THE ENTIRE DRIVE TO SCHOOL WAS SPENT IN SILENCE, with the exception of Brynner's occasional gasp of pain and the sound of shifting positions in the seat. But that was fine with me. The remark made by Brynner about my appearance left me fuming, so the silence was a welcome respite. That time in silence was spent thinking about things I shouldn't have, which were obviously about the hunter.
I wondered whether he would like my outfit. I wondered what kind of girls he liked, and if he already had a girlfriend. Where did he come from, since he was a transfer? I remember the teacher telling us that he was originally from Ohio. Had he moved here with his family? Did he have any other pets besides Missy? While I contemplated these questions, the realization of my own self-consciousness made me a bit nauseous. It made me sick to know that I was thinking, dreaming, longing for things I shouldn't.
As the wolf in me, I found it exceedingly frustrating that he had been forbidden. I knew that forbidden fruit can spoil very quickly, even if it tastes sweeter. How come I couldn't have just imprinted on another wolf, someone from my pack? Why did I have to curse myself by imprinting on a human being, especially one that basically killed my boyfriend?
As the thought of Caleb smiling entered my mind, my shoulders slumped and my resolve crumbled with it. The imprint was too powerful to ignore. No matter what I did, I would always be drawn back to him, as my imprint had ordained. I felt cheated by the notion of falling in love with someone who could never love me back.
It was just something I had to accept. I would be perfectly happy being his friend. Honestly, I would love it. There would just be this incredible urge to kiss him that would never go away... along with the feeling that we would be so perfect together.
"Are you okay, sis?" Judas' voice suddenly burst into my ears, startling me.
I replied quickly - almost too quickly. "I'm fine, why?" I asked.
"We arrived at school like ten minutes ago, but you're still sitting there."
"What?" I gasped, suddenly hyper-aware of everything around me. The car had already been put into park and Phoebe got out before I realized we had already arrived at school. Brynner was nowhere to be found, and Judas was outside the car door holding it open for me as he looked at me uneasily.
Blushing from embarrassment, I quickly grabbed my book bag off the floor and exited the car. As I sprinted past Jude toward the school entrance, I blurted, "I'm so sorry. My mind is a mess."
Having caught up to me and matching my frantic pace, Jude quickly said, "I mean it's all good. There's someone looking for you and he says you're supposed to help him with something."
I froze in my tracks and stared at him. Caleb. "Where is he?" I asked.
Judas simply shrugged as I glanced at him angrily. As I looked toward the side, I saw Caleb struggling to shove his books into his bag with one arm as he leaned against a locker. The book slipped from his hand as I walked over to him, and I couldn't help but smirk as I caught it. The moment Caleb glanced up at me, a look of surprise written all over his face, I was enveloped by a warm feeling. A deep recognition dawned in his beautiful gray eyes.
"Oh, it's you," he said breathlessly, a nervous smile tugging at his lips. "You scared me. I didn't see you there."
"Oops, sorry," I replied lamely, giving a small smile as I grabbed his book bag and slung it over my shoulder. As the smell of him filled the air, I resisted the urge to inhale deeply. "I was running behind."
"It's OK! I knew I would run into you somehow or another today," Caleb sighed cheerfully as he gazed down at me, his adorable cheeks tinting pink. "I wasn't even worried."
As my heart began to flutter, I instinctively squeezed the strap of his book bag to calm myself. Though I wished the beat wouldn't be so fast, I couldn't help but be moved by the way he addressed me. I felt something shift in me as I stared at his face, something predatory and wild.
My eyes traveled down his neck and landed on his collar bone. As a result of wearing a two-size too big low-cut T-shirt, his entire neck and even part of his collar bone were exposed. Since he probably wore his arm sling even when he slept, the Velcro strap was rubbing the skin on his collar bone raw.
Additionally, my sudden change of mood caused a biological reaction in him, and I watched through hungry, hooded eyes as he shuffled nervously back and forth. His cheeks gleamed as he instinctively stuffed his hands into his pockets. The fact that he was able to read my mood swings only added to my blood lust.
Unconsciously, I found myself licking my lips, the strange urge to sink my teeth into the pearly flesh almost too strong for me to resist.
"How did you know you were going to run into me?" I asked, trying to hide the smirk that was tugging at my lips. "Was it just a feeling?"
As if I had just jumped out of his mind, Caleb stammered, "A-a feeling?" He blushed, likely embarrassed by his stuttering, and sheepishly shook his head in resignation. "Well, I guess. We share two classes together, so I figured I'd have a 50/50 chance of seeing you either in the morning or in the afternoon."
That was news to me. "We are in two classes?" I asked surprised. We shared a 5th period class, but I didn't realize we shared another. "Which one?"
"First period," Caleb replied, gesturing to Mr. Bones' classroom. "I missed yesterday's class because I was late, but yeah."
Oh, no.
The feeling of dread quickly came to me in the form of a present bearing Brynner's name. "Really?" I replied, sounding more alarmed than I meant to. "Are you sure?"
Caleb's expression of hurt and confusion on his face told me he was taken aback by my skepticism and unenthusiastic response. As he pulled out a tiny folded sheet of paper from his pocket, he said slowly and uncertainly, "Uh, yeah... According to the curriculum sheet the principal printed for me, I'm pretty sure."
With one movement, my hand snatched the piece of paper, which I quickly unfolded and scanned. Sure enough, he was in Mr. Bones' class too, and we were both in the same first period class... with Brynner.
"Fuck," I whispered before I could stop myself.
An intense pain shot through my rib-cage. Startled, I looked up to see Caleb frowning at me, and that sudden pain hit me again. A look of hurt was cast across Caleb's face, looking completely wounded and totally offended. Could his mental pain cause me pain because of the imprint?
A second sharp twinge confirmed my suspicion, and I gently handed the paper back to him while forcing a broad smile. "Aw, man, that sucks. Mr. Bones is such a dickhead. Too bad you didn't get the other biology teacher."
Caleb's wounded expression faded as he relaxed at my smile, and my side pain also melted away. It must have hurt him to see me react like that. If only I could tell him how much I enjoyed the thought of sharing classes with him... but not this one.
Why did he have to take a Biology class Brynner was in? Brynner probably didn't know what Caleb looked like, but he'd recognize his smell in a heartbeat. Even though I doubted that he would really do something to Caleb in class, knowing Brynner I was still a bit worried; and the thought of him attacking Caleb scared me to death.
After swallowing hard, I gestured forward with the backpack. "Well, let's get moving before Mr. Bones gives us a detention for being late," I murmured, knowing that was the least of my worries.
Caleb's eyes looked like a puppy as he nodded enthusiastically and followed me to the classroom door. I suddenly became acutely aware of his presence and fragility as Caleb stood behind me. I clenched the door knob tightly and felt my heart pound. A part of me yearned to run away, to do anything in my power to prevent him from walking through that door. The fact that we were in public did not calm my nerves, even though I was rationally aware that everything would be fine.
"It's the Hunter we're talking about," whispered the rational part of me, untouched by the imprint: "If he is killed, Peter's death will be avenged."
Surprised at the sudden clarity of my mind, I glanced over at Caleb. When I caught his eye, he gave me a shy, boyish smile as he motioned for me to open the door. It hit me then that he had no idea about my internal conflict and what was behind the door. The hunter had no idea that he was hated by my pack, that he was a murderer, that lycans were real, or that Hell took the form of Brynner Shorrock.
In his mind, all he knew was that he was attacked by a wolf looking for a cat he had no idea was killed by the very Hell he was about to meet. You know, they say ignorance is bliss, and I could hear that in Caleb's laugh as students waved and chatted with him on their way to class.
He was so happy, so innocently unaware, living his best life while Peter rotted away on a gurney, and here I am trying to protect him.
I'm the worst.
Gulping, I turned the door knob and opened the door. Everyone in the class looked up when they heard me walking in, and immediately focused on Caleb's face.
Everybody. In the back of the class room, Brynner was sitting in his usual spot, but instead of snoozing as usual, he was staring at us, nostrils flaring with rage. Under the weight of his penetrating stare, I shifted uncomfortably, dropping my gaze to my shoes as Mr. Bones examined Caleb's schedule copy.
"Mr. Knight is it?" Mr. Bones asked, lifting his eyes off the paper. "It looks like you're in the right class. You can sit with Mr. Shorrock in the back."
Brynner's gaze had me on the verge of tears from across the room, when my head snapped up. The expression on Brynner's face was fierce. His lips were pressed together and his eyebrows furrowed, a silent display of anger and confusion. From his reaction, I knew he recognized who Caleb was.
His eyes flitted briefly from Caleb's face to mine, silently asking why was he here, and why I was so close to him and holding his belongings. I couldn't find the words to say and my mouth felt dry. Therefore, I shut my lips and deliberately ignored the burning gaze of Brynner as Caleb walked down the aisle and plopped down next to him.
As I walked across the aisle to my seat, I silently set Caleb's book bag on the ground beside his chair and sat down. In a flash of disbelief and astonishment, Brynner's eyes jumped from Caleb's face to mine and then back to Caleb's.
A bark of incredulous laughter escaped his lips as he shifted his position, causing everyone in the class to turn to look at us.
Caleb raised a brow at him, almost as if to ask, "You good?" The color of my face began to fade as Brynner looked around the room, huffing loudly as if he was struggling to contain his anger.
"Is there something wrong?" Mr. Bones snapped, and the class fell silent, eyes wide and alarmed.
Brynner turned to face the teacher, pulling his lips into a tight, fake smile. As he did, I felt a ball of dread fall into my belly. His faux bravo gesture was a clap on Caleb's shoulder. I could see the sneer concealed in Brynner's false warm smile as he drew Caleb closer, his eyes flashing and nostrils flaring in a way only I could see.
Brynner's history of temper tantrums and erratic behavior had the students looking sympathetically at Caleb. Caleb shot a questioning look at them in return, his eyes begging for an explanation of what was going on.
"No problem," he sneered, staring right at me as his eyes bore into my soul. As his hand tightened around Caleb's shoulder, he sighed loudly. "Just glad to finally have a seatmate. What happened to your arm, bro?"
As I watched their interaction, my anxiety grew. I bit my bottom lip. "Brynner--" I started to say, but Mr. Bones cut me off: "Mr. Shorrock, don't ask that! Say sorry to Mr. Knight!"
"NO-NO, it's okay," Caleb said, raising his hands in a pacifist gesture. "No big deal. I just got bit by a dog and hurt my arm."
Brynner's eyes narrowed into thin slits of anger, and his upper lip twitched in an attempt to conceal his grin. His smoldering amber eyes stared darkly at the hunter as he leaned back in his seat and pulled away from Caleb.
Brynner said, "A dog?" I shot him a warning glance, but he just laughed and continued on to say, "I wouldn't have guessed you had a dog . You look more like a cat person to me."