Dark Wolfe

27- Archangel Part 2 (The Cool Pool)

(Song of the chapter: 'Wolves' - One Direction)

ARCHER

The first time I'd seen truly seen Riley, she'd been breezing through the school halls with a bag in each hand and a phone to her ear. She was talking animatedly, bursting into a wide grin every so often.

A sight like that was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was Riley. Everyone had stopped to look.

Including me.

Her walk was one of finesse– one long shapely leg placed before the other, hips swaying in the most captivating way. I'm sure she was aware she had most of the school's attention as she strutted by, yet she'd tuned them all out easily and focused on her phone call.

Not everyone was capable of such multitasking.

One onlooker had been so absorbed in watching Riley, she walked right into a wall and dropped all her books.

Riley, who was headed her way, had stopped. Almost distractedly, she'd transferred the phone to the crook of her neck, bent down to pick up the books, then handed them back to the girl with a dazzling smile. Then she continued walking like nothing even happened.

Once she was gone, my eyes strayed back to the bystander. She'd looked as stunned as I felt.

Stunned, because I recognized the sensation zipping through my veins. Everything went dark, and Riley's face popped up in my mind in almost blinding color.

My heart beat hard enough in my chest to rattle my ribs.

Suddenly, instantaneously, I was in love.

Being in love was all or nothing for me. Like an action potential, my heart either sped up at the sight of someone, all my neurons firing crazily, or it didn't. And it always, always, took just a second.

It was dangerous too, because I fell too hard, loved too deeply, and then I had problems letting go.

Or, under special circumstances, my feelings could turn into the completely opposite emotion. That didn't bode well for anyone.

Once, someone I'd loved completely and devotedly had told me no one would ever love me. She'd been wrong; Avalon loved me. My father did too, though he was somehow allergic to showing any kind feelings towards his children.

I hadn't gotten this trait from him, that's for sure.

But for a while, I'd believed her. I'd never fallen in love with any of the girls I slept with, so I thought romantic love was out of my reach. The only love I welcomed and reciprocated came from my Pack, my family, so I learned to be satisfied with that. I believed my singular purpose in life was to protect my Pack at all costs.

Then Riley happened.

I started to look for her in hallways, food courts, lecture rooms... Wherever she was, my eyes immediately strayed in that direction.

I wasn't the only one enthralled by her. Everywhere she went, people flocked towards Riley, actively seeking her out. She was almost never alone. It looked exhausting honestly, but she seemed to really like having a lot of company.

We didn't have that in common, clearly. But something we unfortunately did was that we both liked to kiss girls.

This should've been the part where I realized we had no chance in hell, then proceeded to move on.

No such luck.

I continued mooning over her like an idiot. Other girls weren't distracting to me anymore. Anyone taking the time to look would've seen how smitten I was by her, like there was a tattoo on my forehead with her name written inside a heart.