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Friday night I never got a text from Blaine. I would know if something happened to Edith through the mate bond. I'd feel it. Even so, it still was difficult to go to sleep.

As I was waiting on a text, but my phone only dinged at the "hahaha" that Uncle Bo sent in our family group chat. He would be up this late at night. Uncle Bo thought it would be beneficial for all of us if we're in a group chat together so we can know what's going on in each other's lives. The whole family. My three Uncles: Bo, Sargon and Zeke, Aunt Julia and Meg, my parents and Alpha Cole. Uncle Bo is the one that always sends memes. Mom is the one that sends videos. They are the only two that laugh at them.

Besides that, I ignored the million missing calls and texts from my friends. Theo told me he wanted to see me in the morning, so I texted him an OK.

Dad called me twice again and texted me:

This was two hours ago. A reminder about what I've done at school today.

I inhaled deeply. I know my parents usually aren't up this late, but Dad might be. Sometimes he'll be working late on pack crap. Dad was a morning person and a night owl.

My head is cleared from my walk and talk with my mate. It was everything I needed. But I was still nervous to talk to Dad. Disappointing him was the worst thing I can do. I dialed Dad's number, hoping he wouldn't pick up so I can at least say I tried.

Unfortunately, he picks up in the second ring. "Where have you been?" Dad's voice sounds like he's been awake. Great. Hopefully not for me.

"Just went on a walk," I told the truth. "Left my phone here. How've you been?" Small talk before the grand finale.

"Stressed out," Dad replied breezily. "Then I get a phone call from the Principal about my son punching another student to the hospital." I cringed as Dad sighed through the phone. "What were you thinking?"

I'm so glad Dad wasn't in front of me right now. I think I'd wither from his hard gaze. He gave Batman's bat-glare a run for his money.

"I know," I breathed deeply. "It was stupid Dad, I know." There was nothing else to say.

"That's what I don't understand. I know you know better than this." Another stab to my gut. "We raised the both of you to be better than this. You aren't like this."

"I was just defending a friend!" My mate to be exact.

"Your mom mentioned it," Dad said. Telling my dad that he'd do the same may be a lie. He's got way more cool than anyone in this entire world. Wyatt gets it from him. "A verbal spat is just that- verbal. If this wolf looked like he was about to harm her, that would be much different. No one would mind it. I'd encourage it. But the wolf just said something, West. Defending her by breaking his jaw doesn't do you any favors. I've had a lot of times where someone would talk about your mother in front of me. The easy thing would be if I killed them. In a way we're the same in that regard, but you can't act on it. There's a time and place for everything, but school is not it."

Absorbing his words, I felt a little lighter. Of course Dad's right.

"I know you don't go around punching everyone," Dad continued. "Hitting someone because he pisses you off isn't something you can keep doing. Everyone will piss you off one way or another. Especially Alphas. Are you going to punch all of them too?"

"I can try," I joked.

"West," Dad almost growled out, but I grinned through the phone, knowing he's trying not to laugh. "You have the most responsibility because you can inflict the most damage out of anyone there is. I don't want you to do something you'll regret. I love you no matter what, and I only want you to not get expelled from school. If you're up to it, you should come home next weekend."

"Aw miss me already?"

"No, I just want to make sure you don't slack on your training."

I groaned. "Love you too."

"West?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Your potential far surpasses mine. Focus on school, don't fight those a-holes and visit your mom more often. Your old man misses you too."

"Gosh Dad keep that up and I'm going to cry."

My dad was done with me. "Good night." He hung up in a joking manner, and I smiled. That wasn't so bad. Maybe because it was on the phone and I couldn't see him, but it relieved me.

The actual hard part would be not getting into a fight for the rest of the year.

Theo met up with me in the morning at the dining hall. Every other sane person was asleep at 8 AM.

"The lunch lady gave me an extra helping of hash browns" Theo sat down at our table. We were the only few ones in the massive dining hall.

"Why would she do that?" I snorted.

"You know how charming I can be," Theo winked at me.

"Yeah, as charming as a rat."

Theo flicked a spoonful of hash browns at me. "Anyways. I wanted to ask you to come home with me. Mom misses me and you know how much she loves you. Way more than me. Her own son." I laughed. It was true, Aunt Julia doted on me more than Theo liked which I sometimes rubbed in his face.

"I'd love to go, but I have some homework."

"Dude, you're scaring me," Theo said, looking at me funny as he bit off his toast. "Homework? You?"

"I'm a changed man."

"Yeah okay," Theo said without humor. "I'll see you Sunday then."

"Bring me some real food. Your Dad can cook."

"Dad is going to make me train all weekend," Theo frowned. "Not looking forward to that."

After I said good-bye to Theo, I took the morning as a good moment to be at the court by myself. I loved the basketball court the school put near the dorms because it was right by a lake, and had a picnic table a little to the side so sometimes people can watch you or you can just eat there.

Probably my favorite place here.

I bounced the basketball, and closed my eyes. Positioning myself, I let the ball go from the tip of my fingers.

Swish.

"You still got it, Basketball Star."

I turned around to see Abby smiling at me. How she managed to sneak up on me made me realize how much Edith was right about my surroundings. I did need to pay attention more. I just sometimes zoned out.

"Hey," I greeted her, picking up the ball.

"Hi," she said softly. "You busy? I heard you didn't go with Theo."

"I have stuff to do," I shrugged. I'm always around people, so it was nice to be alone for a bit.

Abby held out her hands, and I raised an eyebrow as I passed the ball to her.

She bounced it once. Twice. "It's always been basketball or football." We're going down this road again..."But I guess if you want to do soccer, I'll cheer you on." Abby rolled her eyes. "Don't look too surprised. I'm still not over it."

Swiftly, she tried to run past me, and threw the ball over, missing the hoop by at least a mile.

I cracked up.

"Shut up!" Abby laughed too, both her hands coming to fake choke me.

"Man Abbes you suck!"

"I'm so happy to humor you," Abby stuck her tongue out. She bit her lip after a few seconds of silence. "I don't think I heard you laugh like that for so long."

She noticed? "It's been a rough first week."

"That's a first."

I walked over to the picnic bench to sit down. Abby followed me.

"Soooo....you're not going to tell me about your week?"

"I think you already know."

Abby pretended to think for a second. "Yeah let's see. You tried out for the soccer team. You sent someone to the hospital. You've been avoiding everyone."

"I haven't-"

"Maddox too."

I frowned, "I texted him earlier, but he said he was busy." Maddox was the one person everyone could always count on to be there. You asked him to jump, he'd jump with you.

"Look, I know I wasn't fair to you about the soccer thing, okay? I'm sorry," Abby said. "I should support you." Last thing I ever thought was hearing her say sorry.

"Why the change in heart?"

"I missed my best friend," Abby said. I looked away from her, concentrating at the basketball left on the court. She thought I was avoiding her because of the soccer thing. Maybe I should just let her think it was that.

"You act as if I haven't been in school all week."

"No, I mean, I miss this. Us two. Where you used to talk to me about everything."

Not anymore. "Well,I think you already know everything."

"Finally," Abby declared dramatically. "I'm just scared, okay?"

I looked at her, and Abby was looking into her hands. "What happened?" Here I was being selfish about my own problems, I forget how hard Abby has it. Her parents were insufferable. She only told me about it, so no one in our friend group knows because Abby doesn't want anyone to know about it.

"Gosh, nothing." Abby sighed. "This is our last year together. Before we know it, you'll be Alpha, my parents they won't-" she gritted her teeth. "I'll just have some arranged pack alliance marriage-"

"Don't say that," I cut her off. "You won't. I'll make sure of it."

"It's only been the first week and my parents are already talking about it, West. They're telling me I'm not good for anything unless I marry off into another Beta or if I'm lucky, an Alpha will want me." I clenched my jaw. "I highly doubt I'll even find my mate."

"You will," I assured her because if I could find my mate, anyone can. It's possible. "And when you do, no one can force it. It'll all be you." I paused. "Besides, who ever said you can't just stay in my pack forever? You know you're always welcome. Same goes with all of us- you always will have a home no matter what."

Abby placed her hand on my shoulder. "Thanks. I needed that. I forget that I am good enough."

"Student Body President, captain of the cheerleaders and you have the most volunteer hours out of everyone, Abbes. You make us all look bad."

"I'm going to cherish every single second of this year. I don't want senior year to end. Then we'll have to do life things. Pack things."

"Or you can always go to vet school," I said. One common thing about us both is our love for science. I would love to go to med school and Abby vet school- she loved animals. Even though we're animals ourselves, she had a passion for them. One of the main reasons for going to high school was so wolves could have an opportunity to seek out a career and make a livelihood for themselves.

Mom took online classes, but she wanted to go to an actual college campus. To mingle with humans, and get that normal experience. She wanted to get an education. So she did. It was unheard of for Alphas to let their mates leave them like Mom was about to do, but Dad got over his own desires for her to be near him. If Mom wanted it, he would give it to her. He wasn't about to let his sad feelings of maybe having Mom across the country in the way. However, Mom was sneaky and went to the nearest University, only about 45 minutes away from home so she commuted and took night classes. While pregnant and then taking care of pups. My mom did that. Of course, her college career was a wild ride because Uncle Bo and Uncle Zeke decided they wanted to give college a whirl too. Uncle Bo dropped out the first week, but Uncle Zeke stayed.

Having my mom talk about her college life, seeing her graduation pictures, and normalizing an education made me want to be a doctor. Lame, I know. So totally lame. There's no way I could be an Alpha and go to medical school.

Duty came before desire.

"This year......" Abby trailed off. "Everything is going to change this year."

Monday morning I tried not to seek out Edith, but I could catch wisps of her alluring scent calling to me. I could just walk over to her, just to see her. Maybe dare tell her hi. Easy.

My need to see her overcame my nerves. I could talk about her weekend, rogues or coffee. Anything.

Quickening my pace down the stairs, I stopped short when I saw her stand there, phone on hand. I didn't have to do a double take because it was unmistakably my mate. Her shoulders were stiff, I could feel her tenseness from here. More alert. On guard. Friday night, she had her guard a little down than normal, but today she held herself differently.

Lifting her head up, her eyes were steely when our gazes collided. Like daring me to say something.

Her hair.

Her long hair was all chopped off, just coming below her jaw. It made her sharp features more accentuated. Like she's a spy.

I raised my hand in a faint wave, smiling weakly at her like my insides weren't doing somersaults by just looking at her. She didn't acknowledge me back like I thought she would. Instead, she turned and went inside her classroom.

Dejected, I slowly put my hand down. Something was different with Edith, and it wasn't just her hair. Our eyes connected, and she didn't even react to me.

I didn't like it one bit.

The day dragged on by as I didn't get a chance to speak with Edith privately. I had to know if everything was okay. Her total dismissal of me was weird. During gym class, Coach Reese made us get in groups of threes, and I made a beeline for Edith. Fortunately enough, Callie was there too.

As I walked to the corner of the gym, I greeted the two. Callie was the one who smiled and said my hey back.

"Why are you here?" Edith asked me, unkindly.

"I have no one else to partner up with," I half-lie. "Besides, Callie is my friend."

Edith accidentally looked at Callie as if she betrayed her.

Callie looked like she was having a conflict between two divorced parents. "Uhhh... I'm going to get the volleyball." Callie sped away, leaving us alone.

"Everything okay with you?" I asked her lowly. I'm not forgetting how she was worried about me on Friday. I thought maybe that could've been an olive branch with our relationship. Now, I feel like we just went back ten steps since Friday. This was just straight up the cold shoulder. I couldn't handle that. Not from her. I needed something.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Edith retorted, her intense eyes narrowed at me. Defensive.

I put both of my hands up in surrender. "I didn't get a text from Blaine Friday." For a moment I saw her eyes flicker with something unreadable before it went back to being hard.

"I forgot." She looked away from me, trying to end our conversation. After a moment she added, "Sorry." Though, it was clear she didn't want to talk.

What happened between Friday and Monday?