Page 2 of Breathe Again

"Close the door, Cole," she said in a huskier voice than usual, and I obeyed without question.

She watched me closely. My hands twitched to reach out and touch her. I wanted to close the gap between us more than I'd ever wanted anything in my entire life, but I just stood there like a statue.

She twirled around, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she posed.

"So? What do you think? Do you like it?" She sounded innocent in her question, but there was nothing at all innocent about her in that moment.

I growled in response and watched the fire it caused ignite in her eyes. I smelled her desire and heard the quickening of her heartbeat. In two seconds flat, I had her pressed up against the wall of the dressing room, my mouth devouring hers. She opened to me and my tongue explored, memorizing every inch of her.

When I finally pulled back, we were both panting hard, and my need for her was a thousand times stronger than it had been before. I had never experienced anything like it before.

She gave me a slow, sexy smile, wetting her lower lip with her tongue, as I stared, transfixed.

"So, I'm going to assume you like it?" She giggled, but not in a nervous way. No, Elizabeth was one hundred percent in control, or at least that's what it felt like to me.

I shrugged. "I think it would look a hell of a lot better on the floor over there." I shocked myself by my audacity. I was a good boy, and that was not something I had ever imagined could come out of my mouth. Her cheeks flushed, and she nodded. I didn't need further invitation to strip off that tiny lace lingerie and give her my virginity right there on the bench in that dressing room. Turned out, it had been her first time, too, which had only heightened my desire to make her mine.

Walking out, with my arm proudly around her, we passed a tattoo parlor.

"We should definitely mark this day with matching tattoos," she had said.

"I don't know, Elizabeth. They're so, I dunno, permanent. And the needles? I don't know if I could do it. I'm not really a fan of them. Besides, don't you have to be eighteen or have your parents' approval?"

She just grinned and shook her head. "Come on, it'll be fun."

I knew in that moment that I was screwed. I would never in my life be able to say no to this girl. Before I knew what was happening, she had flashed my ID and a fake one of hers claiming she was nineteen, and we were in chairs next to each other as she pointed out which tattoo she wanted. I walked away with a black silhouette of intertwined wolves howling at the moon on my right upper arm. She had a tiny version of the same thing just inside her bikini line. She had tried to talk me into getting it in the same spot. The dude had told me that was okay for girls, but I needed a real tattoo.

It was now ranked amongst the top ten dumbest things I had ever done. At the time it had hurt like a son of a bitch, but I was convinced Elizabeth and I were destined to be together forever, and I wanted the whole world to know it. That was the real reason I had gone all in, proudly showcasing the tattoo that only I knew matched hers.

The remainder of that week, we snuck off every chance we had to be together, while trying hard not to bring too much attention to us. By the time we had to say goodbye and I was headed off to college, I was head over heels in love with Elizabeth. I had even considered staying, just to be with her, but she was level headed and practical as well as passionate and sometimes impulsive, and she still had two more years of high school to complete.

For the first month we spoke on the phone every day, but as school for her started and she settled into a new routine, the calls were fewer and further between. I had even considered calling her father a few times just to check on her, but he didn't know about us, and I wasn't sure how he'd take the news.

By Christmas break, I wasn't sure there was an ‘us’. It all felt more like a dream. Depending on the day, that stupid tattoo was either heckling me or holding my sanity, confirming it all really had happened. Jason had insisted I spend the holidays with his family, so I was unable to see her, and she no longer answered my calls. My wolf was restless, and I started growing more irritable.

The next summer I was sent to Texas to shadow the Alpha at Longhorn, despite my protests and requests to go back to Collier. It would be two more years before I'd see Elizabeth again. This time I was twenty-one and she was nineteen.

I had heard the news the moment her wolf had surfaced, just before her eighteenth birthday. It had taken every ounce of my restraint not to run to her, confirming what I had already known. Elizabeth and I were true mates.

Finally, the moment had arrived. I would look upon her again and we'd know. I hadn't been with another female in that time. It was only her for me. I had grown bigger and stronger during our time apart, and I was used to deflecting women on a daily basis. For me, there was only one, and I would wait forever for her.

I was traveling with Jason. One of the Collier wolves had taken a mate, and as was custom with our kind, the mating trials were opened. The mating challenges were a fight to the death. Any wolf could challenge for a mate and pack position. One of our Westin wolves had chosen to do that. I was just grateful I had an excuse to finally see Elizabeth again.

The moment our eyes met, it was like seeing her again for the first time. I had wished we were not in such a public place, but I had prepared myself for the impact as best as I could. As I knew it would happen, the mating call flared wildly within me. My wolf was excited and immediately recognized hers. The physical response to seeing my mate again was stronger than anything I had ever imagined, but Elizabeth was on the arm of another man.

I fought back the urge to growl at him and warn him off of her. I was on foreign territory representing my Pack. It would not bode well with Jason or Zach if I caused a scene, especially one involving Elizabeth.

I waited until the moment came that I could steal a few minutes alone with her. I didn’t say a word or give warning as my lips crushed against hers. She sighed and started to kiss me back. Next thing I knew, she was pounding my chest and pushing away from me. I was shocked and confused.

"Cole, stop it," she demanded. It hurt on a cellular level.

"We can't do this. Santos is the future Alpha of a pack in Venezuela. We're together now. You can't just go around kissing a girl like that. I know we were friends once, but we haven't even seen each other in years. You have to stop it."

I was so confused. Everything inside me was screamingThis is your mate,but she didn't seem to feel it at all. There was no way it could all be on-sided from me. I did not wait three years for her just to be rejected.

"Friends? Elizabeth," I started, and she cut me off.

"My name's Lizzy, Cole. Everyone calls me Lizzy. Why do you insist on calling me by my full name?"

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