4: New School

Elena:

I wipe the sweat from my brow and grab myself a glass of water in the kitchen then down it. 

“Do you have any reusable water bottles I can use as mine, or should I buy myself one?” I ask as my father enters the kitchen.

“I’ll buy you your own, but for now, you can have one of mine. I often have them all over the place. I drink a lot of water, especially when I have a really vigorous training schedule, but your brother has helped alleviate that a bit,” he replies and hands me a stainless steel water bottle with the pack’s symbol and his name engraved on it.

“Stepbrother,” I correct. “Noah told me I will be training with other teens around my age, but that he needs to give me extra training in how to fight against a werewolf in wolf form.”

“You must be pretty good if he said that. I was planning on evaluating you over the coming weekend,” he says with his brows raised. “I’m impressed. Just hours here and you are already showing how deep the family genes run.”

“Thanks,” I say, tapping the water bottle and turning to head off to my bedroom.

I climb into my bed and make a quick journal entry ending it with, “I promised to give this place a try and while I am still undecided about how much I like it, I think it could be bearable.”

I know one thing is certain, at least this pack isn’t like the one my birth mother grew up in. Her pack wouldn’t let women train or fight. I would rather be a warrior than sit in some closet while my people and pack need defending.  At least that isn’t so bad.

I drift off to sleep knowing this new life might not be what I want, but could be tolerable.

In the morning, I wake up with an alarm I set on my phone. I roll out of bed and head into the kitchen to find something for breakfast, Allison is making breakfast and Olivia is getting herself a cup of coffee and offers me some as well. We eat breakfast as a family which feels a bit odd to me. I am used to getting up, pouring myself a coffee and a bowl of cereal and then heading out to school. 

After breakfast, I get dressed in something warm and my father brings Olivia and I to school where I register and pick classes. My schedule has no physical education classes which they explain is because it is a pack school and all pack members train regularly and as such regular physical education requirements would be surpassed through training.

Olivia helps me find my locker and then runs off to my class, but I was given a map of the school and it is actually fairly straightforward.

“I’ll find you at lunch, but I don’t want to be late for my first class. Okay, sis?” Olivia says.

‘Sis?’ it sounds almost foreign to me yet, I enjoy being called that. 

“Okay,” I reply before placing my water bottle in the locker and preparing to find my first class.

I feel eyes on me and turn to see a gorgeous man with blond hair. I usually don’t like blonds, but it suits him well. He smiles at me warmly and winks, but then a girl with bleached hair and dark roots grabs his hand and kisses his cheek before forcing him to look at her. She glares at me over her shoulder.

When they walk by me she bumps me with her shoulder and snarls. Her dark grey eyes remind me of another set of eyes, though his are gentle and kind. I shake my head, why is Ryder even coming to my mind right now. I am not the kind of girl to keep losing myself in thoughts about boys, yet here I am.

“Don’t mind her. She thinks she is going to be the next Luna, but she isn’t Luna material. My cousin just keeps falling back into bed with her. My aunt Brianna is a fabulous Luna and Cheri can’t hold a candle to her,” the voice of a cute boy in a faded T-shirt, flannel shirt and worn jeans with his arms full of art supplies says from beside me as he looks me over.

“I’d shake your hand but my arms are full. You must be Delta Riley’s daughter, Elena. Everyone calls me ‘Rolly’. My name is Jon Rolland and I moved here two years ago from my birth pack to live with my aunt and uncle and that fool of a cousin, Liam,“ he says, chuckling at the end. “He’s really not that bad of a guy, but thinks with his dick sometimes.”

“And you’re not?” I tease with one brow cocked.

“I’m not,” he laughs. “If I was it’d be Cheri’s brother I’d be after, or maybe yours.”

“My stepbrother,” I sigh in correction.

He raises his brow at me and I take some of the supplies from him and say, “how about I help you with these and you help me find my class?”

“Sure, but I find it fascinating that you had to correct me on that tiny detail. Do you think he’s cute, too?” 

“Cute is not the word I would use…maybe frustrating, flirty, weird, strong…” I let my words trail off before I say what I really am thinking.

“Um hmmm? He’s sexy and handsome and a great fighter, but I never really see him flirting with anyone. The closest I have seen to him flirting is when he and Ryder tease and joke with one another. Neither of them flirt with anyone,” Rolly says.

“I can’t believe he isn’t flirty! He was…Oh! No! My stepbrother has to be a flirt otherwise his flirting with me would be…” I stop and shake the thought from my head.

“Come on, Elena! Let’s get this stuff to the art room then we can seek out your classroom,” he laughs. “And for what it’s worth, I think you would be cute together.”

“I don’t have a wolf, so I won’t have a mate,” I reply.

“He could choose you as a chosen mate and you are not blood related, but I thought you were a full blooded werewolf, so you must have a wolf. Maybe she just hasn’t manifested yet for some reason,” Rolly says.

“I don’t know why not, unless living with humans delayed her, “ I sigh.

“Maybe she is bound,” Rolly suggests as we enter a room with enormous windows allowing tons of natural light to stream in and just a few larger tables and some easels. 

He goes to one of the tables and places the supplies there and I follow then look at my schedule with him.

“Great, our first classes are across the hall from one another and our second classes are together. For the third class, I have to go across the school but you are near where we will be for our second class, so I can point you in the right direction,” he says with a smile.

I think we could be friends. It would certainly make things a little easier if we were.

“You can call me, Ellie,” I say as I look into his soft hazel eyes.

His grin fills his sweet face and his eyes twinkle in the warm sunlight and then he turns.

“Come on, we should get to class before we are late,” he says, a faint blush creeping up to his cheeks as we do. “You are really unique, Ellie. I think we will be great friends.”

“Friends,” I agree softly.