Chapter 22

Tucker’s POV


I went to class with a huge smile on my face. She said yes. I turned the corner and saw Alex walking my direction. I tried to wipe the grin off my face so he wouldn’t get suspicious but I didn’t think about how Cyn’s scent was probably all over me. Shit.
He stopped right in front of me with his nostrils flaring and an angry tick of his jaw. “Why do you smell like my mate?” He growled.
“We talked was all.” I told him, “you never said we couldn’t be friends.”
He walked closer into my personal space, “if I get any sort of inkling that you two are together again, I’ll make you regret it. Cyn is mine.”
A rumble tried to make it’s way out of my chest as I gruffly said, “she will never be yours.”
I bypassed him and went to my class, now in a bad mood at his appearance. I had to admit that I was slightly worried about his words. I know the mate bond is strong and it’s almost impossible to resist. What if she changes her mind? I shook the thoughts from my head and focused on the class. The clock ticked by slowly . I notice Matty stealing glances at me, probably in worry. As soon as the bell rang I bolted from my seat.
“Hey wait up man!” Matty called out. I skidded to a stop, “hey.”
“You didn’t tell me you were out.” He grumpily told me. I felt a bit guilty, he’s my best friend and I was so concerned about Cyn that I didn’t tell him anything.
“I’m sorry bro, I had some stuff on my mind.”
“I get that, but don’t forget your life doesn’t revolve around your love life.” He said. I stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to look at him, “I can’t live without her… I love her.”
“I understand, I do, but you don’t need to go through all this alone. Don’t forget I’m here for you.” He said as he placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I let out a breath, “you’re right, I’m sorry bro.” Matty’s lip twitched like he was holding back a smile, “also, you’re supposed to set me up with Helena, remember?” I laughed, how could I forget his crush?
“My bad bro, I’ll get to work on that right away.” I winked as I strutted towards the cafeteria, eager to see Cyn. The breath was stolen from my lungs when I walked in and saw her sitting with Helena and Josh, laughing happily. She was absolutely radiant. Everything from her long blonde hair, to her curves, her smile and also her mind attracted me. I wanted to lock her away in my room and forget the rest of the world. When her eyes met mine, I couldn’t help but smile at her. I started walking towards her when I noticed Alex stopping at the table first. With a growl I picked up the pace. I could see him lean down to whisper something in her ear and her face paled. With a quick glance my direction, she stood while grabbing her stuff and followed him. He pulled her by the hand and took her to his table that he’s been sitting at lately and sat her next to him.
When I approached I asked Josh and Helena, “what the fuck did he say to her?”
“I couldn’t hear very well because of all the noise in here but it sounded like he threatened something if she didn’t go with him. I couldn’t hear what though.” Helena said. I worked on calming my wolf, he wanted to go to our woman and steal her away but we couldn’t do that right now, especially with so many people around. I looked over at their table and saw him sitting with his arm around her shoulders. He looked directly at me with a smirk on his face and my poor girl looked highly uncomfortable. My knuckles turned white from how hard I was fisting my hands. I cracked my knuckles and tried to relax them. Cyn didn’t glance my way at all the rest of lunch. Highly irritated, I didn’t pay attention to anything that anyone tried to say to me as I stood and stomped my way to my next class. I couldn’t concentrate the whole period and decided to text Cyn.

Me: are you okay?
Cyn: I’m ok
Me: what did Alex say to you?
Cyn: I don’t want to talk about it
Me: talk to me baby
Cyn: I can’t
Me: I’ll protect you, I promise
Cyn: I have to go, can you meet me at Josh’s house after school?
Me: of course, send me the address

I tucked my phone back into my pocket and had a ghost of a smile on my face. At least she was still talking to me. Worry filled me when I saw Alex taking her away at lunch and I was concerned that we were back to square one. I took a calming breath and waited for the bell to ring so I could get to my next class with Cyn.
*ding, ding, ding*
I hopped up from my chair and sprinted out the room and straight to Cyn’s locker where she usually stops before this class. I tapped my foot impatiently until I saw her round the corner.
“Cyn!” I called out to her! Her face brightened for a moment before a frown took over and she stopped and checked our surroundings. With slow steps, she stepped closer until she was by my side.
“What are you doing here?” She whispered as she opened her locker.
“I had to see you before class, I needed to see your face to know you’re okay.”
“Okay, but we can talk later after school. We need to keep our distance when we’re here. Alex seems to always be watching and I have no idea if he has someone else keeping track of me also.” She murmured quietly as she grabbed her books.
I took the books from her hands and carried them for her. She kept looking around, checking for someone watching but I didn’t give a shit. If I wanted to carry her books, I would. We reached the classroom and we sat in our normal seats, side by side. I set her books on her desk and turned my attention towards the front. Alex walked in and when he saw us, I saw fire in his eyes, he was pissed off.
He went and sat directly behind her, probably to keep an eye on us both. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I could feel Cyn’s nervousness and I felt terrible that Alex was keeping her on edge all the time. Thankfully the day was almost over and we could talk at Josh’s house. The whole class, I saw from my peripheral vision Alex playing with Cyn’s hair, twirling it in his fingers. My teeth were grinding together so hard I’d be surprised if he didn’t hear it. I wanted to wipe that stupid smirk right off his face.
“Alright kids, we are doing a group project today. I’m going to assign pairs.” Mr. Forbes said to the classroom. The sound of groans could be heard throughout the room.
He went down the list until he came to Cyn’s name.
“Cynthia Jackson and Alex Johnson.” Fuck!
“Tucker Wilson and Phoebe Bell.” Who the fuck is Phoebe? I looked around the room and noticed a girl staring at me, a human girl. Must be her. When the teacher told us to pair up I walked over.
“Are you Phoebe? You must be new.”
“Yes, we just moved here recently. Today is my first day.” She said shyly. I nodded and sat down.
We talked about the project for a while until the bell rang.
“Okay, it was nice to meet you Phoebe.” I told her as I stood up.
“Umm, do you want to meet after school today?” She asked.
“Sorry, I have plans today, we can probably find some time tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” she seemed a bit down, but the project can wait. I need to see Cyn.
I walked out the room, just now noticing that we were the only two left. I heaved a sigh when I left the room and the halls were full. I couldn’t see where Cyn or Alex went.
I dragged my feet towards the parking lot, deciding to skip the rest of school. I didn’t have it with Cyn and I was needing to go release some steam.
I drove to grandma’s house and went straight to the back porch to strip and shift into my wolf. I shook out my fur and started running as fast as I can. I decided to take a different way than I normally do and I headed west. My wolf was feeling adventurous and I had time to kill before I went to see Cyn. I flew through the trees, smelling the damp earth and all the scents of different animals. I came to a small clearing and decided to lay down and rest for a minute. I closed my eyes and let the sounds of nature soothe my soul. After 30 minutes or so, I heard a twig snap. My ears perked up in attention as I opened my eyes. I saw the strangest sight. A woman sauntered towards me wearing nothing. I stood to run and she opened her mouth, “stop.”
I froze in place, unable to move. Realization dawned on me, she must be a witch.
I tried to shift back into my human form but couldn’t. She approached me and waved her hand in front of my face, “sleep.”
I closed my eyes and succumbed to darkness.