14

Emma

I sighed heavily as I tried hard to focus in class. It's been two days since I discovered that the Rogues are coming for us. Soran still isn't in school. Gaven is beginning to heal. Rorie, Joel, and I had a meeting yesterday. There have been a few signs of Rogue activity, but they were almost a week old. We don't have much to go off of, but it's enough for now.

I thought back on what the meeting was about. We mainly talked more about what had happened on their end with the war sixteen years ago and how they handled it. Rorie told us what to look for and how to avoid massive attacks. He also had me make sure everything was in order with how the patrols were done, making sure we kept them at random and to keep an even level of warriors out.

I also thought about how Gaven was doing. He's healing extremely slow. Even with Alpha blood and double Wolf genes, it's taking longer than usual for his wounds to heal. The doctors have to make sure his wounds are cleaned and dressed regularly, otherwise he could risk infection.

And to make matters worse, he still hasn't woken up from the attack. Emily is the only one we can rely on for any changes, but since they haven't fully mated, we don't know everything. But she's all we've got to make sure he's okay.

Our lunch table was very quiet today. Only Kester, Linda, and I sat at the table. We had no food in front of us; just the deafening silence. No one moved and no one dared to speak. We only stared at the table.

We could only sit and wait. Wait for something to happen.

"Emma?" I slowly looked up to see Jeremy standing at the edge of our table. "I, uh, hi."

I nodded to him. "Hi."

"You doing okay?" He carefully sat down beside me. "You skipped school for a couple days. I just wanted to make sure you had all the notes you needed for sixth hour. I don't want you falling behind."

"I'm fine." I sighed.

"You don't look okay." I closed my eyes and bowed my head a bit. "What's going on?"

"My best friend was injured yesterday by Ro- by wolves." I quickly corrected myself. "He and his girlfriend were attacked. She came away with a few cuts, but my friend may or may not live from this. He hasn't woken up once. I'm just really worried about him."

"I'm sorry." He looked up to Kester and Linda. "Oh, I'm sorry for intruding. I'm Jeremy."

"Linda." "Kester."

"Emma helped me around the school a couple days ago." He said to them. "I was just checking up on her."

"And I don't need you to." I said to him. "I can manage just fine. But thanks for the concern." The bell rang to end lunch and we all stood to head to class.

"Emma, wait." Jeremy stopped me in the hall. "I didn't come to your table to tell you about class notes."

"Then what did you come for?" I asked him.

He glanced around, then spoke in a low voice. "I saw something."

"Saw what?" Now he's confusing me.

"I'll tell you after school." What? "Meet me in the parking lot."

"Um, okay?" He's really confusing me now.

"Okay," He let out a small sigh, then looked me up and down. "Now, we should get to class." I nodded and rushed off to class with Jeremy at my side. We made it in to our classes just before the bell rang.

~~~~

I stood at the back of the parking lot, waiting for Jeremy. Almost everybody had left already. Only a few of the teacher's cars remained in the lot and a few of the students who had after school activities.

Finally, I spotted Jeremy walking towards me. I gave out a small sigh. I wonder what he could have seen. It might have been something he saw in school or something.

Soon, he stood before me, his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Emma."

"Hi," I kicked a rock. "So, what did you see? Did one of the teachers do something?"

"No."

"Did one of the students do something?"

"No. I-"

"There was a fight."

"No, Emma. I-"

"You saw a girl giving a guy a blowjob."

"Ew, what?! No! Emma-"

"I got it! You saw a teacher do something to a student in the janitor's closet."

"Emma, no! It was nothing like that! I saw you!" He stared hard at me, a bit of fear in his eyes.

"You... saw me?" What does he mean by that?

"It was two days ago. Soon after fifth hour had started. It was the very same day I met you. I was leaving the classroom to use the bathroom when I saw you run from your classroom. I got curious and followed." I paled slightly.

"I followed you to the back of the school," He continued. "I watched you strip to bare skin. Don't worry, I only saw your back. But it wasn't only your back I saw. I saw you... I saw you turn into a wolf. Please tell me it was just a trick of my eyes, or I was dreaming."

I remained silent, possibly as white as a ghost. "Emma, please say something." I couldn't. How could I? I had revealed myself to a human who isn't even my mate! That is against the law! I could be stripped of my title! My pack! Made into a Rogue! Oh my god, what do I do?!

"Emma?"

"You weren't supposed to see that..." I barely whispered as I clutched at my hair. "Oh man, oh man... Oh god, this isn't happening... Please don't let this be real..."

"Emma...?"

"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" I stumbled away from him and quickly caught myself before I fell. "This is bad... this is really, really bad... I can't believe this... What would he say? What would they say? What's gonna happen to me?!"

"Emma, please!" Jeremy gripped my shoulders and made me look at him. "What's going on? Who's him? Who's they? What's really bad?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn't work. "Jeremy, you weren't supposed to see me like that. I could get in serious trouble if anyone found out. Please tell me that you haven't told anyone about this..."

"I swear I told no one." He said as he looked me straight in my eyes. "I am the only one who knows about you..."

"Turning into a Wolf." He flinched slightly. "Just say it like it is. I turn into a Wolf. I turn into a Werewolf."

"W-werewolf?" Now it was his turn to stumble back a bit. "No... They aren't real."

"Yes we are." I hung my head. "You weren't supposed to find out. Not at all. You see, I could get in so much trouble if anyone but my mate knew I was a Wolf."

"Mate?" His eyebrows furrowed a bit. "You mean... like a soul mate?"

I nodded. "Exactly. But you aren't my mate. Therefore, I could get in so much trouble and cast out of the Wolf society; forced to go Rogue. I wouldn't be allowed on pack grounds, meaning I can't set foot back at this school."

Jeremy was silent as he let this all sink in. I looked away to the ground as I waited for him to speak again. The silence between us dragged on, growing thicker in the air with each passing second. I could feel the tension crawling on my skin, eating at me.

"What if I... what if I was your mate?" My head snapped up at that. "I mean, I don't know how that actually works and all, but I would like for you to show me. What does it mean for me to be your mate?"

I swallowed hard. "I would love it if you were my mate, but I don't think that can happen. Not yet, at least."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well..." I took a deep breath. "There is another who is my true mate."

"Damn it..." He placed a hand on the side of his neck. "Always the pretty ones..."

"But I'm trying to reject him." He gave me a questioning look. "He's not good enough to be my mate. He's going against the Connection. If I reject him, I believe I have a chance at getting a Second Chance Mate. Maybe you, since we already seemed so close when I first met you."

He chuckled and scratched at the back of his head. "Yeah, we kinda did hit it off real well, didn't we?"

I gave a soft smile. "When I reject him, I hope it is you that will be my second chance."

"I'll be waiting." We fell into a comfortable silence as we sat on the curb. "Now what?"

I sighed. "Well, we have to keep this a secret between the two of us. We are the only ones who know about you knowing about me. Not a single word can be spoken from your mouth about this."

"I swear I won't tell a soul; living or dead." We laughed at that, then grew serious once more.

"I do have to get going, though." I stood. "I have to check on my friend to see how he's doing."

"The one who got attacked?" Jeremy stood beside me.

I nodded. "Yeah. He hasn't woken up since he got attacked. We kinda need him. Correction, we definitely need him. He's very important to us."

"I understand." Jeremy stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," I looked towards the path I had to take home. "I'll see you around."

"Are you gonna..." I looked at him carefully. "Are you gonna turn into a wolf?"

I snickered. "Nah. Not today. I'd rather walk home." We parted ways after that, muttering goodbyes.

I walked with my head down. I know he said he'd never tell anyone, but what if it accidentally slips out? I swallowed hard to push back the fear. I seriously hope that doesn't happen. I don't know what I'd do.

~~~~

It was almost dark when I finally got to the pack house. I stared up at the towering building before me, taking everything in. To think that if anything slips out... I would never be able to see this place again.

I shook that thought from my head and went inside. I set my bag by the door and headed up to the infirmary where Gaven was being held. The second I opened the door, several heads snapped up.

"Uh..." Nyl, Lana, mom, dad, Linda, Kester, Emily, and Orien were all in the room around Gaven's bed. "Did I... miss something?"

"Gaven's been asking for you for almost an hour." Emily said as she squeezed his hand.

"He's awake?!" I made my way through the bodies to see Gaven trying to keep his eyes open.

He gave a weak smile when he saw me. "There's my Beta... How's the pack?"

A relieved chuckled bubbled out of my throat as I fought to keep the tears back. "Everything is great. Everyone is fine. We have some people on patrol watching our borders."

His eyes scrunched together a bit. "What for?"

I sat down beside him on the bed, everyone in the room watching me. "Remember all those stories we heard about the women being kidnapped?"

"Yeah..." He blinked a few times, fighting to stay awake.

"Well," I took in a deep breath. "Myself and a bunch of the warriors believe it might be almost the exact same thing."

"Shit..." He breathed out as he covered his eyes with his soaked bandages. "This can't be happening... If we can double the guards-"

"Done."

"Tell the other packs-"

"Already ahead of you."

"Get a hold of the Hunters-"

"They're already on the case looking in places we can't exactly access."

"Then what about-"

"Done." He gave me a questioning look. "I knew you were going to have me make sure I had a place for Emily to hide just in case they came back."

He gave a weak laugh. "You were always on the mark with everything."

I smiled. "I try to be. Now, you need to rest. You have a long road of recovery ahead of you."

He rolled his eyes. "This is the ninth time I've heard this."

"Get some rest."

"Smart ass." Everyone in the room laughed at that. "But you're all right. I do need rest. I'll see you all in the morning." We all muttered our good nights and get wells. We all left the room, besides Emily, who moved to the bed beside Gaven's.

I just knew that once he had woken up, he would be healed in no time. I cracked my knuckles and headed for a private room in the pack house, pulled out a huge map, then began going over our weakest spots on our borders.

I didn't stop until I saw the sun rise through the window.