Alpha Alexander

Chapter Ten

In the morning, I woke alone. Again. The bed space beside me was faintly warm, telling me Alpha Alexander left only a little while ago. I dressed and quickly brushed my hair, not bothering with makeup. Today was Friday; Tommy had a soccer game after school and I was hellbent on making sure I was there to cheer him on in his first game as a forward.

I grabbed my backpack and skipped downstairs. I fell into the morning routine easily, grabbing a bowl of cereal and talking to Kellan until Julie shuffled into the kitchen, grimacing. I rode with Jason to school, just as the Alpha ordered.

What the Alpha didn't know was that I was a teacher's aide for a geometry teacher sixth period who let me leave early everyday. I went through the day without a hitch. As I made my way toward the cafeteria for lunch, I noticed McKinley standing with my old group of friends, all of them staring at me with icy glares. An arm came around my shoulders and Jason pulled me into his side, leading me to the buzzing cafeteria to meet up with Julie and Kellan and the rest of the pack. Kellan took one look at my pale face and immediately jumped up, asking what was wrong. I brushed it off, but Jason told the whole table that McKinley and her crew were giving me evil eyes. Julie casually mentioned egging their house, but I declined gently, laughing as she tried to persuade me to change my answer. The rest of lunch went by with my new friends planning attacks on my old ones. I laughed with them, but told them to forget about McKinley. She wasn't a threat and I knew there'd be a day when she'd swallow her pride and I was determined to see it.

I went through my classes smoothly. In Señor's class, he apologized to me profusely. I assured him that it was fine and that he did nothing wrong, because he didn't. It was law to allow a werewolf to meet their mate, and I wasn't miserable, so he shouldn't have been blamed for following the law. I sat next to Julie, conjugating verbs with her until I had to make my way to sixth period.

I hurried into the class and got to work grading worksheets and homework, finishing with a half hour left of class. I informed my teacher that I was heading out and she waved at me from a student's desk. I hurried out to the parking lot, finding the cab I had called before class pulling up to the curb.

I gave him directions to my house and he pulled out of the parking lot. I called my mom, telling her that I was picking Tommy up to drive him directly to the game. She was surprised, but sounded happy. I paid the driver the whole ten dollars it cost for him to drive barely five miles, hitting every red light on the way. I was relieved to find my car still in the driveway. I unlocked the door and hopped in, throwing my backpack into the backseat.

I drove to Tommy's school. It let out a half-hour after mine did, so I still had about twenty minutes. I parked behind another waiting vehicle in the pick-up zone and played on my cell phone until I heard the bell ring. I got out of the car, searching for Tommy's superhero backpack. He spotted me before I spotted him. He came barreling toward me, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Hey, booger. Ready to go play soccer?"

He brightened. "Yeah! Mom has my bag in her car."

"We're meeting her at the fields. You want to grab anything to eat?"

He shook his head. "Coach brings us snacks."

"All right, then. Let's get going."

If he noticed my rush to get to the fields, Tommy didn't say anything. He animately talked about school and some girl who kept teasing him, calling him names and following him around during recess.

"Dude, she likes you!" I insisted as I pulled into the fields' parking lot.

"No, she doesn't!"

"If she picks on you, she likes you. What do they teach you in school?"