Chapter 2

Aryan-

“It was my fault. I should be the one to apologize.” I lowered my gaze to the floor.

Since arriving at this school, he has been the main one I have tried to avoid. I hoped that he wouldn’t recognize me. I also didn’t want him to notice that I had a crush on him. As the most popular senior in school, I would certainly turn into a laughingstock when others realized I liked him.

We had been best friends in elementary school, but then we went our separate ways in middle school. The Alpha King had sent him abroad to study and I left my private school and moved to Florida, where I started public school. Saying goodbye to him had been the most devastating event in my youth, aside from losing my family.

“No matter whose fault it is, just be careful in the future. I need to get to class, but I will see you later, Aryan.” Kierian patted my shoulder lightly before walking past me.

Lifting my head, I turned to look at his back as he walked away. That was the first time we have talked since I came to this school. I didn’t even think he knew my name. When we were younger, he only ever called me Ary.

I remember he used to ask me what my full name was, but I had thought it was fun to tease him. I planned to tell him, the summer after our first day of sixth grade, but I never got the opportunity. A week before school was supposed to start, the Alpha King decided to send him away and relocate my father’s pack to Florida.

I yelled out my name as Kierian drove away, but I don’t think he ever heard me. Since he hasn’t so much as talked to me since arriving here, I doubt he remembered me. I caught him looking at me a few times, but then he would look away.

Shaking my head to clear the memory, I turned around again to head to my locker. As I arrived at my locker, I quickly opened it and grabbed my books for class. As I turned around, I backed against the lockers as I was suddenly crowded by Brianna and her minions.

“What do you want?” I narrowed my gaze on Brianna.

“Why were you talking to Kierian Laken?” Brianna placed her hands on her hips and glared at me as if she was considering eating me alive.

Everyone at the school knew that she had a crush on Kierian. It was also a known fact that she stalked Kierian to an obsessive degree, but no one cared. She was the second most popular student. There had been a rumor going around that although Kierian had never shown any interest in any girl at school, the students were all rooting for Brianna to succeed.

As much as I hated the conflict, I couldn’t just bow my head to her. I refused to let her think I was an easy target. “We just bumped into each other.”

“What gives you the right to talk to him? You haven’t been here long, but you should know by now how it works around this school.”

With her condescending tone, I was tempted to make a snide comment, but I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from making this situation worse. It was bad enough that I had already gotten the attention of two of the most popular students. If I wanted to graduate unscathed, I needed to keep my head down.

“It won’t happen again.” I had to clench my jaw to keep my voice even and bite down my attitude.

I needed to remember that rebuilding my family legacy was more important than some snotty teenagers who thought they were entitled. I had no intentions of reconnecting with Kierian, so it wasn’t a big deal for me to give in to her demands. My history with the Lycan Prince had long passed.

“See that it doesn’t.” Brianna flipped her long golden hair over her shoulder, before turning with a huff as she marched down the hall.

An exasperated sigh blew out between my lips, expanding my cheeks and deflating them slowly. As long as I could avoid her, I should still be able to stay under the radar. Shaking off the tension in my shoulders, I continued toward my locker.

After I finished collecting my things at my locker, I made my way toward my first class. During the morning classes, everyone had basic studies, my first class being English with Mrs. Pennington. When I received my schedule, I had been looking forward to attending her class.

Mrs. Pennington had been my kindergarten teacher and my favorite teacher growing up. She knew about my situation, as did most teachers, but they were sworn not to tell anyone. Mrs. Pennington was a little harsh at times, but she has always treated me fairly.

Other than her, I didn’t know any of the other teachers, except for when I attended their class the year prior. Well, I did know Mr. Slater, who was the warrior who trained the freshman and sophomore class. I have known him most of my life, as he has been training me since I was a kid.

He had also been a member of my father’s pack. That was before he left to work as a trainer at this school a few years ago, shortly after moving to Florida. He was like an uncle to me and someone I knew would help me rebuild my pack if I asked him to.

For Grandview Academy, all afternoon classes took place after lunch, which consisted of classes that were meant for werewolves. Due to my situation, even if I was a senior, I had to continue training with Mr. Slater. Except I didn’t have to attend class with the other students.

During the week, I would skip my last morning class and go meet with Mr. Slater in the gym. It was the only time I was able to be trained privately. That also allowed me to be able to have a free period at the end of the day.

I could just go home early, but I decided to join other students who had a free period, by sitting on the bleachers and watching the football players’ practice. Well, I didn’t really watch them, as the other kids did, I used that time to work on my homework and work on creating a plan to rebuild my pack.

Life at this school was nothing like how things had been at the human public school I had attended. Some days I wished I could return to my old school, but I knew that if I had any chance of rebuilding my family legacy, I had to attend this school. Now, if only I could stop running into Brianna.

As luck would have it though, I wasn’t that lucky. The moment I entered class, I saw Brianna and her two minions. Claire Atwood, who was Brianna’s best friend and the most ditzy girl I have ever met. If Brianna told her to jump, Claire wouldn’t even ask how high, she would just do it.

The other girl was Liberty Castle, who preferred to go by Libby. I had a feeling that Libby wasn’t who she claimed to be though. While she hung out with Brianna and Claire, I could sense a bit of animosity coming from her and being directed at Brianna.

Nonetheless, both girls followed Brianna around as if they were attached to her hip. Both girls were more or less Brianna’s supporters. Neither of them seemed to have any thoughts of their own. That also meant that I had to stay away from them.

They would either report to Brianna on anything that seemed good enough for gossip, or they would do whatever Brianna told them to do. I wouldn’t put it past them to kill someone if Brianna asked. There had been a rumor that they had killed someone, but it was likely just gossip to scare people.

To make matters worse, Kierian was also in this class, along with his best friend Liam Breck and Liam’s sister Sylvia. Liam and Sylvia were also the only other two Lycans that attended Grandview Academy. They had that holier-than-thou attitude and didn’t talk to anyone except each other.

My terrible luck didn’t stop there. The only available seat in the class was next to Kierian in the back corner of the classroom. Liam was sitting in front of Kierian, while Sylvia was sitting next to her brother, in front of the empty seat. Brianna was sitting on the other side of Kierian, with Libby sitting next to Liam and Claire sitting beside Brianna.

I must have made a noise as I stood just inside the door because everyone’s attention focused on me. Feeling embarrassed as I hated being the center of attention now, I ducked my head and hugged my books to my chest. With no other choice, I walked around the classroom to take the empty seat next to Kierian.

“Hey.” Kierian whispered as I sat down.

Lifting my gaze to look at him, I was surprised when I found him looking at me as well. As if my heart betrayed me, it skipped a beat from him greeting me. It didn’t last long because I noticed that Brianna was glaring at me.

Due to Kierian’s larger frame, Brianna had to lean forward to look at me, but there was no mistaking that she wasn’t happy that Kierian spoke to me. Without saying anything to Kierian, I ducked my head again as I looked down at my desk. Maybe I shouldn’t have waited for Dirk to come get my car.

If I had arrived sooner, I wouldn’t have been forced to take the only seat in the room. Mercifully, the awkwardness was interrupted when class started. Putting all my focus on Mrs. Pennington, I didn’t so much as look in Kierian’s direction, or Brianna’s.

Unlike other high schools, our morning classes only lasted thirty minutes. It allowed us to be able to get a few extra classes in before lunch. Our afternoon classes lasted an hour, as they covered more and were the classes that werewolves needed more than anything.

Having thirty minutes was my only saving grace. The moment the bell rang, I was the first one out of my seat as I rushed out of class. I needed to make sure I was one of the first to arrive at my other classes, to ensure that I wasn’t forced to sit next to Kierian again. Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry about Brianna or Kierian in my other classes.

The only one I had any classes with for the rest of the morning was Sylvia. After my last morning class, I made my way to the gym to meet Mr. Slater. Hopefully tomorrow I can convince Mrs. Pennington to allow me to switch seats with someone.

“Aryan!” The familiar voice of Kierian yelling out my name caused me to nearly trip over my own feet.

I didn’t get a chance to escape, as he quickly ran up to me and blocked my path. Before I asked what he needed from me, I looked up and down the halls to make sure that Brianna or one of her friends weren’t nearby. Seeing that it was just us, I allowed myself to look into Kieran’s eyes.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time to chit-chat, I have a class to get to.” I tried to step around him, but he sidestepped to block my path once more.

“I was just going to give this to you.” That was when I noticed he was attempting to hand me a notebook. “You left this behind when you rushed out of class this morning. Since it looks important, I thought I would return this to you.” Kierian suddenly grabbed my wrist and then placed the notebook in my hand.

Lowering my gaze to the notebook, I saw it was the one I used to write my future pack plans in. Yanking my wrist out of Kierian’s grasp, I hid the notebook behind my back. He let out a slight chuckle, which made my entire body feel tingly at hearing him laugh.

“Don’t worry, based on the bold letters that you wrote out to keep out, I knew better than to read it. I just thought you would want it back.” He seemed nonchalant as he spoke as if we were on friendly terms and not technical strangers.

“Thanks.” I muttered.

“No problem. Well, see you around.” He flashed a smile at me and waved before jogging away.