Hudson raised the phone to his ear and said, “I was just about to call you.”
He turned and started walking in the opposite direction.
“Sorry, I was just making sure that we talked,” his father told him.
Hudson rolled his eyes as he continued to make his way across campus to his dorm room. He didn’t want to have this conversation with his father out in the open where others could hear him.
“Just give me a sec, I’m almost to my dorm,” he told him.
“How’s school going so far?”
“Not bad.” He wasn’t ready to tell his father that he had found his mate, not knowing exactly how his father would handle the news that his mate was human.
Hudson got to his dorm and entered, making sure to lock the door behind him.
“Alright, I’m in my room,” he said as he sat down and pulled out his laptop to pull up the photos that Steven should have sent to him and his father.
“So, explain what is exactly going on and why I have a photo of a girl that was attacked in my inbox?”
“There was an animal attack last night on campus. From what Steven could gather from the scene, he says he believes a Lykan attacked this girl.”
He heard his father let out a deep breath through the phone.
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” his father admitted.
“I thought most of the Lycians were extinct, at least here.”
“Those were the rumors. But recently, there have been quite a few attacks in the far north of us. It was only a matter of time before they started heading down here.”
“What should we do?” Hudson asked him.
“Right now, we just sit back and be mindful of our surroundings. Let the other pack members know they need to stay on alert.”
“I’m going to have a meeting with them later tonight.”
“Alright, let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks, Dad.”
Hudson put his phone down on the desk and leaned back in his chair while he rubbed his face.
He didn’t know what all this meant. He knew Lycians were bad but had no idea how bad it could be to have one close to campus.
He pulled himself back up and started a Google search on Lycians. He needed as much info as he could get before he met with his pack members.
After researching online for a while, he sent out a group text telling them about the meeting tonight at nine.
Everyone responded pretty quickly, confirming that they would be there.
Hudson noticed another text come in from Tab.
Tab: So, does this meeting have something to do with the attack last night?
Hudson: Unfortunately, yeah.
Tab: Anything I can do to help?
Hudson: Not unless you know someone who knows anything about Lycians?
His phone started to ring and saw that it was Tab calling. He hit the talk button and immediately he heard her voice.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Yep, my dad just confirmed it.”
“But I thought—”
“Yeah, so did I.”
“Um, I think my dad might know someone. Let me talk with him and see.”
“Thanks, Tab, I appreciate it.”
“No prob! Do you want me to check on Amanda before the meeting?”
Hudson smiled.
“That’s okay. I’ll go and check on her.
“Oh, so you know where she will be later?”
“No, but I’m sure my best friend will help me out and tell me where she’ll be.”
“Haha. That’s a good one.”
He could still hear her laughing through the phone. He didn’t think it was that funny.
“Tab, seriously, you’re not going to tell me where she’ll be?” he asked.
“Answer me this.”
“What?”
“Why does she have nightmares about her high school days?” Tab asked, sounding serious.
Crap.
“She does?”
“Yeah, what happened in high school with you two?”
“Tab, this isn’t the time to be talking about it, and besides, it’s in the past.”
“Hudson Harlow, if you want me to continue to be your friend and help you with Amanda, you’ll tell me right now what happened.”
Hudson sighed.
He knew at some point that he was going to have to admit to Tab about what happened. But he had hoped it would have been way later, like years later, when they could all laugh about it as a stupid story.
“I wasn’t exactly the nicest guy to her in High School.”
“How bad?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Hudson.”
“Tab, I know. There still might be a part of me that’s confused by all this. How can I be mated to a human girl? I’m going to be the Alpha of our pack. How’s the pack going to respect her as their Luna when she doesn’t even have a wolf?”
“Hudson, I can’t believe I’m hearing you talk like this. This isn’t the same Hudson I grew up with.”
“Tab, I know. I’m sorry. But you should know that the bond is growing fast and my wolf? He’s going crazy wanting to be close to her.”
“Can you blame him?”
“No,” Hudson said quietly.
“You need to figure out what you truly want, Hudson. But let me tell you something. In the short amount of time that I have known Amanda, she is amazing. And no matter how much you pushed her down and made her feel like crap, she continued to pick herself up and keep going. That takes a lot of guts and strength. I’m proud to have her as my friend and would be even producer to have her as my Luna. you can figure out where she will be on your own.”
Tab hung up on him.
Hudson let out a deep sigh. He knew Tab was right in being upset with him. He was shitty to Amanda all throughout high school, and she didn’t deserve any of it. One thing was for sure: he needed to get her to forgive him.
Hudson quickly walked out of his dorm. He needed to find Amanda and make sure that she was okay. He started making his way to her dorm, but something told him that he wouldn’t find her there. As he was walking around in search of her, he noticed the coffee cafe Just a Sip and decided to get something to drink. When he walked in the door, he smelled her scent instantly, and a smile grew on his face as he watched her wiping the counter. He saw her shiver and then look up at him.
He could tell that her demeanor changed quickly as she put on a fake smile and said, “Hi there. What can I get for you?”
Hudson smirked and gave her his most charming smile while saying, “Well, hello. I didn’t know you work here.”
“Now you do. Do you know what you’d like?”
Hudson looked up at the menu for a moment.
“Let me see. I think I’ll have a large caramel iced coffee with milk,” he finally decided.
“Anything else?”
He heard a sigh come out from her. She was very annoyed that Hudson was there. This wasn’t going the way he hoped it would.
“Amanda, sugar, I believe it’s time for your break. Why don’t finish up with this nice gentleman for you,” Hudson heard the older woman working with Amanda tell her?
Amanda smiled, and the other woman walked away from him without giving him a second look.
Great.