Christian's P.O.V.-
"So, who are you gonna take to the spring festival? Gonna ask that cute wolf?" "What wolf?" George scratched his head. Despite all games being cancelled for the semester, some of us still got together to practice some plays every week or so. This afternoon it was Rob, Leo, George, Paul, and me. "You didn't hear? This super-hot wolf came to see Christian at the booth last night." "Last night? Before the power outage?" "Uh huh," Leo nodded his head excitedly. "Dude! You didn't tell me about this," after tossing the ball, Paul came to drape an arm over my shoulder in a friendly manner; he was grinning at me.
"Why don't you ask her, Christian? She so obviously likes you," Rob pressed. "What? No, she doesn't; we're just friends." "You shoulda seen him last night. She was practically throwing herself at him and this lunkhead couldn't take a hint," Leo laughed. "You guys are nuts. She doesn't like me." "Uh, yeah. She does; I'm telling you, that babe's got a thing for you, man." "You should go for it, bro! Bout time you got yourself a girlfriend," Paul went on to pat my back encouragingly. Ugh, I didn't need that from him right now…..
"Look, can we just forget about it?" I sighed, shutting my eyes. "Why? Aren't you going to at least invite her to the festival?" Leo just wouldn't let this drop. "Why should I? I'll see her there anyway." "Dude! It's supposed to be a date! You know, you and her… alone?" "If you're not going to ask her, then who are you gonna ask?" "No one!" I was losing my temper fairly quickly. There's only one girl I want to ask, but…. I don't know how it would look just the two of us going to the festival by ourselves like that. Thankfully the conversation drifted from me onto Paul, who had returned to his football.
"What about you, man? Who are you gonna bring?" "Who do you think?" Paul added a smirk for emphasis. "That girl? What's her name? Anastasia?" George inquired. And I felt my bones start to shake. What? What now? Did he just say….? I couldn't stop myself from noticing the organic smile forming across Paul's lips in that moment. "Yeah; I don't want to go with anyone else. Just her. We go every year together anyway; why break with tradition?" No… just no. He's got the wrong idea; he thinks that he can actually date Anastasia.
So. Not. Happening.
Anastasia is my mate: key word "my". Now I know both Paul and Anastasia are unaware of this; no one else knows that I've imprinted on Anastasia but me. Still…. My eyes lowered a tad.
No, it would be cruel to let this go any further. I did genuinely like Paul, when I thought about it. He's been nothing but a good friend to me. He stuck up for me when I punched Jack first that game….. He's always been unwaveringly on my side. It's not like I can just step back and let them be together either- that's physically not possible. But this isn't fair to Paul; neither him nor Anastasia. I wanted to wait for a bit longer, just so I could get closer to her naturally. I don't want Anastasia to think I only love her because I imprinted on her; that's not it at all. And she might not understand how imprinting works, but…. but I think the time has come. I can't wait any longer. I need to tell her what's happened and what that means. I need to let them know, before either of them gets hurt. This is no one's fault; not Paul's or Anastasia's or mine. It's just the way things worked out. But the sooner they know- the sooner she knows- the better. Then they will be able to preserve their friendship and Paul can finally move on. I owe him that much…
"See Christian? Maybe you and Elena can make it a tradition too," Leo sighed, and I had to fight the urge to pull out my hair. "Hey, yeah! We could meet up- do a double-date thing while we're there," Paul chimed. Yeah, no; no one's dating anyone, period. Well, unless it's Anastasia and me; but that's inevitable. Wolves mate for life, so it's a done deal for me.
And her.
"Christian!" "Ah, speak of the devil," Leo, George, and I turned to find Elena running towards us with her hand waving in the air. Paul was too busy tossing Rob the ball to see….. for like the first few seconds. "Well, hello there, Elena. How are you this afternoon?" Leo said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Fine, thank you. Sorry to just show up like this. I saw you practicing from the window and….. wanted to come say hello," she blushed, acting all shy as per usual. Leo and George grinned at each other, and I wanted to roll my eyes but refrained.
"H-how are you, Christian?" "Fine, thank you. How are you?" "I'm good! I'm looking forward to the festival…" her foot dug into the ground. "Hear that, Grey? She's excited for the festival." I heard, I growled lightly. "Erm, I wanted to ask… if you're done with practice, would you…. er…. have you had dinner yet?"
Before I could answer, Paul turned around and immediately stopped. The atmosphere completely changed as they spotted one another; Elena's expression morphing to one of fear and dread, and Paul's fury. Even I felt a little nervous for her as he took a heavy, pointed step forward.
"You!" "Uh! Um! Uh!" Elena spattered, unable to construct a coherent sentence. The rest of us simply observed in utter confusion from the side. "Ok, listen up! The next time you wanna pick on my girl, I suggest you do it in front of me. Cornering her in the bathroom; you got some real class there, girl. But I'm warning you, if you ever make her cry again, I swear to god…." "Whoa, Paul; calm down," George saw fit to intervene. "What's wrong with you, man? Do you know her?" Leo shot a look at Paul, clearly upset by the way he spoke to Elena. Wait, he just said "his girl". I can't be sure, but I have a pretty good idea of who he means. But that would mean…. And I blinked to the frightened and embarrassed Elena with wide eyes.
Elena's hands were gathered on her chest as she tried to look as meek and small as possible. "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't know she was your girlfriend." Girlfriend? This set a pulsing vein off in my head. That's one way to blow a blood vessel. "I sincerely doubt that. Or maybe you're telling the truth," Paul growled lowly. "Course she is. Who would bully your girlfriend? You'd have to be a total moron… Hey, wait? You made Anastasia cry?" George looked down to Elena puzzled. "N-no! It was a misunderstanding! It won't happen again, I promise. I just wanted to speak to Christian…" "You stay away from Christian. He's too good for a manipulative, mean girl like you," Paul stuck out his finger at her. Paul! This made me blink at him in complete surprise. Here he was, moments earlier telling me to pursue Elena, and now he's telling her to keep clear of me. I still didn't understand what was occurring- not in the slightest. And judging by the looks on Leo, George, and Rob's faces, neither did they.
"Paul!" Leo gasped shocked. Elena responded by running away with her now teary eyes in her hands. George and Rob shot Paul the most unimpressed of glares. "Dude, what was all that about?" "Yeah, what's your problem?" "My problem? That bitch made Ana cry earlier today. I don't care who they are; no one bullies Ana. No one." Wait, Anastasia was crying?! "Where is she?!" I asked Paul admittedly too loud and fast; it's no wonder it took him by surprise. He blinked at me a couple of times before softening his expression.
"Oh, don't worry; she's fine now. We had a talk and I made sure she was alright before coming to practice. She isn't going to let what happened with Elena bother her." "But where is she? Are you sure she's alright?" "Uh, I think she went to the movies with Kate," Paul glanced upward like he was trying to remember. Then his eyes drew back down to me and he smiled warmly. I had to stop myself from flinching when his broad hand rested on my shoulder.
"I appreciate your concern, man. Ana's a really sweet girl; leave it to her to make friends with an apex predator like you. But you don't have to worry; she may be weak but I'm all the muscle she needs. Heh, Elena won't be bothering her again," he cracked another grin. "Not after that," Rob agreed, and the others nodded. Meanwhile, all I could do was stare at Paul; Paul and that grin on his face.
Look at him. He's such a good friend, even now. And he does care about Anastasia as well…. I drew in a deep, long breath. It's time; I have to tell her. Paul will find out soon enough; soon enough that he won't get too attached or hurt. Even if we keep it a secret between us- even if it's just Anastasia and me who know- that'll be enough. Just so that she knows… and neither of them get hurt in the future. I don't want that, for my mate or my friend.