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[20]

"Massie. . . wake up."

Massie blinked several times until a clear picture of Kristin appeared above her. She yawned and stretched her arms. "Hey," she croaked, squinting her eyes from the room's brightness. The window's curtains did not do much to dampen the sun's rays.

"Mandy made a salve of mixed herbs to reduce the swelling of your foot. The job is rather messy, and it applies much better if you're sitting up."

Massie slowly sat up, giving Kristin better access to her swollen foot. She winced at the sight of her grotesque foot, if anything it looked worse than it did yesterday. Even her cute toe nails couldn't save her now. As Kristen applied the salve Massie looked to her right at the clock. The red numbers showed it was nine in the morning, a few hours since school started.

"Looks like I'll be missing school today," Massie yawned. Glancing at Kristin she remembered what Emma told her when she first started school; Kristin dropped out. "You don't go to school anymore, right?" She questioned, curious for an explanation. She hoped she wouldn't be touching a sore subject.

Kristen nodded, seemingly not bothered by Massie's inquisitiveness. "I dropped out last year. I didn't feel it was necessary to continue attending when in the end I wasn't going to leave for college."

Massie blinked. "Wow, I never thought of not going to college. Of course, you are a werewolf." The very word felt awkward leaving her lips. The idea of the entire Cult being werewolves was something she accepted, yet it still didn't fail to have her slightly dumbfounded.

Kristen looked up and smiled. "To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being at the diner and managing the aspects of it. I'm also hoping that soon James will be marking me," she blushed at her last disclosure.

Massie giggled. "Aww, I knew you and James had a romance going on. What are you guys, soulmates? Is that what they call it?"

This time Kristen giggled. "That's fiction Massie, there are no such thing as soulmates. Though, I do feel James is the only one I could picture myself with. My wolf has found the most attraction towards him." Her eyes became glassy with affection, causing Massie to sigh at her own love life, or lack thereof.

"I'm sure the feelings are mutual." Massie smirked as she recalled a memory. "Actually, one day I caught James in the library reading books about mates, and I think that if a guy goes to books for advice on his love life then his head must be dizzy with thoughts about his significant other—you."

Kristen's smile widened. "Really? He was reading a book?" Massie gave her a wink. "It's crazy when I think about it. At one point having him seemed almost impossible. Before he ever noticed me— back when I attended high school—he harbored a massive crush for Keisha. She flirted with him every now and then, but even he knew her focus was mainly on Sebastian."

Massie's eyebrows lifted; she had assumed James and Kristen's relationship had been a consummation of years. "Wait, then how does this mate thing go? Don't you just know you're made for each other? Like destiny?"

Wood colored eyes looked at her, amused. "Werewolves mate similarly to humans. You find someone who you feel you could be the rest of your life with, and then you mark them. . . kind of like a wedding, only with werewolves there is no such thing as an annulment. The moment a male marks his mate an impenetrable bond is created until death."

Massie nodded, absorbing everything Kristen told her. "What if you fall for a human?"

Kristen shook her head. "Mating with a human never happens. As werewolves our nature is guided towards reproducing. Humans aren't able to reproduce our kind. Only a werewolf-werewolf pairing. That's why a half-werewolf does not exist."

Massie felt a large sense of disappointment engulf her, and she knew it had a lot to do with her crush on Sebastian. Now it made complete sense why he didn't like her—she was not a werewolf. "Can you turn someone into a werewolf?" She pushed, knowing her thoughts would be obvious with this inquiry.

Catching the gist of things Kristen looked up from her task and gave Massie a small smile. "No. Sadly, it's impossible to turn a human into a werewolf. Our wolf side. . . it's not something you create, but rather born with." Kristen wiped her hands clean with the towel she had balanced on her neck and allowed Massie's newly wrapped foot to rest comfortably on a pillow. "For now, that should do it," she pipped, referring to her injured foot. "In a couple of hours I'll be washing the old paste off and reapplying a new set. Your foot should be significantly better by then."

"Okay, that was very nice of you Kristen." Massie thanked, returning to her previously laid position. As much as she tried to smile, a frown still marred her face. Usually she would mask her feelings with indifference, but in Kristen's company she didn't feel the need to do so.

Noting her thwarted mood, Kristen took a hold of her hand and gave a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry too much Massie. You are not a werewolf, but I can assure you that you're special."

"I'd still prefer if I were a werewolf," Massie grumbled, oblivious to the depth of Kristen's words.

"You should rest," Kristen advised, she assessed Massie from afar, noting the unhealthy paleness that had overtook over her usually caramel complexion. "Last night took a large toll on your body and you still look very tired."

Massie nodded and positioned her head comfortably on the pillow. She really was tired. The mere conversation she had with Kristen seemed to have drained her energy reserve for the morning and even blinking was a chore. Her foot—though slightly alleviated compared to the previous night—sent short waves of pain whenever she slightly shifted. Hopefully the salve would work well, the idea of wearing crutches to school was not appealing. Massie closed her eyes and felt herself fall asleep with the distant sounds of other pack members in the home, surprised to notice she felt rather safe and at home in a place that was not her own.

-o-o-o-

"Damn, that's one fucked up foot."

"Shut up, idiot. Clearly she was badly injured last night."

Sigh. "I think all of us can clearly see that, Jordan."

Smack.

"Noah, Jordan, Jayden. Quiet."

"Sebastian's right, you might wake my princess up."

Snort. "Your princess? Weren't you just commenting on how ugly her foot looked."

"I'll still take her. She's perfect."

"I said quiet." Sigh. "Great, nice job."

Massie opened her eyes to a room full of guys. Surrounding her were Jordan, Jayden and Noah while Sebastian stood afar against a wall to her right. It would be a lie if she didn't say she felt pretty darn special. She had four single handsome men surrounding her that were all gazing at her with a look of concern, interested in her well being. Getting severely injured wasn't too bad when you received this quality of attention. Glancing at the clock Massie noticed school ended not too long ago, explaining their presence.

"Hey guys," she croaked, her voice hoarse from having recently wakened. She sat up straight and winced when her foot sent waves of protest up her spine. From what she could tell, however, they weren't as intense and brutal as they had been prior to Kristen apply the salve. This showed improvement, and a glance at her sore foot confirmed her thought when she saw it's size had been decreased by a half.

"Hey babe," Noah greeted, giving her one of his award-winning smiles. "If you had stayed asleep any longer I would have had to kiss you, you know, like that princess we were talking about before."

Massie threw her head back in laughter. Noah chuckled as well, but his humor was cut short with a slap from an annoyed Jordan, who's brown eyes soon turned to gaze at her with concern. "How are you feeling?" Unlike his twin brother, Jordan's hair was in an unruly fashion. Noticing a leave stuck in his tresses, Massie flicked it out and wonder if he had been in his wolf form prior to visiting her.

She nodded. "Much better actually, that thing Kristen put on my foot toned down the swelling. It's not nearly as unbearable as it was before." To Massie's embarrassment, her stomach chose that moment to growl. Now that she thought about it, last time she ate was yesterday night at dinner, and it was already lunch time.

Jayden gave her an amused grin. "You're hungry." He stated. "I would have made you something to eat, but Hailey insisted on being the one to make you lunch."

Massie smiled as she thought of the James' younger sister, her wide brown eyes coming to mind. "She's too cute." Massie nudged Noah, giving him a knowing glace. "And you thought she would be the death of me."

Noah shrugged and gave her an easy smile. "First impressions can be deceiving; give Hailey a few more days and I'm sure she'll start rebelling."

Massie felt her arm being lifted. She curiously gazed at Jayden, but his sight was fixated on the claw marks that marred her arm. They were deep and harsh. Her skin had not yet developed a scab, so raw pink flesh was still visible. "How do you plan on explaining this to you parents?"

The purple eyed female pursed her lips. "Yesterday I told my mom some story. I managed to convince her it wasn't too serious, so as of now she's not too worried." Jayden took her other arm and examined it as well. Taking notice of this Massie leaned back and smirked. "Wow, for once your eyes are geared towards a direction that's not my twat," she commented, earning four pair of eyes to snap directly at her, but she was mainly focusing on Jayden. Beside her Noah snorted, as was expected of his rambunctious self.

Jayden's eyes lit up with mirth, amused at her commentary. "Yes, very true."

"So. . ." she pushed, expecting an explanation. If they honestly thought the prior excuse they gave her at the diner—which consisted of 'scientific curiosity'—they were seriously delusional.

Noah threw his hands up with an expression that clearly stated I'm-not-getting-into-this while Jordan scratched the back of his neck and stared at the design of her bed covers as if they were the most intriguing artwork he's seen all day. Jayden's eyes filled with something akin to annoyance as he realized he was on his own on this one. The lazy twin turned to Sebastian, who up until now hadn't said a word, but it seemed that just by looking at him he received the response he was looking for. Permission.

"You have matura." He stated. Closing his eyes, he leaned against the wall in his favorite position and remained so as if it answered all of her questions.

"What the—I don't even know what that is. Care to elaborate?" Massie poked Jayden's stomach, unsatisfied with his fiscal explanation. Matura, she'd never once heard of that word in her life.

"Actually, since you're not 18 yet, you technically have prematura." Jordan added, noting that his brother would provide no further explanation as he felt he already fulfilled his part. "Once you reach 18 you'll have it fully."

Massie's eyebrows drew together in confusion; she still had no idea of what they were talking about. "So what does me having matura mean? That I'll be a werewolf? A witch?. . .a pixie?"

Noah laughed, amused by the width of Massie's imagination. "No babe, it means we wanna have your babies." Smack. "Oww man! Why you gotta hit me so many times today!" He gave Jordan a wide-eyed puppy look that even made Massie want to hug him.

"Because you're always saying stupid shit!" Jordan glared at his companion, who in turn merely shrugged at ease. He turned his attention to Massie. "Ignore what he said. What it means is that your body can do things other humans can't."

"Yeah 'cause, you know, we need more babymamas to produce other babymamas." Noah supplied. Jordan sighed, as if too overwhelmed to even bother censoring his friend any longer.

Massie looked at everyone in her room before blinking. "I still don't get it." She began to comb her hands though her hair, unleashing numerous tangles from her thick mass of black hair. She briefly wondered how crazy she looked. Her hair was probably a mess. "Hey James," Massie greeted as she spotted a familiar mohawk enter the room.

"I overheard the conversation from outside," he related, the small smile that lingered on his lips let Massie know that it entertained him. He took a quick scan of the room and stepped up to her side. He had noted Sebastian's indifference as he stayed as far as possible from the purple-eyed girl, Noah's obnoxious snickers due to finding the predicament hilarious, Jordan's peeved glare towards his friend, and Jayden's resigned posture. It looked like it was up to him to educate her on her situation.

"Massie, you have prematura. Next week when you turn 18, you'll have matura. When werewolves mate with humans they have no offspring. Our sperm—speaking in scientific terms—rejects the egg that resides within a human female. For whatever reason, your. . . type seems to be the exception; your egg accepts our genes and is able to produce a full-blooded werewolf. What Noah meant with his 'babymama' philosophy is that unlike she-wolves, you have a 50% chance of producing a female baby. Regular she-wolves have a 30% chance—as you could have probably noticed by the sheer amount of men in our pack. Females are not as easy to come by, and are sorely needed for the future of any pack."

Massie's mouth dropped. Well when one puts it like that it made a lot more sense. So that's why the Cult was so interested in her, she was an enhanced baby-machine. In a sense she should have felt insulted that they were more enthralled by her. . . special parts than herself as a person but she didn't find any anger to latch onto. She always said she was special—just for the sake of saying she was because she eluded confidence (and perhaps arrogance) that added up to making her who she was. Now, she was actually special. Different. "How can you tell someone hasmatura?" She froze. "Oh my gosh, does my Venus has a distinctive smell?!" She cried, an expression of worry etched on her face.

Noah bawled in laughter again, unable to contain himself. This time, Massie did Jordan the favor and smacked him herself. He afterwords caught her hand and planted a kiss. "Don't worry babe, you don't have a 'distinctive smell'. It's more of an essence. I can't explain it, my wolf can just tell when a girl has matura. Wolves are naturally attracted to unmarked women such as yourself."

Massie sighed in relief and released the tension that had built up in her shoulders. At least she didn't have to worry about something as awkward as that. She smiled at Noah mentioning a wolf's natural attraction toward her kind. That meant that as much as Sebastian loved to fake he was uninterested in her, some part of him was, which would explain why in his wolf form he was much warmer and open to her.

"Is there anyone else in this pack who's like me?" Massie questioned, thinking of the other girls she acquainted with on her first visit.

Jayden opened a lazy eye and smirked. "Of course."

Massie's eyes sparkled, her interest spiked. "Who?"

For the first time in the entire engagement Sebastian spoke. "My mother."

A/N: Ohymgoshh I can't believe I'm back. It took a while to get this out as I got into the role of things but now I feel comfortable writing again :) Seb&Mass will deff be interacting more now that she knows their secret. Feel free to leave a comment and please vote :D