Change of Plans - C.L. Blackwell Page 0,15

than I was eating the Cheetos.

“Why did you do it?” I needed to know, because if Caleb was rude to him, he was going to have to deal with me.

“I already told you.” He didn’t take his eyes off the screen.

“Well, tell me again.”

His attention was finally off Kevin Hart and on me, “Is it not obvious? I can’t stand to see Caleb around you. Everywhere you go he’s always one step behind you, treating you like you're his world. And it’s not that you don’t deserve to be someone’s world, you do, but not Caleb’s,” he set the bag of chips down and looked me in the eyes sincerely. “He doesn’t know you, not like I do. He doesn’t know that you aren’t ticklish anywhere but under your ribs. He doesn’t know that Cheetos are you favorite snack food, or that chocolate always cheers you up. He doesn’t know that you won’t drink Coke, but will drink Diet Coke because you think regular is too sweet. He doesn’t know anything about you. He doesn’t love you, at least not like I do.” He meant love as a friend, right? There was no way he loved loved me; we have been friends forever. I needed a friend, not a boyfriend.

I sat in stunned silence, staring at him. No matter how much I didn’t want to admit it, I knew he meant that he loved me, like really loved me. I guess he took my silence as good because the next thing I know, his lips are on mine. His lips were warm and pressed gently against mine. The kiss was sweet and short, but it said enough. He pulled away slightly and looked at me so deeply it felt more as if he was looking through me.

“Matt…,” I whispered.

“Yeah, I know. You just want to get out of this town, and you don’t need a boyfriend holding you back, but you should at least be happy. And you know I could make you happy, a lot more than Caleb can,” his lips were still close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips. Before I could respond, he left, leaving me speechless. That’s what the fight was about, he was jealous because he thought I wanted to be with Caleb? It was at least ten minutes of just sitting there dumbfounded before I realized something. I just had my first kiss.

Chapter Twelve

Milkshakes & Moods

Caleb

When I got back from football practice, I was hoping my father wasn’t home. I didn’t need another lecture from him. Not today. My father was a daily reminder of how I would never be good enough to run the pack. He made sure that I knew that I was an embarrassment to him and that if he had another option, he wouldn’t hand down the alpha rank to me. I was becoming the age where I could probably fight him for the alpha rank, but in my world, you fight to kill. I hated him, but I wouldn’t kill him. I couldn’t.

My father wasn’t that cruel to the pack, just not fair. He didn’t care about them, only the power. I looked stunningly like him, black hair; his sprinkled with gray, green piercing eyes and tall, but I didn’t give off the evil demeanor like he did. It wasn’t always like that though. He is the first in our family to be an alpha; the alpha blood runs through family so the oldest will be the next alpha unless challenged and beaten. Before my father, the Winters bloodline were the betas, the second ranked in the pack. The Underwoods were alphas.

A long time ago, Allie and Brody’s dad, Jim, fell in love with a human. He was one of the rare few to not get a pair. He could have found someone from another pack, but instead he fell in love with Amber, Allie’s mom.

Werewolves usually aren’t strict, except the one major rule- don’t expose us, but falling for a human was frowned upon. My dad used this as an advantage and claimed that Jim was unfit to lead the pack and that he should either leave Amber or leave the Wolf Creek Pack. Jim easily gave up his place as alpha to stay with Amber, and I didn’t blame him, he loved her. That was one thing my father could never understand, love. He was with my mom because she was his pair, nothing else. He cared for my younger sister and me