SWNOVELS Chapter I Found You
Your period.
Morning sickness.
The flu.
Payback for eating cold food the night before.
The list could go on. For Guadalupe, it was none of those things, yet she needed to stuff a couple mints into her salivating mouth and do some breathing exercises before she spewed all over the floor.
Once she felt somewhat okay, she did her morning routine and was out the door by 7:15, amidst all the noise of her family getting ready for their day.
Her heart raged in her chest and her hands felt clammy. ‘Something is going to happen and I need to be ready for it.’ she concluded as she crossed the street, picking up her pace as the lecture hall caught her eye.
‘Maybe if I get there early, I’ll be at an advantage. Or not. Oh, God. Please let me have an advantage.’ Guadalupe was almost running to the building, darting through early morning stragglers as they drank coffee (most likely mixed with an energy drink or two) and talked about upcoming exams or projects, or their night.
‘People must think I’m crazy.’ The thought pierced through the growing veil of her panic, and it was enough to slow her down to a speed-walk. Two minutes later, she was seated in her usual spot: second row before the last, right next to one of the many windows.
With her books and pencil case out, she did a few breathing exercises, grateful for the silence and fresh air. She wasn’t too sure how long it had taken for her heart to return to a steady pace and her hands to stop shaking, but by the time she opened her eyes, the hall was nearly filled with students.
Exhaling shakily, Guadalupe flipped open her notebook and skimmed through the most recent notes to refresh her memory. It had been a week since she ended things with Charlie, and adopted a new routine.
The same exercise routine that Charlie had her on, but toned down since it had been a while since she actually worked out. She just... felt better since she ended their arrangement. And conversation with him was more pleasant.
The anxiety she felt this morning was all but forgotten.
Until she felt the exact second the air changed.
The chatter died into complete silence, save for the noises outside and the squeaking of the ceiling fan as it spun lazily. Her heart rate picked up again, and she could feel her pen slipping from her sweaty hands.
Then came the whispers.
“Who is that?”
“My God, he’s hot.”
“The temperature suddenly went up, and it’s all him.”
“I want- no. I need him to put a baby in me, please.”
Guadalupe didn’t want to risk looking up, fearful that she too would be ensnared by the newcomer. “No need for more trouble.” she murmured to herself, focusing her eyes on the words she had written and tuning out the growing whispers.
‘I really should have bought new headphones the other day.’ Guadalupe thought darkly as the murmurs and whispers of her peers broke her concentration on her notes.
She rolled her eyes. ‘I bet he isn’t even that attractive.’ She thought again, the image of her two newest fictional (and animated!) husbands popping into her mind.
She sighed. A magician and a doctor. Asra and Julian. She couldn’t wait to play later today.
The chair beside her was pulled out, and someone sat down. The whispers grew louder.
“He’s sitting next to the quiet one.”
“Uhg, he’s next to the fat bitch.”
“What a shame, I wish he’d come sit next to me instead.”
“Huh, the fat girl got lucky.”
“He’s probably taking pity on her or something.”
“First she took Mateo and now him? No fair!”
Tears threatened to spill and Guadalupe gripped the edges of her book to keep herself from breaking down.
‘Trust me, I didn’t exactly want Mateo. If I could have given him back, I would have done it in a heartbeat.’
The whispers were silenced when a thunderous rumble echoed through the room. “What was that?” The rumble filled the air again.
“I think it wants us to shut up.” Rumble.
“Okay, we’ll shut up.” Rumble.
Silence.
Guadalupe snorted and quickly covered her mouth. Still, silence.
“Oh, so she can laugh but we can’t speak?” Rumble.
Silence. Guadalupe stifled another snort of laughter.
‘Why is this so funny to me?’
Before she could formulate an answer to her own question, a deep voice spoke beside her. “We meet again, bella.” Her blood froze.
Oh God. It was him.
"Bella. Bella, look at me.” Absentmindedly, Guadalupe shook her head in denial, resulting in the beautiful stranger from a week ago to chuckle. Her heart palpitated, and she honestly thought that she would die.
“Un giorno mi guarderai bene, bellissima, quando saro ′ sepolto dentro di te." He murmured lowly and Guadalupe squeaked, lowering her head as her face instantly caught fire, regretting learning Italian when she was younger.
“One day you’ll look at me properly, beautiful, when I’m buried deep inside you.”
But, for some unholy reason, his words sparked a different fire in her body that left her breathing heavily. Her thighs clamped together; a low rumble near her ear made her squeeze them tighter.
She felt his hot breath against the side of her face, a shiver wracking through her body. She gulped. “Madre de Dios, ayudame por favor."
The prayer slipped past her lips as a whisper, and she could feel the vibrations off his chest as he chuckled lowly. “Non ti salvera ′ da me.”
“She won’t save you from me.”
The squeak came off more like a short scream as she swiped her belongings off the desk and into her open backpack, and standing to her feet.
Guadalupe dodged his grabbing hands and walked down the stairs towards the professor’s desk. “Non puoi scappare da me per sempre."
“You can’t run from me forever.”
Something inside her snapped.
Who in the hell did he think he was?
She will run as much as she damn well wants. And running from him seems like the best idea right now. She is not having another Mateo in her life; not now, not ever again. One was more than enough.
Her head snapped towards him. The sunlight streaming through the open window made him glow. Her heart skipped. He was more beautiful than she remembered.
She squashed her growing admiration as she looked at him, replacing it with a fierce determination to run as far away from him as she could. “Guardami!"
“Watch me!”
Guadalupe turned her head and plopped down in an empty seat, five rows away from her previous seat. The class watched on in stunned silence, until the professor walked in and the class commenced.
Her words stunned, but excited Nox.Zev was shaking with excitement within the walls of his mind, going off about what he would do to their sweet mate about that little burst of attitude she gave them.
"Jeez, Zev. We're in public." He said to his counterpart, sinking in his seat to adjust his jeans.
"Oh, yes. We'll fuck her in public. That should be fun."
Nox groaned, knowing that trying to get through to Zev at this point will be fruitless. He couldn't care less about what the professor was droning on about.
His eyes were trained on her, his gorgeous Guadalupe, dressed in leggings and a university sweater, her hair pulled into two buns.
She seemed enthralled with the lesson, her head bending every few minutes as she jotted down notes. He perked up in his seat. 'I'll ask for her notes. She'll have to interact with me.'
For an hour and a half, all Nox did was stare at her, ignoring all the flirty looks other females sent his way. Were it a few years ago, he would have gladly taken them on.
But now, now his future was a few rows ahead of him and he'd be damned to screw up his chances or let her slip from his grasp.
The lecture finally ended, and students stood and began to file out, a few mingling to speak to friends or the professor himself. His mate stood and was making her way out of the room, expertly weaving through the crowd.
He quickly followed after her, not-so-gracefully brushing past people, and not at all apologizing.
As he tried to catch up to her, he was instantly transported to the day they met, which brought a smile to his face. "I'm going to catch you this time, bella." He said loudly, gaining her attention, as well as a few other persons.
At his words, she turned forward and started to run, eliciting a dark chuckle from him.
Nox took off, his eyes set on his gorgeous girl. Zev was howling with glee. "I'm going to fucking mount her."
"No. Not yet, Zev." The wolf growled. "Oh for fuck's sake. Fine."
She was headed for the dormitories, but Nox was certain that she didn't live on campus. When she zipped right past the entrance, he knew that she was heading for the back and picked up his pace; not too fast to startle the humans.
Once he was sure it was just the two of them though, he kicked into his inhuman speed and crashed into her back, locking her in his embrace.
He couldn't help but growl lowly as he dipped his face into the crook of her neck, deeply inhaling her scent.
"Please let me mount her, Nox. We're already in position, just remove the stupid clothes."
"We need to do this properly, Zev. We'll have our time." Nox chided his animal counterpart, who huffed in annoyance.
His attention was brought back to his mate when she began squirming and thrashing wildly.
"Let go! Let go of me! I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't care how pretty you look, Mateo and Denise are not winning. Not today!" For a second time today, Nox was stunned by her words.
'She thinks I'm in league with them?'
He snapped back to reality when he scented her tears. Spinning her around to face him, he cupped her face and swiped at the leaking liquid.
"Hey, bella. Bella. Don't cry, baby, please. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't even fucking know who those people are."
Guadalupe sniffled. "H-how do I know you're not lying?" she croaked, and Nox pulled her flush against him, resting his forehead against hers and staring into her eyes. "Why in the hell would I ever lie to you bella?"
Hazel and silver clashed. It didn't matter how long they stood there. He would do anything to make her trust him.
Her eyes flickered away from his. "Okay." She whispered, rubbing the back of her hand against her nose.
"Okay." Nox repeated, a grin growing on his face. "Now, may I borrow your notes please, bella?" Guadalupe glared.
"Is that why you chased me? Seriously?" she deadpanned, and glared more when Nox nodded, still with a smile on his face.
"You know, you could have asked like a normal human being." She said as she swung her backpack around to rummage through it.
"I just did." Nox replied, grinning cheekily at her adorable glare. "She just looks like a pissed off bunny." Zev cooed, and Nox agreed, fighting off a smile.
"Fine. Here." Guadalupe handed over her notebook, and Nox grabbed it, purposefully brushing his fingers against her hand. She quickly retracted it, slamming it against her chest. "Thank you, bella."
He saw her gulp, and she peeked up at him from her lashes. "Y-yeah, you're welcome."
Nox carefully placed her book in his bag, then faced her again. "Alright, let's go." He said, before wrapping a hand under her bum and laying her over his shoulder.
Ignoring her yells of protest and admittedly hard (for such a tiny human female) punches, Nox began walking back the way they came, and towards the library.
~Shout out to The Arcana fans. If you've never played, please do.~