Hudson leaned against the wall across the street from the theater as he watched and waited for his mate and friends to walk out of the theater.
He felt stupid for his behavior.
He knew better than to let Colson get a rise out of him. But he was messing with Amanda.
He didn’t like the look Colson was giving Amanda, as if he was interested in her.
Amanda was his, no one else’s.
His heart fluttered as he saw Amanda exit the theater with their friends.
They were talking and laughing, not noticing that Hudson was standing across the street.
It was Amanda to sense him first.
He smirked.
She looked across the street and he could see her eyes light up for a moment, but then they were filled with concern.
Hudson’s chest ached to know that it was his fault for causing the pained look on her expression. He lifted himself off the wall and walked across the street to where his friends stood.
“Hudson, feeling better?” Tabitha asked when he reached the sidewalk.
He narrowed his eyes at his friend and answered, “Funny.”
He put out his hand toward Amanda. She extended her own and allowed him to pull her into him. Her wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he felt arms go around his waist.
They both sighed.
Amanda lifted her head to look into Hudson’s eyes.
Those blue eyes. She felt her body tingle as she stared into them.
Hudson leaned down and kissed the top of her nose. “Want to go for a walk?” he asked.
She nodded without even thinking twice.
“We’ll see you two later?” he asked his two friends.
“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Marco answered as he scooped Tabiths into his arms and rushed off.
Amanda and Hudson laughed when they heard Tabitha squeal as they rushed away from them.
“Are you okay?” Amanda asked as they started their walk.
Hudson let out a sigh.
He actually did feel a lot better. He didn’t know why he was acting the way he was before, but after he shifted and had a good run he was feeling more like himself.
“Yeah, I actually am.”
They walked quietly for a little while.
“Hudson?”
“Hmm”
“Who was that guy?”
Hudson groaned at the question. He didn’t want to talk about Colson, but he knew he owed Amanda an explanation for his behavior.
“Colson is from another pack that is close to ours. Our fathers don’t get along. We used to have a treaty with their pack, but my father decided not to renew the treaty when it was time.”
“Why?”
“See, the Howlers–that’s the name of their pack—they live by the older rules and don’t agree with a lot of things we do.”
“What’s the name of your pack?”
Hudson smiled.
“The name of our pack which will soon be the name of your pack is Stonecrest.”
Amanda nodded.
She liked the sound of Stonecrest better than Howlers.
“So, what are some of the old rules that they follow?”
“A lot of it has to do with keeping the pack pure. They don’t allow their pack members to mate outside of wolves. The bloodline has to be pure and no half wolves, humans, or witches,” he explained.
“So, I definitely would have been rejected for being a hybrid?” she asked him.
Hudson nodded his head.
Amanda didn’t like the sound of that. If Hudson’s pack had lived by those same rules then he would have rejected her back when they first started the semester. If that had happened would she have found out about being adopted, or that she was a hybrid? So many things would have been different for them if Hudson had rejected her.
Amanda snuggled closer to Hudson.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Hudson stopped and pulled her to do the same.
“What for?”
“For not rejecting me at the beginning of the semester. Things would have been a lot different for you and me.”
Hudson lowered his head so that it was resting against Amanda’s forehead.
“I could say the same for you. You could have rejected me. My life would have never been the same without you.”
Amanda leaned back and cupped her hand to the side of his face.
“I love you,” she told him.
He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss.
“I love you too.”
His wolf purred enjoying the closeness of their mate.
Amanda giggled.
“I like when your wolf purrs.”
“His name is Artemis,” he admitted.
“Artemis, I like it.”
Artemis howled with excitement.
Amanda giggled again.
“Have you learned your wolf’s name yet?” he asked.
Well? She asked her wolf.
Amanda became flustered, she didn’t understand why she wasn’t getting along with her wolf.
What have I done to deserve this? She yelled in her head.
Amanda sighed.
“No, she’s still not connecting with me,” she confided.
Hudson ran his fingers against her cheek.
“Give her time. I’m sure it’s not easy for her either. I discovered my wolf at thirteen, it can take time for the relationship to build. Artemis wasn’t the easiest to get along with in the beginning.”
You think you were easy; you were a raging hormonal teenager, Artemis growled in his head.
Hudson chuckled.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“It’s nothing,” he told her.
Just wait until the mate bond is sealed; I’ll be able to tell her plenty about you, Artemis growled.
Hudson smirked.
“You know, Artemis reminded me of something. If we sealed our mate bond, our wolves would be able to talk with each other and that might help build the connection with your wolf.”
Amanda looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What?” Hudson said with a slight shrug.
“It might help,” he told her as they reached the front door to her form hall.
Amanda patted him on his chest before she turned and headed for the front door.
“Nice try. Goodnight, Hudson,” she told him and walked inside.
Hudson chuckled.
He turned and then ran into someone he had hoped to never run into again.
“Well, if it isn’t Hudson Harlow my old high school boyfriend,” the annoying nasal voice spoke out to him.
Hudson took a step back from the tall skinny girl.
“Hello, Ophelia. I didn’t know that you were going here,” he told her.
Artemis let out an annoyed growl as Ophelia tried to get close to Hudson again.
“I guess it’s just fate for us. You know Daddy wasn’t happy when he found out that we weren’t mates.”
“Sorry to disappoint him,” he told her as he started to walk away.
“Where are you going? Don’t you want to catch up? Like, who was that girl you were just with?” she asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Hudson rolled his eyes. He looked over at Ophelia. Looking at her now he had no idea why he ever liked her in the first place.
“That girl just so happens to be my mate. You remember Amanda Stevens, right?” he told her with a smirk.
Ophelia sucked in a breath.
“You’re mated to the skinny human we used to bully!” she shrieked.
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)