Chapter 3

***11 YEARS LATER***

“Come on, Ainsley, one more set of burpees.”

“Grandpa, I’m going to be late for school!” I groan, standing up from my last set of push-ups.

“Well, then you should’ve woken up on time.” He scolds. “We will have to work on hand-to-hand combat when you get home. I think a little target practice with the throwing knives, too.”

He never takes it easy on me. It’s worse when I wake up late. He trains me at home because he says I will learn more from him than the pack trainers since kids under eighteen don’t get weapons training on pack territory.

“Ugh, fine.” I grunt into the first jump of the burpee set.

When he’s satisfied that my arms and legs are gelatinous, I bolt upstairs to get a shower. It’s the last day of finals week for my Junior year. I know training is important, but so is passing Organic Chemistry.

I grab leggings, a pink and orange tie-dye cropped sweatshirt, and a pair of trainers. I put on a little mascara and lip gloss and take a last look in the mirror. My wet hair makes me look a bit like a drowned rat. Meh, the wind will dry it on the way to school. I’m not trying to impress anyone, anyway. I slip on my backpack, run downstairs, and almost make it to the door.

“HELMET!” Grandma Jane yells when my hand grabs the doorknob.

Oh yeah, I always forget. I skid to a stop in the mudroom, grab my helmet, and race out the door.

“Love you, Grandma!” I yell over my shoulder.

I start my black Aprilia Tuono motorcycle. It comes to life and purrs at me while I put my helmet on. The motorcycle belonged to Dad before he died. His parents sent it to me when I turned sixteen. Yeah, it’s old, but it’s in such good condition. It never lets me down. Grandma Rogers even sent a customized helmet. It’s matte black with the outline of a black sparkly butterfly on the back and my initials right above the visor. It’s not really my style, but it’s the thought that counts. Right?

Grandma and Grandpa Holland let me keep it as long as I promised not to do boneheaded things like Dad used to. I don’t remember Dad ever doing boneheaded things, so I sort of took it as a suggestion more than a rule.

I race out of the cul-de-sac, letting the motor roar when I change gears. When I pull out onto the main road, I see Riley about half a mile ahead of me on his Ducati. At least I won’t be the only one late for the Chemistry final. I quickly catch up to him and pull up into a wheelie. I lower my leg behind the bike to get more height out of it. He does the same for a good ten seconds before we bring the bikes back down and race the rest of the way to school.

Riley is a human, but I don’t care. As long as I don’t tell him I’m a werewolf, it doesn’t matter. He’s been my best friend since I started first grade. That was back when I came to live with my grandparents. He and I have been through so much shit together, I couldn’t imagine not having him in my life.

“Did you study?” He huffs as we run down the empty hall.

“Of course. You?” I ask, knowing full well that he hasn’t.

“She got jokes, ladies and gents!” He laughs and pulls open the door to the chemistry lab.

The test is brutal. It doesn’t feel like anything I studied is on here. When the bell rings everyone groans and hands in their papers. Riley and I go to my locker and throw our stuff in.

“Let’s go to the beach tomorrow, Ains. I don’t work until three. We can get in a dawny.” Riley grins his perfect, toothy smile. His tanned skin makes his chin-length, sun-bleached blonde hair look even lighter and his hazel eyes light up at the thought of being in the ocean.

In the last year, he has grown another two inches, so he is over six-feet tall now. He says surfing and working as a mechanic at his dad’s quarry helped fill out his muscles. I think Grandpa Nicholas slipped him some workouts to do on his own, but neither of them would ever admit to it. They have a love, hate relationship. I don’t quite understand why, but I don’t think it’s for me to understand.

“I have to check with the Grands, but yeah, I don’t see why not. I work a closing shift tomorrow too, so the earlier the better.” I say while I dig for the books I need to turn in. He knows I never turn down an opportunity to surf. The ocean is my sanctuary. He knows full well I can’t resist an early morning ride.

“Hi, Riley.” A sugary voice calls from down the hall. We both look to see Jessica waving at him.

“Barf.” He says under his breath. “Hide me.”

“You should talk to her! She’s a nice girl.” I giggle as he makes pretend gagging noises into my locker.

“I don’t need some cheerleader chick trying to weigh me down, Ains.”

“That’s not what you said when you were dating Sarah.”

“Yeah and look how that turned out. No more cheerleaders for me.” He shakes his head adamantly and closes my locker.

“Yeah, I’m not holding my breath, bro.” I roll my eyes while I make sure I have all the books to return to the library.

Riley is a bit of a player, always dating a different girl. Sometimes more than one at a time, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him. The problem is, he has terrible taste. He always picks cute girls that want to get in his pants on a first date, but they’re always needy, clingy, and high maintenance. He doesn’t want to be tied down. That’s what he says, anyway. I think he just likes the attention. Grandma Jane says he’s going to make a good father someday. I don’t see it, but Grandma sees the good in everyone.

No matter how many girls he goes through, he always makes time for me. I’m not anything like the girls he dates. That and I’m not about to fall for that goofy grin he flashes.

“Crap, Gavin sighting.” Riley murmurs in an annoyed tone.

Gavin is my ex-boyfriend who is the future Alpha of the Rambling Hills pack. He is still weirdly possessive over me even though we broke up over six months ago. There’s no way I’m his fated mate, and I feel sorry for whoever it will be.

The final straw was when I tried to walk away from him after yet another fight and he grabbed me, breaking my wrist. He didn’t mean to. He had just gotten his wolf and still didn’t know how to control his strength. Regardless, Grandpa almost tore his throat out.

Grandpa Nicholas is the former Alpha of Rambling Hills, but since he had two daughters, the Alpha position went to his Beta’s son, Dan. Dan is Gavin’s dad. Once Gavin finds his mate, he will become Alpha. My Aunt Jemma and her mate became Alpha Dan’s Betas. Mom was mated to Dad, who was the Beta of a pack to the north called Emerald Canyon, so she lives there now.

I look up and sure enough, Gavin and his stooges, Jordan and Mark, are making their way down the hall. I’m just about to bolt when Riley slips his arm around my waist and pulls me in close to his chest. He wraps his other arm around my shoulders, hiding my face from the world, and nuzzles my neck where it meets my shoulder. It’s a trick we came up with in middle school. If people thought we were making out, they would leave us alone. This time it feels different somehow. It feels more sincere and less playful.

“Stick with me, Ains. I won’t let anyone mess with ya,” He whispers.

He doesn’t know he’s nuzzling my marking spot. His whisper sends shivers up my spine. I grip his shirt a little tighter as I lean my face into his chest. I squeeze my eyes shut so I can focus on his scent and try to forget what his touch is doing to me. Humans don’t have as strong of a scent as werewolves do, but Riley always smells a bit like the ocean and key lime pie.

“Ainsley, what’re you doing with this mutt? Are you keeping him as a pet?” Gavin’s gravelly voice sneers as he leans up against the lockers next to us. I look up to see him standing uncomfortably close. Jordan and Mark are right behind him snickering.

“Fuck off, Gavin. Leave her alone.” Riley moves me behind him to confront Gavin.

I see Gavin’s expression grow darker. “Or what? You gonna do something about it, mutt?”

Riley squares his shoulders to Gavin. Gavin is a future Alpha wolf. He is three inches taller and over fifty pounds heavier than Riley. Riley isn’t afraid to fight anyone, even if it’s a sure ‘L’, but more importantly, one more fight and he’s going to be expelled. I slip in front of Riley and push the two of them apart.

“Guys, knock it off. We all have to get to class.” I plead.

They break eye contact when they realize I’m pushing them. They both have something to lose here. Gavin backs away, knowing if he gets caught fighting a human, he will get in trouble with his dad. Riley knows he will get kicked out of school and held back a year if he gets into one more fight. I continue to push against Riley until we’re out of Gavin’s sight.

As soon as we’re around the corner, I scold him. “Riley, we’re two weeks away from being done with our Junior year. Please don’t get expelled because of that buffoon.”

“I’m not gonna stand back and take his shit like half the school does, Ains. And I’m definitely not going to let him harass you. He’s a bully.” Riley scowls.

“Yeah, and don’t let him bait you.” I beg.

Riley gives a frustrated sigh. “You’re right. I won’t pay attention to him. Just promise me you will stay out of his way, alright?”

“Of course. I have to workout right after school, then work until eleven, so I will see you tomorrow morning. Stay out of trouble!” I say as I trot down the hall to my next class.

“Be at my place early!” He ignores me as he runs the other way.