~ Stella's POV ~

I look up at the tall school ahead of me. Wow. This place is huge!

Maybe there's other horse-shifters here, Nova says. She's my inner horse, and basically the other part of me.

I chuckle in my head. Yeah, probably not. The whole point of moving here and going to a new school is so that we aren't recognized as a member of the herd, remember?

She sighs. You're right... I know that she misses the company of other horses, but we don't really have a choice. If somebody found out that I was a shifter, well, let's just say it wouldn't end well.

Now come on, we have to find our new locker and get to class. I say, closing the mind link.

I walk through the large doors and look around at my new surroundings. The sound of people talking is pretty loud, which makes my inner horse a little nervous. But I shake it off and try to focus to a few things: Finding the office, getting to class on time, and somehow having a social life. Piece of cake...right?

I finally find the office and let out a sigh of relief. For a moment there I thought I was lost. As I said before, this place is huge. I hope for the best and walk inside.

A few minutes later, I'm looking for my new locker. The halls are endless, so I let out a sigh of relief when I find it. Putting in the code, I open the door and put in my stuff.

The moment I close the door, a boy my age with blonde hair and cheerful brown eyes is smiling at me.

"Hi! I'm Colt." he says.

I smile back and say, "I'm Stella."

"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." It's like talking to a Golden Retriever puppy, he's so peppy and excited to meet me.

"Yeah, I just moved here."

"Oh cool, where from?" Seriously, where does he get all of this energy?

"Uh, North Dakota." I say, thinking of the herd.

"Neat! I hear that wild horses live there. Did you ever meet one?"

You have no idea, Nova says in my head.
Quiet! I say in a mind link.

Thinking of something quick, I say, "Once. They wouldn't let me get close, though. Herd stallions are really protective."

"Oh yeah, totally," he chuckles. Nova says something, but I ignore her to talk to Colt. "So how are you liking SoCal?"

"It's really nice here. The weather especially." He nods.

Suddenly the class bell rings.

"Welp, I'd better get to class." Colt says.

"Yeah, me too."

"I'll see you around, Stella." He says with a smile, before walking off.

"You too." I smile back.

Did you notice that? Nova questions.

Notice what? I ask curiously, watching him leave.

His scent. It was almost horse-like.

What?

And he was really curious about the wild horses...

Are you saying that you think he's a horse shifter?

I think so.

I look down the hall to see him still walking to class. Maybe Nova's right.

No.

Maybe?

No.

Maybe?

No.

...Maybe?

I don't have time to think about this right now.

Closing the mind link, I look at my list of classes and try to figure out where I'm going.

All right. Day one at my new school starts...now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Alex's POV ~

I walk into school, Kirsten walking next to me. Suddenly I catch a new scent.

Go find her! My wolf, Dante, yells at me through a mind link.

"Alex? Is everything alright?" Kirsten asks. "Your eyes turned golden."

Dante! I growl at my wolf, knowing he could have gotten us caught.
Hey, not my fault! He says in his defense.

"Alex, what's going on?" Kirsten asks.

"She's here." I say, sensing my wolf trying to take over and my eyes turning golden again.

"Who's here?" She looks up at me questioningly.

"My mate."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex found his mate!! Who do you think it is? What do you guys think will happen?!

Also, what do you think of Colt? Is Nova right about him being a horse-shifter?

The picture is of Stella in horse form, I'll be showing more pictures of the characters as they are introduced!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! 😘