Stella’s POV
I have just left the pack territory that I have called home for my entire life. All of my twenty-one years were spent there with family and friends. You would think that I would be terrified of the step I was taking. Nope! I was beyond excited.
I drove for five long hours while listening and singing to every song that was on my playlist. I was so happy when I finally pulled into the parking lot of the college campus. I watched as students and parents walked around the area for a few minutes. I took this time to text Cameron and Sage to let them know that I had arrived safely.
I took a deep breath before I stepped out of my car and walked towards the check-in area to get my dorm room number and my schedule for classes. I left all of my things in my car as I made my way to the check-in table. There was a short line that I had to wait in. I could tell most of these students were humans. I really hope that my dorm mate is a werewolf. It will just make life simpler and I wouldn’t have to hide.
After waiting for about ten minutes I was finally up to get my things. I weakly smiled at the human student that was handing information out. She smiled back at me before speaking.
“Hello, name please,” she said sweetly.
“Stella Shanks,” I told her.
We hardly ever used our last names in the werewolf world. It wasn’t ever really needed because our rank was based on our wolves and our mates. The human world though was a different story. They went off last names for everything. It was even seen as a rank if you had a popular last name that everyone knew.
I watched as the human student went through her information folder and grabbed my things out. She quickly found my name and started handing me information and talking.
“Here is your dorm room number, one twenty-two. Here is your class schedule and information on when things are happening, clubs, school calendar, and a map of the campus. There will be an orientation tour later today at four if you are interested. It’s not mandatory though,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Thank you so much,” I said with a bigger smile.
“You’re welcome. Have a great day,” she told me as I turned to walk away.
“You too,” I said as I started walking back to my car to grab some of my bags.
Once I was back at my car, I looked at the map I was handed to see where the dorms were. I found them not too far away. All the buildings were made of red brick so it was harder to distinguish between them all.
I grabbed my first two bags and my wallet before I closed my car back up. I would be back for my other three bags soon. Hopefully, my dorm mate was nice and would help me bring the last of my things in.
I walked towards the dorm building and went inside. I looked at the sign on the wall that indicated where the rooms were located. I found my room to the right, so down the hall I went. While walking the hall I took a deep breath to settle my nervous anticipation of who I would be sharing a room with. I found it hard to get along with others sometimes so I was really hoping for the best.
I found my room with the door open and heard someone moving around inside. I stepped into the doorway with a small smile on my face deciding that it would be best if I approached this with a positive attitude. I’ve learned from the past that if I don’t, things will go wrong quickly.
The girl I found in the room was putting things away. She smelled like warm plums that were ready to be made into jam. I quickly assessed how she looked and how she carried herself. She was a little taller than me with a slightly curvy body. Her hair was dark and very curly that had been cut short. Her skin tone was amazingly bronze and smooth. I felt that familiarity of my kind but it wasn’t very strong. She must be half-werewolf.
I stepped into the room and she stopped putting things away and turned to look at me. We shared a smile before we shook hands and started talking.
“Hi, I’m Stella,” I said.
“It’s great to meet you. I’m Isabella.”
“It’s good to meet you too.”
“I’ve taken this side of the room if that’s ok,” Isabella says pointing to the left side of the room.
“Yeah that’s fine,” I told her as I moved over to the right side of the room and put my bags down on the bed.
I assessed the room a little. It has white walls with the back one wall being gray. There are two beds on either side of the room and a desk at the end of each bed. It was simple but I’m sure we would have fun making it our own.
“Is that all of your stuff or are your parents bringing the rest of it?” Isabella asked sweetly.
I turned to look at her and said, “the rest of my stuff is in my car. My parents died years ago so they aren’t here.”
“I’m so sorry. I lost my dad years ago and just have my mom now.”
“I’m sorry for your loss too,” I told her.
She nodded her head and asked, “would you like help bringing the rest of your things in?”
“That would be amazing. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
We walked out to my car and grabbed the last of my bags. We walked back to our dorm room and placed the last of my things down on the bed. I started to put my clothes away in the closet that was on my side of the room. When I was done I set my class supplies on my desk while Isabella made her bed.
“So where are you from?” She asked me.
“Hunter’s Moon,” I said while watching her.
Her face lit up with a bright smile as she looked at me and said, “I’m from Trinity Forest.”
We both started laughing, happy that we were both from a similar background and the irony that we would be paired together.
“So you must know Jamie,” Isabella said.
“Yes. She’s my sister-in-law. I’m Alpha Cameron’s younger sister.”
“That’s so awesome! I loved Jamie but didn’t really hang out with her too much.”
“She is pretty awesome. We are lucky to have her.”
We kept putting things away and making the room ours. I felt way better now that I was getting to know Isabella.
“I’m guessing you’re only half-wolf,” I said after a while.
“Yes. My father was a wolf and my mother is human,” she tells me.
“So do you have a wolf?”
“No. I was born without one but I’m hoping to have a mate one day and I want to help a pack by being a dentist,” she told me.
“I really hope you have a mate out there too. It’s just nicer to know that someone was specifically made for you. I hope to find my own mate at some point,” I tell her.
She nods her head as I move to make my bed. She hung up fairy lights in the room and started to decorate a little. I admire what she is doing and find it lovely. I had a feeling that I would be close friends with Isabella. She just had this friendly way about her that drew you in.
Once we are done in our room we check out the rest of the dorm building together. Each floor has a bathroom that we all share. It has stalls of toilets, sinks and showers. This was different from the packhouse. In the packhouse, we all had our own private rooms and bathrooms. At least it was all females in our dorm building.
“Let’s go get our textbooks from the library,” Isabella suggests.
“Sounds good. We can explore campus and find dinner afterward,” I tell her.
We leave the building and head for the Wolf Library to pick up our things. As we stepped into the library I saw how many textbooks were there for pickup and how many people were there to get their things. It was a crazy house with tons of noise. Isabella and I both took off in different directions as we were taking at least one different class and needed to get those books. We agreed to meet back at our dorm once we were done.
I stood in line to pick up my Biology book for medical school. As I stood there I felt a pair of eyes on me that felt slightly unsettling. I slowly looked around to try and find where the person was that was looking at me. It didn’t take me long to find a good looking athletic guy with blond hair and amber eyes staring at me intently. He was in the same line as me but a few people back. I could tell he was a werewolf like me, but he wasn’t my mate and his intentions were very clear. I needed to avoid him as much as possible because what he wanted wasn’t going to happen.
I turned back to face the front of the line ahead of me, hoping to ignore the guy watching me. The line started to move slowly and I kept my eyes forward while still feeling his eyes on me. What was this guy's problem? I’m not his and I wouldn’t give him anything.
Soon I was at the front getting my Biology textbook and information for labs. Once I had everything in hand I turned around to go get the rest of my books in a much longer line.
I started off with my head held high and determined not to be messed with. I was thankful that it seemed to work. I was now in the last line I would have to stand in for the day. I felt antsy as I felt eyes on me once more. I scanned the area again and noticed the same guy staring at me in the same line as me once more. He has a Biology book in his hands which tells me he is probably here to become a pack doctor like I am. That’s just great. Note the sarcasm.
After about a thirty-minute wait in line for the last of my books, I had everything in hand and was ready to leave the library to meet back up with Isabella. I now had my arms full of reading materials: my English 1 textbook, Algebra 1 book, Spanish 1 book and American History textbook. I started to walk out of the library onto the stone steps out front when I felt a firm hand on my arm stop me. I turned around to find that creep right up on me.
“What do you want?” I growled.
“Straight to it then. I like that in a she-wolf. It’s very simple, sexy thing, I want you,” he says looking down at me.
“Not happening so leave me alone,” I snapped out at him.
“She’s feisty too. I like that even more. What’s your name, sexy?”
“None of your damn business so back off,” I snapped at him again and pulled my arm away from him as hard as I could.
“If you say so. I’m Mike by the way and I will have you, sexy,” he says with a devilish smile.
He released me finally and I turned and walked away as quickly as possible. I was thankful he wasn’t following me. I made my way back to my dorm room and found Isabella waiting for me on her bed while messing around on her phone.
She looked up from her phone before I put all my books on my desk. Instantly her face looked worried and she swung her legs off her bed.
“What’s wrong Stella?”
“I met a creep in the library. He’s a wolf and didn’t take the hint that I’m not interested,” I explained in disgust.
“Gross. I’m sorry. Next time we will just kick his ass,” she says.
I nod my head and say, “I just hope I don’t run into him anytime soon again.”
“Let’s pray to the Moon Goddess for that,” she says, giving me a weak smile.
I smile back and take a deep breath before saying, “let’s go get some food and explore the campus.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We leave our dorm room once more to go explore the campus and the close by area. We saw the main buildings where all our classes would be held. There was another set of dorms that we figured were for the guys. We saw the athletic buildings, gyms, fields and courts for all the student athlete activities. Around the campus, we saw a Bistro, coffee shop, cafe, pub and a bookstore. This place was great and I was slowly falling in love with it. I had a feeling I was really going to enjoy my time here.
“Where do we want to grab dinner?” Isabella asked.
“Let’s try the cafe,” I said.
We walked over to the cafe and went inside. It was busy but there were still tables open. We were shown to a table and a waiter came to get our drink order. Isabella ordered lemonade while I got tea. I noticed that the pack members from Trinity Forest really liked their lemonade.
Both of us looked over the menu quickly and picked our food out. When the waiter came back with our drinks we placed our food order. Once he was gone we started chatting.
“What is with the members from Trinity Forest and their love of lemonade?” I asked Isabella.
She laughed and said, “We have a ton of lemon trees thanks to Jamie. It’s just a love that our pack has.”
We kept talking about our packs until our food came. I got a turkey club sandwich with fresh fruit. Isabella ordered a Reuben with chips. We ate quickly, paid and left. It was getting late in the day and starting to get dark so we went back to our dorm room. We got our things ready to go shower in the community showers. This was just odd to me.
After my shower, I sat on my bed while Isabella and I talked about ways to make our room more like home. Soon my phone was going off with texts. I looked and found one from Cameron.
“How is everything going there?”
“Good. I have an awesome dorm mate from Trinity Forest and I have all my textbooks. We also explored the campus.”
“That’s awesome. I’m happy for you. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
“Love you, Stella.”
“Love you to Cam.”
I looked to see who else texted me and saw it was Sage. I opened her texts and answered her back.
“I’m so proud of you for going after your dreams.”
“Thank you.”
“How is everything there?”
“Great. I have an awesome dorm mate and the campus is amazing but I ran into my first creep.”
“That dorm mate better not replace me!”
“Lol. She won’t. I think you would love her though.”
“You will have to bring her to visit.”
“I will. She’s originally from Trinity Forest lol”
“Lol, that’s awesome. Also, what is this about a creep?”
“Some wolf thinks he’s going to have me. He’s not my mate and is a complete asshole.”
“Well if I know you, you’re going to set him straight.
“If I have to, I will. I’m hoping not to have another encounter with him.”
“We can only hope.”
“Right! Well, I’m headed to bed.”
“Ok girl. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
I felt it was only right to tell Isabella and Sage about the creep but not Cameron. He would lose his s**t and he has enough on his plate with the pack and Jamie.
Isabella stopped messing around the room and turned the lights out. The fairy lights were on and added a nice touch to the room's look. I settled into my bed across the room from Isabella and closed my eyes. Soon I was fast asleep.