My Secret, My Bully, My Mates

Chapter 0001

Skylar just wants to be an asset to her pack. She's the daughter of the Beta and her brother is set to

take the title after graduation. Her father wants nothing to do with her and is constantly belittling the

things she does accomplish. She is the top of her class and the top warrior, but no one knows because

she hides in the shadows as much as possible.

Her bullies torture her, but never get caught. She takes them on time and time again though to protect

other innocent members of her pack.

Her brother and his friends ignore her existance and all she wants to do is get out of a pack that

doesn't seem to want her and become an Elite Warrior for the Alpha King. She want's to feel wanted

and accepted somewhere.

Her whole world changes when a new girl shows up and decides to befriend Skylar after an intense

training session. She brings Skylar out of the shadows and brings to light the darker side of pack

members.

Can Skylar get past her past and live the life she wants?

******************

Skylar

6th grade:

I’m walking into school behind my brother and Oliver, one of his best friends. They really don’t pay any

attention to me and only let me follow them to school because Mary makes them bring me. Mary is my

nanny, she has been with me as long as I can remember. My dad is the beta of the pack and really

busy, so Mary was brought on to teach me how to ‘behave like a lady,’ which basically means teach me

to be silent unless spoken to and out of the way of the men. She does nothing of the sort, but my dad

doesn’t know that, as long as I make a good show when he’s around.

My brother spends most of his time with the future Alphas, Cameron and Dakota, the future Delta, Sam

and the future Gamma Oliver. They travel in a group wherever they go, they are almost worse than

some of the girls here.

Mary told him to make sure I got to and from school safely after I came home last week with a bruise

under my eye and scrapes up my arm. I tried to tell her it was an accident and that I tripped, it was not

a big deal, but she didn’t believe me. She knows I have been having trouble with kids at the school. I

live in a werewolf pack that feeds on hierarchy and dominance, of course at some point we are all

going to start trying to showcase our dominance, we’re middle schoolers.

What I have seen though is it’s more the non-ranked kids who are trying to show off for the ranked kids.

They are trying to gain status by being noticed. It’s funny to think that some kids are popular, just for

the rank they were born into, not what they have actually done. Obviously, everybody wants to be the

Alpha’s kids friends. That’s the height of all popularity. My brother, Sam and Oliver aren’t far behind

being rank born. I, however, don't matter, even though I am the Beta’s daughter and have Beta blood. I

am the reason that my mother is dead, and that is reason enough to shun me to lower than an Omega.

That is why Mary fears for me, she has seen how kids openly treat me and no adult does a thing to

stop it, not even my father.

“Move it fatty. You’re taking up the whole hallway and walking slower than a turtle. Are you sure you’re

a wolf?” Kaley sneers behind me. I just move to the side to try and get out of her way. She sticks her

foot between my legs and I trip sideways head first into a locker not being able to catch myself with my

armful of books.

The crash brings everyone to a halt. All eyes are on me, but the only ones I care about are my

brother’s. He turned to look at the sound and when I made eye contact he just shook his head, rolled

his eyes and turned to walk away, Oliver and Kaley following him. The rest of the kids in the hallway

disperse too, some laughing quietly, others not so quietly, but no one stops to help me up.

7th Grade:

“Don’t you ever question my authority in front of another student again!” Kaley shoulder checks me into

a door leading out to the courtyard in the middle of the school.

“I didn’t question your authority, I told you that you can’t hit kids just because they are in your way. If

you were late, that is not their fault.” I shouldn’t snap back at her, it only fuels her fire, but she’s starting

to get on my nerves. She was late because she skipped second period to go get coffee with her friends

and was late getting back to third period, who happens to be a teacher that will report her to her father.

Although nothing ever seems to happen when she is reported.

I right myself, set my focus down the hallway and move to walk away from the door that was holding

me up, but before I can get two steps, Marnie, one of Kaley’s little minions steps out to trip me, then

proceeds to dump her iced latte on my head. I hear cackles of laughter then others join in, meaning we

attracted a crowd.

I look up to see my brother and his friends joining in with the laughter. “Maybe if you trained a little

harder and lost some of that baby fat, you wouldn’t be so clumsy.” Kaley says not-so quietly to me then,

“Hey boys, are we up for hanging out at the fire pit tonight?” To my brother and his friends.

Chapter 0002

Skylar

Fall of 8th grade

“Come back here you little b*tch.” A brunette goes flying by me with Barbie number 2, Jeanie, stomping

after her awkwardly in her wedges and skirt so short and tight I wonder how she managed to keep all

her bits covered making the smallest of movements, let alone attempted running. She looks livid and I

can see the other two Barbies coming up behind her, strutting, since running or normal walking is not

possible in the sky high shoes they are wearing.

I don’t know what happened, but these three came back from their summer trip abroad and decided

they were the queens of the school and normal rules of decency didn’t apply to them. They were never

what anyone would call nice, but they didn’t outwardly harass people either.

As the beta’s daughter it was my job to make sure all pack members were protected, even from our

own. My father may not want me or take me seriously, my older brother was the true beta, but I took my

rank and status seriously anyway since that is the one thing he beat into our heads since birth. We

were not to embarrass him in any way as the Beta, the image was the most important thing to him.

I step in front of Jeanie, hands up hopefully in a sign of peace. “Why are you chasing her? What did

she do, Jeanie?”

Jeanie almost falls over trying to stop her momentum in her sl*tty getup.

“She got me a D on my paper! That little b*tch was supposed to make me sound smart and get me an

easy grade. She purposely got me a bad grade to embarrass me in front of the new teacher. Get out of

my way, Skylar.” She snarls at me and tries to push me out of the way looking at me like I am some

piece of trash under her designer shoe.

“Did you pay her to do a good job, or did you just pick a smart kid in your class and tell them they were

doing your work?”

“What does that matter? I am a warrior and she is just an omega. She is beneath me and should be

glad I was talking to her in the first place.”

“Her rank and yours have nothing to do with your school work, and last I checked you are no warrior.

You are lazy, and don’t make time to train, let alone be considered competent. That’s your fault, do your

own work. Leave her alone. She didn’t volunteer and you didn’t pay her, she owes you nothing.” I

refuse to move from her path. I don’t have my beta aura yet, but I figure fake it until you make it right. I

stand up as tall as I can, which is not much at my five foot nothing height, and keep stepping in her

path as she tries to step around me, to keep her away from the girl. As a ‘warrior’ she should be more

agile and be able to easily step around me, but training isn’t on this ‘warrior's’ agenda.

“You need to watch what you say to your betters, you murderer. You are not worth sharing breathing

room with. Your dad thinks so, your brother thinks so. No one wants you around, so move.” Kaley

sneers as she walks up and steps around Jeanie. Marnie, hot on her heels like the good little minion

she is, forms the triangle they have decided makes them the most intimidating. I think they have seen

Mean Girls too many times. “No one cares about you or your worthless opinions. No one in this pack

humiliates us and gets away with it.”

With that she shoves past me and heads straight for my brother and his friends. I know they heard

what she said to me, werewolves have above average hearing, but as the Future Alphas, Beta,

Gamma and Delta, they all have extraordinary hearing. They don’t even flinch at her hateful words.

They believe if you can’t take a little criticism, you’re too weak to deal with in the first place. It’s not the

first time she’s said those words to me, but they don’t hurt any less the longer I hear them. I blink back

the tears burning my eyes, take a deep breath and head home. I hope the girl got away at least. I hope

she can avoid those three, but I might have just prolonged the inevitable. I have a feeling this year is

going to be a long one. I just need to keep my head down, keep my grades up and stay out of their

way. Just a few more years and I can leave this hell hole.

Fall of 9th Grade

SLAM.

Well, that hurt more than it normally does. A groan slips out of my mouth. I don’t remember the lockers

biting back so hard. That’s what I’m thinking as I slide down to the floor with my eyes closed and feel

the back of my head where it hit the locker, awaiting the next blow.

“Happy Monday to you too.” I mutter to no one in particular.

“You fat cow, stop getting in my way.” Kaley hisses at me before she slaps me. I can feel a little bit of

blood trickle from the side of my mouth, she doesn’t hit that hard, but her fake nails are as sharp as cat

claws. I can hear a couple chuckles and one is a little deeper than the others, that would explain the

hard blow into the locker. She had one of the boys throw me this time. I don’t look around though,

Kaley may skip all of our fight training, but she has proven she can provide torture in many other ways

and there are plenty of people who want to be in her circle so bad that they will do anything to anyone

to gain approval.

“What did I do this time, your highness?” I ask sarcastically, risking a look up at her. I’m hoping to keep

her attention long enough for the kid she was screaming at to run away. Kaley doesn’t get her hands

dirty anymore, she found out quickly when you are popular or just plain evil, people will do just about

anything to stay on your good side, in the hopes of vicarious status or to not be the next victim. Having

her father on the school board helps too. None of her actions have ever been caught on camera, so

there isn’t proof of anything she does, except the marks all over me, and she has everyone believing I

am a weak nobody, that can’t take a hit or heal very quickly. A few kids have been suspended because

of her. She harassed one so badly he moved away from our pack to go to school in a neighboring pack

where his grandparents live. All because he wouldn’t break up with his girlfriend for her. We were in the

fifth grade. Who is thinking about that in the fifth grade? No one talks about that though. The line the

pack members believe or at least spread about is he needed extra guidance that the other school

provides.

“You do not stop me from disciplining a pup. That little toe rag purposely ruined my brand new designer

shoes in front of the whole school. She deserves to be punished.” Kaley tosses her platinum bleached

hair over her shoulder and rolls her crystal blue eyes at me like I am the dumbest person in the world

for not understanding that. It wasn’t the ‘whole school’ it was my brother, the future beta, along with the

future alphas, gamma and delta. Those five boys are rarely separated. She was trying to gain the

attention of Dakota and Cameron, our future alphas, like most of the girls in our school. Her little

minions were focused on the other three, they didn’t really care which one gave them attention as long

as they were noticed. As Marnie and Jeanie were ogling the guys, Marnie tripped over this little fourth

grader and dumped whatever frufru iced coffee drink all down Kaley’s legs. Kaley will never admit when

she and her friends are in the wrong though.

The guys walk off chuckling, not even noticing the red tinge to Kaley’s eyes, showing she’s about to

blow a gasket. Although, I don’t think she has ever shown them that side of her. She’s not dumb

enough to show them her true colors. Her and her friends want to stay in the ranked circle. These boys

rule the school like they think our parents rule this pack. They have no idea what they are actually

doing, but they like the adoration, you can see it in their eyes. Acting tough and ‘leading by example,’

as they call it. If you want to be the best, act like it, until someone makes you prove it, then don’t lose.

Chapter 0003

I can’t blame Kaley and her friends for tripping over themselves around the future Alphas and their

friends, really. The guys are a year ahead of us in school and just came back from summer training.

Since they will all take over for their fathers when they graduate high school, they have been doing

their respective rank training for the last two summers at a compound the Alpha King has on his castle

grounds. They will train one month each summer for the rest of their high school career. I think the

training keeps them from getting into trouble while they are out of school for the summer, but I’m sure

they learn a lot too. They also get to build relations with the other future ranked members in our

alliances and in our Alpha King’s territory. What could go wrong putting fifty or so high ranking teenage

kids together for a whole month teaching them battle skills, strategy, pack maintenance? I’m sure it’s a

pissing match the first few days.

The Alphas learn about caring for the pack financially and dealing with disputes amongst members.

They are the strongest in the pack and usually at frontline of defense when attacks happen and must

put the pack first. The Beta's job is to take on any responsibilities from the Alpha or Alpha's that don't

need direct influence from the Alpha. The Beta is second in command and the Alpha's right hand

person. The Gamma's job is similar to the Beta, but they are the Luna's second in command and her

prime protector. The Delta is the lead warrior, incharge of the packs defense and safety. They each

have a job that is way more complicated and stressful than it sounds and many pack members,

including the future ranked members, take for granted what goes on behind the scenes.

I think that is why the ALpha King does his summer training, it pulls these ranked kids out of a childish

setting like school and places them in a more real world situation. Some adapt better than others. I

think the Alpha King also likes to know of friendships and rivalries early on, and what better way than to

see them all in action, away from the influence of their parents. Our Alpha King does a good job of

keeping the ridiculous pack leaders from causing trouble, but there is always someone trying to gain a

better rank through alliances, treaties and forcing chosen mates on their children. Sometimes kids act

better when the political aspirations are not a part of the training. There are several Alpha King’s

throughout the word and they have a direct connection to the moon goddess herself through their Luna

Queens. They are the full governing body for all werewolves, but work together when disputes or wars

get too big for just one to handle.

This year when the guys came back they were all almost unrecognizable. Each of them had a massive

growth spurt and put on muscles like it was their job. They were all good looking before, even my

brother, but now they looked like men, very very, hot men. They all stood over six feet tall and were as

wide as a standard doorway. As they get closer to 18, their auras are developing as well, which has

many uses. Their aura lets you know you are in the presence of a stronger wolf, they use it to

command lower ranking wolves and it attracts s*xual partners. A wolf’s goal is to have a strong mate to

procreate with, the higher the rank, the stronger the wolf.

All of the girls in the pack noticed and started throwing themselves at these guys. I think my brother has

been out with a different girl every night since they have been back. Pretty sure the noises from his

room late at night are him entertaining a few as well. It’s kind of gross to think of my brother like that,

but all of them seem to have become manwh*res. They aren’t the only ones, just the most notorious.

Let’s just say the janitor’s closet gets a lot of use by the student population. I guess, though, if you can’t

beat them, join them and these girls are willing participants.

It was kind of sad really. We all have fated mates chosen for us by the moon goddess, I can’t imagine

messing around and possibly gaining feelings for someone who might not be mine, that would suck to

have them be all like ‘I love you, you're the only person’ and then have the mate bond kick in with

someone else and be kicked to the curb. I’ve seen it a few times here in the pack. It looks miserable.

We can always take a chosen mate, and some packs do that for the higher ranking members, claiming

bloodlines make the pack stronger, but I think the moon goddess has other plans and we are strongest

with our given mate. I’m waiting around for mine.

“Are you even f*cking listening to me?”

I shake my head of my random thoughts and look back at Kaley.

“Not really, just leave the little kids alone, they don’t understand or care about your expensive shoes or

that your friends can’t walk in theirs and need to be given a wide berth.” I say with as bored a tone as I

can. The more emotions I show the longer the beatings last. “Besides your clumsy friend is the reason

that pup tripped in the first place, but I don’t see you beating her down. Pick on people your own size.”

Was my retort which earned me another slap. More blood runs from my lip. Just great, something I’ll

have to hide at home for the next couple hours until it heals.

At least I have my wolf to help now, last year trying to hide the bruises and cuts I got from Kaley and

her girls was really hard. My father doesn’t pay much attention to me, he doesn't even know I got my

wolf at the end of 8th grade, right after my brother and all the guys, but he did notice the first time Kaley

left marks on my arms and a small bruise on my cheek. He only noticed my arm when we had to make

an appearance with the Alpha and I had a short sleeved dress on. He wasn’t as concerned for my

health as he was his reputation as the beta with his daughter getting into fights and causing trouble

with pack members or worse, being too weak to defend myself in training. He wouldn’t even listen to

what happened. He sent me to my room without dinner and kept me home from school the following

day until the bruise faded completely.

It’s not that my father hates me. That’s a lie, I don’t want him to hate me. But he blames me for my

mother’s death. He’s never said it directly to my face, but he rarely says anything directly to me, I have

heard him make comments to others though. She died in childbirth with me and I don’t think he ever

got completely over the loss of his mate. According to the nanny I had up until last year, I look just like

her and that probably makes him a little sad at the constant reminder. My brother was better with me,

we used to be really close, we’re not even a year apart, but ever since he started his training to

become the next beta a couple years ago, he barely makes time for me, not even at school. They both

put their duty to the pack and their Alphas above everything else including their personal lives.

That, along with Kaley and her girls making sure everyone knows if they even talk to me, in what could

be considered a friendly manner, she will find a way to punish them and me. My last year of middle

school and now high school is shaping up to be pretty lonely. I just have to keep my head down, my

grades up and train hard to get into warrior training and out of this pack.

This wasn’t my first run in with Kaley this year and we have only been in school for two weeks, but this

is where things really started to take a turn for me.

 

Chapter 0004

Kaley, Jeanie and Marnie find some way to torture me every single day after that. Some days it’s small

things like taking a book out of my hands and shredding it all over the hallway while kids just stand

around and watch or the time they pulled my ten page essay out of the pile we were handing forward in

english and tearing it into small pieces and handing it back to me with a ‘whoops.’ I had it saved on my

computer so I was able to reprint it, but the teacher marked it late and gave me only half credit even

though she watched what happened. My father punished me for being lazy when he found out I handed

in an assignment late, again not wanting to even hear my side of the story. I spent the weekend locked

in my room, with no meals. It's times like that when I really miss Mary, she would have snuck me

something, even a granola bar. My brother was nowhere in sight when my father was berating me in

the kitchen after school that day. Since Mary left he no longer has to pretend to watch out for me, even

with our father.

Other times it was physical. Pulling my hair and shoving me into doors and walls is a common favorite.

In class, overly full backpack manage to knock me in the head at least once every class, which is why i

try to be the last in and the first out when I can help it. She made sure no one ever hit me where marks

could be easily seen. I’m pretty sure I have a couple ribs that have been broken so many times, a good

sneeze would probably rebreak them. I won't let my wolf waste energy on healing the small stuff, it's

not worth it, but she makes sure that I’m not in pain for long though. She really is great, her running

commentary on the three Barbie wannabes help lift my mood, especially after some of the more harsh

beat downs. Kaley knows I won’t let her harm kids in the school, especially the younger ones, she uses

this as a way to get to me daily.

My wolf and I have both decided this is for the best though. Even when she has the strongest kids beat

on me, my beta lineage can handle it and we heal faster than Kaley thinks. It seems to keep her and

her friends pacified to take their frustrations out on me and from targeting other kids in the school. As

long as she thinks I’m isolated from everyone and let her pawns target me, she is happy, which means

her friends are happy and there is peace in the school. If you can call a calm raving lunatic ‘peace.’

Having my wolf made things less lonely. We figured out how to get out of my room without my father

knowing, we hunt for food when he keeps it from me. It’s not so bad, I know that I can survive on my

own and in the wild, which sounds nice some days.

That’s what I thought until a new girl showed up mid November. She joined us at our mandatory 5am

pack training. All kids in high school were required to train every morning before school to learn to

protect themselves, even if you were not a warrior. As we got older the training was divided up into

basic training for all pack members, intermediate training for patrols and advanced training for our elite

warriors, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and their mates. The ranked members were the most targeted so

they trained the most. They are also our strongest, so they tend to be on the frontlines of an attack.

I loved training and went to every one I was allowed to attend, much to my brother’s irritation I was

allowed to go to everything being a beta by blood. He would always give me dirty looks when I made

eye contact with him. I don’t know why it bothered him and I didn’t really care. I kept my distance from

him and all the guys and just did my own thing. I was only one of two females who chose to come to

the extra trainings, Carra was a senior and was only here because her father, one of our elite warriors,

made her. She came, trained, didn’t talk to anyone and left.

The rest of the females were mates of our current leadership or warriors. The Luna was very nice and a

great fighter, she always kept me on my toes and she and the other females would share stories and

insights while we were sparring. I didn’t usually get to spar with the males during the elite training, the

dads, including mine, were more interested in teaching their proteges. My dad actually did not even

acknowledge I was there. But the Luna and the female warriors had some great tips on how to use my

small size to my advantage, because many guys underestimate a woman in a fight. It amazed me how

short sighted the guys could be. They cherished their mates, praised our female warriors and were

feircely protective but in the end their actions showed they thought their ideas were better than a

female’s and that they were the true protectors of the pack.

Training was the only time I didn’t have to worry about Kaley, Jeanie and Marnie or any of their other

minions messing with me. They weren’t dumb enough to cause the kind of scenes with me that they

usually did with the future alphas, my brother and the rest of the future leaders watching. I could be free

and be myself, in the back where no one could see me. I have often thought about doing warrior

training following school. I even started running the patrol route around the territory in the mornings

before training or after school if I need to avoid people or my house. We don’t have a lot of rogue

attacks, but they do happen and our border patrol keeps us in close contact with neighboring packs in

times of need. I have enjoyed getting to know the patrol warriors and learning what they do as the first

line of defense for our pack.

I am a good student, but that is more due to the pressure my dad puts on me to act like my high rank,

than actually being smart or caring about school. I also have a ton of free time since I don’t hang out

with anyone. Kaley has made sure that no one wants to associate with me on pain of social su*cide.

I was pulled from my thoughts as the lead trainer brought us all in and explained what we were going to

do today and then casually said we have a new member joining us. “She is here with her uncle and

aunt while her parents are working for the Alpha King.”

That got everyone’s attention, including Kaley, who somehow managed to sit on the sidelines in her

short dress and heels, clearly not participating today, like every other day, but she actually showed up

today. I still haven’t figured out how she gets out of mandatory training.

This tall girl walked in like she owned the place, her confident stature was what caught my eye first. Her

youthful, carefree face, long dark brown hair and bright golden honey eyes told me she couldn’t be

much older than me, but the way she held herself and how the eyes of every guy at training followed

her very developed and toned body made me smile at the thought of how the Barbies were going to

take having competition. I must have made a noise out loud, since she turned around and looked right

at me. Delta Kyle told her she could join the group and we would get her up to speed on what we were

working on.

Oh no! She walked right up to me and held her hand out. “Sierra, nice to meet you.”

I just stared at her blinking. It took me a second to register what I was supposed to do. She raised her

eyebrow at me for my hesitation or complete lack of manners before I caught on. “Oh, sorry, Skylar.” I

shook her hand. “I’m not used to people talking to me.” I muttered out awkwardly and quickly let go of

her hand, turning back to the front where Delta Kyle and the lead trainer were giving a few more

instructions. Mentally smacking myself for sounding like an idiot. She looked at me questioningly, but

before she could ask, our trainer divided us into pairs and had us start our warm-up and sparring. He

must have decided I was as good a person as any to work with her since she chose me to talk to first

and he knows I attend all the trainings we have. Delta Kyle is one of the few people who knows that I

want to train to get out of here so he lets me come to the gym and training grounds whenever I want,

he even gave me a key to the gate when I started showing up before him.

Chapter 0005

Sierra was a really good fighter, but so was I. She is really tall compared to me. She has to be like 5'7"

and my 5' 1" stature can't compare, but we are built similarly which helps with learning the new

movements. Her black sports bra and leggings accentuate all the tan and defined muscles in her body,

she could be a supermodel with her curves. I have muscles too, and am actually pretty defined, but I

prefer to not show much skin, it helps hide the injuries, so I tend to appear overweight. Today I have

baggy sweatpants and t-shirt on. I also have a tank top on under the t-shirt. I learned the hard way my

scars and bruising can be found in the heat of a match if I don't have layers. I don't want anyone to see

them and pity me or pretend to try to help. It sounds stupid and my wolf an I have gone around and

around, but I don't want help from people who couldn't be bothered to help me when I was recieveing

the scars in the first place. It's easy for them to make themselves feel better by offering help or

assistance, saying I 'just have to ask,' but in reality they are the same people who turn a blind eye

because their own self preservation is more important than doing what's right. So I keep my pain

hidden.

I like to stay as invisible as possible, but I love sparring. I typically stick to the back of the training group

and only work with warriors that are here to help Delta Kyle train. He has seen my separation from the

group and, I'm sure, has an idea why, so he makes sure there is a warrior there to partner with me.

I don’t know if it’s me or my beta blood but the thrill and adrenaline rush of a good fight always makes

my day better. I am actually a really skilled fighter, even though I let Kaley and her minions beat me up.

It’s just better that she targets only me and not someone else who can’t take the abuse. I don’t fight

back, I learned a long time ago that the beat down goes quick if they get bored. And I don’t get in

trouble if I don’t throw any hits at all, since those do seem to show up on videos and leave marks for a

long time. Kayley had a black eye for a week once not long after I got my wolf, it was chalked up to my

beta blood and a lucky swing, I didn’t argue. But the punishment was terrible. I was suspended from

school for the week and my dad locked me in my room and told Mary she wasn't allowed to talk to me

or feed me. She did neither of those things and she made sure I had all of my work and took my

assignment's to school for me so nothing was late. I wasn't giving anyone any more reasons to punish

me.

Delta Kyle and a few of the advanced pack warriors are walking around correcting form and giving

feedback. “Nice job ladies, you both seem to be the first to grasp the concept I was trying to teach

today.” Delta Kyle says then leans a little closer. “Even the young alphas and beta didn’t catch on as

quickly and they are still struggling.” He whispers and winks at us. “But don’t tell them I said that.” We

both giggle, setting up to run the move again.

“You got it, Delta.” I say. He knew the jab to my brother would make me smile. He’s seen me work my

tail off even if he doesn’t get the chance to help me as much outside of the group training we do here. I

think that is my father’s doing, making my brother and the other future leaders the priority, but I’m not

actually sure.

Delta Kyle acts more like my older brother than my actual older brother does. He’s helped me hide a

few of the more severe injuries I’ve gotten from the constant bullying. And he doesn't judge or ask too

many questions. He and Luna Ava are the only people who know I got my wolf too. It's rare to get your

wolf this young. Sometimes ranked wolves will show up early if they are really strong. I think the Moon

Goddess gave her to me to help me handle the trauma. As much as I love my wolf and appreciate her

help. I wish the Moon Goddess would just make the bullying stop.

Luna Ava has been helping me with shifting and working on the pack link. There is something to be

said for being invisible. And just as I think that, Kyle smashes my thought process and completely

ignores my need to stay unnoticed with his next words.

“I think a demonstration is in order. Sierra, Skylar, why don’t you two show us how the new defensive

move is supposed to look.” He loudly, getting the attention of the whole group, then he smiles at me

and winks and I just want to punch him in his pearly white teeth.

“I really don’t like you.” I say through the mindlink.

“I know, but someone other than me has to see what kind of fighter you are and your brother and the

guys need a lesson in humility. They have been left alone for far too long. Humor me for five minutes.”

“You get two.” I huff and move to face Sierra. She is smiling like I just brought her to her favorite candy

store and told her she can have anything she wants. Oh, goody, she enjoys the attention.

“Ready.” Delta Kyle’s deep authoritative voice booms over the crowd now circling around us. We take

our positions. “Sierra, you are on the attack, Skylar use the new defensive move and lets see if you can

pin her in less than thirty seconds this time.”

I hear mumbles of ‘what?’ ‘30 seconds no way’ and giggles. That sets me and my wolf off. F*ck trying

to be invisible.

Arrogant f*ckers think they are so great, when they can't even submit eachother with basic moves. She

grumbles.

Shall we? I ask my wolf.

Oh, kiddo, I thought you’d never ask. She replies. I can feel just the smallest hint of her energy seeping

into my muscles, I don’t want to hurt Sierra, but if the boys need a lesson, they are going to get one.

I hear a laugh and skeptical murmurs from somewhere in the crowd, but I am too focused on Sierra, my

warrior instinct has kicked in and the laughing jackass isn’t a priority. “No one could complete that move

in under thirty seconds, let alone her.” A snarky high pitched male voice says loud enough for everyone

to hear and cause a low chorus of agreement. Now my blood is boiling as is my wolf’s.

We are taking her down in less than ten and I better not find out which pansy ass insulted us or he’s

going down too. She clips out. I can feel my muscels vibrate with anticipation now.

“Just watch.” Is Delta Kyle’s only, very dry, response. “Set…GO!”

I move immediately on the word ‘go’ . I don't even give Sierra time to come at me. She responds

quickly though and tries to feign to the left then duck down to catch me with her shoulder. I’m too quick

for her and as she starts to duck down I send a knee up toward her chest and face, knocking the wind

out of her. As her body comes up from the momentum I make an elbow strike to her back and she

reaches out to wrap her arms around my waist trying to force me down. Instead of fighting the

momentum, I allow it, but twist so I fall on top of her and shift to pin her throat to the ground with one of

my knees and have her arm in a lock she can’t get out of.

My eyes are locked on Sierra's. Hers are wide in amazement, surprise maybe, I'm not really sure. The

first thing I notice is silence, not even breathing can be heard. The next is a hand patting me on the

back. I look up and see Delta Kyle beaming at me looking like he is fighting off laughter. What is funny?

I don't understand.

“Less than ten seconds, damn, Sorry Sam, she beat your best take down time... by a lot!” Delta Kyle

says loud and clear while he shrugs his shoulders at his son, laughing a bit now, not being able to hold

it back.

I stand up and help Sierra to her feet. “Sh*t you’re fast. You’re going to have to help me learn how to

react like that.” She says with a mischievous look in her eyes. I just nod, because what else is there to

do? When she finds out where I fall in the high school pecking order, she will not want anything to do

with me. I do notice the crowd is more subdued than usual at the end of training, but I also don’t care

so much, I took her down in under ten seconds. I had to fight a smile, that is something that would for

sure get me beat up, I'm not supposed to be good at anything. I grab my things and notice a presence

beside me, Sierra is just following my lead, without a word. It’s kind of weird, but I don’t say anything, I

just turn around and start walking. We head towards the locker room together. It’s so strange to have

someone walking next to me by choice.

Chapter 0006

“I really do want to know how you got that fast. And your moves are better than I have seen at some of

the warrior camps back home.” My eyes snap to hers, eyebrows furrowed, she’s just being nice now.

“Umm, okay. I really just train a lot, that’s all.” I didn’t know her enough to tell her about getting my wolf

so early, which is part of the reason I am so fast.

Most kids get them sometime between Sophomore and Junior years. The young Alphas and my

brother and the rest of the guys all got theirs in the middle of their freshman year, which is typical for

powerful high ranking wolves. I got mine at the end of my 8th grade year though, which is rare and had

me freaking out, since it wasn’t that long after the guys and even though I have beta blood, I’m not

really a ranked member, nor am I likely to be one. When I told Delta Kyle he brought me to Luna Ava

and she has been helping me ever since.

“Hey, Sky, here.” I look over to see Delta Kyle slow jogging toward us with something small in his hand.

“Your shirt rode up a bit in the back, I think you opened up one of your more recent injuries.” He looks

at me expectantly and I give him the same look back. I’m not having this conversation in front of the

first non-adult to talk to me in years. The new girl doesn’t know me and I don’t want to freak her out.

I take the small container. “Thank you Delta, is there anything else?” His look tells me he doesn’t

appreciate my attitude and yes, he has plenty more he wants to say. He crosses his massive arms over

his chest trying to look intimidating. The problem is, it works on everyone but me.

“Not now, okay? I promise I will explain later.” I mindlink. I have to give him something or he will keep

hounding me.

“Fine, when I figure out who is doing this, there will be hell to pay.”

“Which is why you won’t find out. You have bigger things to worry about than petty school bullies who

are so weak they have to resort to silver powder to actually cause pain.”

He lets out an audible growl and I can feel his Delta aura flow out from him. Everyone stops and looks

at us. I should not have let that bit of information out. Everyone that is not an Alpha, Beta, Gamma or

Delta rank tilts their heads down and to the side in submission. My wolf feels the power and recognizes

that he, as an adult with full rank, is more powerful than me, but my Beta blood allows me to fight it. I

do not break eye contact. He has no idea how strong my wolf makes me, but I can’t submit. My wolf

and my pride won’t let me. I do notice that Sierra is also able to fight the full submission. Her chin is still

raised, but her eyes are lowered in respect. I wonder what rank she is in her pack?

“What are high schoolers doing with silver powder? That is used as a more gruesome interrogation

tactic and torture. You need to tell me who this is, Sky, NOW! This is no longer a game.” He is seething,

I can feel it radiating off of him in waves.

“No! I handled it and I won’t have you causing more trouble by stepping in. It makes me look weak and

I am already a target, you’ll just make it worse. Every time someone tries to help, it only makes things

worse.”

Before he could respond I turned around and headed into the locker rooms to shower and get ready for

school. Sierra just followed me and said nothing about the staring contest I just had with our head

trainer.

I went to my locker and grabbed my shower stuff. I take all of my things to the furthest cubicle and

close the outside curtain. I set my clothes and towel on the bench in the little changing area just outside

the shower stall before turning on the water as warm as my body could handle it and step in closing the

shower curtain. I like having the double barrier, I never change out in the open, I don’t want anyone

seeing the bruises and cuts on my body, especially now with the lashes on my back that are taking

forever to heal because Kaley rubbed silver powder in them after they whipped me. Kyle was right

though, I could feel the sting of the hot water on the open wound and watched the blood flow down the

drain tinting the water pink.

Once I was done showering I reached my hand out of the curtain to grab my towel, not taking any

chances at being seen and wrapped myself up nice and tight. Once I felt like I was completely covered

I opened the curtain only to jump and yell “Oh, damn! Don’t do that!”

Sierra just laughed at me leaning against the wall like it was the most normal thing to invade

someone’s privacy in stealth mode.

“You forgot this, and you may need help putting it on, some of those cuts are in hard to reach places.”

She whispers at me and then twirls her finger motioning me to turn around as if the discussion is over. I

don't move, just stare at her. “I am going to help you whether you cooperate or not, so it would save us

some time, if you just willingly let me help you.” She just stares unblinkingly. “I am not going to ask

questions, yet.” Her determined look doesn't waver.

Okay, help it is then. I loosened my towel and exposed my back where there were fifteen lashes. The

oldest five were from the fifteen minutes of time I wasted asking a question in history class, causing us

to take extra notes and have a pop quiz. Even though our teacher mentioned the quiz the day before

making it a ‘known’ quiz. There was no negotiating with a fuming Kaley. The newest ten happened at

the end of last year, right after the guys got their wolves. I guess that upped their celebrity factor and

me asking my brother a question while standing next to the rest of them was too close a proximity.

Apparently it is a punishable crime to be in the personal space of people that are better than you.

If Sierra was surprised or grossed out she didn’t say anything. She was super gentle, applying the

cream to every cut on my back. “There are a few here that are older, but the cream might help get rid of

some of the scar tissue. I’m sure my parents could give us something more powerful –”

“No! I am handling it, I promise. You don’t need to tell your parents. Thank you though.” I didn’t want to

be rude, she was just trying to help, but I was not going to give Kaley the idea that I was too weak to

take her so-called punishments and if I let Sierra talk to her parents about this, the possibility it gets

back to the Alpha and Luna and who knows who else. The less people who know the better it is for me.

“If you say so. Anyway, I need someone to show me around the school, you up for it?” She changed

the subject so abruptly that I almost got whiplash.

“Uh sure, let me get dressed then we can head over and get your schedule.” She didn’t take the hint to

step out and I was forced to awkwardly get dressed under my towel. I'm pretty sure she knows she's

making me uncomfortable.

We headed to the school which was just a block away from the training grounds. I took Sierra to the

main office and introduced her to the secretary who got her all set up with her schedule, locker and

combination, then we headed out to tour the school since we were still about 45 minutes early. Most of

the kids went home after training. I just found hanging with Delta Kyle or in the locker room kept me

safe from Kaley for a little while longer. I found out Sierra and I were in a few classes together, she’s a

year older than me, like the guys, but I was taking some advanced classes, which in my school just

meant ‘the next grade up.’

“So our first two classes are together at least, that will make things way more fun.” She says with a little

happy chirp in her voice. “You’ll have to point out all of the people to know and who to stay away from.”

“Uh, I don’t think I’m the person to do that. I tend to keep to myself and blend into the background as

much as possible. I am not popular at all and avoid the social scene like it is my job.” I said as we made

it to the first class of the day and walked to the back of the room to take my usual seat. She just huffed

in response, but didn’t say anything and followed me back.

Chapter 0007

The day actually went pretty smoothly, I didn’t even have any run-ins with Kaley and her crew. I wasn’t

sure if that was because of the display this morning at training or the new friend I seemed to have

acquired. No one talked to me or really looked at me, but no one actively tried to do anything to me

either. Either way the break was nice and I found myself smiling as I walked down the hallway to put

my things in my locker at the end of the day. Of course good things only last for small moments for me.

“You think you’re so tough, being Delta Kyle’s favorite suck up. I bet that’s not the only thing you suck,

it’s the only explanation for how you manage to gain his attention.” I ignore Kaley even though I am

completely disgusted by her insinuation. I take a deep breath and continue shuffling things in my locker,

hoping she will get bored and walk away, now that she has thrown her insult. She slams my locker

shut. I’m just lucky my reflexes are fast otherwise I would have lost fingers.

But, before she can spit whatever venom she has at me, Sierra walks up. “Hey girl, I am so hungry and

you promised me to hang out after school.” Sierra completely ignores Kaley’s presence and I catch the

look of death Kaley is throwing her way. I had to stifle a laugh.

“I almost forgot, sorry, I was trying to make sure I had everything I needed to get my work done this

weekend.” I turn my back on Kaley and we take about two steps before she shouts.

“Hey, new girl, you’ll want to watch who you hang out with. Some people in this school will give you a

bad reputation and only cause you problems.” We both look back at her.

“Thanks for the tip.” Sierra links her arm into mine and starts to turn us away again.

I hear clicks of heels approaching us. “Listen here, you little… Hey guys!” Kaley’s voice goes from

venom to bubble gum in a flash and I notice she is looking over our shoulders.

A general bored mumble of ‘hey’ comes from the group of guys walking our way. Seriously? I just want

to melt into a wall.

“Damn, they are even hotter up close.” Sierra says quietly to me, turning us around to face my brother

and his friends as they walk up to us. I just roll my eyes at her. They have never approached me in

school before, like ever. So I can only assume they are here for the beautiful brunette friend I have

acquired today.

I can’t deny these guys are gorgeous and unfortunately they all know it too. My brother, Mateo, and I

look almost identical, with sandy blonde hair and gray blue eyes, getting most of our looks from our

mother. The only difference is his build is exactly like my fathers’, wide at the shoulders and narrow at

the waist. He keeps his stick straight hair military short on the sides and in the back and longer on top.

It looks like he ran his fingers through it a couple times to make it stick straight up, but somehow the

look works for him.

The future Delta, Sam, is Kyle's son. And he looks like he just stepped out of a Hurley surfing ad with

wavy sun-kissed light blonde hair that hangs just below his ears, dark blue eyes and lean muscles.

He’s tall but not as wide set as the other guys, but he is no less ripped and one of the fastest warriors I

have ever seen.

Oliver, our future Gamma, looks like your stereotypical biker. Medium length, dark brown, almost black

hair that falls forward obscuring his face and piercing brown eyes that are almost as dark give off a

‘don’t mess with me’ vibe. He has tattoos on both forearms and one on his chest, just peeking out of

the collar of his shirt. He is the most quiet of the group, lending to the mysteriousness. His expression

is regularly bordering on resting b*tch face.

Our future alphas are twins that could melt you with one glance, or maybe that was just me. They both

had black hair with a gentle wave to it. They both kept their hair short on the sides and back like my

brother. Cameron was always perfectly groomed, no curl on top of his head was out of place. His light

green eyes softened his severely sharp features though. Dakota let his curls do whatever they wanted

on the top of his head. I had often wondered what it would be like to run my fingers through those soft

curls. Dakota’s baby blue eyes were more playful than his brothers, he was definitely the troublemaker

of the two.

Somebody must have said something, because Sierra elbowed me in the ribs. Oh, Goddess, please let

me not be drooling. I mentally facepalm myself. “I’m sorry, what?” I look around having no idea what we

were supposed to be talking about.

“I was just saying, nice moves at training today. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to work on those again at

advanced training and you can give us some tips. Sam needs to redeem his top takedown time.”

Cameron says to me, smiling, and Dakota laughs, slapping Sam on the back.

I just smile and nod, feeling a little dumbfounded. I have no idea how to respond. These guys have

never talked to me more than a ‘hi’ in passing at my house before and never at school. Even though

they have been friends with my brother for their whole lives and spend a ridiculous amount of time at

my house. This is the longest interaction I have ever had with any of them.

He, he, he. A weird forced, high pitched giggle comes from my left. I looked over and didn’t even

realize Kaley was standing next to me. She reached out and put her hand on Cameron’s chest. “You’re

so funny babe, Sam is one of the best warriors we have, I bet he could do that move with one hand tied

behind his back. His dad was just being nice to Sierra and S-Skylar.” Did she just choke on my name?

She’s never really used it before. I’m normally just the b-word to her. “It’s not fair to wolves lower than

you guys.”

Who is she calling a lower wolf? I can feel my muscles shake with my wolf’s irritation. I look down at the

ground and blink a few times to make sure my eyes aren’t changing color, giving away that I have my

wolf.

Cameron takes a slow breath in and takes an almost imperceptible step back as his twin chimes in.

“Nope, I’m pretty sure Sam sucks and needs to start from the basics again. Maybe we should send him

to train with the pups for the week.” Dakota laughs out and my brother joins him this time. So does

Sierra and I allow myself a giggle. I can’t help it, their laughs are infectious. This is the first time in a

long time I have felt comfortable around my brother and his friends and probably the first time ever in a

public setting like school. I break eye contact and look away, taking a few deep breaths to settle my

mind around that. I look back up at my brother. A sort of pained look flashes in my brother’s eyes I can’t

quite read, does he not want to be over here talking to me? The thought that he doesn’t want me

shouldn't sting this bad, since it’s really the only solid emotion I ever get from him, but my heart sinks

into my stomach. I quickly break eye contact and look at the floor again. I don’t want to earn more slaps

for someone’s weird fetish over my brother.

“As much as I enjoy making fun of your boy Sam here.” She pats Sam’s arm. “Skylar promised me

some food, we were just heading out to eat, if you will excuse us gentlemen.” Sierra basically pushes

us through the wall of six foot tall guys like it was no big deal and leads me toward the parking lot of the

training grounds where she left her car this morning. I hear a huff behind us, but I’m not sure who it was

and can’t wait to get out of here as soon as possible.

“How do you already have a car?” I ask, knowing she isn’t 16 yet.

“I was able to get my license early, with special permission from the Alpha of course.” she winks at me.

“My parents were always so busy researching and working for the Alpha King that I needed a way to

get around. As long as I don’t go joyriding or do anything else stupid behind the wheel, I get to keep my

license.” She shrugs like that is a totally normal thing. I have a feeling she can talk anyone into just

about anything without putting much effort into it.

“Hey!” A shout from behind us has us both turning around just before we get in her car. “I almost forgot,

are you guys coming to the bonfire tonight?” Sam comes jogging up to us.

 

Chapter 0008

Sam’s POV

“She is here with her uncle and aunt while her parents are working for the Alpha King.” That got my

attention. She who? Dad didn’t say anything about any girl visiting the pack.

Just as that thought flitted across my mind the most drop dead gorgeous girl struts onto the training

grounds just ahead of my father. She knew how to make an entrance. She casually glanced around the

crowd and then made her way to the opposite end as the guys and I. She was clearly talking to

someone I couldn’t see then turned around giving her full attention to my dad and the other warriors

training us today.

Dad had gone over this new move with us a few days ago so I wasn’t really paying attention to the

explanation, I was more interested in the new girl.

“Did you know a new girl was coming into the pack?” I asked Dakota who was closest to me.

“Dad and mom said something about her doing her sophomore year here with us. Her parents work for

the Alpha King and are on some kind of mission, so she’s here with family.” He just shrugs.

“I call dibs, the girls around here are needy and boring, I’m over them.

“You call dibs, huh? What if she doesn’t want your ugly ass? Then what?” Oliver shoves my shoulder.

“No way, I’m the best looking out of all of us. If anyone is going to get her attention, it’s me.” I reply, not

taking my eyes off her.

“Wanna bet?” Mateo asks.

“Depends. What are the stakes?”

“Get her to come to the bonfire tonight, but it can’t be a date…” Mateo starts.

“She has to show up on her own…” Dakota adds.

“And you have to be the first guy she talks to…” Oliver supplies.

“And you can’t approach her until she does.” Cameron finished.

That means I am going to have to keep the leeches busy, she’ll never come talk to me with our usual

stalkers hanging around. Damn, they were not going to make this easy.

“Time’s a wastin’.” Dakota points to his wrist where a watch would be.

“Fine, I’m in. But if I win, none of you can poach her.”

“Deal.” They all said in unison.

Now I just have to get her attention. Well, she seems to be pretty fit, so maybe I can work my way over

and get my dad to pair her with me. As I turn to move in that direction I see dad’s second pair her with

Mateo’s sister. Man that girl is tiny, if they didn’t look alike you wouldn’t know they were related.

Mateo is outgoing and takes his job as the next beta very seriously, almost too seriously. Sky is super

shy and keeps to herself. I bet being the second born, her beta blood just isn’t as strong as Mateo’s.

I beat everyone of these clowns with this move yesterday, today is just going to be a repeat of their

embarrassment. We each take it in turns to spar, really just going through the motions. We only show

up to these training sessions to set a good example, as the Alpha tells us. ‘If we don’t show, why

should anyone else?’ Even though we do so much extra training outside of these, but no one knows

about it really. So I guess I get the whole ‘set an example’ thing. We really just use this time to watch

the trainers train and see how they lead a large group.

My dad’s loud voice breaks through my thoughts. “I think a demonstration is in order. Sierra, Skylar,

why don’t you two show us how the new defensive move is supposed to look.”

What the hell? The guys and I move into the circle forming around Skylar and Sierra. Now I know her

name at least. What gets me is the very noticeable size difference between her and Skylar. This can

not be a fair fight, why would my dad use them as demonstrators? The guys and I have been working

on this for a couple days now, why use two girls who probably just figured out the basic movements.

Skylar seems to be having a staring contest with my dad, she must be thinking the same thing, that

she’s going to be embarrassed in front of all these people and she’s shy as it is.

I can hear some of the kids in the crowd jeering stupid comments. I feel Mateo stiffen next to me. He’s

sensitive and protective about his sister. Their mom died giving birth to her and their dad hasn’t gotten

over losing his mate. Mateo spends a lot of time keeping his dad busy so he will leave Skylar alone. I

think that is part of the reason she is introverted, but she just looks soft and fragile. Her baggy clothing

makes her appear smaller than she is. I didn't even realize she was at training.

“Ready.” My dad’s deep authoritative voice booms over the crowd now circling around us. The girls

take their positions and more chuckles and jeers can be heard. “Sierra, you are on the attack, Skylar,

use the new defensive move and let's see if you can pin her in less than thirty seconds this time.” Huh?

This time, what does he mean this time?

The kids around me clearly are on the same page as me. I look at Mateo and the guys, their confusion

is just as apparent as mine is. I hear mumbles of ‘what?’ ‘30 seconds no way’ and giggles.

“No one could complete that move in under thirty seconds, let alone her.” A snarky high pitched male

voice says loud enough for everyone to hear and causes a low chorus of agreement. What this idiot

doesn’t know is I did that yesterday. Moron. I need to figure out who it is and pair with him.

I can see both of the girls are laser focused on each other, a determined look in their eyes. They both

look like warriors on a mission.

“Just watch.” Is my dad’s only, very dry, response. “Set…GO!”

Skylar moves immediately on the word ‘go’. Where the f*ck did that speed come from?! Sierra

responds quickly though and tries to feign to the left then duck down to catch Skylar with her shoulder.

Skylar sends a knee up toward her chest and face, knocking the wind out of her then makes an elbow

strike to her back. Sierra wrapped her arms around Skylar’s waist trying to force her down. Instead of

fighting the momentum, Skylar does with the momentum and twists so she falls on top of Sierra and

shifts to pin her throat to the ground with one of her knees and has her arm in a lock Sierra can’t get

out of. In the blink of an eye it’s over and the crowd is silent.

Skylar is still in fight mode, focused on Sierra’s face. My dad walks up to her and has to pat her on the

shoulder a couple of times to get her attention. Once Skylar lets go of Sierra and helps her up, my dad

looks over to where the guys and I are standing, staring, probably with our jaws on the ground.

He looks at his stopwatch, then back up to us, smiling. Why is he smiling like that?

“Less than ten seconds, damn, Sorry Sam, she beat your best take down time... by a lot!” He says loud

and clear while he shrugs his shoulders at me, laughing a bit now, not being able to hold it back.

“The f*ck! What just happened?” Oliver says behind me.

“It was a blur. I think I blinked and missed half the fight.” Cameron says seriously.

“Sam’s not the king of the hill anymore. That little bitty beta just took his crown.” Dakota laughs at me.

I’m still in shock, but I can’t help joining him. I think I know my way in with Sierra.

My dad walks over and pats me on the shoulder. “Maybe you boys will take this training a bit more

seriously, now. Those two are your biggest competition and you didn’t even know it. I may let Sky put

all of you in your place.” He chuckles, walking off. “She’s the best trainee I’ve got, including you guys.”

He throws over his shoulder. “And Sierra’s going to be a close second.

“That was the hottest thing I think I have seen since Summer training.”

“I think the girl from summer training was gay, and thought you were a pansy.” Dakota laughs at me.

“It doesn’t make two girls grappling any less hot.”

“No, no, no! You are not going to put my little sister on your “I’d bang that’ list.” Mateo growls at us.

“You’re sister is growing up my friend. I don’t think those baggy sweats are doing her any favors. And

watching her rolling around with Sierra, Ah! I am going to have sweet, sweet dreams tonight.”

Chapter 0009

Sam's POV

“Come here you f*cker!” Mateo gets me in a head lock for a second before I wiggle free and take off running toward the truck. We all just ride together and get ready at the packhouse before school. Even though we are all neighbors, we’ve been doing it so long now that it’s just a habit. We all joke with Luna Ava about building an extension onto the twins' floor and just letting us all move in since we spend so much time there anyway.

I noticed that Sierra stuck to Skylar like glue all day today, even when they didn’t have classes together. I also realized that Skylar took a bunch of classes with us even though she is a year younger than we are in school. How I did not notice she was there before baffles me.

“How long has Sky been taking advanced classes?” I asked Mateo as we walked into the lunchroom. It was really hard to just walk across the room without being flagged down or stopped by people. Most of these kids just wanted something from us. It’s kind of annoying to have people follow you everywhere just because of the family and rank you were born into. A lot of kids think that if they hang out with us that makes them better than others, so the five of us pretty much keep to ourselves here at school, it seems to be the only safe option. As we got older we noticed that people would eavesdrop on conversations and then start rumors. Girls would lie about being with us. It was kind of scary really. So we can’t really be ourselves here.

“Umm, not sure, why?”

“She’s in like half our classes and I didn’t even notice until today. We’ve been in school for a week, how did I miss that?”

“Seriously? I didn't know she was in classes with us. Which ones?”

“Umm, all the standards I think. She’s not in Leadership or Battle Strategies, but once I noticed her in English and Math with Sierra, I kinda noticed her everywhere. It was a little scary.”

“Please tell me you have not switched your focus to my sister? I don’t think I could handle that. She’s too innocent for any of that.” He groans at me.

“Umm, no.” I say pointedly. “But I will keep telling you how hot she is, because she is hot. She does a good job of hiding it though.”

Mateo groans as we grab our lunches and head out to a table at the back of the outdoor patio. It’s still pretty nice out so we soak up as much outdoor time as we can.

“What’s your plan for Sierra? Clock’s ticking, bro. Bonfire's tonight.” Dakota laughs as he shoves a forkful of food into his mouth.

“Don’t you worry about me, I have the situation handled. What you need to worry about is how none of us noticed Sky is in most of our classes and not even her big, overprotective brother knew that until today.”

We spent the rest of lunch trying to figure out not noticing Sky. I tried to get her attention in Science and in History, but she either really liked her notebook or was actively avoiding us. I was hoping to get Sierra in on the action since they seem to be friendly, but I have to find another tactic until I can figure Sky out.

As luck would have it, Skylar and Sierra were talking to the three people we dislike most in this whole school. All five of us groan, but this might be the last chance I get to invite Sierra so I suck it up and head in their direction. At least the guys came to back me up with the psycho leeches.

“Hey guys!” Of course Kaley sees us first. I think that girl might have tracking devices on us. We each sigh out a groan as we approach them.

Chapter 0010

I’m not sure what they were talking about, but Skylar looks flustered and Sierra is trying to hide annoyance. I’m just not sure if she is annoyed with us or Kaley. I choose to ignore the princess wannabe and look right at Sierra.

“You are a hard girl to keep track of. It’s nice to finally get to meet you Sierra, I’m Sam. This is Cameron, Dakota, Mateo and Oliver.” I point to the guys in turn.

“Wait. Are you Delta Kyle’s Sam? The one with the record Skylar broke?” She smiles at me and I am a goner. She could have asked me to kiss Oliver and I would if she kept smiling at me like that.

“The same. You two had nice moves this morning. Skylar, I didn’t know you were such a good fighter. Where have you been hiding all your skills?”

Skylar is just looking between all of us, not quite scared, but not focused on the conversation at all. Sierra bumps her in the ribs.

“I’m sorry, what?” She looks up at me, full confusion written on her face. Her cheeks tinge a cute shade of pink. Oh man, that is a dangerous thing. I’m going to spend as much time as I can making her blush. She better watch out.

“I was just saying, nice moves at training today. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to work on those again at advanced training and you can give us some tips. Sam needs to redeem his top takedown time.” Cameron says smiling, and Dakota laughs, slapping me on the back.

She just smiles and nods, why is she so shy around us? She has known us her whole life.

He, he, he. A weird forced, high pitched giggle comes from next to the girls. I looked over and didn’t even realize Kaley was still standing there. She reached out and put her hand on Cameron’s chest.

“You’re so funny babe, Sam is one of the best warriors we have, I bet he could do that move with one hand tied behind his back. His dad was just being nice to Sierra and S-Skylar.”

I don’t know why she won’t take the hint that she isn’t part of this conversation. No one can be that dense can they?

Cam steps back out of Kaley’s reach, she’s always petting him for some reason. It’s just weird. “Nope, I’m pretty sure Sam sucks and needs to start from the basics again. Maybe we should send him to train with the pups for the week.” Dakota laughs out and Mateo joins him. So does Sierra and Skylar lets out this adorable giggle. I catch Oliver in my peripherals and the faintest smile forms on his face at the little noise. I think we found the crack in my stoic friend’s armor.

“As much as I enjoy making fun of your boy Sam here.” She pats my arm and I almost start hyperventilating. “Skylar promised me some food, we were just heading out to eat, if you will excuse us gentlemen.” Sierra basically pushes us out of their way and we part like the red sea to let them pass.

I’m so lost watching Sierra walk away from me and letting my brain go to places it really shouldn’t in public when Dakota slaps my shoulder. “I’m so glad you used that opportunity to your full advantage.”

“Huh?” My brain is still stuck on stupid while my eyes are stuck on her perfect ass.

“She’s getting away without your invitation.” Oliver stage whispers in my ear.

“What? Wait! Oh sh*t!” I start jogging as my friends just laugh behind me. We’ll see who has the last laugh.

“Hey!” I shout from behind them. “I almost forgot, are you guys coming to the bonfire tonight?” I slow my jog towards them, to try and make it look more casual than frantic.

Chapter 0011

Skylar POV

“What bonfire?” Sierra looks at me accusingly.

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t do parties because I don’t have friends. So I don’t usually pay attention to the social scene.” I look down at the ground after that word vomit confession. Taking a deep breath I look back up at Sierra. I wonder when she is going to figure out I am not someone to know and she'll move on like everyone else.

Sam looks at me and chuckles a bit but then quickly turns confused when I don’t join in laughing then looks between the two of us. He clears his throat. “We have a bonfire the weekend following the first full week of classes. Which happens to be tonight, you should both come. It’s in the clearing in the woods behind the packhouse, nothing too crazy, but it is tradition. Will you come? Please say you’ll be there.” He’s looking at Sierra with big puppy dog eyes. Is he pouting?!

“Of course! We can’t break tradition!” Her cheery personality shines through. “Is there a dress code for this particular get-together or is it come as you are?” She smiles up at him. So, this is what flirting looks like up close, interesting. She definitely does it better than Kaley, I think I get the appeal now.

He looks a little lost for a second before blinking and coming back to his senses. “Come as you are, but I would dress warm, it’s already starting to cool off and the clearing is in a bit of a valley that holds the cooler air.”

“What time?”

“We are going to start setting everything up now, so you can come whenever, but the bonfire is lit near dark, so like 9. But, really you can come whenever.” He smiles at Sierra. It’s really cute to

watch him flirt. I don’t even know if he realizes that’s what he’s doing. She seems to have him under a spell.

“Well then, we will see you later Sam.” She smiles at him again and she gets into her car, I follow suit. Once we are both in and the doors are closed she looks over at me. “Okay, I was just trying to get us away from the b*tch trio and the hot brigade, but after all of that I really am hungry, where’s the best burger place here?”

“The hot brigade? Really?” I question her, shaking my head. She just laughs as she starts the car.

I laugh and start giving her directions. We eat and head to her place which just so happens to be at the end of our block. “I didn’t realize your aunt and uncle were some of our lead warriors. That would explain your fighting skills. I guess I never really asked about you today, sorry about that.” I look down at my lap as I sit on her bed as she digs through her closet.

“Don’t worry about it, we have plenty of time to get to know each other. And what I want to know right now is what do you mean ‘you don’t do parties because you don’t have friends’? You’re not going to just slide that into conversation and hope no one heard it.” I cringe. After I said it, I felt like I was whining.

“Exactly that, I do not have friends, I don’t go to parties, no one chooses to hang out with me. They mostly choose to avoid me. It’s been like that for a long time. You are the first person I have had more than one conversation in a row that wasn’t in school about an assignment or at training.” I shrug. It’s weird though when I used to think that stuff to myself it hurt, but I feel nothing now, like I am numb to the fact that I am avoided unless absolutely necessary by my peers. That can’t be good.

“That’s a lot to unpack and I have a feeling the silver laced whip marks on your back fall into this same story too, right?”

“Wait, what? How did you know they were silver laced whip marks?” I’m stunned, that’s oddly specific knowledge to just guess and I told Delta Kyle by accident over mindlink today. No one else knows.

“I will allow the topic to change, but we are going to circle back to the friends thing. My parents are chemists. I already told you they work for our Alpha King. Many of the things they work on are chemical weapons and antidotes for war.” I flinch at the thought that her parents make things to harm other wolves, things like the silver powder that was rubbed into my wounds. “Don’t look at me like that. They aren’t bad people, but they have seen bad things. It’s their job to know the worst things that could be done to our Alphas and the Alpha king and be able to stop it or reverse it. Sometimes they have had to reverse engineer some of the things used in battles. That’s one of the reasons I am here, my parents are on some mission I don’t even have details about. It wasn’t safe for me to be alone, but it would be odd if I stayed with people in my pack for too long since I normally stay by myself when they travel. So staying with family was the best cover for my protection.” She leans back out of her closet and attempts to glare at me, but her happy features don’t really do that look. “This goes without saying, but keep that to yourself.”