Man is not man, but a wolf to those he does not know. - Titus Maccius Plautus

Matt was staring at her again. And not in the friendly almost nonchalant "Hey Caroline" way he used to greet her pre-friendship or the just "Hey" that reeked of awkward subtext after starting said friendship and certainly not in the "Hey Car" greeting with a warm smile when they started semi-dating.

He was starting at her like in the post-break up way he did with Elena, all sad puppy dogs eyes and secretly listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.

Matt was watching her with those blue eyes that had attracted her to him all those weeks ago at the bar. Those eyes that made her want to tell him all that was wrong and she kept inside, the ones that made her feel better because he said that everything would be alright as he understood perfectly.

How she wanted to just go over there and start kissing him with the kind of passion she read about in those cheesy, teenage romantic novels. Kiss him until they were both breathless and then they'd start kissing again.

Of course, she would've done all that exactly if there wasn't the matter of her future husband in the way.

She wondered to herself where they got to this place. Things were rocky between her and Matt, sure, but they were moving towards actual dating, as in handholding in public without her having to apologize for it later.

But then, thanks to his best friend of all people, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

The best friend and the girlfriend? Really classy, Caroline.

The best friend in question, the widely-renown dick of Mystic Falls High, was staring at her from his locker on the other side of the hall, chocolate brown eyes focused on her with a predatory gleam that made her shiver in ways that she shouldn't be shivering.

Mate.

Funny how such a small, primitive word could change her life in such a drastic way. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined Tyler Lockwood to be a werewolf of all things. Sure, she read Twilight with Jacob Black and the whole imprinting thing but she couldn't have imagined such things to happen outside the realm of fiction, where she would've happily preferred them to stay.

But no, facts were straight and for some crazy, messed up reason, Tyler Lockwood thought of her as his mate, as in eternally devoted to her and the only one for him kind of way. That meant she his own personal booty call, to be available anytime he wanted, which was a lot both to her dismay and unwittingly, her enjoyment.

She felt a wave of irritation as he cocked his head to the side at her, motioning towards the janitor's closet.

Oh no.

If he thought she was actually….there was no way she would…

He growled at her, unmistakably and subtly enough that no one else would've noticed had they not been paying such close attention as she was.

She gave him the iciest glare she could, the one that made even the meanest cheerleaders cry and start sobbing their eyes out in the girl's restroom. She was Caroline Forbes, nobody bossed her around. Least of all him, bond or no bond, she was not going to bang him in the janitor's closet.

"Caroline."

His voice rung in her head in warning, his voice was deep in want, saying each syllable of her name with possessiveness.

The same possessiveness that drove him to punch the living daylights out of Matt, his own best friend, after catching them making-out at a party two months ago and carry her over his shoulder Neanderthal style to his car, taking her to Lockwood Manor to explain to her who exactly she belonged to.

And in his twisted, demented mind, it was to him.

"In the closet. Now."

"Why should I?" She bit back.

Sometimes this freaky psychic link could be quite bothersome. Like when he decided to have an argument with her while she was in English class and she had to explain to the teacher that she wasn't the one she was telling to 'screw off'.

"Because I'll make you feel sorry for it later if you don't."

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she got really sick of Tyler's demanding attitude. Scratch that, she didn't like it all.

"Oh really scared now, Ty. What're you gonna do to me?"

Her eyebrows went up in surprise as he gave her a wicked smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She ignored the thrill that went through her at that. Stupid hormones, she wouldn't let them get the best of her. She had done it with him in all sorts of unseemly places already. Countless times in his room, their dining room, every room in the house besides the master's bedroom, out in their freaking yard, her room, the boys' restroom in school, outside in the football field, in the woods near the creek and so many other places she really can't look at the same way anymore.

Sure, Caroline liked sex, she admitted it. But this? This was a little past normal since Tyler seemed to perpetually horny and made her join him along in his little sexual deviant escapades. Nothing seemed to be able to tame the beast and when she didn't oblige him, he just got worse, going into fits of anger and violence.

He never hurt her though, something about his werewolf genetics that disabled him to. But damn it all, did he whine. It almost drove her insane to a certain point she wanted to make things easier for herself and jump off the edge.

"Don't keep me waiting, Caroline."

She huffed, seething at the impatient tone in his voice. He really had no write to boss her around like this. But for the greater good of her sanity, she nodded and tried to walk as discreetly as possible to the janitor's closet.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Tyler moving as well, moving with an effortless grace she hadn't noticed before through the crowd. The last thing she saw before being pushed inside the dark and dusty closet was Matt's sad blue eyes.

"Stop thinking about him," Tyler whispered in her ear. Irritation and jealousy was practically wafting off him. A territorial nature came with being a werewolf, so as Mrs. Lockwood had explained to her, and that meant Tyler would feel the need to mark what was his, which she didn't really care about as long as he didn't pee on her. Otherwise she would kill him with her bare hands and risk ruining her manicure.

"Stop talking, Tyler." She spoke in that low, husky voice that always got him so worked up. Her hand was trailing down his torso and travelling dangerously low. "Just fuck me."

His brown eyes darkened and he let out a groan as she took a hold of him.

Several, several minutes later, panting and covered in sweat, Caroline was hugging Tyler's shirtless back to her, her hands grasping nothing but tanned skin and hard sinew. He had succeeded in erasing any thought of Matt off her mind and now she was too tired and sated to really care about how tangled and messy she may look like at the moment.

Still catching his breath, it was hot on her neck and tickled the hairs at her nape. "I love you." He said in a low growl, almost indiscernible but she heard him just the same.

Her eyes widened in surprise and for the first time in her life, Caroline Forbes was speechless.

Oh shit.