JOSH'S POV

Sitting in history listening to Mr. Holland go on about some important event was such a bore. I sigh again and look at the clock. It's been four minutes since the last time I checked. I sigh again, how slow can this class go?

Suddenly Ashton's voice fills my head. I am outside the cafeteria, his voice says, I need to talk to you.

What does he want now? All week he's been asking me about Evie and what she's like and what to say to her, and frankly, it's getting on my nerves. I look at the clock again, another minute has passed.

I raise my hand and it takes a few seconds for Mr. Holland to notice my raised hand.

"Yes, Josh." Mr. Holland's gruff voice says. He sounds irritated that I interrupted his lecture. I smile on the inside.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" I ask quickly.

Mr. Holland sighs, "It's almost lunch, can't you wait?" He looks almost embarrassed to be asking me that.

"No." A few of the other students snicker at my response.

"Fine, but if the bell rings, you have to come back here and grab your stuff." I am out of my seat and halfway across the room by the time he said 'come back here'.

I quickly leave the classroom and stroll down the hall to the cafeteria. I hear pacing before I see Ashton. I turn the corner and true to my ears, Ashton is pacing. His head immediately shoots up as soon as I turn the corner.

"What took you so long?" Ashton asks, his voice hard.

"I am helping you, not the other way around." I remind him. He's been having an issue with patience lately and, like his constant questions about Evie, his lack of patience is starting to get on my nerves.

Ashton sighs and runs his hand through his hair, his hard expression disappearing. He stops his pacing as I come up to him.

"What do you want?" I ask him when I face him.

"Is she with anyone? Does she have a boyfriend?" Ashton almost sounded insecure as he asked his questions.

I snort, "What kind of questions are those?"

Ashton's hard expression comes back, "Don't laugh at me. And they're perfectly fine questions. I'm her mate."

I snort again, "Some mate you've been."

Ashton moves so quickly that I don't see him move. His hand is around my neck and he is holding me against the wall. His normal blue eyes have turned black with anger. A growl emanates from his throat.

"It's true and you know it."

Ashton's body immediately slacks at my words. He let's go of my neck and takes a step back, closing his eyes. When he looks at me again, I can clearly see the regret in his eyes. He doesn't say anything.

"No."

"What?" The question is filled with regret, though I know the regret doesn't have anything to do with what I said.

"She isn't in a relationship. I'm the only guy she really talks to." I say quietly. Ashton's body relaxes in relief at my words.

Suddenly, his body tenses as if he's being attacked.

"You're not with her, are you?" Ashton asks me. His voice takes on an accusing tone.

I narrow my eyes, "No. But maybe I should have been there when you weren't." I know I am just egging him on, but I don't care. He deserves it.

Ashton turns towards me, a challenge clear in his eyes, "Don't challenge me Josh. I am still your Alpha."

"I'm not challenging you Alpha," I say the title mockingly, "I am stating a fact."

The bell rings, signaling lunch. However, Ashton and I haven't moved from our positions. Tense silence stretches on between us.

Voices start filtering in from the hallway. I know people are coming this way. Ashton seems to realize this as I realize it, and he moves to the side, gesturing for me to follow. I follow him, my steps stiff.

We move to the side just in time, as what looks like a hundred students turn the hallway and go into the cafeteria. Ashton and I get more than a few stares, mostly from the pack, but quite a few humans glance at us too.

Ashton's voice again comes into my head, so are you with Evie? I don't respond.

Josh. Ashton's growl erupts in my head. I still don't respond.

A few seconds later, the only people who are passing us are stragglers. From behind me, Ashton grabs my shoulder roughly and turns me around to face him. His face is in the form of a scowl. I make sure to keep my face neutral.

"You're not with Evie, right Josh?" Ashton's asks stiffly through clenched teeth.

I keep my neutral face, "No."

"And she's not with anyone else, right?" His voice is still stiff, but he unclenched his jaw.

"No."

"Why did you just say that in the-" Ashton's voice cuts off, and I know why.

Evie, along with another human boy, just turned the corner to go into the cafeteria. Ashton's back is to her so he takes a small inhale of her scent. Ashton whips his head to face and a second later his body follows.

I keep my eyes on Ashton as he scans over Evie, probably making sure she is okay, before glaring at the human boy. A low growl comes out of his throat as he continues to look at the human boy.

Ashton, stop it! I shout at him through our link.

His voice returns in a growl, I thought you said she wasn't with anyone! His snarls echo though my mind.

She isn't! I respond to him, though my statement doesn't make a difference in his anger. I take a quick second and look at Evie. Her expression shows her confusion as she glances at Ashton, then me, then back at Ashton. I look at the human boy next. He also looks confused, but also a little frightened when he glances at Ashton's glare. I look at the space between them. It's small, and they're not touching. I can tell that there is nothing between them. I look back at Evie and make eye contact.

Our eye contact is cut when Ashton rips his glare away from the human boy and takes off towards the door that leads to outside. I know his wolf is about to take over due to the snarls that are still echoing in my mind.

His throws open the door, almost breaking it, and takes off into the forest. I watch him run to the forest and disappear inside it. A howl sounds off in my head and I know he's shifted.

I look back at Evie and the human boy. Both of them are looking at where Ashton has just taken off to. Damn it Ashton! Thinking quickly I turn to Evie and give the best explanation I can, "The forest helps calm him down."

Evie eyebrow cocks in confusion and catches on to my lame excuse almost immediately, "Why would he need to calm down?"

Shit! Though, I don't know why I didn't see that coming. Another lame excuse comes to my head, "Bad test. He got a 'D' and he's really upset about that."

Confusion is still apparent on Evie's face, "Oh," she turns to face the boy, "are you ready to eat?" The human is still looking at me. I give him a small glare of my own when Evie's not look at me.

"Sure." He says glancing away from me.

I fix my glare into a small smile as Evie looks back at me, "Well, I better go after him." I say to Evie.

Before giving her a chance to respond, I turn and rush out of the same door Ashton rushed out of. Without thinking twice about it, I rush into the forest after Ashton. As soon as I am in the cover of the trees, I feel the shift of my bones as I turn into my wolf. I follow Ashton's scent to a familiar clearing in the forest. I find him there, in wolf form, taking out his anger on some poor, helpless trees.

They're the best opponent, I tell him through our link, because they don't fight back.

You said she wasn't with anyone!His voice shouts back. Who was she walking with?

I sigh in my mind. Calm down Ashton, I tell him sighing, did you even see them? Or did your anger cloud your sight?

Ashton turns towards me, his wolf face transformed into a snarl. A feral growl comes out of his throat as he focuses on me. His eyes are black and I know his wolf has taken over. Ashton starts stalking towards me.

My senses are on high alert as he stalks towards me. I know I can't beat him in a fight.

Ashton, I say through our link calmly, please think clearly. I know they are only friends.

How do you know? The question is growled out in my mind.

Because I've never seen them together before now, I tell him truthfully in his mind.

Ashton stops in his tracks and I watch his eyes slowly turn back to blue. I know he's gained control over his wolf once again. A sigh comes out of his muzzle. Without responding to me Ashton turns around and starts running back home.

I stay in the clearing for a few seconds longer looking in the direction Ashton took off in. I sigh and head in the same direction intending to go home. Instead of running like Ashton had, I walk in the direction of home. What have I gotten myself into?

A/N: Hi everyone! First off, thank you! This book has reached two million reads! I never, ever thought this book would reach that milestone, so thank you everyone! Secondly, if you didn't catch on, this is Josh's POV of what just happened in the last chapter. Hopefully it gives a little more background on both Josh and Ashton. Thirdly, I know it's short, that's the point. Josh's POV will always be short, so please deal with it because I don't like getting the comments about how short it is. I know, don't worry, it's supposed to be short. And lastly, please don't expect an update tomorrow, or the next day for that matter. Please expect an update in around two weeks or sometime around that time. To not end this on a bad note, thank you everyone for reading and commenting and voting!!! It all means so much to me!!!