Chapter 1-2
969 Words
Cole
I slide into my chair in journalism a few seconds after the bell rings. Of course the human—the b***h who moved next door—already sits at her desk beside me, chit-chatting with the teacher like a suck-up. I catch a whiff of her cinnamon and honey scent as I sit and my balls tighten.
“Nerd patrol,” I mutter as Mr. Brumgard walks away from her desk. I heard she’s taking Advanced Placement English online, and she’s using this class as an elective. Double English credits. f*****g whack-job.
She fumbles her pen—probably because I rattled her—and it clatters to the ground. My buddy Austin automatically reaches to pick it up, then catches my glare and realizes who it belongs to. He straightens without retrieving it.
Good. The king of Wolf Ridge High still rules. No one will talk to Bailey, much less help her, unless I lift my ban on it. I give it another month and she’ll transfer to a school where her kind belong.
She leans into the aisle to get it, but I kick it away, forcing her to lose her balance and fall halfway out of her seat, balanced on one hand. I get a flash of bare thigh as her mini-dress rides up and a low growl rises in my throat.
What the f**k is wrong with me? I don’t get hot for her kind.
Miss Perfect in those little dresses and skull Chucks. I glare in her direction, willing my attraction for her to die. Unfortunately, the way her breasts stretch the front of her polka dot mini-dress today gets me hard. Which makes me hate her even more.
Even if it weren’t for the situation with our parents, I would say she doesn’t belong here. She’s too f*****g smart. Too nerd-hot. Too self-possessed for someone getting actively shunned every day at school.
And it’s somehow a thousand times worse that her brains and attitude are wrapped up in that juicy little package.
Mr. Brumgard finishes taking roll, then calls out, “Pop quiz on the reading I assigned yesterday!”
The class groans. Everyone except for Bailey, who obviously can’t wait to show she did her homework. Brumgard stands and starts placing a sheet of paper face down on each desk.
My eyes roll back in my head with frustration, and I fall back against my seat back. This f*****g sucks. There’s no chance I’ll get a passing grade, and the homecoming game is Friday. Which means I’m gonna get benched. Which means the entire team and Coach Jamison are going to kill me.
My teammates look over at me with that sort of desperate question in their eyes. I shake my head and a collective underbreath groan ripples through the room. It’s not just my teammates, it’s the rest of the class, too.
Sports are huge at Wolf Ridge High. Way bigger than academics.
Even though we have to play our skills down around humans, every student wants to see us win. And I always put on a good show toying with the other team and dishing out cocky attitude on the field.
“You have seven minutes to complete the quiz over last night’s reading,” Brumgard says, looking at his phone. “You may begin.”
The rustle of paper fills the room as everyone flips their quizzes over. I pick up my pencil and stare at the words, not even comprehending what I’m reading.
My mind spins over the possible outcomes of this situation. They pretty much all end in me getting benched for not maintaining a C average and facing the wrath of the entire school.
But none of that compares to the shitstorm I’ll catch at home when my dad hears.
Which is ironic, since the reason I haven’t done homework all week is because I’ve been working late at Bo’s uncle’s garage to pay for groceries since my dad’s too f*****g drunk and depressed to get off his a*s and find a new job.
My gaze slides over to Bailey. The girl I can’t stand.
She’s already three-quarters of the way through her quiz. And, most importantly, she hasn’t taken the time to write her name on the top yet.
In one of my best asshole moves, I snap my hand out and grab her quiz while the teacher’s back is turned. I slide my blank quiz on her desk.
Her cheeks color pink and her mouth drops open, but before she can make a sound, every student around us turns and stares her down, unified pack style.
She may be human, but our biology is similar enough that she must feel the pressure. Conform or die. This is wolf domination and pack dynamics at their best. And I’m their alpha.
Her lips snap closed. Jaw sets. Shooting a murderous glare in my direction, she hunches over the paper and starts furiously writing the answers down.
The victory that explodes in my chest has more to do with breaking Bailey than it does with solving my grade problems. I’ve been dying to bring her to her knees since the moment she had the f*****g audacity to move in next door.
I smirk as I write my name at the top of her paper and guess at the answers she left blank. Even if I get every one of them wrong, I’ll pass.
Pink is an A plus student. Possibly semi-genius level. She doesn’t belong at Wolf Ridge any more than her mom belongs at the brewery.
Anyway, the point is, her answers will be right. And all I need is a C.
I watch her finish her quiz—the one that used to be mine—brows furrowed, lips locked in a tight line.
“Time,” Mr. Brumgard calls. “Pencils down. Pass your quizzes up, please.”
She sends me another furious glare before passing hers up, and I flick my brows in challenge, daring her to do something about it.
She won’t, and we both know it.
Score one for the alpha bully.
Loser human: zero.
- Writer
