My Verboten Mate

5. Below the surface

ANGELA POV

On Saturday nights after dinner, we all get together in the entertainment room and watch movies. My brother and the Alpha and beta kids. Sometimes the other teenage wolves join us if they have nothing better to do. There isn’t much to do here in the pack on a Saturday night. We often have barbecues and parties to keep us entertained.

We did a lot of things here that were a part of a routine. I suppose that was part of pack life. Like on Monday when we went to eat at my grandparents'. My mother usually joined Robbie and I, but my dad preferred to eat alone that day. It was actually better than he and my grandad fighting the whole time.

Just as I had expected, my grandfather brought up the barbeque the day before. Asking me why I had to sit with Adam. I tried to explain that I sat with my friends, not just him. My mother sensed my discomfort and told my dad that she and my dad were okay with me sitting with Adam, with or without our friends around.

Pointing out that we were in front of everyone in the pack. Not alone where it would in inappropriate since he is older than me. That didn’t pacify my grandad one bit, but he stopped the interrogation anyway. He knew where the conversation was going, and I was glad he didn’t persist.

He also knew about our gatherings on Saturday nights and had tried to invite me and Robbie over to his place for scrabble. Robbie quickly explained that we needed time with people our own age. That we could do scrabble after dinner on Mondays. I knew he really didn’t want to play scrabble with us.

He wanted us away from Adam. Away from Luna Becky and what he considered bad examples. All we wanted was to be with our friends. We didn’t see any harm in it, nor did we ever see Adam or Luna Becky do anything our parents or even my grandad wouldn’t do.

Like now. What is the harm in watching a movie? As always, Adam, Dev, Robbie and Win are sitting together. The rest of us sit in small groups around them. “This sucks! My dad said I will be training on Saturdays after I graduate.” Dev grumbles. “You're lucky, my dad has been training me every day of the week since I turned sixteen.” Robbie countered. My dad has always felt the need to be proactive. He's so much like my Abuelo Rob.

Luna Becky walked in with candy, drinks and popcorn. Setting them on the table. “Have fun guys.” She smiled and was about to leave. “Mom! Can we have a party the night of the graduation?” Win asks with hope-filled eyes. I doubted she would say no, since they were graduating after all.

Everyone in the room is anxiously waiting for her response. “I don’t see why not. We can have it in the party room.” Everyone is ecstatic until Luna Becky raises her hand. “Only the graduating party is attending.” She said, looking around the room. Alex and Mel groaned. “That’s not fair! A lot of the older shewolfs will be expecting me there.” Alex smirked.

See puto (man w***e). All the guys were attractive and had their fair share of shewolfs, but Alex was on a mission to be with every shewolf in our pack. Well, maybe not all of them. I would have thought that the girls would be more interested in Adam. He was much more attractive, in my opinion. When I was brave enough to appraise him, he always left me breathless.

It’s not that the girls didn’t notice him. They all drooled over Adam but didn’t go near him. Robbie once mentioned to me that they only did so when no one was looking. As if they wanted to hide the fact that they had anything to do with him. Maybe they were all interested in him, but everything happened behind closed doors. That made me wonder how many hidden trysts he had. I didn't understand why, but my heart clenched a little at the thought.

Luna Becky was shaking her head with her hand on her forehead. “Your mate is going to kill you.” She said simply and sighed. “We will have a separate party for the rest of you guys.” She said and walked to the door. Before leaving she turned and looked at Alex. “You can tell your shewolfs they can pick you up at the kiddie party if they are still interested.” She grinned and winked at him.

We all laughed, and Alex got as red as a tomato. “I’m finding a way into that party.” He growled and went back to watching the movie. Mel ruffled his hair, teasing him. It was kind of nice that we were all around the same age, between fourteen and sixteen. So, we all hung out together even though we were in different grades.

Even though Penelope and I hung out alone for the most part during school, we often hung out with one or a few of them. I knew Robbie did that so he could keep an eye on me but none of the rest were obligated. Yet they welcomed us and often included us in whatever they were doing. We were like a mini pack within a pack.

I had always been the one in the background, observing. The decision I made to stop hiding myself was in full motion. Penelope and I went to my mom's clothing shop and picked out a whole new wardrobe. Figuring out my “style” was harder than I thought but we managed it. I wanted to dress up for the graduation and then start the new year with my new look.

I noticed Adam, Dev and Robbie moving away from us. They began talking and Adam’s face had a small scowl on it. I hardly ever saw him angry. To be honest, he always seemed passive, hardly any emotions could be seen on his face. Whatever Dev was telling him wasn’t good. They both patted his back and shook their heads. As if he felt my eyes on him, he turned, his scowl slowly falling from his face.

He looked much better without the scowl. My eyes trailed down to his plump full lips. I noticed they began to curl up a little, a small smile formed on them. My eyes darted to his eyes, and he was staring right at me and as much as I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. Those dark brown eyes had me mesmerized.

Luckily, Robbie and Dev were talking and didn’t seem to notice. I must look like a dear in the headlights. His smile grew and my face heated up. I gave him a small wave and turned back to the movie. I must have looked like a fool to him! My heart was beating so fast, but I wasn’t sure why.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I was always curious about him. Maybe it was because of everything my grandad said. Or the fact that it was hard for me to believe everything he said about him was true. Then there is the fact that he’s the most attractive man in the pack. For all those reasons, he intrigued me, and I wanted to dig deeper, below the surface. Even though I knew it was a bad idea.