweetie, I’ll remind you of this when you’re sober.” I say it jokingly, but I feel really bad for her right now.

I drag her to my car and dump her in the back seat next to a snoring Gia. Just as I was about to get behind the steering wheel, I remember the other people there, specifically the person who rang me up and told me about my drunk-ass friends.

I got so wrapped up in saving their inebriated butts that I forgot about this person.

I contemplate whether to go, since I’m about to freeze to death, or find the dude and thank him. I end up going back to the group of kids, only to be ensnared by that scent once more. I rub my hands vigorously to create heat and blow on them to no avail. They’re turning into popsicles.

With barely working fingers, I pinch my nose shut to block out the potent scent and prevent myself from getting woozy. “Hello.”

These people look at me like I’m an idiot, which yes, admittedly, I kind of am. I don’t frickin’ know them and yet here I am, trying to talk to them like we’re social buddies. I search their faces one by one, from the one dude leaning against his car to the other three next to him. Wait a minute, these are the same dudes I saw at the mall the other day. My eyes settle on the chick from my school who is clinging like static to a dude wearing a kickass leather jacket and taking a drag from his cigarette while staring at me.

My entire system freezes in remembrance, along with any cognitive abilities. Not from the freezing cold but from Alera yipping matematematemate. Body heat flows through me, heating me up, spreading to every inch of me and to the most extreme of my extremities. I’m not so cold anymore. His gaze is the sun.

The one with the ciggy seems surprised, like he’d been conked over the head with a cartoon mallet. Our eyes meet and hold. Alera jumps around in excitement, howling with joy, while I, the human part, just stand there, gawking at him.

Those dark green orbs, which remind me of the green forest, don’t stray from mine. Once again, I’m struck stupid by his gaze alone and unable to move.

We stare into each other’s eyes while everything else seems to fade into the background, and other sounds are muted besides our individual heartbeats. Our wolves are submitting to the bond, recognizing the metaphysical connection that will join us together for all time. My soul thrums like a tuning fork because I know this male is my divinely assigned perfect half, chosen for me by the moon goddess as my One True Mate. My wolf is pushing me to go to him, practically shoving at the walls within my body as though she means to break out and join his wolf. But I, the human part, stubbornly refuse to yield.

I know what’s supposed to happen here. I’ve seen it with other girls. I’m supposed to run up to him in slow-motion, shove the other girl aside, and jump into his arms. He’d catch me in the air and we’d embrace like we mean to absorb each other and kiss nasty. With tongue. Lots of tongue. Then we’d never ever leave one another’s side and die next to each other. That’s what Alera is feeling, but it’s not really crossing over to me. I’ve never felt anything like this before so I have no point of reference. I don’t know if this is love or I’m just getting carried away by Alera’s excitement.

This love at first sight (or second sight, in this case) is supposed to be the real deal. I’ve witnessed it happen to people. I’ve seen complete strangers lock eyes with each other from across the room and abandon all rational thought to run to each other and embrace like they’ve known one another for years.

That’s what Alera wants me to do now: run to him, wrap my arms and legs around him. Sniff him. Kiss him. That’s what my body wants me to do, too. But I’m not sure that’s what I, individual consciousness, want to do.

Those green eyes are still looking at me, as if daring me to make the first move.

Am I in love with him? As I continue to hold his gaze, that question resounds in my skull and it’s ridiculous because I don’t even know him. I don’t even remember his name. And his girlfriend is standing right next to him. For all I know, I could be staring into the eyes of a lying Alpha.