Notice Me (17 page)

"I'm going to find out whether you tell me or not." I addressed her
once more, basically pleading with her to tell me. Reaching out I
smoothed down her stray hairs that stood up wildly. I didn't want
to hear it from anyone's mouth besides her own. "I'd much rather
hear it from you." I encouraged.
Lise visibly swallowed and I noticed her fighting back tears. This
caused a sharp pain to rip through my heart. Never did I want to
see her in pain or hurting, I'd try my damn hardest to stop it.
"She said I'm nothing but a useless human..." Lise began using the
back of her hands to dry the tears that formed in her eyes. "To
enjoy being Luna while I can because once I die she's taking over.
I mean I know I'm a human, not worthy of being your mate, but to
hear someone else point that out is just wrong." She confessed
staring up at me.
She thinks she isn't good enough for me? How could she possibly
think something like that? Fate has brought us together, there's a
reason for everything that happens in life. "Don't you ever think
you're not worthy of being my mate…of being Luna of this pack." I
ordered with a stern look before I pulled her into a tight
embrace.
How dare Jewel speak to Lise like that? Is this meant to be some
form of threat towards the future Luna of our pack? Threats like
these aren't taken lightly and they’ re dealt with accordingly,
Beta's daughter or not...Jewel's going to regret speaking to Lise
like that. My wolf was nearing the surface, I could feel the
control slowly slipping from my grasp as I began shaking
violently.
"Of course I laughed at her and told her to stop dreaming, that
maybe she'd be able to put her imaginative ideas to use by writing
a story on Wattpad or something. That's when the bitch slapped me."
Lise chuckled humorlessly glaring in Jewel's direction.

My eyes meeting Luke's he nodded his head once
in confirmation at Lise's side of the story. That's all I needed in
order for my dad and his Beta to decide the proper punishment for
Jewel. She can't go crying to daddy to get her out of it this time.
Nope, this time she dug her own grave and she’s going to have to
lie in it.
"She's lying Tristan, the bitch is lying!" Jewel screamed thrashing
violently against Axel. He seemed bored by his expression as he
held her arms locked behind her back.
"Pipe it down already would you? Nobody believes the girl who cried
wolf one two many times." Anya chimed in. "Your voice is so damn
annoying."
"I suggest you calm yourself down, we'll deal with your punishment
later." My dad's voice came from the back doorway, addressing
Jewel. "It's time for all of you to join us out here so we can
introduce Lise and Anya."
Making out way out through the backyard we walked to the front of
the crowd where my father began his announcements. First, he
started by addressing some pack issues, which I could barely
concentrate on. Lise was distracting me with the way she’s latched
onto my arm rocking back and forth nervously.
"My fellow wolves we gather today with great news." He began and
the crowd seemed to quiet down instantly. "My son Tristan and
Luke...your future Alpha and Beta, have found their mates." He
stepped to the side and held up his arm welcoming Lise and Anya who
were standing next to Luke and I. I was holding Lise's hand and
could tell she was extremely nervous just by the sweat accumulating
on her palm.
"I'd like to introduce you to your future Luna, Annalise and Anya.
Please welcome them to our pack and treat them as one of our own."
He demanded and a round of applause sounded before my dad walked
off to mingle with some of the other pack members.
My mom was running back and forth making sure all the food was set
out properly on the tables for the guests. Surprisingly we were
approached and greeted in an extremely friendly manner by a
majority of the guests, including the elder wolves.

Some of them even praised Lise for the way she
handled the situation with Jewel, patting her on the back saying
she's set to make a great Luna. You see, a lot of the pack knows
Jewel very well. Let's just say for being a Beta's daughter she
isn't too friendly with many of them and thinks she’s better than
most.
I couldn't help, but beam at Lise in happiness. Things aren't as
bad as we thought they'd turn out. Especially now that they all
know she's human. They seem to be accepting her with open arms. Out
the corner of my eye I saw my Dad and his Beta Jack, Jewel's Dad
walk up to Jewel and a group of her friends.
The three of them went through the back door, no doubt to my dad's
study. Time to dish out her punishment. Hopefully, my dad doesn't
go light on her. A couple weeks of community service cleaning up
the trash in the woods sounds just about right to start. Then maybe
he should tack on a few weeks of volunteer work checking up on the
elderly members of the pack. Whatever the case may be, nothing is
going to ruin this day for me. This has got to go down as the best
pack meeting I've ever been to.
I leaned down and kissed Lise on the temple, bringing her against
my chest for a quick hug. Staring into her hazel eyes I got so
caught up in the Moment. This is whom I'll be spending the rest of
my life with and I couldn't ask for anyone better. Polar opposites
or not, she's still the perfect match for me.
"I love you Lise." the words escaped my mouth before I had a chance
to filter it from my brain to my lips. Her eyes widened in shock as
we both registered what I just said. Is it too early, is she going
turn and run away now? Crap, what have I done?

Chapter 24:
Reciprocation

I stood there in a daze, discreetly pinching
myself on the arm a couple times. Nope, don't feel the pinches. It
felt as though my entire body was numb. So, I decided to take it
one step further by lifting my hand up and slapping myself gently
across the face. I made sure to slap the opposite cheek Jewel did,
since that one was still sore.
Did I honestly just hear what I thought I heard or is my mind
playing an awful trick on me? Pfft, I could've sworn I heard
Tristan utter, 'I love you, Lise.' But, then again I think I
knocked my head a little too roughly on the hardwood floor of his
foyer while wrestling that bully.
Maybe he said 'Above you, Lise' I thought as I suddenly turned my
head upward to stare at the sky. Is he warning me of something
coming my way? Nope, not that either. Seems the sky is bright blue,
a few puffy white clouds were scattered here and there. Nothing
seems to be falling from above.
His chuckle caused me to scrunch my eyebrows at him in confusion.
Did I miss a joke or something? What's so damn funny? Tristan's
fingers worked their way slowly from my hands, trailing up my arms,
across my shoulders, and brushed my cheeks softly. My body
shuddered on its own at the fiery trail he left on his way. Cupping
my face in each of his hands he tilted my face up towards his
own.
Those slate colored eyes taking on a more ashy appearance, the sun
reflected off of them causing a sparkle. A smirk tugged playfully
at his lips, he was amused by this whole situation. "No, you're not
imagining things." He barely whispered the words again, but they
echoed in my ears loud and clear.
"I know we've been neighbors our entire lives, never really getting
to know one another, but from what you've allowed me to know of you
in this short period of time." He admitted inhaling deeply. "I can
tell you, they'll be no other. I love you, Lise."
My own breath caught in my throat, it felt like I was suffering
from anaphylactic shock. I was having difficulty breathing. It was
like my esophagus was closing up on me. The little bit of air that
I did have in my lungs was instantly stolen away by Tristan in a
passionate kiss. Maybe he felt the need to kiss me in order to
shock me back to life.
His fingers tangled into my probably already messed up hair. I'm
sure I have knots and tangles galore from rolling around in that
fight. Tristan's other hand found it's way to my lower back,
drawing me in closer to him. Our bodies flushed against one another
as my hand found it's way to his muscular chest.
Yes, I'm a complete pervert. What? I'm not ashamed to admit it!
You're damn Skippy if you think I'm taking full advantage of every
opportunity to touch those washboard abs and rock solid chest. My
other hand gripped his biceps tightly, afraid if I let go I just
might possibly land head first onto the grass.
Tugging myself away from our heated lip lock to allow myself some
oxygen to my brain, I greedily swallowed down a few gulps of air.
Our faces were still within inches of one another as I finally
decided it was time...to grow some hypothetical balls and tell him
how I really felt.
"I..." My entire body was shaking with nervousness. "I love you too
Tristan." There, I finally admitted it, happy? Next thing I know,
he let out a growl of excitement and my feet were off the ground. I
was starting to get severe motion sickness as Tristan spun me
around in vicious circles.
"Umm, not to rain on your parade." I heard Anya's voice somewhere
off to the left or was it the right. Ugh my stomach. "I'd stop
spinning her and put her down if you don't want throw up all over
you."
Tristan immediately stopped, but my head was still spinning around
and around. I know you can all relate. C'mon we all know we've done
this before, when you spin around and around until you're so dizzy
you can't take it anymore and end up falling on the ground in a fit
of giggles. Well, this is I minus the fit of giggles.

For some reason, I can ride the highest roller
coaster and not be scared. Ask me to go on one of those little
carnival rides that spins in circles and I'll run the other way.
The freaking merry-go-round causes me to hurl chunks! Of course
Anya's witnessed all of this first hand having the duty of being my
best friend. She's been the one holding back my hair while I became
one with the toilet bowl.

"You ok?" The first Tristan asked with
concern. "I'm sorry I got carried away." The second Tristan
admitted guiltily. Woo-hoo, there's two of him and they're all
mine!
"I think I need to lie down please." I groaned while pinching the
bridge of my nose and shutting my eyes tightly.
Once again my feet left the ground as I was carried bridal style, I
rested my head against his comfy chest. Mm, I can so get used to
this. Even the slightest movement of Tristan's steps caused the
contents of my stomach to swirl around. I heard the opening of door
and then felt as Tristan kicked it shut.
Breathing in deeply I tried my best to fight the urge to vomit.
He'd really have to love me a lot if I accidentally throw up on
him. I was placed down on a nice fluffy surface, opening my eyes up
I realized I was in Tristan's bed. I could get used to this king
sized bed...
'it's so fluffy I'm gonna
die!'
I cracked myself up thinking of Agnes from
Despicable Me.
"I really am sorry." Tristan's face solemn face appeared as he
hovered above me. "Do you need me to get you anything?"
"It's ok, not your fault I get motion sickness." I waved
dismissively with a small smile. "I'll be fine in a few minutes
once the feeling goes away." I reassured him trying to make him
feel better.
"You should go back to the meeting." I urged, not wanting him to
miss out on anything just because I wasn't feeling well.
Tristan shook his head defiantly, "No I'm staying here with you."
He replied stubbornly crawling into the bed next to me. His arm
slid in underneath me cuddling me closer to his body. I closed my
eyes treasuring our closeness as I tried to match my breathing with
his and before I knew it, I ended up drifting off to sleep.
The next few days passed by in a blur and without incident. Seems
like Jewel and her gang decided to back off. For now at least.
She’s probably too busy sulking in the fact that her punishment
would last a full month. Not only does she have to clean up trash
in the wooded areas, she also has to check on the elder wolves of
the pack by running their errands. She’s banned from all pack
parties and to top it all off, she’s grounded for a month by her
Dad.
Everything between Tristan and I was just perfect, that is until
Friday afternoon came around and he started acting strange. I was
sitting on the bleachers watching the guy's soccer practice. Anya
was driving over right after school to spend some time with Luke
before we go out with Troy for his birthday.
"Hey toots." Anya called out walking up to where I was seated, I
didn't even notice her arrival. "What's shaking?"
"Hey chickie, not much. Just finishing up my homework." I answered
hunched over my textbook scribbling furiously into my binder. I was
trying to finish my anatomy homework before practice is over.
"So, where do you think we should take Troy tonight?" She inquired
crossing her legs and leaning all the way back so that her elbows
rested on the bench above us.

My parents actually allowed us to have a slumber
party for Troy's birthday weekend. Instead of wanting to spend it
with all of his friends, back at home, Troy said he’d much rather
spend the entire weekend with his best girls. So, Troy’s coming
over my house to sleep over for the weekend along with Anya of
course. We'll all camp out in my living room. Ever since I told
Tristan the plan on the way to school, he's been acting...off.
Totally not like himself and I was a bit worried.
"I think we should just stay in and chill tonight. We'll take him
out tomorrow for his birthday." I suggested closing my binder and
shoving it into my messenger bag. Yay, finally done!
"Yea, that sounds like a plan. We can watch movies and give him a
facial. I'm sure he misses having us unclog his pores and tweezing
his uni-brow away." Anya chuckled with a snort.
Anya received a text from Troy stating he’s waiting outside my
house in the driveway. Gee, anxious much? He's way early, we told
him be over at five. It's only four, guess we'll have to leave the
guys considering there's still a half hour of practice left.
Walking down the bleachers to the gate, I leaned over and signaled
Tristan over. Coach gave them a break to run to the
bathrooms.
"Hey, everything ok?" Tristan asked as he ran up to me, Luke was
right by his side as he came over to greet Anya with a kiss.
"Yea, it's just that Troy is outside my house waiting on us. So
we're going to go." I answered chewing on the inside of my cheek.
His expression didn't look too happy at hearing that, but hey what
do I expect? I was leaving him to go hang out with his arch
nemesis. "I'll call you later, ok? I love you." I said with a small
smile. I leaned on the gate for balance as I stretched to give him
a goodbye kiss.
I won't see him tonight, because he said his Dad wanted to go over
some things with he and Luke regarding the pack and their
responsibilities. Besides, this weekend is Troy's weekend. So
instead of being the lovey-dovey mated up couples, we were going to
hang out with our best bud.
Tristan nodded and responded with an "Ok, love you too." He kissed
me back before coach blew the whistle and yelled at them about
getting their tails over there to finish practice.
Anya, Troy, and I were standing around the kitchen-island scarfing
down the pizza we ordered for dinner when the doorbell rang.
Dropping my slice down onto my paper plate, I wiped my hands off
with a napkin and made my way to answer the door. Standing in the
doorway, each with a cheesy grin and a sleeping bag tucked
comfortably under their arm were Tristan and Luke.