Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) by Elizabeth A. Lance Page A

yourself.” Tony glanced up from his sandwich. “I don’t believe it by the way.”
    I raised an eyebrow at him. “I suppose Anna and I were sort of making out yesterday at my house.” I glanced at Anna and smiled at her. “But you know Jenny and I are over. I wouldn’t make up stories about her and Steve. I saw her with my own eyes mackin’ on Steve at Kaitlin’s house Monday night. And you saw them at Carters.”
    “Dude, seriously? I thought they were just blowin’ smoke! Classic.” Tony grinned. “Well not the Jenny and Steve thing, that is totally uncool, somethin’ funny has been going on with them for a while now that I think about it. Steve is always hangin’ around her.”
    “Yeah, well apparently it’s been going on a while. No biggie. I’m not sweatin’ it,” I said hoping I looked as though I meant it.
    “Sure, Dude. I mean you got Anna,” Tony said with a nod at Anna. “And she’s totally hot. I’m just sayin’.”
    Anna laughed. “Merci, Tony.”
    I pushed my tray away untouched and grinned. “Right.”
    “Dude you gonna eat your Joe?”
    “Naw, you can have it.” Doesn ’ t look appealing at all. I think my appetite is changing. I glanced at Anna and she smiled.
    We ’ ll go hunting after school. I heard her voice drift into my thoughts.
    “Can’t; got football practice after school. After that maybe?” I asked her.
    “I forgot. After then,” Anna replied. You are going to be starving by then. We shall go hunting in my woods this time, and then you can see my house.
    “Yeah your house looked cool, no onlookers to spread tales there.”
    “Dude, you guys are totally freakin’ me out,” Tony said in mid bite.
    I grinned. “Sorry Tones. Better that you don’t know what is going on.” I patted him on the shoulder and stood up. “We’ll catch you later at practice.”
    “Sure.”
    Anna took my hand, I dumped my tray and we went outside. We still had twenty minutes before we had to go back to class. We walked out to the picnic tables and I sat down, pulling Anna onto my lap. I pressed my face into her shoulder and took a deep breath. I could smell the forest in her skin, the wildness, the danger… it served to calm me more than the peaceful vibe she had been pouring over me the entire morning.
    Do not worry Max, the quick aggression and anger will pass soon. You just have to learn how to channel it in another direction. It is something we all have to learn. It took me a year. Anna stroked my face as her words soothed me.
    “A year?” I looked up at her. “I don’t think I can take a year of this,” I said with a half smile.
    “A year is nothing Max. However, when I spoke to mon père, he thought perhaps you would be able to overcome it much faster. This is good. If we are to beat Frederick, you must have all your abilities at the ready.”
    I nodded with a frown. “Tell me about him, about the council, about your life…”
    Anna laughed. “Max we do not have time for all of that right now.”
    “I know. Just… okay, just tell me about him. Describe him.”
    Anna sighed. “All right,” she said as she slipped off my lap and sat down next to me. “Frederick is your cousin; sort of. Selina is Frederick’s grandmother’s sister. He is older than moi, than you too. In human years he is thirty two.”
    “Thirty… two,” I said sort of stunned. “But… isn’t that too old for you? I mean… why would this council of elders want you to marry someone so much older than you?”
    “Max…mon coeur, he is not that much older than moi.”
    “What…how old are you Anna?” I asked, feeling my heart begin to beat faster as I anticipated her answer. Mom was sixty-three and looked about twenty-five. Anna could be…
    Anna giggled. “Max, you should see your face. I am twenty one, mon coeur.”
    “Oh…wow. So why are you in high school?” I asked in a daze.
    “Because silly, you’re in high school. How else was I to find you?” Anna said. “It has taken