When she was young.

POV: Samantha

When Samantha was 15 years old.

Samantha was an outstanding student, the class president, and even a student representative at meetings.

Nearly every pig in the Association knew her. The sows gossiped about her over afternoon tea, while the father pigs brought up her name in conversations regarding their sons' futures. Samantha was the exact kind of female pig that every family wished their son would marry—intelligent, well-behaved, utterly flawless, and strictly obedient to every single custom and tradition of the pig tribe.

But Samantha harbored a secret she had never told a soul….

She had never once been attracted to her fellow pigs.

It wasn't for a lack of trying. Within the Pig Association, Samantha had been set up on numerous arranged dates with male pigs her own age. Some of them were incredibly nice, and she truly liked a few of them, but that liking never went beyond mere friendship. Not a single one of them had ever made her heart race or her cheeks flush.

But on the other hand... she had fallen head over heels for a wolf…

This was something Samantha could never let anyone find out. The young girl hid it away in the deepest recesses of her heart, fully intending to keep it a secret for the rest of her life.

*

Joshua wasn’t the hottest guy in school.

He wasn't handsome enough to be highly popular among the females, and his behavior was far from anything the teachers would approve of.

The wolf was a mix between an aloof loner and a bad boy. Although he never caused any trouble more serious than skipping class, everyone knew he was the school's black-market dealer. The scent of tobacco lingering in the hallways, restrooms, and even the sports field all originated from the main supplier….Joshua. Despite everyone knowing this, the young wolf ran his business like a game of hide-and-seek; no one had ever actually caught him in the act.

Joshua always let his beautiful brown fur stay messy, letting it drape over a strong, rugged face that radiated raw male energy. The clothes he wore looked as though he didn't bother to distinguish between a school uniform and hunting clothing.

He usually hung around with other males, looking like a pack of hyenas gathering for a hunt. With a full-blown bad boy persona, he carried an aura of excitement and danger.

He was big, a natural predator, a member of the hunting club, cold, too lazy to do homework, traded illicit goods, and didn't give a damn about any rules or trouble.

And the absolute worst part was... everything bad she had just described about him, she actually loved all of it.

Samantha went to school early every single day to review her lessons... at least, that was the reason she gave everyone, and what she let them believe. In truth, there was another, deeper reason that gave her the motivation to show up so early.

Her favorite thing before classes started was Joshua walking in, always just a few moments before he'd be late. The sound of his heavy footsteps treading on the wooden floor was different from anyone else's as he walked past her desk. Whenever she heard those footsteps, Samantha would pretend to look up casually, as if just glancing at whoever happened to be walking by, even though she knew full well in her heart that it was him.

Joshua would look at her with those yellow eyes of his and nod. "Samantha," he would greet her.

She would nod back. "Joshua."

And just like that, the entire rest of her day would be perfect…

A good while after turning fifteen , she felt her feelings for Joshua intensify, growing bigger, deeper. She found herself thinking about him often before going to sleep. It was as if someone lit a candle deep in her lower belly every time she looked at him; she would feel a certain sensation, a damp warmth gathering between her thighs.

This feeling was reserved for Joshua alone. She hadn't intended for it to happen; it was entirely instinctual. Samantha didn't feel this way about any other wolf... not even Mav, Joshua’s younger cousin who often ran over to see him during lunch break. Mav was bright, cheerful, quick to smile, and far more friendly. Many of the females even said that Mav, with his sleek grey fur, was handsomer than Joshua. But then again, neither Mav nor any other wolf could ever make her heart flutter the way Joshua did.

Perhaps it was those warm yellow eyes of his? Eyes whose thoughts she could never quite read, yet somehow always felt as though they were wrapping her in a constant embrace.

One late afternoon, the classroom was almost entirely empty. Only the fading glow of the late afternoon sun filtered through the windows, accompanied by the scent of overripe apples from a tree spreading its branches close by.

Joshua was still in the classroom, which was unusual since he almost always vanished during the afternoons. He was slumped flat against his desk, arms and legs stretched far out in front of him, his face resting sideways on the wooden surface. His long tongue lolled out of his mouth, panting in short, rapid breaths to vent his body heat.

"Joshua," Samantha, still just a young girl back then, said as she walked over to him at the very last row of desks.

"Class president," he looked up at her lazily, those yellow eyes she always dreamed about blinking open slowly. "What's up?"

"I'm here to collect your homework," Samantha said.

Joshua feigned shock. He propped himself up slightly, resting his chin on his hand as he gave her a deeply meaningful look. His lips curled into a smile that was so incredibly sly and charming it made Samantha’s knees go weak.

"I forgot," the wolf said, his voice entirely devoid of guilt. "Let me borrow yours, Samantha."

She couldn't understand why he loved to smile at her like that. Whenever she secretly watched him talking with his friends, his smiles were never this devastating to her heart. And then there was the way he said 'Samantha'... he pronounced it as if it had a distinct flavor in his mouth.

"And what do I get out of helping you this time, Joshua?" Samantha asked, doing her best to maintain her firm voice as the strong class president. "Will you stop skipping classes?"

Joshua smiled back at her….a smile that was both coaxing and sly, yet agonizingly devastating to her heart.

"Everything, Samantha," Joshua said softly, his voice meant for her ears alone. "I'll give you everything I have."

Samantha remembered how her face had flushed, her ears burning hot, but she had pretended to be unfazed as she set her homework notebook down in front of him. She told him to finish it, then turned on her heel and walked away.

Fortunately, no one else was around at the time, so this remained a secret kept strictly between the two of them.

*

Despite his teasing words and predatory, lingering gazes, Joshua never actually touched her. He never crossed the line or got too close; there was always a respectful distance he carefully maintained.

The only time he truly laid a hand on her was the day he took her hand and led her out of the forest.

It happened while she was losing all hope by the edge of a stream, so terrified she was right on the verge of tears.

"Don't be afraid. It's me." Joshua's voice had sounded like a saving grace from heaven. He truly was her knight in shining armor.

He held her hand as they walked along the damp, mossy dirt path, guiding her across small running streams and eventually scooping her up into his arms like a princess. He did it all so effortlessly, as if he had done it a hundred times before.

His hands were large and warm—far warmer than she had ever imagined—and possessed the rugged strength of a hunter, yet the way he handled her back then was incredibly tender and gentle.

When they reached the edge of the woods, she thanked him. The wolf simply nodded, his yellow eyes holding a gaze she couldn't quite find the words to describe.

When Samantha told him that they should meet up at school the following week, he only offered a smile….a smile completely different from the sly ones he gave her in the classroom.

As she walked along the road heading back to town, the young sow could feel Joshua's eyes tracking her every step until she completely vanished from sight.

She held tightly to the memory of his warm hand, eagerly waiting by her desk the following week.

Just waiting to greet him once more…

But no matter how long she waited, his heavy footsteps never echoed past her desk again.

In fact, Samantha never saw Joshua again, not even on their graduation day.