Defying Our Fate

CHAPTER 2- THE UNKNOWN

I quickly scooped my books up from the floor, not bothering to put them back in the right order, I could just do that when I got to class. Mr. Jones was waiting by the door when I arrived, “Miss Greene, how nice of you to grace us with your presence.”

I gave him a small smile, trying not to show the fear that I was feeling, “Sorry sir, I dropped my books on the way here and had some trouble picking them up.” He chuckled and stepped aside to let me in, “I’d say ‘don’t let it happen again’ but you won’t be here after today.” I quickly went and took my seat, before rearranging my books into their correct places in the pile. Every class dragged on, every minute felt like an hour and by the time the bell rang at the end of the day, I was crawling out of my skin, desperate to have this day, this part of my life done and over with for good. I hurried to my locker and started stuffing the contents of it into my backpack; I was glad my dad had said he would pick me up, there was no way I would be able to walk home with this on my back. I closed my locker for the last time and made my way out to the car park, searching for my father’s car. 

I couldn’t see him parked anywhere so I pulled my phone out and dialled his number. It ran three times before he answered, “Hey sweetie, what’s up?”

“Dad, where are you? You said you were picking me up today.”

“I’m sorry honey, you’ll have to walk home, the meeting started later than expected, so I have to stay until it’s done. I can send a car if you don’t want to walk.”

“No, don’t worry dad, it’s fine; I can walk. I’ll see you at home.”

“Okay darling, be careful. I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

I hung up and pushed my phone into my pocket, “Well, I guess it’s time to start walking then”, I said to myself, a fifteen-minute drive to school meant a forty-five-minute walk home, probably longer with the deadweight on my back. My legs felt like jelly before I made it off the school grounds and I debated calling my father back and telling him I’d changed my mind about him sending someone to get me. I pulled my phone out and started dialling his number when a voice startled me, “Hey Freya!” I turned quickly and wished I’d ignored it. Alexander was driving along-side me, keeping his window in line with me as I walked on the footpath. “Hey”, I said before looking away and trying to walk faster, my legs throbbing with the extra strain. “Are you alright?”, he asked, speeding up to keep up with me. “I’m fine, just walking home.” I really wanted to disappear, I didn’t want to cause more trouble than I already had today, I just wanted to get home and hide away in my room. “Do you want a lift? That bag looks like it’s about to break.” Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? He’d hated me for so long that it made no sense for him to be like this, why couldn’t he just keep pretending that I didn’t exist. “I’m fine”, I said back, refusing to look at him. When he sped up and was far enough away from me, I sighed, “thank the goddess Artemis, he finally got the point”, I thought to myself.

“You know he was just being friendly right? That boy’s in love with you”, said a little voice in my head. “I really am going crazy.” I kept walking, struggling with each step. Why couldn’t my dad just keep his word for once? I turned the corner and stopped dead in my tracks, Alexanders car was parked on the street and he was leaning against the passenger door, his arms crossed over his chest and a slight smirk on his face. I quickly crossed to the other side of the road; hoping, no, praying that he wouldn’t follow me. Before I could get too far, I saw him run across the road, stopping on the footpath in front of me. “Why are you running from me?”, he smiled. “I’m not running; I’m walking away from you.”

The chuckle that came from his mouth made my legs even weaker. “Why won’t you let me give you a ride home, Freya? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, let me see, you’ve bullied me since kindergarten and your friends have terrorised me through all of high school. I don’t know, Alex, did you do something wrong?” I was pissed off; he thought he could just flash his pearly whites at me and I would forget all about the last fourteen years of daily abuse? “You’re pretty tough for such a tiny little thing, aren’t you?”, that grin spread across his face again. “Sure am, now get out of my way, I have to get home.” He crossed his arms again, “Let me drive you.” 

“No, thanks. I’d rather walk than sit in a car with you”, I tried to sidestep him but he was in my way before I could escape. “Let me drive you”, he said again, this time with more authority in his voice. “If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best”, he laughed, grabbing the strap on my bag and pulling from my shoulder, “Wow, how many books do you have in here anyway?”

“Enough to knock you out with if you try anything funny with me, Myers.” His deafening laugh had me wondering what he found so funny about the possibility of me hitting him. The guy was confusing the hell out of me.

“But look at that fine ass. He can kick his shoes under my bed any day.” The voice in my head was really starting to worry me, maybe I had finally lost my mind; I needed some serious therapy.

He threw my bag into the back seat and got in the car. I stood by the passenger door, contemplating running, “Get in the car, Freya. You know I’ll catch you.” He was leaning across the seat, still smiling of course. I huffed and pulled the door open; I had every intention of making the drive as painful as possible for him. “So, your car isn’t as nice as I expected it to be, you are the future alpha after all.” Let’s see how he liked being picked on.

“Actually, this isn’t my car, I prefer to run in wolf form most of the time. I only drive on days that it’s raining.”

“But it’s not raining today?”, why was he in a car if he would rather shift and run?

“No, it’s not. I didn’t drive to school today.”

“So, you ran to school and then home. Why are you driving now then?”

He went silent and I was going to ask again but he finally replied, “I saw you leave school, and you were walking. You looked like you were struggling to walk with your bag, so I ran home to get this car.”

“You ran home to get a car so that you could come and help me get home. Why?”

“Because, I’m intrigued by you Freya. I never have been before, but today when you dropped your books, I felt something. Something that I’ve never felt before, and I decided that I wanted to know more.”

“Know more?”

“Yeah, know more about you, and this feeling that I get when I’m near you.” I swallowed the saliva that built up in my mouth when he spoke about what happened this morning. “I don’t know what you mean. You’ve hated me ever since we were kids.”

“I never hated you, Freya. I just went along with what my friends thought I should do; it was stupid and I’m sorry that I made you think that I hate you. I actually think you’re pretty cool apart from being a massive nerd.”

“Oh great, thanks”, I rolled my eyes and looked out the window, “You know, you’re not too bad yourself, apart from being a self-entitled wanker.”

“Thanks”, he laughed. This douchebag really had no shame; he took everything I said like it was one massive joke. I couldn’t wait to be home so I wouldn’t have to see his stupid face ever again.

As he pulled up at the driveway to the pack house, I quickly thanked him and practically jumped from the car before it had fully stopped, “Thanks for the ride, bye”, I yelled as I started running; he called out my name a few times but I refused to turn around. Just as I was about to run up onto the front porch a hand grabbed my arm and spun me around so I was facing the opposite direction. Alex had the biggest grin on his face, it made me want to punch him; oh, what the hell. I swung my right fist at his face, this guy was going to know not to mess with me anymore. He caught my fist in his hand just as it was about to make contact with his cheek, his eyes turned black and a growl built in his chest, “Don’t you ever try that again.”

I let my arm go limp and he released my hand, “I was trying to tell you that you forgot your bag; here”, he handed my bag over and then that smile of his came back; I had to control the urge to try and punch him again. He stared into my eyes, I couldn’t look away, he had me mesmerised like a deer in the headlights. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, I just wanted to….

His lips crashed into mine with a force that set me off balance, his strong arms winding around me as I took a wobbly step backwards. His breath was hot on my skin, sending sharp jolts of electricity travelling through my body, shocking it until I remembered how to move, how to think. I wanted to push him away, to run into my room and never come out, but instead I clenched his hair in my fist, holding him to me. His hands were roaming up and down my body, from my neck to my hips and back again. He bit down on my bottom lip, causing me to gasp in surprise before entering my mouth with his tongue, it was slippery and weird but it felt so damn good. If my first kiss was this intoxicating, I wondered how every other kiss from now on was going to feel, because I couldn’t imagine it getting any better than this. 

He released me gradually until he was just lightly kissing my lips with his. After he was done, he stepped back, said “You’re welcome”, then turned and ran back down the driveway. What in the heavens did I just do?