Present day

Ariella James

Look at him, though.

He is so damn hot…

I swear, any time he catches me staring at him, I almost melt on the spot. He’s covered in the richest chocolate skin I have ever seen in my life and has the most captivating eyes… so dark… almost black. He’s tall and too powerfully formed to be only human, too. Maybe that’s what attracts me to him so bad... Hell, that only makes me more desperate to know what that body can do.

Or could do.

If he was one of my kind.

He looks up from his books to Carisse, and I zoom in on his lips as he smiles. That short, well-groomed beard frames his juicy lips to perfection. I wonder how it would feel to kiss those lips and feel his hair against the edges of my mouth. Is it soft or not? Would it tickle, or heighten the whole experience?

I sigh in torment. I do this daily, ever since he started here at the beginning of term. I try to keep my eyes off him, but I can’t. I swear it ain't humanly possible for him to look like that. He must have been a werewolf in a previous life.

Unfortunately, Davonyé Leblanc is human, though, and that thought makes me sigh again, but this time, with disappointment. The fuck am I meant to do with a human boy? Apart from accidently break his neck? Why couldn't I have fallen for some boy at one of my parents’ werewolf holds? That shit would've made my life a hell of a whole lot easier. I could've been gettin’ it in during all my spare time if I had, but I ain't. I'm a fortnight away from my change and all I’ve got to look forward to is bad moods, a heightened sex drive, and a craving for cow.

Fml…

“Class dismissed,” Mr Gagnon says as the bell signals the end of business class.

Davonyé slings his arm around Carisse’s shoulders before they head out of the door. If I'd been through my change already, I'm sure I'd be grinding the hell out of my canines right now...

She don't deserve him.

I bet her pussy ain't even that good.

Harmony meets me outside class and soon starts chattin’ about her birthday party this weekend, but I ain't tryin’ to hear it. I keep staring at the back of Carisse while we follow her and my man out of the building. Harmony’s my cousin and she's gonna be nineteen on Saturday. She's eleven months younger than me, so she ain't changed yet.

She fucks like she has, though. Boys fall at her feet, but that’s because she’s sociable, unlike me. She has a mix of African American, Jamaican, and Chinese heritage in her. She looks just like her mother. Her eyes are shades of burgundy and hazel which change colour depending on her mood. A bit like how mine do.

“When you gonna get laid, Ella?” she says, barely a whisper, but I can still hear her clear as crystal. “I mean, you fuckin’ miserable all the damn time these days.”

Now that I’m close to my change, she always brings this shit up when I'm ignoring her ass. “Just cuz sex is free, don't mean I have to be slack with it. I got standards.”

I ain't gotta look at her to know she jerks her neck and glares at me. “Oh, so I ain't?”

“I never said that, Harmony,” I reply softer, not wanting to hurt her feelings. I watch Carisse slide her hand down from Davonyé's side to his ass. I feel like grabbin’ it so I can break it the fuck off.

“I'm surprised your mom ain't had a vision about your mate yet,” she carries on. “She saw my mom and dad together.”

I know that…

My mom has visions. She can sometimes see the future and saw my Aunt Asha and Uncle Quis together when she was younger. I don’t really care that she ain’t seen me cuz I don't really wanna know what's coming for me. And besides, maybe Davonyé’s my mate and I’ve found him by myself, or… “Maybe he ain't been born yet.”

We step outside into the frosty Montreal air. It’s February, and it’s freezing. I zip up my winter coat and then pull my oversized hood up over my head.

“Your mom wasn’t alive when grandad saw her with Uncle Clarence, though.”

I shrug. “I dunno... Maybe there's a right time for shit like that…” Get your hand off his ass bitch...

“I guess... So, we gonna go shopping for our outfits, yeah?” she asks, finally changing the subject as we make our way through the car park.

“Friday. We can go after class,” I mutter.

I already have so many new clothes, I really don't need to buy anymore. Dad makes sure mom and me always have the latest wears. I barely wear the same outfit twice. My parents are billionaires. They have property and all sorts of other assets all over the place. They’re huge donators to this college, too. Université McGill is a research Uni, and Dad’s always funding something here.

I feel relieved as Davonyé finally releases Carisse to unlock his white Range Rover. She reaches the passenger side to get in, so I turn my attention back at Davonyé just as he opens his door, but instead of getting inside, he turns to look straight at me.

I inhale sharply as the world around me stops dead beneath my feet. He’s felt my eyes on him? There is definitely a pull between us, and now that he’s finally acknowledging my existence, I feel completely and utterly lost.

The attraction I feel towards him has suddenly intensified a million percent, but as sexy as he is as a package, his eyes are something else entirely. I almost trip over on nothing as his eyes narrow at me, and my heart attacks the inside of my chest.

He’s looking at me a type of way.

I quickly turn to Harmony before I die from hyperventilation. “Actually, let's go now,” I tell her, desperately trying not to look back at Davonyé.

God knows I need a damn distraction from him.

***

I get home just after eight. My parents aren't downstairs which means they’re probably in their room. I help myself to some stew chicken off the stove and enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm not the most sociable of people and much prefer my own company. Living out here, an hour’s drive away from Montreal, hasn’t really given me many opportunities to make friends either.

I didn't go to school until I was sixteen. Dad home-schooled me because even though I ain't changed yet, I'm still stronger than most. Especially for a girl. Once I've had my change next week, I'll have to be careful not to bait myself up with my new abilities. I’ve been thinking more about my change as my birthday gets closer, but for now, I’m at least managing to keep my temper under control.

And that’s the most important thing right now.

I finish eating and then clean up the kitchen before heading up to bed.

“Ariella?” I hear dad call as I approach my parents’ bedroom. The door's ajar and I can see the faint glow of their bedroom lamp shining into the dark hallway.

Their room is usually shut but they’ve been leaving it open recently just in case I’m hungry in the night. They’ve had their room soundproofed, thank God, because they're always gettin’ it in, and I definitely don't wanna hear that shit. Especially cuz I ain't getting any myself.

I poke my head around the door and see dad sitting on the bed beside mom who's currently fast asleep. Mom’s heavily pregnant—two months—and a female ware’s pregnancy only lasts three months from conception to birth, so she sleeps a lot.

“Hey, Dad.” He’s under the covers wearing a vest, staring at me with inquisitive gold eyes. We look alike, and we look the same age, too, but dad is two-hundred and forty-nine years old.

Wares don’t age; especially my parents. They’re both really special.

“You alright? How was school?” He gives me a concerned look. I know he thinks I'm a loner, but that’s because I choose to be, now.

“Good. I went shopping with Harmony. Y’know, for our outfits for her party this weekend?”

“Yeah, Quis and Asha are coming here for the night so they can be close by, instead of goin’ to the James’.”

I nod. The James’ is our family’s posh hotel in Montreal. Hotel Le St. James. “That’s cool.”

He regards me closely. “You decided what you’re doin’ for yours yet?”

I shake my head, and he sighs deeply.

“We gotta talk about school and what's gonna happen with you over the next couple weeks...”

“Dad, we've spoken about this already.”

“Not seriously, we ain't. You keep tryin’ to avoid it but it’s gonna happen, so we need you to be prepared. Your mother’s worryin’ herself sick about it…” He looks down at mom and brushes a few stray curls off her face. “…You gotta let her say what she needs to, alright? It's important to her, too. She wants to be here for you—we both do. Why do you think it took so long for me to breed her again? She wanted to give all her time to you before your change. She grew up without much family, remember? And without her mother around… She didn't want that for you.”

“I know.” I feel bad about that. I know how much mom has wanted another child, especially because they lost their first in a fight back in the UK. I've never once gone without. Mom’s always gone above and beyond to make sure that I was set in absolutely everything. “Tomorrow I'll come home early so we can talk. I promise.”

He looks satisfied. “Good girl. It will mean a lot to her. You need anything?”

I shake my head. “No, dad. I'm good.”

“Alright, get some sleep. We love you.”

“I love you both, too.”

I pull the door almost closed and then walk along the hallway to my room, deep in my thoughts. The last thing I wanna do is shut my parents out. I know what's gonna happen to me; I've known for years. My parents don't hide anything from me, and I'm grateful. I've seen nuff changes down at the holds. I'm not ignorant to how much it’s gonna hurt or how my body's gonna change. I know the signs and what to look for; I know about the cravings for red meat, and the sexual urges…

I know it all.

I drop my shopping bags onto my desk and then take a quick shower before I get into bed. I stare at the ceiling and think about what Davonyé might be doing right now.

He’s probably balls deep in Carisse.

I close my eyes and then roll over to bury my head in the pillow. I hate that I can't ever seem to get him out of my mind for very long. I can't even talk to him because he has a girlfriend, and I don't wanna be one of them girls. But it's becoming harder to stay away from him as the days go by. My body feels like it's craving physical touch. I wanna mate, badly, but I don't want to with just anyone.

I want to do it with him.

But I can't.

And I feel sad as fuck because of it.