The next day Hudson was on edge, glancing around him nervously as he moved from class to class, trying to avoid every she wolf.
‘You know you only need to avoid Penelope and that red head right?’ Garrett muttered from beside him making him jump.
‘Don’t sneak up on me’ he growled harshly as his Beta grinned, ‘you don’t know if it’s just them, what if another girl jumps me or something?’
Garrett snorted, ‘please, you are not that desirable’ he scoffed.
Muttering under his breath, he stalked through the halls to his next lesson, glaring at anyone who got near him until he was safely in his seat.
Sitting down beside him, the Beta placed his feet up on his desk, waving at a curly haired brunette across the room who blushed before giving him a small smile.
‘Stop attracting attention’ Hudson hissed in annoyance.
Garrett shrugged, ‘hey it’s you that has to keep it in his pants, not me’ he replied, ‘and curly locks over there looks like she’s one of those girls who comes over sweet and innocent until you take her clothes off.’ He raked his gaze over the girl who was peeking at him through her hair curiously, ‘and I would sure like to find out just how wild she can be’ he sighed.
The rest of the day passed without event and the pair made their way toward Hudson’s truck after their last lesson.
Walking across the parking lot toward his vehicle, a flash of red caught his eye. Turning in the direction of the she wolf he quickly threw the keys to his Beta and took off after her.
‘Quinn!’ he yelled, chasing the girl down as she walked around the side of the building toward the woods.
Halting, the she wolf turned around, trying to figure out who was calling her, a frown appeared on her face as Hudson jogged up to her, stopping a few feet from his ex mate.
‘What do you want?’ she asked, her tone bored.
The Alpha rubbed the back of his neck nervously, ‘I, ah . . I just wanted to say . . ‘ Quinn stared at him silently, letting the awkwardness build.
‘I just wanted to make sure that uh . . you knew that I um . . I wouldn’t hurt you purposefully’ he rushed out.
Quinn’s eyes widened, her grip on the strap of her bag tightening, ‘you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose?’ she repeated, ‘what the hell does that mean?’
Hudson swallowed, ‘just that, I’d not set out to hurt you, and if I did accidentally hurt you it wouldn’t be something I set out to do.’
He squirmed under the she wolf’s penetrating gaze, ‘I just wouldn’t want anything to happen you know, if I ever caused you pain unintentionally, it wouldn’t be my packs fault.’
The young girl stared at him in disbelief, ‘you do know you already hurt me’ she spat out suddenly, ‘do you think that rejecting me was a walk in the park? That I didn’t feel it? Are you trying to say that you accidentally rejected me?’
Hudson stumbled back a step from the force of her anger, ‘no! I meant to . . I mean, I thought it was for the best’ he finished lamely.
Quinn laughed humourlessly, ‘oh yes, the great Alpha couldn’t be mated to a lowly Omega could he’ she snarled. ‘Don’t worry Alpha, I am so out of your league you did me a favour.’
Spinning on her heel, she stormed off into the woods without a backward glance, leaving the teenager stood staring after her in shock.
Turning around, he trudged back to his truck where Garrett was standing, waiting for him.
Opening the driver’s door, he slid inside, his Beta climbing in beside him and handing back his keys.
‘So’ Garrett asked with a snigger, ‘what did you say?’
‘I tried to tell her that I wouldn’t intentionally hurt her, I thought, as a backup plan, telling her that, might stop her pack declaring war if I find myself with another girl sucking my dick.’
The beta started to laugh, ‘and how did that work out for you?’ he questioned, his eyes dancing with amusement.
‘I don’t want to talk about it’ Hudson grumbled, throwing the car into gear and pulling out of his space.
‘Not well then’ his best friend added, ‘shocking, that the girl you caused pain to by rejecting doesn’t believe that you wouldn’t hurt her on purpose. I’m shocked by this revelation.’
‘Shut up’ the Alpha growled, his hands tightening on the steering wheel to stop himself from reaching over and gripping the other boy by the neck instead.
The next day, Hudson was on high alert, this was the day that Penelope had always tried to get him to agree to take her to the party. He dodged through the crowds, keeping his head down, trying to avoid the she wolf.
‘Hudson!’ her voice screeched through the corridor, after lunch, just as he was about to slip into his classroom. Thinking he could pretend he hadn’t heard her, his plan was thwarted by one of the other students tapping him reluctantly and pointing behind him.
Turning around slowly, the Alpha sighed internally as she sashayed up to him with a small pout on her lips.
Stopping on front of him, the Gamma’s daughter jutted out her hip, her hand resting on the curve as she looked up at him with fake sadness. ‘You didn’t answer my text’ she complained huskily.
‘Yeah, I . . uh, didn’t have time Pel, what can I do for you?’ he replied, trying to keep his tone light.
Brightening under his attention, Penelope reached out to run a hand down his arm, ‘the Clover party on Saturday’ she purred, ‘daddy is insisting that I have a strong warrior to take me.’ Her eyes took on an innocent look, ‘I know he couldn’t argue if the future Alpha was going and would give me a lift?’
The Alpha kept his face neutral as he gave a reluctant shake of his head, ‘I’m sorry Pel, I’m not going to the party. Alpha duties, dad wants me to help out this weekend and I promised Tilly that I would have some brother, sister time on Saturday night.’
He watched as Penelope pouted, knowing she couldn’t ask him to blow off the Alpha to take her to a party. ‘You couldn’t rain check with your sister?’ she asked hopelessly.
Hudson shook his head, ‘no, I’ve had to put it off for a few weeks already and she’s been really patient. I figured with all the older teens being at the party, Tilly and I could have a movie night without anyone interrupting.’
Penelope’s shoulders drooped as she nodded, ‘OK, yeah, you can’t blow your sister off I suppose, she needs her big brother time.’
Giving him a sad smile, she turned and walked away back to her friends that were huddled near the lockers watching them.
Letting out a breath, the Alpha glanced down the hallway to see Quinn watching him, a curious look on her face. Noticing him watching her, she turned away quickly and hurried off to her lesson. Heading into his own class, he took his seat at the back, thankful that he’d actually managed to divert the Gamma ranked she wolf without upsetting her.
At lunchtime, Hudson caught up with Garrett, the pair grabbing some food at the cafeteria and heading to their usual table, ‘I’m really getting fed up of eating the same meals’ the Alpha grumbled as he bit into the loaded bun.
‘What are you talking about, we’ve had something different every week since school started’ Garrett replied as he ripped a large chunk out of his own burger.
‘Yeah, but I’ve lived this week three times already, the menu doesn’t change for me’ the teenager bit back in annoyance. How many damn burgers was he going to have to eat? When he got out of this loop the first thing he was going to get was a huge pizza all to himself.
He felt her before he saw her, Hudson’s head snapping up as Quinn walked into the cafeteria, picking up a tray and queuing up, collecting a burger with the works and a large portion of fries before paying and finding a seat in the corner.
‘At least she doesn’t eat rabbit food’ the Alpha muttered to himself, watching her as she pulled out her book, opening to the marked page and disappearing behind it.
‘That’s her?’ Garrett asked loudly, craning to see Hudson’s mate.
‘Shut up!’ Hudson hissed, slapping him across the back of the head, ‘I don’t need the entire school to know about her.’
Glancing back at Quinn, he saw that she was now looking at him over the top of her book in confusion. Turning back to his food quickly, he tried not to blush as Garrett grinned widely at her and waved.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Hudson growled, grabbing his hand and slamming it down on the table.
‘Saying hello’ the beta replied with a shrug, ‘she’s pretty.’
A growl ripped out of Hudson’s throat as Harvey surfaced, ‘you look at her and I’ll rip your eyes out’ he snarled.
His best friend winked, ‘I know Harvey’ he replied, patting the Alpha’s arm, ‘she’s not my type, shame your human is such a dick.’
‘Tell me about it’ Harvey grumbled as he receded back into his human’s mind.
Muttering under his breath, Hudson forced down the rest of his lunch before jumping up and depositing his tray, Garrett huffing as he followed suit, holding the rest of his burger in his hand as they left the cafeteria.
‘Always in such a rush’ the beta grouched as he fell into step beside him.
‘I’ve got things to do, and as my second in command, what I need to do, you need to do’ was the Alpha’s reply.
Shaking his head, Garrett gave his best friend a sly smile, knowing exactly why they were running away from the lunch room but having the sense to keep his mouth shut.