The next morning, I was abruptly woken from my sleep by the frantic voice of my mother, who commanded me to hurry up and get ready.

She offers me a pie as we make our way to the car, and I munch on it as we go.

On the way to school, my mother delivered another of her famous lectures on the topic of how to blend in with the new crowd. I would nod and mumble to myself sometimes to give the impression that I was paying attention so she wouldn't think I was zoning out.

Ella is waiting for me inside the school as I walk inside.

"Katrina! "She screams out as she waves at me.

I let out a grunt as a reaction to the statement, "Geometry comes first." Even though I didn't perform too badly in the class, it was the most boring one I've ever taken, and it consistently gave me a splitting headache.

Mom goes to the faculty room to chat with the other instructors during the first period, while Ella and I are both in our first period class. When you're having a good time, time flies by. Regrettably, it's already noon, and I have to go to detention; however, I have no clue where to go for detention since Antony never told me of the location.

Alpha Antony stormed into my classroom just at the moment when the bell was going to sound.

I was completely taken aback. In spite of the admiration and attention I received, I was about to fail my mother.

Ella turns her gaze toward me with a yearning smile on her face. I hurriedly made my exit. The thought of going to the Alpha makes me anxious, but I've decided to go anyhow.

"Do you feel that the geometry class drags on?" And he asks me while wearing a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Somewhat, but why do you ask so?"

"I used to always skip geometry class and get my ass kicked often, your painful expression reminds me of my past. "

I forced a little grin, not wanting to admit to him that the pained look on my face was his fault.

As he starts to go, he calls out, "Come on." You need to put your things away. While I'm fumbling for the latch, he unlocks my locker, causing me a chock.

"Well, I know everything," and I raise an eyebrow in incredulity.

Will he know that I have no wolf and banish me out? Thinking of this ,I shrank back a few steps.

"You are a newbie, and the justification that your parents gave for changing packs doesn't persuade me in any way. It seems like your pulse rate is over the roof, so I'm guessing they didn't really leave when your mom struck the Alpha's daughter. " He rubbed my back with his hand.

"She did hit Alpha's daughter." As he closes the door to my locker, he reaches over and takes my hand.

"Um, Alpha? " I informed him that my arm and hand had begun to become numb as a result of his hands clasping mine. I believe this was caused by the pressure of his hands.

"I am very sorry. I should not have done it." He withdrew his hand, and I looked at him in bewilderment as I raised my eyebrows in response to his peculiar movements.

"What are our plans for detention?" As we pass numerous vacant rooms, I inquire.

At the door to the faculty lounge, he gave me some words of reassurance, saying, "Don't worry; you won't get in trouble with me." I wait with him while he goes inside.

"This is your workplace, right?" I'm going to go ahead and inquire.

"I've been trying to be more present lately. I go there whenever I have some free time on my hands and the school could be short-staffed." I take a seat in the chair next his desk.

Incredible, I have a whole hour to do nothing except sit here and look at the walls. During that time, I took a few deep breaths to cover the Alpha scent. Because of his incredible scent, the whole room was filled with it, and I found myself taking several long breathes.

After he looks at me for a moment, Mathew bursts in carrying a tray with roasted beef, which he promptly places on the desk.

"Lunchtime? "

"Isn't this what detention looks like?" Ought I to copy some boring books instead of this?

"What do you like for detention, we can do it together?" He cocks his eyebrows and asks.

"No, but that's a bit different than I thought," he says while looking at his Beta.

I started to really appreciate the tender and flavorful steak.

When we finish, Mathew will return and takes the trays out.

Mathew strolls over and reclines in his seat, a grin on his face,

"How do you enjoy it here so far? "As I smile awkwardly at Mathew and then at alpha, I nod and answer his question.

"Pretty well."

Mathew drapes his arm casually over my shoulder and comes in close to me so that he can get a better smell of my scent. When I glance over, I notice the Alpha giving him the cold shoulder. He pulls me in closer and massages my arm when I make an effort to break away from him.

Alpha Antony growls at Mathew, telling him to "Hands off." Mathew smiles broadly while holding up his hands, but then he steps back and provides us with some room.

"Nonetheless, there are a few questions I have for you. "He turns to me after Mathew leaves.

Alpha whispers, "What made you truly decide to join to our pack?"

"If you think we have anything to conceal, then why did you allow my family become a member of your pack?" My shoulders slump as I realize that questioning him was really disrespectful on my part.

"I chose two of the most fearsome fighters in all of Alpha Nkosi," he says. My head shakes and I nervously bite my bottom lip.

"It will be interesting to find out what, precisely, you are capable of given your heritage," He says as I groan under his next sentence.

I don't see why being of Beta blood means I have to be flawless. Just let me be a normal she-wolf, please.

"What if I completely failed to live up to expectations? " I ask.

"You've got Beta blood, and your mother is one hell of a fighter. " Given this, I can't help but wonder what his reaction would be if he learned my deepest, darkest secret.

"Could I perhaps ask a question?" In the midst of Antony's undivided attention, he poses the question.

"So, what is it, exactly? "I ask.

"Have you met your mate yet?"

"No, I'm not eighteen yet. "

"You didn't say, but I assume you wanted to explain why your family moved. "My chest tightens as He reassures me that sharing the truth won't hurt me. It makes me feel sick to my stomach and causes me to sweat profusely just thinking about it.

"You seem really frightened, why is that? "

"Could I possibly leave this place?"

Alpha reaches across the table toward me as if to grab my hand.

"So, you can finally spill the beans, huh? "

"What my parents told you is true, that's what. "

I leave the room as soon as I hear him say, "You may go, Katrina, but I will be speaking with you again."

Alpha Antony's pov

As I saw my mate go, it hit me for the first time that she had left. I was intrigued by the notion that she and her family members were keeping something from me. Maybe I would have given them more serious thought before accepting them into the pack if she weren't my mate.

Something wasn't right, as they suddenly abandoned the strong pack.

Surprising as the request was, it never occurred to me that I could steal them from Nkosi. The opportunity to put an end to the rivalry that had been going on between our packs for many decades was too excellent to pass up.

Both Philip and his wife Dianna had high positions in the pack, so it came as a shock to learn that they had never publicly acknowledged having children. Something didn't quite seem right about her, despite the fact that she came from a prestigious family and had a powerful scent.

Mathew came in from the backdoor, he had been overserving all this since I told him so and wanted him to find out what strange about this girl.

"She is your mate, right?"

I sigh, no point lying to him, he knows me better than I know myself half the time.

"Now, tell me precisely what it is that you have planned to accomplish? Do you intend to maintain her current schedule of detentions?" His eyes return to mine with a look of inquiry.

"I want some time to spend on my own with her. "

"I'm confused as to why you didn't bother to ask her parents directly,"

"It's because I don't want to upset her parents. They are really important to her. I caution him, telling him that if I start a dispute with them, she would despise me, "So, what are our next steps?"

I am at a complete loss for words right now.

"In all honesty, I don't know how to avoid seeming like a total freak if I ever find myself in her company. "Mathew seemed thoughtful for a split second.

"Is tomorrow a good time? " His shoulders shrug, and he speaks.

"There will be a pack run every Friday after school. The younger members of the pack tend to hang around in the packhouse rather than go out. "

"I let them off the hook for the first week."

"You're the alpha. Tell them you're checking up on her to see how she gets along with the rest of the pack. "

"Well, 'm going to go see her out on the field,' I tell him. " Mathew nods and gets to his feet.

"Have you decided to show up"? When I ask, he cracks a wry grin.

"You've done something terrible. "

"Oh, it's nothing, but Tina's been annoying me, so I've teamed her up with Katrina for some training. " When I look at him, I feel angry.

"Are you trying to provoke me on purpose? "

I could never risk having Tina come anywhere near my mate. Her apparent antipathy towards Katrina was compounded by her attraction with me. One of Tina's numerous advantages is that she has received excellent training.

Katrina is a fiery person, no doubt about it. Mathew tells, "She will get what it takes."

"You best hope so because if she gets wounded, you will be dead."

"Her mother was a great fighter, while her father was a Beta. No need to worry about that at all. "

I've been witness to Tina's training sessions with the crew, and I can attest to the fact that she does not fight fairly. Even in her state, I knew my mate could take care of herself. Given her amazing power and stamina, it would be interesting to see how she shifted as a wolf. It was exciting for me to finally meet her wolf.

To avoid being found, I concealed among the spectator areas. I found Mathew's decision to pair them up to be really peculiar. As Dianna walks toward the playground, she seems to be talking to her daughter. Katrina seemed quite ill and was sweating heavily.

"What's the deal, is she truly doing fine? "

I look on as Katrina dashes to the nearest trash can and vomits into it.

Dianna's mother is a strict disciplinarian. She sat and stared at her daughter for what seemed like an eternity before finally telling her to go back to work in the field.

Ella walks up and places a shaky hand on Katrina's arm. One friend is better than none, and I'm lucky to have found an excellent one in Ella. Aside from Tina and her pals, she gets along with everyone else.

Katrina's mother, Dianna, tells her to "get it together," and the young lady nods in agreement before waving her off. After Katrina tells Ella to go, she gives her a sharp shake of the arm.

"Why don't you see any problems?" After I tell Mathew, he leans forward .

"To me, she appeared fine. "He replies.

I stand on the edge of the stairwell for a while to watch Katrina and Tina enter their little square before I begin heading down them. While Katrina starts to stagger from exhaustion, Tina takes a firm stand.

My wolf is giving a low growl while keeping a careful eye and maintaining its distance. I was caught off guard, but Katrina was able to avoid Tina's strike by turning over onto her back as she was being flung to the ground. This allowed Katrina to avoid being hit.

As Katrina moves in for the kill, she kicks Tina in the face with her raised leg, which causes Tina to retreat. Tina's aggravated expression is accentuated by the fact that she is now holding her bloodied nose. When Katrina finally opened her eyes, she was covered in a thick layer of perspiration. Clearly there was a problem, and that was the case.

My wolf snarls, "Wolfsbane," and I give it a whiff. Now I understood why. Insufficient doses, it might be lethal.

Mathew responds, "There's something wrong,"

Before I could take two steps down the stairwell, Tina shifted.

Katrina's Pov

I was on my way to training when I was grabbed and dragged into my mom's private office.

"You scared me to death. " But her expressionless, stony visage was staring at me harshly. "Where have you been?"

"Place of confinement; where else? "

"I went looking for you, and I found out that neither you nor Tina were in custody. "

"At fact, I am in the Alpha's office. "

"This is the day when the wolves go through their training. " My mother said sternly, looking a little worried.

"Okay, I will tell them I am sick," but she shakes her head. Something she pulls out of her pocket gives me the willies; it's been years since I've seen it.

"You have to go, "she says, but "we can make up a tale for why you can't alter your situation if you take one of them. "

"I'm sorry, Mom, but it just can't happen. "

"There's no way around it; we can't risk them finding out until you've shown your usefulness to the pack. "

When I was younger, in order to conceal the fact that I had no wolf from the Alpha, my mother would feed it to me anyway. Then she started feeding them to me in order to accustom me to eating them so that I wouldn't have any problems with them in the future. Until the time when my dad found out about it. He stopped giving it any thought, and I stopped to consume the drug that was the most lethal to werewolves.

"Don't alert your father. "She warns.

I tell her my dad will be able to smell it on me since I know he has done it before.

She opens the black container containing her medication.

She opens it and exposes the white pills to me. She clenches her teeth and lets out a quiet hiss. And now she is counting on me to cram it down my throat.

"No! " She gives me a look of distaste when I tell her.

"But just because you're acting like a spoilt brat won't mean I'm going to throw everything away. "

"And how should I explain? "

"Just say you ate it someplace. "

My hand was taken, and she slipped the tablet into it.

She offered me water and I declined;

"Swallow it now!"

I have a tendency to follow her orders without question. Chewing the tablet is suggested so that it may be dissolved more easily. She failed to see that I was overjoyed at the opportunity getting along with the Alpha. If he learns the truth, there is a significant danger for me.

I go with her outside, stooping as the agony starts to pound me harder. "Mum!" As I scream, I clutch my stomach.

"Kick their ass, just as what I taught you."

"No, Mom, they're wolves."

As she takes my arm and pulls me to the field, the words "Don't let me down" echo in my ears. "Don't let me down." After that, I make a beeline for the trash can that's nearest to me.

My stomach hurt, my blood became heated, and I started sweating heavily.

"What's going on, Katrina?" Ella asked me. There is nothing I can say,all I can do is shake my head my mother yells out my name, immediately followed by Tina's, I experience a significant blurring of my eyesight.

I almost hear my mother's little gasp of astonishment.

My incapacity to even get up is making it difficult for me to keep up with the rest of the group, who all seem to have the strength to sit in the allotted places. Tina doesn't even pause to consider anything before rushing full speed at me. I had to react swiftly in order to avoid being hit in the face by her fist. My efforts to evade her onslaught are fruitless, and I find myself falling backwards. I bring my foot up and land a powerful kick to the face of my opponent. She shook in an erratic manner, but at this point it felt as if I was seeing double.

The world before my eyes is filled with darkness, and I can feel my bones cracking. The mental links I have to my mother. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I feel like such a coward."