Cherry Blossoms | ✔️

His Sketchbook (Trenton)

The howling of my wolf rings inside my ears as I look around the now empty spot Kai stood in not barely thirty seconds ago. I'm at a loss. What do I do? He is petrified of me for some reason he isn't willing to share. How does he know about us? I wonder as I walk over to where he was seated so peacefully prior to knowing of my presence.

Wiping the remaining wetness off my cheeks with the long sleeve of my sweater, I look down at the table where Kai was seated and notice his sketchbook he left behind. I decided not to chase after him once he ran out because if I cause him that much fear, following him surely would make matters worse. I hate seeing my mate scared. It breaks my heart.

Sitting down in the spot Kai once occupied, I open up his sketchbook to have a peek inside his mind. I know this is wrong and he might be mad to find out I looked through his sketches but I'm dying to know more about him, and I need to get my mind off the howling my wolf is doing inside my head. He's so distressed over our mate; I don't know what to do to help him.

Looking through his sketchbook, I can't help the light blush spreading over my cheeks as I look through the sketches he has of me, specifically ones of me playing lacrosse. I know he must feel the pull of the mate bond as well because these sketches seem to go back about a month before Friday, the day I found out he was my mate. If that's the case, he's had some sort of interest in me for about a month now. I didn't even know he existed up until Friday considering how he literally avoids everyone. I'm honestly surprised Roni was able to get any information on him at all considering how no one seemed to know anything about a redhead with green eyes when I asked around.

I can't help but feel pride for how talented my little mate is. His sketchbook is filled with beautiful artworks. As I flip through his sketchbook, one sketch in particular catches my eye. It's a sketch of a girl around our age with big green eyes and unruly red curls laying down past her shoulders. I can see Kai put a lot of work on this sketch, it appears he used colored pencils to show the girl's full features. She looks an awful lot like Kai, but that's not what has my interest piqued. She seems so familiar, but I just can't seem to figure out why or where I may have seen her.

The sudden slamming of the library door brings me out of my stupor and causes me to look up at the source of the loud bang. Frantically looking around the library with concern and fear etched into her face is my cousin, Roni.

At seeing me, she visibly relaxes instantly and rushes towards me. Once she gets to the table I'm seated at, she takes the spot across from me still looking rather frazzled.

"Roni? Is everythi—"

"What did you do to Kai!?" She cuts me off midsentence, whisper yelling at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, concern evident in my voice.

"He was running away from the direction of the library and ran right into me, said a super quick apology and took off again. He was shaking like crazy, and I think he was crying." She tells me, out of breath from her little adventure.

I look at her confused before the realization of everything that happened comes crashing down on me. I abruptly stand from my chair, causing Roni to flinch and look at me confusedly, raising a brow in question at my worried expression.

"RIGHT! Roni, he knows about us! He knows what we are! How is that possible? He shouldn't know anything! I was supposed to ease him into it but, somehow, he knows already and won't tell me why and I don't know what to do! What happened for him to be so scared of me? My wolf is howling like crazy right now, he's so upset and confused, and so am I! This isn't fair Roni! I was supposed to get to know him, and him me. I wanted to gradually introduce him to our world so he wouldn't get overwhelmed, but he already knows! Oh, my goddess, Roni I'm freaking out! What do I do? What do I do!?" I begin to pace in the middle of the library.

Roni runs over to me, grabbing my shoulders to make me face her and to stop my pacing.

"Renny! Breathe. We'll figure this out, alright? Maybe I can talk to him, yeah? Everything will be okay. I'm sure he has a good reason behind being afraid and not wanting to tell us, no?" She says in her soothing voice. She always knows how to calm me down. She always says the right things I need to hear.

"That's what I'm afraid of Roni! Just what would've had to happen to scare him away from his own mate? He was terrified Roni. Didn't you see the look on his face? That look should never be on someone's face who is as precious and amazing as Kai." I tell her sullenly.

She looks at me with pity in her eyes as she says, "I did, Ren. I'm sorry, I wish I could help. I'll do the best I can, okay? I'll talk to him, yeah? He doesn't know I'm a werewolf, maybe he'll talk to me?"

"Okay, yeah. That's a good idea." I tell her as I pull her into a hug.

We stay like that for a few more minutes, then we decide it would be best to go back to our classes before we miss the bell. I walk back over to where Kai was seated and pick up his sketchbook. Opening my bag, I gently place the sketchbook into it to keep it safe and protected until I can return it to Kai. I thought about returning it to him after he left, but I doubt he'd want to see me. I need to be patient. I really don't want to mess up with him.

After we leave the library, we begin the trek to our next classes and go our separate ways. My next class is on the second floor, while Roni's is on the first floor, so she had to go down the stairs for hers. We say our goodbyes until after school and go on with our day like nothing happened. Except, something did happen. Something that caused lasting anxiety within me and distress within my wolf. Ever since we saw the fear on Kai's face, he has been howling nonstop. I just hope Roni can talk to him, maybe figure out what has him so scared.

Once I saw how he reacted to just being in the same room as me, I can't help but feel scared for what Kai could have possibly experienced to react in such away. I also can't get the sketch of that girl out of my head. I swear I've seen her before I just can't remember for the life of me where it was. I just want everything to work out and my mate to be happy. The most important thing in my life right now is Kai's happiness.