The Beta's Sister

Chapter 9

Nicole

Once we get into the cafeteria and grab our food, Cierra shows me where she usually sits. I sit in a chair next to her and Kent sits across from us. The table seems to be in the center of the room and everyone moves around finding their respective tables like they are assigned seats. I am so grateful for having met Cierra before all this. I wouldn’t have known where to start at finding a seat today. 

“Hey guys!” Paige greets coming up to the table. 

“Hey.” Cierra says dryly while Kent just looks at her with a slightly disgusted look. 

“Hey, Paige. Do you have a seat? Did you want to sit with us?” I ask her, looking at Cierra for permission and getting a shrug in reply. 

“Sure.” She says taking the chair next to me. Just then, there is a commotion at the front of the cafeteria. We all turn to look in that direction and watch as pups seem to crowd around the entrance like a celebrity is in town. 

“Looks like the king is here!” Kent exclaims. I look back at him and see that he has a smirk on his face. When I turn back around I am surprised to see Warren walking into the cafeteria and the one who is being treated like a celebrity. 

“Warren lives for the attention.” Paige says watching it all go down beside me. I glance at her and then back at Warren. He is smiling and entertaining all the attention he’s getting, but he looks slightly uncomfortable. 

Warren makes his way through the crowd, giving daps and high fives. It’s almost something out of a movie. I didn’t take him for a shy guy who would run from socialization, but I definitely didn’t expect this. My surprise continues when I notice him walking straight for our table. He quickly grabs the chair next to Kent, giving him a dap as he sits. 

“What up, Cierra?” Warren says, giving her a nod. 

“Hey, Warren.” I hear Cierra say back, but I am too busy gaping at Warren to pay any attention. He locks his eyes on mine and I narrow my gaze, studying him. “Oh, Warren, this is Nicole.” Cierra says, gesturing to me.

“Yeah we met.” Warren says with his eyes locked on me and a grin that puts me into a trance. 

“Oh, right. You guys are training together.” Cierra says. I slowly blink my eyes as I come out of Warren’s spell. He is still grinning at me and I take the moment to break the death stare we have on each other. 

“Hi, Warren.” Paige says sweetly. I look over at her and notice a glint in her eyes directed towards him. 

“Oh, hey, Paige.” Warren replies quickly. 

“Did you sign any autographs on your way in?” Kent teases Warren.

“Shut up.” Warren says and gives Kent a playful shove, making everyone laugh. 

Just then Farrah comes up to the table and sits in the chair next to Cierra. I notice her eyebrows scrunch up when she looks over at Paige. Her and Cierra share a look and Cierra shrugs at the secret conversation they are having with their eyes.

“What took you so long?” Cierra asks Ferrah. 

“Ugh, Brent.” Ferrah says with an eye roll.

“I thought you two broke up.” Cierra says, dropping her voice low.

“That’s exactly what I told him.” She replies lowly before shifting her attention to me. “Anyways. Hey, Nicole! How’s the day going? You didn’t get lost anymore, did you?” 

I chuckle at her question. “No. I found one of the classes all by myself, and Paige helped me find my locker.” I look over at Paige and when I glance back towards Ferrah and Cierra I notice another silent conversation going on between them. 

“So, have you just been running around here meeting all my friends?” Warren asks, pulling my attention back to him.

“I didn’t know they were your friends. I thought they would have better taste than that.” I tease. 

“Oooh! I like her.” Kent bellows out. 

“You like anything with a pulse.” Cierra retorts. 

“Not true. I don’t like your annoying ass.” Kent says, earning a fry to be thrown at him by Cierra. He picks it up from the table and eats it, keeping his eyes on her the entire time.

“Are you two dating or something?” I ask, gesturing between Kent and Cierra.

“No!” They say in unison while Warren and Ferrah laugh hysterically. 

“None of us are dating.” Warren says pointedly, his eyes locked on mine again, or maybe I'm just imagining it. I drop my gaze from his and take a bite of my now cold pizza to distract myself. 

“So, Ferrah, are you from Red River?” I ask, purposely shifting my attention away from Warren. “I haven’t seen you at Dark Moon. Actually I haven’t seen anyone for real.” I mumble.

“No. I’m actually with that clown.” She says motioning towards the one person I was trying to get my attention away from.

“Yeah me too.” Paige chimes in.

“Yeah, Ferrah is actually my soon-to-be- Beta.” Warren tells me.

“I never said I was accepting that position.” Ferrah teases him.

“You wouldn’t dare turn me down.” 

“Oh really you want to bet on that one, Alpha?”

“ANYWAYS!” Cierra says interrupting their back and forth. “Paige, Ferrah, and Warren are from Howling Moon and Kent and I are from Dark Moon.” 

“Oh.” It’s all I can think to say back. I feel taken aback by the information really. Being in a school where I can openly talk about wolf things is going to take some getting used to. 

“Did ya’ll hear about Sean’s party?” Kent asks, changing the subject.

“Sean Ellis? He’s having a back to school party?” Ferrah asks.

“Yep. This Friday.”

“Ooh. I want to go. What do you think, Nicole? Are you the party type?” Cierra asks and everyone’s attention shifts to me. 

“I’ve never been able to go to one, but I wouldn't mind trying it out.” I say with a shrug. 

“You really want to go?” Warren asks and our eyes lock again. I lose my ability to talk and just nod my head. “Alright, I’ll drive us.” He says to the group.

“Whoah! What? You’re going? To a party?” Ferrah’s voice is laced in shock and everyone else looks at him with shock looks of their own. 

“It’s not that big of a deal. I go to parties.” Warren tries to defend.

“You never go willingly, but I would much rather take the ride than walk, so I’m not going to argue with you on it.” Kent says while giving him a firm pat on the back.

Lunch ends and we all go our separate ways, heading to our last few classes. Warren walks with me since we have our next class together. Trigonometry. I love math and wanted to add the extra class as an elective. It’s my crazy idea of a good time. 

“So you took trig because you like math?” Warren asks in disbelief.

“Pretty much. What about you?”

“I hate math. I just needed the extra help and thought this would be a good addition for my business classes.” 

“Uh…do you know anything about trig?” I ask with slight worry. 

“What’s there to know? One plus one equals two, right?” He says with a grin.

“Yeah…I guess.”

We make it to the class and Warren finds us two seats next to each other. As all the other classes today, we read the syllabus and talk about class expectations. The teacher finishes the class by giving us a preview of what we should expect. When I look over at Warren I have to stifle a laugh. His eyes look like they are about to bulge out of his head. This class is definitely not as simple as one plus one. 

“You good over there?” I ask him as I put my things in my bag. Warren is still sitting at his desk, frozen in shock. 

“Yeah…Yeah…Perfect.” He says blinking slowly then finally putting on a grin. I shake my head and chuckle at his response. “So what’s next for you?”

“P.E. then free period.”

“Oh yeah? I end my day with a free period too. If you want, I can give you a ride to the pack so you don’t have to waste the hour waiting for the bus.” 

“You have a car?” I ask excitedly. Warren nods his head as he rises from his seat. Since it was the first day, it wasn’t like I had a lot of homework. All I was going to do was sit around on my phone until school was over then take the bus back to the pack. The slow bus ride to the school was almost an hour and a half long. Going with him would likely shave off almost two hours of my time. “That actually doesn’t sound bad at all.” I say as we walk out of the door and enter the busy hall. 

“Where are you going? The P.E. room is this way.” Warren says as I start making my way in the opposite direction.

“I need to stop by my locker first.”

“Where is your locker?”

“Upstairs and on the other side of the building. If I walk fast enough, I have just enough time to get there and class on time.” 

“You want me to walk you?”

“No. I can manage. Where should I meet you after class?”

“Right out front.”

“Cool beans. I’ll see you after class.” I give Warren a wave and hastily make my way to my locker. My sour mood a couple hours ago, now barely a memory.