6

They'd have to catch me first.

Henley

I turn so fast that my hair slaps against my arms. My heart accelerates so fast that I feel as though it's going to burst right out of my chest.

I recognize the guy, though I don't know him. He's the same supernatural I saw before—the supernatural who has been sneaking around pack land.

He's the reason Parker is always gone. Suddenly, my fear is replaced by anger. Who does this guy think he is? He doesn't belong here.

I cross my arms over my chest. "You shouldn't be here. This is pack land. If they find you, you'll be in a lot of trouble."

"I had to come." The guy takes a step closer to me. "I had to meet you. I just didn't realize you would be so hard to get alone. You are always surrounded. Today is the first day you've been alone in a while."

I take a step back, uncomfortable with his closeness. "Why do you need me alone?"

"I'm sorry." He holds up his hands. "I am not here to hurt you. I'm sorry for scaring you. It's just… I've never met another supernatural like me."

"Like… you?" I look at the guy's glowing brown eyes. There is something familiar about him. I still keep my guard up. If he is the same kind of supernatural as me, it doesn't mean he's a good guy. He's a stranger who has apparently been stalking me.

"The alpha of this pack has been asking around about you, trying to see if other supernaturals know what you are," the guy says, shaking his head. "They won't know, by the way. Nobody knows what we are because they hunted us down until near extinction. I thought I was the only one left."

"You know what I am?" I ask.

He nods. "Of course. My parents taught me. They died a couple of years ago after they were hunted by a pack of wolf shifters."

My breath gets caught in my throat.

His parents were killed by wolf shifters?

I take a deep breath. "If you're really not here to hurt me, then meet Parker. He will let you stay, as long as you don't mean to harm me or the pack."

He shakes his head. "Absolutely not. Wolf shifters are not good. I will not have anything to do with them."

"But they're not all bad." My throat feels so dry, probably from nerves. "If you don't meet Parker and his father, you can't stay here. It's illegal."

He snorts. "They'd have to catch me first. Which they can't. Wolf shifters may have the strength, but our magic is far superior."

Superior? This guy is arrogant.

But… this guy did say wolf shifters killed his parents. It's understandable that he wouldn't trust Parker and his pack. He doesn't know them like I do.

"Just meet the pack. You'll see that not all wolf shifters are bad," I say, trying to reason with him. "The pack has let me join, so I know they'd welcome you too."

He huffs. "Absolutely not." His entire body stiffens. "Somebody is coming. I have to go. Just think about what I said. And try to get away from your bodyguards. I'll find you."

Before I can say anything else, the guy goes up in a puff of smoke—literally.

Well, if I wanted proof that he and I are the same, there it is. Though I'm not sure that I want to be anything like him.

A moment later, I hear the rustling in the leaves. I turn just in time to see wolves run into the path. The wolf in the front vibrates and a moment later, Parker steps in front of me.

"Henley, what are you doing here?" He puts his hands on my arms and looks me up and down like he's looking for any sign of injury. He relaxes slightly. "Where is Will?"

"Will had to go home." I chew on my bottom lip, hoping Will won't get in trouble. It's my fault he wanted to run away.

"HE WHAT?" Parker shouts.

I wince. "Sorry. I, uh, made him upset. So he left. He told me to stay home, but I wanted to talk a walk."

"The other supernatural," Parker growls. "I smell him. He was right here."

I nod. "He approached me."

Parker's eyes glow amber and his skin vibrates. I can tell he's just barely holding back his shift.

"Where did he go?" Parker's voice is low and growly.

"He… teleported… away," I say slowly as if I'm unable to believe it myself. "In fire."

Parker's eyes instantly fade back to blue. "He's like you."

Not knowing how to speak, I simply nod my head.

He is like me. There are others like me.

Are they going to send me away now so I can learn how to control my powers?

Parker rubs a hand down his face. "You said he approached you. Did he say anything?"

"Yes." I lick my lips. "He, uh, said he's like me."

"Obviously," Parker comments.

"And that wolf shifters hunted and killed his parents," I continue. "He heard about your dad asking other supernaturals about me and he said he had to come meet me. He knows what we are, but we didn't get that far. You came before he could explain anything to me."

"You can't go near him," Parker demands. I can feel his alpha powers in the words, even if his alpha commands don't work on me.

"I won't. I told him that if he wants to talk to me, he has to approach you. I tried to tell him that the pack is good, but he wouldn't believe me." I shake my head, still not able to believe what's happening. "He's scared of wolf shifters because of what happened to his parents."

"It doesn't matter. If he wants to talk to you, he has to do it when I'm around." Parker huffs and turns around to face the wolves behind him. "Continue the patrols. I want Henley's house surrounded. We know what he wants now and she will never be alone again."

The wolves take off, as he commanded.

Parker turns to face me. "Come on. We're going back to your house." He puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me through the path.

"What's going to happen now?" I ask.

"Now… you'll never be alone again. I never meant for you to be alone anyway." Parker growls again. "I can't believe Will left you."

I swallow hard, wondering what I can say to defend Will. It really wasn't his fault. But if I told Parker what happened, I'm pretty sure he would hate his best friend. I can't do that to either of them. Will's private thoughts should be private.

"Are you going to punish Will?" I ask.

"Why shouldn't I? Something could've happened to you because he left you." Parker opens my front door and motions me inside.

I sigh, going in.

He's right. If I really was in danger, Will shouldn't have left. But I understand why he did.

"Can you just go easy on him?" I turn to face Parker as he shuts the door behind him.

He doesn't respond right away. One look at his face and I can tell why—he communicating with somebody. Based on the way his eyes are gold instead of blue, I'd say he's talking to Will. He's most likely scolding him.

Parker narrows his eyes at me. "Why should I go easy on Will? I gave him an order. He is the one who disobeyed."

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yes, but I made him mad."

He cocks an eyebrow. "You always make him mad—it's Will that we're talking about here."

"Yes, but this time what happened was my fault. I don't blame him for being mad at me."

Parker looks expectantly at me, but I am not going to give him details. I'm pretty sure he would murder Will if he knew.

When it's clear I'm not going to respond, Parker says, "It doesn't matter why Will left you. He knew that you weren't to be left alone."

I sigh, knowing that there is no way that I can possibly change Parker's mind about this. I flop down onto the couch.

A few minutes later, when there is a knock on the door, I don't have to look to know that it's Will. I start to get up, but Parker holds up a hand, motioning for me to stay. I slide back onto the couch, letting Parker open the door.

"Will," Parker says, through gritted teeth. "Come in."

Will does as he's told. I look up, making brief eye contact with him. He quickly averts his gaze looking at anything except me.

Great. He won't even look at me now.

Will walks over and sits on the other side of the room. Parker narrows his eyes, looking between Will and me.

"Will, you're acting very strange." Parker studies his friend, but Will keeps his eyes down.

I clear my throat, sitting forward. "Is there a reason you wanted Will to come over?" I try to push the conversation along, hoping to distract Parker.

Parker looks at me, his blue eyes narrowing slightly. "You're being sneaky. I can feel through our bond that you're anxious."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Maybe you want to explain why you felt guilty this morning."

At that, he turns back to Will. "You disobeyed an order."

Will nods. "I did."

"And Henley was confronted by the other supernatural."

Will turns to me. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "He didn't hurt me. He just wanted to talk."

Parker snorts. "You don't know that he didn't want to hurt you. I just arrived before he could do anything."

I shrug, not knowing what to say. The guy might be a creep, sneaking around pack land, but if he wanted to hurt me he probably would have.

Still, Parker is angry enough. I probably shouldn't mention this to him.

Parker turns back to Will. "I need you to keep helping Henley learn how to block thoughts."

Will shakes his head. "No."

"No?" Parker's eyes turn gold as he takes a step closer to Will.

Will doesn't back down. "If you want her to learn how to block her thoughts, you teach her. I refuse to. She's your mate. You should be the one protecting her, not me." Will stands up from his seat. "I'm done, Parker."

Without another word, Will storms out of the house. I watch him, feeling completely dumbfound.

Will just told Parker no.

"Is he allowed to say no?" I ask.

Parker's eyes are still gold as he looks at me. "Technically, I'm not alpha yet. But I will be. And he's going to be my beta. He's never told me no. We've always worked together."

My chest aches.

It's all my fault. If only I hadn't accidentally read Will's thoughts.

"Do you know what that was about?" Parker's eyes slowly fade from gold to blue as he walks over to the couch and takes a seat beside me.

I shrug, knowing I can't lie to him. Equally, I can't tell him the truth.

"You're hiding something," Parker accuses.

"Yes," I answer.

"Something about Will."

I nod. "Yes."

"But you won't tell me?"

"Sorry." I chew on my bottom lip, hoping he won't press the issue.

"Is it something bad?" Parker asks. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," I answer. "Will didn't do anything to me, I promise. It was me who did something. I can't tell you what, but his reaction is justified."

I had no idea that I could read his thoughts. It wasn't like I was trying to. But his thoughts should be private.

Uh, I'm a bad friend.

"Now you feel guilty." Parker sighs. "Okay, fine. I trust you. I will let you and Will work this out, even if it's going to cause issues for me." He runs his fingers through his hair. "You're going to have to get along with my beta."

I nod. "I know. I will apologize to him. He just… needs space."

"What did you do to him?" he asks.

"I thought you were going to trust me." I fold my fingers together on my lap, refusing to meet his gaze. I feel like if I look at him he will see right through me. He's my soulmate, after all.

Parker grins, his blue eyes penetrating mine. "Are you okay?"

"Am I… okay?"

"The other supernatural," he says. "Did he scare you?"

"Oh." I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "Yes, he did scare me, but I know you felt it through our bond. Part of me wants to talk to him because he's like me. But the other part of me—the much bigger part—wishes he would just go away. He's kind of creepy. If he genuinely wanted to talk to me, he would've approached you or your dad. Instead, he's creeping around in the shadows. I don't like it."

"Me either." Parker furrows his brows. "We've been trying to catch him, but we haven't had any luck."

"I know." I glance down at my hands. "That's why you've pawned me off on Will and Blaine and why you never spend time with me."

"It's my job to protect you." He clenches his jaw. "I will always put your protection first, above everything."

"I miss you," I admit, finally meeting his eyes. "I don't care about this other supernatural. I just want to spend time with you. I feel like I saw you more before we found out we were mates."

He scoots closer to me, pulling me onto his lap. "I'm sorry."

But when I'm this close to him and in his arms, it's hard to stay mad at me. He likely knows it too.

Parker runs one hand up and down my back softly. I relax into his embrace, resting my head against his chest. He rests his chin on top of my head.

"I missed you, too," Parker says softly.

I sigh, my body relaxing even more.

After a few moments, Parker speaks again. "We're not supposed to be at your house alone. It's one of your dad's rules."

I don't move to pull away from his embrace. "It's a stupid rule."

"Maybe not so stupid," Parker says.

I lean back so that I can look at him. "Why is it not stupid?"

"Because I really want to kiss you right now."

My stomach twists. "I like where your thoughts are going."

He grins. "Maybe we should go to my house."

I raise an eyebrow. "So your siblings can interrupt our alone time?"

"Henley," he scolds, but I can see the humor sparkle in his eyes. "I want your dad to like me."

"He does like you."

Parker gives me a pointed look. "He doesn't trust me."

I shrug. "To be fair, I don't think he would trust any teenage boy that I'm dating. Soulmate or not, he's my dad."

"But that means I'll be even more respectful and protective of you—because you're mine."

For a moment, I wonder if I should be flattered or offended that Parker is calling me ‘mine.' I decide to go with flattered. If I'm his then he's mine too, and I like the idea of that.

Parker cocks his head to the side. "What are you thinking?"

I grin. "Nothing. I agree with you, but it's my father's decision. You should talk to him about it."

Parker stands up and holds out a hand toward me. I put my hand in his and allow him to pull me up from the couch. I expect him to lead me out the front door and to his Jeep, but he doesn't. Instead, he tugs me closer to him and puts his arms around me. I lean into him.

"I thought we were supposed to go to your house." I try to tease him, but my voice comes out breathy. From the way Parker smirks, I can tell he's noticed.

"We are going to my house, which is why I should kiss you now. Once we're at my house, my siblings won't leave us alone."

I laugh, knowing he's right.

Parker bends down to match my height. Before his lips touch mine, my heart is already racing. It used to embarrass me, knowing he could hear, but I don't care anymore. I don't need to hear Parker's heart to know he's just as affected by my nearness.

His lips are so soft and warm. And even though I've only known that he's my soulmate for a couple of weeks, I already feel so comfortable with him.

Parker's hand cups the back of my neck. His calloused fingers brush softly against me, making me shiver. I lean further into him, knowing that I'm safe.

He abruptly pulls back and groans. "Henley, you're killing me."

I open my eyes slowly. "What?"

He grins, letting his hand slowly trace down my arm. He laces our fingers together and then slowly brings my hand up to his lips and kisses it.

"How long do you think your father will make us wait to get married?" Parker asks.

My eyes widen. "Parker, we're still in high school."

He chuckles. "You've got to stop thinking about things the way a human would. We're soulmates. It's not like we're going to change our minds in ten years."

Okay, when he puts it like that.

He tugs my hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here before we get in trouble."

I laugh, allowing him to tug me after him.

I hadn't thought about it much before, but Parker is right. We are soulmates. I already know that supernaturals don't have divorce like humans do.

Parker and I really are a forever kind of thing.