Hey all you gorgeous people! Thank you for all the comments and votes.
Chapter Seven
Standing in the school parking lot, I let my bag drop to the floor as I lifted myself up on the hood of Bella's car. Dangling my legs over the side I waited for someone to speak. Emma stood there with her mouth open and her eyes wide. "You actually did that?" She asked in disbelief. I told the guys what happened between Mason and me. It's not like I could blame them for doubting me. Hell, I was there and I still had to replay it over in my head to actually believe I did it.
I nodded as I unscrewed the cap of my water. "Yup." I swallowed, trying to ignore the dull pang in my chest.
Bella snorted. "Good, that stupid jerk. I would have punched him in the face and then sat on him until he couldn't breathe. Then I'd shift and claw his eyes out before-"
"Bella being as friendly as always, I see." Nicky laughed as he walked over to us. Pushing his cell into his pocket, he stood next to me and leaned against the car. "What poor soul deserves such brutality?"
"He-who-must-not-be-named." Ray smirked. "Rainie handed him his ass on a plate." He leaned over and ruffled my hair.
Nicky wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him. "That's my girl." He smiled his beautiful breath taking smile.
Nicky was like every other Alpha in the looks department. His dark brown hair fell into his soft brown eyes, his cheeks and jaw looked as if they had been chiseled out of glass and his full lips hid a perfect, white smile. He was incredibly handsome, but unlike many Alphas he wasn't a jerk who thought he was better than everyone. He didn't prey on girls and then break their hearts. He, like Mason, would take the role of Alpha in one year when he turned eighteen.
"So babe, what's next?" Ray asked Emma as he pressed his lips to hers.
"Algebra." She smiled. "I'll wait here after school then we can go, ok?" He nodded and kissed her forehead before pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Blushing like crazy she dipped her head which caused Ray to chuckle. Even after a year together, Emma told us that he still made her feel like he did when they first met.
Nicky turned to me. "You're in English, right Rain?" I nodded. "I'll walk you to class." Before I could reach for it, Nicky had picked up my bag together with his and draped his arm over my shoulder as he walked us towards the door. I sent a small smile and a wave over my shoulder to the rest of the guys.
"I know you're not ok." Nicky stated as we walked down the corridor. There were a few students making their way to their lockers, but it was still fairly empty. I gave him a confused look, ok about what? "With what happened between you and him. I know you're not as fine as you're making out to be." He looked at me with sympathy, something I didn't want.
I shrugged and lowered my head, afraid that if I looked into his soft brown eyes I would crack. "It really wasn't that bad."
I lied. It was. It was hell.
"I needed to do it. He can't keep changing the way he acts towards me." My stomach churned and it felt as if my wolf had curled herself into a ball. I could understand why. "One minute he rejects me and the next he acts like he wants me, only to reject me. Again!" I could feel my temper rise; I took deep breaths trying to calm myself and get rid of the ache in my chest. The middle of the school hall was not the ideal place to shift.
Having felt my body begin to shake, Nicky wrapped his arm tighter around, pulling me even closer to his warm body. I looked up and gave him a grateful smile. "My dad told me about a woman who used to be in our pack, she was rejected and-"
"You told your dad about me?!" I whisper yelled as my eyes darted around the now almost full corridor to make sure no one had heard.
"No, of course not. We were talking about my role as Alpha and he was explaining the difficulties and issues that arise in a pack, and how I would deal with them." His hands took hold of my arms as he spun me around to face him. "I promise you Rainie, I haven't told anyone and I never would." Brushing a stray strand of hair out of my face, he smiled. "That's your secret to tell, not mine."
I managed to mumble a small thank you through my embarrassment. "Listen, I know I'm a guy and you've got Bella and Emma to go to for, you know..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, "girl stuff, but if you need to speak to someone different, you can always come to me. As your friend and as your future Alpha."
Before I looked like a complete idiot standing in the middle of a packed corridor crying, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, burying my face in the crook of his neck swallowing the tears. "That means a lot to me Nicky, thank you." I planted a quick kiss on his cheek only to be greeted with growl the echoed around me. What the hell? I looked around and noticed even the human students had confused looks on their faces. "Nicky did you just-"
Something behind me had caught Nicky's attention, but as quick as his eyes flashed past me they returned to hold my gaze. "It's nothing." His voice wasn't as calm as I'm sure he wanted it to be. What's just happened? I turned my head to see what was behind me, but before I could he had cupped my face in his hands. "Ignore it, Rainie." The underlying tone of authority and order didn't go unnoticed, so I smiled and nodded allowing him to lead me to my next class.
Dropping kiss of my forehead I jolted back when Nicky was suddenly ripped away from me before being shoved hard into the lockers. My wolf was alert, pacing back and forth inside of me. What was up with her?
Another growl surfaced, but this time it was quieter. Only the werewolves standing close by would have been able to hear it. "Do not touch her." His voice was quiet, but his words held an undisclosed threat.
Nicky's eyes shifted from brown to black. "How dare you tell me what to do after all you've done to her?" The moment those words left his lips I was aware of who had grabbed hold of Nicky.
What the hell does he think he's doing? My wolf yipped in ecstasy at the thought of having him so close to her. I could feel how proud she was of her strong, masculine mate and how she basked in his possessiveness. I guess no matter what he does she will always love him, after all her pull towards Mason's wolf was stronger than that to her Alpha.
I nervously looked around and noticed a circle of students had formed around us. The unsuspecting humans thought this was nothing other than a fight with two guys. The werewolves amongst us however, knew this wasn't just your normal teenage guy fight, it was a fight between two future Alphas.
Nicky was quickly pulled away and then smashed back into the lockers causing an even bigger dent to form in the hard metal. "You don't know anything about it!" I could see Mason's body tremble with anger, unlike Nicky who seemed to be relaxed, if not slightly angry.
"Of course I know about it!" He spat. "You're disgusting for doing that and you're a disgrace for an Alpha. Your pack should be ashamed to have someone so weak be in charge."
A menacing snarl escaped Mason's lips as his grip on Nicky got tighter. "If you want your pack to stay alive I suggest you learn manners, pup."
"So now you're threatening to kill her, her family and her friends? Well aren't you a fucking prize winner." Nicky chuckled, but there was no humor to it.
I had no idea what to do. I could stand in between them and risk getting my head ripped off if their wolves took over, or I could sit back and let them tear each other to shreds. Neither sounded very appealing, so I listened to what my wolf wanted.
"Guys you're making a scene." I lifted my arm, reaching around Mason, who tensed for a second, and held tight to Nicky. Unlike Mason, I couldn't make him calm, but I hoped it would be enough for him to realize what he was doing. The brown gaze that met mine told me he was still in control. For now.
"Leave it, Rain." Mason ordered. "If the pup wants to play, I'll give him a game." Nicky returned his taunt with a snarl. Goodness. It was times like these I wished I were one of those unsuspecting humans.
Prying two tall, muscular guys away from each other isn't the easiest thing to do. Groaning and huffing, I tried to press myself in between them, but neither would move an inch. "Nicky, please just let it go." My grip on his arm tightened, forcing him to look at me. "It's not worth it." What I really wanted to say was he's not worth it, but I knew better then to temp the lion with the deer.
Nicky eyes seemed to suddenly glint with mischief. He gave me his killer one sided smirk and shot me a wink. Oh, Lord!
If Mason was angry before, he was murderous now. "Are you freaking kidding me?!" His hold on Nicky got tighter as he pulled his right arm back, fist clenched, and aimed it straight at Nicky's face. My stomach churned at the sound of a sickening crack.
Nicky's wiped his hand over his broken nose and spat the remainder of blood on the floor. "You son of a-"
His words were cut off. I'd had enough of the macho, Alpha against Alpha crap. This wasn't about me, this was an ego trip. "That's enough!" I bellowed. My wolf scolded me for speaking to my mate and my future Alpha in such a way, but by that point I didn't care. They were being stupid. Half of the human population of our school was watching them, but they didn't care.
So why should I.
Not bothering to say another word, I used every bit of strength in my body, to push Mason away from Nicky. He may have been my 'mate', but Nicky was my best friend and there was no way I would let him speak about my Alpha and our pack, then threaten them the way he did. Ignoring his shocked expression I pulled a reluctant Nicky behind me down the corridor.
I couldn't blame him for standing his ground against Mason, that's what Alpha's do. It was in their blood to protect their pack members. It didn't matter that we shared the same territory, we were still two completely different packs and if it came down to it, one would have to fight the other. That's all Nicky was doing.
So what was Mason doing? My wolf demanded to know. She didn't like the fact I was defending someone over her mate.
I snorted. He was being a jerk.
For that I received a growl. He was protecting us.
From what? Nicky? I gave a dry chuckle. You know as well as I do that Nicky would never hurt us. My wolf was a part of me, but she was blinded by the bond that attached her to Mason's wolf. That's the reason, and the only reason, why I hadn't been able to deal with the past week. I had told myself it was only my wolf that was connected to Mason, not me.
I wasn't sure I believed it, but it had worked so far.
Pulling Nicky to the side, I waited for him to say something. He didn't, he just stood there with his arms folded over his chest wearing a blank expression. I could've punched him. "God Nicky, what were you thinking? You can't just start a war in the middle of a school corridor. What would have happened if one of you had shifted?"
"You know, you shouldn't speak to your future Alpha like that." He scolded, but I could hear the amusement and teasing in his voice.
"Why didn't you tell me he was behind us? And did you really have to do the whole," I imitated his smirk and wink, "thing?"
He shrugged. "I knew it would get to him." What? "As you said, he can't play with your emotions like he has been, so I figure why not play with his a little." Okay, so he had a point there. Obviously my wolf didn't like it though, to her it wasn't only Mason being hurt it was his wolf.
I sighed. "You're a jerk."
"And you could get yourself into a lot of trouble for being disrespectful Miss Harper." He playfully pushed me back into the wall.
"Oh, don't Miss Harper me, you were being an idiot and you know it." I laughed, pushing him back. That's what I loved about Nicky, sure he was like every other Alpha who demanded a certain amount of respect, but we could joke around with him like any other member of the pack. Of course, we also knew not to overstep the line.
Opening the door to my English class, he pushed me through. "You wouldn't have me any other way." He winked. He was right, I wouldn't.
* * *
Mr Morgan cleared his throat. "Ah, Mr Taylor I see you found the class after all." The chair scrapped across the floor as the old man lifted himself up and shuffled over to the new student, extending his hand for him to take. "I'm Mr Morgan and as you can see this will be your new English class." His hand motioned around the room. "If you would like to introduce yourself and then take your seat."
I didn't pay much attention to the student, I had sniffed the air and that told me all I needed to know - he was a human. It wasn't like we had anything against humans, most wolves in this school mixed with them like we mixed with each other. "My names Jude, I'm seventeen and I've just moved here with my mom." He shrugged, looking bored already. Considering there were at least thirty people staring at him, he was unfazed by it as he stood with his hands deep in his pockets and his bag slung over his shoulder.
"That's great," Mr Morgan smiled before his focus rested on the seating plan in his hand. "Now, your seat will be next to Miss Harper." I could see his eyes wonder around the room looking for me, so I did the only thing I could think of - I slouched in my seat as far as I could go. It didn't work. "Rainie, where are you?" Groaning I raised my hand and watched as, what could only be described as a model, sauntered over to me.
Dropping his bag to the floor, he slid the chair out and sat back. How can this guy be so comfortable when he's just got here? One glance at him and it had me wishing I hadn't. Why? Because I couldn't turn away from him.
Holy crap!
His blonde hair was tousled to perfection, slightly falling into gray eyes that held a glint of mischief and danger. His nose was a little crooked, maybe from a fall when he was younger. Though by the leather jacket he wore and his leather military styled boots, it was more likely from a fight. The white shirt gave a glimpse of what I'm sure was a six pack and his dark jeans fit him so perfectly, they had you thinking about what was underneath them. His his soft, red lips were... Oh, for the love of God, I sound like a stalker.
Get a grip Rainie!
My wolf gave a little growl; she didn't like the thoughts going round in my head about someone who wasn't her mate. Ignoring the love sick puppy that felt as if she was doing cartwheels inside of me, I dipped my head and bore my eyes into the open copy of my book.
A deep chuckle came from my left and I turned to come face to face with a Greek God. Crap, he had noticed me staring. "You must be Rainie." His soft grey eyes bore into mine, which of course sent a blush to run up my cheeks causing him to chuckle again. "I'm Jude." I lifted my head and sent him a small smile. "So, how does this work then?"
My brows pulled together in confusion. How does what work? "We have partners in this class, right?"
Oh.
Not trusting my voice I quickly nodded. "So how does it work? You know, do we get to pick our partners or are we assigned them by Michaels?"
"It's Morgan." I said quietly.
"Huh?"
"The teacher, it's not Michaels it's Morgan."
He looked a little surprised and the smile he wore was nowhere in sight. "O-kay." He said dragging out the word.
Great going Rainie.
Can't think of a way to embarrass yourself more and confirm you are, in fact, a complete nerd? Correct the hot guy when he gets the teachers name wrong. "Are we working together then?" He asked, snapping me out of me embarrassment.
I shrugged, motioning my hand for him to look over his shoulder. "I think you could take your pick of who you want." Confusion crossed his features for a second before he looked behind and him and sure enough the girls sat, eyes wide practically licking their lips at the sight of him.
I couldn't blame them.
Scratching the back of his neck he turned back to face me. "Yeah..." He trailed off.
The hot guy is shy? No, that's not possible. I give it five seconds before he's off that chair quicker than an Olympian off the starter block. "I want you." His deep, husky voice sent tingles across my body. Even my wolf felt something, which of course she hated.
* * *
I walked out of class quicker than I had ever done in my life. After the whole 'I want you' comment from Jude I hadn't spoken or looked at him. When he asked a question I either nodded or shook my head. I did give him a few smiles; after all I didn't want him to think I was a total idiot.
Unfortunately for me, Jude didn't seem to be fazed. "So Harper, what's it like around here?" I had a free period so I was making my way to the library and apparently Jude was too. All eyes followed us down the corridor. I hated it. The guys, both human and werewolf frowned when they saw Jude, their gazes turning into that of jealousy. The girls gave me snarls, whilst others drooled whenever Jude so much as looked in their direction.
He seemed to be unaware of all the attention he was getting. Either that or he was used to it. What had he asked me again? Oh, right. "Nothing much." I answered honestly. "It's a small town, so it's kind of quiet. You get the odd pie making contest, but that's about it."
He laughed. "Pie making, huh?"
I nodded. "It's the highlight of this town's social calendar." This caused him to laugh harder and it wasn't long before I joined him. His laugh was infectious, it was deep and husky.
"What are your friends like?" He asked with genuine curiosity. A smile automatically fell on my lips at the mere thought of them. "They must be special to have you smiling like that."
"They are, we've been together since we were born." And I meant that literally, our mothers were all pregnant with us at the same time. We went through everything together, from shifting for the first time to our first day of high school. "There are five of us. Bella, she's the crazy one who you should watch out for because she'll eat you alive." His eyebrow lifted as he chuckled. "Then Emma and Ray, they're ma-, um they've been together for a while. Next is Nicky, he like our older brother and finally, yours truly." I said pointing to myself.
Jude nodded his head slowly, "Small group of friends then." He stated.
"Yeah, probably not what you're used to."
"And what would I be used to?" He gave me a knee buckling smirk.
I returned it with the 'are you serious?' look. "I'm sure you had a lot of friends at your last school, I'd bet you were Mr Popular with the cheerleader girlfriend to top it off." I paused to look at him, head to toe. "Or, you were the mysterious, dangerous guy who drives a motorbike and gets into bar fights."
He gave a hearty laugh. "Not quite, but that is some imagination you've got there Harper." He looked ahead, his face vacant of any emotion before he turned back to me. "I was pretty much like you. I had a small group of friends who were like my brothers. No drunken brawls, no cheerleaders though I hope one day I will be the proud owner of a motorbike."
For some reason I felt completely comfortable with Jude. Don't get me wrong his looks still brought a blush to my cheeks, but he wasn't the typical 'popular guy' I thought he was. He was actually pretty sweet and a nice guy to talk to. "Why did you move here?" I blurted out.
His smile turned into a frown and an emotion crossed his eyes, it was an emotion I had come to know very well this past week - sadness. What was he sad about? "My father died." He voice was quiet.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't hav-"
"No," He shook his head, "it's okay. It was a year ago, we decided to stay we were because of school and my mom's job, but she couldn't stand it. She hated being there so we came here to where she was born." He shrugged.
It was strange to see the cheery, happy-go-lucky guy sad. I'd only know him for a few hours, but seeing him like this made me upset. I couldn't understand why I felt so protective over him, but I found myself wishing I could take away his pain. I smiled up at him, noticing the way his twinkling grey eyes had become dull. I had the strong urge to wrap my arms around him, but I thought better of it.
The bell rang telling us it was time to go to class. How long had we been sitting here? "What have you got?" I asked as I picked my bag up and slipped it over my arm.
"Chemistry." He didn't sound happy, I couldn't blame him and things would only get worse when he met Miss Worden.
"Looks like we'll be walking there together." I smiled and tugged on his arm for him to follow me.
Stepping out through the doors of the library, the scent hit me like a tornado.
I froze.
It was his scent.
My head spun round and my eyes fell on him. His tall, broad frame stood in the middle of the corridor. His arms folded over his chest made his delicious muscles even more visible. I may hate the guy, but even I had to admit he was hot. My wolf was purring at the sight of him, her howls of happiness rang loud inside of my head. Only for me it wasn't a happy reunion. The pain in my chest became heavy as those seven words swirled around in my head.
Like every time before, when his gaze met mine, the world around us froze. Only this time, it didn't. His eyes weren't focused on me, they were solely resting on Jude and by the expression on Mason's face, he wasn't going to be first in line to welcome the new student.