: Heading Home

My phone suddenly rang, cutting through the charged atmosphere and snapping us both back to reality.

Tyler cleared his throat while I patted myself down, finally finding my phone in my back pocket. I checked the screen before answering. There was no chance I was taking a call from that moron, Liam, now. Fortunately, it was my aunt Mara.

"Hi Aunt Mara," I answered brightly, giving Tyler an apologetic look. He gave me an understanding smile and gestured for me to carry on, but he never took his eyes off me for a moment, as if my presence was somehow captivating.

Aunt Mara was calling to find out whether I'd stayed for the Mating Celebration after all. When I'd left for the library this morning, I'd assured her in no uncertain terms that there was no way I'd be attending the celebrations. So, I guess she had every right to be worried that I wasn't home yet. The library had closed hours ago and for all she knew I could have been kidnapped by a wily pack of rogues. I ended the conversation with an apology and the assurance that I would be home soon.

"You in trouble?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, my aunt Mara is cool. I think she's just worried about me. You know... new pack, unfamiliar surroundings, flocks of horny wolf boys lurking around for the Mating Celebration," I teased, giving him a pointed look.

"Well, good thing I'm here to fight them off then," Tyler replied without missing a beat.

I couldn't help but giggle before I shuffled back into the stall to grab my backpack. "I guess I'd better go," I said, my disappointment and reluctance coming through clearly in my sombre tone.

"Can I walk you home?" Tyler offered hopefully.

I perked up at that. "Yeah, that would be nice," I replied with a shy smile, my cheeks flushing a little.

The walk home was filled with conversation, laughter and more curious questions as we got to know one another better. I was totally captivated by him and his cool and calm demeanour. He exuded confidence, but wasn't even a little arrogant. He was funny and had even piggybacked off of my jokes. And just to seal the deal, he was fucking gorgeous.

I was so distracted that I almost didn't realise when we'd reached Aunt Mara's house. Another wave of disappointment hit me as I realised this was it. Our time together was really up now. Unless I wanted to invite him in… but I quickly dismissed that idea.

I might look uninhibited and free spirited, but in reality, I was pretty guarded and cautious.

"So am I going to see you tomorrow?" he asked in that same cool and confident tone.

"I hope so," I replied with a shy smile as I looked down at my feet feeling a little awkward.

How was he so chilled? All I could feel was this weird tugging in my chest as if my heart was pulling me toward him. It took everything in me not to rush at him, leaping into his arms and never letting go. I had to get a grip of myself. The guy still had a girlfriend!

"So can I get your number? We'll obviously need to make plans, so..." his voice trailed off, waiting for my response.

"Yes!" I replied, a little too eagerly which caused me to blush. He handed me his phone and I typed my number in, smiling like a fucking idiot the entire time.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he smiled before leaning in for an awkward hug. I tried to put my arms over his, then he tried to put his over mine, and it was just a disaster. But when we finally got it right... Well, I guess it kind of felt like that was exactly where I belonged and a calmness washed over me that I can't explain.

With a deep sigh, I eventually managed to let him go as we parted ways for the evening.

I hurried to the front door, stopping to give him one final wave goodbye as he waited at my garden gate. He waved back, grinning that adorable grin, then he turned to go and I headed in, closing the door behind me.

Leaning against the closed door, I took a deep, steadying breath before I raced to aunt Mara's room to tell her my news. My hurried steps shook the little wooden house as I excitedly made my way to her.

I peeked my head around the door, eager to start rattling off, but then I saw her sleeping form in her bed.

Guilt wracked me as I checked my phone. It was after midnight. No wonder she'd been worried about me.

I didn't want to wake her, but I also didn't want her to have a miserable night because she was worrying about me. "Aunt Mara," I whispered softly. She moaned sleepily. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm home," I whispered again, trying not to be too disruptive.

"Thanks honey," she murmured, her voice still thick with sleep before she flipped her pillow over and went back to bed.

I retreated to my room, dumping my backpack on the floor unceremoniously before I took off my bra and flopped down on my bed, phone in hand as I eagerly anticipated a message from Tyler.

As I waited my thoughts shifted to the mate bond. I'd been so adamant it was a violation of ones freewill, but now, it didn't feel that way at all. I struggled as I fought an internal battle against myself, trying to justify it or explain to myself how this was somehow different. Then, thankfully, my phone buzzed with a message from Tyler. The perfect distraction.

Tyler:

I'm home now. You still awake?

I was giddy. The realisation made me cringe at myself. Play it fucking cool, Kate, try not to look too eager.

Me:

I'm awake. Just getting ready for bed.

I pulled myself to my feet, stripping my clothes off before I pulled on an oversized band t-shirt to sleep in.

Sure enough, within moments, I had a new message.

Tyler:

Lucky you... There are like a million people hanging around at my place still.

What did that mean, I wondered? Why would there be people at his house? Did he still live with his parents or a room mate or something? Maybe they were having a party?

My mind was doing some wild mental gymnastics as I tried to puzzle it out when my message tone went again.

Tyler:

So, you mentioned you also like to read. What are you busy reading at the moment?

: The Alpha's Son

I don't know how I eventually managed to fall asleep, but I did. Opening one sleepy eye, I gazed at my phone. I'd fallen asleep with it in my hand, clutching it like it was some kind of lifeline, and I saw now there was a light blinking to indicate I had a message.

With absolute urgency I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes as muted daylight streamed through a crack in my curtains. My fingers worked as if they had a mind of their own, opening the text message, desperate to see who it was from. I was certain it was Tyler and beamed with excitement when I saw his name come up on my screen.

The message was simple, but still managed to make my heart race and my breath hitch.

Tyler:

Morning 🌞 Hope you slept well.

My entire body felt tingly as I read the words, thinking about our unexpected meeting the day before.

I'd spent a good chunk of the night trying to justify the feelings I'd felt with him and reconcile these with my denial of the 'mate bond', but I'd come up short. There was something there that I couldn't explain, and the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to. I didn't want to try and second guess every thought and feeling I had. So instead, I made the decision to simply fall into this head first and let it take me wherever it wanted to go.

I started to type my response with nimble fingers.

Me:

Good morning. I slept pretty good. How about you?

I sat up on the edge of my bed, a glorified pull out couch if we're being honest, stretching and yawning before I scooped my mess of tangled purple hair up in a bun. I looked around my room, half my clothes still packed in my suitcase and the other half strewn about on just about every surface the eye could see. Aunt Mara was right... I did need to clean this place up.

I stood, stretching my limbs once more before heading to the bathroom I shared with my aunt. On my way I dodged the exercise bike and treadmill that took up the majority of the room. Aunt Mara promised me she'd find another spot for them, but the reality was that the house was a shoebox. The only other 'spot' for them was outside. And to her credit, she used them almost daily, so getting rid of them wasn't really an option either.

That being said, the house was small, my room was doubling up as a home gym, my bed was a pullout couch that probably would have killed my back had I been just a couple of years older, and I had to share a bathroom. But this was like heaven compared to where I was before.

I might have lived in a nicer house and had my own huge bedroom with my own en suite bathroom, but let's just say that the company was subpar.

I was brushing my teeth when I heard my message tone. Like a cheetah, I dashed back to my room, snatching up my phone to see if it was Tyler. It was.

My heart pounded wildly as I opened his message, my toothbrush still hanging out of my mouth. He was asking what time I'm free to hang out today.

Torn between desperately wanting to see him again and not wanting to appear like I desperately wanted to see him again, I sighed and began typing with my left hand while I finished brushing my teeth with my right.

Me:

I've just got a couple of things to do this morning, but maybe we could meet up around 12ish? ❤️

However, to my absolute dismay I pressed send before I realised that my stupid left hand had selected the heart emoji instead of the smiley face emoji at the end of my text.

"No, no, no!!" I wailed, desperately trying to figure out how to unsend the message. Was that even possible? But before I could look into it further I saw the little ticks next to my message turn blue. He'd read it.

"NO!" I howled, collapsing back on my bed in despair, foamy toothbrush still in hand while I tried to figure out how I was going to handle this.

"Is everything okay?!" Aunt Mara asked, rushing in to check on me.

"Nothing unusual... Just my love life up in flames again," I groaned, pulling myself to my feet and heading to the bathroom to finish brushing my teeth.

"Sorry to hear that, hun. Wanna talk about it?" my aunt offered, her voice kind and reassuring.

I gave a deep sigh before I replied. "I met my mate last night. And now I just sent him a text with a heart," I explained, mortified by my own stupidity.

"You met your mate?!" Aunt Mara asked in shocked disbelief, rushing into the bathroom as she watched me wash my face, waiting for me to confirm or deny the fact.

"Yeah. But not at the Mating Celebration, just in case that's what you're thinking. No... In true Katelyn fashion I made my mate follow me into a public toilet," I explained, cringing as I thought about it. God... Why hadn't I just got to the stupid celebration. At least we wouldn't have had to sit on a dirty, cold restroom floor all night then.

"Oh honey, that's wonderful!" my aunt exclaimed, rushing at me and giving me an enormous hug. "I'm so happy for you. What's his name?" she asked, her face illuminated with the most heartfelt smile I'd ever seen.

"Tyler," I replied, blushing a little as I applied my moisturizer.

"Tyler?" she asked, sounding a little puzzled. "You mean Tyler Valentine? Alpha David's son?" she asked, clearly perturbed.

"He didn't tell me his surname. What do you mean 'Alpha David's son'?" I asked, anxiety suddenly rushing through my veins.

"I mean, if it's Tyler Valentine, he's the Alpha's son, honey," my aunt replied.

I wasn't sure whether her tone was one of reassurance or worry.

: The Heart Emoji

"I guess it makes sense why he was so evasive now," I mumbled, thinking back to our conversation the night before.

Aunt Mara watched me, her expression a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Are you okay with this?" she asked gently.

"I mean... I don't know. I guess it doesn't really change the way I feel about him," I explained, trying to make sense of my feelings.

Aunt Mara nodded understandingly. "It's a big deal, being mated to the Alpha's son. It comes with a lot of expectations and responsibilities."

I groaned, feeling a weight settle over me. "I just wanted to get away from all the drama back home. Now it feels like I'm stepping into a whole new kind of drama here."

"I'm sorry, hun," Aunt Mara said softly, giving my shoulder a reassuring rub.

"Maybe you're wrong. Maybe it's a different Tyler," I reasoned hopefully. "I mean, there were like 4 packs here last night. He could have been from any of them."

"You're absolutely right," Aunt Mara said with a smile. "Now how about some breakfast?" she offered kindly before heading out to the kitchen.

I nodded, but my smile faltered. Any appetite I'd had was long gone now. I wanted to ask him about it, to put my mind at ease, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing you discuss over text message. In the end I decided to try not to get too worked up about it. But it was definitely going to be a topic of discussion when I saw him later.

I headed back to my room, both looking forward to and dreading his message. The light on my phone blinked impatiently.

2 messages....

Tyler:

Hearts already? I must have done something right last night 😁

Meet same place at 12 then? ❤️

My heart fucking soared and any apprehension I'd had only moments ago was long forgotten when I saw that stupid heart.

Me:

See you there 😁

I let out a deep sigh and smiled like an idiot to myself.

The rest of the morning was a blur. I got dressed, trying to keep it casual, but I'll admit, I changed like 8 times... I ended up in a pair of black skinny jeans, my favorite closet staple after leggings and hoodies, and a vintage Iron Maiden t-shirt I'd found at a thrift shop back in Colorado.

After dressing I joined Aunt Mara for breakfast, but I still wasn't particularly hungry after the revelation of Tyler's potential Alpha status. I ended up picking at my food until Aunt Mara urged me to go and do something more constructive with my time... Like clean my room.

She was totally right, I'd turned the place into a pigsty since I'd been here. It wasn't fair to take advantage of her kindness, so with headphones on and music blaring, I got to cleaning up my room.

It was a lot of work, but with the music going, I managed to get into a groove and get things neat and tidy so that the place was livable once more.

Aunt Mara appeared in the doorway with an approving smile, waiting for me to pull my headphones off. "Looking good, hun," she sang my praises, leaning against the doorframe as her eyes scanned the room.

"Yeah, at least you can get to your treadmill now," I beamed, a little out of breath

"We'll find somewhere else to put it. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I know it's small..." she apologized. I could see her guilt and discomfort clear on her face.

"It's fine Aunt Mara. Really. I'm just so grateful to be here. Thank you," I reassured her, shooting her a thankful smile.

She returned my smile, relief flooding her features.

"So, do you have any plans for today? I thought maybe we could grab a coffee or something if you aren't busy?" She suggested.

"Thanks, but I've actually got plans to meet up with Tyler at 12:00," I replied, feeling a little guilty at having to decline her sweet offer.

"At 12:00? Honey, you'd better get going. You're going to be late," she said, looking at her watch.

I checked my phone. It was 11:50.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed panic surging through me. It was a 15 minute walk and I was undoubtedly going to be late. This was not the impression I wanted to make.

With urgency I ran a brush through my hair, then gave Aunt Mara a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you! Love you! See you later!" I yelled, running out the front door.

"Let me know your plans please!" she called out, obviously not wanting a repeat of the night before.