After the activities fair, Leah arrived at the café for her usual evening shift. As she was tied her apron, she heard the chime of the little bell indicating a customer had entered. Leah hurried to the counter. She was surprised to see Ian walking into the small 50's style café, wearing the same bright blue Pizza Schmizza shirt as before. A smile spread across his face when he saw her.
"What can I get you?" Leah asked as he settled on one of the barstools by the counter.
"I'll have a mint chocolate chip sundae, please," Ian ordered, looking up at the menu.
"Anything else?" Leah asked.
"That's it," Ian said.
"Alright, I'll get that right out for you," Leah said as she reached for a glass bowl.
"Not very crowded," Ian commented. "I'd be bored out of my mind if I were you."
"It's not bad, Elvis keeps me company," Leah gestured to the life-size statue of Elvis Presley standing in the window holding a bright blue guitar.
"He seems like quite the conversationalist," Ian remarked.
Leah chuckled. "You'd be surprised."
Leah prepared his sundae, filling a glass bowl with mint chocolate chip ice cream topped with hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry.
"Do you live on campus?" Ian asked.
"No, I'm renting a house," Leah said. "How about you?"
"I'm doing the same," Ian replied. "I have three roommates, so wish me luck."
"Are you trying to avoid them now?" Leah teased.
"That," Ian admitted, "and I wanted to see you again."
Leah felt her cheeks flush. Normally, her hostile aura was a deterrent to potential suiters. Ian's straightforwardness took her by surprise. "That's very kind of you."
"So, what are you doing after this?" Ian asked.
"I'm going home. The café is open late tonight and I'm stuck here until we close," Leah answered.
"Would you mind if I kept you company until then?" Ian offered.
"If you'd like," Leah answered, though privately, she genuinely wanted him to stay.
Ian turned out to be a far better conversationalist than Elvis. The rest of the shift flew by. They chatted while Leah served the occasional customer. Once night fell, business picked up as drunken college students stumbled in after a party. Ian was a good sport, pointing them in the direction of the restrooms as needed.
When closing time arrived, a hoard of freshmen were still sitting in a booth sloppily eating ice cream. Leah informed them that they needed to finish up, but they seemed oblivious to her words. Ian stood up and walked over to them. Leah realized just how big Ian actually was. She hadn't noticed at the activities fair while he was standing next to Seth. He towered over the loitering freshmen, both taller and more muscular than any of them. He got their attention and gestured towards Leah. This time when she spoke, they listened.
The freshmen stumbled out into the night, leaving a sludge of napkins and melted ice cream in their wake.
"Let me help you with that," Ian offered. He began clearing the tables without waiting for a reply.
"I can take care of that," Leah objected, though touched by the gesture.
"I know you can," Ian said. "I'd feel bad standing around while you have to stay late."
"I'm going to have to kick you out, too, after this," Leah warned.
"That's fine, I'll wait outside," Ian smiled. He cleaned the tables and floors until they were spotless. He waited outside while Leah counted the register. When she finished, she headed out the back entrance, locking the door behind her. When she circled around to the front of the building, Ian was still there waiting for her beneath the awning.
"Did you walk here?" He asked.
"Yeah, I live a couple blocks north of campus, it's not far," she responded.
"Would you mind if I walk you home?" Ian asked.
"I found my way here, I think I remember my way back," Leah teased.
"I'm sure you do, but it'll give me peace of mind," Ian said.
Leah raised an eyebrow. Leah was well aware of all the monsters who lurked about campus, herself included. The idea that something mundane could be a threat to her was downright laughable. But he seemed serious.
"Are you afraid the boogeyman is going to get me?" Leah teased.
"Not exactly," Ian answered cryptically. "There's something weird out there."
Now he had Leah's attention. "Weird how?" Leah pressed for more information.
"You'll think I'm crazy," he said, shaking his head.
"Try me," Leah challenged. If someone had spotted Jacob or Seth running around as wolves, she would need to warn them.
"The past couple of years, there's been stories about some kind of monster in the woods," Ian frowned. Leah relaxed. If Ian's monster has been around for a couple of years, there's no way it could be one of her monsters. Leah listened politely as Ian continued, though she no longer cared about his ghost story. "At first, I didn't believe it either, but last year, I saw something. It looked kind of like a coyote, but it was huge. It stood up on its hind legs."
"What were you smoking?" Leah pestered.
"I wasn't that high," Ian defended quickly.
"How about I walk you home, instead?" Leah teased. "Since you're so scared of the boogeyman."
"I never said I was scared," Ian protested.
Leah snickered. "Whatever you have to tell yourself."
The pair strolled along the familiar street towards Leah's house. The moon cast a soft glow over the night. The street was alive with college students traveling between the open parties all along Greek Row. Music and laughter carried through the streets.
"I think the only thing I have to worry about is the overly friendly frat boys," Leah commented as the Sig Chi's hollered from their balcony at a group of passing women dressed in scantly party clothes.
Ian snorted. "That's one boogeyman I can protect you from."
Leah found his concern amusing. "I can handle myself, you know."
"Oh, I'm sure you can, but why let it get that far? Nobody will bother you if I'm walking with you," Ian said. As much as she hated to admit it, she figured he was probably right.
"Is that much of a problem here?" Leah asked as they walked together along Greek Row.
"Not that I know of, but I'd rather not find out," Ian replied.
"I'm sure I'll be fine. Campus police are constantly patrolling this street," Leah said.
Ian let out a dry laugh. "Campus police are useless."
"What makes you say that?" Leah asked.
"They don't do anything unless they have to, and when they do decide to get involved, they always go overboard." Ian scowled as he spotted a scrawny guy approaching from the opposite direction. He wore an oversized shirt that said Sigma Alpha Epsilon across the front. "Plus, the chief's an SAE alum so he lets their chapter get away with crap that wouldn't fly for the rest of us," Ian growled.
The approaching man crossed the street to avoid passing them on the sidewalk.
"Are they really that bad?" Leah felt a twinge of concern.
"Not really. At least, not anymore," Ian reassured her. "They're on the verge of shutting down nowadays. There're only six of them left and half are seniors. That was Kevin. He's Kat's ex."
"Him?" Leah asked. He didn't seem like the kind of guy she would expect Kat to go for. He was a scrawny little thing with greasy hair. She was surprised someone like him had landed anybody, let alone someone as hot as Kat.
"We all hate him. She keeps going back to him. Every single time they break up, she forgets all the garbage he's done," Ian rolled his eyes.
"That's scary," Leah responded.
"Don't let him scare you," Ian assured her. "He's all talk. There was an incident last year and a bunch of crazy rumors took off. He played into it because he wants everyone to think he's something, but most of it's bull."
"What actually happened?" Leah inquired.
"Nothing happened," Ian said definitively. "Kyle and I made sure of that. We kicked his ass and he ran off crying."
She waited for Ian to continue, but he didn't.
"This is it," Leah said as they approached the little house at the end of the street. She noticed that Jacob's Volkswagen was not in front of the house. "It was really nice meeting you, Ian. Thank you for walking me home. Good luck with your monster."
He rolled his eyes. "Thanks, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Same as today, working late," she admitted.
"Would you mind if I joined you again?" Ian asked.
The question surprised Leah. Surely this man had better things to do with his time. "I can't stop you."
"That's not what I asked," Ian said.
Leah raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"I'm not trying to hold you captive at your job. If I'm bothering you, let me know and I'm gone. I'm aware of how boring the job can be when business is slow. Plus, it'll give us more time together. So, do you want me to come to the café tomorrow?"
Leah had long since accepted the inescapable intrusive presence of oversized men in her life due to the whole werewolf thing. Ian's company at the café was nothing compared to sharing thoughts with her ex. Still, she was touched that he was giving her a choice. She smiled back at him. "I would appreciate your presence at the Café."
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow," Ian turned to leave, but then he hesitated. He quickly turned back towards her and quickly leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers without warning. Leah stiffened in surprise. She barely had time to register what he doing when he pulled back.
"Have a good night, Leah," he smiled, and then he turned to walk away down the well-lit street. Leah went inside the house, shutting the door behind her. In the kitchen, she could see the empty pizza box folded into the trashcan; its contents devoured as she expected.
She leaned back against the door, her mind reeled as she processed what happened. Ian kissed her. Part of her was annoyed by his impromptu decision. She was busy thinking about her next shift and he thought that was the right time to make a move? This was her first kiss in several years and he didn't give her any time to react. She didn't even have a chance to consider kissing him back before he was gone. Yet, as brief as it was, she could still feel the spot where his lips touched hers. It filled her with warmth. Part of her wanted to march back outside and do it right—show him how a real kiss felt.
Leah didn't move from her spot against the wooden door. The moment, if there ever was one, was long gone. She decided she was going to do better tomorrow. She mapped out her plan in her head. She would stand close to him, place one hand on his neck, and signal for him to lean in, low enough for her to reach. If he did, she'd respond by placing her lips on his slowly. She imagined what she would do, how her lips would move with his…
Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the landline ringing. Though all three of them had their own mobile phones, the boys had a habit of losing theirs deep in the woods. They invested in a landline as a reliable backup. Leah moved to go answer the phone.
"Hello?" Leah answered.
"Hi, this is Lizzie. Is Jacob available?" responded a feminine voice, as sweet as a songbird. For some reason, the world just seemed a little bit brighter than it had an hour ago.
"No, I'm afraid he's out at the moment. This is his roommate," Leah responded. "Would you like me to take a message?"
"Yeah, can you tell him Brandt and Aaron both canceled on our bowling plans? Ask him if he wants to still go with just the two of us, or if he wants to reschedule."
"Sure thing," Leah responded. She wondered if this girl would be willing to listen to her talk about her own plans.
"Tell him it's no pressure, I don't want it to be weird," Lizzie responded.
"No, I get that," Leah responded. "I'll try to talk him into it. He needs to get out more." Was she saying too much? It's not like it wasn't true.
"Hey, I'm trying. We'll figure something out one of these days," Lizzie joked.
"Why? Has he canceled on you before?" This was the first she had heard of any of these plans.
"Yeah, twice. The first time, the whole group plan kind of fell apart, but last time, he bailed at the last minute."
"That sucks, what happened?" Leah asked.
"I'm not sure, I think Nessie wanted to hang out or something," Lizzie responded.
Leah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Okay, do you mind if I ask you a question? You know Nessie and Jacob pretty well, right?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Leah thought it was a bit of an understatement.
"Are they together or not?" She asked.
"It's complicated," Leah said. There was no easy way to explain the bond of imprinting. "But technically no, they're not together."
"Okay, that's what I thought, but I wasn't sure."
"Jacob's not looking for a relationship, though, if that's what you're asking," Leah figured it'd be better to get that out there now to avoid an awkward conversation between her and him.
"Oh, no," Lizzie said quickly.
"Okay, good," Leah said, relieved that she wasn't interested in Jacob.
"Why? Did he say something about me?" Lizzie asked.
"No, I just didn't want you to get your hopes up," Leah said.
"Thanks. What's up with Nessie?" Lizzie asked. "What's her deal?"
"I have no idea," Leah sighed. She knew Nessie was attached to Jacob, but Leah didn't have any idea what that actually meant in terms of her intentions for their relationship.
"Okay, because I've been trying to figure her out and I just can't get a read on her."
"You and me both," Leah sighed. Leah was getting tired of watching Nessie string Jacob along. It was frustrating to watch him so happy to be taken for granted.
"Their relationship is so weird."
Leah laughed without humor. "You don't know the half of it." She had a sudden urge to vent to gush to this unfamiliar woman, to tell her about her day with Ian, but she caught herself. She let the conversation naturally flow to an end.
"It's getting late, I should probably go. It was nice talking to you," Lizzie responded.
"You too," replied Leah. Click. She placed the cordless landline back on its stand.
Jacob returned about an hour later carrying bags full of groceries. Leah relayed Lizzie's message to him as he unloaded his haul in the kitchen.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Jacob frowned. "I'll cancel when I see her at work."
"Seriously?" Leah raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I don't want to lead her on. We can reschedule sometime when the guys can go."
Leah rolled her eyes. "She's not dumb. She sees how you look at Nessie. She's not trying to steal you."
Jacob furrowed his brow. "I guess, but I don't know. It's Nessie's first week of school. What if she needs me?"
"Dude, you'll be gone for like two hours. The world isn't going to end," Leah pushed. "I can go with you if you don't want to be alone with her."
"No, you don't need to do that," Jacob sighed. "You're probably right."
Leah knew she was, but it was always nice for Jacob to realize it too every once in a while.
"I'm doing too much, aren't I?" Jacob said as he crumbled up the empty grocery bag.
"Yes," Leah said unsympathetically, uninterested in Jacob's ongoing existential crisis regarding his imprint.
"I know what you think of her," Jacob said. "She's not like that. I know she isn't."
"I know," Leah said, slightly regretting the harshness of her response. "I'm not trying to turn you against her. But you really need to consider getting a life."
"She is my life," Jacob said. He was silent for a moment before continuing. "Am I doing the right thing?"
Leah had a feeling they weren't talking about bowling anymore. "What do you mean?"
"You remember the concert situation, right? With Quil?" Jacob asked.
"How can I forget?" She grimaced. This past summer, Claire's favorite British boy band toured America, but they didn't visit anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Quil was more than willing to make the 15-hour drive to California with his 8-year-old imprintee, but her parents refused. Claire was not used to hearing the word "no" and the resulting guilt trip and temper tantrum was catastrophic. Claire was on the verge of persuading Quil to defy her parents and sneak her to the concert when Jacob intervened and forbade it.
"Quil seriously got pissed at me for stopping him from kidnapping the kid," Jacob shook his head in disgust.
"You did the right thing," Leah assured him.
"Yeah, but I didn't fix the problem," Jacob grumbled. "Did you hear they're coming to Seattle next summer?"
Leah shook her head.
"Tickets went on sale a few months ago," Jacob growled. "He tried to hide what he did because he knew we wouldn't approve. He sold his freaking car to afford front-row seats for Claire and her parents."
"No," Leah gasped. "How's he even going to get to the concert?"
"Her parents are taking her. That's the kicker, he's not even going," Jacob grumbled. "He only had enough money for three tickets and her parents refused to let her go without them."
"You're kidding," Leah stared at him in disbelief.
Jacob nodded; his lips pulled into a tight line. "It's insane, but it's his choice. It got me thinking about Nessie. She knows I will do anything for her. But unlike Quil, I don't have anyone who can stop me."
"You have us," Leah reassured him. "I'll smack some sense into you if you need it."
"But you can't stop me," Jacob said in a heavy voice. Leah knew he was right. Only he was the alpha of their pack. He was the only wolf who could bind their will with a single command. If any of them tried to stop him, he could simply order them away. "When I left for the summer, I didn't think she'd follow."
"And you're upset about that?" Leah asked.
"No, of course not. I'll take whatever time with her I can get. I'm just worried that she'd be better off without me. At first, I thought she followed me because she was starting to see me as something other than a friend, but that clearly isn't the case."
"She knows you'll tell her what she wants to hear."
Jacob nodded slowly.
"Go bowling," Leah insisted. "I know it's hard, but you need to live. It'll help keep you grounded."
Jacob looked unconvinced. He thought for a moment before responding. "I won't cancel, but I don't make any promises. Let's see how this weekend goes."
Leah figured that was the best she was going to get. She climbed the stairs to her room and stared out her side window. The clouds were rolling in around the bright moon. Her thoughts drifted to Ian, grateful to have had a normal introduction without the complications of imprinting. She let her mind entertain the thought of pursuing a relationship with him. A shred of doubt crept into her mind. What if Mr. Perfect was still out there, waiting for her to meet him? She pushed the thought away and went to bed, eager to see him tomorrow.
That night, her dreams were haunted by memories of herself, from Sam's perspective. She remembered their breakup, how it crushed him to hurt her. The dream shifted. Instead of her and Sam, it was her and Ian. He stood where she had stood. Listened to her say the exact same words Sam once said to her.
She woke with a start. Her stomach twisted itself into knots. What was she doing? How could she let herself hurt someone the way she had? Leah mulled over how to handle the situation until the morning light began to creep through her window, demanding a start to her day.
Leah left for her shift at the Café. She was working a double today, as she was trying to get in as many shifts as possible before the start of the semester. As she passed the pizzeria, Ian waved at her through the window. She waved back halfheartedly. She clocked into her shift and, as expected, Ian arrived as soon as his shift was over. Leah didn't have time to converse as she served the customers finishing their meals.
It turned out, Ian did have better things to do with his time. Not long after he arrived, his fraternity brother, Kyle, showed up to drag him back to the frat house.
Shortly before it was time to close for it was time to close, Ian returned.
"I'm so sorry about that," Ian apologized. "There was an emergency at the house that I had to handle."
"Don't worry about it," Leah said. "Life happens."
"I can still walk you home," Ian offered.
"Still worried about the boogeyman?" Leah teased.
Ian shrugged. "Maybe tonight I'm just looking for a reason to spend time with you."
Ian studied her dissatisfied expression.
"Unless you want to go…"
"No, it's fine. You can walk me home," Leah said.
Like the previous night, Ian helped Leah to close the Café. They started walking towards her house. There were far fewer parties tonight.
Ian reached out to take Leah's hand, but she pulled hers away, shoving it in her pocket.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Ian asked.
"I'm fine," Leah said. Her dream haunted her. "I'm just worried we're moving too fast."
He watched her closely. "Holding hands is too fast? If this is because of the kiss—"
"No," Leah interrupted. "The kiss was fine."
"Who hurt you?" His voice was teasing, but his blue eyes bore into hers searching for an answer. Leah didn't even begin to know how to explain to him what she was feeling, but this was a question she could answer.
"His name was Sam," Leah answered earnestly. "He left me for my cousin."
"Ouch," Ian winced in sympathy. "That's rough."
Leah nodded. "I can't be mad at him. She was the one…" Her voice trailed off.
"I feel that," Ian replied. "Sometimes I'll see one of my exes around campus with her new date. When they're together, she's absolutely beaming. I'm happy for her, I truly am. But damn, it's hard you know? I put everything into that relationship, but she was never that happy when she was with me."
"I guess she found the one," Leah sighed.
"She found herself," Ian amended. "How can I be mad at her for that?"
Leah listened, even without imprinting, she knew Ian understood. "I was the maid of honor at their wedding."
"You're a lot stronger than me," Ian praised. They stopped walking as they reached her house.
Leah grimaced. "From where I was standing, I could see his face the entire wedding. It was the happiest day of his life. He looked at her like a blind man seeing the light for the first time. It's like I wasn't even there."
"I'm sorry," Ian said. His face was now just inches away from hers again. "I would never do that to you."
This was the moment. This is exactly what she had been envisioning the day prior. All she had to do was lean in and press her lips against his...
Leah took a step back instead. As he opened up to her, she knew she couldn't make him the same promise. She could do that to him.
For the past several years, she had been so sure she was incapable of imprinting. If she could, she would have by now. But now, as she stared into his piercing blue eyes, she had a nagging feeling that this would all be torn apart.
She saw her reflection in his eyes. She was surer than ever that this was a bad idea. This sweet, kindhearted man had had his heart broken before, what kind of person would she be if she allowed that to happen again? Leah imagined herself meeting one of his fraternity brothers and instantly feeling the pull, like gravity. Everything she felt for Ian in this moment would be meaningless, nothing against the strength of the connection pulling her towards someone else. She couldn't do that to him. Not after knowing how it felt to be on the other end.
"It's getting late," Leah said, ending the conversation.
"See you tomorrow?" Ian asked.
"Good night, Ian," Leah responded, refusing to make any promises.
As fate would have it, he did indeed see her tomorrow. When Leah walked into her first class, she spotted him sitting towards the center of the room. She sat in the back, hoping he wouldn't notice her. She didn't want to lead him on by sitting next to him, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings either.
By sheer luck and the hazard of going to a small school, Leah realized that she and Ian were taking nearly all the same classes at the same time. Leah started going to class several minutes earlier, she was almost always one of the first students to arrive. This put the decision on Ian rather than her. Without fail, he always chose the closest available desk to her.
Leah was actually surprised when Ian was absent from her evening lab. She felt guilty, imagining him waiting for her at the café. She should've told him Mondays were her day off. Leah was frustrated with herself for feeling this way. She reminded herself that she didn't owe him anything. It was his choice to go to the café. She figured his responsibilities to his own job and his fraternity were probably keeping him from trying to visit her anyway.
When she got back to the house, she was glad to see Jacob's car was gone. She hadn't been sure whether or not he would go through with the bowling outing.
Her relief quickly vanished when Leah checked the answering machine and realized there was a missed call from Lizzie.
Leah called Lizzie back.
"Hello?" Lizzie answered.
"Hey Lizzie, it's Leah. I saw there was a missed call from you?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to check in and make sure Jacob was alright," Lizzie said. Leah could hear the crashing of pins in the background.
"Did he cancel on you?" Leah asked.
"No, he came, but he was acting really weird. He left in the middle of the game," Lizzie explained.
Leah frowned. "I'll talk to him, thanks for letting me know."
"Alright, take care."
"You too," Leah hung up the phone and stormed out of the house to hunt down Jacob. It didn't take her long to find him lurking outside the dorms like a creep. Once he was busted, he came back to the house with Leah willingly. On their way, he tried to explain his reasoning but Leah didn't listen. She didn't give a crap about Nessie's sorority drama. She bullied him into agreeing to wait for Nessie to contact him.
When she woke up Tuesday morning, she was quite irritated to see Jacob was still at the house. He informed her that he had called in sick on the off-chance Nessie would text him. Leah reminded herself to pick her battles and left for class in a huff.
Her final new class on Tuesday was her Ethics lecture. The class was highly recommended, but it only occurred once every two years. She had to arrange her entire course schedule around this particular lecture to free up its 2 p.m. time slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
She walked to class with Seth as this was the only class they shared. When they arrived, the previous lecture was running long so they had to wait outside in the hall until it concluded. When the class cleared out, they entered, picking up a syllabus from the table next to the door as they passed. The classroom resembled a well-lit movie theater with stadium seating, but rather than cupholders, the seats had desks folded at the side.
Leah and Seth sat towards the center of the hall. Leah kept glancing back at the door. She spotted Nessie heading in their direction.
"Are you alright?" Seth asked.
Nessie responded with a shrug as she sunk into the seat next to him. Leah pitched a fit when she found out a bloodsucker planned on attending the lecture along with Nessie. She hounded Jacob until he was able to convince the leach to drop.
"I'm fine. How's rush going for you?" Nessie asked. Leah had heard about her rush experience from Jacob.
"Alright, I guess. I've been to a couple houses so far. I was planning on going to KEN tonight and SAE tomorrow, but I think I'm going to skip SAE. Theta told me some pretty heinous stuff about the president." Seth shook his head in disgust. Leah wondered if he was referring to the rumors that Ian had warned her weren't true. He continued talking about his experiences with the fraternities so far.
Leah glanced back at the door. She heard a chuckle. She turned completely around in her seat to see Ian was already sitting directly behind her.
"Well now you're just following me," she scowled halfheartedly.
He put his hands up in mock innocence. "Hey, I've been going to school here for years. You're the one following me."
She rolled her eyes. She saw Kat coming up the aisle. Her eyes were locked on Nessie as she took a seat behind Seth, who was rummaging through his backpack in search of a pencil.
"Hey, girl," Kat said to Nessie with a smile.
Nessie smiled back politely.
The professor approached the podium and signaled for the murmur of conversations across the hall to be brought to a close.
Leah liked this professor already, he was laid-back, but it was clear by the way he talked about the syllabus that he knew his stuff and held high expectations for the class.
Seth fidgeted in his seat. He kept glancing back at the door with a mixture of frustration and confusion on his face.
"What's wrong?" Leah asked him as she nudged his side.
"I don't know," Seth admitted. "I feel like I'm supposed to be somewhere else."
The professor kept things short and sweet, dismissing class after only 20 minutes.
Without missing a beat, Kat pinned Nessie in a conversation before she could escape out the door.
"I'm sorry recruitment didn't work out the way you'd hoped," Kat smiled sympathetically.
Nessie shrugged. "Sorry, no offense. You seemed really nice." She glanced at Seth, waiting for him to finish fumbling with his backpack so they could leave together. Seth straightened up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. When he looked up, he froze, his eyes locked on Kat. With a sinking feeling, Leah recognized Seth's behavior immediately. Leah stopped paying attention to the girls' conversation.
Seth imprinted on Kat. Nessie made her way towards the door, Nessie walked beside her, locked in conversation about the sorority. Seth trailed behind, following like a magnet pulled towards iron.
Ian walked beside Leah, oblivious to Seth's odd behavior.
"Why don't we grab a cup of coffee?" Kat suggested to Nessie.
"I don't know..." Nessie fidgeted, trying to escape the conversation.
"You should," Leah jumped in. She turned to Kat. "She'll meet you at the café in an hour. Milkshakes are on me."
"That would be awesome, thanks Leah," Kat replied.
Leah ended the conversation as the group exited the building. She said goodbye to Ian. She grabbed Seth's arm to stop him from following Kat.
"Both of you, to the house. Now," she ordered in a tone that prevented debate.
"Who was she?" Seth wondered aloud.
"That was Kat, she's one of the recruiters I talked to during rush," Nessie explained.
Seth questioned her about every single detail of their conversation. Nessie answered glumly, too busy wallowing in her own self-pity to see what was right in front of her. Leah started to get agitated. She was tired of the entitlement that came from the girls who were imprinted on as children. They were so accustomed to having their every desire fulfilled, they took for granted the gravity of the connection on the wolves' side. Seth was absolutely radiant with the bliss of true love and Nessie couldn't care less.
When Nessie had finished recounting everything she knew, Leah took over. Explaining what she had learned between the activities fair and her conversations with Ian. Leah deliberately skipped over the information regarding her toxic ex, not wanting to worry Seth.
"She's married?" Seth cried out as they went inside the house.
"No no no," Leah tried to calm him down. "Just pledge married. It's not real, they're just friends."
Jacob heard the commotion and came downstairs.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, surprised by their presence.
"Seth imprinted," Leah said simply. "And Nessie has a date with her in about 40 minutes."
"Wait, what?" Nessie looked shocked.
"You have to join the sorority," Seth begged. "And tell me everything."
"Me? Why me? Leah's the one flirting with her husband." Nessie accused.
"What?" exclaimed Jacob.
"It's a frat thing," Leah dismissed.
"I thought you dropped out of recruitment," Jacob said.
"I don't know, I guess they still want me," Nessie shrugged.
They talked it over and Nessie agreed to hear what Kat had to say.
Leah and Nessie walked to the café in silence. Leah's mind was running through the implications of the imprint.
Kat arrived shortly after. She had changed into a cute pale pink dress. She sat in the booth with Nessie. Leah listened intently to their conversation from behind the counter.
Chapter Playlist:
Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself) - Ne-Yo - Ian
I Won't Say (I'm in Love) - Hercules Soundtrack - Leah
I'm Just Ken - Ryan Gosling - Jacob
Helpless - Hamilton Soundtrack - Seth
