Beckett

Reed didn't question why I was sitting in the car with my feet and hood up, but he did release a sigh of disappointment. The next couple days he would spend his entire afternoon and the greater part of the evening with those disgusting creatures. I didn't understand why, but I also knew not to speak of it with him outside of a car ride. However, we did a lot less riding around after that too. I remember wanting to corner him whenever we were both home and force myself to apologize for acting as I had, but I never did.

Instead I spent my time walking the streets of town with my friend. I think that's the only real cliche part of the werewolves' whole tale: the fact that we did indeed reside in a small town with one main road with all our important shops on it. A town you easily miss because it looks nothing like a town even should. Many people drive through it everyday, but none of them stop and check it out.

Before I continue to tell the story I should pause and explain the town's knowledge of the werewolves. Sure, we had a pact with them, but that does not mean we know what they look like in their human forms. You may think this makes the pact completely worthless, but I knew for a fact someone somewhere in this town knew their identities. Somewhere there was a roll of all their information just waiting to be used for more outrageous accusations. However, overall most of the townspeople didn't even know what the wolves in their furry form looked like, but now they do. However, that happens a lot later in the story. For now, I was avoiding the furry beasts, their cottage, and anything remotely having to do with them. I was doing so successfully until two weeks after I had went with Reed to the cottage.

It was a Saturday. Me and my best friend, Mia Conner, were doing what every girl does when the only two things in town are a coffee shop and an antique mall: drinking coffee.

We were sitting at a small two people table in the middle of the coffee shop with the sappiest novels we could find sitting on a small shelf in the back of the shop. It was something we did every Saturday morning and I swear when I woke up that morning, it felt like any other day. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

It was slightly better.

Mia, with her blond hair in an effortless bun on the top of her head, suddenly turned her focus on a completely different topic than the horridly cliche writing nestled in her hands. I lifted my head cautiously just in time to see her fix her slacking jaw and a spark to bounce in her blue eyes. Eyes narrowing I asked her what she was looking at.

Sliding down in her seat a bit, Mia replied, "Check out the coffee line." I gave her a look before glancing back to see the backs of two teenage guys. I could tell both had relatively short hair, but the taller one had nearly black hair while the shorter had the same platinum blond hair I swore Shelton had.

"What should I be seeing here, Mia?" I asked, slowly turning back to her in order to not draw attention. She now sat leaning against the back of her chair, arms crossed and her bottom lip nervously between her teeth. "Those guys?" She rolled her eyes as it was such a stupid question to ask. "What about them? I am literally seeing all back and personally, I do not have a back fetish. I did not know-"

"Shut up," she hissed, straightening her back and adjusting whatever hair that had fallen from her bun, "they're walking this way. Don't embarrass me." I smiled, debating whether or not to be shocked at her words. I decided not to be. "I know you, Sof, you may not mean to but you'll embarrass me somehow."

"I'm so offended right, you don't even know," I joked, putting my book down onto the table in the most exaggerated way. Mia narrowed her eyes at me as soon as the two guys passed our table. I held my hands up in a sign of surrender and promise: I would not embarrass her. No matter how easy it always was and no matter how badly I thought it would be funny to. But right when I saw the two find their table, it was only one table away and the blond sat down facing me. It was then I recognized why she found these guys so attractive. It was them, the werewolves, and in that moment they held a certain vibe to them I just couldn't place.

I quietly observed as Shelton removed the white cap on his coffee and stared down into the dark brown liquid for a moment. He added something to the liquid before replacing the lid and lifting his gaze right up to meet the boy's a cross from him. The darker haired one said something to Shelton causing him to shift his gaze two inches and right into the matching line of mine. Something like recognition flashed in his brown orbs and I watched as he spoke to his friend. Whatever he said made the other turn and I immediately felt my face turn fifty seven shades of a dark red as a different pair of brown eyes met mine. Only these ones belonged to the one they called Beck.

“Hi Sofia," Beck called from his spot, a smile extending on his face. I lifted my hand and gave him a shy wave that caused Mia's eyes to widen and for her to mouth 'what' multiple times. I gave her a shrug, hoping it would end the whole exchange and also satisfy her curiosity. But of course the two had to come, chairs dragging softly behind them, and make their place at the too small table along with us. Beck's attention focused straight onto Mia who physically looked painfully nervous. "What's your name?" He smiled.

"Mia," she replied, suddenly pulling herself together as if she hadn't been Earth shattering nervous seconds earlier. Beck continued to smile at her as if she was the center of everything that was great upon this Earth while Shelton was too focused on his coffee not burning his hands to have a care about what happened around him. "Oh, you can put that down. You don't need to hurt yourself."

Shelton smiled sheepishly, placing the tan cup carefully on the table before him. Beck flashed his smile onto Shelton before suddenly realizing something. "Oh shit, yeah, by the way Mia, this is my friend Shelton," Shelton nodded his head in greeting, "and I'm Beckett." My face, which at first was completely neutral, suddenly shined with no emotion other than complete and utter confusion. I guess I hadn't realized until then that Beck may not have been his complete name. "Black," he spoke up again, suddenly focused on me with a smug look on his face, "Beckett Black."

"Oh, uh, well," Mia stumbled over her words until she blurted out, “That's Sofia. Sofia Henderson, but you already know each other apparently." Her tone turned slightly more bitter with every word that came out of her mouth and I knew for sure I'd need to explain myself later on. Shelton turned to look at me, darting his eyes repeatedly off into the direction of the baked goods counter.

"Yes," he spoke up, "we met Sofia a couple weeks ago. We're good friends with her brother Reed, but um, we don't eat here much," I saw Beckett flinch slightly but didn't want to draw attention to that situation, especially in such a public place, "so Sofia? Could you help me order something? I barely could understand the menu the first time." He flashed another shy smile before I nodded and quickly trailed off behind him over to said baked goods counter.

Cup in hand, I made sure to gesture at some of the breads while I spoke, "So why are we standing over here by the baked goods?" Shelton shrugged.

"I needed to know what you planned to tell your friend."

He leaned down a bit to examine one of the muffins. "Well, Shelton, I have no plan. I'm more of a winging it kind of girl. I just go with the flow, you know, but it had nothing to do with wolves." He flicked his brown eyes up at me, not shifting from the bent down position. "I promise."

"I think you should tell her we work with Reed," Shelton suggested in a completely suggesting-less tone. It was more demanding, like I had no other choice.

"Do you even know where he works?"

"No," he stated, straightening out his back casually, "and that shouldn't matter. We never come out to town. This time it was Beck's idea and we're only here because you are. I find it completely hard to believe we will ever run into your friend again." That was the moment I learned Shelton had no filter like everyone else had. He just didn't care if he probably shouldn't have told me what he had. I furrowed my eyebrows as he walked back to our small table where Beckett and Mia were discussing something intently. I wouldn't understand the workings of Shelton's mind until later on, not much later on, but later on for sure. Until then I was crazy confused and sat back down at the table without another word.

"We should probably get going soon, Beck," Shelton said upon my arrival at the table. I placed my now lukewarm coffee onto the table while Beckett observed Shelton's face for a moment with a look of complete thought. It didn't seem to bother the blond much though who quickly added, "Or you could stay in town and I could go back home, like we're supposed to." Again, I noticed Beckett subtly flinch, eyes narrowed sadly onto the tiled beige floor beneath our feet.

"I suppose you're right, Shell," Beckett answered, lifting his head and focusing his eyes onto me in what I thought could only be described as a nearly animalistic quick fashion, but then again I'd known the truth about his genes. He studied my face, his face completely empty of emotion.

"Or," Shelton spoke up, something was different about his tone this time and I have to admit, looking back on this event, I think this was the only time I'd seen Shelton acting utterly unlike his rule following self, "you could go check that antique shop and see if they have those glasses Natasha likes to collect. Her birthday is coming up you know." Later on, I'd found out this was lie. The werewolves of Wooden Grove, for some unspoken reason, celebrated their birthdays all on the same day. That is if they even bothered to acknowledge the event, most of the time they would tell me birthdays were frivolous and unneeded. I probably should have questioned at the time why Beckett suddenly looked at Shelton as he were searching for the answer to whatever would possess Shelton to say such things.

Then his eyes lit up and he brought one palm to his forehead as if to mimic those V8 commercials. "Oh, yeah, her birthday! I'll do that, that's perfect." Mia brought her cup to her lips in utter amusement as the brunette boy turned to her and fumbled in saying, "Would you ladies be able to help me find the glass? Natasha collects these light pink glass dishes and such. It would mean the world to her if we could find them. I'd hate to go in there and make a fool of myself." More like raise questions as to who the strange boy was who walked in, exaggerated looking around as if he were in a silent film, and then left empty handed.

"I'm fine with it," Mia replied, giving the boy a gentle smile before turning her attention to me, "is that alright with you, Sof? We can change up our Saturday one time, right?" Her eyes almost pleaded at me to say yes, or to at least say that she could go. I wonder if I'd react the same way if I hadn't known these boys' secret. If I didn't know that occasionally they sported fur coats. I gave her a nod before tipping my head back and downing the rest of my coffee.

"Perfect, we'll go now then?" Beckett asked, an eager look on his face as his eyes searched my face. I felt myself turn almost emotionless as he continued to look for my answer. I had no idea how to react to the boy, though I did have to admit he was incredibly adorable looking so excited. Mia finished off her coffee before she stood up.

"Yes, c'mon," she smiled down at both boys before snatching my cup along with her own and walked a cross the small shop to toss out the cups. Shelton followed suit, grabbing both his own and Beckett's. That left the two of us to awkwardly put back the two boy's chairs which they'd dragged over and then to wait by the door for the other two.

Beckett stood beside me, rubbing the back of his neck in thought. It was then that I'd noticed just how much effort they put in trying to appear as normal people. Beckett wore a worn dark gray hoodie with the red letters of "West Ward Warriors" a cross the chest with a pair of equally as worn blue jeans that fit him in the most perfect way with muddy red sneakers. West Ward was two towns over: aka far enough that no one here would recognize him yet close enough that no one would question him being here. Clever. He shifted slightly, bringing my attention to his smug looking face. "Whatcha doing, Miss Sofia?"

That was another thing about these wolves: they had a tendency to add the word 'Miss' or 'Mister' before your name whenever they felt like it. Not saying I feel it firsthand, but it also happens to make a person feel suddenly classy and important.

"West Ward, huh?" I narrowed my eyes at him, crossing my arms against my chest carelessly, "I didn't take your type as the type to attend public school." The humor suddenly left Beckett's, I'll admit, amazing, brown eyes. He narrowed them challengingly and that moment could possibly, and unfortunately, be the only real time I'd provoked the wolf inside him. Not saying I haven't seen the boy in full on wolf, I have, but I never have been the person truly receiving the protective wolf attack. "But don't worry, Beckett," a smile tugged at his lips until he was grinning again, "you look very teenage boy."

"Why thank you, I try," Beckett grinned, suddenly stepping only inches away, so close that as he looked down to speak to me I swore I felt his breath faintly fanning the top of my head. I would have questioned it had the bell above the door not rang at that precise moment and an elderly couple had not made their way into the building and over to the coffee line. "You," he began to say, sounding all too close and smelling all too good for my heart not to suddenly decide to speed up like it was partaking in NASCAR, "are so short." Beckett laughed, taking a step back so I could finally lift my head up without being uncomfortably inches apart. I felt myself suddenly a little upset, not because he called me short, but because the pause he'd dropped between 'you' and the rest of his words gave my brain too much time to overthink. I rolled my eyes at him as Mia and Shelton, both sharing a friendly laugh, finally met us at the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Shelton. Are you sure you don't want to come along with us?" Mia asked, her eyes looking up at Shelton's expectantly.

I'm just going to add this side note: I think this day, this running into them at the coffee shop, was the day I first began to be unconsciously aware of everything Beckett did. If he shifted on his feet, which he had at that moment, if he glanced down at me briefly, which he also had, or whatever he did. I just sensed it. This ends the horribly cliche, but true, side note.

Getting too distracted by Beckett's nervously shifting feet, I almost missed hearing Shelton apologize to Natalie and then proceed to tell her he hoped to run into her again. Though it made Mia a bit happier, those words had a negative effect on me. He wouldn't see her again. He couldn't. It was too risky for someone who walked on all fours more than a normal human would.

"Well," Beckett said, trying to lighten the mood, "Mia, Sofia, we'd better get going. Ms. Mayer probably isn't too fond of us crowding around the entrance to her shop." Trying my best to ignore the desire to question how a boy who'd claimed to never step into town happened to know the name of the woman who owned the coffee shop, I didn't waste time on trying to grab for the door. However, Beckett had a different idea.

Reaching easily over my head, the boy got a handle on the door before I could. He met my eyes and gestured gracefully for me to move through the doorway. I bit my lip, feeling a bit uncomfortable, but still did as he had gestured to do. Little did I know, this exact scenario would happen many more times to come. Mia followed behind me with Shelton behind her until we were all on the sidewalk and Beckett shut the coffee shop door as if he would break it if he didn't close it tenderly.

"I'll meet you at-I mean I will text you later, Beck," Shelton shouted over his shoulder. If it weren't in such a public place I probably would have snorted and commented on the fumble of wording. Beckett, of course checking both Natalie and I to see our reactions to the mess up, gave his friend a thoughtful grunt goodbye. Mia turned to me, linking her arm with mine before we both focused on Beckett. He was carefully watching Shelton's retreating figure until the boy took a turn, which must have been the correct way to go, because it was enough for Beckett to turn his attention on us.

"Ready?" Mia asked, waiting for Beckett's head nod before she began to take the two minute walk a cross the street to the eye sore of an antique mall. Beckett hesitated a bit before rushing up to my empty side. I glanced over at him and he looked different, content and yet a dash of nervousness hid in his eyes. "So, Sof," Mia piped up, making me turn my head to look at her, "enjoying your day so far?" I swear I heard a hint of a teasing tone in that question, but chose to ignore it.

"I'm having a fine day, how about you?"

"Just fine," she smiled, "and you Beckett? How is your day?" I felt both our heads turn to look at him in a fluid motion. He ran a hand through his dark hair before we'd reached the doors of the shop, which he held open graciously for us without a single word.

"It's been a pretty good day," he answered. I had no clue what he'd been doing, what face he'd made or where he'd been looking, but for some reason I locked eyes with Mia and knew his eyes were probably targeted point blank at me. There was just something dancing in my best friend's eyes that made me feel like this assumption was probably correct. "Do you ladies happen to know where we'd find the glass?" Once again we were rudely crowding around the entryway of a shop, but this time I stood with my back to Beckett and my front to Mia. She looked at me with a look that said he wasn't expecting her to answer.

"Um," I said, rubbing the the bridge of my nose as I shifted a bit to see both of them, "I actually don't shop here much. My mom is allergic to dust and thinks if we shop here it'll trigger her allergies." He cocked his head and furrowed his brow just like I'd expect a dog to. "Yeah, I don't understand my mom's logic sometimes, but we can always ask Mrs. Henley over there." I pointed to the kind elderly women who sat at her little cashier table reading a knitting magazine.

That was all that needed to be said for Beckett to move into action like the determined wolf he is. He was on a mission.