From Above the Treetops

XII

N.J was practically vibrating on the spot with how excited he was. He was gesturing wildly to the checkout, where the smell was permeating from. Without a shadow of a doubt, the checkout boy was the source of the smell, which created a lot of problems for me. I knew from that moment why the checkout boy smelt like the pack and how he got that scent.

I knew.

Icarus was going absolutely ballistic and it immediately set me on edge, sending my mind racing and my heart pounding. That faint pack smell was attacking my nostrils, barely detectable under the overpowering chocolate and lavender smell. Peanut butter chocolate. Of course, it was that same peanut butter chocolate.

My ears rang and my mouth went dry. I couldn't take my eyes off of the boy as he absentmindedly wiped down the till with a dirty rag, keeping himself busy in the quiet store. He hadn't even noticed the three of us gawking at him from behind the shelf. N.J took a step, as if he was going to approach the boy, so I slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him back to me to keep him quiet and out of sight.

The words from the passage Xavier showed me were burned into my mind...

In the rare instance that a wolf may have relations with a non-human before they are aware that they are mated, this scent may arise as a marker that the human has been through the mating ritual, despite not yet being of age to mate. It works as a practical scent marker for other wolves, to keep them at bay and warn others that this human is to be mated to a wolf upon the age marker being reached.

"Fuck." I cursed, backing away and shaking my head.

"Xan, what does it mean?" Mila whispered, still staring at the source of the smell.

"Let's go."

Not waiting for them to keep up, I left the store abruptly and climbed back into my car, resting my head against the top of my steering wheel and trying to calm my panting breaths. Thoughts were moving so fast through my brain that it felt impossible to digest a single rational emotion in that moment. The rain pelted against the roof of my car and the sound echoed through the vehicle. For the first time in my life, however, it failed to calm me.

I vaguely registered the sound of my car door opening and shutting again, the two of them now sat, staring at me while waiting for an explanation.

"It means that Nicolai is my mate."

The words felt sour leaving my mouth and Icarus sent me up the wall with how hyperactive he was acting. It felt as if a whirlwind had just come along and blown me into an alternative universe where everything was going wrong. It was as if I was falling backwards, through an abyss, and my only safety line was a spool of thread.

"Oh my god." Mila whispered, her eyes darting between N.J and me.

I heard a giggle from the backseats, making me snap around to face N.J who was trying to suppress his giggles.

"You've got to admit," N.J began, "It's a little bit funny. Like karma, or something."

Mila sent him a warning look, to tell him that now was not the time, but I couldn't even bring myself to react. My mind was still whirling. Was it Karma? I mean, out of all people, why did it have to be him? And why now? It was right when I was finally getting to a point where I had found my focus. My direction.

The thing that was beating me up inside was that it was my own fucking fault. Xavier, Icarus and the elders had all been trying to tell me that if I continued with this reckless behaviour it would end up jeopardising everything I had worked for and they were right. It felt like all my hard work was going to crumble away.