As soon as I carried my mate into my house, which would eventually become our house, I gently placed her on the couch in the living room. I figured she could watch TV and be comfortable while I'm away at work. However as soon as I set her down, I felt an instantaneous pang of loneliness in my core.

"I'll be back as soon as the school day ends," I promised her.

She simply nodded, not looking at me.

Stifling a whimper, I slumped my shoulders and left the house, making sure to lock the door on my way out.

I had to figure out a way to get Nora to accept me as her mate. Surely she should know that I'm the best choice for her, as I'm the only man capable to love her at the level I do.

All I have to do is find out what makes her happy.

The whole drive to the high school I went over in my mind about how I would win over my precious mate and get her to love me at least a fraction of how much I love her. When I pulled up to the school parking lot, some of the human girls glanced my way, their eyes filling up with lust.

I snarled at them, telling them that I'm taken.

They took the hint and immediately turned their gaze to the ground. I fought the smirk that was coming to play on my face. If only Nora had seen this. Then she'd know how dedicated I am to her.

I walked inside the school, heading towards the locker rooms to get my lesson plans for my first day as PE coach. Looking over my class assignments and students, my heart began to beat excitedly as I realized that Nora would be in my last class of the day.

This is perfect! Now I can just hang out with her for the last school hour and then drive home with her, spending a majority of the day next to her.

After that moment of pure bliss, the day went on rather uneventful. I introduced myself as Coach Abin to all my students and just had them run a mile; well the human classes ran a mile. The werewolves had to run five. When the last class of the day crawled to me, I frowned. This was supposed to be time spent with my mate, yet she's at home because she can't stand to be around me.

The students filed outside to the field where they knew they'd have to run the mile, as this was a human class. I went up to them, after making sure that I had this period's roll call roster. "Hello class," I called in an automatic voice, "I'm your new PE teacher, Coach Abin. Today, we're going to run the mile, and make sure you get it done under twenty minutes..."

I trailed off when the scent of minty gum filled my nostrils. It was similar to the scent of my mate. In fact, it was the same scent of my mate, almost as if she were here. However, the scent was faint enough that I knew she wasn't really here. Instead she must have been in contact with one of these students in the near past.

I deeply inhaled, walking towards my class, who stood dumbstruck, waiting for instructions. The scent led me to the back of the group of teens, to a tall girl with bright red hair. She looked at me with a confused gaze. My Nora's scent was on her, like they were friends or something.

"You," I said to her, "what's your name?"

"Jessie Saunders," the girl murmured, obviously thinking she was in trouble.

"Stay behind," I ordered, an idea forming in my mind. I turned to the rest of the class. "Start running!"

The class took off, leaving just me and this nervous Jessie girl behind.

"You smell like Nora," I stated, explaining why I had approached her.

Understanding lit up Jessie's face. "Oh! You're the wolf that claimed her as his mate. You're Victor."

"Vincent," I corrected. "But anyway, I need your help."

"With what?"

I looked around, making sure no other werewolves were nearby and could hear. It was considered embarrassing to a wolf to have their mate hate them. The werewolf PE class was in the gym, watching a presentation on sexual education and safety. I was safe to tell this human girl then.

"Nora is distant, and I need to get her to like me."

Jessie nodded. "I'd love to help you Coach Abin, I really would. But I have to run the mile, and when I run, I can't think straight. See my problem?" She smirked.

I growled and leaned forward to intimidate her.

Jessie didn't seem phased. "As I recall," she smiled, "Alpha forbade werewolves from attacking humans on school grounds. Plus, Nora would hate you forever if I told her to."

I stood back, shocked at this human's bravery in the face of a werewolf in line to be the beta. Nevertheless, I caved in to her. "Fine, no more mile for you," I growled.

Jessie's smile grew even wider. "Okay, so how do you need my help with Nora?" she asked.

"I need to know how I can win her over." I was growing desperate. Sure it's only been one day, but she won't even tolerate being in the same bed with me, as most mates do on their first night together. I wasn't going to try anything sexual, I just wanted to have her in my arms, keeping her by my side through the night.

Jessie shook her head. "Nora's afraid of the werewolves, ever since they revealed themselves. In fact, she has this plan to go-" Jessie's eyes widened and she stopped talking.

"What plan?" I urged, wanting to know if there was something that my mate was coming up with. "Tell me, now!"

"Uhh," Jessie mumbled. She shuffled her feet and looked down at the ground. "I gotta go. I...uh, have my period." With that Jessie ran off towards the girl locker rooms, leaving me both stunned and disgusted.

Still, I needed to figure out what my mate was up to. As soon as I get home, I'll just have to confront her about it, demanding to know if she had any plans to leave me. A thought popped into my head and I pulled out my cell phone, sending a quick text to a friend that I knew would be of use to me now.

Luckily for me, Vincent's house was easy to leave. As soon as he left to go to the school, I waited like ten minutes and then just strolled out the door.

It was rather anti-climactic, making me think about how much cooler it would have been if I had been required to make a rope out of bed sheets or had to out-run some guard dog. But nope, instead I walked out of the front door.

I guess with nothing to do, I'll just go home and relax there... oh wait, my brother's home sick today, which means my mom will be there taking care of him. Which means she'll wonder why I'm not at school today, which means she'll eventually learn that I've been chosen to be a werewolf's mate, getting me kicked out of the house.

I changed my direction and went walking in the direction of Danni's house. I suppose that her mate's sister will be there, and like what Danni mentioned in her text, she'll help me out...for five-hundred dollars. Of which I don't have on me.

Whatever, I still continued on my way to Danni's house, reaching it in a matter of minutes. I knocked on the door, and a tall male werewolf answered. He towered over me and ran his eyes over me, seeing if I posed a threat to his territory.

I guess I must have been of no danger because he asked, "Yes?" in a gruff voice. I couldn't help but notice how large his canines were, poking out of his mouth when he stopped talking, reminding me more of a saber-tooth tiger instead of a werewolf.

"I, uhh, I'm Nora, Danni's friend from school," I nervously answered.

At the mention of Danni, the werewolf's eyes widened and a brief smile came across his features. This must be Reed, Danni's mate. "Danni!" he called into the house.

Footsteps down the stairs were heard and then Danni poked her head around Reed's broad body. When she saw me, she smiled, looking a little surprised to see me here.

"Nora? What are you doing here?" she asked. I noticed that Reed was standing with his body partially in front of Danni's. I actually know why he does this thanks to Werewolf Cultural Studies class. Because Reed has never met me before, he's unsure as to whether or not I pose a threat to his mate. Hence by standing a little in front of Danni, he's acting as a shield in case I attack.

"I need a place to hide for the day," I said, narrowing my eyes so that Danni knew what I was talking about.

"Why don't you hide with your mate then?" Reed asked.

I looked up at him in confusion.

"I smell his scent on you," he clarified.

Well that sucks. "He's at work." In a way, I didn't lie. Vincent was actually at work right now. And besides, Reed doesn't need to know that I'm hiding from my...mate, ew.

"Come inside," Danni said, pushing Reed to the side a little bit. I hesitantly walked inside her house and stood awkwardly in the living room that she led me into. I took a seat on the couch that Danni pointed for me to sit on.

Reed followed us in, sitting next to Danni, an arm wrapped securely around her waist. The whole time he kept his gaze trained on me, as if he didn't trust me, which he probably doesn't.

"Crystal, Reed's sister, should be here tomorrow. She's out on business now," Danni said, giving me a look. So Crystal is helping someone escape a mate right now, as I'm talking to Danni and her mate. Then that got me thinking: does Reed know what his sister does? If he found out, how would he react?

How would Vincent react if he found out my plans to leave him?

No, I can't think of that. Vincent won't find out, I'll leave to Florida safely and without a trace. Then I'll be able to live a normal human life.

Danni turned to Reed. "Reed, I need to help Nora in her time of need, so I won't be going to school today. Could you put my backpack back in our room?" she asked.

Reed looked ecstatic that Danni wouldn't be going to school today. He eagerly nodded and picked up the backpack that rested against the couch and went upstairs.

"Reed doesn't know, so don't talk about it near him," Danni whispered.

So Reed wasn't aware that his very own sister helps humans to flee their werewolf mates. Interesting. I nodded, keeping Danni's secret. "I just have one little question," I whispered back.

Danni looked around the corner, where I assumed the stairs were. She turned to face me and nodded.

"How do the werewolves react when their mates leave them?"

"Who's leaving their mate?" Reed asked, running into the room. A worried look was plastered all over his face, his hands shaking with apprehension. He turned to face Danni. "Are you leaving me?" The question was drenched in fear and pain.

"No!" Danni hurriedly said. "We're speaking hypothetically." She shot out of her seat and walked up to Reed, who immediately took her into his arms, keeping her tight against him. It looked as if he was trapping her there, just to make sure she could never leave him.

Would Vincent keep me from leaving him?

Most likely, yes. That goes to show I need to keep my escape plans as secretive as I can.

I spent the whole day with Danni and Reed. Danni would talk about things at school and assignments she was having trouble with, asking for my insight. Reed never warmed up to me, making sure he was always physically in between me and Danni. I'm assuming that whole "leaving mates" fiasco labeled me as a threat to his mating bond.

We were watching TV when the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Danni said, standing up out of Reed's lap. Reed whimpered when she was out of his grasp, but let her walk into the other room to answer the phone. When she was gone, he turned to me, his lip curling up over his teeth, displaying his fangs, a clear sign of intimidation.

Whatever. I rolled my eyes and looked back at the TV screen.

"Nora!" Danni called from the other room. "Your mom's on the phone!"

Now why would my mom be calling me here? I got off the couch and walked into the room where Danni was, taking the phone from her.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Nora! I've called everywhere! The school called and said you never showed up!" my mom shouted from the other line.

"Mom, I totally went, I guess the teachers marked me absent by accident," I lied.

"Don't lie to me Nora. Oh, and uh, there's someone here who says he wants to talk to you." At that last part, my mom's voice sounded nervous. It was shaky and I heard her hand the phone to someone else.

"Nora Song?" the other voice asked. It was a man, his deep voice reeking of authority and masculinity.

"Yes?" Who was this person?

"This is your alpha. I want to talk to you about my future beta, and your mate, Vincent Abin," Alpha said. Oh my God! I was on the phone with Alpha: the most powerful werewolf in the territory. My breath hitched and I started to shake with fear.

In the background I could hear my mom flip out over me having a werewolf mate. I guess that secret's blown.

"What did you want to talk about?" I quivered.

"I want her out! I want her out! That girl thinks she's gonna bring wolves into my family? No! She's gone!" my mom shrieked in the background.

Alpha sounded amused now. "Well, I guess it's all settled. I'm going to box up your clothes and move you into Vincent's home today. Just go there when you're done playing at your friend's house."

"Yes Sir," I whimpered, fighting back the lump that was growing in my throat.

"Oh, and Nora," Alpha added, "I should warn you that I know your type."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that if you try to leave the territory, I'll have the best trackers on your ass faster than you can reach the border line. Understand?"

I nodded, then remembering that I was on the phone said, "Yes Sir."

Alpha hung up.