"I think West knows my weakness."

Penelope stopped looking at the clothing rack and met my eyes. "Your fear of spiders?"

"Chocolate cake?" Blaine asked, sipping his coke.

"No- not-" I sighed. Maybe I had many weaknesses, but this particular one was my number one top comfort food. "Cheeseburgers."

"Is that the only reason you went on the date with him?"

"Wha- it wasn't a date!" I huffed. "I simply took an offer for free food. And cheeseburgers."

"It was a date." I glared at Penelope who winked at me. She looked at the top I was holding and considering to buy. She nodded at me approvingly. "I'm so glad that you're friends with me because obviously my high fashion rubbed off on you."

"What do you think happened to Jared?" Blaine asked. "You didn't do anything and West didn't do anything." Something felt off about Jared's disappearance.

"Who cares," I shrugged. As long as I didn't get in trouble or framed for his disappearance.

"You're right," Blaine sighed, glancing at Penelope who was out of hearing. "It's for the better he isn't here."

After the shopping trip, with Penelope probably buying the whole entire mall, I focus solely on training with the treadmill, push-ups and currently the punching bag.

As I'm on my two hundredth punch, "You're overworking yourself again," Blaine's voice comes from behind me. More. I take a deep breath, not wanting to worry my cousin anymore. "It's late, Edith you should get some sleep. We have school tomorrow."

Right. School. Like that's even important. But if I missed school days then the Elder Alphas will have a problem with that, and we can't have a problem in this picture perfect pack or else Silas might do some real damage to the ones I loved.

"I'll come- just one more-" then I collapse, but Blaine is already holding me, concerned. But this is the only way. There is no other way to train. I have to get stronger than him."I have to work hard," I gritted my teeth, blood was coming out of my knuckles, but I was so helpless. What if I did gain Alpha, but Silas decides to Challenge me? He had years of experience on me. Years. Almost 30 more years than me. "Because I have no other choice."

Jared came into the school on the last day of the week, and there were whispers of him trying to run away from his home life, with a human, but the way that Jared's demeanor was as if there was someone out to get him made me pity him. But then I remembered how much of a huge piece of filth he was. Maybe he deserved whatever he got. He wasn't talking to anyone like he usually was- loud and obnoxious. Now he was purposefully alone. Isolated.

There was one instance in the day where he and I met him face to face and I froze for a quick second, up close I could see that he was sporting a black eye along with a bandage on his jaw. Jared glanced past me, looking at someone and touched his jaw faintly, like a reminder. Front the scent, I could tell it was West. I glanced back, and his molten amber eyes were trained on Jared. From the menacing and too hostile way West was looking at Jared, I thought if Jared did something, West would knock him out again in school. No matter the consequence.

Before I could open my mouth to say- something- Jared mumbled, "I'd rather get beaten up again than get punched by West" and made a huge space between us and almost hightailing it out of here. West's gaze followed Jared before slowly his eyes met mine.

My stomach erupted into butterflies in how beautiful he was. Sometimes I forgot. I willed myself to forget. It was the mate bond, surely, pulling us even closer.

We haven't talked much since the diner which has been a week. I've been trying my best to be avoiding him, but I think he was going out of his way not to talk to me either. Not even in detention did he try to do anything funny which was unusual. He was keeping his distance, thankfully.

West is the first one to break eye contact, as his friends form a circle around him, being loud and boisterous. "Whoo it's Friday!" Someone in the hall yells. What's the point of a Friday when you have work and training all weekend.

The after school student body meeting was actually ridiculous. Never mind about 30 students being there, talking over each other, but Abby- West's best friend- was the President of Student Body. Forced to be at every meeting, I was sitting in the back corner of the room so I could blend in and then get the heck out of here to go to the gym.

West was out in front, conversing and actually participating in some of the discussion.

These wolves were really obsessed with human customs, weren't they? Why did we need a carnival before the Homecoming Dance? What was a Homecoming Dance anyways? And wasn't it the same exact thing as a prom? What was the difference? The entire school made it the biggest deal. Everyone was buzzing about it. Everyone was talking about the football game too- which was unfair to all the human teams out there. The werewolves in the football team swore up and down that they didn't use any of their abilities, but instinct always kicks in, and whether they mean to or not, sometimes our powers will take over.

"Why would we need to do a carnival?" I should stop blurting things out and filter myself.

Everyone looks at each other. "Um," Tatiana, the Student Body VP says, "because hello a Ferris wheel!" Everyone cheers. "We're doing a kissing booth too." She waggles her eyebrows like this is something that is supposed to be good.

I blanched, "That's...nice." That means I have to volunteer at it.

Abby crosses her arms, "I think I sense a bit of judgement coming from you?"

"No I just-"

"I get it, you didn't want to volunteer, but I promise you'll have so much fun Edith! When was the last time you had fun?"

"Uh...Yesterday?"

Abby laughed, "You're so hilarious. Now....Onto the most important thing..." Abby paused for dramatic effect, "food!"

Everyone in the room cheered, and I glanced over at West who also clapped his hands, looking excited which was cute. Who could say no to food? Food is great.

"So what should we have?" Abby looked around at the raised hands, and she grinned at my mate. "West I'm pretty sure you'll have a great answer." There were chuckles, and suddenly I felt really left out. The student body seemed like a close knit group of people, and I was nowhere near their joking or teasing manner. The only friends I had were Blaine, Rosie and Penelope.

Maybe you should just try to make friends. Who knows someone might like you.

Penelope's words rang in my head.

"I think it's obvious we should just have everything deep fried. Funnel cake, oreos, pickles, ice cream, bacon..."

"And gain a hundred pounds while we're at it? I'm, like, totally in!" Sophie Sigmore clapped her hands.

"Okay," Abby nodded, writing everything on the board. "But we need like actual food. To eat."

"We could do food trucks," I said without thinking.

Abby and Tatiana both looked at each other. "I don't hate the idea," Abby said, narrowing her eyes at me like why wasn't she the one who thought of this.

"Meeting adjourned," Abby said to us. I make a beeline out of there to make it to the school gym. It's been on my mind the whole time.

Blaine's arms are crossed as he watched me use the weights. "Remember the last time you pushed yourself too far? It's doing more damage than good."

"It's alright, you can go," I tell my cousin. He sighed out loudly.

"Such an Alpha thing to do." I can hear the smile at his voice, and I love the compliment. It means everything to me. I hear the doors close, and drop the weight, taking a deep breath in as I start to do push-ups.

"Hey."

West's best friend, Theo, is staring at me with dark eyes and a curious expression. My heart drops because with Theo there's always...

"Why did you think-"

West stops as he walks into the gym and he blinks at me.

"You mind if we use the gym? I know some wolves like being alone, but we won't bother you. I promise," Theo continued talking, oblivious to the tension between West and I.

"T-that's okay, I was just leaving," I lied, getting up. Sweat is actually pouring from me, and I feel really dehydrated.

West held out a cold Gatorade for me. "Here," he said softly, his eyes holding a tinge of concern for me, but I take it, getting out of the gym-away from him and his strong presence.

As I was leaving the gym, I bumped into the soccer coach, Morales who looked at me. "Are you one of my students?"

"No," I shook my head.

"You look very familiar- what's your name?" he said, still scrutinizing me. "I think I know you from somewhere?"

"Edith Silva," I answered him, knowing he wouldn't know me because I don't have a class with him.

On the contrary his eyebrows raised. "Alpha Derek Silva's daughter?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," my head bobbed up and I wondered how I even could make a sound.

"I knew your father," Coach Morales smiled. "He was such a great Alpha."

My throat clogged. Memories of him were still fresh. The way he sat at the head of the table in the Alpha meetings as I would sneak in the room to eavesdrop on them, looking every bit of a leader as I imagined him to be. The way he would always smile whenever he saw Mom or I. How much he loved us and showed it every chance he got. How he would take me to go out hiking in the mountains or let me always ride his back when he shifted. He would read books to be all the time at night. He was the one I'd call to kill a spider if there was one in the house. He made me feel safe and secure. Something that has been missing in my life ever since his death.

My sole inspiration to become a great Alpha is my dad. He showed me what it means and what it takes.

Life hits you fast because then one day you're on patrol, alone, and a group of rogue wolves killed him.

I used to be up late at night wondering if I could have protected him. Wondering who did it. What if I came with him? I always went out to patrol with him. Always.

It's been seven whole, long and gruesome years. I didn't have many wolves to talk to about him. Make him truly alive with the vibrant personality he was. That's why it was hard to talk to my godmother Ava about it. She knew my mom before my dad died. Mom was different then. Everything was so different then, it made me want to yell at the world. Why did someone so good have to leave like that? Why did my life as I knew it change so drastically?

"He was," I said after a long silence. "He really, really was."