Rhea's POV
As usual, I get to school early, and start working on my sideline project. Raven is not with me today because she and Tucker have been loudly reconciling after their first breakup. I don't know what sparked it, but I know that I have never seen a grown man shed as many tears as Tucker has shed over the last few weeks, and Sylvia and I have a newfound appreciation for his love for my sister.
The man spent hours in the cold, begging Raven to talk to him, and when she finally opened the door, he was practically blue. We had to work together to raise his body temperature, and after we got him to stop shaking, he dropped down to his knees and begged my sister for a second chance as if I weren't even in the room.
I could tell Raven was conflicted, but she obviously took him back, because from then on, I haven't had a decent night's sleep.
The plus side to my exhaustion is that my sister has laid out a few new rules that I don't understand but won't argue about. Not having as many household duties makes it easy for me to stay in my room and study.
My phone alarm goes off, and I start packing my things, ready to head to my first class of the day, but when I get there, I am intercepted by a man who introduces himself as coach Jim. He tells me that his 'boys' are failing math, and he asks if I am interested in tutoring them for two hours a day, at the rate of twenty-five dollars an hour per student.
I have never been so eager to nod my head in my life, and my wolf is rejoicing that we won't have to cut down on our already limited meal portions. She tells me that what we are eating is fine for now, but come the end of the semester, she expects me to eat four times as much as I am used to.
At the end of class, I see Mike, who I now know is the quarterback of the school's football team. There are girls flocked around him, and he almost doesn't see me as I try to sneak by. He shouts 'glasses girl' sparking a round of laughter from the people near him and making me walk faster. Mike catches up to me and tugs on my backpack, forcing me to slow in my pace.
"P-please, I don't want any trouble," I stutter out, and he releases my bag with a speed that tells me he wasn't trying to be intentionally intimidating.
"Coach said you agreed to tutor us." I look up at the man, feeling guilty for assuming, but equally put off because coach Jim had only gotten my answer an hour and a half beforehand. "Did you already forget?"
"We didn't work out any details," I say, making Mike chuckle while rubbing his head, and Sylvia does that purring thing in my mind. She really likes Mike's easy-going personality, and I can't exactly say that it's not refreshing.
"When it comes to sports, this school is willing to do anything. So, the minute you said yes, Coach had your schedule and he already fitted it to ours. As the team's captain, I'm here to escort you to the study hall. You can't get in without an athlete." I nod before following the man.
We get to a part of the school where I have never entered, and Sylvia starts commenting on the workout equipment, pointing out some of the things that could help us. I ask Mike if all students have access to the gym, and he tells me that he can try to get a few strings pulled, which makes me smile; not at him, but at the fact that life seems to be lining up nicely for me.
Coach Jim and seven other football players are waiting for me and Mike in an area that looks like a classroom, complete with a smart board and desk. The man gives me the basic information about his players, telling me that all of them are on academic probation and have to score over seventy on their math final in order to play for the team.
"I can't guarantee success," I say, not wanting the man to expect me to produce miracles, especially since I have caught a glimpse of a paper with thirteen out of forty marked on it.
"No offense little girl, but right now we just want to find someone who won't quit or get caught fooling around with one of these idiots." I flinch, and all the players in the room chuckle, but their coach becomes angry. "I want everyone to listen up," coach Jim shouts. "Miss Talons is sixteen. That means she is off limits." My face takes on a look of shock.
"Why not just get a male tutor?" I ask incredulously.
"We tried, but these boys have a thing for sisters." My eyes go wide with the candid speech I'm being given. "You're probably wondering why I'm talking to you like this, but my boys tell me that you had a run in with them and didn't make a fuss, which tells me you aren't sensitive." Sylvia and I are stunned into silence, but coach Jim is right.
"Okay, but I want full access to their gym equipment to make up for the added awkwardness of this situation." Coach Jim chuckles as he slams his folder down on the desk and extends his hand.
Colton's POV
I'm working out with my beta and I accidentally hit him harder than I meant to. I have been under a lot of pressure from my father to start looking for a suitable mate. I'm not even twenty yet, but the man insists that if I wait too long all the 'good girls' will be chosen.
He and I have both taken the stance that I am not fated, and while I cannot mark anyone until after my twenty third birthday, there is no law that prohibits me from dating preemptively. The word of that has somehow spread, and over the last few weeks our pack has had several families join, and many unmated females come sniffing to see if they stand a chance.
"Okay, you're going to have to come clean, because if you hit me like that again, I won't be able to convince Mandy that we are sparring." I make a face that shows that I have forgotten that pain can be felt through the mate bond, and Mandy must be worried.
"Sorry bro, I'm just stressed."
"Jessica, Gale, Liv, Giovanna, Marcy, or Claire?" My beta blurts out the names of some of my regular girls, and I wince.
"Neither of them." Carter shakes his head in disbelief. "Has anyone ever ghosted you?" I ask, and my beta makes light of the situation.
"Is that what this is about? Move on bro, you have too many women to worry about one who obviously doesn't want to be a part of your collection." I start to feel agitated, so I stand and start punching a bag, which doesn't go unnoticed by my beta. "Oh, this is serious." I glare at my friend, who holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay, let's talk."
After I finish speaking, my beta's mouth is left hanging open, and I haven't even told him who the girl is yet. He is stuck trying to process the fact that I put as much effort as I have into one person.
I show him the message thread between B and I, and he sighs at the numerous unanswered texts I have sent the girl.
"Maybe she changed her number?" he suggests, but that doesn't make me feel any better.
"Her number is the same. I've already confirmed it."
"Then, maybe she met her mate?"
"She is sixteen," I say, making my beta raise his brow.
"That is not good. Jessica is nice, why not just stick with her?"
"I don't even know why I care," I groan as a tug at my face. "You read the messages, there is nothing in them. She doesn't even know who I am."
"Colt, you are my best friend, and I'm not judging, but I think you need to settle down. I read about emotional affairs in one of Mandy's books and maybe that is what you had with that girl. Try investing the same amount of time into someone else." I don't even bother to tell Carter that the person we are talking about is B because I know he will freak out and he might tell Mandy. We get back into our routine, and once again I nip Carter in the chin harder than I meant to, but his guard was down, so it was his fault.
"What the hell was that?" I ask.
"Sorry, Mandy is distressed."
"You're going to have to practice emotion blocking. What if you were in a real fight? I could have torn your head off." Carter nods, and Mandy comes barging into the training room.
"Did you know he was back?" She looks angry with her mate, who looks confused.
"Who?"
"Jack, he is here in this state and has been for a while; the girls just told me." Orlin starts growling in my mind as we think back to Carter's words about B finding a mate, and I can't help but to think that she has been underneath Jack the entire time she hasn't been responding to me.
"Mandy, you will drop this matter now," I say, allowing my alpha tone to pour into my command. "If your cousin has chosen not to listen to the warnings people have given her about Jack, then there is nothing this pack or anyone else can do."
"But B is-"
"I said drop it. Brain is sixteen and can legally consent to any male she chooses. If she wants to open her legs to an entire pack, no one can stop her." I immediately regret my word choice, but Mandy doesn't press any further.
"Understood alpha."