Enjoy.......xo
~ ~ Chapter Thirty Two ~ ~
Making my way to first class I tried to do those stupid breathing exercises people always talk about to calm you down and it seemed to maybe be working. I already decided I wasn’t telling my brothers about Saxon’s little nasty threat against me because I knew I could handle him myself and if my brothers got involved – then it was going to get really messy.
Pushing the classroom door open the teacher looked up and glared at me but said nothing as I made my way to the back of the food room where Stevie, Travis and Emily were all sitting. Yeah, I know, I got here way before everyone else but I still managed to be late to first class.
I felt their eyes on me as I sat down next to Stevie but I kept my face turned towards the front and refused to look at any of them.
“Eva, are you okay?” Emily asked softly and I felt my body twitch. Damn her for being so nice, if it had been my brother who had asked I probably would have ignored him but I felt like I would be the most horrible person ever if I ignored her.
“I'm fine Em,” I even forced a little smile as I glanced over at her briefly, meeting her eyes for a split second before looking away again and blocking everyone out.
A few minutes later Travis and Emily stood up and walked towards the storage room along with some other students, so Stevie took this opportunity to pounce on me as he grabbed my arm and pulled me so I spun on my chair to face him then flashed me an innocent smile which I rolled my eyes at.
“Okay, what’s up?” he asked looking at me expectantly.
“I got into a fight with Saxon, what else is new? So don’t worry about it,” I mumbled; attempting to turn away from him but the boy had a strong grip on my arm.
“Yeah, that is an everyday thing,” he spoke slowly, “But you never come out of the fights looking so ticked off, did you lose an argument or something?” he smirked but tried to hide it when I shot him an annoyed look. Me lose to Saxon? I don’t think so.
“Something like that,” I grumbled turning away and this time he let go off my arm. I’d rather let him think it was that than what had actually happened.
Staring out the window as I thought about it, would he really force me to join his pack? Knowing how miserable I would be there and not to mention how much I would hate him for it? I don’t know, sometimes I think I'm getting through to him but then he goes and does something like this which breaks everything. Why do I even care so much?
The door burst open and I looked up with the rest of the class as Chris came running in and towards me, sliding along the floor and stopping at the side of my table. Raising an eyebrow I looked up at him, where has he been for the first half of class?
“Chris! Why are you late to my class?” the teacher suddenly demanded in a shrilly voice which made us all wince and I noticed a few others in the room did too which I smirked at because now I knew who were wolves in this class.
“Uh? Slept in late?” Chris offered while he grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up alongside me, “So what are we making peeps?” he grinned.
“Some upside-down pineapple thing,” Stevie laughed as he picked up a pineapple ring and took a huge mouthful then grinned at us with pineapple teeth like little kids do with oranges.
“Gross,” Chris muttered pulling a face as the door slammed open again.
“For crying out loud people! I swear this place is more like a zoo than a school!” the teacher shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air from frustration as she glared at a dripping wet Harper in the doorway who was scowling at Chris. Looking at Chris I could see him hiding his laughter and smiles but he wasn’t doing a very good job.
“I will get you back for this,” Harper warned him but I could see the playful glint in his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about dude, I only just got to school ‘cause I slept in,” Chris acted all innocent but no one was buying that at all because honestly – he can’t do innocent.
“You came with me to school! I know you didn’t just get here and I know Eva woke you up before she left,” he yelled out loud enough for the class next door to even hear him.
“What did you do?” I whispered, leaning in closer to Chris as I watched Harper argue with the teacher before storming out and swearing revenge.
“Bucket of ice cold water,” Chris whispered back with a smirk and pulled his stupid pocket knife out of the front of his hooded jumper and started scratching the corner of the table.
“Why do you carry that thing around?” I frowned, leaning away from it.
Chris shrugged, “I get bored and it has multiple uses.”
Rolling my eyes at his very vague answer I leaned forward on the table, folded my arms over and watched Travis and Emily being all cutesy and in love as they made our cake thing with huge smiles on their faces. I wondered if all mates acted like them or did they act more like Saxon and I?
“For the love of all that’s holy-.” The teacher started shouting as yet another student barged in through the door but she cut herself off and his scent filled the room, ticking me off instantly. Today is a double lesson and I had hoped he wouldn’t show up but apparently he did.
I raised my head slowly off the table until my eyes met his and glared at him while he walked to the back of the room and sat down at his table. Leaning back in my seat while I kept my eyes glued to his I folded my arms over my chest and I knew I had a furious look on my face while he just glared back at me, not quite as angry I don’t think but still pretty ticked off and not one person said anything in the whole room.
(Emily’s POV)
You could hear a pin drop in the room because that’s how silent everyone was and the smell of fear was clear as day, especially from the humans. They didn’t know what Saxon was but they knew enough to be very afraid when he was angry, even werewolves knew to be afraid – well, except for Eva and I loved that about her.
I doubt Saxon will ever really harm her on purpose, maybe by accidentif he snapped and changed while she was right next to him but I couldn’t see him doing anything on purpose. Even watching him now with her, it was obvious he was holding back – a lot.
She was staring an Alpha right in the eyes and not looking away, which would have to have had his wolf growling in response, even if it was his mate. No Alpha likes to be challenged like that but he was actually keeping his cool. Travis – along with Stevie and Chris kept glancing over to make sure he wasn’t about to snap.
Speaking of Chris, he has changed so much since I had last seen him. He actually acts like a decent person and smiles and laughs now, even jokes around – well he always has but not like this. He actually seemed approachable these days but everyone was smart enough to know looks could be deceiving.
“I wonder what happened after they left this morning?” I asked Travis quietly, knowing both Eva and Saxon would have heard me but not the humans.
“She lost an argument to him,” Stevie leaned over and whispered, smirking slightly while I frowned. No, there was more to this than just her losing an argument. Yeah, Eva would be annoyed Saxon got the upper hand but she would be getting payback right now, not glaring hatefully at him.
I told Travis this through our mind link and he gave me a look with a slight nod telling me he was thinking the exact same thing.‘But I can’t keep fighting all her battles for her, she’s not a little girl anymore and this is her mate – they will sort it out,’ He added with a sad look in his eyes.
Taking his hand into mine, I squeezed it lightly knowing how he misses the days when he could scare off all the boys from her if she hadn’t done it herself. We’ve talked a lot and I knew so much about this pack which was so close knit yet they have made Chris and me feel so welcomed here, like we were also part of the family.
‘They will,’ I smiled slightly.
‘If he has hurt her though – I'm stepping in, mate or not, no one hurts my little sister,’ Travis growled lightly in my mind and I smiled brighter at him before stepping up on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek lightly.
“I love you,” I whispered, blushing slightly as I looked back down and grabbed the milk to add to the mixture while Travis wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled my back against his chest and rested his chin lightly on my shoulder.
“Love you too Emily,” He whispered in my ear, lightly kissing the side of my neck but avoiding his mark on me because we didn’t need that to happen in class.
We were given theory work to do; basically we had to write up an evaluation of what we had just done while we waited for the cakes to cook. I was the only one doing it as Travis sat me on his lap and stared out the window absentmindedly and rubbed his thumb in small circles on my thigh – which was highly distracting but it felt so nice.
Stevie and Chris were throwing paper balls at each other and other students and when I say other students, I actually mean pack members of Saxon and theywere getting pretty ticked off and pelting stuff back at the two who were just laughing like a pair of hyenas and kept it going.
The teacher gave up shortly after Saxon came in and was just slumped in her seat at her desk in the front of the class, ignoring everything around her and shaking her head. Eva and Saxon were still glaring at one another and I was half waiting for one of them to just snap and start screaming like a crazy person but they hadn’t yet.
Our oven’s buzzer went off shortly after and the mad dash between Chris and Stevie to get to it first was hilarious, they were shoving each other into the tables and chairs and sliding along the ground. Stevie gripped the door handle and flung it open and had just about reached for the hot tray without a mitt on when Chris growled at him lowly and used a towel to quickly grab it but then Stevie tried to snatch it and that’s when the tray went flying into the air and fell to the ground with a loud clatter and the cake squished all over the floor.
“You did it!” they both instantly shouted and pointed at each other with big grins.
“I don’t even like pineapple!” Chris argued.
“Then why did you snatch it?” Stevie argued back with an amused look.
Chris shrugged, “Because it was funny,” he spoke using that ‘duh’ tone and Stevie glared at him playfully.
“I like pineapple and you just ruined my cake,” Stevie grumbled, kicking the cake tin along the floor and spreading the steaming mess even further around.
“Steal someone else’s then,” Chris muttered and walked back to his seat.
“I only steal from family.”
“Fine, I’ll get you some,” Chris grinned and stood up, “Yo everyone! My boy Stevie here wants some cake – who’s gonna share with him?”
I dropped my heads to my hands. I don’t see how Eva could put up with them all the time but then again, she was practically like one of them and if she wasn’t busy glaring at Saxon, she probably would have been in the mad dash as well just for the sake of it.
“I can share,” some voice offered and I looked up to see a human boy shrugging slightly.
“Serious? That’s awesome!” Stevie shouted and quickly ran over to him. Boys and their food, hey.
The bell rang while Stevie was busy making best friends with the cake boy and stuffing his face, I had already cleaned up our bench and utensils while Travis put them away and I swept the cake up so no one would get into trouble. Travis just shook his head at me saying I didn’t have to worry about it but I ignored him.
The four of us all turned to look at the glaring duo to see what was going to happen now, Eva was the first to stand up while keeping her eyes on him and then slung her bag over her shoulder and stormed out muttering ‘pathetic Alpha’ on her way and Saxon growled lowly while we all followed her.
Out in the hall I tugged on Travis’s hand and he smiled down at me, “I’ll meet you there, okay?”
He frowned but nodded and gave me a peck on the cheek before I turned and rushed after Saxon, normally I would have mind my own business but I didn’t like seeing Travis so worried and I knew I was the only one who Saxon might remotely open up to and shed some light on what’s going on.
“Saxon!” I called out over the crowds, as people quickly moved to the sides so I could catch up to him quicker. I know he heard me but he didn’t stop walking. I watched Keith and Ryan quickly join him which made me nervous but they wouldn’t do anything.
Jumping in front of his path, he let out a low growl and stopped, glaring down at me, “I need to talk to you,” I spoke quickly, knowing how impatient he can be if he didn’t want you near him.
“I don’t have time for you Emily,” He sneered and took a step around me but I spun around and jogged alongside his large steps.
“Please Saxon, what did you say to Eva?” I asked, quickly moving out of his reach but his body just tensed and he snapped his head in my direction, his eyes pitch black with fury.
“None of your business. Now go back to your mate,” He snarled making me cringe and I knew he could smell my fear, which would have only encouraged him but I took a deep breath and tried again.
“Whatever you’ve done, fix it,” I muttered and within seconds I was slammed up against the wall with his arm pinned over my collar bones and his furious face in mine.
“Like I said, it’s none of your business,” he snarled, body shaking.
“He threatened to make her leave her pack,” Keith sighed from the side of us, looking utterly bored, “Now let’s go to class.” I think he was going to say something else but Saxon dropped me like a hot sack of potatoes and punched Keith square in the jaw, absolutely furious with him for telling me.
“Who gave you the right to spill my business?” Saxon roared and the few students still lingering around quickly bolted away as fast as they could run.
I took some steps back from how much Saxon was shaking and I could see it in Keith’s eyes that he is now regretting opening his mouth while Ryan was as far away from Saxon as he could get without making it so obvious.
“What have you done?” I whispered softly, looking over at my out of control step-brother. Yeah, I hold a lot of resentment and bad feelings towards him but right now, past all the anger and fury all I can see is a scared Alpha, scared of losing Eva for good because he doesn’t know how to back down or how to meet the needs of others.
His dad raised him this way, yes, he never use to be so bad but when his dad became no good at leading our pack, Saxon had to grow up and challenge his dad for it and sent him away, then one thing led to another, all the control and power, all the fights because surrounding packs or rogues thought they could finally bring us down since his dad was no longer Alpha and we had a teenager in control, all of it changed him for the worst.
“Did you mean it Saxon?” I asked quietly since he hadn’t snapped at me yet but was just glaring at me, breathing heavily with clenched fists and his body shaking still.
“No but she’s not going to believe me, I was just so furious with her that it came out,” he snapped loudly, making me jump.
“So why glare at her all class then? That’s not going to help your case,” I mumbled, looking away because he is pretty scary and intimidating especially when he is like this.
“Because, I'm an Alpha,” he stated through clenched teeth and I shook my head softly before looking up at him.
“Saxon, all you’re going to do is lose her unless you learn how to back down a little. She isn’t going to think you’re weak or anything, she won’t hate you for being sweet and think less of you for it, your pack won’t think less of you or doubt your leadership skills but...keep going like this and you will lose Eva forever.” I took a small breathe as his eyes flickered between mine with an unreadable expression.
Smiling slightly, “You need to show her you’re not going to take her away from her family.” And then I turned around and walked off to class, eager to see Travis again and praying that at least something I had said had gotten through that thick skull of his.
By lunch time the rumour was Saxon got beaten up by Eva and Chris, who were apparently a couple, and he stormed off heartbroken – well, that’s the human version and if they knew what was good for them they would not want to let him hear that one, especially the Eva and Chris bit who by the way found it hilarious.
The werewolf version isn’t a rumour and is in fact true – shortly after I left Saxon in the hallway he’s anger got the better of him and he turned wolf, destroying an entire classroom and knocking the wall down to get outside before running off towards the cover of the trees.
So now Grug has had to close of that section of the school and rearrange classes for different rooms so no one can see what the room looks like. He already had help from Saxons pack to attach large black sheets of plastic to cover up the massive whole in the brick wall.
“I hope he never comes back,” Eva mumbled as she poked around her salad with a fork, I know she doesn’t mean that even if she doesn’t realize it yet.
Chris shrugged, “We all know he will and he’ll be even more of a grump when he does.”
“Maybe you should go find him Eva?” I offered softly, waiting for her reaction but she said nothing and I looked over at her to see her glaring at the table.
“I'm not his lapdog and I don’t go running after him,” she mumbled, trying to keep the anger out of her tone. I frowned slightly, why does she never yell at me but does with the others?
“That’s damn straight,” Brody added fiercely, slinging his arm around Eva’s shoulder, “My sister does not chase after some boy.” Eva glanced up at him but said nothing.
I looked over at Travis and frowned slightly and he smirked, ‘Brody has daddy issues,’ He chuckled.
My jaw dropped a little, ‘Really?’
He shrugged, ‘It’s what we all think anyway; he is extra protective of her for some reason,’ I nodded slowly and ate some of my lunch.
“It’s not just some boy Brody, it’s her mate. The rules are different,” Harper pointed out then quickly dodged a clenched fist from Brody but he had practically jumped on Eva in trying to reach Harper so Eva shoved him backwards making him fall of the bench.
“I am here,” she muttered then turned back to glaring at the table.
“Sorry Eva,” Brody mumbled as he climbed back up onto the seat and then glared at Harper, “She doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to.”
“Give it a rest Brody,” Grant snapped loudly, “You’re only making more problems than there needs to be.”
Eva groaned loudly, “Will ya all stop fighting?” she half shouted, looking around at each of them.
“Eva’s right you guys, just give it a rest,” Travis spoke in his Alpha tone which sent my body into a frenzy, it was such a turn on for me and he knew it so when he winked at me secretly I quickly blushed and looked away.
“I'm going for a walk,” Eva mumbled and stood up, climbed over her bench and started walking off.
“To meet him?” Brody sneered but copped a slap across the back of his head from Grant.
Eva spun around to glare at Brody, “No, he’s not even here today. I just need a break and time to myself, so is that okay with you?” she demanded sarcastically and he looked away mumbling sorry and yes before she walked off again, leaving the table in a silence which didn’t last very long with these guys.
(Eva’s POV)
I used the destroyed classroom Saxon ruined to get out of the building, I thought I’d save Grug a little money by not breaking the locks on his front door again, and I walked to the front of the school and sat under one of the trees on the grass, closing my eyes and enjoying my space.
When did life become so hectic? I missed the simple days of joking around with my brothers and pulling pranks, the days before Saxon walked into my life but I needed to apologise to Brody for snapping at him, I knew he was only worried about me and that’s why I needed to get away before me being there started a huge fight among them all.
I smelt Chris coming before I heard him but I made no sign to show I knew this and I didn’t bother telling him to go away because he wasn’t really the annoying kind of person.
A minute later he plopped down near me and I opened my eyes to see him sprawled out on his side and looking towards the large school gates.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
I shook my head slowly, “No,” and I sighed loudly, “If I tell you, you can’t tell my brothers, okay?” and Chris nodded while I stared at him for a moment trying to work out if he was lying or not but he seemed to be telling the truth, “Fine. Saxon shouted at me that he could force me to leave my pack in a threatening to do it kind of way.”
Chris growled instantly and I smirked slightly, “I know, he is a donkeys butts but the thing is; I normally would make him suffer for saying that, make his life hell but I just can’t bring myself to do it,” I mumbled.
“Because he’s your mate?” Chris asked and I shook my head instantly.
“Heck no. I just don’t want anything to do with him now, not even to make him suffer.”
“Really? Wow,” Chris whistled and then looked up with a small smirk, “I think this is going to be the only time Sax will ever fully regret opening his fat mouth.”
Laughing loudly, it felt good to smile after being angry for most of the day and glaring at everyone, “I'm just so exhausted with it all.”
He nodded thoughtfully, “If you do forgive him, I won’t hold it against you,” he suddenly smirked and I frowned at him shaking my head slowly.
“I won’t be,” and I meant it; I was determined to have nothing to do with Saxon from then on.
“Alright, Grand Theft Auto or Need For Speed?” Chris grinned.
Laughing, “I don’t know, stealing cars is pretty fun but so is having done up cars with NOS.”
“True but you have to pick.”
“Grand Speed then,” I chuckled and he pushed me with a pretend glare.
“You can’t combine them.”
“Alright, alright,” I laughed, “Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong?”
He thought about it for a moment, “Diddy all the way, that little monkey is awesome,” he smirked and my mouth fell open.
“No way, Donkey is so much more superior to that little rat monkey.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” Chris shouted, throwing a handful of grass in my face.
Spitting it out I grabbed my own chunk of grass with a little soil still attached and threw it back at him, hitting him in the cheek and he grinned, “Game on.”
I threw more grass at him, laughing my head off as I jumped to my feet and started running with him chasing me as I made full circles on the schools lawn.
“You’re not my friend no more!” Chris shouted out behind me but he was slowly catching up.
“We never were friends!” I called back as I ran towards the tree our bags were lying next to and slapped the trunk, “Barleys!” I screamed loudly as he crashed right into me, knocking me sideways to the ground and quickly rolling off of me, laughing loudly.
“There are no barleys in war,” he chuckled as I threw some grass at him again.
“There is in my war,” I smirked and we both lay there, staring up at the sky and letting our racing hearts calm down. Until major disaster struck; I could smell the person but it never clicked to me who it could be until Chris was up on his feet growling in the most defensive and protective way I’ve ever seen or heard from him.
“Back off Jack!” he barked and my head snapped in the direction to see my old principal, Saxon’s most hated person, Jack Nelson and I couldn’t help the little smirk form on my lips.
“Hey Jack!” I cheered, “Long time,” and I climbed to my feet, going to take a step towards him but Chris stuck out his arm and pushed me gently backwards.
“Don’t Eva, I know you’re ticked off with Sax right now but trust me when I say this will be your worst choice ever,” Chris growled but not in a nasty way towards me and I growled back, warning him to let me go.
“Back off Chris, I don’t answer to Saxon and I can talk to whoever I want to,” I snapped in a low tone, glancing over at Jack who didn’t look to sure about being here anymore.
“Well, I was just stopping by to see Grug, so I’ll be on my way,” he muttered, giving a little wave.
“I suggest you just turn around right now because Saxon will not be impressed to find you here,” Chris warned in a nasty tone and I smacked his shoulder lightly.
“Chris, stop it,” I muttered angrily.
Jack smirked, “From what I hear, Saxon is away today.”
Chris shook his head, “You really are stupid – Saxon went wolf and I would be willing to bet money he is nearby still because of his mate,” and he smirked teasingly while I shook my head at him, “I think you’ve been set up by your cousin.”
“Man I really hate Grug,” I mumbled with annoyance then pushed Chris to the side so I was at least not being hidden by him and smiled at Jack, “Your cousin sucks, he tries to get me out of this school all the time and its really annoying.”
Jack smiled slightly but kept his gaze on Chris as he spoke to me, “Did your family join the Redford pack?” his eyebrows creased together, finally turning to look back at me with a questioning gaze.
Shaking my head I made a loud scoffing sound, “As if,” and I nodded in Chris's direction, causing Jack to look back over at him and I smiled, “Chris joined our pack, he realised how much cooler we were.” And I slung my arm over his shoulder and grinned while Chris shot me a look that clearly said ‘stop talking!’
“Are you....mates?” Jack asked, looking between the two of us and my smile dropped instantly as my face scrunched up and I dropped my arm from his shoulder.
Chris shook his head and glared at Jack, “She is Saxon’s though,” and I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand while Jack’s face paled a little.
“It’s not public knowledge Chris,” I muttered; I’ve done so well at keeping it on the down low and here he is just blabbing to the world. Well, okay, Jack isn’t the world exactly but if he tells someone, then they tell someone and soon enough everyone will know.
Then to time it all perfectly and have the world prove to me that my life is royally screwed up, we all heard the distant vicious and dangerous growl of a defensive and ticked off Alpha.
Turning to look into the trees just down the road a little I could see him, standing tall in all his Alpha glory, his head bent down slightly with his teeth bared and ears pinned back. Jack stiffened as he looked over at Saxon and Chris grabbed my arm, trying to tug me away.
“C’mon Eva, you don’t want to be here for this,” he urged but I shook my head and pulled away from him, “Eva, seriously, not even you have a hope in calming him right now.” And he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder while I let out a string of cuss words and hit at his back.
Another loud ferocious growl rung through the air and I looked up to see Saxon take one small step out from the shadows of the trees but it was done in such a threateningly way and Chris froze with his back to the trees and Jack.
“Crap,” he muttered.
I heard him but my eyes were glued to Saxon, I couldn’t bring myself to look away, it was like he was the only thing to be standing here and I didn’t understand because I knew I was angry with him still, that I wanted nothing to do with him but yet, I found myself still staring.
“He thinks I'm harming you,” Chris whispered slowly.