Chapter Eight

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 act like a complete ass like Emily.

Yep, that's what she probably thinks of me right now.

Zach knew she was sitting somewhere next to Paige. Even though no one else could, he was able to hear them whispering. Why did she have to sit right beside school gossip? He slowly stretched his arms above his head and pretended to twist around like he was uncomfortable, but he was trying to get another peek at Emily.

"Shit," Zach muttered under his breath and turned back around. No sooner did he look over at them, Paige and Emily looked up at him from the next row. A good thing about being a wolf was that he could hear most of what they said, a positive point in his favor.

Zach went back to concentrating on Paige and Emily's chat while drowning out the other conversations in the classroom. They were talking about Jacob, like that was something new. Girls talking about his conceited brother was something that happened every hour of every day.

Wait, he heard Emily say his name. He wished the kid beside him would shut the fuck up. Zach was giving him a death glare, but the kid kept talking loudly to someone else who was two rows away. He wanted to scream, 'get up and go over there to talk,' but he had to get back to listening to Paige and Emily talk about him.

What the hell, a kid on the other side of Zach hit his arm. "Hey, who's the new girl?"

Zach turned to confront the kid who punched his arm. "Marshall, what the hell are you doing here?"

"We all moved back this past week. My dad spoke with yours, so we're good to go. Didn't he tell you? They have a lead on the offspring."

"Nah, I haven't seen him. You know, pack business. He's been away for a while. I think something's going on. We'll have to talk about it later." Zach glanced around to make sure nobody else was listening in to their conversation and also to get another glimpse of Emily. "Are you in this class?" Zach hoped at least one pack member would be in one of his classes.

Marshall snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, right. You're the brains, remember? I saw you sitting here, so I popped in." He glanced over to make sure Mr. Warner wasn't looking. Luckily for him, he was too busy looking at some science magazine. "I gotta get going. I'm meeting Jacob before second period. So no answer to the new girl question." Marshall nodded up to Emily as he stood to leave.

Zach peeked over at Emily and Paige once again. They were still talking. "Just a girl I showed to this class. Why?" Zach turned back toward Marshall, but he was gone as fast as he came.

Zach reached for his cell phone and text Adam. Need to talk, meet me around 4p at the house. 

Hopefully, he wasn't on pack duty. Zach knew he had to figure out what was going on and why their pack was showing up now.

K was the only response he got from Adam. But then again, he should be happy he got one.

The bell rang to leave. Zach took one last glance at Emily, allowing his wolf to scream in protest of going, then exited the classroom.