**Another dedication and amazing cover to the side by feelingsuperior. Love it, thank you!!**
One Week Later
As Chris predicted, a week had passed and Jay still had a faint scar from his bite on his neck. It was clear he had tried to cover it as much as he could with his curly hair but it wasn't enough. To hide the mark completely, Jay wore button up shirts with the collars up. He didn't bother Eve again but she knew it was only a matter of time before he would; it always was. In the meantime, he lusted after her from a distance which often resulted in a glare or growl from Chris and Ian. Eve's biggest escape from Jay's molesting gaze came with the start of the new school year.
The first day back to school, Eve and Chris walked down the hall with their friends Mia, Carlos, Travis, Jose, Lindy and Clair. Out of habit, they moved in a pack which made everyone around them cast glances their way. Rather than call the other students out on their staring, the bunch kept walking and gave the occasional smile. Eve didn't mind the attention but at the same time she didn't seem to thrive in it the way Travis and Jose did. They moved down the hall, calling out greetings and flirting with girls as they passed. Eve and Mia exchanged a look and laughed as they stopped at their lockers. Eve opened her locker and taped up her pictures; one of her parents, her and Ian, another of her and Ian, and the last of her, Ian, Chris, Mia and Lindy. As she was finishing, she felt that almost gravitational pull again telling her to turn around. Looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of Tristan and felt compelled to just stare at him. She hadn't really noticed him much before last week but now that she did she felt curious of him. His hair was styles to stand on end, his white long sleeved shirt fitting him in a way that showed he was lean. He walked with an air of confidence and comfortability that seemed to project a personality of someone who was generally easy to get along with. Eve was still watching him as he stopped in front of a group of people to talk, leaning against the lockers as he took off his sunglasses.
Walking down the hall, Tristan had felt the same unexplainable feeling his had in the park a week ago. Since he couldn't figure out what it was about, he chose to ignore it. Except, with every step he made towards his friends the feeling got stronger and stronger, almost willing him to turn back. Finally reaching his friends, he greeted them and leaned against the lockers as he removed his sunglasses. Immediately, without consciously deciding to, Tristan looked across the hall meeting the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. Eve was surprised by Tristan meeting her gaze but neither one of them looked away. They both felt the need to smile and talk to each other, but before either one of them could the school bell rang and Lindy nudged Eve. “Hey are you okay?” Lindy asked.
Eve pulled her eyes away from Tristan to look at her friend. “Yeah, I'm fine,” Eve said.
“Good because we have to go,” Lindy said. “It's the first day, we don't want to be late for homeroom.”
“Right,” Eve said, shaking her head. She wasn't sure, but she felt like Tristan's eyes were still on her. “Let's go.” She closed her locker and pointedly looked forward as she and Lindy walked down the hall to their class. Tristan watched for a few seconds before realizing he had a class too.
* * * * *
The first few hours of school seemed to blur as Tristan and Eve both thought about each other. Eve was further intrigued by this pull she felt towards him and Tristan was thinking of how her blue eyes stared at him familiarly. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd seen her last year or not, but he could swear her eyes reminded him of something but he didn't know what. The next time they saw each other again was during fourth period PE. The second Tristan stepped out of the locker room, Eve spotted him from across the gym. The same feeling from before passed through them both and while Tristan didn't find Eve as easily he knew that she was somewhere in the gym.
Volleyball teams were established and much to Eve's delight, Tristan was on her team. If ever a time for her to try and figure out what was drawing her to him, she decided now would be it. Tristan sat in the back of the group while the teacher started a “quick” lesson of the rules and proper way to play. Eve sat against the wall next to Tristan, staring forward as though she were concentrated on the lesson. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed him glance at her quickly before looking away.
“Hi,” she said quietly as she turned to him and smiled. “I'm Eve.” Other students around the gym were having low conversations and she figured they could pull one off too. Tristan turned at the sound of her voice and returned her smile immediately.
“I'm Tristan,” he said. Both wanted to say more but didn't know what to say. Eve openly looked over Tristan as though he weren't watching her and Tristan's eyes began to roam too. He stopped on her left arm, finding something he could ask her about. “That's a cool tattoo. Are you into wolves?”
Eve stiffened at the mention of the tattoo and dropped her eyes down to her wrist. The image of the wolf's head howling at the moon suddenly felt like a neon sign screaming the words 'I'm not like you.' Everyone in her pack had that same tattoo on their wrist to mark them as being one. But as long as Tristan didn't see it on all of her friends she didn't see anything wrong in making up a story for it. “Yeah, I do,” she said, absently tracing the lines of the tattoo. “I think they're beautiful animals. And the way they live and protect each other is amazing. There's no boundary for how far they will go for each other. Especially family.” Eve stared at the tattoo dreamily before realizing she was talking to Tristan and snapped her attention back to him. Meeting his eyes, she laughed nervously as he watched her silently. “Sorry, I can get a little carried away sometimes when I talk about them.”
“It's okay,” Tristan laughed. Eve couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. “I asked, remember? When did you get the tattoo?”
“Um,” Eve hesitated. She'd had the tattoo since she was ten but she doubted that answer would go over well with anyone. “I got it when school let out in June.”
“Where'd you get it?” he asked. “No place I know of around here will do it unless you're seventeen and that's even with parental permission.”
“Well, that would make sense because I got it out of state,” eve lied. “A friend of mine uncle did it for me with my brother's permission.”
“What about your parents?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” Eve said quickly, trying to sound light.
“Guess I'm a curious person,” he responded.
“Well that makes two of us.” The two stared at each other in silence and just smiled. Before either one of them could think of something else to say, the teacher announced they had time for one game. Following the other students, Tristan and Eve got up from the floor to take positions on the floor.
“What do you think our odds are of winning?” Tristan asked her as they stood next to each other. Eve surveyed their team in comparison to the other; the opposing team had Travis, Jose and Mia who were all competitive but their team had Eve, Chris and Lindy who had faster reflexes. With three wolves on each team they could be evenly matched but with other students in the equation there was no way of knowing for sure. Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, Chris turned to wink at her with a smirk that seemed to say 'We got this.'
“I think it can go either way,” Eve answered. “But you might want to be on edge for the whole game.”
“Why?”
“Because my friends and I can get really competitive,” Eve smiled.
“Doesn't everybody,” Tristan responded, laughing off the comment.
“Yeah,” Eve said. “But trust me, you haven't seen competitive until you've seen us go at it.” The teacher blew the whistle to start the game and Eve's friends immediately showed what she meant. The second the ball surfaced anywhere near his corner, Travis knocked it back over trying to find an opening. With Chris always vigilant, he dove for any ball a teammate missed which gave them the opportunity to send it back over the net. The game continued on that way until both teams got two points each and the teacher said the game could be finished the following day due to lack of time.
“Wow, you guys are competitive,” Tristan acknowledged.
“Told you,” Eve said with a shrug.
“Eve come on we have to get changed,” Lindy said as she and Mia ran up to her. Both girls assessed Tristan and his close proximity to Eve before looking at their friend. By the look on Eve's face, she didn't like the interruption.
“I'll meet you guys there,” Eve said, pointedly looking from them to the locker room.
“Normally we would agree,” Mia said insistently. “But Lindy took Carlos' phone and locked it in your locker. Apparently he's outside waiting for it and he wants it now. Sorry to interrupt you and...” Mia looked at Tristan with a polite smile, waiting for him to introduce himself.
“Tristan,” he told her, smiling back.
“Nice to meet you,” Mia said. “I'm Mia and this is Lindy.”
“Hi,” Lindy said. Tristan smiled at her before looking back at Eve again.
“It's fine,” he said. “I should get back to the locker room too. I'll see you around.”
“Okay, see ya,” Eve said in disappointment. Walking away from each other seemed hard for them both to do. Eve still felt that pull to be near him and every step away she took felt like she was going against nature. For Tristan, every step he took seemed to make that empty incomplete part of him feel as though it was growing and growing.
Once inside the locker room, Lindy and Mia pulled Eve to the far end where their lockers were. “You like him,” Lindy said simply, grinning at Eve.
“She more than likes him,” Mia said.
“I have no idea what you guys are talking about,” Eve said plainly. “I don't like anyone. And I'm going to take a wild guess here and say you didn't steal Carlos' phone and hide it in my locker, right?”
“Well duh,” Lindy said. “But we're not talking about that right now.”
“We aren't talking about anything right now,” Eve said in a clipped tone. “We're getting dressed to get to class.” Eve opened her locker and pulled out her clothes, ignoring her staring friends. If she changed fast enough, she thought she could run into Tristan again in the hall.
“Please, you don't care about class,” Lindy said flippantly. “All you care about is seeing Tristan again.” Eve ignored her friend's words and started to change.
“It bothers you, doesn't it?” Mia asked. “Not being near him, I mean. When you're far apart its fine and you feel normal. But being in the same building, it makes you feel like somethings not right. Like you need to be with him or you feel pulled in a completely different direction then you want to go.”
Eve lowered her shirt slowly to look at Mia. “How do you know that?” she asked cautiously, not sure she wanted the answer.
“I think you know how,” Mia replied. “You don't need to say it.”
“Clearly I do,” Eve said stubbornly. Lindy looked between her two friends, suddenly unsure of where the conversation was headed.
“Fine,” Mia sighed. “I know because that's how I feel with Chris.”
“But Chris is...” Lindy trailed off, the meaning suddenly dawning on her. Her eyes widened as she looked at Eve who seemed to shut down. Eve stared blankly at Mia, not wanting to accept what Mia said but knowing somehow that it was true. A now distant part of her wanted it to be true, to have someone who would understand her without saying much. But the more prominent part of her knew that it couldn't happen, not with Tristan. “Eve?”
Eve shook her head, coming back to her friends. “Tristan's not... like us,” Eve said suggestively. “I can't be feeling what you feel for Chris.”
“Maybe you could,” Lindy said in a hopeful voice, not wanting to see her friend that way. “I mean, maybe that's why Alpha doesn't want us to get too close to humans. Maybe its not so much that they would find out about us and kill us but that we'll fall for them.”
“That's a lot of maybes,” Mia said.
“And none of them matter,” Eve said. “Because no matter the reason, Alpha won't let it happen. The only acceptable mate for anyone in his pack is a wolf. Tristan isn't one so it can't happen.” Eve finished changing and started putting her things back in her locker.
“Aw it sounds like one of those classic forbidden love stories,” Lindy said dreamily. “The young lovers who have to hide their relationship because her family doesn't think he's good enough. So sad yet so romantic.”
“We are not young lovers,” Eve said bitterly as she slammed her locker shut. “We have no relationship and as far as I'm concerned, he's too good for my family. And for our sake, we better hope it's not one of those stories.”
“Why not?” Lindy asked.
“Because in those stories,” Eve said. “One or both of them end up dying.”
“That won't happen with you,” Mia said reassuringly.
“I know it won't,” Eve said as she moved to walk passed them. “Because I'm not going to have anything to do with him anymore.” Without another word, Eve walked out of the locker room leaving her friends behind.
“Did you feel the pain coming off of her?” Lindy asked sadly. “It was like her parents all over again.”
“Because whether her or the Alpha like it or not, her wolf decided Tristan was her mate,” Mia said. “Having to give him up without having her chance with him has to hurt.”
“How do you think she's going to act around him now?”
“She'll try to keep her word and stay away from him,” Mia replied. “But her wolf won't let her for very long. It'll only be a matter of time before the pull becomes too much and she'll go back to him. Even if she's stuck just being friends with him, she'll take it over having to stay away.”
“And him?” Lindy asked.
“I have no idea,” Mia said. “But let's just hope he's not as pushy as Jay.”