The Unsuspecting

Chapter 17

*Annabelle's POV*

The drive to campus took about 30 minutes. We spent most of that time listening to the radio as we held hands. Sean has a really great voice. I kept my voice low so he couldn't tell how bad of a singer I am. Eventually, we pulled into the nearly empty parking lot and I had him pull up right next to my Honda Civic so we could easily move his stuff from his truck to my car. I need to grab my car keys from my bedroom first though.

"Alright, let's go" Sean says as he turns off the car. He turns to me and quickly leans over the center console to place a brief kiss on my lips. His door is already open by the time I get back to my senses. I start trying to unlock my seat buckle, but it seemed to be stuck. I'm not entirely surprised since this truck is probably older than I am, but it doesn't make me any less embarrassed. Sean opens my door and holds out his hand to help me down, but I'm still stuck in my seat. I kept pushing the release button over and over again, but it wasn't budging. I finally still my hands and turned to face him.

"I'm stuck" I admit with a face that I'm sure resembles my absolute feeling of defeat. Sean bursts out laughing after he realizes what I'm talking about.

"I forgot the seatbelt hasn't worked for the last 10 years. Don't worry babe, I'll get you out."

Sean reaches over my lap and forcefully yanks the belt out of the buckle. I could see how the metal warped in a way that will never allow the buckle to be used ever again. He holds up the buckle and grins at how easy it was to free me.

"My hero!" I say acting like a saved damsel in distress. I then wrap my arms around his neck as he grabs my waist to help me out of his truck. "I truly don't know how I've ever made it this far in life without you." I say with the intent of it being a joke, but upon saying it, I soon realized that I truly could never live the rest of my life without this man. I still don't know all that much about him, but it feels like I've grown a new limb that I've become far too dependent on.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here now because you seem to always find yourself in dangerous situations."

"Oh yeah. If you hadn't saved me from that rusty old seat belt, I would've been stuck in that truck forever. And without any food or water I would've withered away from starvation."

"Well, now I feel a need to take you to a restaurant and make sure you're properly fed." He said with a crinkled brow.

"We literally just ate breakfast like an hour ago!" I said as I erupted in laughter.

"Werewolves need to eat a lot because we burn through it all so fast. Think of it as a high metabolism on steroids. And dark hunters might do the same thing, considering how athletic they are."

"But I am technically not a dark hunter yet because my gene hasn't been activated. If you're hungry, you can eat what was left over from our breakfast after we grab my stuff and transfer everything to my car. We can also stop at a gas station for snacks."

"Okay" he said, then started dragging me away from the truck and towards the dorm so we could get everything done as soon as possible so he could eat something. How much money do they spend on food each week? I'm sure they hunt for their own meat, but do they also have a garden where they can grow their own fruits and vegetables? Maybe I'll create one when I move in with them. I've never really tried gardening before, but how hard can it be considering that vegetables used to grow in the wild without any help required by humans.

The walk up to my room was abnormally quiet. I've gotten used to passing by rooms with loud music or obnoxious boys yelling at each other about whatever game they're playing. With the hall being completely empty, you could hear our footsteps echo down the hallway. When we finally reached my door, I realized that the frame was slightly broken in a way that didn't allow me to fully close the door anymore. I was about to push the door open when Sean pushed his arm in front of me and said, "Let me go in first just to make sure they didn't send any more of those goons to come and capture you." I was ready to retort back, but then remembered that he's a werewolf and nearly indestructible compared to me. I simply nodded and stepped back to give him plenty of room to enter first.

He warily opened the door and scanned the room for any threats, then proceeded into my bedroom. I followed him into the entrance and stopped immediately. The living room was in complete disarray. All of the furniture was tipped over, papers were scattered everywhere, even the couch cushions were found several feet away from the couch. I stood there in shock as I took everything in. I could hear Sean come out of my room and check the bathroom and Haylee's room. Eventually, my lowkey OCD tendencies kicked in and I started cleaning up the place by first turning everything upright, then picking everything up off the floor. With Sean's help it only took us a couple of minutes.

"Do our bedroom's look as bad as this one?" I asked him, not being able to get up the nerve to go and see for myself.

"Your bedroom appears to be untouched, but Haylee's has been turned upside down. Which makes sense considering how the place reeks of the children of Bastet." he said as he looked around with a look of distaste.

"Wait are you saying that Haylee's own kind did this to our place? Why would they do that?" I asked as I started moving over to see Haylee's room. Everything in her room was also found on the floor, including half her mattress. All of the drawers of her desk and dresser are still open with their previous contents scattered around them. I pulled out my cell phone and video called Haylee. She picked up after a couple rings.

"Hey, what's up?" She appeared to be in a car, probably with Tommy driving.

"I've got some bad news. Sean and I had to stop at our place so I could grab some clothes and someone broke in and trashed the living room and your bedroom. Sean said it smells like it was done by the children of Bastet." I said as I switched my camera to more easily show the damage done to her room.

"Ughh!!! Those F***ers!!! I'm gonna kill them!!!"

"You know who did this?"

"Yeah, my parents assign guards to check up on me now that I'm no longer living at home. They were probably looking for clues as to where I went and ended up trashing the place when they couldn't find anything. Leave my room as it is, I'll get my parents to hire a clean-up crew since it's their fault in the first place."

"Okay, I just thought I'd let you know. What're you guys doing right now?" I asked her as I turned and went to my own room to start packing my bag.

"We're driving to my parent's place to deliver that letter from Derek and drop a major bomb about how I've recently found my mate." I could see Tommy's hand move towards her hand as a way to assure her that everything will be okay. "We're actually approaching their gates right now so I've got to go. Good luck on your trip back home!"

"Thanks, you too." I said right before she ended the call.

I looked at my empty bag and figured I had better start packing. I went to my closet and grabbed enough clothes for 4 days as well as another pair of shoes. Then I grabbed another outfit to change into. I took my outfit for today and the to-go bag to the bathroom so I could change and pack my bathroom supplies at the same time. Then I placed Sean's clothes that I had been wearing into the bag so I could use them as pajamas. Sean is never getting these back.

Once I was ready to go, I exited the bathroom, grabbed my keys and started searching for Sean. I could hear his voice coming from the hallway, so I shut off the lights and left to meet up with him. He was on the phone with someone and was relaying the disastrous state of my dorm room. It was probably Alpha Derek on the other end, so I just quietly closed the door as best I could with it being broken, then I grabbed his hand and started leading him down the hallway. I got one step out of him before he pulled me back and swiftly snatched my duffel bag from my shoulder. He already had it over his own shoulder and retook my hand in his before I even realized what had happened. His movements are always so fast, I'm actually looking forward to activating my dark hunter gene so that I could finally keep up with this man. My other hand fiddled with the keys as something to do as I waited for him to end his call.

He finally got off the phone when we got to my car. I popped my trunk so he could put my bag in there before he went to his truck to transfer his stuff over. I grabbed our food items and got into the driver's seat of my car. I was about to shut the door and a large hand stopped it. Sean leaned down and looked at me.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" he asked in a way that said he would much rather drive.

"Nope. I'm driving because you are starving and people who eat and drive are a danger on the road." I said swiftly and promptly shut my door into his face. I giggled to myself as I watched him sulk as he walked around to the passenger side. "Don't worry babe, we can switch when we stop for gas." I said as he buckled up and started sifting through our food.

He perked up a little, "Great, I think there's a gas station around the corner over there" he said as he pointed to the right towards 21st Street.

"Sorry babe, but I've got a full tank. We'll stop in a town about halfway there." I said with a little giggle. His mood instantly soured again and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out in laughter. Why do men always feel the need to be the one who drives the car?