Monday morning, I grumbled as I rolled out of bed. Ugh, school. And today meant attending a new school. I was not excited. I was going to miss meeting Blaire and Carter at my locker every morning before being whisked off to Math. I was going to miss the crazy dodgeball tournaments in Gym; this school might have those, but it wouldn't be the same.

Shaking off my bout of homesickness, I headed to the bathroom and took a shower, enjoying the warmth for a few minutes. I changed into a black and white knee-length skirt and a tight white shirt. I slipped on high black boots and pulled my auburn hair back half way with a clip.

I checked to make sure May was still asleep before grabbing my bag and walking downstairs. August was thankfully up but was eating cereal.

"What, no egg burritos today?"

He shrugged, "didn't feel like it."

I grabbed myself a bowl and practically inhaled the cereal. "C'mon," I told him, dumping my dishes in the sink. "We need to go."

"Okay." He rinsed his bowl out and grabbed his bag, following me out the door. "Let's run!"

I sighed, "I don't know, Auggie. It seems risky for me..."

"Please? And don't call me Auggie, I've way grown out of that."

I sighed, "fine. And I'm still gonna call you Auggie, okay?"

He stuck his tongue out at me and I shifted for the first time in what felt like month. Because of how risky it was, I hardly got to let Scarlet out.

My fox's pelt is bright red-ish orange and she has eyes the color of amber. Also, I'm huge in my fox form. Like almost wolf-sized. Maybe not werewolf big, but big enough to stand with the wild wolves.

August picked up my backpack and climbed on my back, gripping my fur in his hands. "Okay," he said and I took off towards the school, staying in the protection of the woods. I knew he would much rather shift and run beside me, but he still had a little less than a year before that happened.

It was about a ten minute run to our new high school so we arrived about five minutes early. August got off my back and I shifted. Unlike wolves, who shift back to human form stark naked, I shift back fully clothed. No one knows why; but it's much less stressful for me!

We walked inside and found the office to the left. A nice lady at the desk waved us over and asked for our names.

"I'm April and this is August," I told her. "We just moved here from across the country."

"Great!" She said very cheerfully. She handed us our schedules and sent us on our way.

As I walked down the hallway, I picked out who was a werewolf and who was human based on their smells. Dad had told me yesterday that the school we were going to was just barely on neutral land so more than one pack attended it.

When I found my locker, I quickly put what I didn't need in it and headed to my first class: History.

I sat down just as the teacher was starting his class. "It looks like we have a new student today!" He gestured to me, "Would you like to stand up and tell us about yourself?"

No. I thought, but I did anyways. Otherwise I'd just get a lot of teasing or questions. I stood up, "okay. Um, my name is April. I'm seventeen, and I just moved here from Wyoming."

"Well it's nice to have you here, April. I'm sure-"

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Darson." A low voice interrupted. I glanced over to the door and saw a tall boy with brown hair and his tone said he didn't really care that he was late. A shorter boy with blonde hair stood behind him. I could smell they were werewolves and both of high power, but neither high enough to be Alpha.

"Do you have a late slip, Mr. Clarke?" Mr. Darson asked, sounding extremely annoyed. The kid shook his head. "Well go get one!" The teacher demanded.

The boy smirked, "but Mr. Darson, then I would be missing five more minutes of your wonderful class!" I saw Mr. Darson's hand clench into a fist and shake slightly at his side.

"Just sit down boys. And where is Mr. Black?"

The blonde boy trailing behind shrugged, his voice quieter. "'Dunno. Claimed he had something to take care of." Mr. Darson closed his eyes in exasperation, bending over to scribble something at his desk.

As the two boys passed my desk, the first stopped to look at me but continued on his way without saying so much as a "hello." They sat down and I heard the boy whisper to his friend, "Dude, the new girl's hot!"

I blushed furiously and plopped in my seat, looking down at my textbook, trying to hide behind my hair. The entire class, I barely payed attention, only feeling the guy's stare on me from behind. I was worried this was going to turn into another fiasco of getting asked out every other day. The only difference was that these boys were werewolves. I hoped that meant they'd back off soon enough.

When the bell rang, I dashed out the door, trying to get away from the boy's gaze. He followed me and caught me a ways down the hall. "Hey, Freckles!"

I scrunched my face and continued walking. "Don't call me that," I mumbled.

He kept my pace, walking beside me down the corridor. "Why not? Freckles suites you."

I glared at him, "go away."

"That's not a good way to make friends, ow is it?"

No it's a good way to stop you from asking me out. "Go away."

"I'm Andrew, by the way." He offered, ignoring my obvious hint I didn't want him here.

I sighed and just decided to ignore him. I had a feeling he would call me Freckles whether I gave him my name or not. I didn't mean to come off as rude, I was just not in the mood to be pestered by boys wanting to hook up with me.

The rest of the day consisted of being followed around by him, and he wasn't a quiet companion either! Apparently he had close to the same schedule as me, so, he walked beside or right behind me to each class, asking me questions or making comments, or calling me Freckles a bajillion times. I ignored almost all of it, unless I felt like I should actually answer something.

I walked home after school alone after finding out that August found some group of friends he wanted to hang out with. I threw my bag into my room and then headed to the mall just to look around. I didn't have much homework and knew I'd be bored at home, or asked to help unpack things. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts as I window-shopped.

I was sifting through a random clothing store when three boys walked in, all laughing and shoving each other around — I was surprised a store employee didn't go kick them out for that. Two of them were the guys that were late to history this morning: Andrew and his blonde haired buddy. I ducked behind the clothing rack I had been mindlessly looking through, not wanting to talk to him or his friends I hadn't officially met yet.

Even though I knew this was wrong and a little invasive, I decided to use my fox hearing to eavesdrop a little as they settled down into a low conversation.

"-new girl at school," Andrew was saying, "I tried to get close enough to ask her out, but she just ignored me." Ugh, they were talking about me!

"Is she your mate?" The guy I didn't recognize asked. He was tall with black hair and striking blue eyes.

Andrew shook his head, "no. But she's human and really pretty." Thanks. I guess.

The dark haired guy sighed, "I've never understood why you won't just wait for your mate."

Andrew shrugged, "dating's fun."

"Whatever, I'm waiting for my mate."

"You're boring." Andrew responded with a slight shove to the guy's shoulder. They walked towards the back of the store so I took that chance to try and leave.

Just as I was nearing the exit, I heard Andrew say, "hey, that's her! Freckles!"

The tall guy looked at his friend, "Freckles?"

Andrew nodded, "that's what I call her."

I grimaced slightly and turned around slowly. "Oh, hey Andrew."

"What are you doing here?"

I rolled my eyes and gestures to the store we were in. "Shopping?"

He chuckled at my sassy response to his stupid question. "Well, anyway, this is Xavier and Jacob." He pointed to his friends. Xavier was the tall, dark-haired guy and Jacob was the one with blonde hair from History class this morning.

As they got closer to me, I could smell the powerful aura rolling off of Xavier. It was much higher than Andrew and Jacob's; this was the Alpha. I didn't look him in the eyes, out of respect. I knew this wouldn't give me away; Mom told me even humans could sense when someone was powerful — just not the same way Weres can.

"Wanna come hang out with us? We're going to the movies soon." Andrew offered.

I pretended to think about it. Did I want to go with Andrew and his friends to watch a movie? Not really, no. "Sorry, I told my mom I'd be getting home soon, so I can't." I lied.

"Aw, Freckles, really? Too bad, it would've been a lot of fun!"

Sure, okay. "Yeah, sorry. Maybe next time." Actually, probably not next time either. I sent them a quick wave and turned on my heel, quickly leaving the store and entering the crowded mall corridors. I shivered involuntarily as I felt three stares lingering on my back as I walked away. I could tell Xavier's apart from the others due to his status, and a strange sensation crawled over me; a weird pull to turn around meet his eyes. I didn't dare though, keeping my face straight and my focus on getting out of there before things became even stranger.