NightStar Summit

10. Meant To Be

I walked through the halls of the school one last time, for now at least. I tried to stay positive but I knew nothing good was coming in the next couple of days. The Blaine's were looking for any excuse to ruin my life and tear me down and I knew my father was the perfect thing for them. With him being gone for now, I was in charge of everyone and it seemed a lot cooler before I actually had to deal with them. I actually thought for a split second that running away and letting Forrest take over would be a good thing.

I shouldn't have even been at school today, given the current limbo state of my pack, it was dangerous. With my dad gone and a truce broken, everyone at home was in danger and if something happened while I wasn't there, it would be my head on the chopping block.

But I had to end something before it got more out of hand.

I told Noah to meet me by my locker before class started and he did.

He stared at me, almost too stunned to move as I told him what my plan was before snapping out of it and getting upset, "Why the f**k do I have to do it?" He ripped the stupid collar Kat had bought, out of my hands and looked to the side defeated. "She's gonna punch me in the face."

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," I laughed as Kat came walking down the hallway. It looked like she was a little more lively today, but that wasn't going to last very long.

She had walked past us so I pushed Noah into the crowd of people.

He stumbled but quickly regained his balance, "Hey, Kat! Wait up," he ran after her and I proceeded to class. It was right next to my locker so I didn't have a long way to travel, making me the very first person to take my seat.

"Morning, Colton," Miss Hewitson said boringly as a few more people came in. She hated me and it was painfully obvious. I was never on time for this class and there was nothing she hated more than that.

Time was ticking by excruciatingly slow.

I waited for Noah or Kat to walk in, but as the final bell rang and neither of them showed up, I started to get a little worried. Miss Hewitson began her powerpoint presentation for the day and I began to think of ways I could get out of this class before I lost my damn mind.

The classroom door swung open and Noah stepped in, he shot me an evil glare before taking his seat, totally dismissing every mean comment Miss Hewitson threw his way. "I hate you," he mouthed to me before I made my way over to the bathroom pass and snuck my way out the door without any hassle.

I had no idea where Kat would be, but it was pretty safe to assume she was going to be nowhere inside the building if she wasn't in class. I threw the bathroom pass to the side and walked out one of the side entrances and started listening to my surroundings. She couldn't have gone far.

"Dad, can you please come pick me up?" I started following the sounds. "I know. I'm just having a really bad day. I need to go home."

As I rounded the corner, I saw Kat sitting on the sidewalk, her back to me. She had her hood pulled over her head and I could tell she was crying. I sat down next to her but said nothing as she continued talking to her dad.

It didn't sound like he was going to let up and pick her up and she became irritated, angrily turning her phone off and stuffing it back into her pocket, "What do you want?" She didn't look at me as she pulled her hood over her head even more.

"Noah told me about Chewbacca," I said quietly. I gave Noah the collar and told him to tell Kat he ran over her "dog". It was the only thing I could think of to make her drop the whole thing so I didn't have to keep going back. She seemed to be believing it too. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, I don't need your pity. I'll be fine. It was just a stupid dog. What are you doing out here?"

I had to think of something quick, "I was gonna head home." It wasn't really a lie but it wasn't necessarily the truth either. "Im not feeling too hot."

She stood up and ripped the hood off of her head, "Cool. You can walk me home then."

KATARINA

I never really had any intention of going home and I got this weird feeling Colt didn't either, so I wasn't surprised when we ended up sitting in a cafe a block away from my house. I got a hot chocolate and a cheese danish while Colt decided to be boring and just had a glass of water.

If I was being completely honest, this was pretty awkward but I was loving every second of it. Being here with Colt almost made me forget about my murdered dog. "How can you be best friends with a puppy killer?" I asked in reference to Noah.

"It's not like he ran it over on purpose. It's the circle of life. If something dies, it was supposed to happen because something new, something better, is on its way."

I gave him a curious look, not sure what could possibly be better than my dog, Chewbacca. "What? Are you going to buy me a new animal or something?"

"I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is that your dog would have never been in that spot, at that moment, if for some reason he wasn't meant to get ran over. Maybe he was about to eat you in your sleep and the gods were just looking out for you. We'll literally never know."

"Are you religious?" I decided that I was going to try to knock as many questions out as possible in this amount time. Who knew when and if ever, I'd get another chance like this again.

"I wouldn't say religious. I don't necessarily think all of this happened because of a bang, but I don't know. Why? That's a weird question."

I shrugged, "You said the gods were looking out for me. I thought you might have believed in a God. I was just asking. Ask me a question."

Now he gave me a weird look as he sat back in his chair, "This feels like an interrogation," he laughed a little.

This was no laughing matter, "Mmm...more like a date," I clarified and basked in amusement as his eyes went wide and he choked on the water in his mouth. I was just a little offended by that gesture. "What? You haven't ever been on a date before?" That suddenly made Sadie come to mind. She never told me what her major malfunction was when it came to Colton so now I was assuming the worst. Maybe they did date and I never knew about it somehow? Just the thought made my stomach churn in disgust.

I didn't know why and it was weird. I would always choose Sadie before any guy, or so I thought. Maybe not with how she's been acting recently.

"Tell me why Sadie hates you. She won't tell me."

He cringed at the mention of her name which lead me to believe even more that there was in fact something between them at some point, "That's really not my story to tell. If she wanted you to know, she'd tell you."

What a gentleman. Keeping someone's secret whom he obviously hated.

"You're a good person. Too good."

"I don't think there's such a thing."

He was keeping a secret of sorts for her, but I can promise you she would never ever do the same thing for him so he should just let up and tell me already.

"Can I ask you a weird question?" I said the words in all seriousness and even contemplated backing out, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did.

"I don't think you'd stop even if I said no."

"Would you consider..." I really wanted to come up with something else to ask but nothing came to mind and time was running out, "Going on a real date with me?" The words left my mouth so quickly I doubt he'd even be able to understand me but after looking at the expression on his face I could tell I was wrong.

He was excited for a moment but it seemed that he felt he had to strip himself of any and every emotion because as soon as it was there, it was gone. He was about to say something when a loud, obnoxious old school ringtone started filling the cafe. Colton started digging through his pockets before pulling out an ancient looking cellphone. It looked like one of those old blackberry phones.

"I'll be right back," he said before answering the call and getting up to leave.

COLTON

"You are literally calling me at the worst time imaginable," I told Cameron, the Beta of the pack. I had mad respect for the man. He was the most seasoned wolf we had now that my dad was away and he was loyal as all hell to my family, but f**k, he sure knew how to ruin a good moment. He was also Noah's dad.

"You need to come home right now. Feral Moon hunter's are out looking for you and Forrest now that your father is gone. You two need to be here so we can protect you."

I didn't need to be protected by anyone. I have Alpha blood in me and if I was going to be murdered by some hunter then I guess it was just meant to be. There was no way.

Forrest on the other hand, I was worried about. He could talk the talk but when the time came, he was all bark and no bite. He'd be an Omega his entire life and I don't think I'd ever be willing to change that. It was for not only his safety, but the safety of the whole pack.

"You're not at school? Are you?" He asked.

"Of course not."

"Colton...I'll tell Noah to get Forrest home, but you need to start making your way there too. It's not safe."

Yeah yeah, "I'll see you in awhile, Cameron."