Protecting You

--FIVE--

Any kind of strongface I'd been wearing fell away at the distraught posture of my mate. Though his back was to me, I could tell Will was not feeling his chipper self. His shoulders were hunched forward, his head hanging down over his desk. He was so thin that the vertebrae in his neck pressed against his skin. I felt the immediate instinct to go to him and envelop him in a hug.

"Will?" I called softly while approaching our desks.

His head snapped up as he turned in his chair to face me. "Jenna, hey. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine." My hand went to my bruised ribs. "I heard about your mom. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright. She's being released from the hospital today," he told me, sadness coming over him again. "The part I struggle with is how close I came to losing her."

"Well, you can't dwell on what might have happened. You'll drive yourself crazing living like that."

"True."

I was more glad than ever that I'd responded to his mother's cry. The guilt would have consumed me if I had disregarded it without even knowing who she was. But finding out she was related to my mate...it would have nearly killed me.

"She claims she was saved by wolves," he continued, leaning closer to me across his desk. "I mean, that's insane, right?"

A little smile crept onto my face. "Windy is famous for our local wolves. Any other town would be concerned about her situation, but our wolves are...unusual. They've never hurt anyone."

"Really? That explains why the doctor and nurses weren't as surprised as me."

"Probably," I agreed, chuckling.

Our teacher closed the classroom door and started his spiel on the lab we would be doing today. From the corner of my eye, I saw Will reach out to touch my arm. So, without thinking, I pulled away right before our skin brushed. For seconds there I could feel the heat of his body.

When I looked over at him, trying to decide how to excuse my strange behavior, he tried not to appear hurt. He held his notebook out towards me.

"Want the notes from yesterday?" he asked.

"Isn't it my job to help you?"

"I'm not the one missing school now, am I?" A cocky smirk lined his face.

Sighing, I relented, "Fair enough."

After I finished jotting down his notes, we began the lab with the rest of class. The teacher split everyone into a few groups to help speed along the assignment, which was basically playing with measurements on the scientific scales.

We turned in our worksheets just before the class period was over and returned to our desks. Will had already packed up his bag, so he watched me pack mine with unnerving intensity. I couldn't help but wonder why he found such fascination with me. After all, he was not the one controlled by the mate bond here.

That fact reminded me of my mission. It was too late to be strangers, because Will already believed we were at least acquaintances. Perhaps I could find him some friends to distract his unhealthy interest in me.

"Have you met anyone in your other classes?" I asked him while pulling my backpack on.

He shrugged. "A few. They aren't as nice as you."

"You think I'm nice?" I had been trying to get rid of him since the moment we met.

"Of course."

Well, I would have to be meaner to him then. I turned my back to him and the bell rang. He followed me out into the hall, where I knew we were heading in different directions.

"See you at lunch," he called after me with a friendly wave.

I waved back once, without a smile, and hurried off.

=•=

Not that I was waiting or anything, but I noticed Will was late for lunch. I couldn't bring myself to do much more than nibble on the slice of pepperoni pizza on my tray while my eyes kept glancing at the door. Elisa finally elbowed me with a pointed look. She didn't speak until she'd finished chewing the bite of sandwich in her mouth.

"Where'd you think he is?" she asked.

"I don't know." I forced a shrug. "I don't care."

"Lies."

"I'm not lying."

"Then why do you keep looking for him?"

Scowling, I muttered, "Because I'm just wondering where he is."

"So you're going to look for me like that if I'm late to lunch?"

"Sure, Elisa. Whatever makes you happy."

She stuck her tongue out at me. Our conversation was interrupted by the squeak of the cafeteria doors. In walked Will...with Jessica right on his heels. She was babbling her head off and he was smiling right along. My hands clenched into fists.

"Look what the boogie man dragged in," Elisa hissed under her breath. "A human and something very similar to this garbage pizza they're trying to feed us."

I forced my gaze to my lap. If I was going to protect Will from becoming a part of my world, I had to dull myself to these petty feelings like envy. Still, it maddened me to know Jessica would likely just use him as a doormat until she found someone else to metaphorically sink her teeth into. My first instinct was to protect him, and that included from heartache.

Someone jabbed me in the ribs with a finger. "No way. He's sitting with her today."

"So what?" I demanded, cutting my eyes at Elisa.

"You know what."

"He has free will, Elisa. He can do whatever he likes."

"Is that so?" she snapped. "So you're saying you wouldn't mind seeing them mooch in the hallway between classes or at the movies in town or—"

Jumping up from my seat, I snatched up my tray and stormed off. My eyes flickered across the cafeteria to where I knew he would be standing at Jessica's table. His gaze happened to lift simultaneously, so we looked directly at each other. My heart skipped a little before I twisted my head forward and sped out of the cafeteria.

If he ignored our advice to avoid Jessica, that was his choice. I wouldn't stop him. Even if it killed me.