Clare

“Hey, you’re so cool. No one ever gets my humor here, which is why I eat lunch alone all the time and never get invited to the cool parties.” Lissa said with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I mean, when I was younger and having trouble in school, my stepfather used to tell me I was ‘probably just born slow.’ He said it was better if I stuck to ‘simple things’ instead of trying too hard.” I paused, letting out a short laugh. “Then when my grades finally got better, he said I was getting ‘too big for my britches.’ Started calling me ‘his little know-it-all.’ Like, what was I supposed to do with that?”

Her face froze mid-bite. “Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately.” I smiled tightly, immediately regretting the stepfather detour. My brain screamed at me for bringing him up, but my mouth kept moving. “And the kicker? When I hit my teens and started spending time on homework instead of chores, he’d say I was turning into a lazy little pig. Then, when I started helping out more, he’d ask why I couldn’t ‘just be normal’ for once.”

“Wow,” she said, her fork halfway to her plate.

Realizing I’d probably over shared, I scrambled to cover it up with humor. “But hey, it’s fine. He left after my mom passed, so now he doesn’t have to deal with my ‘slow, lazy, know-it-all’ self anymore.” I forced a laugh that felt hollow even to me.

She didn’t laugh. She just stared, probably more stunned by the fact that I’d casually dropped that my mom was dead.

I cringed internally. Way to make things weird.

Desperate to steer the conversation somewhere—anywhere—else, I changed the subject, “Hey, so I saw that guy sitting at the head of the table on that raised platform in the admin office. The weird one with sunglasses seated on the table that feels like it’s reserved for the school’s royalty or something. Who is he?”

She looked like she still wanted to ask me questions about my stepfather or my mom at first but when her eyes fell on the boy, I met at the office and the table he was sitting at, I could feel her attention shift, making me release a very tiny sigh of relief.

“Oh, that’s Sawyer Hawkins.” She answered casually with her eyes twinkling with gossip.

But I bet my eyes were also twinkling with the interest to gossip as well now as I leaned closer to her. “Wait, Hawkins, like, related to the Alpha of the pack?”

She nodded rapidly, rattling her head like she was trying to shake something out of her brain, and then leaned her head close to me while lowering her voice. “Yes, Hawkins, as in he’s the only son of the Alpha of our pack. See how he’s barely speaking and just watching people at his table speak? That’s how he always is. You would think the pierced ears and the weird sunglasses would mean he’s this bad guy jock or emo, but he’s none of the above. Okay, maybe not. He had a time where he was wearing only blacks at the start of high school. But usually, he’s just usually quiet in school. I don’t see him often because I’m not part of the cool crowd at school, but even when I see him among his friends, he’s usually very quiet. He’s only had like four girlfriends and only two were members of our pack. One of them was like six years older than him, one was a visiting pack member and the other was the daughter of the Alpha of a nearby pack.”

She turned her head to stare at the people sitting on the platform table and lowered her voice another notch. “Because all the girls he dated are usually pack councilmen daughters or Alpha’s daughters. People say he isn’t interested in regular pack members, but there are always rumors of him hooking up with girls in the pack...”

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“Interesting.” I said out loud.

However, in my thoughts, I decided to stay far away from the elitist future Alpha of the Hawkins pack.

Everything about him rubbed me off in all the wrong ways, anyway, with the arrogant manner about him that was embellished by the stupid sunglasses he was always wearing everywhere.

“Mm-hmm, it’s such a pity though, because I would totally date him. I really love his looks and I’ve never heard any rumors of him cheating on anyone he ever dated.” She said.

“I would totally date him too…just for his looks.” I lied.

“I know, right?” Before she could say more, the buzzer signaling the end of lunch went off. “Hey, how about we hang out later today after school? I’ll show you around town and take you to a really cool place where everyone, including the cool crowd, hangs out when they’re not throwing private parties that everyone else is not invited to. What do you say?”

“Sure. It’s just I need to see the pack Luna. How about I get your number and call you right after my meeting with her ends?” I answered.

“Sure, sure. Give me your tray. Here’s my phone, just type in your number and call yourself so we both have each other numbers. I’ll take our trays over there so we won’t be late to our next class.”

“Ok, thanks.” I answered, giving her a wide smile as I got to work doing as she asked, happy that I had made a new friend at my new school on the very first day.

***

My dislike of Sawyer Hawkins was cemented by our second meeting at the Hawkins Pack Alpha’s mansion.

“Hey Sawyer! Come back here this very minute!” The elegantly dressed woman, who was no doubt the Hawkins pack luna, yelled.

Sawyer didn’t even spare her a glance as he angled past me, who was standing close to the narrow door, surprised, with the maid who was taking me to see the pack Luna.

Because our shoulders collided due to his hapless blind rushing, he didn’t forget to lower his sunglasses to glare at me and tell me to watch myself again before walking away. I was still reeling from the annoyance in his eyes and the reciprocative annoyance rising in me for getting warned to watch myself twice in one day by the same person, even though he was the one at fault both times.

Thankfully before I could run after Sawyer Hawkins to give him a piece of my mind, his mother, the pack Luna, cleared her throat, saving him from my heartless tirade and saving me for the embarrassment and desire to bury myself in a tiny hole after my outburst.

“Hello, you’re the new temporary member of the pack, right? Come in, come in. Take a seat. Your name’s Clare, right? You can call me Luna Ava. How are you liking the pack so far?”

Trying to get rid of the awkward feeling our conversation was giving me and make the best impression on Luna Ava, I answered her quickly with a smile. “I love it very much so far. Everyone is so nice and…welcoming. The classes are also interesting so far.”

“Very good. Very good. Well, I heard that before you came to the pack, you used to live alone with your mother, who’s a witch?”

I didn’t really like talking about my mother for several reasons but I wanted to seem like an open book to Luna Ava, so I tried to talk about things I had no issues sharing. “Yes, ma’am, she was a Fae-Witch. In our old town, she worked as a herbalist and we ran a small shop selling concoctions to help ill people.”

“I heard she passed away recently. My condolences.”

“Thank you.” I answered, looking down and trying to stop my hands from clenching into fists.

“So your file says you have werewolf blood? Do you need or want to run with the pack during our bimonthly pack runs?”

I nodded, “Yes ma’am. I would love to. I read on the Pack Handbook that I could go on individual runs in the woods behind the pack?”

She nodded, “That’s right. But because you’re a new pack member and you’ve not been officially introduced to all pack members, I think it would be best if you schedule a time with me before going on your runs. This is to avoid other pack members from misunderstanding you as a trespasser.”

“Alright, I’ll do that.”

“Good. I’ve not yet decided what your pack duties will be, but since you’re a temporary pack member, they will definitely be very minimal. I have your number and I'll let you know by text once I decide. I won’t waste your time, so let’s end our meeting here.”

She stood up and stretched her hand out to me for a handshake. I stood up as well and took her hand, wondering what she wanted to do.

“Welcome to the Hawkins pack, Miss Clare. Please try to abide by the rules and regulations available in the pack handbook and conduct yourself appropriately in the pack.”

Not sure what to say, I responded, “Yes, ma’am.”

After the weird formal handshake, Luna Ava became visibly warmer to me.

She allowed me to leave with a polite smile and nice words, “If you need anything or have any problems, don’t hesitate to call or text me. Take Care.”

“Yes, thank you.” I replied before leaving with the maid who had brought me in.