Getting Back My Younger Mate

3 Ready for a Show

“Okay, everyone! Listen up!” Coach yells out, calling the class to attention so we can start. “The Beta, here, has been gracious enough to fill in for us today. Those of you who aren’t wolves are going to come with me for defensive training, and everyone else is going to pair up after shifting and follow Beta Corey’s instructions. Beta, I’ll leave the rest to you. All my non-wolves, follow me.”

Corey comes to stand in the Coach’s place after he leaves, smiling his easy grin, making his chin dimple stand out while looking up at all of us. Kimberly and all the girls around her started to whisper and giggle, souring my mood further.

“Okay, kids. We’re doing defensive drills in wolf form today. Gamma Rangi filled me in on what you guys have been doing, so we will just pick up where he left off. I’ll need a volunteer for the demonstration. Anyone willing?”

10 hands shot up, mostly from the girls, and I just want to scream at all of them that he is mine. He was looking at me expectantly, and I almost wanted to raise my hand, but that would just ruin what me and Tyler were talking about in the hall.

“Hey,” Chelsea hisses at me, “raise your hand.”

I press my lips together, looking at her from the corner of my eye and give her the tiniest shake of my head.

"Why?" she hissed.

"I don't feel like torturing myself today," I hissed back, narrowing my eyes at her.

She groans, then throws her hands up in the air, and I can literally feel Corey’s relief in the bond that one of us is volunteering. I knew he wouldn't pick one of the other girls for my sake, and the 2 boys volunteering were show-offs in warrior training. They aren't best at following directions.

Corey probably doesn’t even find it weird that I didn’t want him to pick me. Chelsea is a warrior, and even though I’m naturally a great fighter, better than anyone here, I don’t like doing it. The men in my family are rough and tough enough. I don’t feel the need to be that way as well. I’m more like mom, preferring a gentler approach to dealing with my issues. My grandpas, uncles and dad, and even my brother, would rather tear someone apart if that someone makes them mad, then try having a civil conversation with them first.

Mom is stronger than all of them, and she doesn’t have to lift a finger to get them in line. I would rather be like her.

Chelsea walks down the bleachers in long strides, standing next to Corey while he gives her instructions on what he wants her to do. She jogs off to the waiting tents outside that we use to strip naked and shift into our wolf forms while Corey turns back to us.

“Find a partner, then go ahead and shift, meet back here when you’re done,” he yells out, then jogs out to shift and give Samson control.

“Ready partner? My beast can’t wait to pounce on you,” Tyler says, wiggling his eyebrows at me while he slides down into the seat Chelsea just left, smirking at me deviously. He says it rather loudly, catching a lot of attention. My cheeks burned with the unwanted attention and the provocative way he spoke to me. No one has ever been that seductively forward towards me before. I told him my mate was in this class, and I know he’s putting on a show for that purpose, but without Corey here to see, it just makes me feel awkward.

The group of girls that were just gawking at Corey turned to stare up at Tyler and me, making me blush deeper.

“Partners?” Kimberly looked at me warily, “Are you two that close?”

Tyler’s face turns into a mask of arrogance, his arm sliding around my shoulders. “We’re close enough.”

Kimberly grimaces, pain flashing in her eyes briefly before one of her friends leans over and whispers something in her ear. They both then looked at me, their eyes scanning me up and down before turning back around and snickering quietly to one another about something.

“Okay, I’m going to shift,” I said with a sigh, not wanting to be the object of their gossip while sitting right behind them. “I’ll meet you on the mat, Tyler.”

He hops up from the bleachers half a second after me. “I’ll walk you out.”

I try not to grimace when I hear more whispers as we walk together out of the gym.

“I bet his mate is in that group of skanks,” Rhea mutters, still mad at the girls for eyeing our mate.

“I think so too.”

The hurt that crossed Kimberly’s face was all too familiar. I feel that way every time I feel like I’m being jilted by Corey. I want to ask Tyler, but I don’t know if I should. It seems there is more to him being rejected than just a simple rejection.

I pass Chelsea’s wolf on the way to the tents, and she gives me and Tyler an odd look at seeing us walk together. She’s going to drill me later about walking with Tyler and about why I didn’t want to partner with Corey to help with demonstrating. Brently will too if she tells him. Rhea is going to get me in all kinds of trouble. I knew this wasn’t a good idea.

“Quit being a wuss. We have to do something,” Rhea mutters, rolling her eyes in my head.

“I just think this is immature and childish, and will cause more drama instead of doing any good.”

"We don't want to do any good. We want to do bad, so our mate starts to take notice that if he doesn't start finding us desirable, someone else will."

I cringe thinking that Corey doesn't find me desirable. I'm just a kid to him. Even as a legal adult, he still thinks of me as a kid.

"I hope you're right. I don't want to start problems and drama with those girls if one of them is Tyler's mate for nothing. Even if she rejected him, she clearly still doesn't like me and Tyler together." By 'she', I'm pretty sure it's Kimberly. I'll ask Tyler this weekend at the party.

I have a pretty low profile at school, never causing problems with anyone, since I usually just hang out with Brently and Chelsea. I don’t ever get involved with any boys, so none of the girls like Kimberly have ever really bothered me.

Chelsea, since she has been dating the next alpha for years, has run into issues with other she-wolves interested in him for his position and power. Nothing attracts unmated she-wolves like power and authority. Brently is a decent looking guy too. I mean, if you aren’t his cousin. His eyes are a light color, like hazel with browns and greens melting together. He is built like an alpha, and Chelsea is always droning on about how handsome his face is and about how much she likes his thick lips. I tune her out when she starts talking about his body, not caring to hear any of that.

Whenever other girls got a little too forward with Brently in the past, Chelsea would just sit back and let Brently handle them most of the time, trusting him to put the girls in their place. There were a few instances, though, where she had to step in and force them to back off herself. Brently would let her know when a girl wasn’t letting up and she was always quick to come to his aide.

If any boy even looked Chelsea’s way, Brently would be on their butts, forcing them to submit and back the eff off her. No one dares to make a pass at her now, not wanting to piss off their future alpha.

I’m jealous of their relationship. I want that too. I’ve had my mate by my side way longer than them, but Corey still won’t accept me the way Brently and Chelsea accepted each other. Corey doesn’t even care if a half-naked boy is talking alone with me in a dark, deserted hallway. He probably would still have apologized for interrupting us even if we were making out or if Tyler had me pinned against the wall, dry humping me like Brently does to Chelsea between classes.

Rhea might be right. Something does need to change. I want my mate, but I want him to want me back. I don’t want him to treat me like a princess. I want him to claim me. Ravage me. Get mad and jealous over me. I want him to be possessive and dominant, and not act like some uncle who just dotes on his friend’s daughter. I want him to start treating me like a woman, like his woman, and quit thinking of me as a child.

In the tent, I let Rhea take over, shifting into her form. She walks out and sees Tyler waiting for us.

“Ready to put on a show?” He asks, his wolf pouncing playfully around me, picking at Rhea's legs.

“Most definitely. Let’s do this.”