-Jaden-

So, my current score was two detentions, and a highly irritated Beta. Apparently, it was possible to give someone detention for a month as well. That was news to me. That damned Beta Ryder... I wanted to be a good boy for now, just to get my parents off my back...

Okay no, no I didn't. I was too much of a dickhead to be a good boy. Even the thought of it gave me shivers. Detention it was then.

"Something's not right..." Arch muttered.

Tilly inhaled sharply next to me and straightened her already pretty straight posture. My body went into overdrive, and I couldn't help it – there was no such thing as ignoring Arch's sixth sense. If he believed something was wrong, it meant shit was about to hit the fan in the next five minutes.

"What is it?" I asked, hoping this didn't mean I'd end up being dragged to see Beta Ryder for the third time today.

"Jack seems awfully cheerful," Arch said, and we all turned to look at the next Alpha of the Crack Thorns slouching over his desk at the other side of the classroom.

"Who cares?" I asked, but I couldn't relax, even though there was no way in hell Jack could be a threat to us.

But since Arch was suspicious... Ever since we were kids, he could sense danger in ways none of us could. Whenever little Arch started crying, the whole pack grabbed their weapons. That's how seriously we all took his words.

"He's up to something. I can feel it," Arch muttered angrily.

I sighed quietly. I was so going to get dragged to see Beta Ryder again.

"He does seem to have too much fun for a guy whose nose I broke this morning," Tilly spoke, peering closely at Jack. "Last time he threw a big hissy fit about it."

"Well, should we beat him up again or what?" I asked. They both turned to look at me like they thought I was seriously considering it. "Come on! The guy is a jerk, but what am I supposed to do with the information that he's smiling?"

"We'll need to be more careful around him," Arch said, pointing out the obvious.

"Yes, let's do that," I said, and turned to look at the teacher.

We were given an opportunity to work in groups today. Work on what, I had no idea. I wasn't even sure what class we were in. English? Whatever it was, it ended soon. After that, we had detention. With Beta Ryder watching us. I kept gritting my teeth together the entire time until we were finally able to go home.

Well, we decided to stay away from our territory for a while, so we weren't going home exactly. We had a small cabin in the wildest parts of the forest where no one could find us. There had to be at least a few members in our pack who knew where it was – my mom being one of them – but they respected our privacy. Meaning they were happy we weren't at home to cause trouble.

During winter, we had to use Tilly's car to get to the cabin, since the road leading there was always covered in snow, and she had a Jeep. The town we lived in was located in the middle of three big hills, and our cabin was built high up on one of them, far away from everyone's territories. We sometimes joked about claiming the hill as our territory and creating a new pack.

We had to stop to get some groceries, since none of us had visited the cabin in over a week. When we stepped into the small store and the clerks spotted us, their faces dropped immediately. No one in this rotten town wanted to have anything to do with us. This time, we didn't cause any trouble. We had a long drive ahead of us, so we didn't have time to loiter around. I saw one of the clerks letting out a long, thankful breath when we stepped back out after paying for our food.

The drive up to the cabin took almost an hour in the bad weather, but at least we didn't have to walk. Thankfully, there wasn't much snow around the cabin when we got there – I hated shoveling. The place was surrounded by trees and big rock formations, so most of the snow couldn't get to us. It was also a perfect hiding place. It was almost impossible to spot the cabin in the air, and people didn't dare to come here because they were afraid of the wolves – us.

"I'm starving," Tilly groaned when we stepped into the dark cabin.

"Go eat – I'll go get wood for the fireplace," Arch said, while I went to light up a couple of candles – we didn't have electricity nor running water here.

It was cold in the cabin, but once we had the fire going, the small space warmed up fast. Tilly was making dinner – meat sauce and potatoes – next to an old stove, while Arch was checking out the yard, making sure everything was fine. I just stared at the boiling kettle next to Tilly.

"Jade?" she spoke my name quietly. "I need a knife."

I glanced at her in confusion. Then I realized I was in her way and took a step back from the counter so she could open one of the drawers.

"Want to talk?" she asked, stepping back to the stove.

I shrugged and leaned back against the counter. I turned to look at the cabin, feeling peaceful and anxious at the same time.

Peaceful because I loved it here, up in the hill where no one was bothering us. The kitchen and the living room were just one small space, and we shared the only bedroom there was. No shower, no toilet, nothing else. Our cabin may have been small, just two rooms and a roof over our head, but it was still dear to me.

I just couldn't tell where my anxiety was coming from.

"I don't get why my parents are so obsessed with finding my mate," I blurted out. So, that's where my anxiety was coming from.

"Me neither," Tilly said quietly. "I don't want you to have a mate. I don't want to find my own mate, and I don't want Arch to have one either."

"You'd be crucified if you said such things at home," I said and chuckled humorlessly.

"It's just... when we do find them, this..." Tilly looked around and sighed, "this will be gone."

I nodded and let out a deep breath. We were silent for a long time until Tilly spoke again. "I've spent so long hoping that either you or Arch would be my mate. But no..."

"Same," I chuckled. "I guess we're not meant to be together."

I got slapped for saying such things. Tilly glared at me under her thin eyebrows, lowering her hand. I just rubbed my cheek without even blinking. It was just a light tap compared to how hard she could hit. I gave her a smile and cupped her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. You know I won't let anything break us apart," I told her quietly.

"You'd better not," she growled at me.

I hugged her, taking in her rosy scent, and the door opened behind us.

"Oh, free hugs!" Arch spoke and came to lock us into his bear hug. Tilly and I laughed, and I put my arm around him as well.

I really didn't even want to think about a life without these two right next to me. We'd been through so much together. We grew up together. It had always been just us three. All that shit we had to endure as little kids... All that shit I had to go through just because I was the Alpha's son... Sometimes I still hated them all for it, and my parents for letting it happen...

Why would we want to have anything to do with them?

Why would I want to be their Alpha?

"The food will burn," Tilly said after a moment and broke free from us.

I let go of Arch and went to sit down at our tiny table by the small window in the corner. It was just big enough for three people. This whole place was just big enough for three people.

"Did you find anything odd?" I asked Arch when he joined me.

"Everything seems fine," he said, taking off his jacket and brushing his long mohawk back. "Our traps are still working and untouched, and I didn't see or smell anything weird."

The traps were not meant for animals.

"Great," I said, and turned to look out of the window.

After a while, I noticed Arch's reflection in the window. He was looking at me with worry in his eyes.

"I know, I'm not being myself today," I sighed, not looking at him.

"It's because what Beta Ryder said, right?" Arch guessed, and he wasn't that far off.

"He's worried about the mate thing," Tilly spoke, giving us plates.

"Why can't they just mind their own business?" I muttered, rubbing my temples. "I don't need a mate! All I need is you two!"

Arch's posture changed just a little, but I noticed it.

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I heard my old man talking the other day..."

"What?" Tilly and I spoke in unison.

"There are... some people... who think that..." Arch trailed off and shook his head. "They're saying our friendship is unhealthy."

"Come on," Tilly scoffed. "What's so wrong with us?"

"We're too tight," Arch shrugged. "It freaks them out. They're afraid they can't keep us in line anymore. What Beta Ryder said about our loyalty kind of confirmed my theory."

I rolled my eyes. "They're being so weird about this. It's not like we're planning a hostile takeover or something. Besides, what have they done to earn our loyalty?"

"They're more concerned about how bad we're at interacting with the rest of the pack," Arch said. "We're supposed to lead them one day, but we're not exactly on good terms with any of them."

"Wow, that's rich," Tilly said and snorted. "They should've thought about that ten years ago."

"They believe that if you find your mate, we stop being so tight and things will change for the better for them," Arch said, looking at me.

"So, they do want to break us apart," Tilly said quietly.

"Over my dead body," I said, but it was safe to say the mood in our little cabin was ruined for good.