I am lost.

Completely, utterly, lost.

As in I have no clue where I am.

Three things registered as I took in the scene before me.

One. I'm sitting in the middle of the woods, in what appears to be a meadow. The sun hasn't even made it over the horizon yet, and a dim orange colors the sky. There is a light breeze, brushing through the array of white flowers that dot the meadow in clusters.

Two. All I'm wearing is a red dress. A simple spaghetti strap dress that flows loosely to my knees. My feet are bare. The only other thing I'm wearing is the necklace Cayton got me for my birthday, which isn't a surprise as I haven't taken it off since I got it.

Three. It's just me here. No one else. I am completely alone.

I try and recollect how I got here, or my reason for coming here. Nothing comes to mind. All I remember is taking those painkillers last night when I got a headache, and then going to sleep. I open my eyes and bam! I'm in a meadow.

Hmm... I wonder if those pills made me loopy. Definitely happy pills. Why would I come here anyways? Last time I was alone in the woods, that didn't end well. But I have a sense of security surrounding me. ALong with grass.

The air smells fresh, and the early morning dew coats me in wetness as I sit. I stare in wonder around me, spotting a few birds perched on branches, chirping and creating a harmonious melody. I pluck one of the white flowers from the ground, running my fingers over the waxy petals.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The sudden appearance of a voice causes me to jump, and I whip my head around to see who is here when I thought I was alone.

To my relief, it's only Cayton behind me, looking as good as usual. I breathe out a laugh, turning back to examine the flower.

"It is," I say. "What are we doing here?" He sits down next to me, and I lean my head on his shoulder, feeling completely happy and at ease.

"I'm not sure," is his simple answer. Normally I would feel the need to press on until I get more answers, but I simply don't care at the moment. I'm in my own oasis.

I feel Cayton's hand trailing slowly down my back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. My heart picks up speed almost immediately, and the fire spreads over my whole body to the point where I'm almost tempted to touch my skin to see if there's a change in temperature. The mark on my neck also starts throbbing, and a familiar urge kicks in. The urge to kiss him and never let go. It's intensified, to the point where I want more than just a kiss.

Cayton senses this, because the next thing I know, his lips are on mine. His hand rests on the small of my back, pulling me flush against him as his tongue traces my bottom lip. I gladly allow him entrance. My hands go to the back of his neck, then tangle through his soft hair as I pull his lips closer to mine.

Yea, I don't know how I got here, and why we're here, but I think I'm going to like the result.

I hear him growl, before my back hits the ground gently, our lips still connected like two powerful magnets. I untangle my fingers from his hair, and without thinking, go for the first button on his shirt.

We both pull away for a moment to catch our breath as I get the first button undone.

'I just wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips,' the song plays suddenly, and I smile. I dubbed this our song after our dance in the tree house. I look at Cayton, who is smiling lovingly down at me, his once blue eyes predominantly black with lust.

'I wanna make you feel wanted. I wanna call you mine,' he kisses me as the lyrics continue to play. Second button, done. I feel his hand sensually trailing up my leg. I moan softly as his tongue explores my mouth, pressing closer against him.

'Wanna hold your hand forever,-' I try working on the third button, but that would require me not to be pressed against him- wait, where is the music coming from?

And why is it necessary for him to wear a button-up shirt? This is taking too long.

'-and never let you forget it.'

I pull back, much to Cayton's disappointment as he groans and his hand ceases its path upwards, stopping on my thigh below my underwear. He looks at me with furrowed brows, while I look around for the source of the music that seems to be coming from all around.

'Yeah I, I wanna make you feel wanted.'

And with those words, my eyes shoot open.

Cayton is gone. The meadow is gone. I'm in Cayton and mine's room, alone in the bed, my heart beating five times faster than normal and my breathing erratic. The only thing that is similar is the fact that my phone is ringing, playing 'Wanted', which I had set as Cayton's ringtone.

Well that explains that.

"What just happened?" I ask myself, shaking my head and sitting up, reaching for my phone on the nightstand. And I thought Cassia and Luke were the horny teenagers. "Hello?" I answer, fanning my flustered face, surprised at how husky my voice sounds.

"Macy?" Cayton asks unsurely.

"Yes dear?" I say, trying to get my voice back to its normal, non-huskiness.

"What are you doing? It sounds like you've been running a marathon. I can hear your heartbeat through the phone."

Geez, I wonder what would happen if that dream had progressed any further. I don't think I would enjoy explaining that too much.

"Um, nothing, I just woke up. The ringtone startled me," I lie, for some reason not wanting to explain my dream. I think I've lost my innocence in every sense, except for the physical sense, yet I still blush like a school girl talking about simple things like kissing. Or making out in my dreams.

"If you say so..." he trails off, and I swear if you can hear a smirk, I just did. Obviously I'm a terrible liar.

I sigh. "Is there anything I can help you with love?"

"Your mom called while you were sleeping, so you might want to call her back," he says, and I freeze.

"You didn't answer it, did you?" I panic the slightest bit, my voice raising an octave. I plan on telling my mother about Cayton, just not yet. It's not news she's going to take lightly, and I have to present it in the best light possible. I don't think I'll be able to convince her that he's a werewolf and I'm his mate.

"No, I didn't," he assures me. I let out a breath of relief.

"Ok. I'll call her back. I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Yea. And you don't mind being home alone do you?"

"No, I'll be fine," I say. Actually, Tami is coming over, but I don't want to tell Cayton. He'll either insist that she stay home so I won't catch her 'flu', or he'll tell Trenton. We're working on Operation surprise-Trenton-with-the-baby-news, so he can't know.

"Ok Princess, I'll see you later. I love you," he says.

I grin goofily, knowing that I will never get tired of hearing that. Sappy, oh so sappy I have become. But whatever.

"I love you too," I reply, before we both hang up. Then I dial my mother's number, and wait as it rings.

"Sorry, I can't get to the phone right now, please leave a message. Oh, and if this is Macy, I'm going to kill you." I bite my lip at my mother's threatening voicemail.

It's not like I've been blowing her off, I've just been skillfully avoiding her calls. And by that, I mean ignoring them and shooting her a text with some ridiculous excuse as to why I'm not answering.

The beep plays and I take a deep breath, thinking of a reasonable lie on the dot. Pressure, pressure, pressure! My mind screams, being no help. When it comes to my mother, I would feel safer being thrown in a dungeon with Warren and that Joshua guy than dealing with her wrath.

"Hi Mom. I'm not dead, and I don't think you have to kill me. I've been busy with Tami and all... Yea, bye!" I hang up quickly.

That was ok, right? I mean, enough to sate her for a few days?

Probably not.

So maybe I'm doing this all wrong, and maybe I should just tell her about Cayton. Rip the bandage off, get it over with. I don't know how well that would go over, though. I am five hours away, so maybe I could use that to my advantage?

She'll drive down here just to kick your ass.

Knowing my mother, she probably would.

Don't get me wrong; I love my mother, and she isn't completely as crazy as I like to think sometimes. She's had it tough, and she only wants what's best for me. 'The life she never had' as she put it before. She wants me to finish school, make something of myself, and become my own independent person.

I know for a fact I'm going to college, though not exactly where she wants me to go. I don't even know where I'm going. I've mentioned it to Cayton once or twice, but the conversation never really got anywhere. The point is though, I'm not giving up my education just because. I still need it.

My mother is just going to have to accept the fact that Cayton is going to be part of that equation now.

"If only my life could be easy," I mutter, throwing the covers off of me.

I sit, staring at all the empty space around me, shoving another spoonful of Corn Flakes in my mouth. Well, what used to be Corn Flakes until I dumped about a cup of sugar on them.

It is so... not fun with no one here. Tami cancelled on me, something about Trenton keeping her home, and I have been alone for a good two hours now. I even went through the trouble of straightening my hair to make myself look presentable in public. And it was a wasted effort.

There is literally nothing to do. Playing games by yourself is no fun, day time television sucks, and cleaning is not something that is entertaining.

So while eating, I ponder my options. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

In the end, I decide to do some cleaning. But, I make it fun.

I have always wanted to reenact that Guitar Hero commercial with Kobe Bryant. So I go to Cayton's side of the closet for the right clothes. Surprisingly, he has a pink button-up shirt.

I still hate you stupid buttons, I think, referring back to my dream that was so rudely slowed down by buttons. Then I grab a pair of my white shorts, and white ankle socks.

I pull it all on, throw my hair up into a messy ponytail, and get a broom from the kitchen. Playing 'Old Time Rock and Roll' on my phone and shoving the headphones in my ears, I take a running start and slide across the hardwood in the dining room, perfectly imitating Kobe.

I would so put him to shame with my skills.

The broom doubles as a guitar as well, and I jump around pretending to play it.

"Today's music ain't got the same soul," I sing out loud, spinning in a circle and sweeping the broom across the floor. "I like that old time rock and roll."

I slide on my knees to grab some cleaning spray from under the sink and spritz some on the counter, before using it as a microphone. "I reminisce about the days of old," I continue belting out the lyrics, as I wipe the counters down, shaking my hips as I do.

I glide over to the window above the sink to clean it too. I point to my reflection, singing the lyrics. While doing so, I catch another reflection in the window. Cayton, Carter, and Bethany are all standing in the doorway behind me, watching with amusement.

Well, I've already embarrassed myself. Might as well finish.

I slide backwards until I'm against the counters, haul myself up, cross my legs and smile just as the song ends.

"Kitchen's clean," I say.

I lose them for a good few minutes after that.

*

"So how are things going between you two," I say, drawing an invisible line between Carter and Bethany with my slice of pizza. They've both been MIA since the party three days ago, and judging by the mark on Bethany's neck, things are going well.

"Great," they both say at the same time, then look at each other lovingly.

I almost barf.

"So, have you two..." I don't know why I wanted to know. Maybe because I'm curious about how this whole 'mate' thing is supposed to go. From what I've heard, it's like instant love, and instant mating. No rush or anything.

Bethany's face gets a bit red and she stares down at her pizza, picking at the sausage on it. And even though Carter has found his mate, he's still the same. He smirks and wraps an arm around Bethany's waist, yanking her against him.

"Unlike some people, we have," he says.

"Well excuse me for not being a horny werewolf," I mutter, taking another bite from my pizza as I speak. Very lady-like.

I realize that my statement may be partially hypocritical since my dream, but Carter doesn't need to know.

"Excuse me for not being such a prude," he retorts.

"I am not a prude!" I cry. Carter rolls his eyes and I hear Cayton chuckle quietly.

I glare at him.

"What?" he asks, mouth full of pizza. I almost laugh at the fact that neither of us likes to chew our food before talking.

"I'm not a prude, right?" I ask, giving him a look that says if he doesn't back me up I will never touch him.

"Right," he agrees.

I give Carter a cheeky grin, to which he rolls his eyes.

So that's all we basically do the rest of their visit, sit and chat, and devour a large pizza. Bethany, still, doesn't say much, but she's a bit more talkative.

I literally thought the world was going to implode by the time they were gone. It's still kind of a strange idea, Carter having a mate. And of all people, his mate is Bethany. When I think about it, every pair I've encountered so far are usually complete opposites in personality. Tami and Trenton, Bethany and Carter, Luke and Cassia, even Cayton and I.

I guess opposites really do attract.

So me and my opposite go to the living room when Carter and his opposite leave. We were supposed to be watching a movie, but that didn't last long. No, we pretty much ended up in the same position as my dream.

And the funny part? Both ended the same way.

I hear my phone ringing; an annoying whistle sound that I set to let me know my dear mother is calling.

Cayton is making it very easy to ignore it, but eventually the noise gets too annoying. I groan, pushing myself up from on top of Cayton. I swear, this phone has done more bad than good.

"What?" I snap into the phone.

"Excuse me? What the hell is your problem?" my mother snaps back.

"Sorry," I mutter. "I was in the middle of something," I look back at Cayton, who has pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking just as annoyed as I am.

"Well I'm sorry, but I've been trying to get a hold of you for about a week now."

"I know, like I said, I've been busy. It actually is possible to have a social life down here!" I try lightening the mood.

"Never would have guessed," she says back, laughing.

See, my mother isn't always nagging and yelling. She's actually a really cool mom, when I'm not giving her some reason to nag and/or yell. We butt heads a lot, but we can get along well.

"Anyways, I'm alive if that's what you're wondering. But I gotta go-"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to your friend Tami." I tense up.

"Why?" I ask cautiously.

"Just let me talk to her."

Well damn. I look to Cayton for help, and he just shrugs. Unlike me, he isn't completely freaking out over the fact that my mother is going to flip when she finds out what's going on. I roll my eyes at his uselessness in the situation, before racking my brain for a reason Tami can't come to the phone.

"She can't talk right now. She's cleaning. There is mayonnaise everywhere. Everywhere," I lamely say.

Even Cayton slaps his forehead.

"Mayonnaise?" she says doubtfully.

"Yea, long story. Oh no, she fell! I need to go help her. Bye mom, love you, talk to you soon!" I rush out, before ending the call.

"That's the best you come up with?" Cayton asks.

"Don't judge me. You were no help!"

I think I'm going to need a shovel to dig myself out of this mess.