AUTHOR’S POV
It can't be, Lukan thought in disbelief. It can't be her...
Tyler refused to believe it was Katherine Scott's scent that he smelled on the crisp autumn wind - refused to believe that she had invaded his home as she had been invading his mind all day. She'd even made him lose it so much that he'd kissed her!
When Katherine hadn't shown up to her next scheduled class, Tyler had been strangely worried, though at a loss as to why, so he had asked the teacher for a bathroom pass and made his way to Giselle's office. He had been furious when he'd heard that Giselle had suspended her, even if it was only for two days. After how bravely Katherine had stood up for that spineless geek she deserved a medal, not a suspension on her record. Giselle had explained her reasons for the suspension and how well Katherine had taken it, but that had only made Tyler even more furious.
He hadn't stopped thinking about Katherine since. It seemed as though nothing could distract him from her, not even writing in his journal violently, which could usually distract him from anything. He didn't know why she so fascinated him. She was plain, she made no effort in her appearance - a serious failing in Tyler's opinion - she was independent, sarcastic, rebellious, jumped into danger without thought, and was the most exciting thing to catch Tyler's attention since he'd discovered the joys of people-watching which - besides writing, reading, and school - was all he ever really did, which was why supposing he had imagined her scent on the breeze wasn't too far fetched, and yet he could still smell her with every waft of wind that blew in his direction.
"Do you smell that?" Tyler asked his friends quietly, who were now getting out of his car, without looking at them.
They stopped and smelled the air. The group froze, looking at each other in horror at the familiar scent of Katherine Scott.
Sophia looked at Tyler knowingly.
"What are you going to do?'" she asked him worriedly.
"I don't know," Tyler said, his attention barely on his best friend.
He looked out solemnly at the forest and then at the hothouse. She could only be in one of the two places, probably the hothouse as the scent was too fresh for her to have gotten very far. Tyler opened his door and got out, walking toward the hothouse resignedly.
"Go into the house. I'll take care of it."
It was an order, and by the tone of his voice, there was absolutely no room for negotiation. Only his best friend would dare hesitate in disobedience.
"Tyler?" Sophia called after him, causing him to stop but not turn around. "You won't do anything.. mean, will you? Like the last time, we had an intruder?"
Tyler smiled. He remembered that poor, unsuspecting man vividly, though Lukan still held to his opinion that the broken legs were the man's deserved punishment for knowingly trespassing on their property.
"I won't break anything this time."
"Promise ?" Sophia prodded.
Tyler rolled his eyes dramatically, knowing that although they weren't facing each other, she would know that he had.
"Promise," he said a little snidely. "Now go into the house. I'll be in when I can."
Sophia turned and went inside the house with the others, though not without significant hesitance.
He knew she knew that there was going to be trouble. Tyler continued walking toward the hothouse, a frightening gleam in his eye. Sophia was right to be worried.
***
Katherine watched the whole thing take place from behind a strange white puffball-type of flower, though she didn't really have any idea what was going on except that Tyler was coming toward the hothouse - and fast. With all the plants and flowers she was hiding behind, Katherine dared to hope that he simply wouldn't see her, but even she knew that it was a fool's hope.
Katherine had always had rotten luck.
The hothouse door opened swiftly, causing a wind to rustle the flowers a little. King stood for a moment, seemingly smelling the beautiful perfume of the flowers around him, but after a moment his gaze fell on the exact spot where Katherine had hidden. A frown creased his arrogant brow, and he stalked over to where Katherine was.
She closed her eyes. Don't see me, she mentally pleaded. Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me, please don't see me...
Katherine chanted it over and over again but it was useless.
She felt a swift rush of air as the flowers covering her face were swept aside and she knew that she'd been found. She slowly peeked one eye open to see a pair of tailored black denim jeans. Katherine opened the other eye and looked up to see King' too-calm eyes staring down at her, his face a blank slate.
She gave a sheepish smile and a nervous laugh.
"Hi," she offered.
King's calm demeanor snapped and was quickly replaced with absolute fury. If looks could kill, it would've been very likely that Katherine would have been nothing more than a pile of smoldering ash at that moment.
"What are you doing here?" King gritted out with barely leashed rage, wisps of black hair hanging in his eyes.
"I-I was just looking at these really cool puffy plants," Katherine said in hopes of diverting his attention. "Pretty awesome, huh?"
She pointed to the white flowers King was still holding aside, rising from her position on the ground at the same time. Her remark only seemed to irritate him.
"That is not what I meant and you know it! What are you doing here? On this property? I'd be every bit in the right if I Just shot you right now! At the very least, I could have you thrown in jail"
The last word rang in Katherine's ears and the tattooed woman appeared in her vision. A scowl appeared on her face. Fear always made her angry and gave her the brass to stand up for herself, even when she was the one in the wrong.
"Well, it's your own damn fault for not keeping your own damn fences mended!" Katherine shouted, not mentioning the fact that she had ripped off two fence posts.