Chapter 7

        I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. I looked out through my glass door balcony and saw that the sun had just come up. 

        Strange. I'm usually up at noon. I looked at the clock. 7:38 am. Yep definitely strange. 

        By now, I'm used to the time change but that didn't mean I woke up any earlier than 11:30. 

        Well, maybe because it's October 24 and it''s my birthday that my body decided that 'Hmm, I should get up earlier and enjoy a full day celebrating me.' I have the weirdest thoughts ever. 

        I decided to take a shower and when I felt the warm water rain down on me, I instantly felt better. I felt something like a tingling or an itch on my back but I ignored it. It's probably nothing. After I got out of the shower though, everything that had happened yesterday came rushing back. It hit me with so much force that I had to sit down on the edge of the gigantic tub. I had hurt Percy and he had screamed at me to leave. How can a person live with himself after that? Well, I'm sure as heck am. I'm going to continue  to stay strong until Percy comes and apologizes. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen.

        I pulled myself together and wiped away a few tears that had rolled down my cheeks without me even knowing. I grabbed one of the world's most fluffiest towels (Seriously! These werewolves live with only the best!) and started to dry myself off. I was looking in the mirror and drying out my hair when I noticed something on my neck. I placed the towel on the marble counter and leaned forward to investigate. It was a small dark blue-greenish line with a sharp point at the end that curved around the base of my neck. It was the same color and shape as the werewolves' tattoos that they had on.

        My first thought was: Oh! Jen must be pulling a birthday prank on me where she plasters on a removable tattoo on my neck while I was sleeping. Very funny. I'll get her back for that.

        As I tried to scrape it off, I realized that it was infused with my skin, meaning that it wouldn't come off. Leading to my second thought: What the heck, Jen?! Really?! This is your idea of funny? Well, it's not! 

        I was so going to get her back. I continued wringing out my hair and thinking up my plan for revenge when I see that the line continues around the back of my neck, fans out across my shoulders, and down to my lower back. It was such an intricate design that I couldn't help but just stare at it. All these lines curving around my back and ending in points was so entrancing. 

        When I start to pull on my clothes for the day, it finally clicked. These must be the mating signs that Sally had warned me about. She said that first the mental connection opens, then the tattoos appear. 

        Holy shoot! This CANNOT be happening to me! But who in the world could be my...Percy. It's Percy, isn't it? I'm SO stupid! He knew all along didn't he? 

        The more I thought about everything that had happened, the clearer the picture became. Percy had said that he was looking for something, and was getting closer to finding it every day. He had meant ME! He wanted to find his mate before he became the Alpha! Not only that, but yesterday, he most likely knew that I was his mate when I told him that I was practically going to be able to show the mating signs the very next day. That's why he touched me. He knows that I don't like to be touched (and yet I live in a world where the entire species depends on touch. Go figure). When he held me in his arms and tried to kiss me, he knew that I was his and that I couldn't resist his touch. So when I stepped back and away from him, it was like I was rejecting him, like I didn't want to be with him.

        I fell backwards onto my bed and closed my eyes. I am the worst human/werewolf creature mate ever.

        Something hit me then. I sat up on the bed with my eyes wide open, looking at no spot in particular. If we are true mates, then why can't I, you know, hear his thoughts and hear his voice in my head? And does this mean that I can never go back to my old life?

        Well I sure as heck can never go back to being the same girl I was and I missed so much school, that I could never make it up in the amount of time that I've been gone. But won't I be able to see my family again? Or at least call them for pete's sake?!

        I needed to talk to Sally right away. I got up off of my bed and got ready as fast as I could. When I looked decent enough to be seen by the living, and my mating marks weren't showing, I left my room and started my search for Sally. But I didn't get very far when I felt someone come up behind me and blindfold me. 

        "Come on, Birthday Girl," I heard Jen say behind me. "Time to party!" 

        Oh shoot.