When I woke the next morning, I glanced at Gabriel and saw that he was still asleep. I rolled as quietly as I could to the edge of the bed, but before I could get up, I felt the bed shift and a strong arm wrap around my waist. " Where are you going?" Gabriel asked in a sleepy voice.
I turned around to look at him and saw that he had one eye opened and was looking at me. I chuckled and ran a hand through his messy, dark hair. " I'm just going to take a shower and get ready for school," I told him.
He suddenly was wide awake. " Shit! I forgot today was school!" He yelled while throwing the blanket off of himself and ran out of my room still yelling himself about being a moron and not setting the alarm.
I laughed at him and walked into the bathroom to get ready.
When I was ready I grabbed my bag and jacket and walked to the door. As I walked down the stairs I felt Gabriel come up behind me and before he could grab me I jumped the last ten steps and landed in a crouch at the bottom of the staircase. As I stood up I looked behind me at Gabriel and smirked at him then walked off. As I walked away I could hear him laughing.
When I was in the front yard I stopped and looked around. It was beautiful. We seemed to be in the center of the woods. It had been a long time since I had been in the woods but it felt right, especially when Gabriel came and wrapped his arms around me.
"Where is the garage?" I asked to ease the tension between us.
He took the hint. " It's this way," He said while dragging me to the northern part of the village.
When we reached it I almost squealed in joy because my car was sitting right in the center of the garage. Gabriel smiled, " I drove it back after I found your keys in your bag. There seemed to be some problem with your engine so one of my mechanics fixed it with original parts and we cleaned it up a little bit so it drives wonderfully now."
I turned around and hugged him. Then I looked up and kissed him on the lips. " Thank you. I've never been able to fix the damn thing because no mechanic had the right parts. And thanks for driving it back, I don't know what I could do if someone would have stolen it," I hugged him again.
" You're welcome. And the only reason we had the parts was because most of the cars here are classic muscle cars," He said and sure enough, when I looked around there were only about ten newer model cars and most were trucks. The other twenty were classics.
" Which one is yours?" I asked. He pointed at one of the newer cars.
" That's one of mine and the one I drive often." It was a little 2013 black camaro.
" Nice car. I've always liked them but something about older cars just appeals to me," I said while walking around the camaro. There were a few flaws but just like my car it is taken care of.
" Well I bet my car can out pace your car any day," He said. His accent became more pronounced as he talked and add that with the smirk on his face it made him so damn sexy.
"I'll take that challenge," I said while jumping into my Mustang. When I turned the key she purred to life. I heard the camaro start and without looking at him I sped out of the garage and took off down the road leading towards town. As I was driving over 100 miles per hour, I heard the roar of the camaro and looked in the rear view mirror. Just a few feet behind me was Gabriel. When he saw me looking he smiled and waved.
I quickly shifted gears and sped off. As a turn came up I quickly turned the wheel and slid around the curve. Big mistake. While I was turning I left a space wide enough for Gabriel to slip through and take the lead. "SHIT!" I yelled. If he won, I'd never hear the end of it.
when we reached the highway there wasn't any cars out so I took the opportunity to slip side by side with him. When the town came into my view, I shifted gears and went ahead of him almost running into a truck. As I tore into the school parking lot kids jumped out of the way yelling and cussing at me and Gabriel. Only the other werewolves laughed.
As I saw a parking spot come up I glanced sideways and saw Gabriel next to me going for the space next to mine. I stepped on the gas and got ahead of him by a foot.
As me and him got out of the cars, the kids giving us dirty looks immediately looked away now that they knew who it was.
" I won," Gabriel said while meeting me behind the cars.
" Bullshit, I won by a foot!" I yelled back and we began debating on who won.
As we argued, Derek and Damon came up and watched us. Gabriel noticed them first.
" Thank god! Please, will you guys tell her I won!?" Gabriel told them while I folded my arms and looked at them.
" Weelllll, Tessa was ahead of you by a foot so sorry Alpha she won," Damon said while Derek nodded his head.
Gabriel glared at them with his dark eyes. Apparently his wolf didn't like losing to anyone, especially a girl who happened to be his mate. This didn't intimidate Damon and Derek because they began to laugh at him.
" You guys are unbelievable," Gabriel mumbled before walking away.
When he was out of hearing range, Derek turned to Damon. "Pay up bro. I said she'd win," He smirked and held his hand out to Damon. Damon mumble something about the camaro needing a touch up for next time while pulling 20 dollars out of his wallet and slamming it on Dereks palm. Then he walked off saying he was going to find Gabriel.
" You guys bet on us?" I asked Derek.
" Sure. No one has ever beaten Gabriel at a race. Not even his dad, who races in Europe, can beat him." He said while we walked towards the school.
I had math first period. I shared it with Damon so me and him sat in the back. Gabriel had explained that somehow the teachers and the principle were werewolves and that they were here to keep an eye on us in case something happened and we were near shifting or got angry and broke things we shouldn't be able to break. The door Gabriel broke when he saw me was explained that he had anger issues and it makes his adrenaline flow faster which therefore makes him stronger. My excuse for not being in school was that my cousins were actually in town and went to school here and we skipped to spend time together and catch up on things. My cousins were Derek and Damon.
Mrs. Underwood was told that I'd be staying with them and I wouldn't be back at the boarding house.
I had three more classes before lunch and that was English, French, and animal sciences. I had Gabriel in French but no one was in the other classes.
When lunch came around, I took my tray and sat with Gabriel, Damon, Derek, and two girls from the pack. They were Damon and Derek's mates.
They introduced themselves as Alexandria and Valerie.
Alexandria is Damons mate. She is tall, about 5'8" with long, tan legs, auburn hair, and hazel eyes. She is also human. Apparently she ran away at 15 from an abusive and constantly drunk father. As she was running, she stumbled upon the pack village and knocked on the first door she saw. Just so happened that Damon opened the door and they both felt the connection. She has been living with him ever since and when she turns 18 in a month, Gabriel will be the Alpha and he will conduct a ritual to make her a werewolf though she won't be as strong as a natural werewolf.
Valerie is Derek's mate and her background is a little more violent.
There is one more classification of werewolves.... the rogues. They are the most dangerous werewolves around because they have no rules and no pack. Eventually if they do not find a pack soon they lose their humanity and their human forms and become regular wolves with a thirst for any type of blood. Those that do form a pack do it to keep both forms but they still have no rules and are highly dangerous. They are why Guardian wolves were needed. One of us is as strong as 30 rogues as to an alpha is as strong as 5 to 10 rogues.
Valerie was a rogue all her life. She was born into a rogue pack and her mother was born in an actual pack but when they found out about her messing around with a rogue she was exiled and lived with that rogues pack. She had four children but only Valerie lived because she was a fighter. Her siblings died of starvation and being exposed to all elements. Valerie fought for her food and when she couldn't find room in the pack den, she dug a den for herself. All of this has made her strong. She us only 5'5" with black hair that reaches her shoulders, a tan that says she spends a lot of time outdoors, and a body that isn't too slim but has muscle where there should be. She is even one of the best female fighters the pack has.
Valerie met Derek a year ago. While living with the rogues, she is never felt at home. When she went in search of an actual pack, her old one attacked her because she had secrets they didn't want real packs to know about. She barely escaped. She was torn and bleeding and had a broken leg. She collapsed just inside the territory lines where Derek found her the next morning while on patrol. He brought her to the pack doctor who fixed her up while he talked to the Alpha. The Alpha agreed to let her stay if she told them where the rogues were. After she told them, they went and killed all the rogues except her mother who fought against the rogues and was the one who killed the main rogue... her husband.
After hearing Valeries story I almost began to cry but held back my tears.
I only had two more classes since I had senior privilege and both had Gabriel and Valerie in them. We just talked since they were just classes we didn't really need. The more I talked to Valerie the more I liked her. She never showed any signs of pain and had no scars from her attack both physically and emotionally.
" Hey Tessa, where did you get your scar?" She asked.
" Yeah, I'd like to know to," Gabriel said.
Now was my time to lie. " About six months ago, my family was attacked by an Alpha and his pack. He believed we were rogues who were going to take his territory so he staged an attack at night. Around midnight, they came and soaked our house in gasoline and set it ablaze. As we ran out they shot my two older brothers and my parents were killed by the alpha. One wolf tried to bite me but I moved and he clawed face," I ran my hand over the scar and fought back the tears and painful memories that came with it.
" After I killed him I went to find my parents. As I called out to them, I heard my mom ' Tessa! Tessa run! Tess...' and then a gunshot rang out and my mother went silent. I ran to my car and sped away. I don't know what happened to my twin brother but hopefully it was a quick death. I haven't healed the scar because it reminds me of what happened and why I need to be careful and not trust anyone," I finished. They both looked at me and I saw tears in Valeries eyes. Before I got sympathy from them the bell rang out and I ran out if the school, got into my car, and sped back to the house.
After about 30 minutes of sitting in my room fighting back tears, I heard the door open.
"Tessa? Are you ok?" Gabriel asked. I looked up at him and saw the concern in his eyes and that broke me. I started crying and he ran up and sat down next to me on the bed and pulled me close. " shhh, it's ok let it out. I'm sorry I put you through that. I'll find that alpha and make him pay, I swear it," By the seriousness in his voice I knew he was telling the truth.
As I cried I began feeling tired and as I slowly fell asleep in Gabriel's arms, I felt a row of bricks tumble from that wall in my mind.