The next morning Caleb woke up before me. The smell of coffee is what lulled me out of sleep.

"Good morning," he said, handing me a steaming mug.

"Did you turn off my alarm?" I asked, looking at the time. I set my mug down and walked to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day.

"We stayed up pretty late last night, I though you'd need the rest."

I pulled a sweater over my head and began looking for a pair of jeans.

"We don't have to leave for another half hour," he said.

"I know," I pulled on the jeans and then took a second to organize my thoughts, "I'm sorry. I just...I have a system."

"Note to self, don't mess with the system," he said.

"You take notes about me?" I teased.

"Well if I'm spending the rest of my life with you, shouldn't I learn how to not piss you off?"

I grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair into a bun.

"Makes sense to me," I said.

Caleb walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Is there anything else I should take note of?" He asked, planting a kiss on my neck.

I got out of his hold and walked over to the coffee he brought me.

"I don't drink my coffee black," I said.

Caleb took the cup from me and I walked past him to finish getting ready. I left the bathroom door open as I did. However, Caleb knocked on it anyway.

"I have to leave to go get my truck, I'll be back," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

While brushing my teeth I began to recall the events of last night. Thinking about Caleb's hands on me made me blush, so I threw the thoughts aside.

By the time it took Caleb to get his truck and drive back to my grandmother's house I had successfully finished getting ready for the day.

I jogged downstairs and grabbed my book bag before walking out the front door and getting into Caleb's truck.

The drive there was relaxing.

I moved from the passenger seat to the center seat to be closer to him while he drove.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I want to sit next to you," I said, taking his arm off of the steering wheel and setting it on my thigh.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but the center seat doesn't have a seat belt. You should move back," he said.

"We're almost there," I shrugged, nuzzling into his neck.

Sighing, Caleb didn't say anything more about it.

I was nervous about going back to school today. I didn't have a good excuse for why I was absent, and I wasn't very good at lying either.

As we pulled into the parking lot I saw Lucas leaning against his truck, Liam was standing next to him.

Caleb stopped his truck, but kept the engine running while I got out.

"I'll pick you up after," he said, kissing my forehead.

I grabbed my bag then hopped out, walking towards the building.

"Birdie!"

I turned to see Lucas and Liam walking towards me.

"Hi, Lucas," I said, adjusting the bag strap on my shoulder.

"So, what? Are you dating Gardner now?" He asked, anger was very clear in his voice.

I liked Lucas, he was my first friend, so I didn't really know how to react to his accusation.

"That's...not really any of your business," I said, trying to sound confident, but my voice came out quiet and weak.

Lucas ran a hand through his white hair, sighing.

"Birdie, I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Caleb's not going to hurt me," I said, beginning to walk away, but Lucas took a long stride to get next to me and grabbed my arm.

"Birdie, he's a freak, are you seriously defending him?" He asked, raising his voice.

"Let go of her!"

I jumped and turned to see Caleb walking towards us, his glare deadly.

"How about you back the fuck off-" Lucas was cut short by Caleb shoving him in the chest, hard. He stumbled, but didn't fall, once he regained his balance he walked towards us and shoved Caleb back.

"Stop it!" I yelled. I could see that Caleb was close to losing his patience. I didn't know a lot about werewolves, but I knew that if they fought, Lucas would lose and possibly get really hurt in the process.

Caleb began to charge at Lucas but I stepped in front of him, setting my hands on his chest.

"Please don't," I begged.

They were already gaining the attention of everyone in the parking lot and, with Caleb not being a student, I knew that if someone important walked out here then he'd be in trouble. That was the last thing I wanted.

Caleb's gaze moved from Lucas to me, and I watched as his harsh glare softened.

"I'm fine," I said, "just let it go."

"Birdie-" Lucas started to speak, but I cut him off.

"Just go inside Luke!" I yelled at him.

Scoffing he and Liam turned their backs to me and walked inside the building, losing the interest of the crowd that started to form.

"I have to get to class," I said.

"Hold on," Caleb stopped me. He looked around until he found who he was looking for and snapped his fingers to get their attention.

I looked at who Caleb was gesturing to and saw Jack walking towards us.

"Way to draw attention to yourself," he said to Caleb.

"Shut up," Caleb said, "I need you to stick with Birdie today, make sure that asshole stays away from her."

"I don't need a babysitter," I said.

"Well, you're getting one," Caleb snapped.

I was shocked at his sudden attitude. I started to walk away from him, but he grabbed my hand and stopped me.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't ever talk to me like that again," I said, turning to look at him, "I didn't deserve that."

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"We have to get to class," Jack said, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

Without hesitation Caleb pushed him away from me. I was about to yell at Caleb for pushing his brother, but Jack began laughing.

"You're going to have an aneurysm, if you keep freaking out," Jack said.

"We have to go," I said, "I'll see you after class."

I once again began walking towards the building. Jack caught up with me quickly, holding the door open for me as I walked inside.

"It's a werewolf thing, you'd better get used to it," he said, nudging his shoulder against mine.

"Get used to him wanting to tear of the head off any guy that touches me?"

"He's protective of you," Jack shrugged.

I stopped at my locker and pulled out my books for my first class.

"You'll eat lunch with us today," Jack said, leaning against the free lockers next to mine. "You can meet some of the other pack members that go to school."

"What about Amanda and Lucas?" I asked, not that I particularly wanted to see Lucas.

"Sorry, I was given orders to keep him away from you," he said as we walked into Mrs. Cherry's classroom.

"It's not like Caleb's your drill sergeant," I said, rolling my eyes.

"No," we took our seats, "but he is the next Alpha, so what he says goes."

I furrowed my brows in confusion, "Caleb never told me that."

"Trust me, there's a lot you still don't know."

That was the last Jack and I talked until lunch. Since Jack wasn't in all of my classes with me, I made sure to keep my distance from Lucas. I didn't want him to tell his brother on me. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

I walked into the cafeteria and saw Jack sitting with his friends. He raised his arm to make sure that I could see where he was.

I cautiously walked over and sat my things down next to Jack.

"Everyone, this is Birdie," Jack said, throwing his arm around the back of my chair. "Birdie, this is everyone."

They didn't say anything as they stared at me.

"So you're Caleb's mate?" The one next to Jack asked. I recognized him as the blonde one that was with Jack and Caleb at the coffee shop.

"Um, yeah..." I said, quietly.

"Beau, I'm their cousin," he said. "This is Olivia," he pointed to the girl next to him.

She was stunning. She had light brown curly hair and bright green eyes. She was much more beautiful than I was, and she made me nervous with her intimidating stare. She gave me a small wave.

"And this is Mason," he said.

Mason was sitting next to me, but he was staring to the other side of the cafeteria.

"Hey," he said, dismissively.

"Mason just found his mate," Jack said, pointing to where Mason was starring.

I looked and saw Hayleigh and Stacey sitting with a few of their friends. I had only met them once in Amanda's car.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Hayleigh," Jack said, "he found out a week ago and still hasn't talked to her."

"I kind of know her, do you want me to introduce you-"

"No," he said.

"He's almost as bad as Caleb," Jack said to me. "I literally had to pop your tire just so he'd talk to you."

"You ruined my Jeep?"

Jack shrugged, "Don't worry, the guys fixed it, you can get it when you come over tonight."

"I can't believe you," I said, "you could've killed me."

"You should be thanking me," he said, "if it weren't for me, Caleb would still be pulling all-nighters outside your house without ever talking to you."

I gave up arguing.

Lunch ended and the rest of the day went by as usual.

After my last class, Jack found me at my locker grabbing my bag.

"I'll walk you out," he said.

"Are you riding with Caleb and me?" I asked, shoving the last of my books in my bag.

"No, I'll catch a ride with Beau."

We walked out the front door and I saw Caleb in the parking lot leaning against his truck. He had a bouquet of hydrangeas in his hand.

"Hi," he said as I got to him. He held out the flowers to me, but I took a big step back.

"I appreciate the gesture," I said, moving around the flowers, "but I'm allergic to hydrangeas."

Caleb gave the flowers to Jack, who was laughing.

"Get rid of those," he said.

I got into the passenger side not saying another word to Caleb, I was still frustrated about this morning.

Caleb got in and started up the truck, driving out of the parking lot.

"Do you want to sit here?" He asked, patting the center seat.

"No seat belt, remember?" I said, crossing my arms and looking out the window.

"Birdie, I really want you to meet my family today, can we please not fight?"

I looked at him and his eyes were pleading. I knew this was important to him so I let go of my frustration, considering he'd already apologized.

"Just," I started, "don't ever speak to me like that again."

"Note to self-"

"Shut up," I laughed.

Caleb pats the center seat again, trying to coerce me over.

"I seriously can't sit next to you until you wash your hands," I said, laughing again.