Heather

Leaves crunched as someone walked toward me.

"I never thought Brent would run from anything," Serena said.

I laughed unhappily. "Except me, apparently."

"I mean—it’s Brent. He’s the strongest alpha we’ve seen in generations. He’s amazing. Why is he always running from you?"

She gave me an expectant look, hands on her hips.

"I don’t have some easy answer for you. It wasn’t my bad breath that sent him packing."

Serena stared into the forest for a moment. "I know Brent. This isn’t something that he’d do. Bite someone and then run. Hide."

I sighed. I didn’t want to argue with her, but she wouldn’t leave it alone. "Obviously you don’t know him that well if Mr. Perfection would break the Law and bite someone. He ruined my life." I wanted to hit something, but there was nothing to hit. "And now I apparently have to face the consequences for his screw up."

Serena flinched like I’d slapped her. "I just think that you should—".

"I’m really fucking tired of people telling me how I should feel about this or about how amazing Brent is. I’m allowed to feel the way that I feel. And it seems to me, that I’m the one that got bit. I’m the one dealing with the change. And since there isn’t anyone else here was has been bit, I don’t think that anyone is qualified to give me any more fucking advice."

"Well, you clearly don’t want my opinion."

"No. Right now I really don’t."

Serena shifted her weight from foot to foot trying to figure out what to say, but finally gave up and stomped back to the school building. Xander was waiting for her in the courtyard.

She stopped to drag him along with her, as she gestured wildly.

I thunked my head against the tree. Shit. Why did I have to lose my temper? I’d probably lost the only friend I had at St. Francis’s.

A group of girls had gathered in the courtyard to watch the scene. The whispers and giggles annoyed me.

"Show’s over, ladies," I said.

They laughed again. If I concentrated, I could hear what they were whispering, but that wouldn’t do me any good. Humming to myself I trudged back to the school building.

I grabbed my backpack and the books I needed from my locker and slammed it shut. This was turning into a disaster of epic proportions. There was no way it was going to work. I pulled my schedule from my pocket, and looked down at what I had left. As I scanned the sheet, I realized another awful gem. Didn’t Serena say that Brent taught martial arts?

The bell rang, echoing through the now-empty hallway.

Great. I was late for the class taught by Mr. Langdon. That would really make him want to go easy on the "implications."

I dropped my head back against the locker, its metal cool against my skin. I had to stay strong. I’d been through bad times before. Nothing this bad, but still, I’d get past this. I had no other choice.

Everyone was already in their seats when I finally walked into Were history, but Mr. Langdon had yet to arrive. The people in the room looked so much younger than the seniors, but that made it that much more apparent that I didn’t belong.

Having another incident was not an option. Ever. I made myself take a deep breath and then searched the room for an empty seat.

Guilt weighed heavy on my shoulders. Serena really had made facing class easier, and I paid her back by being a raging bitch. I promised myself I’d apologize as soon as I saw her.

For now, I had to sit down. I spotted a space behind a guy with scraggly brown hair.

He twisted in his chair as I walked by. "What was it like being bitten?"

I paused for the punch line. He had to be kidding with this. "Are you seriously asking me?"

He nodded. "Did it hurt a ton?"

I dropped my backpack on the desk. "If you really want to know, you could always go find a rabid dog to bite you." I sat down and grabbed a notebook.

The girl next to me tapped my shoulder. "Excuse me, but I—we were wondering if you knew he was a werewolf?"

I scanned the room. All eyes were on me. Where in the hell was Mr. Langdon?

"The thing is Brent is really, really nice," the girl continued. "He wouldn’t have done something like that without a reason. So maybe you wanted to be a werewolf?"

Talk about an invasion of privacy. These kids had cajones for sure. "No, I didn’t know. And I most certainly did not want to be a werewolf."

"But it’s the rule," the girl said. "Before biting someone you have to make sure they’re clear on what they’re getting into. Plus you need their permission and the local alpha’s."

"Well, if that’s the rule then maybe you should be asking Brent why he broke it."

She scoffed. "That would be rude."

I narrowed my gaze at her. "And it’s not rude for you to ask me?"

At least she had the decency to blush at that.

"Callista has been saying that—"

I growled. What was Callista’s problem? I forced myself to take ten deep breaths before speaking. "What’s she saying?"

"Well, you know, she’s Brent’s girlfriend and all..." The growl got louder and she shrank in her seat. "Well, maybe ex-girlfriend, I guess? I’m sure now that you’re up and about, you’ll be able to set the record straight."

I clenched and unclenched my gloved hands a few times. I had to get my emotions under control. Why should I care if Brent had a girlfriend anyway? It just showed how much of a creep he was. I grabbed one of the sandwiches Serena had given me this morning, took a big bite and chewed. If these people weren’t going to stop asking me questions, then I needed to get a better handle on the whole hungry-wolf thing.

Mr. Langdon swept into the room, taking the focus away from me. A frenzy of movement rippled through the class as everyone pulled out notebooks and pens.

I noticed a weird phenomenon with the teachers. Whenever they walked into a room, there was this feeling—almost like a compulsion—to sit up and pay attention. It was worse with Mr. Langdon, and that bugged me. I kept my gaze on him as I slouched in my chair, slowly tucking into the second sandwich.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I trust that you are making our newest student feel welcome." He glanced my way, smirking when he saw how low I sat in my seat.

"Continuing from last lecture—Tenet Number Five of the Were Law. Who can tell me what that is?"

A blonde in front raised her hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Langdon."

"Yes, Nikki?"

"We were discussing Tenet Number One before class. There seems to be some issue with that right now, and the punishment for it."

What was it with the girls in this school? Mr. Langdon scowled at Nikki. I smiled. Looked like Mr. Langdon didn’t care for her either.

He pulled some papers out of his satchel and stopped at my desk. He looked down at me and sighed before handing me a syllabus. "Let’s review what we know about biting humans."

Son of a bitch.

I quickly scanned the syllabus. They’d covered this two weeks ago. I plopped my head down on my desk.

Could today get any worse? Please, I double dog dare you.

I picked my head up in time to see a hand rise in the front row—a guy with spiky black hair.

"It’s dangerous, which is why you have to have permission. Only one in a hundred guys can survive the transformation. And almost no girls live through it, more like one in ten thousand. Which is why some people think that boys outnumber girls so much." He pointed at me. "That’s why everyone’s curious about her."

Goosebumps broke out over my skin. I could’ve died? Did Brent even think about that?