Chapter 36 (Caroline)

(Caroline’s POV)

The next day at lunch, Keegan was staring at me again, but this time, there was a glint of happiness in his eyes. Yesterday, after my encounter with my Keegan wolf, I thought about my Keegan all night long.

I missed him. I did feel drawn to him in a way I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t just ignore it. Plus, I would rather be drawn to a human than a wolf. In no way, shape, or form, did I want to try the whole bestiality thing. I was not Belle, I didn’t want a beast. I sighed and stood, walking over to his table. He smiled softly at me as I placed my hands on my hips. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. Looking around, I noticed a lot of people staring at me.

“I’m ready to listen,” I muttered. He heard me anyway. He smiled and pulled me down onto his lap.

“Keegan!” I squealed. The boys laughed as they watched the display.

“So you’ll come over to my place after volleyball practice today?” he asked I rolled my eyes and hit his chest lightly.

“That’s not what I said at all,” I sneered at him He only smirked and squeezed the inside of my thigh. I moaned again despite myself before I glared at him, slapping him in the chest repeatedly.

“Stop doing that!” I said. The boys were laughing, including Keegan. I noticed that Asher had a small bruise on his ear.

That was weird.

“I was just trying to prove a point,” Keegan said with an innocent smile. I ruffled his hair and he pouted.

“Don’t do that,” he said. I laughed and stood from his lap. He tried to bring me back down but I moved out of the way just in time.

“Jerk,” I muttered.

~

Keegan walked with me to our Forensics class. His arms went around my waist gently as sparks shot up and down my body. I repeated the action; wrapping my arms around his waist. He hissed in a breath and jumped away from me. I frowned before I lifted the back of his shirt. I gasped as shock ran through me. There, on the side of his lower back was a bruise…

In the shape of a hoof print.

All I could do was stare at him. How did that get there? Something told me that he didn’t ‘just so happen’ to be riding horses yesterday and ‘just so happen’ to get kicked by one in the exact same spot that my Keegan wolf did. He pushed down his shirt quickly as a red tint touched his golden cheeks as he turned to face me.

“Ready to talk?” he tried to change the subject. I just took a step away from him as the pieces started clicking together.

My Keegan wolf looked just like Keegan.

The hoof print on Keegan’s back where the wolf got hit from protecting me.

The wolf knew what I was saying.

His pack looked a lot like Gregg, Trevor, Asher, and Nick.

One of the guys said something about being mates, and not in the friendly Australian way of saying friend either. So when he said ‘mate’ he meant…

Holy Crap.

I’m Keegan’s freaking mate in his weird werewolf-like life.

Okay, maybe I need to take a step back and think about this. Maybe I’ve just been reading too many werewolf stories on Wattpad or something. Keegan’s face watched me as if he were confirming my thoughts for me. I took one step away from him, and then another. I had to be dreaming right? That was it… I was dreaming. I turned on my heels and ran into a wall. I held my nose and moaned as I squeezed my eyes shut. My head was still sensitive from the last time I hit it. My brain rattled. I heard Keegan laughing from behind me. I turned and glared at him. He walked up to me calmly and touched my arms as he kissed my nose. Sparks flew all over my body, but I ignored it to pout at him.

“Come on, we’re skipping. I’ll tell you everything,” he said softly. He put his arm around my shoulders and we walked out to his car. I stood in front of the passenger door and stared at it. Did I really want to get in the car with him?

He was my mate…

I think.

He wouldn’t hurt me…

I think.

Keegan just stared at me from across the hood of the car. I sighed and got in. I closed the door and buckled up before Keegan drove off.

“Where are we going?” I asked. A smirk appeared on his face.

“My place,” he said. He reached over and laced his fingers with mine. It shot sparks up my arm. I sighed and rested my head against the headrest. A few minutes later we were pulling up through the woods to Keegan’s house. Keegan took my hand and dragged me to the door. He pushed the door open and pulled me inside.

“Ma!” he yelled.

“Keegan why are you home early? You know you have to- oh, Caroline!” she squealed as she rounded the corner. I smiled as I stepped forward and hugged her tightly. I missed Lena… and Wes. I missed everything that came with Keegan. I pulled away and smiled at her. Her hair was up in a messy bun with pieces hanging freely. She looked just like any hardworking mom would look. She reached forward and hugged me again. I really missed Lena.

Keegan seemed to grow restless. He pulled me out of his mom’s embrace and back into him. His hand ran over my stomach, tracing my scars lightly. I missed that. His fingertips sent electricity through my bones.

“Oh Caroline, I’ve missed you so much. I know! I’ll make you guys some food. It’s like having my daughter back,” Lena smiled as tears filled her eyes. Her hands clasped together in front of her mouth.

I smiled as well. My heart swelled at hearing her words.

“Don’t cry,” I chuckled lightly. “I missed you too,” I said. The way Lena treated me; you would think that she was my mother. Seeing her made me think of my own mother; which made me think of my parents… which made me thing of the accident. My smile faltered slightly and I flinched a little. Keegan noticed.

“Ma, I’m going to take Caroline out to the creek,” he said towards his mother. She nodded and looked behind her briefly.

“I’m going to get started on making the food. The boys and Karma will be home from school soon. I’ll tell the guys where you are,” she said. She looked at me again. “It’s great to have you back, sweetheart,” Lena smiled before she disappeared into the house. Keegan pushed my hips towards the back door. We walked back outside and I gave a little gasp. It was beautiful. For some reason, it reminded me of a little Scottish town with the way the houses were set up. There was a clear, wide dirt path with houses on either side. It looked busy even though I knew most people were probably at school. Keegan held my hand and led me past all the houses. We went through some trees and a large clearing. He led me through more trees before we came up to another clearing. It was gorgeous. I froze when I saw the water. My breathing hitched and I took a staggering step back. I hated bodies of water, even a pool. It reminded me too much of the accident that took my parents; the accident that I was in too; the accident that gave me the long scar on my abdomen. I started shaking and Keegan noticed.

He stopped walking and came back to me. When he said he was bringing me to a creek, I was too preoccupied to think of the water, but now I was flipping out. I felt someone pick me up and I let out a blood-curdling scream.

“You’re going to get so wet!” Asher’s voice filled my ears. I felt my phone leave my pocket. No doubt it probably dropped somewhere in the grass. My eyes widened and my heart felt like it dropped out of my chest. I was frozen in shock. I couldn’t even scream anymore.

Suddenly all I could see was that bridge. I saw the headlights. I heard the honking of a horn and the screech of tires.

I saw the water rush towards me as we got closer to the creek. My hands were gripping Asher so hard that my knuckles were bone-white. I was shaking violently but Asher didn’t seem to notice.

I could feel the seatbelt slice into my side as the car lurched over the bridge and into the water.

I felt weightless, and then I was submerged in water. I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I just sunk deeper and deeper as flashes appeared.

I saw my parents screaming for help. I watched as my dad frantically tried to kick out the window and open the door as the water rushed in. I watched as he finally broke the window with a small hammer I found in the backseat. I watched as the water came rushing in faster.

I couldn’t breathe.

I felt a hand wrap around my waist before I was pulled out of the water and on to the grass nearby. I laid there completely frozen. My eyes were still widened in fear, but I couldn’t bring myself to start breathing.

I saw my dad push me through the window. I watched as sadness filled his eyes; like he knew that they wouldn’t make it. I felt the pain in my side as clear as day.

I felt pressure being put on my chest. I sputtered some water before I felt really sick. I sat up and leaned over, throwing up some more water. My whole body shook violently as I coughed. I felt a hand on my back. I couldn’t help the sob that broke out of my sore throat. It was like I was losing my parents all over again. Only my brother knew about my fear of water. I also didn’t like being in cars over bridges. They were rational fears after what I had been through. I was pulled onto someone’s lap and I knew it was Keegan by the sparks being sent through my body.

“Caroline, Caroline, its okay. You’re okay,” he tried comforting me as his arms wrapped around me. I sobbed as I buried my face into his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Caroline. I didn’t know,” Asher said. Keegan growled at him.

“Go get my mom,” he snapped at them. They all left, leaving Keegan sitting on the grass with my wet shaking body curled up on top of him. He used his fingers to brush my wet hair out of my face. I clung to him; my knuckles white. I shook as he tried to comfort me. We sat there for what seemed like forever, and I wasn’t getting any better.