Chapter 5

What happened? -D

Azaria stared down at the message for the tenth time that day wondering how to respond. Dion wasted no time in using her number and she was excited.

I'm sorry. My parents had moved our coven meeting back an hour. I really tried to make it. -A

She slides her phone back into her pocket as she began taking notes. There was a feeling deep inside that she couldn't quite understand. Her phone buzzed in her pocket with a notification. Azaria quickly pulled it out with hopes it was Dion, only to be disappointed. It was her mother reminding her of her Leader Studies that night. Any hopes she had of sneaking out were squashed.

She needed to show her parents she was serious about stepping up.

The class soon dismissed and Azaria rushed to the cafeteria to meet up with Marci for lunch.

"OMG! I did it!" Marci squealed the second she laid eyes on her friend.

Azaria raised a questioning eyebrow wondering what she was so excited about.

"I gave Gordon my number." She clarified. "I tried to be as smooth as you and just go for it, but... yeah. I tried to slide onto the bench only to fall flat on my ass." Marci covered her face in shame with a wide grin as she giggled at the memory. Azaria couldn't help but laugh herself. She could only imagine just how comical the scene was.

When it came to being graceful and smooth, Marci was the complete opposite. She could be the poster child for clumsiness.

"Oh god," Azaria laughed. "Marci, how do you always find a way to fall?" They found the shortest line to stand in.

"I was so embarrassed I just laid there on the floor and laughed. Gordon thought it was pretty epic and helped me up. We had paired up for class and got to talking, and before the bell rang I slipped my number in his textbook."

The line quickly progressed forward. Before the duo could move up in their spot, it was quickly taken by Stacy and Beth.

"Um excuse you?" Azaria roughly tapped Stacy on her shoulder to get her attention. "We were here first, so move it." The hostility in Azaria's tone couldn't be missed.

A few students nearby watched the interaction with curious eyes. You could see the hunger or a fight dancing in the depths of their eyes. Stacy glanced over her shoulder at Azaria before rolling her eyes and facing forward not moving a muscle.

Usually, Azaria could handle Stacy's tactics, but for some reason, she was feeling an immense amount of anger towards the preppy blond.

"Zari, she's not worth it. Let the troll have her moment." Marci sneered holding onto Azaria's arm. She watched as Stacey subtly leaned back before flicking her hair over her shoulder. The wispy ends of Stacy's hair hit their target as they harshly washed across Azaria's cheek.

"Oh hell no!" Before Azaria could reign in her emotions, she found her hand tangled in the mass of blond weave. A sickening smile spread across her face as Stacey screamed out in pain.

"Z! Let her go!" Marci grasped her wrist in a panic in hopes to lessen the pain for Stacey. All of her words were falling on deaf ears. The sound of her blood pumping and the anger filled the sounds around her.

"You want to try that again?" Her voice was low and menacing.

"Let me go you freak!" Stacey tried her hardest to claw at Azaria's hand wanting it removed from her burning scalp.

"Ari, let her go. She's not worth it." The calming sound of Dion's voice somehow doused the rage-filled anger inside of her. His large hand carefully enclosed around her wrist where Marci's smaller one had been moments ago. On contact, a low hum of energy flowed through her and she found herself calming down even more.

Azaria unclenched her hand from Stacey's hair watching with a satisfied smile as tears streamed down her face.

"Count your blessings." Azaria hissed before leaving the cafeteria.

She wasn't in the mood for human food anyway. She only endured it for Marci's sake. As she made her way out she caught the worried looks of her coven members. Surely they had never seen her act so wild before. Once she was out of the stuffy room, Azaria took a few deep calming breaths.

What the hell was that? She thought to herself.

"Ari!" She turned at the sound and found Dion coming after her. They stood in the empty hallway, aware of the curious glances that both pack and coven members were giving them.

They had done well to keep their friendship under wraps, but that was out in the open now. Maybe this was a good thing. It'll help fuel the vote to keep the peace treaty between them and the wolves. As well as show her people that they all weren't as bad as they think.

"You okay?" He asked once she was in front of her.

Her mind was still reeling from what just happened she didn't know how to put them into words. She surprised them both by stepping into his arms and hugged him tightly. He brought her comfort and right now she was in need of a lot of comforts.

"I can usually handle her antics, but today she just seems to be rubbing the wrong nerve," she mumbled into his chest.

"From the looks of it, she deserved it," he chuckled lightly.

Azaria pulled away releasing a heavy sigh. "My parents are going to kill me. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours and I'm already messing things up."

"Beta is everything okay?" A soft voice sounded from behind them. Azaria looked around Dion and found a small yet terrifying female walking towards them. She was staring daggers at Azaria.

Unconsciously she took a step back away from Dion. She watched as the girl came and stood in front of Dion like she was trying to protect him. Anyone else would think it was a stance of a girlfriend staking claim.

"Yes Carrie, all is well." He gave the girl a small nod although she didn't see it. "I'm just speaking with Leader Smith."

Watching the girl stand so close to Dion was drawing up that anger again. She closed her eyes to try and steady herself. She couldn't afford to make this situation even worse by attacking a pack member for no reason.

"I'll catch you later Silus."

Azaria rushed off to her locker and found her extra water bottle, heavily drinking its contents. The blood helped soothed her frayed nerves as she tried to think of an explanation for her parents. There was no doubt they'd hear about this by the time she made it home.

It was frowned upon to have any physical altercations with humans. One thing was for certain, she wasn't apologizing at all. She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Marci to let her know she would be out in the courtyard waiting for her when she was done getting her lunch.

If you don't get into trouble I'd like for us to meet again tonight. -D

Azaria stared down at her phone reading the message that had just come through. She felt her heart flutter in her chest. Any doubts she had that he was upset with her about standing him up last night were gone.

I would like nothing more. If my studies don't last all night I'll text you when I'm done. -A

"Z you okay?" Marci asked as she made her way to the table. A slight frown creased her lips as worry filled her eyes.

"Yeah I'm good, just haven't been having such a great week so far. I guess Stacy was the icing on the cake today."

"OMG!" Marci squealed with a bright smile. She bounced in her seat staring down at her phone.

Azaria looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. Marci turned the phone around revealing a text message from an unknown number.

'Hey r u free after school?'

'It's Gordon btw.'

"Are you going to stare at it like a star truck teen or reply back?" Azaria laughed as Marci looked back down at her phone with excitement.

At the mention of responding Marci's finger flew across the keyboard at lightning speed.

"Zari, I think I really like him." She said dreamily.

"How do you figure when you've only talked to him once?"

Marci shrugged her shoulders as she stared off into space. "I don't know, but ever since I talked to him in class I couldn't stop thinking about him. He smells so good too."

Azaria nodded her head as if she understood. "Just be careful Mar."

Would you happen to have a few minutes after school to talk? -D

Azaria looked down at her phone and found herself smiling like a fool.

I have only 15 minutes to spare can't be late again -A

The bell rang dismissing their lunch period.

"Let's go Mar you can tell me more about mister hot stuff on the way to class." Azaria teased as she found her friend engrossed in her phone. Marci stood from her seat, never removing her eyes from her phone screen.

I'll take what I can get 😉. I'll meet you in the student lot. -D

The smile on her face couldn't be wiped away as she was excited to finally speak with Dion. Granted she could stick to texting him, but something bout his voice always soothed her soul.