Authors: Sam Crescent
“How have you been?”
She continued to frown, glancing around him. “What’s
going on?”
“Nothing.
I just want to know how you’ve
been?
”
Scarlett licked her lips, and the very action had a
groan releasing from his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself from touching her
plump bottom lip. Sliding his finger over her lip, Marshall jerked his hand
away when the fear gathered around her. He could think of something else to do
with those full lips.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, looking behind
her.
“Who are you looking for?”
“I’m waiting for the butt of the joke. What are you
going to do?”
He rubbed at his temple.
You hurt her, and now she’s waiting for you to hurt her some more.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
His words didn’t calm her down. In fact, she looked
more nervous.
“May I go?”
Marshall opened his mouth as if to say something more
but then stopped when she took a step back. This was a big problem. His wolf
slammed against him, and he turned away, going into the lunchroom. Marshall
needed the chaos of the school to calm his wolf down. He found Jack sitting alone
with three lunch trays.
“Where is she? Did you find her?”
Grabbing the carton of juice from the tray, Marshall took
a long swig, needing to distract his wolf.
“Shit, it’s a teacher, isn’t it?”
He shook his head.
“What then?”
Marshall didn’t speak. He took several gulps of his
drink. “I found her, and it’s not a teacher.” Part of him wished it was a
teacher as it would make life so much easier.
“Go on then, spill. Who was it?”
“Scarlett Fields.” The name had his insides twisting
and turning. It was heaven to him.
Jack burst out laughing.
“Yeah,
right.
Come
on,
stop trying to make me laugh.”
“I’m not trying to make you laugh.” Marshall glared at
his friend. “She’s my mate.”
The smile on Jack’s face dropped.
“What?
For real?”
He nodded, grabbing the burger from his plate. Staring
at the spare tray that Jack had bought for Scarlett, he couldn’t help but
wonder about the guy she’d been sat with. He was new, and Marshall didn’t like
him.
“Fuck me. Isn’t that like—shit, she’s human, Marshall.
She doesn’t know about our kind.”
“Not my biggest problem.”
“What’s your biggest problem?”
“She’s scared of me. I’ve just spent the last five
years bullying her.”
Realization dawned, and Jack looked sheepish. “Fuck,
man, I’m so sorry.”
“Please stop saying the word fuck.” He needed to talk
to his father.
****
For the first time ever Scarlett enjoyed her lunch
break. Trey stayed with her throughout telling her about his time growing up
within the city. His parents had made a lot of money in some kind of mechanical
venture and decided to settle down in the country. He was smart, and his
brother liked to tease him.
She didn’t want to leave him but found that she didn’t
have a choice.
“What class do you have next?” Trey asked.
“I’ve got English.”
“Damn, I’m history.”
“I’ve already had history.”
“Well, we’ve got gym together, right?”
She pulled out her class list and nodded.
“Great, I’ll see you then.” They entered the school
again. She saw several girls were watching them.
“Erm, do you want to leave?” she asked.
“Why would I want to go?”
“You’re hot news here. I mean, you’re news.” Heat
filled her cheeks as he smiled down at her.
“You think I’m hot.”
“No, I mean, yes, no,
er
, I
don’t know.” She pressed a hand to her face wishing the ground would open up
and swallow her whole.
“It’s okay. I’m teasing you.” He walked her to her
door. “By the way I think you are,” he said, turning back to look at her.
“What?”
“I think you’re hot.”
She watched him wink at her before turning away. What
the hell was happening to her?
Marshall trying to talk to her
even though she was waiting for something bad to happen because of him, and now
Trey.
No, she wouldn’t get ahead of herself. Trey was probably being
nice to her even though he really didn’t need to. She wasn’t under any
illusions about her looks.
The best anyone could say to describe her was mousy.
Entering the classroom, she went straight for her seat
by the window. Only a few people were in the room.
“Hello, Scarlett,” Miss
Kingry
said.
“Hi.”
“Did you have a good summer?”
She nodded. “Did you?”
“Yes, I certainly did.” Miss
Kingry
had a secret smile.
Scarlett liked Miss
Kingry
out of all of the teachers. She was always nice to her.
Opening her work book, she started flicking her pen on
the table when she heard Cheryl giggling.
Looking up, she saw Marshall and Jack entering the
classroom.
Avoiding his gaze, she grabbed her reading book while
waiting for the class to start. She was aware of his gaze on her, and when she
chanced another look at him, she saw he was staring right back at her.
“Right, everyone take a seat. We’ve all had a chance
to catch up. Come on, I want to get started.”
Marshall took the desk behind hers where he sat last
year.
“So, are you coming out tonight?” Cheryl asked.
“No,” Marshall said.
“Come on, I can make it worth your while.”
“You’ve got nothing I want.”
Tapping her pen on the book, she kept her gaze on the
front. Blowing out a breath, Scarlett wondered how much longer she could take of
this torture.
Miss
Kingry
started her
lesson. Behind her she heard Jack constantly talking. His voice was distracting
the class, and as the minutes wore on, Scarlett saw he was annoying the hell
out of the teacher.
“That’s enough, Mr. Rowlands, I want you over here,
and Marshall, you will sit beside Scarlett now,” Miss
Kingry
said.
“But I’ve done nothing,” Marshall said.
“I don’t care. You’ve got to partner up for the next
assignment. I’m not having you work with Jack.” Miss
Kingry
walked toward the back of the class.
Scarlett didn’t like her teacher all that much in that
moment. Out of all of the people she could have put beside her, Marshall wasn’t
the one she wanted to work with. He was a horrible person, a bully. He dropped
his book on the table, causing her to jump.
Biting her lip, she flicked her pen on her notebook.
She wanted the class to end.
Jack was dragged to the front of the class and put
beside another boy. Scarlett didn’t see who it was and didn’t care.
She didn’t want to work with Marshall. He was a
horrible person.
“Right, I want you to read the next two poems and
start to make the necessary comparisons.” Miss
Kingry
started to walk around the classroom handing out the book they needed to read.
Marshall took the book, holding it between them.
You’ve got to get closer.
His breath fanned her hair as they read. He was bigger
than she remembered him, but then she tried not to remember all that much about
Marshall.
Marshall moved the book a little closer to his body.
Glancing up, she saw he was looking at her.
“I need to read it.”
“I know.”
He didn’t say anything else.
Licking her lips, she let out a breath. She should
have known it wouldn’t be that easy to get through this day.
Leaning closer against him, she read as much of the
poem as she could. Scribbling the title and the author in her notebook, she
would do the work online. It would be a lot easier than trying to work beside
him. Neither of them spoke as they worked through the poem. She heard the rest
of the couples in class talking through the poem. Scarlett couldn’t bring
herself to speak.
In no time at all the bell sounded once again. She had
gym, and the thought of seeing Trey again filled her with happiness.
“I’m sorry,” Marshall said.
He stopped her from moving around him. The desk behind
her kept her locked in place as did the wall at her back.
“What?”
“I want to apologize for how I treated you.”
“I really don’t know what’s going on with you.” She
tucked some hair behind her ear, staring at his chest. He was huge. Marshall
had always been huge, but this was different. He was large, and it was all
muscle.
He ran fingers through his hair. “Look, I was a total
asshole to you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need you to apologize to
me.”
“Then maybe we could hang out?”
Okay, it was official. She’d woken up in the Twilight Zone.
“No, we can’t hang out.”
“Marshall, Scarlett, you should be getting to your
next lesson,” Miss
Kingry
said.
“Yes,” they both said, responding together.
He moved away giving her enough room to slide away
from him. She walked toward the door, surprised to see Trey waiting for her.
“Hey,” he said.
She forgot about Marshall as Trey offered her his arm.
“Hey.”
“Can I escort my lady to gym?”
Chuckling, Scarlett followed Trey toward their lesson.
Jack was leaning against the lockers outside of the classroom. He stared at her
for several seconds before returning his attention back to Marshall.
Whatever was going on there, she didn’t want to find
out.
Chapter Five
Marshall watched as Scarlett laughed with Trey, the
new kid. They’d gotten close, and from what he’d learned in gym, they lived
next door to each other. He was pissed off and furious. His wolf was pacing
against the surface.
“Are you okay, man?”
“Do I fucking look okay?” Marshall asked, snarling at
Jack.
“I’m sorry.” Jack held his hands up.
They were waiting for their parents to arrive. If Trey
didn’t walk away from Scarlett in a moment, Marshall was going to fucking kill
the bastard.
Out of all of the women to be his mate, he couldn’t
believe it was Scarlett. It was just his fucking luck. She wouldn’t let him get
near her. During English he’d asked Jack to make a nuisance of
himself
so Miss
Kingry
wouldn’t
have a choice but to move them. If she hadn’t partnered him up with Scarlett,
he’d have done whatever it took to make sure they were. When they’d had to
share the book, the floral scent coming off her had made it hard for him to
focus. He’d given her no choice but to lean against him to read the poem. It
had taken every ounce of restraint not to grab her and claim those lush lips.
“You’re staring,” Jack said.
“Who is this fucker?” Marshall growled the words out.
His wolf wanted to go and claim his mate, not watch another man get close to
her.
“I don’t know, man. He’s new around here. There’s not
a lot we know on him.”
“Then find out what you can.” He didn’t want just
anyone hanging around his mate. The scent of the pack swamped him, and Marshall
saw his father pulling into the parking lot.
“Hello, son.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“Get in, Jack. Your father couldn’t make it.”
“No problem,” Jack said, climbing into the back of the
truck.
Marshall slammed his door shut and was unable to look
away from Scarlett. The door to her new car was open, but Trey held onto the
doorframe, stopping her from climbing inside.
“What’s going on, Marshall?” Luke asked. The tone of
the alpha was in his voice, and he was demanding respect.
“I found my mate today.”
He turned around in the car to get one last look of
her before his father pulled him away. His wolf moaned, wanting to be in
Scarlett’s company. He rubbed at his chest as the pain intensified.
“Son?”
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
Marshall shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Jack?” Luke asked, directing his question into the
back.
“Her name’s Scarlett Fields. She’s human.”
Luke didn’t show any sign of the news being a problem.
It had been some time since a wolf had mated with a human, but it wasn’t
unheard of.