Transparent by Soccerluv4 (: (best classic books to read txt) 📕

Ever walk down the crowded streets of New York at night? The lights just twinkle like stars; so glowing, so iridescent, so perfect. The click of my heels slowed down as I continued to stare at the shimmering skyscrapers above me, the ones that I’d been so accustomed to for four years.

Funny how something you get so used to can become such a gift when you know you must leave it forever. I guess that’s what you could call my journey.

A shrill ring of my cell phone interrupted my thoughts. Shuffling through my purse, I pulled it out and answered.

“Hey mom. Yeah I’ve packed already. Don’t worry, I’ll be there no later than 11 tomorrow morning. Yeah, got it mom. Okay, see you soon. Love you, bye.”

Stopping at the crosswalk, I looked up to those luminescent lights and smiled. Sure I was leaving my temporary paradise, but I was returning somewhere I was fond of, somewhere I truly lived: home.

Looking down, I smiled and shook my head. Putting the phone away, I strutted down the streets, one last time, with Colorado on my mind.

******

“Cassie, Cassie, over here!”

Rolling my eyes, a grin formed on my face as I strode towards my mother. Only she would be calling her 21 year old daughter as if she were coming back from her first day of kindergarten.

“Jeez mom, I think the entire airport heard you. Did you forget our amazing hearing?”

“Oh shush! Can’t a mother be excited to see her daughter?!”  My mom smiled and wrapped her arms around me. After four years of studying at NYU, I was finally back with my family. Of course, I was still a bit disappointed that I couldn’t complete my graduate work there as I’d planned, but of course, when you’re as “special” as I am, danger is always around the corner.

A tall, burly man, whom I remembered as one of the pack guards, Mason, grabbed my luggage behind us, while my mother pulled me along with her.

“So would now be a good time to explain why you called me back home? Or is this a talk that we’ll be having in the car?” I asked jokingly. My mother could only smile, which supported my assumption to be the latter.

Arriving to two black range rovers, I climbed into the passenger seat of the first car, with my mother in the driver’s seat. My luggage was put into the second car, with Mason in the passenger seat and another guard driving.

 Mom pulled out her cell phone and made a quick call, which I assumed was to my father. He was my dad after all, but of course being Alpha, he was responsible for the safety of his pack members, especially his daughter’s.

“So, what’s going on mom? Why’d you call me back home?” I asked.

“Honey, well…I guess I should begin at training.”

“Training? But I was already trained to the best of my abilities.” I asked, slightly confused.

“Your father and I trained you to be the best warrior in case of any circumstances, that is a fact, but with your powers, we needed to call you back to complete your next step in mastering your powers. What you have is very hard to manage, and we know how dangerous it’ll be. We let you go have an education in New York because we knew you could handle yourself in any situation for defense, but now you’re 21, and your full powers are to be set soon. That is why we called for a highly skilled trainer to teach both your brother and yourself.”

I absorbed the information silently. It did make sense after all. My parents taught me everything I needed to know about defense and how to fight. I was trained as a great werewolf fighter, but nothing more. Of course I could use my powers, but more as a defense. This new training would help me learn to use my powers for change. But I was quite curious to who these trainers would be.

I nodded my head in understanding, and gave a smile.

“Well it’s always nice to be back with my family again,” I grinned.

“Oh, my little girl has grown so much!” My mother’s eyes filled with tears as she smiled.

“Aw mom, stop that. You’re gonna make me all sensitive,” I giggled, and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Well, we do have a surprise for you! We know how much you wanted to continue school and do some graduate work, so we enrolled you in a graduate program at the same university I went to. But, for your safety and for training purposes, the trainer assigned to you will be one of your professors. He will be teaching a course related to your training. Humans will just assume it’s a course, while you will be getting the skills you need to understand and control your powers. It’s a win-win for everyone!” She beamed.

I struggled to hold in my excitement. I would still be getting a chance to make something of myself while still keeping close to my family’s wishes! It couldn’t be more perfect!

But a thought continued to circle my mind from the minute I stepped off the plane. Would I finally get a chance to meet my mate? Growing up, all my friends were fortunate enough to find their mates before going off to college. Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to. I didn’t mind, fate did have someone in store for me, and I would just have to be patient enough to wait.

Although, I really hope we would have a romantic story just like my parents. My mom was completely oblivious to werewolves until she was 18 and was forced to marry my dad for protection. Who would’ve thought they would be mates? They did hate each other in the beginning, but eventually things fell into place, and they had two amazing kids, if I must say so myself. My older brother, Alex, was now 23, and just like myself, still had yet to meet his mate. It was pretty rare to not meet your mate at a younger age, but then again, we both are much different than most werewolves.

The car came to a stop in front the pack house. It still looked huge as ever, and standing right atop the stairs were my dad and my brother.

I pulled open the door and ran up the steps. Immediately, I jumped into my dad’s arms.

“Hey baby girl, I missed you too,” my dad chuckled, squeezing me back just as hard.

I finally let go of him, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before moving onto my brother.

Swooping me up, he spun me around in a circle before letting me down. I swatted his arm, and crossed my arms.

“Alex! Thanks for scaring the crap out of me!” I huffed, but a smile quickly grew on my face. I pulled him into a hug, while he kissed the top of my head.

“I missed you too loser,” he chuckled, ruffling my hair.

I pouted, and kissed him on the cheek also.

Swinging his arm around my shoulder, Alex led me into the house. My dad slipped his arm around my mother as they walked in behind us.

“Come on Cass, let’s go to the backyard. There’s someone you need to meet.”

Alex grabbed my arm and led me to the back of the house, where I could see a figure with their back to us through the glass doors.

Sliding the door open, I felt a shiver run down my spine. For some reason, I felt adrenaline rush through my body.

I took a step through the door, then another, until I was outside.

The figure tilted its head to the right, most likely sensing our presence.

“Alpha Parker, I would like you to meet my sister, Cassandra.”

The figure turned around, slowly, as my breath became shallow.

Turning completely around, he faced us, and my breath finally caught in my throat.

“Nice to finally meet you, Ms. Knight,” he said, his liquid brown eyes smoldering into mine.

I couldn’t bring myself to move my lips. My utter shock was like a deafening silence.

But one small cry could be heard pristine through my mind.

Mate

Oh the irony. At that moment, that was all I could think about. Just a few moments ago, I was wondering just when I would meet my mate, and behold, he was right in front of me.

“CASSIE!”

A scream resounded, blowing my eardrums out. I turned around and saw my best friend running at me full speed. Before I could even say hi back, she engulfed me in her arms.

“Oh my gosh Cassie! How was New York? I missed you so much!” she kept rambling, causing me to chuckle as I hugged her back again.

“Hey Ellie, I missed you too!” I smiled at her. She let out her infamous squeal, causing me to pull back slightly at the sound. This girl was absolutely crazy, but I loved her nonetheless.

She and I had been friends since we were in diapers. Her mom, Natasha, was best friends with my mother, and I guess we just followed in their footsteps. I’m glad though, she’d been there for me for everything.

“Nice job Ellie, the girl’s been here for what, 5 minutes and you’ve already blown her ear drums out,” came a sarcastic comment. We both turned our heads to the approaching figure.

“Hey Cassie, I missed you girl,” she smiled at me, heading over to give me a hug.

My famous cousin Sage. She was the daughter of my dad’s sister Andrea. She was such a tough girl growing up. Even now, as she came over to me, she was wearing a tight leather jacket and combat boots. This girl was the complete opposite of Ellie, but somehow, all three of us completed each other.

After we’d pulled back from our hug, Sage whispered in my ear.

“Who’s the hottie back there staring at you?” she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

And just like that, everything that happened 2 seconds before my friends arrived came at me like a flash.

How I forgot the fact that my mate was standing right behind me is a mystery to me. I guess I just got too caught up in seeing my friends.

“Oh, uh, I’ll explain that later. Anyway, how are you guys? How’s everything going?”  I diverted quickly.

“It’s good! Just kind of crazy with all the training we’re getting. You heard about that right?” Ellie asked.

“Of course dear,” my mom interjected, “she will be training with you two. But Alpha Parker out there will also be training her specifically.”

“Yeah Cassie, that’s why I wanted you to meet him,” Alex finally spoke up, “he was the alpha of the trainer I worked with. We all bonded and I found out he was looking to get back to training special wolves like himself. Since he’d already trained all the special wolves of his pack, I thought it would be best to bring him here. With you coming back home and in need of some training, I thought it’d be perfect, so here he is!” he motioned for Alpha Parker