WRONG ( Croton Pack Series)

“I won’t attend the gala” Arista Rossi said in despair to her friend Linda Ricci, at the other end of the line. She thought about crushing her phone, but that would be absurd. Linda made use of the phone instead of linking her. She has got to respect that. “I’m so sorry, Arista. I really wish you could come.” Linda’s tone was rather sympathetic. She missed Arista, but there is no way Arista is going to Rome this year. Marcus and work would not allow it. “How is Justus?” Arista asked, trying to remove her mind from the subject and think about something else. “Justus is doing great, he can be really annoying at times, but I still love him and he loves me.” Linda giggled. “I know you guys have had sex.” “Oh yeah Ari, you can’t imagine, Justus is a s*x addict.” “That means we will soon--” “NO!” “Why?” “We use suppressants, we aren’t thinking of having pups now.” “Oh okay. But why” "I feel we aren't ready. I don't think Justus wants to be a dad yet." “So how is New York?” Arista didn’t reply. She thought about what to say. “I mean how are you getting along with humans, and you know withstanding over there.” Linda asked again, when she noticed her friend’s stiffness in answering the question she asked, but she just made it worse for her friend. Actually, Arista is doing just fine in New York, but she isn’t just comfortable in New York. She is doing just fine financially. She has a job as a secretary in a company with its HQ in Italy. She needed the job not because of money issues. She knew she would feel some kind of connection with her country if she got the job, as some Italians visit, work and do business there, some werewolves, some humans. “I’m doing great, I have a job,” she finally said. At least that seemed to be an achievement for her. “Wow! That is great news Ari.” Linda said. “For how long?” She asked curiously. “For a year and eight months”, Arista got the job almost two years ago but isn’t quite satisfied with what the job offered her. There hasn’t been a business trip to Rome yet. “Nice choice girlfriend, where do you work?” “Oh, I work at Greco’s Jewels. Different branches get jewelry from the Headquarters in Rome and distribute it. I work at the branch in New York.” “Wait, you work at Greco’s Jewels?” “Yes.” Arista didn’t get why Linda was excited? Didn’t she understand she wanted the job because the HQ is in Rome? “Okay, what’s so special about it?” “Hey babe, I mean the headquarters is not only in our state, but in our city, Tivoli.” Her excitement rose. “What does that have to do with me?” Arista still didn’t get her point. “Marcus is the CEO of the company. The company will be passed to the next alpha, Cato.” ''Oh okay'' "I am worried for Cato.'' Linda said with a sigh. Arista remembered the tall hot alpha teen from her childhood (who had adolescent girls drooling, not sparing her) but he always kept to himself, spoke little or none except when conversing with his sister Linda (his favourite person), and his best friend (his second favourite person). As for her, not a single word, no matter how close she was to her sister, but that didn't stop her from staring at him from a corner for an insanely long period of time, hoping and wishing he would see her and come speak to her, and when he did turn her way, she shyly looked away,but she had already been caught, and many other things a girl does to get her crush's attention she did. A lot of foolish things you do when you have a crush on someone, things you tend to regret later, when you are way more mature, she thought, as she tried not to remember when she wrote a love letter to Cato. Somehow, it ended up with the bitchy, identical, beta twins. Of course, when they know something, the whole pack knows it too. ''Oh, black and white Arista is in love with lord Cato! '' Aurora, the one with longer hair and thinner waist, declares openly anytime she sees Arista. Her twin Bianca would sneer and roll her eyes. She was the taller one, obviously with shorter hair, thicker hair and a prettier face. She was the nice one. NO! She was very catty, but at least she was a little bit nicer than her sister. Linda must have heard about it but never confronted her about, which she very much appreciated. Then, like a miracle, Cato spoke to her when they happened to bump into each other in the woods. Arista sighed, something better remained forgotten. "What about him?" It was okay for her to ask, right? " He doesn't want to have a mate, he hates pappa, they always argue, mamma cries, it hurts Arista." Linda sounded like he wanted to cry. "He always disliked pappa, but it gets worse day by day, I don't know what to do." This time she is already crying. "Things will get better." "Oh Ari, you don't understand, they are two hot-headed alphas." She sniffed "I'm so sorry Ari, you have a lot of problems. I shouldn't bug you with mine." "It is okay Linda, you have always been my best friend." Linda tried to change the subject. “Any friends?” “Not really.” Arista wasn’t really good at socializing, and didn’t think it was necessary as she didn’t want to get too involved with people and people with her. “Try feeling at home girl. You have stayed there for six years.” Arista was sent to America when she was eighteen. She did her twelfth grade and got into college to study business management. Two weeks before her graduation, she was eager to get a job and wrote different applications. She had her mind set on just one. “I know” she sighed, “you don’t understand.” “Then why don’t you like people around you?” “I do.” “Ugh” Sincerely speaking, she had friends, good ones, in fact one that claimed to be her best friend, but she couldn’t think about bringing people too close because of her identity. She always prayed her mate would not be a human. It’ll be the worst blessing ever. “Any hot guy, Found your mate? Had se-?” “Stop it okay.” Arista said muddled “What is up with you?” “Nothing” “I am not in a relationship, you know what I am. How can I get into a relationship with a human?” “Don’t be boring. Enjoy your life. Before the mate bond cages you.” “I will think about it.” Arista heard Linda roll her eyes. Linda knew exactly how Arista ended topics. There is no way she is getting into a relationship with a human. They talked about other things. Some were depressing. Some lifted her spirit until Arista had to end the call, promising she would call again. Arista dropped her phone on the bed. She was left to herself once again. She had to think about returning to Rome soon, of course, without the alpha’s knowledge. She always wondered why he hated her so much. She looked in the mirror. He hated her face. He hated her name. She shifted to her wolf’s form. He hated Aria, her wolf. She looked at her reflection, which now mostly belonged to Aria. She is a weird werewolf with black and white fur. She is big. Not too huge. She is perfect for a she wolf. She shifted back to her human form. Breaking and readjustment of bones is now an easy task for her. The first few times were really painful. Let her wolf take full control of her body. She was a little bit glad she had the Luna to guide her the first time. Marcus took that away from her too, and sent her to live in America. With Luna’s pleas, she was given a guardian. To make sure she didn’t expose her true identity and her secret was safe. When she was able to take care of herself and her wolf, her guardian returned to Italy. She has been on her own ever since. She had found a few packs in New York but never joined their pack. She was on all fours. Her hair is ebony black and really long. She was naked but she never really thought herself to be sexy or attractive. She stood up to her full height, her hair got to her waist. She felt her long black hair represented her dark fur, since she was not an alpha. Her eyes are light blue in contrast to Aria’s, which is grey. She always thought it weird because wolf shifters have the same color of eyes as their wolves’. Her lips are full and pink. She is not that ugly, yet Markus treats her like she is fifth. The alpha treats everyone below him with low regard. Her mind shifted to his son, who didn't want a mate. Wow! She always knew him to be stubborn and disliked the alpha. One of the reasons she liked him, he growled when the alpha came in, done with his meal before the alpha arrived, walked out when the alpha spoke. She wondered how he was, he crossed her mind once in a while, which she despised. Her mind wandered to the time she entered his chambers, one of the things she regretted later, how she hated remembering it, she couldn't help it, always came back to hunt her anytime her conscience pleased and now seemed right. He had invited her to his chambers, the second time he spoke to her. Oh yes, she can count how many times he spoke to her twice! Without thinking, she accepted the invite all because she was a stupid, naive, teenage girl, who wanted to visit her crush and spend time in his chambers and he was a hot, devilish nude artist who needed to draw developing breasts. She shut her eyes tight, she wished, oh she wished. But it happened, it already happened.