Chapter Two

Chapter 2

The next morning, Cora groggily made her way downstairs for breakfast. Lexie was already at the island in the kitchen stuffing herself with Mrs. Atwood's famous French toast. For such a slender girl, Lexie sure ate a ton of food! Cora plopped herself down on the stool next to Lexie and began to fill her plate with delicious foods. "Good morning mom, this looks great" Cora said sleepily.

"Thanks hun, well what have you girls got planned for the day?" Mrs. Atwood asked as she turned bacon over in the frying pan.

Cora gulped down the bite of food that had filled her mouth and began to answer her mother's question very carefully. "Well, since you asked, Lexie and I were wondering if you would pretty please let us borrow the car to go shopping in Flint City today. We both need something new to wear to Alpha Elias' party tomorrow. It's such an important party for all of the unmated wolves and we just want to look our best." Cora hoped her pleading had sounded desperate enough to pull at her mother's heart strings.

Danica had turned away from the frying pan at this point and was looking thoughtfully back and forth between Lexie and Cora. "Flint City? That's a little bit far don't you think?"

"It's only an hour away. We could be back before dinner. Please, mom!" Cora made her best attempt at puppy eyes at her mother.

"Alright, you girls can take the car to Flint City, under one condition. I want Jake to go with you." Jake was Cora and Lexie's other best friend. The three of them had been very close all through school and Cora knew that her mom had been secretly hoping that one of the girls would be Jake's mate, but all three of them were 18 now and none of them had felt the tug of the mating bond.

"Yes! Thank you, Mom!" Cora sprang up from her stool with Lexie close behind her. Both girls rushed Mrs. Atwood with big bear hugs before sprinting up the stairs to call Jake and change out of their pajamas. They headed to Cora's room to make the call. Lexie grabbed Cora's cell and selected Jake's name from the contacts list, hoping he wouldn't be too sleepy to answer.

Jake had been asleep when they called, but he had agreed to be a good sport and tag along with the girls on their shopping trip. Lexie assured him that they would find an ice cream shop while in town and she would treat him to a milkshake for his troubles.

"You know I am always willing to accept milkshakes as payment" Jake chuckled, the sleep still hanging on his voice. "I'll be over in 30, I assume you are both at Cora's house?"

"Yep! See you in a few" Lexie hung up the phone and tossed it on Cora's bed. "Good thing he agreed to come with us. I actually am really looking forward to going dress shopping today. It has been forever since we have made a trip to Flint City. Besides, it will be nice for the three of us to get to spend some time together before the fall."

"True, summer will fly by faster than we want it to." Cora tried to hide the sadness in her voice as she thumbed through the clothes hanging in her closet. She wished sometimes that she was a little more like Lexie, already knowing what she wanted for her future. Jake was the same way, he had always wanted to be a member of the Alpha's Guard for as long as she could remember. Cora on the other hand had no idea what path she wanted to pursue this fall. She had no interest in becoming a healer like her father and Lexie, anatomy and herbalism had never been her strong suit. Her mother had mentioned teaching as an option, but Cora was not always the most patient with young children. Her only talent seemed to be her insane speed in her wolf form. This had led her to toss around the idea of joining the Alpha's guard, but there were very few female members of the Guard and she doubted her parents would approve.

Lexie knew Cora well enough to read between the lines of her silence. "You will figure out your path, don't worry. Who knows, you might find something you try ends up surprising you." Lexie gave her friend a warm smile as she headed for the door. "I'd better get dressed before Jake gets here. Meet you downstairs in 20?"

"Sounds good" Cora replied over her shoulder as she dug through the bottom of her dresser drawers. "I seriously need to do some laundry when we get back or I'll be running around town in just my underwear."

Lexie laughed. "I doubt Leo would approve of that. I need to wash some things to. We can order some pizza for dinner and have a laundry night when we get home, deal?"

"That sounds like the perfect way to make laundry suck less" Cora chuckled "I'll be down in 20" Cora finally found a clean pair of shorts to go with her tucked in white t-shirt. A quick ponytail would have to work today and some simple makeup. Jake really did not give the girls much time to get ready!

As Cora rounded the bottom of the stairs, she could see Lexie getting a glass of water from the kitchen. Lexie had opted for shorts and a t-shirt too…black for both of course. Her tendency to wear a lot of black and dark grey really stood out against her pale complexion and made her skin look like porcelain. "Has Jake texted you yet?" Lexie asked when she saw Cora.

"No, not yet, but he should be here soon. Let's wait on the porch, I don't think it's too hot outside yet."

The girls headed outside to wait on the shady porch. Mrs. Atwood was pulling weeds from the front flowerbeds, her long red hair pulled back at the nape of her neck, was peeking out from under a wide brimmed sunhat. "You girls leaving soon?" she asked.

"Yeah, Jake is on his way. He should be here any minute now." Cora replied.

"Oh good, I'm glad he could join you. The keys are there on the patio table." Just then a medium sized black wolf with one white paw came bounding down the street with a backpack in his mouth. The wolf stopped just shy of Cora's house and disappeared behind the edge of her neighbor's tall fence. Not two minutes later, Jake popped out from behind the fence, backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey Mrs. Atwood, great to see you" Jake gave Cora's mom a big wave as he made his way up the front walk.

"Good morning, Jake! I'm so happy you were free and could join the girls today." Mrs. Atwood said sweetly. Cora rolled her eyes at her mother's tone. It was almost as if she were still holding out hope that one of the girls would end up mated to Jake.

"Mom, you make it sound like he is our babysitter. Come on guys, let's head out." Cora took the front steps two at a time, stopping quickly to give her mom a peck on the cheek as she headed for the navy-blue sedan parked in the driveway.

"Drive carefully and stay together, oh and have fun!" Mrs. Atwood called after them as they piled into the car. Cora took the driver's seat and Jake rode shotgun. Lexie climbed into the back seat without complaint. Flint City was about an hour's drive and Cora could tell from the bag that Lexie carried, she was planning on reading and studying while they were on the road. Jake started flipping through the radio stations, his green eyes shimmered a little in the morning sunlight. Cora had to admit, he was a good-looking guy, but he was one of her best friends and they had both been honest with one another that neither of them felt the pull of the mate bond after she turned 18. Jake's good looks, tan skin, shiny black hair that he kept cropped short and well built, although slightly short frame were all further proof of Cora's beautiful alpha predator theory.

"Is this station ok?" Jake asked as he leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, this is fine. Thanks for coming with us, I know shopping is not your favorite thing in the world." Cora replied.

"No, it's not, but I haven't been to Flint City in a while, so why not. Plus, Lexie agreed to pay me in milkshakes, so I would be stupid to refuse."

Lexie chimed in from the back seat "What can I say, you work cheap my friend." They all laughed at that.

"This is probably a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway." Jake said with a confused look on his face. "Why are we going dress shopping? Don't you two have about a hundred dressed already?"

"You are correct, that is a stupid question." Cora said with a laugh. "We may have a few dressed already, but we don't have any Alpha Elias's birthday party worthy dresses."

"Ah, I see. Well, I didn't take either of you for the type to ogle after the new Alpha, but it looks like you have joined the rest of the unmated females in this pack." Jake rolled his eyes and gave a small huff.

"Who said anything about ogling the Alpha?" Lexie asked, somewhat disgustedly. "There will be a ton of other guys there besides the Alpha. You're going aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but I bet you most of the girls there will be trying to catch the attention of Alpha Elias. The rest of us guys will have our work cut out for us if we want to make a good impression on any ladies."

"You both know it doesn't mater who any of us go there intending to see right?" Cora was beginning to get annoyed with her friends. "The mate bond will choose for us. The whole point is to have fun hanging out while meeting new wolves and hopefully your mate will be at the same party."

"Well if that's your thinking, Cora, then why does it mater what your dress looks like? Won't your mate want to jump your bones even if you are wearing dirty sweatpants?"

"Ugh, Jake that is such a guy's way to think of things" Cora rolled her eyes.

By now, Jake was roaring with laughter. He loved to tease the girls. He had been their friend long enough to at least somewhat understand how a girl's mind worked, but he still loved to give them crap about it. His laughter was contagious and before long they were all laughing and being goofy. "This is nice." Cora thought to herself. She fully intended to soak in as many of these moments as she could before summer was over. Jake's Alpha Guard training had already started and would only pick up as fall drew closer. Moments like these were becoming scares and in turn, bittersweet. Cora kept her thoughts to herself as the three friends talked and laughed the rest of the way to Flint City, she didn't want to ruin the moment with such a heavy topic, but she could sense that her friends were having the same thoughts as she was.