"Fancy meeting you here," Charlotte said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to walk with me to school?"
While waiting for the wolf to respond, she lifted her backpack higher onto her back by tugging the straps down and heaving her shoulders. The loose straps were irritating. A consequence of the old buckles which did little to keep the straps in place.
She'd found the wolf sitting at the corner of the main road where he'd been patiently waiting for her under the shade of the pine trees.
Stretching to his feet the black wolf padded over to the brunette in a languid fashion.
Her previous concerns about being so close to a wild animal were slowly dissipating. If anything she was starting to see him as a bodyguard of sorts. Indeed, he'd helped her more than once and had never tried to harm her.
Innocent until proven guilty—after all, this was America, freedom... red, white, and blue, and all that, she'd decided.
Gio was pleased his mate was allowing him so close to her. He had been trying his best to get her to accept him by appearing more friendly and docile.
As he walked up to greet her the wolf swished his tail—quite a contrast to his usually serious demeanor which made Charlotte laugh. The more she got to know the wolf the stranger he seemed.
She enjoyed their odd relationship, she even found herself somewhat envious of the easy way he came and went.
A wolf didn't need anyone.
He survived on the land, and he could take care of himself. That independence was something she had always longed for.
"Alright, come on silver-eyes, I can't be late," she teased, brushing past the wolf good-naturedly.
The girl was still careful not to touch him, but her teasing was a sign of growing comfort.
Gio yawned before trotting after his mate eagerly.
It was a cool crisp morning. The leaves were just beginning to rustle with life. Although he'd never admit it, there was an extra bounce in the wolf's step.
The girl looked down at him smiling.
As if sensing her stare, he turned his head back to meet her gaze. Sometimes when the wolf looked at her with those strange eyes of his she felt an odd tingly feeling. It reminded her of the strange dream she had about the silver-eyed man.
The way the wolf, had starred in her dreams was odd. Especially when he transformed into a man.
Ever since that night, she'd had other dreams of the man, mostly just flashes and broken images here and there. Sometimes it was just the man and sometimes it was the man and the wolf.
Of course, she'd had strange dreams before, so it wasn't really that odd. She'd had a recurring dream since she was little of getting sick after accidentally eating a rotten, worm-filled eggplant. She didn't even like eggplant!
The wolf stayed close to her side as Charlotte trekked to school, only darting off when the sound of a vehicle approached.
He didn't want to raise any alarms by being seen with his mate. It wasn't as if he could explain the situation should anyone in the pack see them. Wolves didn't interact with humans. At best it would be disconcerting, at worst they might assume something bad was happening and try to intervene.
To avoid being seen by passersby, Gio would briefly take shelter under the shadows of the trees, but he returned back to her side as soon as the taillights were gone.
Eventually, the evergreen trees thinned and came to a stop just up ahead. They were nearing the edge of the schoolyard.
The brunette's steps slowed as she turned to him.
"Bye wolfy, I'll see you later," she said softly.
His ear twitched in irritation as he veered right and took off into the woods. The wolf's long legs covered the distance in the blink of an eye.
Charlotte sighed, psyching herself up before entering the stone school building.
Most of the students ignored her, too wrapped up in themselves and each other. The students here were still acting cold and cliquish. She couldn't blame them, it made sense, most of them had grown up together.
Charlotte scanned the crowd nervously, looking for a familiar face. Her eyes locked with Madison's and Madi waved her over. Amelia wasn't with her this time, she was standing with two younger-looking boys.
"Hey Char, how was your weekend? This is my younger brother Bastian and his friend Nathan." Madison said, gesturing to the two younger boys, causing Bastian to blush. "Please don't mind them." She added, rolling her eyes at their behavior.
Normally, they never lacked words, but bring them around a pretty girl and they suddenly went dumb!
"It was good!" Charlotte said. "Hey, nice to meet you," she added, nodding at the two boys.
Both boys looked up at her, enamored. However, neither was brave enough to speak to the pretty new girl.
Bastian looked a lot like his sister, they had the same brown hair and gentle features. The other boy was a bit shorter and darker in color.
"Come on, I'll walk with you to class," Madi said, sliding a hand around her arm to pull her away from the lockers. "See you boys later," she said over her shoulder.
Nathan grumbled, looking disappointed. Charlotte shot him a smile and a wink as they walked away.
"Sooo, I heard you were going to be here for a while," Madi said glancing at the girl slyly.
Charlotte looked at her in confusion. She had no idea what her friend was talking about.
Unless maybe—was she talking about the elders that the strange visitors mentioned on her first night there? The Watsons hadn't said anything about her leaving, so she'd assumed everything had been settled days ago.
"What do you mean, Mads?" She prompted with concern.
"Oh....... you don't know?" Madi said. "Forget I said anything."
Madi cringed internally. She berated herself for bringing up the council's decision. She'd realized it was a mistake as soon as she saw her friend's confusion.
Unfortunately, Charlotte didn't look like she was about to let it go.
"Here's your class, I've got to go," Madi said hurriedly, trying to get out of dodge before she could question her.
"Wait, Madi what did you mean?" The girl asked as Madison turned away to get to her first class with feigned haste.
Charlotte caught her arm before she could slip away.
"What do you mean, Madi?" She repeated insistently, her fingers wrapped around the girl's bicep firmly.
Madi appeared torn, eyes darting around to see who might overhear. No one was paying them much attention, but that didn't mean they weren't listening. Still, she knew she was cornered.
"Look, it's just that some people on the town council didn't want you to stay here, but on Friday they decided to allow it." She explained in a quiet rush. "I just... I thought you knew, I'm sorry." Madi hung her head remorsefully.
Charlotte took a deep breath, "I see. I did hear something about that, but I didn't know it was such a big deal, at least not big enough for people to still be debating it..."
"It wasn't! It wasn't a big deal, it was just a few people, you know? Small town, remember?" Madi said quickly, she'd really put her foot in it this time.
Charlotte paused.
"Well, I'm happy that they're ok with me staying," She replied with a weak smile. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you later Mads."
Madi watched seeming pained, as she disappeared into the classroom.
The brunette walked away still feeling confused. She remembered the conversation her foster parents had with the men who came over her first night there. They had said outsiders weren't welcome and that someone who they'd called alpha would not be happy. From what Madi had said, it wasn't clear how the council felt, although they had agreed to let her stay.
But what had she done? She literally kept to herself and didn't bother anyone. She hadn't ever spoken to this alpha or to the council, so what was their deal?
Did they think one little foster girl was going to single-handedly destroy their town? She could only imagine what Paul would say if she not only got kicked out of her foster parent's house but the whole gosh darn town.
So lost in her thoughts, she jumped when the bell rang for the next period.
Sighing, she gathered up all of her books and supplies.
Charlotte was on her way to her locker to get a book for her next class when someone slammed into her shoulder. Hard.
She gasped in surprise, looking up at the much bigger teen, sneering down at her. She didn't recognize him personally, but his letterman and patches looked familiar. He was a football player.
Another guy came up behind her while she was distracted. Tugging on her backpack, the second teen yanked her backward.
She fell backward into his chest with an awkward 'oof.'
"What do we have here?"He laughed, winding his arms around her body to hold her against him, much to Charlotte's chagrin.
The girl squirmed in discomfort and embarrassment, not daring to look around to see who was there to witness it.
Heat rose up her neck in shame.
Her attacker chuckled, clearly reveling in the girl's malaise before he roughly shoved her forward toward the first guy.
It looked like the forward momentum was going to cause her to face-plant into the other teen's chest, but the boy grinned and stepped out of the way just in time.
Instead of falling into him, Charlotte fell stomach-first into the ground, sliding several feet down the hall before coming to a stop.
Her face was hot with embarrassment.
The boys had a good laugh as they walked away. They congratulated each other on tormenting her by sharing a high-five.
The sound of their laughter burned her ears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for them to fade away before she dared look up.
Danny was standing next to the lockers. He shook his head in disappointment when she caught his eye. Apparently, he had caught the show.
Without sparing her another glance, he slammed his locker shut and walked off.
Charlotte felt her face flush with shame all over again. People began stepping around her, grumbling at the inconvenience.
The brunette remained beet red as she hurried to pick up her books and papers that were scattered across the floor.
Her backpack had broken at some point and everything had spilled out.
"Need some help?" A familiar voice asked.
Charlotte paused, her heart pounding as she slowly looked up. Glittering green eyes met her own.
Was this a beautiful Greek hero sent to save her at last? She swooned.
"Here," Carter said, smiling down at her.
The girl looked to see what he was handing her.
And that's when she saw it.
He had her pencil bag, Chapstick, and emergency TAMPON, all clutched in his hand, and he was offering it to her.
Clearly, there was no god, she thought dryly.
"T-th-thanks," she stuttered, yanking the items from his grasp. She hurried to stuff them into what was left of her backpack.
"No need to be embarrassed, I know how it is. I have a little sister." He reassured her, recognizing her discomfort for what it was.
"Oh, yeah." She responded dumbly.
He flashed another smile. Gawd, could he be any cuter? She thought.
"Ok, let's go to the principal's office," Carter said, helping her to her feet.
"Oh, I don't think that is necessary... I don't even know those guys names." She protested as Carter led her down the hall.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch who they were either. I only saw the aftermath. I definitely think you should report bullying and I encourage you to do so but that's not why we are going to the principal's office." He told her.
"Oh," Charlotte paused, "Why are we going then?" She asked in confusion.
"Because that's where lost-and-found is, and it looks like you need a new backpack," he shrugged.
She was still uncertain as to why they needed to go to lost-and-found but she went along with it.
Much to her amazement, when they arrived at the office and Carter explained the situation, the secretary readily handed over the lost-and-found key to him. Although her amiability might have had something to do with Carter's penchant for flirting and joking with her.
The secretary said she'd give them 15 minutes to look in lost-and-found but then they had to return with the key—which they promised to do.
"Shall we?" Carter asked, holding the door open for her.
Lost-and-found was just a small storage closet with a couple of shelves and a box of stuff at the bottom.
They quickly searched the closet, finding one backpack on a shelf and another at the bottom of the box.
"Won't people come looking for their stuff?" Charlotte asked nervously. "I don't want to take anything that belongs to someone else."
"Nah, this stuff is from last year. Most of it just sits here collecting dust until they decide to throw it out." Carter assured her.
The boy knew she couldn't afford a new bag, so he was trying to be helpful and it was true, no one ever claimed this stuff.
"So, which one do you want? Take your pick m'lady." He asked, holding up the two backpacks for her to choose.
"Um, they look exactly the same," Charlotte pointed out.
"The true treasure is not the backpack. The true treasure is knowledge." Carter said dramatically.
"Are you quoting Indiana Jones?" She quirked an eyebrow at him in suspicion.
"Maybe." He laughed warmly, still holding the backpacks, one in each hand.
Rolling her eyes at his antics, the brunette reached over and grabbed one of the bags at random.
"Good choice," the boy nodded, still grinning.
They put the rest of the stuff back in the closet and Carter went to return the key while she started transferring her books and things into the new bag.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Carter asked.
"Um, go back to class?" She suggested, confused.
"We've already missed half of it. Might as well miss the rest." He shrugged. "I can show you the roof. I doubt you've been up there yet."
"What happened to the treasure is knowledge?" Charlotte asked, lifting her brow.
"Yeah, you're right, better get you back to class," he said.
Grabbing her wrist he began dragging her toward the classrooms.
"No, wait!" She squealed. "I want to see the roof."
"If you insist," he grinned, turning on his heel he ran off in a different direction.
Charlotte laughed, running alongside him, trying to keep up.
They ran up the emergency staircase until the steps came to a stop at a metal door. Carter pushed the door open, waiving Charlotte on.
"Oh wow," she breathed, stepping into the sunlight. The light blinded her momentarily and she blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust.
When her vision cleared she saw in front of her, there was a small walkway that opened up into a garden. Above-ground planters contained a plethora of plants.
The rooftop garden overlooked the backfield of the school, but the view was nearly obscured by plant life.
Some parts of the garden were dead or overgrown. However much of it remained green and lush. It seemed the garden was semi-abandoned—or perhaps just forgotten.
"Cool, isn't it?" Carter asked, openly admiring the tiny brunette while she admired the garden.
"Yes, it's amazing!" Charlotte gushed, looking around wide-eyed.
The boy offered her his arm as he led her around the roof a little bit. He pointed out things as they went that he thought she might be interested in.
Eventually, the two teens settled on the edge of the roof. Charlotte was very aware of how close Carter was sitting—their thighs were almost touching.
"I didn't take you as such a rebel when we first met," she teased gently.
"I'm not. I just like to have a good time. Life is short, you've got to enjoy it while you can," he answered coyly.
"Yes, that's true." She agreed wholeheartedly.
There was something so honest and likable about Carter. She felt like she could talk to him forever.
"Carter, can I ask you a question?" She asked nervously.
"Of course." He nodded.
"Why is everyone so upset with me?" The hurt in her voice was obvious, although she tried to conceal it.
There was a short pause. For a moment Charlotte wondered if she should have kept silent.
"I think they were......expecting you to be gone by now... They weren't expecting you to stay." Carter answered haltingly.
He wasn't sure how to explain what was going on without revealing their secrets.
"Oh."
"But I am very happy you're here." He said, turning to face her.
Suddenly, she was hyper-aware of how close his lips were to hers and her heart started pounding in her ears.
Was he about to kiss her? No way was she going to make the first move.
Just when she thought he was going to close the gap between them, the bell rang.
Charlotte jumped in surprise.
"We better get to class," Carter said, grinning as he moved away. Charlotte looked up at him, eyes hazy and confused.
What. The. Hell.
Was he teasing her?
Carter helped her up and they started making their way down the stairs when suddenly he stopped.
"Oh, by the way... My older brother, Kyle, is throwing a party at our house Friday night since my parents and little sister will be gone. You should come."
"Yeah, definitely, I'll be there." She mumbled shyly.
"Great! I'll see you there. Amelia, Madison, and a few others from our class will be there as well," he smiled.
Crap. How was she going to convince her foster parents to let her go?
Charlotte was giddy with excitement about what had happened (or almost) happened with Carter on the roof.
She found herself babbling to the wolf about it on the way home, her face flush with excitement.
The wolf's furry ears lay flat on his head as he listened to his mate fawn over the boy. He'd already been pissed when she had him about the bullies that day.
Now he was murderous.
"...and then he took me up to the roof and showed me the garden," Charlotte gushed.
Took her up to the roof? Alone? Gio snorted angrily. He did not like that at all.
"I thought for sure he was going to kiss me but then the bell rang," she laughed, twirling around with surprising grace.
Gio couldn't stop the deep growl that came from his chest.
Fortunately, Charlotte was completely oblivious to the rage boiling inside him.
It was good the boy wasn't there because he'd have been bleeding on the ground with a broken neck by now. Same with those other two boys.