Chapter 3

Amara

This is by far the most bizarre and embarrassing moment of my life! I can be a walking disaster at times, but this just takes the cherry on top of the cake. Tonight has been a series of unfortunate events and I fear that it’s going to continue for the rest of the week. Why? Because I just believe in the idea of strings of luck. I’ve experienced good luck for a few days and now I’m about to experience the bad. Great!

I hadn’t dared to make eye contact with anyone except Dakota who’s by the way still giggling.“Okay, just laugh it off,” I said rolling my eyes at her. “I-I-I’m s-s-sorry, it w-was j-just so f-f-funny!” If it wasn’t at my expense, I probably would be laughing hard too. “I-I-I’ve never s-s-seen m-my b-brother a-act s-so g-g-g-goofy!” She explodes into fits of laughter once more. Brother? I wonder who among the three is her brother. I chanced a glance at them still standing near the door and realized I shouldn’t have as soon as I did because now I’m looking at unbelievably attractive well-built men who are staring at me with curiosity.

I must be blushing so hard right now and I know they can see me turning red like tomato sauce. Oh, god! “Knock it off, D!” the guy who almost crushed me exclaimed. If I remember correctly, it’s the same voice who threatened bigfoot earlier. So, this is how he looks like. Tall, dark, handsome as hell, most likely in his early twenties, and full of lean muscles. He’s sporting the same hair and eye color as Dakota too. Talk about outrageously good genes!

It wasn’t just his looks that’s unnerving, but it’s something I can’t put my finger on. He exudes power and wisdom without even saying or doing anything much aside from staring at me. I mean for freak’s sake, he’s just standing there like a normal person! A very very hot person. Probably the hottest person in the entire universe.

We all stood there in awkward silence for a bit, Dakota looking back and forth between me and her brother amusement in her eyes, me trying to look at everything else but her brother, and the three still carefully assessing me. Okay... This isn’t weird at all. “This is Amara Montgomery, my roommate and she’s new here,” Dakota stated finally breaking the ice. “That’s my brother Storm, the one to his left is Wyatt, and that’s Hunter.” I gave them a slight wave and smiled as pleasantly as I could before saying, “pleased to meet you.”

Wyatt and Hunter sat down on the chairs by the office table, while Dakota pulled me down with her on the couch. Storm, on the other hand, stayed rooted to where he is and never took his eyes off me. Actually, none of the three took their eyes off me. The only difference is the other two were smiling while Storm had a poker face on. Is he mad that I caused trouble? Does he even know that his sister asked me to help out? Did I do anything to upset him?

“I’m sorry about earlier,” I nervously said. “Which are you sorry about?” Storm asked cocking his head slightly to one side. “For causing trouble out there with the big hairy guy. I didn’t mean to,” I shyly responded causing a small smile to appear on his face. Umm...can you spell wow? Looking this good should be illegal right? “First of all, it wasn’t your fault, and second, how are you feeling?” I was taken aback by his question because he sounded like he was really worried about me. “I’m fine. Umm, by the way, thanks for rescuing me out there. I really appreciate it.” I looked at each of them conveying my gratitude and sincerity and they all said welcome in unison. Huh, that was actually weirdly cute. I wonder if the four of them do that all the time.

Thirty minutes later, Dakota went back out to continue what she was doing while Hunter and Wyatt bid their farewell. I was stuck in the office with Storm completely feeling out of place since everyone suggested that I shouldn’t go back out there for tonight. I was feeling restless by the minute so I told him that I was going to head back to the dorm. His head snapped up to look at me worry etched on his face. “How are you going to get back?” he asked. I told him that I drove here and that it’s going to be fine.

He offered to drive me home several times and even offered to have me stay with him and his family over the weekend. Which I all respectfully declined. I didn't understand why he was so worried about me driving on my own when he knows that I haven't had anything to drink since I'm just 18. Well, that and also it's just a 10-minute drive from here. When he realized that I was dead set on driving home, he settled with walking me to my car.

He lightly grabbed my elbow right when I was about to get in the car and I swear, his touch sent tingles down my spine. I looked straight into his eyes question evident on my face and he hesitated for a bit but pushed on. He told me to give Dakota a call or send her a message as soon as I'm safe inside our dorm room. I nodded in response and said my goodbye before driving off to the university.

It's strange how he's acting a bit overprotective or worried about me when he doesn't even know me that well. Maybe he really has that kind of attitude being a big brother and all or maybe he just feels sorry for what happened to me and that makes him think that he has to repay me somehow. Whatever the reason is, being around him causes emotional haywire. It's like I'm nervous and calm at the same time.

By the time I got back to the dorm, I was exhausted. I managed to send a short message to Dakota letting her know that I'm safely locked in our room. I then took a shower and headed to bed. I was asleep almost instantly and for the entire night, I dreamed about odd things like gray eyes, black fur, and howling wolves. I wonder what that was all about.