Why didn't I find a place she could sit beside me?
What the hell is wrong with me?
Why am I running from my 'supposed' mate?
I didn't hear one word Mr. Warner has said since I walked in here. Doesn't every teacher use the same freakin' spill on the first day? Welcome to blah...blah...blah, this year we are going to learn about blah...blah...blah.
Zach was trying not to look back at Emily or Paige.
There's just something about her.
'She's our mate,' his wolf said once again.
'Yeah. Yeah. I get it. You said this before.
Zach was once again having an internal conflict with his other-self. If he didn't know he was a shifter, he would begin to suspect he was going insane with having a wolf talking inside of him. He knew he had to speak with his older brother Adam or his father if he returned soon. There hadn't been any other girl who had made him feel and act like a complete ass like Emily.
Yep, that's what she probably thinks of me right now.
Zach knew she was sitting somewhere next to Paige. Even though no one else could, he was able to hear them whispering. Why did she have to sit right beside school gossip? He slowly stretched his arms above his head and pretended to twist around like he was uncomfortable, but he was trying to get another peek at Emily.
"Shit," Zach muttered under his breath and turned back around. No sooner did he look over at them, Paige and Emily looked up at him from the next row. A good thing about being a wolf was that he could hear most of what they said, a positive point in his favor.
Zach went back to concentrating on Paige and Emily's chat while drowning out the other conversations in the classroom. They were talking about Jacob, like that was something new. Girls talking about his conceited brother was something that happened every hour of every day.
Wait, he heard Emily say his name. He wished the kid beside him would shut the fuck up. Zach was giving him a death glare, but the kid kept talking loudly to someone else who was two rows away. He wanted to scream, 'get up and go over there to talk,' but he had to get back to listening to Paige and Emily talk about him.
What the hell, a kid on the other side of Zach hit his arm. "Hey, who's the new girl?"
Zach turned to confront the kid who punched his arm. "Marshall, what the hell are you doing here?"
"We all moved back this past week. My dad spoke with yours, so we're good to go. Didn't he tell you? They have a lead on the offspring."
"Nah, I haven't seen him. You know, pack business. He's been away for a while. I think something's going on. We'll have to talk about it later." Zach glanced around to make sure nobody else was listening in to their conversation and also to get another glimpse of Emily. "Are you in this class?" Zach hoped at least one pack member would be in one of his classes.
Marshall snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, right. You're the brains, remember? I saw you sitting here, so I popped in." He glanced over to make sure Mr. Warner wasn't looking. Luckily for him, he was too busy looking at some science magazine. "I gotta get going. I'm meeting Jacob before second period. So no answer to the new girl question." Marshall nodded up to Emily as he stood to leave.
Zach peeked over at Emily and Paige once again. They were still talking. "Just a girl I showed to this class. Why?" Zach turned back toward Marshall, but he was gone as fast as he came.
Zach reached for his cell phone and text Adam. Need to talk, meet me around 4p at the house.
Hopefully, he wasn't on pack duty. Zach knew he had to figure out what was going on and why their pack was showing up now.
K was the only response he got from Adam. But then again, he should be happy he got one.
The bell rang to leave. Zach took one last glance at Emily, allowing his wolf to scream in protest of going, then exited the classroom.
Danny, Alex, Madison, and Zach were all in PE class together right before lunch. It was always an experience when they were all together. Today they played a quick game of B-ball. Zach and Dan liked to show off their skills in sports. It was the wolf in them that wanted the competition.The girls tried to keep up, but the guys knew they wouldn't be able to. Madison bitched, and Alex kept looking at Danny as if she was in awe of everything he did. After they changed their clothes from PE, they met back in the gym to head down to lunch."Hey, where did Alex go?" Zach noticed her abrupt disappearance.Madison smirked like she knew something was going on. "Oh, I think she had to head back to our locker for something." Zach started to walk away, but Madison tugged on his arm. "C'mon, let's get a table before they are all taken."Like they had to worry. They'd sat in the same spot for the past three years. Nothing ever changed here, well, until this year. The t
Zach dropped Danny off at his house, which was like five minutes from his own. Now he had the task of pulling up their never-ending driveway. His father wanted a piece of property that was way off the beaten path. So, he bought a house with a mile-long driveway that weaved in and out through the trees. The house sat on one hundred and fifty acres of woodland. So yep, you could say they were pretty secluded from the world.As Zach got to the driveway's end portion, he noticed Adam showed up on time. He wasn't outside, so he must have already let himself into the house. The front door was unlocked, so he must have gone through this way instead of the garage. Although technically Adam still lived at home, he didn't sleep or hang out there much. He was usually with the rest of their pack, the ones around his age. But he had full access to the house whenever he wanted."Anybody here?" Zach yelled into the empty hallway when he walked in. There was no answer, so the next bes
It seemed the rest of the younger pack members, Jacob and his crew, were on high alert on the day of the alpha's arrival. They appeared to be more wired and less tolerant of other students, which could be a good thing since they had a big football game coming up.Zach felt things with Emily was going okay. He listened to Adam and allowed his wolf to have his way. Even though she showed no genuine mate interest in him, he still felt the need to watch over her. He hoped he didn't look like some stalker type and scare her off. He kept his distance but yet tried to appear friendlier than he was the first couple of days.***Although she'd been at her new school only a week or so, Emily felt content with how everything was going. She, Alex, and Madison were getting along well, and she was excited to be included in things they were doing, like shopping and planning on going to the football game on Friday. She was on her way to her first class, not minding anything tha
It was after six o'clock in the evening when the whole pack assembled at the Lovell residence. The boys' dad came back earlier in the day, but they hadn't seen him until now. There were about forty men gathered in the living room when Zach and Jacob came downstairs. Most they recognized, but some looked new to the pack. Their dad and his beta, Luke, who was Marshall's dad, were standing in the front of the room, speaking with two other elders. Adam and his smaller group were off to one side, waiting for the meeting to begin. The conversation between his father and the elders stopped as soon as the boy's presence was noted."What's going on?" Jacob was always the first to speak. Although they'd been taught not to talk to the alpha, beta, or elders while gathered as a pack, unless a conversation was initiated with them, Jacon constantly pushed the buttons for confrontation.Their father gave Jacob a warning look, and he took a step backward away from the group. "Zach, yo
Jacob ran until he knew he was far enough away from the house that the others wouldn't follow. He stopped once he reached the meadow's outlying trees on top of the hill, which looked down over the community park everyone with little kids enjoyed going to during the warm months. He knew no one would be up here since it was too steep of a climb for most mundane humans to climb. It wasn't an issue for him in either form, man or wolf. But being in wolf form helped to move quicker and smoother through the trees and narrowed pathways on the hillside. He sat on his hind-end and took a deep sniff of the air around him. Although his wolf had taken over during the heated moment back at the house, Jacob was fully aware of everything going on outside.'No...No...and no!'Jacob screamed at his wolf, who paid no mind to the rambling human part of him.'Don't do it.'Once again, Jacob tried to persuade the wolf not to do what he knew was about to
Jacob made it back home after the whole pack had finally left. He knew he'd have to answer questions from his dad and brothers, but that was the least of his problems. He quickly changed back into human form and grabbed the stash of clothes always available in the pool house. He crept alongside the shrubs and peeked in the windows of the main home. His father, Adam, and Zach were seated in the family room, waiting for him to return.'It's now or never. Might as well get this over.'Jacob opened the front door and knew he was going to get summoned in...three...two...one."Jacob, get in here now," his father bellowed out in a tone that shook the windows.As soon as Jacob got into the room, his father was in his face. "You have some questions to answer." His father grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pushed him over toward the sofa. "Sit." He ordered, and Jacob obliged with attitude as he plopped himself down on the cou
The rest of the week went without incident. There were no sightings of either the descendant or of Orfeo's following. It was finally game day, and the whole high school was abuzz with excitement. Zach knew he had to pick up Emily this evening for the game, which Madison and Alex long established on the first week of school. It would give him more private opportunity to talk to her and maybe break through the barrier not allowing her to act as his mate.The football banners hanging from the cafeteria walls and the windows all had team players and numbers written on them, courtesy of the cheerleading squad. Jacob had the front and center window all to himself, thanks to Brindle, Rachel, and Heather. And of course, his name and the number ten were centered on the front wall poster banner so everyone could see it first."So, we all ready for tonight?" Madison questioned everyone as she looked around at the group. This was the first football game of the season and the first
Alex went over to Madison's house after school to get ready for the game and dance. The game started at seven, and the dance was being held from nine until eleven-thirty. Since it was a casual dance, the girls decided to wear skinny jeans and fitted T-shirts. They all had gone to the mall together last weekend and picked out similar attire to wear for the night. Each had classic colored skinny jeans, but Madison's shirt color was a deep dark blue, Alex's was bright pink, and Emily's was a midnight black, which they all said looked great on her porcelain skin coloring and dark-colored hair."Hey, what time is Zach picking you up?" Madison questioned Emily as soon as she answered her phone."Um, I think around six-thirty. Why?" Emily was a little nervous about Zach picking her up, meeting her aunt Maureen, and being in the car with him all by herself. They had time to talk alone before, like going to class together and at lunch, but this was like the actual first time th