Hudson smirked as he heard Tabitha scream through their mind link.
Tabitha: Why does my room smell like you?
Hudson was sitting at an all-night diner with two of his friends, Foster and Noah, who were also members of his pack. He had known them his whole life and always told them everything. Except he hadn’t told them that he had found his mate recently.
“What’s got you smiling?” Foster asked him.
“Nothing, Tab is just yelling at me about something.”
“Isn’t she always yelling at you for something?”
Hudson shrugged.
“Hey, that reminds me. Why wasn’t Tab at the meeting we had the other night?” Noah asked.
Dang, he had hoped he wouldn’t have to explain why Tab didn’t show up. He knew they would never believe or feel it was a good enough reason to bail on a pack meeting if it was to protect her roommate who was human. And he was definitely not ready to tell them she was watching his mate for him.
“She was trying to check in with her dad and get us info about the Lycan.”
They both nodded, accepting the white lie Hudson had given them.
Why should you care about how they feel about your mate? Hudson’s wolf said to him.
“Where’s Marco? I thought he was going to meet us here after the party he went to .” Noah asked.
Hudson froze for a moment. He hadn’t thought about his other pack members being at the same party that he was going to be at. The only thing that was on his mind was keeping an eye on his mate after seeing her walk across the campus in that outfit she was wearing. Shaking his head internally, he couldn’t believe that she would choose to wear something that provocative to a party. His wolf had growled protectively when they saw all the guys that were lusting over their mate. He didn’t know how he was going to be able to get her out of the house and away from those prying eyes. He realized that getting her riled up and upset would be the only way to get her out of there. So, when he told her that she was his, he was sad and relieved at the same time when she slapped him and told him that she would never be his, turned around, and left. Of course, finding her later and being able to walk her home made up for that. He was still lost in thought about what had happened after that until he heard Foster pipe up about something.
“Hey, you’re never going to guess who I saw walking across campus.”
“Who?”
“Little Mandi Stevens.”
This caught Hudson’s attention quickly.
“What that little freak girl we used to torment in high school?” Noah asked.
Hudson could feel his wolf getting angry, but he needed to calm down and try to play it cool.
“The very one. Thing is, she’s not freaky looking anymore.” Foster said with a smirk.
“That girl has filled out in more ways than one and is looking pretty hot now,” he continued.
He better not say it, his wolf hollered in his head.
Hudson started to clench his fists and take deep breaths, trying to calm himself and his wolf down. He knew that once he told them that they were talking about his mate, the taunting would stop. But would it? A small voice of doubt asked inside him. Isn’t that the very reason why he hadn’t said anything to them yet about Amanda being his mate because the teasing and taunting would then be directed at him? This would be the first moment that he would know if his fellow pack members would accept her as their luna.
A flood of relief hit when he smelled Marco’s scent come into the diner. Hopefully, this would help change the subject, and they could start to talk about the real reason he asked them to meet him.
He felt a tap on his shoulder as he looked up and saw Marco standing next to him. He scooted over to the booth to let his buddy in; he could feel the tension coming from Marco. Not wanting to make a scene, his mind linked him to ask.
Hudson: what’s up? You seem tense.
Marco looked over at his Alpha as he placed his elbow on the counter and cupped his hands in front of his mouth.
Marco: you tell me.
Marco lifted his eyebrow.
Hudson ran his hand through his hair.
Hudson: We’ll talk more about this later.
Marco nodded and then said, “So, what’d I miss?”
“Foster was telling us how he saw little Mandi Stevens. But she ain’t so little anymore,” Noah said with a laugh.
Marco glanced over at his Alpha and then said, “Is that right?”
Foster nodded.
Marco didn’t want to talk about any of this until he got the full story about what actually happened at the party when he saw his Alpha fighting with the Stevens girl. He would have to agree with Foster that little Mandi wasn’t the same girl that they knew from high school, and from what he heard at the party, she wasn’t shy anymore either.
Marco: Alpha you better tell me the truth when we talk later.
“Well, I’m sure we will have plenty of time to talk more about that later. Now, Alpha, what’s the real reason that you brought us here and didn’t include the whole pack,” Marco said as he leaned back in the booth.
There was a look of relief on Hudson’s face when he heard his long-time friend change the subject. He knew that he was going to have to tell Marco everything, hoping his friend would be supportive and accepting of his mate.
“I was out earlier and caught a whiff of the shifter scent as I was heading back to the dorms.”
All the guys at the table tensed.
“Was it the same smell from the attack?” Marco asked.
Hudson shook his head before answering, “Not the same but very similar.”
“So, you’re saying that there may be more than one hunting on campus,” Foster commented.
Hudson nodded slightly.
Noah slammed his fist onto the table before saying through gritted teeth, “I don’t understand why the head Alpha just wants us to sit back and do nothing.”
“Hey, you need to calm down. You are drawing unwanted attention to us,” Hudson said in a hushed voice as he looked around the diner.
There were a few people that were sitting at other booths, but they were farther down. But there were a couple of loners that were sitting at the counter, but none turned to look in their direction.
“I’m sure my father has good reason for wanting us to lay low. He knows our temperament pretty well, and I’m sure that he’s just making sure we don’t get ourselves killed trying to hunt these shifters down.”
They all nodded their heads.
“Besides, he never said that we couldn’t do some research or be on watch to keep the campus safe,” Hudson said.
A smirk came across both Noah’s and Foster’s faces.
“What do you have in mind, Alpha?” they asked in unison.
“Get ready, ‘cause we’re going on a trip,” Hudson said with a mischievous smile.