I stared up into the face of this Vincent werewolf who was now claiming that I'm his mate. There's no way I can be the mate to a werewolf! It's impossible, he's got to be joking. I scanned his face to see if he was just messing with me.

Vincent stared at my face with longing in his eyes, his mouth in a wide smile. His whole face was alight with zeal, like he had just won the lottery.

"Mate," he breathed, reaching out with his arm, as if to touch me.

My body was trembling. Shit! I can't be a werewolf's mate! I can't be stuck here in this territory! I'm supposed to be running away to Miami! I'm meant to live with humans, not werewolf monsters!

I quickly moved from his reach. "Sorry," I quickly muttered. "You've got the wrong person." I ran back into the girls' locker room where the male werewolf wouldn't be able to follow me. I frantically looked around for another exit that I'd be able to escape that stupid werewolf through.

I can't be his mate!

Tears began to well up in my eyes and I grabbed at my hair. What do I do? What will my parents say? They hate werewolves, there's no way they'll want me to be mated to one! I'll be kicked out, and I won't be allowed to live on the streets because my supposed mate will make me live with him.

The tears were freely flowing down my face. I slumped behind a row of lockers, sitting with my head in my hands, my butt on the cold cement floor.

The door to the locker opened up and I heard petite footsteps approaching me. There's no way a giant werewolf like Vincent could walk so quietly, so this had to be someone else.

"Nora?" Danni asked. She stopped where I was, based on the fact that the sounds of her feet stopped at my side. "Vincent sent me in here because he heard you crying. He wants to know what's wrong and when you're coming out because he wants to talk to you."

I looked up at Danni, fairly sure I looked like a mess. I sniffed and felt snot shoot back up into my nose...gross. I motioned for her to get closer to me. She sat beside me and I leaned into her so I could whisper in her ear, that way Vincent wouldn't be able to hear us.

"Danni, I'm so scared," I sobbed. "I don't want to be mated." More tears streamed down my face and the shock really started to settle in. My life isn't my own life anymore, it's Vincent's. He owns me.

Danni frowned at me. "You know, being a werewolf's mate isn't that bad," she whispered. "He'll take care of you and make you feel so safe."

I shook my head. "I don't want that though," I cried, not even bothering to whisper anymore. I want Vincent to know that I don't want him.

Danni patted my shoulder.

I paused and looked at her. "Can I reject the bond? I don't feel it, so that must mean that I'm not really his mate, right?" I asked, hope seeping into my core.

Danni shook her head. "Sorry Nora. Humans don't feel the bond like werewolves. We gradually fall in love, theirs is immediate and amplified." She took out her phone and started to text someone, her fingers rapidly tapping the keys. She looked a little nervous, every now and then glancing around the row of lockers to make sure no one had entered the locker room to get us.

When she stopped she handed me her phone so I could read the text. "Just give Vincent a chance," she said, "you may find that..."

I froze when I read the text that was totally the opposite of what she was saying to me. If you really don't want to be Vincent's mate, my mate's sister actually specializes in helping humans hide from their werewolf mates. It's $500, but she knows how to make you disappear. Just be warned that if you decide to go through with it, Vincent will stop at nothing to get you back.

"...maybe you should just accept Vincent. You never know," Danni finished. She narrowed her eyes at me, telling me to keep quiet.

I nodded and erased the message from her phone. "Where?" I whispered.

"Come to my house tomorrow after school and I'll introduce you two, but it may take a few weeks to get everything all prepped," she whispered back, barely audible.

"Why didn't you leave then?" I wondered.

Danni smiled. "Reed treats me wonderfully." She stood up and offered me her hand. "Just smile and get it over with."

Danni led me over to the exit, where Vincent stood on the other side of the door. All I have to do is wait a couple of weeks and then I'll be able to escape and live in Miami, free from werewolves. Danni was the first to leave the locker room. I stayed inside for a few seconds, taking a couple deep breaths to prepare myself for the ordeal that was to come.

"You can do this," I told myself, slowly opening the locker room door. As soon as I took one step out, I was enveloped in a pair of muscular arms, being brought into a muscled chest.

Vincent held me close to him, burying his face in my hair and inhaling deeply. "Why are you sad, Mate?" he asked, slowly rocking back and forth, as if to comfort me. "This is a happy occasion. We finally have each other."

I looked around the hall. Everyone had already left, even Jessie. Apparently Vincent was the only one who actually waited for me.

He pulled back to look me over, his eyes scanning over every feature of my body, making me glad that I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. I looked over Vincent as well, to see how scary he is. He was freakishly tall, and muscled as well. His tight t-shirt strained over his chest and his biceps were poking out of the sleeves. He wore tight blue jeans, which matched mine in color. Now that I think of it, our shirts are the same color as well. Eww that's gross!

Vincent seemed to like what he saw because he soon wrapped an arm around my waist and was leading me down the hall and outside, into the parking lot. "I can always talk with the principal tomorrow," he told me. "I'm sure he'll understand given the circumstances." Once again, Vincent shoved his face at me, but this time he nuzzled my face: rubbing his stubble-covered cheek up against mine.

I didn't do anything back. I just let myself be dragged away.

Vincent stopped in his tracks and let out a low growl, the sound vibrating his chest, and consequently me since I was kept so close. He turned and looked down at me, his blue eyes flashing yellow for a brief second. "My wolf just reminded me to get your name, Mate," he said, before that huge grin reappeared on his face, showing off his canines.

They sure were pointy.

Vincent cleared his throat. "Mate?"

I shook my head, escaping the trance his fangs put on me. "What?"

He smiled again. "I want to know your name. Like, mine's Vincent Abin."

"Oh," I said. "I'm Nora Song."

Vincent began to lead me to wherever he was going in the parking lot. He seemed to muse over something for a while. "Nora Abin," he finally said aloud. "It has a nice ring to it, dont'cha think?"

Oh God, he did not just attach his last name to me already. I decided not to answer his question. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"I'm going to drive you home that way you can introduce me to your parents," Vincent said as he stopped in front of a black pickup truck. It didn't have a back seat and it looked like it was the perfect size for just two people, keeping them close to one another.

Damn it!

"Why do we have to tell my parents?" I asked, my heart picking up speed with just the thought of my parents finding out that a werewolf chose me as his mate.

Vincent cocked his eyebrow and opened the passenger side door for me. "Why not?" he asked.

"No reason," I lied, knowing that he's lash out if I told him that my family, including me, hates werewolves.

"What are you hiding from me?" Vincent asked, practically shoving me into the truck. I blushed when he even did my seat belt for me. What am I, five?

He slammed the door shut and I briefly considered locking him out. However, where would that get me? He has the keys and the strength of a beta werewolf! He can rip this whole truck in half, including me, in a matter of seconds!

Vincent got in on the driver's side and started up the truck, then he turned to look at me. "Well?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean?"

"What aren't you telling me?" he demanded, getting a little closer to me. He completely dwarfed me in the truck. "Why don't you want to introduce me to your parents?"

Come on Nora! You can think up a lie! You've been doing it all day! "It's uhh...a human thing. You see, I uhh, d-don't really know you and therefore, I won't be able to correctly introduce you to my parents." I guess that sounds believable.

"What do you want to know?" he asked as he began to pull out of the parking space.

I shook my head. I'd rather know nothing and just have Vincent get back to reality and let me out of this truck so I can leave, but we all know that's not happening. I stared out the window, trying to come up with a question when I felt Vincent drape his arm over my shoulders, pulling me towards his body.

"I can smell your fear," he said.

I looked up at him in shock. Vincent staring at me with that admiring look that had love painted all over it. Gross.

"Nora, I just want you to know that this is all new to me as well. Left or right? [I pointed to the right] And I want you to know that before today, I had no idea that I would fall insanely in love with the girl next to me now." He leaned down and pecked my forehead, making me scrunch up my face.

On impulse, I raised my arm to wipe the kiss off my forehead with my sleeve. As soon as I did, however, a ferocious snarl erupted from Vincent and he slammed on the brakes, making me jerk in my seat. He grabbed both my shoulders and forced me to look at him, his eyes switching from blue to yellow again.

I'm in trouble.