Jax

I stared blankly at my ceiling, wincing slightly as something crashed in the kitchen. Angry footsteps stomped across the floor, followed by the slamming of the front door. I heard the roar of the Mustangs engine start up before it peeled out of the driveway and sighed.

Arsen was pissed.

After my father had dismissed us last night at the ranch, Arsen had disappeared for hours. He hadn't come home until well past midnight, stumbling and glassy eyed.

Between the two of us, he had always been the wiser one. The voice of reason, the adult in almost all situations. It's why I'd chosen him to be my beta. Other than him being my best friend, he was the right man for the job, and always had been.

Seeing him stagger into the house last night, reeking of whiskey and eyes full of anger, I felt like I didn't even know who I was looking at. He had glared at me with such hatred, I contemplated if we were about to fight again.

But instead he had just scoffed, throwing his keys down onto the coffee table and walking drunkenly into his room, slamming the door behind him.

I had taken a curious glance out the window and sighed, seeing his beloved Mustang parked crookedly in the driveway, pulled in at an angle and blocking half of the sidewalk.

Grabbing his keys off the table, I had run outside to straighten it out. A glass bottle rolled across the floorboard when I put it in park and I picked it up, sighing at the empty bottle of Jameson.

When I got back into the house I could already hear his light snoring coming from his room. His deep breaths didn't falter as I got into my own room and fell into a restless sleep.

Now, the rays of sunlight stretched farther across the ceiling and I rubbed my tired eyes.

God, I had really fucked this up. I knew how much finding his mate meant to him. All these years, he'd been so patient, never getting into serious relationships. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd only slept with one or two girls ever.

I remembered the day I'd had to talk him out of going to buy a damn ring for the unknown woman. He was so dead set on doing everything right and cherishing her once he found her. I envied him then, and his unwavering devotion to a girl he hadn't even met yet.

With a groan I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I put my head in my hands and sighed. I'd entertained the idea of skipping school for the day but knew my dad would tan my hide if I did.

Begrudgingly I forced myself to stand up, and slowly got dressed.

I didn't speed off to school like I normally would. I needed to think. How could I stay away from Ava? She was just too damn beautiful. I had no plan on how to act if I saw her today.

I flipped on my turning signal to pull into McDonald's but then grimaced. Rose would be working. I'd ditched her and Brandy last night, and ignored their calls. Eventually I had just turned my phone off, wishing I could do the same thing with my brain.

I turned off my signal, deciding to drive straight to the school instead of stopping.

I pulled into my parking spot next to Arsen's car and sat back in my seat. It was days like today that I wished I could talk to my mom. She would have known what to do.

My mother had been Luna of our pack, the alpha female.

And she'd been taken from us by hunters, gunned down with silver bullets right in front of me.

I had been young, maybe twelve or thirteen when they stormed our ranch, shooting and stabbing as many of us as they could. My mother and I had been out in one of the lower pastures, working on controlling my shifts. Being a future alpha, I had shifted earlier than my peers, and I couldn't control it yet.

I closed my eyes as I remembered her voice. It had warbled in my memory over the years, and I knew the pitch and tone were off. But it was there.

"Run Jax! Find your father! Tell him to-"

Warm blood sprayed over me, coating my fur as she tumbled to the ground. My claws dug into the dirt as I skidded to a halt. My mom lay on the ground, her dark blood seeping into the dry soil. I could still remember the look of terror in her eyes as I turned back to her.

"No!" She croaked, gasping in pain. "Run!"

She had alpha ordered me, and I had no choice but to obey. The hunters came over the hill as I took off. The last thing I remembered was looking back to see one of them throwing her lifeless body over their shoulder, her long blonde hair tumbling in the wind. Everything after that was a blur.

My father had found me a day later, curled in a ball, hiding in a fox's den.

Her death changed him.

My father had always been the fun parent, and my mother had been the teacher. Once she died, my dad didn't know how to handle the role of both parents. He withdrew into himself, making his entire life about work, the pack, and my eventual step up to take his place as Alpha.

He never even spoke about her.

Luckily I had Arsen.

Since my dad was useless, Arsen and his family got me through my grieving. I wouldn't be who I was today without them.

Someones knuckles rapped against my window and I jumped, getting pulled out of my shitty memories.

"Yo dude!" Someone's voice yelled through the window. I looked over to see my friend Logan standing outside of the Jeep with a few of his friends behind him. With a huff I opened the door and grabbed my backpack.

"You look like shit." Logan chuckled.

I gave him a half hearted laugh and locked the Jeep.

"Where'd you disappear to yesterday? I thought we were going to play a little touch football?" He asked.

Logan and his friends were also from our pack, and they were the only people we could physically play any sports with without gravely injuring each other.

"Had some shit to take care of." I shrugged. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about the game we had set up. Hell, I'd even made plans with Rose and Brandy, either way I wouldn't have shown up yesterday.

"It's cool, we can try again later today."

I nodded wordlessly, football was the last thing I cared about right now, but maybe it would help to get my mind off of my current situation.

"Yo, did you see the new girl yet?" He let out a low whistle and I squeezed my eyes shut in agitation as his friends laughed while they tagged along behind us. "What's her name again? Anna?" He asked one of them. "She's from Philly, probably a feisty little thing. I wouldn't mind gettin' a piece of that."

Sudden white hot anger burned through me and I rounded on him. Shock crossed his face as I fisted the front of his shirt in my hands and shoved him against the side panel of the truck we were walking past. His friends froze as I glared at Logan.

"You're not gonna fucking touch her." I growled through gritted teeth. "She's m- she's Arsen's mate. Lay a finger on her and I'll break your fuckin' jaw."

Understanding dawned on him and he raised his hands in surrender.

"I got it man. Off limits."

I released his shirt and stepped back before turning towards the school again. After a moment I could hear their footsteps catching up to me.

"Yo dude, you good? You seem a little... uh, worked up." Logan asked hesitantly.

I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension in my muscles.

"Yea I'm fine," I muttered, "jus' goin' through some shit. I'll get over it."

He dropped the subject and we walked into the school. As usual, the human girls looked our way and tried to catch our attention, but I honestly just couldn't bring myself to care about them today. Logan veered off when he saw his current fuck buddy and I kept walking.

Mrs. Rout did a double take when she saw me sitting in my seat this early before the bell rang. It was kind of comical, I did well in class but I was never early. Usually I was out in the hall flirting with someone until the last possible second.

Other students began to filter in, some threw me wary glances while others whispered to each other quietly. I ran my hand down my face as I heard the gossip beginning on what had just happened in the parking lot. Great.

I had never been as thankful for a lesson to start as I was today. Mrs. Rout's voice droned on as I tried my best to take notes, wholeheartedly trying to make my brain concentrate on something else.

I would need to shift after school today. My skin itched. My wolf had stopped talking to me altogether since yesterday and the silence was deafening. I knew he was hurting, but we knew this was coming. We had to figure out how to get through this together because frankly, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to hold it together much longer without him.

The bell finally rang and I sighed, gathering my stuff and following the other students out into the hall.

My next class was in sight when a high pitched voice called my name. I sighed again. I was doing a hell of a lot of sighing today.

"Jax!" Brandy sang as she came into view. I leaned against the bay of lockers next to my classroom, turning my tired eyes on her.

"Hey!" She smiled, sauntering up to me. She ran a finger down my chest and I held back a shudder. "Where were you yesterday? We missed you."

I rubbed the back of my neck as I looked at her. Her wide, blue, doe-like eyes gazed at me and I realized that whatever I had found attractive about her before, no longer appealed to me.

"Sorry Brandy. I had some important things to take care of yesterday. I didn't mean to blow you off." I lied.

"We called you like twenty times." She whined.

"Yea, I fucking know." I thought bitterly.

"Like I said, I had some shit come up." I told her, quickly beginning to lose my patience.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good." She said quietly, her eyes darting between my own.

"Yea, I've just got a lot going-"

I froze as a familiar scent wafted toward me. I scanned the faces around me. She was nearby but I couldn't see her. I strained to listen to the different voices drifting through the hall.

"Smooth." I heard her musical laugh, followed by Arsen's deep chuckle. They were around the corner. I looked back at Brandy, she was staring at me wide eyed, asking me something.

Ignoring whatever babble was coming out of her mouth, I grabbed the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her to me, crashing my lips against hers as Arsen and Ava rounded the corner.

Brandy reacted immediately, molding herself into me and I ran my hands down her sides, cupping her ass as I devoured her mouth.

"God dammit Jax." I heard Arsen mutter as I ran my hands back up Brandy's sides, knotting my fingers into her hair.

I listened as they came closer, holding back a grimace as Brandy's tongue ran across my bottom lip. I could taste the wax of her lip gloss, and the alcohol of the cheap perfume she had sprayed on herself this morning.

It was disgusting.

"Bye." I heard Ava say quietly, almost at a whisper.

"Bye Ava." Arsen said gently. "I'll text you later."

So they had each other's numbers already?

The classroom door clicked closed and I pushed Brandy away by her shoulders. She looked at me with dazed eyes and took a few steps back.

That's when Arsen's fist connected with my jaw.

—————————————————————————
Hey readers!

Please don't forget to comment and vote!

Xx mandabrandie