"Some girls are full of heartache and poetry, and those are the kind of girls who try to save wolves instead of running away from them."
~Nikita Gill

Spencer

A week passed, and Jack still couldn't get over Elsa kicking his ass. Even the rest of the pack tired of his bitching, despite wanting their revenge on her too. I warned them there'd be punishment if I saw it, but I'm pretty sure they plotted against her anyway. I made it my mission to keep an eye on Elsa. All the times I couldn't, I prayed she was with her pack mates.

Who would've guessed I'd be looking out for a Laroche?

Unlike most of my pack- and by most, I mean all- I didn't agree with the feud with the Laroches, mostly because I had no idea why we were supposed to hate them. We just did. I kept my mouth shut around my family, though, because that was one argument I'd never win.

"Jack, for the love of God, shut up about the Laroche girl!" Lily snapped. She was my older sister by a year, and I often wondered how I ended up being alpha over her because, honestly, the attitude my sister had most certainly was one of an alpha. She was currently my second and kept the others in check with Dom-my older brother and the other alpha- while I was off at school.

"Don't worry, bud, we'll get our revenge. What about putting spiders in her locker? I remember hearing she was terrified on them," Grey mused.

"Don't even think about it. Ignore the Laroches, and they'll ignore us," I said firmly. "Jack, you got your ass kicked, suck it up. I was the only one there that saw it, so it's not like she humiliated you in front of the entire school. Speaking of, everyone ready to go? As much as my parents love you all, I don't think they want to hear you griping any more than I do."

"Yeah..." Jack grumbled. I shouldered my backpack and headed into the garage. After tossing my stuff in the trunk, I got in the driver's side. Jack, Gigi, and Grey all got in with me. The ride to the school was silent as none of us were morning people, and the only thing Jack continued to talk about was Elsa's ass-kicking, but he kept his mouth shut because he knew I didn't want to hear it.

Sometimes, it's good to be alpha.

Upon arriving at school, we piled out of the car and walked over to where Scarlet, Tommy, Fred, and Isabelle were waiting for us. I opened the door for my packmates, letting them go in ahead of me.

Just as the last of them went through, the Laroches approached. I nodded my head towards the door, trying to tell them that they could go through, but one of them- Thea Fray- sneered, "We can get the door for ourselves."

"Seriously, Thea? He's just being polite," Elsa said, rolling her eyes. She walked through the doorway, giving me a small smile on her way past. Anna hurried to catch up with her twin. Thea started walking in, but I cut her off.

"Excuse me?" she demanded, storming after me.

"What?" You said you didn't need me to hold the door open for you," I said. Before she could attack, my pack swarmed me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Laroche twins dragging Thea away, which the latter seemed very unhappy about.

"What took you so long to get in?" Scarlet asked.

"Got held up holding the door open for other kids," I replied casually, thinking it best to avoid saying anything more about the Laroches to them.

"Dude, you're an alpha. You can just cut people off," Tommy said.

"I'm an alpha, not an ass. Well, not unless need be. Get going, guys. Class starts in a few minutes. I'll see you at lunch." My pack dispersed. I walked upstairs to physiology. The topics were interesting, but the teacher had a monotonous voice that put the class to sleep a little too quickly. I was one of the few who managed to stay awake.

Barely.

Arriving in class, I took my usual seat by the window.

"Thanks for holding the door open this morning," Elsa said, taking residence at the desk next to me. I glanced around the room to find all other seats were taken, explaining why- for the first time ever- she sat next to me.

"No problem. Thanks for stopping Thea from attacking me. I really didn't want to humiliate her."

"If you got involved, we all would've, and no offense, we kind of outnumber you. Besides, I would've taken you on."

"Would you? Why's that?"

"Because I have a chance of beating you."

I scratched my chin thoughtfully. "Alpha versus Omega. Pretty sure I'd take you down."

"I'm Omega by title-"

"Not by power," I finished. Elsa looked up at me, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Why were you demoted to omega?"

She shrugged. "I talked too much."

"I'm sorry, but Thea and Oliver talk a hell of a lot more than you. There's more than just talking too much."

"How do you know Thea and Oliver talk more than me?"

"Because we have the same lunch period, and I can hear them from the other side of the cafeteria. Stop avoiding the question."

"I spoke my mind too much, and it's something the rest of my pack didn't agree with. Speaking of talking, why are you talking to me?"

"You initiated it."

"I was thanking you for opening the door. I didn't mean to start a conversation."

"Yet, I kept talking, and you kept responding."

"I'm starting to regret that now," Elsa said, raising an eyebrow at me.

I clutched my heart in mock agony. "Ouch, that hurts."

"Shut up," she replied, but her smile took the venom out of the statement. I winked at her before turning my attention to the board. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with a Laroche that didn't end up in a physical fight. I mean, Elsa and I were debating, but it was more teasing than anything.

At least, I'd been joking around.

"All right class, partner up. Two or three in a group. We'll be dissecting brains today. Once you're in your groups, come to me, I'll give you your brain, directions sheet, and dissection tools," the teacher announced. The classroom suddenly turned into a wild ruckus as kids ran about trying to grab their friends. No one approached Elsa or me.

Deciding we'd be put together in the end since no one was asking us to join them, I turned to Elsa, asking, "Partners?"

"You sure that's a good idea?" she countered, not sounding necessarily against the situation, but also not sounding necessarily for it.

"No, but no one's going to ask us to be their partners. We might as well."

"Fine, you go get us some protective glasses and gloves. I'll go grab the stuff from Mr. Henson."

Elsa and I got out of our seats to get the required stuff. We met back at a dissecting station in front of the window wall, giving us plenty of light. Elsa looked at me, granting me the chance to notice just how intensely blue her eyes were. An enchanting blue the color of the ocean. If I stared too long, I'd get lost in their depths.

Hastily averting my attention, I asked what the first step was.

"Okay, so the first thing we have to do is to remove the meninges," she read.

"What do we need to do that?" I questioned, shuffling through our tools.

"Tweezers."

"I'm going to let you do this," I said, handing her the item requested.

"Don't like dissections?" she queried.

"No, I do; I just know if I tried to remove a membrane that thin, I'd destroy our little specimen. Although I have to say, I'm regretting having super smell right now," I admitted, burying my nose in the crook of my arm to prevent the strong scent of formalin from assaulting my senses further. I barely managed to hold back a gag.

I watched as my partner carefully removed the membrane, wondering how on earth she could do this without choking at the horrible smell.

"There, it's removed. All right, next step," Elsa said.

For the next hour, we worked diligently. Little was spoken between us, but it wasn't awkward like I expected it would.

Once finished with the dissection, we disposed of the mess and went back to our desks to complete the questions.

"Hey, what did you get for question twenty-three, about the PETs?" I queried.

"Fluorodeoxyglucose. You?"

"Same. Hey, since we're half animal, and we were dissecting a brain, did we just do a PET scan?"

Elsa lifted her head to stare at me. She blinked a few times before saying, "That was terrible."

"Then, why are you smiling?"

"Because it was so bad. Okay, you know what? Since we're speaking, I've been meaning to ask you why you're being so polite to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, but it has me curious."

"Honestly, I have no idea why our packs are fighting, and I find it stupid. I've tried to be kind to your packmates, but that hasn't gone well. And none of my pack wants to get along with yours, so I've kept my mouth shut."

"You should keep it that way. Keeping your mouth shut, I mean."

I scrunched my face up in concern, an idea suddenly striking me. "Did you get demoted to Omega because you wanted to become friendly with my pack?"

Elsa nodded. "I brought it up one too many times, bugged my parents about why we were supposed to hate you, advocated we make the past the past, and wanted to start making good relations. I talked about it too much, and they moved me down to Omega. I haven't spoken about it again to anyone, not even Anna. The only reason I'm telling you is that you share the same sentiments."

"Why did your parents demote you over that?"

"Like I said, I wouldn't give up. But I know in my pack, I'm the only one who believes what I do, so I stay quiet. When Caleb becomes alpha, he's already chosen me to be his second. Whoever his mate is going to be, Anna will most likely be her second. Who's your second?"

"Rey O'Connor."

"She's a year older than you, right?"

"Yeah. Hey-" I was interrupted by the bell ringing. Elsa started packing up her things. "Before you go, you're always welcome to rant to me about our stupid pack feud."

"Oh yeah? What's it going to cost me?" she countered, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"A conversation with me?"

For the first time, Elsa gave me a full-fledged smile. "I think I can deal with that. I'll see you in English."

"I'm claiming you as my partner there just so you know," I called out after her.

She turned around to face me but kept walking. "Claiming me? What are we, mates?"

Laughing, she turned back around and exited the room, leaving me smiling to myself.