James was embarrassed at the fact that Petra, Zack, and Erik noticed they were being followed, yet he didn't. No matter how buzzed he was from beer, and how much fun he had, as the future Alpha of the Red Moon pack, he should catch onto these things before others.
James cursed internally. Things like these will make him look incompetent. If his father gets a wind of this, James will get punished and probably his training regime will increase.
The situation became worse when James realized that the woman didn't have a wolf, which meant that his three friends were protecting him from a human. This was definitely a new low from him.
He should be the one standing in front of whatever was coming and confidently telling the intruder to scram or face the consequences, but when his eyes met Cornelia's, James found himself dumbstruck. He never saw a woman more beautiful in his life, and the way his wolf stirred told James that they agreed on this point.
Was she here for him? It seemed like it. Why else would she crane her neck to look at him through the visual obstruction that Petra, Zack, and Erik provided?
Cornelia went to explore the town. Considering her experience with Mindy tackling her, Cornelia decided to stick to the shadows and observe people and surroundings.
The group of four teens got Cornelia's attention as she felt a silent pull she couldn't recognize, so she followed them for most of the evening while trying to figure out what it was.
It's not that no one noticed Cornelia, there were patrols mixed in with regular folks, but without her wolf, they assumed Cornelia is human, hence harmless. Warriors guarding the packhouse knew she was staying there as Gideon's cousin, so no one blocked her way.
"Answer me! Why are you following us!?", Petra demanded, and her shoulders tightened as she lowered her body and her arms spread, ready to attack at any moment.
Cornelia glanced at three teens who were on high alert, and she didn't want to waste words on them. With a wave of her finger, a streak of silvery light appeared out of thin air and split into three, shooting at Petra, Zack, and Erik who were too surprised to react to this development. They never saw anything like it, and by the time they recovered, neither of them could move a muscle.
'What the hell?', Zack cursed into the mind-link for Petra and Erik to hear.
'I can't move!', Petra exclaimed in panic. 'Should we alert the guards?'
'Wait.', Erik said. 'She doesn't appear hostile.'
'You call this NOT hostile?', Petra hissed.
'We are not harmed. Only incapacitated.', Erik said flatly.
'What will we do if James is harmed?', Petra asked. 'It's our mission to protect him!'
By this time, Zack calmed down enough to analyze the situation. 'If she wanted to harm us, we would be gone before we knew what hit us. I don't like this, but let's think about the consequences. Our only option is to call guards, which would count as a mission failed. Stay alert. Don't rush into things. If she did this on the driveway to the packhouse, we would be gone without knowing what hit us.'
Petra and Erik agreed with this.
"Can I talk to you?", Cornelia asked James.
"Me?", he asked with surprise evident in his voice. Why would this mysterious beauty want to talk to him?
"Will you hide behind your girlfriend?"
James cleared his throat. "Petra is not my girlfriend. We are just friends."
"Just friends.", Cornelia repeated. "Good."
James firmed his resolve and walked between Petra and Erik to stand in front of them, wondering why neither of them moved. Petra's back was blocking his view and he didn't see the silvery light display.
"What is your name?", Cornelia asked.
"James. Why are you looking for me?"
James dismissed the idea of Cornelia being hostile due to the fact that they were in the middle of the Dark Howlers pack. Who would dare to attack him openly? His next guess was that she was interested in him because of his identity. It wouldn't be the first time for a girl (or a woman) to come onto him. After all, he is the future Alpha of the Red Moon pack.
But she asked for his name, and James wondered if she really didn't know who he was or maybe she was just a good actress, good enough to trick the observation skills that he polished to the extreme.
Cornelia looked at James and her smile faded. "Can't you feel it?"
"Feel what?"
"Aren't you a werewolf?", she asked her next question.
"Yes. So?"
Her eyes moved over his face as if searching for something, and then she released a breath of disappointment.
"Nothing.", Cornelia said and lifted her hand, her index finger rotated in the air, and Petra, Erik, and Zack were able to move now. "I apologize for disturbing you. It seems I made a mistake."
The sadness in her voice cut James' heart in half and when she turned to leave, he was quick to grab her wrist.
"Wait!", James exclaimed. "What should I feel?"
Cornelia stared at the point where he was holding her, his hand warm and firm, big enough to circle her wrist completely.
She twisted her hand, to get out of James' grasp. "Nothing. It's not important."
"But it is!" He knew it was. James moved to stand in front of Cornelia and block her way. "Tell me."
Cornelia thought that there was no harm in asking, "Doesn't your kind feel when you meet your soulmate?"
James' eyes widened. "Mate? Yes, we can feel it." He swallowed hard when he realized an impossible possibility. "Are you saying you are my mate?"
Cornelia shook her head. "Obviously not. Otherwise, you would feel the pull, and there would be no need to ask."
Cornelia was confused. She felt something and while following them, she identified that it was not Petra, nor Zack, not Erik, which left James. And now that he stood in front of her, the energy was clearly there, but maybe it was something else.
She thought that maybe all those clothes were interfering with her senses, so she swiftly removed her t-shirt.
James' eyes widened in shock. No bra!
He couldn't believe that just this sight made his pants tighten in the groin area! Sure, he was a healthy (almost) sixteen years-old boy, but he saw plenty of flesh in his life and this shouldn't affect him so much. However, her breasts were round with perky peaks, and he balled his hands into fists to prevent himself from groping her. When did he turn into a lecher?
James stared at Cornelia's perfectly round breasts for a second longer than appropriate before he was able to force his gaze to meet Cornelia's.
"What about now?", she asked.
"It doesn't work that way.", James squeaked and cursed internally at his voice that betrayed how aroused he was.
