Chapter 9: good old days

"But Father...I mean Alpha Noah, I just defended…"

"Don't argue with your father...go on" Luna's voice made me turn towards her direction. She was a quiet woman who was too submissive for my liking and hid under the shadow of her oppressive husband. I wondered how both wolves could make someone like Owen.

"Yes, Luna"

Owen spared a glance at me and took off again into the forest for another round.

Without thinking about what I was about to do like usual, I took off running after him.

I was no freaking w-e-a-k-l-i-n-g.

I knew it was a mistake the moment I took off after Owen. I could barely run one round without my lungs feeling like it was made of sand but two! What the hell was I thinking?

"You didn't think this through, did you?" Owen's voice in my head reminded me he was an ass who loved tormenting me and invading my privacy but he was an ass who gave a shit about me and I tolerated him for it.

"Get out of my head, Owen! And yes, I didn't think it through. I think I am about to faint" I told him through the mind link.

Owen stopped running and I stopped myself fast enough before I collided with his enormous body like a bird.

"What are you doing? Alpha Noah would have your head if he knew you stopped" I was panicked.

Even though I act all tough and unaffected, I was terrified of the Alpha. He was a strict disciplinarian, which was a kind way of saying he is an asshole bully.

"I can handle my father. And maybe if you think before acting, you wouldn't get us into so much trouble, Em."

Owen pushed my hair behind my ear, I was panting like a dog without water for days. It was not a pretty sight.

"I don't know what is wrong with me! I think I am a magnet for trouble"

Owen led me to a tree branch and I sat down. He towed over me like an oak tree.

"Who do you think your mate will be?" I asked my best friend.

"If it is Tabitha brown, I will effing off myself. I can't stand the way she talks" Owen replied and sat down beside me.

"What if it is Grace?" I asked him trying to suppress a snicker.

"Grace! I will pretend to be in a coma and as my best friend you have to smolder me with a pillow. Have you seen her teeth? There is something called braces, people but she just looks like a fucking raccoon" Owen answered me.

I allowed myself to laugh freely now.

"That's no way to talk about the beta's daughter and your...y-your future mate, Owen!"

"It's not funny, Emily. This is my life we are talking about. How am I supposed to kiss that without getting my lips bitten off?"

I laughed at my best friend's expense for a while before I was quiet again.

"What if you can choose your mate? Who would you choose?" I was curious.

I didn't know why. Maybe because I couldn't picture any other girl spending time with Owen.

Sometimes, I get this thoughts or crazy imagination where Owen and I are more than friends. Last year, I had a dream where we kissed. I ended up avoiding him for days until he forced the truth out of me. His reaction wasn't what I had expected. His reaction irritated me.

Owen had simply burst in laughter that lasted a while, he laughed until I joined in even though I was the subject of his amusement. I never had that dream again.

It was wrong. An Alpha wolf with a wolfless pariah as Luna, yeah, it was funny.

He would probably go for Chastity. She was the queen bee in our school, pretty and blonde, with an IQ of a village Mouse or her sidekick Olivia, who was equally blonde but brilliant except she was a fucking coward who hid under the shadow of Chastity.

"Who would you choose, Owen?"

"Simple, I would choose you. I would rather be with you than any of those superficial suckers anyway. You are real, Emily girl! A walking disaster but real" Owen said and stood up.

I was in shock. Was he making fun of me again or was he serious? It wasn't like I was bad looking. I had a comely figure with a normal appropriate waist for a seventeen year old.

My crescent shaped eyebrows inclined slightly as I stared at Owen and when his blue eyes looked back at me, I yelped at being caught.

My hair was a glorious tumble of midnight black and my green eyes had unending curiosity too. It was why I got into mischief all the time.

"You are drooling" Owen told me but not in a mocking tone. I was drooling as my mouth was semi open.

"Well, you just told me that you want me as a mate" I reminded him "Yeah, of course I am going to drool!"

Owen placed both hands in his pocket and stared at me with the same eyes that got half the girls in our class drooling over him. He was handsome no doubt but I like us better as friends.

If I keep saying it, I will believe it.

"I meant it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Em."

I stood up too and moved closer to him.

"K-i-s-s me!"

Great! Here I go again, speaking without thinking. I waited for the mocking laughter but it never came.

Instead Owen took a step closer. His Alpha silver ring around his iris shining brighter like when he hit my uncle.

"You know I can spell right? Are you sure?" He asked me.

"Yes. We might as well do it before you have a mate, tomorrow" I told him casually "it's like an experiment, if you will"

"It will be your first kiss, Emily girl" his voice was tender like he was soothing me.

"It will be your first kiss too, Alpha"

Owen leaned towards me. For a second my heart was in my mouth.