– Skyler's POV –
“Ugh, I hate school” I say to Declan and Jared as we walk down the road towards Epitimia public high school. Honestly, it was both true and a lie. I like school, I just hate being surrounded by the pack no matter where I go.
“Yeah, specially on a Monday” Jared agrees with a yawn. Glancing over, I watch as he stretches again making his long blonde hair fall off his shoulder and down his back as his teal eyes water. We continue on in a comfortable silence until Declan says “so Skyler, you know your birthday is this weekend. What would you like gift wise?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him glance at me with his chocolate brown eyes as his short curly brown hair is tousled by the slight breeze. Pretending to think for a minute, I answer honestly “I don't know. Surprise me” since the only thing I really want isn't up to me.
“Hmmm... that's not helpful..” Jared said with another yawn snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry, I just don't know what I want” I lied then added “give me some time to think about it.” The only thing I really wanted for my seventeenth birthday was to not be mated to Declan. While he is a decent person, I just really have no interest in being Luna and while he’s fairly good looking, I am not sexually attracted to him in the slightest despite being a gay male omega. As werewolves we have predetermined mates and since Declan, Jared, and I have been friends since we were kids everyone assumed two of us would be mated. However, when Declan and Jared turned seventeen it was determined that they couldn't be since they are both set to take over as Alpha and Beta of the Autumn Shadows pack. That and the fact that Jared found his mate, a girl named Kinsey Jefferies, that night. Now everyone assumes I will be Declan’s mate since he is eighteen and hasn't found his yet. In order to find your mate, you both have to be seventeen or older however, if one of the pairing is younger the older wolf won't find them until their seventeenth birthday. When Declan turned seventeen last year, everyone expected him to find his mate immediately but when he didn't they assumed his mate was younger since I was only turning sixteen a month later.
As we continue our walk, a black Mercedes with tinted windows drove passed and into the school parking lot. Immediately, I recognized the plates as belonging to one of the Earnest Hearts coven cars and could guess who the occupants were since I'd had a crush on one of them for a long time. Rounding the corner, I watched as four warlocks exited the vehicle. The two who had been in the front look similar from behind both having dark hair and wearing matching silver arm cuffs marking them as part of the main family. Just as that thought occurred to me, Zane McDermot turned and met my eyes, his icy blue ones boring into mine, as he moved to stand next to his younger brother, Senan, while they waited for the two from the back to join them. Flanking them, Tristan Arnell and Logan Geovani watched us as we continued towards the main door. Quickly looking away, I followed Declan and Jared to our lockers on the second floor. As I retrieved my books, they started talking about mates again making me want to escape because this topic always turned into some type of argument. Luckily, Jareds’ mate, Kinsey, chose that moment to show up.
“Hey baby. Alpha. Skyler. How are you guys?” she says as she wraps herself around Jared.
“Hey Kinsey, I’m good, how are you?” Declan says as he leans against the locker next to mine.
“Hi Kins” I return her greeting with a smile but without answering her question as I turn back to finish getting my stuff from my locker. Once finished, I slammed my locker shut and rushed off towards my first period English class that thankfully was in the opposite direction of their civics class. Opening our mind link, Kinsey asked “you okay, Sky?”
“Yeah and no. Just before you walked up the guys started talking about mates again and you know how that conversation inevitably ends up. I just didn’t want to deal with the drama this early” I thought back.
“Oh, I’m sorry sweetie. Try to have a good day though, okay?” she thought as I felt her smile.
“I’ll try. Talk to you later, Kins” I said before cutting the link as I reached the door to my first period.
Walking into class with my head down, I headed for a seat at one of the back tables before getting out my notebook, pen, and copy of this weeks book. As I stare out the window, I quickly manage to get lost in my thoughts as I wait for class to start.
“I wonder what everyone's reaction would be if I wasn't mated to Declan this weekend. Would everyone be upset? Obviously, dad would be the most upset or he’d think I was lying until Declan agreed with me but I think I honestly wouldn't care what they say. He's only my friend nothing more and probably only that because of Jared. Some days I wonder why he even talks to me. If it's not Declan, I wonder what my mate will be like. Will he be handsome? Smart? Creative?” I thought as people began to file into the room.
“Hey Percy, what do you think our mate will be like? That is assuming it isn't Declan and Taki” I asked my wolf as more people came into the room.
“I don't know. My only hope is that they accept us and can keep you from hurting yourself more than you already have” he answered referencing my past suicide attempts due to untreated depression. After the last one, I was hospitalized and treated against my fathers wishes because he didn't believe there was anything wrong with me despite the physical proof.
“Yeah, I hope so too. I hope whoever it is can make us happier than we've ever been. I know everyone thinks we're useless because we're sick but it's not like we can help it” I said sadly.
“I know Sky, I wasn't blaming you. Remember, I understand you better than anyone else even when you try to hide it. We'll be okay, I think our mate will accept us for who and what we are without expecting anything extravagant” he said in a soothing tone. Despite my enhanced perception abilities, I didn't notice the vanilla and chamomile scent as someone took the seat next to me until the teacher took attendance snapping me out of the conversation.
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