Beauty and the Beasts

The Hand of the Enemy

Alpha Zane's eyes flickered open, his grey eyes swiftly moving around the room, till he came to a slow focus on Beta Kane's desperate eyes.

"Alpha. You are awake."

"Kane." he said, a small breath escaping his lips and he pulled himself to a sitting position. His cloak was still wrapped around him, but the right shoulder was off, exposing the constellation tattoo that extended from his upper arm to his neck, and stopped just before his ear lobe. Standing out was Polaris, the northern star, the star his pack had been named after.

"How do you feel, brother?" Kane asked, coming closer. Seeing how Alpha Zane had addressed him by his name, he knew he didn't have to keep the hierarchical distance.

"Light," Alpha Zane answered, stretching his neck. He flipped his legs over the bed, his feet balancing on the floor as he stood to his full height.

"In a good way or a bad way?" Kane asked, humor in his eyes from seeing Alpha Zane's obvious lack of his wolf.

"In a way that I know I should go get my mate immediately. Get everything ready."

Kane nodded with a chuckle. "Have you found her already?"

"I can still hear my wolf. It won't take so long."

Kane nodded. "I will leave you, then. Everything will be prepared immediately."

Alpha Zane nodded as Kane left the room.

Jasmine briskly made her way down the school halls. She was already late, and she wasn't exactly close to the first teacher she was bound to see today. Why? Because of a few corrections she had not been able to over look.

She went into class, just as the teacher followed behind her.

"You are late," she said, her eyes beady.

"Sorry, ma'am." Jasmine replied in a small voice, then went to the only available seat.

She had just dropped her bag and grabbed a pen when she realized who was sitting next to her.

The beautiful stranger that had seen her in the most embarrassing way possible an hour or so ago.

"You."

"Glad you remember me," he whispered, then fully turned to her, a big smile on his face.

Without another word, she turned away, closing her eyes. Focus. She took in a deep breath, then tried to focus on what the teacher was saying.

She was free right after, and she leaned back on the chair, her hair falling over her eyes.

"So...your name is Jasmine?" Andrew said, leaning close to her.

"I am not so sure why you are talking to me." Jasmine said.

He chuckled, then brought his fingers to move her hair out of her face.

She visibly squirmed under his fingers, her eyes trained on them till he felt compelled to remove it.

"You do look like a flower." he said, his voice dipping octaves.

She looked up to him, then rolled her eyes. "I know boys like you."

"Do you? What are we like?"

"Dumb." she answered simply, then pulled her book from the top of the desk. As if she had invited him, he came to sit on her desk, trapping her so she had only one exit.

Her brows furrowed at him. She was already having a horrible morning, and she didn't want it to get any worse.

"Can you move?"

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Andrew." His voice was low, his eyes serious, yet his lips were parted in a small smile.

"Good for you." she answered, then pulled away from him. She had just started to leave her desk when he wrapped his hands around her wrist, forcing her to turn back to him.

She gave a small yelp, but it was not from the fact that he had pulled her to him. It was a pain from something else.

"What's wrong?" Andrew asked, his eyes wide with alarm.

She didn't reply, just brought her fingers to the necklace, her brows furrowed. She had definitely felt the sharp, jolting pain when he had touched her, and she was sure it was right where the pendant rested on her chest and now it was gone.

She swallowed, then pulled away without answering him, then left the class. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, and Jasmine found herself sleeping through most of it. She had to work at the bar after school, and she was sure those bastards would be back, hitting, pounding and breaking in, especially now that she didn't even have windows anymore.

She gave a small sigh as she packed up. She now had to add the bills for a new window on top of her already terrible credits. Could anything get worse?

"Uh...Jasmine?"

She turned to the voice, only to see Andrew. His eyes looked apologetic, his smile small and guilty.

"What do you want?"

"I am just sorry about last time. I really didn't mean to be rude or anything. I just..."

"Fine," she said simply, then stood up. "Can I leave now?"

"Let me drop you home," he said, his eyes wide.

She needed it anyway, it would help her save the transport money. With a small shrug she agreed, and he smiled brightly.

She could tell he probably had very rich parents from the car he had, and she couldn't help marveling as she sat in the passenger seat of the Bentley, her eyes skimming over it.

"Do you like it?" he asked, his eyes examining hers.

"Well, it's not bad." She said, immediately clearing her throat, then leaning away.

"You are cute," he said with a small chuckle.

She didn't reply, and he pulled out of the driveway. The drive was mostly silent, except for the times Andrew turned to her, his smile small.

She couldn't tell what was so amusing about her, and she kept her gaze fixed on the road. They soon got to the house, and she gave a small sigh.

"You have been here before," she said, stretching her arms to the house. It wasn't much, but it was all she had.

"Well, yes. But.. I didn't notice the windows then. What happened?"

She shrugged. "Not sure, and it's not really your business. Thanks for the ride."

With that, she turned away and entered the house.

She could tell he was still outside there, but she wanted nothing to do with him. He was the kind of person who would make her be greedy for the things she would probably never be able to afford, the kind of person that would show her the kind of life she should never covet.

She closed the door and sank into the sofa, her fatigue finally getting the best of her.

"Zane atlantis? Your papers show you graduated from Harvard as a professor. Why would you want to work as a mere high school teacher?"

Alpha Zane gave his sweetest smile. "I love to see the young ones. I do hope I am qualified enough."

The woman squinted at his papers again, then at his face. "Well, of course. You are overqualified, in fact."

He smiled again. "Please consider me."

She smiled, turning to the other two on the recruit panel, then smiled and offered him her hand.

"You can start whenever you want, professor."

He smiled at her too. "Tomorrow will be fine with me."

Jasmine stirred, her sleep interrupted by a large pounding sound just above her head. She woke up, only to see someone breaking off the remains of her window, and fixing new ones.

"Wait. What are you doing?" she asked, but the man standing on the other side of the house said nothing, and only continued to work.

She dragged herself to stand, then walked out, her eyes still squinted. Andrew was standing close to the window, a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Andrew?"

He smiled at her. "Yours truly."

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Helping a friend fix her window."

"Since when did we become friends?" She asked, turning around to examine the windows.

"Well, right now. Let me be your friend, Jasmine. I noticed you have more than enough space for me."

She turned to him, his eyes sparkling an extremely light brown, his smile sweet. Everything of his clicked, but for some reason, she felt almost like...she was taking the hand of the enemy.