The next morning, I woke to an incessant knocking sound. It took me several minutes for full consciousness to return, and for me to realize that the repetitive noise was someone knocking on the door.
I groaned and rolled over to grab my phone, wincing a bit as I realized I had a throbbing headache centered over my right temple. As my phone screen lit up, I caught only a glimpse of the time before I immediately flew out of bed and began rummaging through the room for something to put on.
I was late! On the first day! There was no way I'd ever let myself, or Zane, live this down.
"One second!" I yelled out as the knocking continued. I needed to atleast put some pants on before opening the door.
Once I slipped on a pair of sweatpants, I hurried over to the door and yanked it open to see a concerned Alpha Gavin standing on the other side.
I began apologizing profusely before he could even say a word.
"Alpha Gavin, I am so, so incredibly sorry! This is not my usual behavior, I promise. Just give me fifteen minutes to at least brush my teeth and put on some clean clothes," I pleaded.
Gavin chuckled and shook his head slightly, seeming amused, "No need to apologize, Skylar. In fact, I feel like I should be the one apologizing. You weren't bargaining for all of this when you agreed to come help my pack."
Fair enough. He did have a point.
I nodded, "Fifteen minutes, not a second more," I told him before closing the door, and then practically sprinting to the bathroom.
This truly had to be a personal record for me – I managed to brush my teeth and my hair, put on clean clothes, and wash my face within seven minutes. With the little time I had left, I pulled my hair up into my version of a not-so-messy, messy bun, and quickly applied some face powder and mascara. This would have to do for today.
I grabbed my purse and phone and then ran back to the door where I found Alpha Gavin still patiently waiting outside.
"With a minute to spare," he teased, glancing down at his watch.
He led me down the hallway to the opposite end of the pack house, making casual conversation along the way. He pointed out several historical photos on the walls along the way, proudly reciting facts about the Gold Wind pack.
"I would offer to take you to the dining hall for breakfast, but since we're running a little behind schedule, I could have someone bring you a quick breakfast while you're getting set up if you'd like," he told me.
I shook my head, "Maybe later. Right now, I think I just need a lot of water. Maybe a Gatorade."
Gavin chuckled, "That can also be arranged. You and Zane had a late night I'm assuming?"
I scoffed, "I wouldn't exactly call it that. More like, I don't drink alcohol very often but found it necessary to cope with him and this entire life-changing situation."
I wouldn't normally be so blunt or casual with an Alpha, but Gavin seemed pretty laid back and understanding, similar to Ryder in some ways.
Alpha Gavin full on laughed this time, "I can't say I blame you for that. I about did the same thing when he showed up in my pack unannounced."
Much to my delight, we made it out of the pack house and across the front lawn to the building where the school resided without running into Zane. I could feel my body instantly relax as we entered the building, knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with him for at least several more hours.
Gavin approached a young woman probably four years younger than me and waved me over, ready for introductions.
"Abigail, this is Skylar from the Moon Wave pack. She's here to help you all get set up for the upcoming school year," Gavin explained to her.
Abigail's face lit up, immediately seeming both excited and grateful for my presence. "Oh yes! We've been so excited for your arrival, Miss Skylar. This is my second year teaching, and unfortunately I'm the most experienced teacher we have now. We had a couple of our elders retire last year, and one battling a chronic illness. It's been rough trying to run the school by myself."
My heart ached for this young woman. While I certainly didn't have decades of experience, I had amazing mentors back home who I credit for all of my success in teaching as well as a few more years of experience under my belt. Expecting a second year teacher to run an entire school on her own is simply way too high of an expectation.
"I can't even imagine how stressful that must be," I told her sympathetically. "How about we start going over lesson plans today. You can let me know what you and the other teachers have in mind, and I'll help plan them out appropriately. Tomorrow we can start getting the classrooms set up based off of what kinds of lessons we decide to plan."
Abigail smiled brightly again, "That sounds wonderful! Thank you, Alpha Gavin, for bringing Skylar in. I can already tell she's going to be a huge help."
Gavin nodded to her with a smile before excusing himself, allowing me to take over from here.
Several minutes later a pack member showed up to drop off some water bottles and Gatorade for me. I thanked them before cracking open a bottle of water and nearly downing it in one gulp. Once I felt properly hydrated, I took a deep breath, and then followed Abigail to her office.
We immediately got to work, sorting out lessons and required curriculum for each subject and every age group. Once we got a good organizational system going, things moved along faster. Abigail told me some processes that they'd implemented the previous year, and I offered suggestions for tweaking them so that they'd be more beneficial for both the students and the teachers. Overall, I felt we were making great progress.
Around noon, a couple more pack members showed up with packed lunches for both Abigail and myself. By this time I was completely famished, so we decided to take a quick break to down our food.
Several hours later, I felt we had a good outline of lessons for the school year for each teacher to follow for their classes. I smiled proudly as I looked at our work spread across the large, rectangular table, and then I looked over to Abigail to see her beaming with pride as well. Honestly, I felt like that was the best part of this – helping a fellow teacher feel empowered and confident going into the school year.
By the time we wrapped everything up, it was around five in the afternoon. I told Abigail goodbye and promised I'd be back first thing in the morning to help set up and arrange the classrooms. I was feeling rather sluggish after hours of hard work, so I thought I'd go back to my room to relax before I ventured out for some dinner. My hangover was still making its presence known. Although my headache had subsided, the intense fatigue had not, and it was really making me regret missing my morning cup of coffee.
But tomorrow would be a new day. I'd go to bed early tonight, and tomorrow I'd wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. I'd be able to take my time getting ready, enjoy some coffee, and even have a proper breakfast. One bad night didn't have to ruin the entire trip.
Once I made it back to my room, I plopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. A nap sounded lovely, but I worried that it would prevent me from going to sleep at a decent hour tonight. Regardless, my eyes ended up fluttering shut. I told myself I'd just rest for five minutes.
Much to my dismay, a loud knock on the door startled me as soon as I was beginning to feel relaxed.
Thinking it must be Alpha Gavin inquiring about how things went today or perhaps even summoning me for dinner, I quickly jumped up and made my way to the door, opening it without hesitation.
Oh, how I wish I had hesitated.
On the other side of the door was none other than Alpha Zane - literally the last person I wanted to see.
I stared at him with the most unimpressed look I could create, while he stared back, seeming amused with himself. He looked me up and down, likely taking in the fact that my appearance wasn't quite as put together as it had been the day before, but the look in his eyes showed he still liked what he saw.
"Rough night?" he asked with a smirk.
My jaw dropped. That was certainly not what I was expecting to come out of his mouth.
Before I could even think of a reply, I went with my first instinct, and slammed the door in his face.
As soon as the door latched he began knocking again, making me curse under my breath. I closed my eyes and hoped if I ignored it long enough that he would stop, but of course, he did not.
I yanked the door open again and shot daggers at him, not even speaking a word.
He must have caught the seriousness of my expression this time, because the playful look in his eyes quickly vanished, "Oh come on, I didn't mean that. It was a joke."
"Quite frankly, I don't give a shit," I retorted.
Now, he seemed amused again. Almost impressed - as if he kind of liked the idea that his mate was going to give him a hard time. As much as he may have thought he wanted a quiet, submissive mate, I believed he would eventually find that to be boring.
"I just came to get you for dinner. You need to eat," he explained.
"What I do or don't eat is none of your concern," I snapped.
"Actually, it is, mate," he replied, this time a hint of venom in his voice.
"Kiss my ass, mate," I practically hissed before moving to slam the door in his face again.
This time, he stuck out his hand and caught the door before it could shut.
"Trust me, I would love to, but you on the other hand, don't seem too agreeable," he teased.
I let out a loud, aggravated sigh before turning around to face him again, "Look, I get it. We're mates – I'm supposed to throw myself into your arms and run off into the sunset with you, but it's not that simple for me. I have a whole life in Moon Wave. It's complicated."
For a moment, Zane seemed suspicious of what I was saying, but thankfully, he didn't mention it. I knew I couldn't keep Bennett a secret forever, especially with Zahra being Zane's sister, but I had to for now. I needed time to figure it all out, and I couldn't figure it out if I didn't have a damn second to myself.
"Well, luckily for you I'm not asking you to throw yourself into my arms and run off into the sunset. I'm asking you to eat dinner."
I wasn't exactly sure why, but his response made me want to slap him across the face. Of course, I knew better, but a girl could dream.
I threw my hands up in defeat. "Fine!" I yelled. "Let's go eat some fucking dinner."
I sped down the hallway, mumbling profanities under my breath the whole time, while Zane followed closely at my side. Although I was going through a lot internally, my bad attitude was mainly due to not even having a few minutes to myself to relax this afternoon. I desperately needed time to process everything and figure out what I was going to do, but it was becoming clear that he wasn't going to leave me alone. I knew he didn't know the full extent of what I was going through, but even if he did, my situation would be much worse. There was no way he'd be understanding of me having a chosen mate. This situation was impossible, and I hadn't even had a moment to consider how to handle it yet.
If I didn't find time to take control of the situation soon, I had a really bad feeling Zahra would find out and beat me to it.
Once we made it to the dining hall, all eyes were on us – both of us. I felt like Gold Wind either must not get visitors very often, or the sight of Alpha Zane was enough to terrify the pack members. Luckily, Alpha Gavin spotted us and waved us over to the large table he was sitting at near the front of the dining hall. Seated next to him was an older man and woman, who I assumed to be his parents, and then another man around the same age as him, likely his Beta.
"Skylar, Zane, I'm glad you could make it for dinner. This is my mother, Sara, and my father, the former Alpha, Mathus. Further down is my Beta, Matthew," Gavin told us, introducing us to everyone. I was piecing together now that this must have been the first time Zane really made a public appearance since he'd shown up in Gold Wind.
"It's nice to meet you all, truly," I told them with a small smile, trying to pull myself from the horrible mood I'd been in.
Zane simply nodded to them all, not speaking a word.
How friendly.
We took the empty seats on the other side of Gavin, which made me feel a little sad for him. Typically, this is where his mate would sit, but he hadn't found her just yet. He was still young and had plenty of time, but I'm sure knowing that he was now the last Alpha without a mate was disheartening for him.
Food was eventually served, and I was grateful to have something to occupy myself with to help ignore the awkward tension across the entire table. Gavin tried to make light conversation, but anyone who responded to him did so in short replies, leaving no room for a more in-depth conversation. The food here seemed very fat-heavy – lots of breading involved and simple dishes served. It was good, but it was the complete opposite of the meals I was used to having in Moon Wave where our diets consisted of mostly seafood and fresh vegetables.
As I got closer to finishing my meal, I began to plot how I could dismiss myself without drawing too much attention to it. My goal was to slip out and return to my room so I could actually have some alone time to process everything I was dealing with, but I didn't want to come across as rude to Gavin and his family, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to slip out without Zane on my heels.
Just as I swallowed my last bite of food, I figured out how I could get out of here, hopefully, without suspicion
"If you all will excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom," I leaned over and politely told Alpha Gavin, ignoring Zane altogether.
Then, I slowly stood from the table and made my way to the doors, moving at a normal pace so that no on suspected anything. Once I made it out the double doors, however, I took off speed-walking back to my room.
I finally made it back to my room and got the door open, quickly moving inside and shutting the door behind me, locking it immediately. I leaned my back against the door for a moment and closed my eyes, releasing a long breath full of relief. Finally – I was alone.
After I'd had a moment to steady my breathing, I headed for the bathroom to change clothes or perhaps plan another bath. I needed to come to a decision on how I was going to handle all of this involving Zane and Bennett, and I couldn't do that effectively if I didn't relax.
Just as I leaned over to turn on the water for the bath, a loud pounding came from the bedroom door.
"Are you fucking kidding me!" I yelled, groaning loudly in defeat as I turned off the water and stormed over to the bedroom door.
I yanked the door open to reveal exactly who I expected to be there this time – Zane.
I scowled at him but didn't say a word. His eyes were dark, and he looked pretty annoyed with me as well. But for what? Leaving dinner under false pretenses? It wasn't even a lie – I never said I was coming back!
"Are you trying to make a fool of me?" He asked angrily.
I furrowed my brows at him, "No...How exactly would I be doing that?"
"An Alpha's mate just gets up and leaves in the middle of dinner – never returns. Do you realize how bad that looks, Skylar?" He asked, his voice sounding considerably deeper than normal from the anger seeping through.
I laughed in his face, "Are you kidding me?! This isn't even your pack, Zane! No one cares! Believe it or not, you aren't who everyone is thinking about at all times just because you're visiting the pack. I guarantee you no one gave two shits that I left dinner early!"
His eyes darkened even more, "It doesn't fucking matter, Skylar. People still talk and gossip, and you just showed this entire pack that my mate wants nothing to do with me!"
"Deflate your fucking ego," I snapped. "If this pack is thinking anything about you at all, it's hoping that you don't slaughter them all in their sleep."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew that I'd crossed a line. I couldn't deny – I was honestly scared to see how he reacted.
Zane's body began to tremble with anger. I could tell he was trying to control it, but that was obviously not something he was good at. His eyes darkened significantly, and before I had the chance to react, he reached out and grabbed me by my throat and then pushed me against the nearest wall.
The breath was knocked out of me momentarily, as I was completely shocked by his actions. While he grabbed me hard and was being very rough, he wasn't actually hurting me...yet.
"Zane," I gasped out. "I'm sorry. Please let go of me."
He didn't listen. Instead, he brought his face closer to mine before diverting and going for my neck. He inhaled my scent, trailing the tip of his nose over my skin before allowing his teeth to nip at me as if it were a threat.
"I could just mark you right here, right now, like the monster you think I am. It is my right, as your mate, isn't it?" he taunted. "Would that make you feel better? To know that you were right about me all along?"
He growled in my ear, and then quickly released me, pulling himself away and storming down the hallway before I could even think of what to say.
What. The. Hell.
I stood there in the hallway for several minutes, trying to catch my breath and compose myself. I was startled, and while he hadn't actually hurt me, I was genuinely scared for a moment. I was playing a dangerous game with a dangerous Alpha, and I wasn't going to win.
I had to tell Bennett tonight. I was running out of time, and if that was just a small taste of what Zane's anger was like, I couldn't bear to think what he might do if he found out about Bennett. Zahra would remain an issue, but if I could talk to Bennett and then Ryder, maybe Ryder could help keep everything under control.
One thing was for sure – if Zane found out about Bennett without Ryder or myself being properly prepared, there was a chance someone might not make it out of the situation without blood being shed.
I had to call home. I had to figure this all out tonight.
And my heart ached at the thought.
Hello all! If you don't follow my story, Luna Zahra, as well, and were wondering about my very long absence, please refer to the post I made on my profile a little over a week ago. I explain everything there. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
xoxo ~V