It was safe to say that I was kind of a nervous wreck, the following Monday. I woke two hours before I needed to, I struggled finding something decent to wear to school, and I could barely eat my breakfast waffles that Max had reluctantly (or not) taken from me earlier.

I was nervous to see my very own best friend, and that was scaring me. I'd never been a good lier, so the minute Emeli walked down the stairs to get to school, I knew I'd struggle holding it in.

That her mate is trying to kill me, he's a traitor to our pack, and he's involved in an organisation that kills off potentially powerful werewolves.

I scoffed to myself as I tried to swallow my glass of orange juice and shook my head. Even if I did blab out James's list of accomplishments, she wouldn't believe me.

Heck, I wouldn't believe me.

"You almost ready to go?" Max asked quietly as some of the other packs members, including Hanah, walked into the kitchen. She sent me a wicked scowl and yanked open the fridge, pulling out a glass jar of what looked like grass but pureed with chunks of carrot vomit in it.

"What in heavens name do you call that?" Max asked in disbelief. Hanah turned to him and frowned.

"Uh, breakfast."

"No, that's not breakfast. That's the inside of a cows stomach."

Hanah opened her mouth to say something probably stupid and not really worth our time, when Kade walked in and halted her thought pattern all together.

I didn't blame her though, mine almost did the same thing.

"You guys ready?" He asked gruffly, not even glancing over to Hanah and her little group of followers. "I don't want to be late."

"What for?" I frowned, finding it strange he was addressing me, let alone in front of other people.

"School you idiot." Kade said dryly, picking up an apple and taking a large bit out of it. As he crunched, a sliver of apple juice dribbled down his chin, and I had an awfully inappropriate urge to lick it off.

My wolf purred in agreement, until I blocked her out and turned to Max a little hastily. "What's going on?"

Max didn't exactly look happy, but he answered anyway. "We decided when you went to bed that me and Kade-"

"Kade and I." Kade corrected, but Max just glared at him and continued.

"-would take you to school. It's safer, and Violet recommended it."

"No, wait." I said, holding up my hands. "I'm not about to be babysat by two teenage boys because I'm not invisible to everyone anymore."

"Think of it as chauffeuring," Kade offered, "it'll only be until-"

"No, it'll only be until never." I injected into his unfinished sentence. "I don't need your help, Kade."

"Oh for godsake, Katie." Hanah spoke up from across the room, and I jumped at her voice, not realising she was still there. "For whatever reason why Kade's lost his mind and actually wants to hang out with you is a good thing. Just take it, you dumbass."

"Why don't you try eating a banana or cereal instead of drinking your daily intake of grass cuttings." I shot back, hearing Max snigger behind me.

"I'm taking you to school with Max. End of story." Kade said in that tone he used to get what he wanted, and I groaned as he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me outside into the bright morning sunlight.

"Kade seriously you can drop the 'I'm concerned about you' act, I know you're pretending-"

"What if I'm not?" Kade spun suddenly, his face right up close to mine. I stumbled to a halt, my front brushing against his as I looked up and swallowed. His eyes were a dark fiery brown, and they had me frozen on the spot. "What if I'm genuinely concerned."

"Who for?" I scoffed, so glad that my wolf could stand up to him because he was being damn intimidating right now. "Your mate? Well, she's asking you to back off."

"Why are you so hard to try and have a sensible conversation with?" Kade growled, and I grinned when I saw that I was getting him worked up. "It's like everything I say you reply with a snarky comment."

"It's because everything you say is stupid."

"Katie seriously if you don't get in my truck-"

"Why can I smell both you two's hormones?" Max groaned as he walked outside and shut the door to the pack house. "It's like someone's injected me into an adult novel and I jumped straight to the sex part."

I have never remembered a time in my life where I have blushed quite so hard. Ever.

"Get in the truck Max." Kade said, his voice a little strained and I didn't blame him. Max was the master at making situations awkward, as he'd just proven.

Kade climbed into the drivers side of his truck, and Max opened the door and waited for me to get in.

"I'm not sitting in the middle." I stated, and Max gave me a flat look.

"Well I'm not either."

Groaning, I pulled myself into the truck and took my seat right beside Kade, my arm brushing against his. Max got in a few seconds later and slammed the door shut, and the tension in the truck just hit a new high.

Reaching forward, I flicked the radio on, the music relieving a little of the tension, but as soon as I leant back and my arm came into contact with Kade's again, my skin re-lit to fever pitch.

"Why is there a lighter in your glove box?" Max asked, holding up the small rectangular black object, and Kade and I sort of snapped out of our little tense bubble and looked at Max.

"Why are you going through my glove box?"

"I'm doing the over-protective brother role. Why do you have this?"

"I like to light fires in my free time." Kade retorted dryly, and Max rolled his eyes before throwing it back into the glove compartment.

Why was it taking so long to get to school today? It was like the closer we got the further away it seemed, and I was going crazy just sitting here, brushing arms with Kade.

As soon as he pulled into the parking lot, Max was gone. I sighed and turned to say thank you to Kade and to tell him that we'd find our own way home, when my nose brushed his. Gasping an a little air I looked up and met his eyes.

For a long moment, we just stared at each other, not really knowing what to do. Then, slowly, my mind started to work again as I fought the ever strengthening bond between us and breathed out a quick sentence.

"Thank you for dropping us to school."

"Anytime." Kade murmured, his hand twitching beside my thigh, like he was tempted to lift it and touch me. I waited, to see if he did, then shook my head hastily and pulled away.

"We won't need one after school, Noah's got the car here-"

"Meet me here after the bell." Kade cut in, ignoring my words completely.

"Kade I just told you-"

"Great, tell Max to be here too." He sent me a small smile before jumping out himself and locking the doors behind him, strolling around the hood to reach me. I stayed where I was standing because I knew if I moved towards him I don't know how close I would get.

"And if I see that Noah kid doing anything more than friendly, tell him I learnt at an early age how to rip out a jugular."

I watched, stunned, as Kade walked away with his bag slung over his shoulder and his head down looking at the ground. Was it wrong that the voice he'd just used had me a little hot and bothered?

Mind you, everything about Kade left me in that state, so I didn't think too much into it as I followed his figure into the school.

Then, I felt as though someone had poured a cold bucket of water over my flustered state when I realised I had science first, with James and Emeli.

The ground was welcome to open up now so I could fall through it.

* * * *

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't uploaded in forever and that this chapter might be a little short and ho-hum, but I've got a lot of school work at the moment that I'm trying to stay on top of so thank you to the people reading who have been patient and I'll try and get another longer chapter up sooner than I did with this one!

Anyway, enjoy, vote and comment :)

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