Sunglasses

As I'm staring at the wolf on my car I realize I have two options,

1. I can drive away and hope he doesn't chase me home

2. I can hope I'm strong enough to immobilize him with a spell.

I can't take the chance of him following me home. This is the longest I've made it without needing to move. I begin a Latin incantation, "Magna fugit lupum hominem." The wolf snarls as he realizes I'm starting a spell and lunges at my windshield, but he stumbles as the spell takes hold and slides off the hood, asleep. "Numen abscondere ventum odor meus" I back the car away from the wolf slowly and speed out of the parking lot. The spells I used are very rough and translate to "Great wolf man sleep" and "Goddess of the wind, hide my scent." I don't imagine that they will last very long so I need to get as far away from the wolf as I can before he wakes up.

When I get home, I make sure to double my normal wards as a precaution. There haven't been wolves in this area for over 50 years and now I've been attacked by two in one night. I should just leave town right now but I need to finish my last exam. I've worked way to hard to abandon it now. I can probably sneak around campus if I mask my scent, and stay around large groups of people. The wolf will probably guess that I'll still try to make it to the exam if he's been following me for a while. I took a great risk getting my degree because of how much I would be exposed to the public but I can't keep living like a criminal. I hate petty theft and the best place for me to hide is a big city since wolves hate it there. My degree is in business and accounting and I can do most of it from home if I play my cards right. By the time I finish the wards, its 2:30am. It's a good thing my last day at the shop was yesterday, Sarah would be livid if I showed up late because I slept in.

I manage to stay out of sight until Wednesday when I get to my last exam of the year, Mrs. Lester is on a rampage making sure to separate everyone she thinks are friends so they can't cheat. I wait for her to give me my assigned seat, in the last row of the classroom. Right before Mrs. Lester shuts the door a tall, very tan man with sunglasses and black hair slides in. "Mr. Monaco, I should kick you out and fail you on your final for being late!" she says. "I'm not late, you hadn't shut the door yet therefore, I'm punctual. I assume I'm sitting in the back." He says calmly as he makes his way to the seat next to mine. He smells of the forest and its intoxicating. I catch myself from leaning in and smelling him. Why am I acting like this? He just smells good, that's all, I tell myself.

"That's not the reason why and you know it. Says a voice in the back of my mind."

"How did you get out? Stay the hell out of my mind."

"I am a part of you whether you like it or not Thea. You need to accept that."

I most certainly do not Emerald, so you need the get the fu- "Miss Brooks, please pass the test to Mr. Monaco. There are four versions of this test, do not cheat off your neighbor, you will get the answers wrong and I will fail you in the class if I catch you. You may begin." I'm snapped out of my conversation and when I hand him his exam I notice that he's still wearing his sunglasses. That's weird.

I'm normally fast at taking tests but I start to get a migraine that proceeds to get worse. It's like a pressure that's getting more and more intense. "Time's up Miss. Brooks." Says Mrs. Lester making me jump. I quickly fill in the last few answers, hand the exam to her and leave the room. I walk out of the building to notice that Mr. Monaco is standing outside. Remembering my conversation with Emerald, I go a different route so I don't have to fight to suppress Emerald or deal with him.

As I'm leaving the building my head feels like its going to explode so I sit down, cradling my head in my hands.

Let me out Thea. Someone is trying to get into our head and I can help stop them.

"How are you able to even talk to me right now?"

"Mate."

"I am not accepting any mate Emerald so just stop."

"I can't, his wolf is probing for me, you're resisting the connection to him and that's why youre in so much pain. "

"He's a wolf?" Shit, I need to leave, and fast. I get off the bench with the intention of running out to my car but the pain in my head gets worse and I fall to my knees, gasping from the pain.

"He's close!" Emerald howls excitedly.

My nose is starting to bleed from the pressure and my vision is getting fuzzy.

"Thea, you're hurt, release me from this ridiculous binding spell so we can escape."

"You just want to see your mate Emerald, it's too dangerous if I unbind you then they will be able to smell you and we'll never be safe."

"You're weaker without me Thea! You can barely maintain your magic as it is!" She says angrily.

Just then I feel a hand on my shoulder and the pressure is gone. "Are you okay miss?" says a deep but smooth voice. "Y-yea I just got a really bad nose bleed and I don't have anything to cover my face with. I don't want to ruin my clothes, I have somewhere to be." I lied. "I see. Give me a second and I'll go get you some tissue from the bathroom." He says as he turns to leave.

"I can't feel his wolf anymore, Thea."

"Good, my head doesn't hurt either."

"He could still be close by."

"Here, this should be enough to at least get you to the lady's room." He says as he hands me the tissue. I press it to my nose and stand up to leave. I turn around to thank the man and am surprised to see Mr. Monaco. He smiles at me and I turn bright red for some reason so I thank him and find the nearest bathroom.

"Why is he still wearing his sunglasses inside? It's not even that sunny outside today."

"Why would I know Emerald?" I snap as I get my nose bleed under control and clean up. I look like I've been trampled by a herd of goats, not to mention the dark bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep. Ever since the night with the green-eyed wolf, my nightmare changed and it gets worse every night. I'm so enveloped in my thoughts that as I walk out of the bathroom I run right into Mr. Monaco.

"He's still wearing his sunglasses?! I'm just going to call him sunglasses."

"I-I'm sorry!" I stammer. This gets me another smile from Sunglasses. "You feel better?" he asks. "Yes, thank you for helping me." I say as I look for a way out of the conversation. "You're Thea, right? I'm Sebastian, most people call me Bash though." He says as he offers me his hand. "Yes, it's nice to meet you Sebastian." Once our skin connects for the handshake, a bolt of electricity runs up my arm and I let go. "Mate" Sebastian and Emerald say in unison.