Hudson stormed out of the classroom. He wanted to get away from everyone and try to think. His wolf was going off in his head the entire time during class, angry that the Lycan was close to their mate. This alarmed Hudson because it meant the Lycan knew who his mate was.
Hudson contained his anger until he was out in the woods before he stripped, tucked his clothes into his backpack, and shifted into his wolf. He let out a blood-curdling howl before he picked up his bag and took off running. He decided the best place for him to go was back home and talk to his parents in person instead off over the phone.
Tab: Hudson! I need to talk to you.
But Hudson ignored the mind link and kept running. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He assumed that Tab probably smelled the shifter on Amanda and was wanting to talk to him about that. But he didn’t want to. He was angry at himself for not saying anything to Amanda after class, leaving her there confused about his behavior. He wasn’t mad at her but at the situation. He wasn’t able to tell her everything that was going on, and he was also afraid of overwhelming her with too much information and her becoming afraid of him for what he was.
He continued his way back home, hoping to find the answer he needed there to give him some peace of mind. Hudson stopped just before the forest ended, shifted, and put his clothes back on before heading to the Packhouse where he knew his parents would be. His wolf had calmed down quite a bit from the anger, although now he was hating the distance from his mate and whining to go back.
Hudson pulled out his phone. He had a bunch of missed calls and messages between Marco and Tabitha. He wanted to send a message to Amanda telling her he was sorry for leaving class so quickly and not saying anything to her. But he couldn’t. He did send a text to both Marco and Tab hoping that they would lay off so he could talk to his parents without them constantly bugging him.
Hudson: Can’t talk right now. I’m back home to talk with my parents. I’ll fill you in on the details when I get back.
When he walked into the pack house, he felt a calm rush over him as he smelled his mom’s cooking coming from the kitchen. He walked into the entryway of the kitchen when his mom popped her head up and looked over at him.
“Hudson! What a nice surprise,” she said as she walked over to him and gave him a hug.
“Hey, Mom. how’s it going?”
“Good, a little quiet since you left. But overall, it’s been good. What brings you home?”
“I need to talk with you and Dad,” he said with a sigh.
Hudson’s mom looked at him with concern laced in her eyes.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Hudson ran his hand through his hair. “I honestly don’t know. Is Dad bust?”
His mom let out a chuckle. “Isn’t he always.”
Hudson shrugged his shoulders but then nodded.
“Come on, let’s go interrupt him.”
Hudson followed his mom to his dad’s office. She opened the door without knocking. If it were anyone else, they would have their head ripped off. The perks of being the Luna, he guessed.
His father’s head was still down focused on the paperwork that was laid out in front of him, not taking notice of who was in the room.
“Dear, our son is here and needs to talk with us about something,” she said to him as she nudged him to look up.
“What? Oh, Hudson. Hey, son, what brings you home?” he asked Hudson as he motioned for his son to take a seat in a chair in front of his desk.
Hudson walked over to the chair and sat down. He took a couple of deep breaths as he got the nerve to tell his parents.
“Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something.”
“We’re listening,” His mom told him.
“I found my mate.”
Both of his parents looked at him with surprised looks on their faces which then turned into gigantic smiles.
“Son, that’s great news. Who is she? What pack does she belong to?” his father asked.
“Yeah, that’s the part I needed to talk to you about. She’s human.”
Amanda woke up to her phone ringing.
She sat up and grabbed her backpack from the side of her bed and grabbed her phone from her pocket.
She was hoping that she would get a text from Hudson.
But it wasn’t Hudson who texted. It was Calvin.
Calvin: Hey pretty girl, how’s your day going so far?
Amanda smiled at the text. It was sweet of Calvin to be checking in on her.
She closed out his text; she didn’t want to answer back right away. She noticed that she received a text from her mom while she was asleep. She texted her back, letting her know that she doing good, and she was doing better than the last time she talked with her. She promised that she had a fluid routine with school and work. Amanda looked down at Hudson’s sweatshirt and sighed. Instead of dwelling on why he didn’t say anything to her when he left class this morning, she decided to put all that focus into her schoolwork. She pulled out her laptop and got to work.
Once she was done, Amanda grabbed her phone and sent a text message to Kimmy about where to go tonight for dinner. While she waited for a response back from Kimmy, she sent a response back to Calvin.
Amanda: Hey Calvin, my day is going ok. Hope your day is going well.
She clicked send and close her phone. Her phone pinged, and she looked at her screen. Calvin had already responded back.
Calvin: Just ok? What can I do to make it better?
A laugh escaped her mouth when she read the text. There were so many ways that she could respond to his text, and a few of them was not nice. But Calvin had been nice and hadn’t done anything to be treated unfairly.
Amanda: Awe, thanks. I’m sure my day will be better now. Thanks for checking on me.
Calvin: No problem. Just checking, do you have plans tonight?
Amanda: I do. It’s girl’s night tonight. You?
Calvin: Well, I’d hope to be doing something with a pretty girl I went to the movies with, but I guess I’ll just have to wait another day.
Amanda rolled her eyes but smiled.
Amanda: Aren’t you a sweet talker? I better be careful.
Calvin: How about tomorrow night?
Amanda: I work at the café until close.
Calvin: I can pick you up after.
Amanda: Ok
Calvin: Great! Enjoy your time with the girls.
Amanda smiled.
Another text came in not long after this one from Kimmy.
Kimmy: There’s a restaurant on the other side of town that I hear is really good.
Amanda: That sounds great! Do you mind if my roommate comes with us?
Kimmy: The more the better. Is seven ok?
Amanda: Sounds good! See you then.
Kimmy responded with a smiley emoji.
Amanda texted Tabitha about the restaurant and got a thumbs-up from her.
She put her phone down and laid back on her bed. Her plans were set for tonight, and she had her plans set for tomorrow with Calvin.
So why after all that, her thoughts still went back to thinking about Hudson and how he acted this morning?