*Deep breath in, deep breath out.*
Emily kept telling herself this as they got closer to the school. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She'd done this so many times before that she should be used to it.
Aunt Maureen turned off the highway road, went through some gates, and back a paved entranceway. Off to Emily’s right was a parking lot, maybe the student parking lot.
*Well no, duh, Em, that's what the sign said.*
Her aunt pulled up to the front of the building and parked in the visitor spot. The school was red brick and had massive windows in the front looking into the cafeteria.
Emily saw several students walking along the sidewalk and going in the front doors. There was already a group of kids congregating inside the front room.*Great, now I have to walk past a whole bunch of kids. Why couldn't things be easy? *
"Well, here you are." Aunt Maureen turned off the car.
"Um, you don't have to go in with me. I'm sure I can find the office." Emily stepped out of the car.
"Don't be silly, Em. I'll at least walk you into the office. I do this every time on your first day." Aunt Maureen gracefully stepped out of her Escalade. Em followed with her head bowed down.
They went in through the front doors that led past the cafeteria. Emily glanced around at things as they move down the hall. It looked like an auditorium on the left side, and a trophy case was placed along the wall.
Of course, it was like every other time. All the boys stopped and stared at Aunt Maureen. Why wouldn't they? She was hot. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a killer body. They gawked at her like she was walking around in a thong instead of her business outfit. Emily wanted to wipe the drool off their mouths.
They finally made it past all the salivating boys and into the front office, which was only a little past the cafeteria. Aunt Maureen opened the door and motioned for Emily to go through. They both walked up to the desk where an older lady with short dark brown curly hair and glasses was seated.
"Hello, Ms. Dixon. This is Emily Beauford. She's a new transfer student this year." Aunt Maureen nudged Emily toward the desk.
"Hi, Emily. Welcome to West Lakes. How are you this morning?" Ms. Dixon asked in an overly friendly voice.
"Thanks. I'm doing fine," Emily replied in barely a whisper.
"Well, Emily can head over to the admissions office, which is right around the corner. Ms. Fredley should have her schedule," Ms. Dixon told them where to go as she got up to show them out the door.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Aunt Maureen asked as they left the office.
"Yeah, I should be." Emily watched as other kids moved in the direction of the office.
"Well, I'll see you after work. Meet me in the front." Aunt Maureen gave Emily a quick hug and walked back toward the entrance.
Emily went in the direction Ms. Dixon told her to go. A couple of kids passed her along the way. They kept glancing at her over their shoulders, looking her up and down. It was so hard being the new kid.
Emily glanced up and located the sign she was looking for.
*Well, that wasn't too hard to find.*
The admissions office was only around the corner and four doors down, like Ms. Dixon said it would be. That was easy. Emily hoped the rest of the day went by like this. She walked into the office and found the secretary speaking with three boys. They all turned around when the door opened.
"I'll be right with you," Ms. Fredley, the secretary, said as she glanced up from her desk at Emily.
The room was like any other office; desk, pictures, a little sofa, nothing too fancy, but it seemed much smaller at the moment with the boys in it. They were fairly big. All three were about six feet in height and full of muscle. They looked like young professional football players. One was blond with a shorter-cut hairstyle. The other was about the same size but had dark brown hair cut similarly.
Guess they either got it cut for school or had it cut short for summer.
The other who was still staring at Emily was larger than the others. He was cute.
No, let's rephrase that; he was freakin' hot. He had long, light brown hair with blond streaks, the natural ones, and piercing gray eyes. His stare could make anyone a little paranoid. Guess he was the school bad boy.
"Jacob, Anthony, and Will, why do you three have to start conflicts on the first day of school?" Ms. Fredley addressing the boys brought Emily out of her trance of staring at them. She quickly looked away. She felt her face heat, knowing it probably had a hint of red on it because of the bigger kid staring at her. "Jacob, turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you." Ms. Fredley snipped at the boy.
Without even looking, Emily felt his penetrating gaze.
"I can hear you without having to look at you," Jacob replied with a bit of sarcasm in his tone.
Ms. Fredley rolled her eyes and started to write something on a piece of paper.
"Ahhh, c'mon, Ms. F., you know people are drawn to conflict with me. It's my charm factor. I never start the fight. It's all a conspiracy." Jacob sat down on the sofa.
"Jacob, I don't have time for this all day. It’s the first day of school, and there's too much to do besides babysitting you," Ms. Fredley scolded him as she put away folders into her desk. "You three always seem to get yourselves in some type of circumstance." She shook her finger at all three. "Just take it easy for a while."
"So are we free to go?" Jacob got up from the small sofa and sauntered toward the door. The other two boys hurried ahead of him.
"Yes, you can go. I just don't want any of you back in my office the rest of the day." The secretary finished fixing the piles of paper on her desk.
Emily's eyes shifted away as the first two boys went past her. She sensed someone standing beside her. She peeked out of the corner of her eye and saw Jacob. He was staring at her like he was hungry and she was the main course.
He twisted away to walk past but then leaned in toward her and took a deep breath. "Fresh meat," his voice was a whisper that gave Emily chills. He walked out the door and vanished into the crowd of students in the hallway.
Emily glanced back over her shoulder at all the kids in the hall. She was looking for three in particular, but she couldn't locate them anywhere. It was like they just disappeared. Before looking away, she noticed three girls who were giving her the nastiest of looks.
*Wonderful! Been here fifteen minutes and it seems like I made tons of new friends...NOT! *
Emily avoided the staring confrontation and turned her attention back to the secretary. "Hi, my name is Emily Beauford, and this is my first day," she announced.
Zach opened the door to Ms. Fredley's office and noticed a girl the secretary was helping. She had long brown hair that hung down her back in waves. A nice body from what he could tell from the back. She looked to be a little bit taller than five feet, with a slender build. He noted the girl was looking over the papers Ms. Fredley had given her.*C'mon, turn around so I can see your face. *Ms. Fredley glanced up after Zach got done checking out the new girl, and he cleared his throat to alert her someone had come in. "Zachary, how are you? I just had the privilege of having your brother in here a few moments ago." She grimaced about having to deal with Jacob so early on in the day. "So, what can I do for you?"The call of his name again pulled Zach out of thought. "Um, Paige said she didn't have my schedule and to check with you." He kept his focus on the girl ahead of him.The girl turned at the sound of his voice and smiled.*'Ours'
That was weird. What the heck was that guy, Zach's, problem? Didn't he ever hear of common courtesy? Someone smiles at you, and you smile back.Emily took one step at a time, looking over her schedule and trying not to bump into anyone running up or down the stairwell. Her thoughts filtered back to the guy, she'd seen in the registration office.There was something about him. Like I'd seen him before. Like there was some type of connection. Maybe he resembles someone from my last school? "Oh, sorry." Emily reached out and touched the arm of the girl she almost accidentally smacked into on the second landing. The girl gave a brief nod, then continued walking.Nah, someone like Zach, I would definitely remember. But, what was it about him that made my whole body tingle. OMG, Em, you're thinking way too much into this. He was just a boy, and now he's gone.Emily opened up the door leading to
Emily followed Zach as weaved his way through the science center. She could see into the classrooms as each door was a glassed entryway, most were filled with students which made her stomach spin even more. Instead of focusing on the attention she would get arriving at her first class as the new student, Em concentrated on the guy walking two steps ahead of her.What did I do to this guy that would make him act this way? We don't even know each other.He is either stuck-up, shy, or not freakin' interested in talking to me.Good thing he's taking me to this class because the science department is a maze of classrooms, labs, and teacher's offices.At the end of one of the halls, Zach stopped and opened the door for her to enter.Emily noted the classroom was quiet when they entered. Everyone turned to watch them, well, mainly her. There were only about fifteen other kids, but it felt like hundreds when all
Why didn't I find a place she could sit beside me?What the hell is wrong with me?Why am I running from my 'supposed' mate?I didn't hear one word Mr. Warner has said since I walked in here. Doesn't every teacher use the same freakin' spill on the first day? Welcome to blah...blah...blah, this year we are going to learn about blah...blah...blah.Zach was trying not to look back at Emily or Paige.There's just something about her.'She's our mate,' his wolf said once again.'Yeah. Yeah. I get it. You said this before.Zach was once again having an internal conflict with his other-self. If he didn't know he was a shifter, he would begin to suspect he was going insane with having a wolf talking inside of him. He knew he had to speak with his older brother Adam or his father if he returned soon. There hadn't been any other girl who had made him feel and
Danny, Alex, Madison, and Zach were all in PE class together right before lunch. It was always an experience when they were all together. Today they played a quick game of B-ball. Zach and Dan liked to show off their skills in sports. It was the wolf in them that wanted the competition.The girls tried to keep up, but the guys knew they wouldn't be able to. Madison bitched, and Alex kept looking at Danny as if she was in awe of everything he did. After they changed their clothes from PE, they met back in the gym to head down to lunch."Hey, where did Alex go?" Zach noticed her abrupt disappearance.Madison smirked like she knew something was going on. "Oh, I think she had to head back to our locker for something." Zach started to walk away, but Madison tugged on his arm. "C'mon, let's get a table before they are all taken."Like they had to worry. They'd sat in the same spot for the past three years. Nothing ever changed here, well, until this year. The t
Zach dropped Danny off at his house, which was like five minutes from his own. Now he had the task of pulling up their never-ending driveway. His father wanted a piece of property that was way off the beaten path. So, he bought a house with a mile-long driveway that weaved in and out through the trees. The house sat on one hundred and fifty acres of woodland. So yep, you could say they were pretty secluded from the world.As Zach got to the driveway's end portion, he noticed Adam showed up on time. He wasn't outside, so he must have already let himself into the house. The front door was unlocked, so he must have gone through this way instead of the garage. Although technically Adam still lived at home, he didn't sleep or hang out there much. He was usually with the rest of their pack, the ones around his age. But he had full access to the house whenever he wanted."Anybody here?" Zach yelled into the empty hallway when he walked in. There was no answer, so the next bes
It seemed the rest of the younger pack members, Jacob and his crew, were on high alert on the day of the alpha's arrival. They appeared to be more wired and less tolerant of other students, which could be a good thing since they had a big football game coming up.Zach felt things with Emily was going okay. He listened to Adam and allowed his wolf to have his way. Even though she showed no genuine mate interest in him, he still felt the need to watch over her. He hoped he didn't look like some stalker type and scare her off. He kept his distance but yet tried to appear friendlier than he was the first couple of days.***Although she'd been at her new school only a week or so, Emily felt content with how everything was going. She, Alex, and Madison were getting along well, and she was excited to be included in things they were doing, like shopping and planning on going to the football game on Friday. She was on her way to her first class, not minding anything tha
It was after six o'clock in the evening when the whole pack assembled at the Lovell residence. The boys' dad came back earlier in the day, but they hadn't seen him until now. There were about forty men gathered in the living room when Zach and Jacob came downstairs. Most they recognized, but some looked new to the pack. Their dad and his beta, Luke, who was Marshall's dad, were standing in the front of the room, speaking with two other elders. Adam and his smaller group were off to one side, waiting for the meeting to begin. The conversation between his father and the elders stopped as soon as the boy's presence was noted."What's going on?" Jacob was always the first to speak. Although they'd been taught not to talk to the alpha, beta, or elders while gathered as a pack, unless a conversation was initiated with them, Jacon constantly pushed the buttons for confrontation.Their father gave Jacob a warning look, and he took a step backward away from the group. "Zach, yo