~Annora's POV: 7 hours later~
"Thailia, he fucking walked in on my undressing for my run and then invited himself onto my run!!!" I whisper yelled at her as I took a bite of my salmon sushi.
"Yeah, uh huh. You also said he- Oh wait..." She said as she finally realized that she was countering the opposite of my statement unknowingly the entire time, digging into her salad as she finally realized that what I was saying was right.
It was lunchtime and I was venting to Thailia about everything that happened since I met my mate. She didn't believe me when I claimed that he had two sides; he was either possessive of me like almost every other alpha is to their mate, or he was a kind future alpha that lets me be.
"Okay yeah I can see why you'd think what you think girlfriend..." Thailia chuckled softly. "If you don't like/want him why don't you just reject him? Problem solved."
"Because I don't have the heart to break his heart so soon." I sighed, finishing my sushi. Sometimes it felt like she didn't understand. "I have a track meet next, see you in geology Thail."
"Oh... See you at geology then...." She said sadly, continuing to eat as I walked off with my bag. I left the lunchroom and headed for my locker to grab everything I needed for track.
I didn't really have track for a another 15, I just wanted to be alone for a bit. Running always seemed to calm me down oddly enough, so I was going to head to the running track to blow off some steam. I threw my shoes over one shoulder, my bookbag over the other, then headed to the outdoor track area. It was a perfect day for some extra running, the sun shining in a cloudless blue sky.
I wasn't actually sweating all too hard by the time I was done with both my solo run and actual track. I got inside, heading straight for my locker, just as the bell rang and everyone entered the hallway. I shoved through the crowd, the werewolf students casually making way for me. When I opened my locker, I found the strangest thing there; a small, midnight blue box, around the size of my palm, with a yellow ribbon tied around it.
"Ooo!! Someone has a boyfriend!!" One of other students passing me snorted.
I opened the box, only to find a lovely necklace inside. It has one of those silver, slightly tighter knit chains and an intricate wolf charm hanging from it. I knew instantly who left it, even if there was somehow no scent, as my heart fluttered once more. Jeez, what was I becoming? Oh, my mate looks at me. Heart flutters. My mate smiles slightly, heart flutters. What was happening to me?! I stared at the necklace for God knows how long before I finally shoved it to the back of my locker. I needed to stay focused, not easily get distracted over some stupid necklace.
By the end of the day, I was so unfocused I wasn't even myself anymore. And not because I was texting someone or passing notes when my teacher wasn't looking. I was thinking about Caleb. Thinking about why he was like this. I walked straight by my house after school because I was so distracted. Thailia had to text me and tell me to turn around before I snapped out of it, as I had completely missed her yelling at me to turn around from two houses down.
"Annora is that you?" Mom called from upstairs as I shut the front door. "Can you come here for a moment?"
I blinked at the slightly odd request but shrugged it off and went upstairs. "Yeah Mom?"
When I looked inside my room to see what was wrong, I saw something that made my heart stop. I saw my older brother, Aiden, sitting there on my bed. The same Aiden that had poofed so long ago.
"A-Aiden?" My voice cracked. "But your... Your supposed to be..."
He looked up at me, then smiled slightly. As he stood up, I ran forward, tears starting to well up in my eyes, and I hugged him tightly. He had disappeared exactly 1yr 1m ago, without a trace. His mate, Laila, had gone missing from the pack as well a week later, in the exact same way. We all assumed after months of constant, and I mean constant, searching that he and Laila were dead.
"I missed you too." He whispered as I began to happily cry into his chest.
We sat there for a while with him just holding me while I cried and pretty much inhaled his scent again. I had missed him so much and knowing that he was fine all along was just too much to take in all at once. He was more like a fatherly figure than a brother at times like this, and I couldn't be happier to know that he was still the same.
"Where were you all this time?" I looked up at him, pulling away slightly so I could look up at him.
"I'll tell you another day Annie..." He chuckled softly.
"Alright fine Sandy." I smirked, having used the old nickname I had given him. His wolf was a light brown, but he had flecks of a sandy color all over his coat, like he had sand all over him. We were also obsessed with Annie when we were little, so we gave each other nicknames related to it. It was just for the fun of it, but they ended up sticking to us through our childhood, our teen-hood, and now his adult hood. "Wait... where's Laila?"
"She's..." His voice suddenly cracked as the tears welled in his eyes. "She's gone..."
"Aiden I-" I started but he held a finger to my lip.
"Let's not let that spill the moment alright? I'm home again and we might as well enjoy it." He smiled sadly. "After all, she made that sacrifice so I could come back..."
So this is why he wanted to tell me later where he had been all this time.... He knew I'd get upset too and it would spoil everything...