Have you ever wished that you'd just taken three seconds to think something over in your head before you followed through on an action?

Well I could have answered 'No' before, exactly three seconds ago. However, within those fateful three seconds, I was kissed on the forehead by an obsessive werewolf and I foolishly wiped it off. Now why did I do that? Well, it's simple really: I hate werewolves!

And now, thanks to my reflexes, I'm currently in a death grip, staring a monster in the face. That monster's name is Vincent, and he claims to be my mate.

Now, as he's glaring at me, his eyes yellow and his teeth bared, showing off his snarl of disapproval, all I can concentrate on is how stupid I was to allow myself to get in his truck with him in the first place. I could have refused. I could have ran!

Now there's a thought. Why on Earth didn't I try to run away?

Vincent tightened his grip on my shoulders, making me flinch with pain. For a brief moment, a look of guilt passed over his face, but it was gone so quickly that I questioned if it was even there in the first place.

"Mate," he growled, his deep voice sounding guttural and threatening, "don't ever refuse my affection." He pushed his face closer and closer to mine, most likely moving in to put another kiss on my forehead.

However he didn't go towards my face. Instead, he moved his head towards my left shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I whimpered, pretty sure that I already had an idea. Please don't let him do what I think he's going to do!

Vincent chuckled. He pulled my shirt to the side so that my shoulder was exposed to him. "I need to claim you so that others know you're mine."

"Whoa!" I shouted, putting my hand on his head and pushing it back. "No! No! That's not happening!" If I was claimed as a mate, then the only way I'd ever get a chance at leaving this territory would be with his permission, which of course would mean I'd never leave!

Vincent growled and pulled the keys out of the ignition, leaving us stranded on the side of the road. There were no other cars out, go figure. I'm just not having a good day today. I grabbed at my hair and shoved my head back on the head rest, which hurt because it was hard.

"Look at me, Mate," Vincent ordered.

I ignored him, going over the options that I had. So far, I couldn't think of any.

"Mate," he growled.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and turned to face him. "Yes?" I asked in a fake cheery voice. Then it hit me. We were pulled over on the side of the road! All I had to do was open the door and run with all my might. Sure, there's no doubt in my mind that Vincent would follow me, but we're in a suburban area now, houses surrounding the road. All I had to do was yell and scream. The best part was that because he didn't mark me yet, there was really no absolute way to prove that I was chosen to be his mate. I can tell some werewolf passerby that Vincent was crazy and then he'll either get banished or demoted to omega! It's perfect!

Plus I wouldn't have to wait a few weeks for Danni's mate's sister to follow through!

Vincent was looking at me with a very angry expression on his face. "Something tells me you don't like being my mate," he growled. "Well it's only been ten minutes, so how about you cut me some slack, okay?"

I nodded, leaning forward a little so that my body blocked his view of the door handle. Slowly but surely I inched my hand to it, blindly feeling for it as I kept my gaze fixed on Vincent who continued talking.

"Look," he sighed, his eyes turning back to their normal blue color, "I'm sorry for losing it back there. But you need to understand that when you're involved, I feel this intense need to have you with me."

I nodded again. My hand felt something cool and oblong. The door handle! I wrapped my fingers around it, ready to escape.

Vincent still had his eyes stuck on me, his smile starting to creep back up.

"You know, and this isn't the mating bond talking, but I don't think I've ever seen a woman as beautiful as you," he mused.

Once again, I just nodded, knowing that I'd have to come up with a reason for him to look away before I could escape. Thinking quickly, I pretended like I was looking at something out his window, scrunching up my face at the imaginary object. Vincent cocked his eyebrow and looked the other way, totally falling for it.

I yanked on the door handle, the door cracking open. Then the door was pulled shut by Vincent and he wrapped both his arms around my waist. He was behind me, invisible from my eyes, but when he spoke, I could tell he leaned down to my ear, his hot breath moistening my cheek.

"Now let's think this over real quick, Mate," he purred, his voice low and almost a whisper. "The average human runs, let's say about 15 miles per hour. Now the average werewolf runs at 50 miles per hour. And let's pretend that miraculously you made it out of the truck."

Each of his words sent shivers down my spine, making me feel uncomfortable. I prayed that he'd let me live, which I knew was stupid. A werewolf would never kill their mate, but they sure could scare the crap out of them!

"Mate, if you made it down to the end of the block, which is around one hundred feet, that means it took you roughly 4.54 seconds to travel that distance. Now, when I follow you, it'll take me only 1.36 seconds to travel that same distance. So let me ask you, do you really want to risk that?"

I shook my head, in awe at his mathematical feat.

"That's my girl," Vincent cooed, pecking me on the cheek before he leaned back a little. I heard a slight chuckle before I felt an intense pain in my left shoulder. The pain radiated all throughout my body, making me scream with agony.

Vincent held me in place as I thrashed my body around, trying to shake his jaws off my body. He bit through my shirt, letting my blood stain it as it oozed out. After a few seconds Vincent finally stopped biting and leaned back, tugging on my shirt to expose my shoulder.

I was crying by now. Both at the intense pain of having my skin pierced by werewolf fangs and the fact that I was claimed as his mate. It's too late now. He owns me.

"I'll make it feel better Mate," Vincent cooed. He began to lick at my bite mark with his tongue, lapping up my blood, cleaning my wound. At first it stung, but soon the pain miraculously disappeared, turning into a dull throb and eventually being gone altogether.

I looked down at my shoulder, already seeing a scar in the shape of a bite mark. "What the-?" I wondered.

Vincent laughed. "Bet you didn't know that. Werewolves can heal their mate's flesh wounds with their saliva."

"Just their mate's?" I asked, my voice quivering.

Vincent nodded, so close to me that his cheek rubbed up against my face. "That just goes to show how much I can take care of you, don't you think?"

My eyes were trained on my bite mark. "Am I going to be a werewolf now?" I whimpered, my bottom lip quivering at the worry of becoming a monster.

"No," Vincent said, actually sounded a bit saddened by that. "You need to be born werewolf. Sorry Mate, you're stuck human."

I fought hard to fight the smile forming on my face. I'm staying human!

"But luckily for you," Vincent carried on, "you now have a werewolf by your side. You have one of the strongest, fastest species totally devoted to you."

Yeah...that's so wonderful. I rolled my eyes.

Vincent started the truck back up and started to drive again, his hand back around my shoulders. "So, just because I don't like to see my mate unhappy, I won't force you to introduce me to your parents. At least not today," he said.

My heart began to slow down in relief. At least my parents will love me for the remaining time that I get to keep Vincent a secret. I gave him the rest of the directions to my house and he pulled up in front of it in a matter of minutes.

"Which one's your window?" he asked as he parked along the sidewalk.

"Uhh, that one?" I pointed to my bedroom window that was on the second story, unsure why he would ask such a thing.

Vincent nodded. "Good, I'll get you at eleven."

I jerked in my seat, shooting to look at him in disbelief. "What are you talking about?" I almost shouted.

Vincent looked at me like I was the crazy one. "Mate, you can't possibly expect me to sleep alone, can you? Especially when I have someone to protect through the night?" He stared at me, his blue drunk with love and need.

"Uhh, Vincent, what do think people at school will say when they find out you took me from my house to sleep with you?" I interrogated. I had no intention of telling anybody at school about my condition. I was hoping we could keep this all a secret, and then I'd escape to Miami.

Vincent growled. "If anyone makes fun of you, you let me know and I'll take of them," he said, clenching the steering wheel tightly in his fists.

I furiously shook my head. "No Vincent! I'm not having sex with you!"

Vincent looked at me incredulously. "Mate," cooed, rubbing my cheek with his calloused hand, "when we do have sex, we'll call it 'making love'. And I mean sleeping with you by my side. It'll be next to impossible for me to fall asleep without you with me."

"Take Ambien."

Vincent growled again. "I'll let you off for tonight only," he said through his teeth. "But tomorrow I'm taking you home with me after school. Deal?"

All I need is one day to escape on my own. "Deal," I said.

Vincent smiled. "Then I'll see you tomorrow Mate. I'll pick you up." He brought me into his arms and kissed my forehead again.

I got out of the truck and walked up to the front door, Vincent watching me the entire time. I could feel his eyes drilling into my back. I took my key out of my pocket, unlocked the door, and quickly went inside. Vincent honked goodbye as he drove off after making sure I was inside my house.

"Who gave you a ride?" my mom asked from the living room couch. She was sitting watching some soap opera.

"Why aren't you at work?" I quivered, standing so that my left shoulder was away from her that way she wouldn't see the streaks of blood in my shirt.

"Your brother has the flu, so be prepared to catch it," she mumbled.

I just nodded and ran upstairs to change.

[Later that Night]

Luckily my parents didn't notice my blood-stained shirt as I threw it in the trash. It was a relief not to have them hate me for being associated with a werewolf. They would disown me if they ever found out that Vincent was forcing me to be his mate.

I was now in my bedroom getting ready to fall asleep. I lied down on my bed, resting my head on the pillow when I heard the howl of a wolf.

"Oh God," I muttered, already knowing what was up.

I shuffled to my window, looking out at the forest behind my block. It was rather close, allowing me to see it easily. As I stared at the trees I saw the glowing yellow eyes that belonged to Vincent, watching me.

I can't even sleep without him watching me too?!

This sucks.

I rolled my eyes, walking away from the window to lie back down. Vincent gave out one more howl and then allowed me to fall asleep. He was most likely making sure I wouldn't run off anywhere in the night, which did sound like a good idea.