The Lost Wolf

CHAPTER TWELVE.

    I grabbed my English book and slammed my locker shut, deep in my thoughts. True to his word, Carter was at my house and in my room within five minutes. He really was unbelievably fast, I scrambled to tell him everything through my hushed tears and he held me and rubbed my back as I forced the words to come out. He didn’t know any Burke’s. I was not from his pack, however, he did know where to start looking. His father, the pack Alpha. He said that we would talk with him soon but first, I needed to know about pack life in order to not be disrespectful when I show my face in an outside territory because technically, I am a rogue. 

    My parents left me alone for the rest of the night and they weren’t home when I left for school this morning. I was actually pretty relieved that they weren’t. I wasn’t ready to face them yet. Even if their intentions were pure, I now felt lost and my perfectly planned out future was now fuzzy and none of the things seemed important anymore. However, they did give me MacKenzie’s birth certificate for Mr. Brooks. It’s so weird to know I’ve been living a life meant for someone else. I just want to be me. Whoever that is. 

    “Kenzie?” Tyler was beside me. Crap. I forgot about him. I hadn’t thought about him all weekend. My head hurt too bad and there were too many other things. I knew that I had promised myself to break up with him but I just could not handle his emotions on top of mine. It would have to wait. 

    “Yes?” 

    “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” He’s referring to the fact that I didn’t try today. I am wearing jeans with and oversized shirt and my hair is tied up in a messy bun. I didn’t even put on makeup today. It’s really not worth the effort today. 

    “I’m fine,” I sighed and kept walking. 

    “Wait!” He caught up to me and threw his arm around his shoulders. “I tried to text you all weekend.” 

    “Not today, please Ty.” I turned to look at him with tired eyes. His green eyes were pretty but they weren’t the eyes I dreamt of every night. They weren’t the eyes that quieted the tugging in my head.

    “Woah. Okay? I’m your boyfriend, Kenzie and you didn’t talk to me once this weekend.” 

    “I’m sorry, okay? I don’t have the brain capacity for this today. I’ll see you later, Ty.” I turned and walked into my classroom without another glance. 

    English class was the one place that I could focus. Carter sat in front of me and when he was around me, the clawing stopped. I sat at my desk and not so patiently waited for him to enter the room, which he did seconds before the bell went off. He smiled at me as if I was dressed like a goddess and the butterflies in my stomach erupted while the scratching stopped in my head. We started chatting about the weather and Mrs. Jarvis’ newest book, The Scarlet Letter. I was so lost in him that I didn’t even notice when Taylor walked in until her pencil eraser hit my cheek. 

    I jumped in surprise at the faux attack which made Carter give her a death glare and let out an almost inaudible growl and made me giggle. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his glare, or didn’t care. 

    “What wrong with you?” She asked, her voice full of distaste for my attire today. Thankfully, I didn’t get a chance to answer as Mrs. Jarvis tapped on her white board and started the discussion. 

    By lunchtime I had gotten enough strange looks that all I wanted to do was hide in the bathroom all day, away from prying eyes. That’s exactly what I intended to do. I was staring at the clock in my European History class waiting for the lunch bell to chime so that I could rush out. I was literally counting the seconds. I felt like for so long my life had been ruled by bells and never did I want one to ring as badly as I did this one today. The pain in lead was so bad that I was pretty sure I was going to be sick.

    Ding! Ding! Ding! 

    Finally. I gathered my books as quickly as I could and bolted out of the room, making it to the bathroom just in time to vomit all over the sink and myself. I sat there for several minutes, head over the trash can retching, before I trusted my stomach enough to walk to the nurse. How embarrassing. Walking through the halls covered in my own vomit is not what I had anticipated for my senior year of high school. I stepped out of the restroom and almost right into Carter. How does he always know where I am? I kept my head down in shame and stared at my puke covered shoes as he took in the sight of me. 

    Without saying a word he took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders and then zipped it up. It swallowed me whole but it covered the vomit on my shirt. He used his body to shield me as much as possible as we walked silently to the nurse and it took everything in my not to reach out and hold his hand. I felt safe with him around, like everything was going to be okay. 

    “Sit down over there.” He instructed me and I sat down in one of the plastic chairs in the makeshift waiting room. He was gone for a few minutes before returning with an early release slip. 

    “Come on.” He walked me out of the office and then out of the school. I followed him to his car and he held open the passenger door for me, I climbed in and he reached over me to buckle my seat belt, kissing my head as he stood up and walked to the other side of the car. 

    “Where are we going?” I asked. 

    “I’m taking you home, Kenz.” He said and he reached over and gave my hand a light squeeze before putting the car into reverse. 

    “Thank you.” Is all I said to him on the short drive to my house. I let my mind wonder as I stared out the window, I couldn’t face this beautiful person who came to my rescue. I thought about all things wolf and why my head seemed to be quiet when he was around. I wonder if this happened to all the wolves or if I was just one of the “lucky” ones. And how does Carter always seem to know when I need help? He is always so ready to swoop in and save me. I smell absolutely as disgusting as I feel, yet he didn’t hesitate to give me his jacket, or his kiss. This man is so full of mystery and I wanted to know absolutely everything. He pulled into my driveway and I noticed that my parents were still gone. 

    “Would you like to come in?” I asked him. I’m unsure why I asked him because of course he doesn’t. Giving someone a ride because they need your help and wanting to spend time with them are two different things. How stupid. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Still not able to look at him for fear of rejection, I grabbed the door handle to the car and shoved it open. Before I could step out; he grabbed my arm and electric shot through my body. 

    “I’d love to.” 

    Carter waited downstairs in the living room while I look a quick shower and shoved my soiled clothes, and his jacket, into the wash. I ran into my bedroom and dried off and then put on a tank top and a pair of shorts and threw my hair into a messy bun. Not spectacular but it would have to do, I didn’t want to keep him waiting. Having him in the house was so good for my aching head and let’s just face it, it was good for my heart. I was smitten by this boy and each small act of kindness made me fall deeper into the rabbit hole of lust. 

    Walking into the living room, I was wondering if it would be too much to sit beside him. I have a boyfriend, still. Is it too unfair to sit beside Carter? The questioning stopped when he caught my eye and patted the seat next to him. I sat down and smiled. 

    “Can I ask you something?” I probed.

    “Anything.” He reached out to touch my hand. 

    “When you saw me, didn’t you think I was repulsive?” 

    “What?” He giggled, “Kenzie, I think you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Although, you do smell less now.” I laughed at his truth-filled joke. And gave him my best smile.

    “How do you always know when I need you?” 

    “I can feel you. When you’re close enough.”

    “Feel me?” I was confused. 

    “Yes. You are my mate. I know you don’t know or understand what that means yet but one day soon you will. When you’re sad or scared or even happy and I am close enough, I can feel those things, too. I follow my heart, so to speak and I can normally find you. Like relying on your ears during the game Marco Polo.” He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, letting his warm hand linger on my face and sending out its increasingly familiar pulse. I snuggled my face into his hand without even realizing what I was doing and looked into his swirling eyes. 

    “Kenzie.” He whispered. 

    “Carter.” I breathed.

    “I’m going to kiss you now.” He leaned down, breathing in as if he was breathing in my scent for his memory. His thumb gently parted my lips and strummed along my chin. I stared into his beautiful eyes as they got closer and closer while heat pooled into my belly and butterflies flooded me. I was dizzy. Drunk on the smell of his skin and I was so ready to taste his kiss. Closing my eyes, I was ready. I wanted nothing more than this moment. His breath hot on my mouth. 

    “Kenzie! We’re ho- oh!” My eyes flew open at my mothers voice coming through the door.