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Two weeks in a home with wolves like her was more than Giselle had ever hoped for. She felt like she had finally found her niche. She could be herself without hiding. No more excuses, no more lies, no more feeling like a freak when her secret inevitably came out. And best of all... no more packing her bags.
Years of struggle with who she was melted away as she began to see that life did not always have to revolve around watching your back for the next person to screw you over or leave you cold in the street. There was hope.
She’d grown to really enjoy being surrounded by other wolves, and dreaded the end of the winter break. The end of vacation meant one more hurdle she’d have to overcome on the road to the perfect new life now within her grasp... a new school.
Diana scooped up her arm and pulled her along the path towards the school office. “C’mon. Depression and defensiveness don’t look good on you. This will be fine. Remember, you’re not a lone wolf anymore. We got your back.”
Giselle had to admit, it was nice being part of a built-in clique... and a trendy one at that. She’d never had such nice and fashionable clothes before. And her new family was more than willing to help her fill in all the gaps she’d had in the past. Hair, makeup, clothes, jewelry... she’d never had such nice things. She was spoiled... and liked it, though she did hold on to her flannel shirts. You never knew when grunge would come back. All trends were cyclical. At least that was the reason she gave the girls when they threatened to burn her old things in the bonfire to celebrate the New Year.
“I’d still prefer homeschool,” Giselle said, allowing Di to drag her inside the large brick building, which looked more like a prison than a school. All the way through the corridors and even into the courtyard, the place had a very two-tone, institutional feel. Neat walkways, lockers that blended in with the brick work, hardly a sign or bit of personalization to be found, except for the bulletin board in the center of the yard with flyers for the various clubs and special meetings. That was the only bit of real color in the place.
Thank the gods she only had two years in this place before she’d be off to college. Community, probably, unless she could qualify for some scholarship money, but dreams were few and far between and she’d blown her karmic wad on the new family she’d lucked into.
Still, the prospects were looking up – although not at this particular moment as she walked into the main office and found a sour-faced lady manning the counter.
“Giselle Richards, new transfer,” she said as politely as she could.
Di stood by, checking her makeup with a small compact mirror.
“You have any paperwork for me?” the sour-faced woman asked.
Giselle rummaged through her bag and pulled out a folder. “I believe it’s all here.”
The woman took it, gave a quick glance at the contents, and tapped a few keys on her computer. “Richards, you said?”
It was right there on the damn paperwork in front of her... Couldn’t she just look herself? Giselle took a calming breath. Be good. Be nice. It’s the first day, she chanted to herself, and then forced a smile on her face and nodded.
A printer behind the woman fired out a few quick pieces of paper, and she snatched them up just as fast. “Here’s your locker assignment, code, and class schedule. Have your teachers sign off on each page and return it at the end of today.”
“Thank you.” Giselle grabbed her schedule, happy to be able to leave the office, and she and Di made their way through the packed hallway toward her locker.
“I just need to grab my things and I’ll be right back to take you to Chem, okay?” Di said, leaving her at the locker.
“I’ll be fine. I don’t need a babysitter.” Giselle let her eyes wander off down the hallway... where they landed on drool-worthy candidate to help her take her mind off of Di’s overbearing assistance. He must have felt her staring because the moment she settled on him, he looked over and flashed her a smile. Dirty blond hair, either teased or blown out – not that she thought boys did that – but either way, those wind-swept locks suited him. And so did the longer sideburns too. A little retro, but they framed his face so well. And when his puppy-dog brown eyes met hers, she couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe there would be some good things about this school after all.
Di’s voice broke through her daydream of chatting up Mr. Puppy-Dog Eyes. “You’re going to let me help you around today, Elle. I won’t hear any arguments about it.”
Di’s domineering tone was beginning to grate on Giselle’s nerves, especially when it invaded her fantasies. Good intentions aside, Di needed to tone it down, and if she didn’t do it soon, Giselle would have to say something, as her wolf was already on edge. For now though, she tried to remind herself that this was what families did... take care of each other, no matter how intrusive they were in the process. Something she’d need to get used to if she was going to be part of a family. She sighed and turned to open her locker. “Whatever, Di. Help if you must, but don’t baby me.”
If Di heard her, she didn’t respond. Not that Giselle needed verbal confirmation; she turned back around and slammed her locker shut without looking, and then stumbled straight into something... someone... hard.
“Oh, sorry,” Giselle mumbled, trying to steady herself. She hadn’t caught the scent until after she looked up and saw who she’d almost knocked down – or, well, collided with. She couldn’t have knocked him down if she’d tried.
Hello, Boy!
He was magnificent. Was every guy in this school a male model? Towering over her at well above six foot, with muscles that went on for days, he was built like a statue with a hard jaw and stone-cold eyes to match. Though his looks were definitely worth paying attention to, it was his smell that had her standing dumbfounded. In all the years since she’d first experienced the change, she had never run into anyone like her. Now, standing here right in front of her was yet another wolf. She’d thought the lingering scent of wet earth might have been left in Di’s wake, but the longer he stood here, looking down at her, the stronger the smell got.
“Do you have a problem?” he asked with a voice that complemented that spectacular body of his. Smooth and deep. Seriously... what a package. Her wolf was definitely at attention and begging for a second to come to the surface for a closer inspection. It was all she could do not to wolf out right there in the hallway, with all the students around to see. Yeah. That would make for a great first impression.
Hiya, everyone... I’m the new girl, and... oh, yeah, and I’m a wolf, too. She might as well tape an old “Kick me” sign on her back; it would be less conspicuous.
While she was practically drooling where she stood, the strange boy, wolf, man –whatever he was – looked positively murderous. “Are you going to stand here all day, or can I get to my locker?”
So much for making a good first impression on him. “Sorry.” Giselle cleared her throat, wanting to say something smart, but for once, she didn’t have the words. She sidestepped sheepishly, and enjoyed the back view of him as he brushed past her to his own locker.
Damn. Nice butt.
Her wolf agreed, too. Wonder what his wolf looks like. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours! She couldn’t help but stare. How often did she run into other wolves? Male wolves. Other than Gavin, Martina’s mate, she’d never met another male wolf.
Try as she might, she couldn’t stop staring. His body created a gravitational pull that her eyes couldn’t break free from.
“What are you doing?” Di snatched Giselle by the arm and pulled her away with the urgency of rescue worker trying to save a child from a burning building.
Giselle pulled her arm out of Di’s grasp, growling at the way she was being manhandled. The last time she’d been yanked around like that was when her first family had learned of her abnormality. She hadn’t liked it then, and she wouldn’t tolerate it now. “Grab me like that again, and I’ll...”
The shocked look on Di’s face said more than words, but she still apologized anyway. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to... Look. Stay away from Asher.”
Giselle took a calming breath to dampen the bark of her tone. “Why didn’t you tell me there were more here?”
“Because not all of them are friendly.”
To be fair, she had bumped into Asher, so he was well within rights to be grumpy with her, but she hadn’t thought he was overly mean in their short meeting. If anything, she’d made a fool of herself and it was kind of Asher to not have made a public spectacle of her.
“Just stay away from him... and his pack.” Di’s adamant warning made Giselle all the more curious.
Of course, never having met any others of her kind, she couldn’t understand the stress Di was putting on the situation. OK, so there were more wolves, and no doubt packs were a bit territorial, but the animal was only half of what they were. As people, they were rational and could accept sharing of one another’s territory. Couldn’t they? So what could make two packs in close proximity hate each other? The mystery of it made her all that much more curious.
“Whatever.” She shrugged off Di’s warning for the moment, determined to dig deeper in her own time, and allowed Di to walk next to her to Chemistry.
Di switched subjects immediately, and the whole way down the corridor she rambled on about something to do with shopping and purses, things that under normal circumstances might have interested Gisele; but her mind was locked on Asher and the possibility of meeting more of her kind.
“...and then we’ll hit the mall after school to pick you up a new outfit, okay?” Di had the look of someone expecting an answer, but Giselle couldn’t remember the question.
“Yeah. Let’s do that.” She smiled awkwardly, hoping she had given the right answer.
Di’s eyes narrowed. Apparently not what she’d hoped to hear. “We’ll talk about it more at lunch.” She said a bit impatiently.
“Great!” Giselle ducked into her classroom, thankful to have an excuse to walk away before the angry glare turned into more. “Later.”
Chemistry. Not her best subject, and to have it first thing in the morning was going to make for a fun remainder of the school year. She glanced around the classroom, taking in all the beakers and Bunsen burners and test tubes neatly organized on the counters. The cupboards with glass doors had all manner of vials and bottles behind them. She said a silent prayer she wouldn’t accidentally blow anything up and embarrass herself. Then, as her eyes left the equipment, she found the handsome puppy-dog-eyed boy from the hallway. He was staring right at her. She smiled coyly and tried as best she could to say hello with her eyes.
The teacher spotted her and called Giselle over. “You’re my newbie, I take it.” He didn’t look much like she’d expected a chemistry teacher to be. Maybe she had seen too many sci-fi shows, but she’d kind of hoped for an eccentric Doc Brown vibe. Instead, she got an early thirties, straight laced, blazer wearer with slick back hair and a plastic smile. “Packed house here. You can take the open spot at Ash’s table. Second row to the left.”
She looked in the direction he pointed and spotted the hot wolf boy she’d stepped on in the hallway. This class was turning out to be hottie central. Hello, again... wolf boy!
“Need me to make introductions, or is that too embarrassing?” The teacher asked.
“No, thanks, I’m good.”
“Good, I hate mindless chatter. I’m Mr. Harper. Only call on me when you are really confused. Otherwise, shut up and listen. Got it?”
Definitely not what she’d expected from a teacher. But though his dominant tone irked her wolf, she would not allow the beast to ruin her first day. Giselle nodded and headed toward her seat. A quick glance sideways at Asher brought a smile to her face she just couldn’t hide. He was a wolf, all right, but more than that, he was a really hot guy. Hot with a capital H. And that made Di’s warning all that much more tempting to break.
“Sorry I stepped on your toe back there.”
He grunted, if that could be considered a reply. Maybe he was more wolf than boy. Having not met any male werewolves other than Gavin, who really wasn’t around much, it was entirely possible they were just brutish beings dressed up like humans. She really hoped not. It would be a shame to waste such a hot body if that were the case.
“I’m new here. Don’t mean to make enemies my first day, you know.” Giselle hated small talk, but really wanted to get him to say something, and found herself stumbling over her words.
He didn’t answer.
“So, it’s like that, then?” she asked. Either he was really mad at her, or there was something else going on. He wasn’t even bothering to look in her direction with his non-responding grunts. Maybe Di was right about him.
“Miss.... Richards? New girl!” Mr. Harper called out loud enough to get the whole class’s attention. “Is there something you need to say? Should we all wait for you to finish chatting up Mr. Thrace, or is it okay for me to teach now?”
Nothing like mortifying embarrassment to ease into the treacherous waters of high school. Thank you, Mr. Harper. Giselle sank down low in her seat, face no doubt turning fifty shades of red. All eyes were on her, including Ash and Mr. Puppy-Dog Eyes... staring, laughing. In under thirty minutes she’d managed to make herself a social pariah at this school. Perfect! Just perfect.
“Save yourself the trouble and stop trying to talk to me,” Asher whispered under his breath.
Giselle counted that a victory in its own little way, but she still kept quiet for the remainder of the class, partially for fear of being called out again by Mr. Harper.