Unattainable Fruit

Chapter 15: Training & Connections

Cody's POV

I pretend that I'm not brimming with excitement as I trek through the forrest on two feet, relishing in the early spring sun that chases away the frost in the mornings. When I had left to go to school this morning, I found a folded note taped to my door, left so recently it had still carried James' scent which I definitely didn't stand there sniffing for five minutes before opening the note.

'Hi, Cody

  I'm sorry I missed out on our date yesterday. Meet me in the clearing for some training and after school lunch.'

(P.s brings a blanket.)

The soft feel of the crocheted blanket my mom made for my family and I feels so familiar and yet alien after all this time. I remember the way I smiled stupidly at the note, grateful that he remembered our training and that he cared about missing yesterday's.

I sigh to myself as I walk further into the forrest, chewing on my lip absentmindedly as I contemplate the slowly growing feelings that have started to take root inside me.

A part of me can't help but admit that there is something that's been pulling me towards James ever since we met face to face. I find myself thinking about my Alpha constantly, even when I don't want to. His easy going smile, that familiar look of pain in his eyes, his gentleness, his charm, his strength. All of it calls to me and tells me a small part of who my Alpha is. And maybe even my Mate. And while I find myself slowly falling in love with the idea of James being my Mate, I also find myself increasingly terrified that it's true and that it'll mean the burden of being Luna will be on my shoulders.

The half human hybrid-omega that couldn't save one member of his family.

Yeah sounds like an awesome campaign ad to support the new Luna.

Even thinking about it makes me want to turn tail and run back towards the pack house to hide under my bed.

Instead, I still my nerves and walk through the last thicket of trees to come into the bast clearing, the lake shining brilliantly in the late afternoon sun.

I find James leaning against a rock with a basket sitting atop the stone behind him. From my nose I can smell some sandwiches, fruit and what smells like chips. My ears burn as I remember the word 'date' on the note, my heart fluttering with nerves and anticipation. I walk towards my Alpha, eyes slightly lowered out of habit, my breath hitching as he turns and his beautiful bronze skin catches the golden light, his impossibly long lashes collecting the sun and depositing it into his sweet chocolate eyes, so deep and warm.

My heart squeezes at the sight, his brown locks tangled in the wind. His lips lift into a smile that steals my breath away and almost brings me to my knees.

And for a moment I forget that he's the Alpha of the Autumn Falls Pack. With the divine light to his back as he turns to me and the look he gives me, I almost mistake him for an angel.

Pure, lethal, beautiful.

Unattainable.

Absolutely and unavoidably unreachable.

And yet he approaches me, with that same easy smile and troubled eyes, his four inches on me almost seeming like a mountain, that's how big this man seemed to me.

How can a being so perfect and godly as this even look at me, much less want me as his Soulmate for the rest of his life? The one to help lead his people.

It should be impossible.

And yet.

When he approaches me, he has a sunflower in hand, my favorite though only noticeable by the sunflower keychains I have on my bookbag and keys. The detail is almost enough to make my cry in this golden hour. Someone so perfect shouldn't be real and they certainly shouldn't be trying to swoon me and convince me to Fall into an entirely impossible bond.