Chapter 3: Two

Gill

"...and that is why you should never drink and drive," I lazily clapped along with the rest of the class as the small kid at the front took his seat.

"Very nice, Alex. Well done," the teacher praised. "Now, who is next...any volunteers?" Nobody flinched. "Fine then, I'll just have to pick...Gill? How about you?" I internally groaned and stood, pulling my essay from my folder. I heard the usual chuckles and taunts as I made my way to the front of the room, dodging a few stray feet I knew were meant to trip me.

"Alright, Gill, go ahead." I looked down from the bored faces and began reading my essay, only to be interrupted by an obnoxious, obviously fake sneeze.

"...um... e-eleven percent of alcohol is c-consumed by underage ki-"

"ACHOO,"

"...uh... the average underage drinker consumes t-twice as much as an ad-"

"ACHOOOO," I paused again and took a breath, and quickly finished reading my essay, with the help of the obnoxious sneezer, of course.

"Nice work, Gill. Alright, that's it for today, class. The rest of you will present your essays tomorrow. Be sure to finish your questions from page fifty. You are dismissed." I hesitantly made my way back to my seat and began putting my folders back into my backpack.

"OOPS!" I grunted as a hard force knocked me to the ground, letting my glasses fall from my face. "Sorry about that, fairy," I heard a crunch as they walked away. I reached for my glasses, only to find that they were now in two separate pieces.

"You have got to be kidding me," I groaned. I stuffed the broken spectacles into my backpack and left the oblivious teacher. I fucking hated this place. Everyone was an asshole. Ever since I came out at school Freshman year , I'd been the school laughing stock. Oh wait, did I say I came out? More like shoved out of the closet with a rainbow tutu and an asshole with a megaphone right behind me. Long story. The thing is, everyone in the school was a sheep, constantly following the rest of the herd. One person hated me and called me a freak? So did everyone else. And that is exactly what happened. I was just thankful they weren't smart enough to take this information outside of school. My father was still completely clueless, and I planned to keep it that way for as long as possible.

***

The rest of the day went by as usual, getting shoved into lockers, receiving no help from any teacher, as they were just as homophobic as everyone else, running into everyone, as my glasses were completely destroyed. What a fun day. I was just thankful it was over, and I could just relax on our very uncomfortable sofa with a big bowl of cheap, knock-off Cheetos, and watch one of the five movies we owned on DVD. And that is exactly what I did, until I heard my father's familiar work boots thumping across the wooden floor.

"Hey, Dad. How was work?" I asked, pausing my second run through of Elf, licking the orange dust from my fingers.

"Oh, Mijo," he greeted sadly as he made his way to the sofa, sitting beside me.

"What is it? How did the thing with Brian go?" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"He let me go. He let everyone who has been there more than five years go. Said they needed 'fresh faces'," I frowned.

"What does this mean? There aren't any other mechanics in this town,"

"Which is why we are leaving," he sighed again and nabbed a cheese puff from my bowl. "Al owns a few shops around the country, apparently. He pulled aside me and a few others who were let go and offered us to take over since he's retiring. We'd just have to move. I know you grew up here, and you have friends-" insert inappropriate snort here, "-and it'd be hard to leave, but I'm afraid its our only option." I hid my excitement at the sound of a fresh start and smiled.

"That's okay, maybe a fresh start is what we need. Ever since Mom left, we've been struggling, you know that. These nasty cheese puffs are proof," I joked and shoved another into my mouth.

"If they're so gross, why do you always add them to the grocery list?"

"Because I am a 'seek, seek, son of a beetch," I said, mimicking Fez from That 70's Show.

"Hey, you said it, not me," my father laughed and stole another cheese puff.

"So where are we moving to?"

"I was actually going to ask you that. Al gave me first dibs on shops. Texas, Tennesee, Washington, or Alabama?" I thought it over. Which state was I less likely to get slaughtered in?

"Washington?" He nodded.

"Alright, well. Get to house hunting then!" I rolled my eyes and pulled myself up, shutting off the tv.

"I'll be at the library finding is a place to live. Your turn to cook tonight by the way," he groaned and made his way into the kitchen.

A fresh start...maybe things would finally start to look up?

Tobias

"Come on, Tobias, you're falling behind!" I rolled my eyes and picked up speed, sprinting past a few other pack members. "You might be a good fighter in wolf form, but you need to be even better in human form. You don't have claws or canines to protect you,"

"Yes, Alpha."

"Andrew, pick it up, come on!" My father shouted from the center of the track. I felt my legs take over as I crossed the line, finishing my tenth, and final lap.

I slowly jogged over to my father and collapsed on the ground.

"Any luck?" I knew exactly what he was asking about.

"Not yet, father. I'm working on it."

"I know, but time is running out. I've arranged the neighboring packs to come for a get together with all their unmated wolves. All of our unmated wolves will be in attendance as well, that includes you." I grunted in response, knowing there was no use in arguing.

"What are we talking about?" Drew asked, collapsing beside me.

"The usual. Gotta find me a mate. Dad's throwing a singles party for all our allies."

"Ooh, can I come?" Drew asked excitedly.

"You aren't even at mating age yet. You wouldn't know her if she were right in front of you," I grunted.

"Doesn't mean I don't like to party!"

I rolled my eyes. My little brother was definitely not alpha material. First of all, he was immature, which for a human at the age of fifteen, was normal. But for a wolf, one who could possibly be alpha? Terrible. Granted, when he found his mate, he would- hopefully- calm himself. A werewolf's full transition took around seven years. The first component beginning at around age nine, when the wolf senses begin setting in. This is when a wolf's hearing and sight improves greatly. They begin training in all ranks of the pack, other than alpha of course, which is reserved for the bloodline of the original pack founder, my great great great grandfather, give or take a couple 'greats'. At age ten is when their first shift takes place. This is also when they officially receive their ranking in the pack, based on their training, though the alpha has the power to change their ranking as they see fit until they find their mate. Which brings me to the final phase, the mating. A wolf is able to find their mate at age sixteen, though that doesn't necessarily mean they will find them right away. If they were anything like me, they could be eighteen and mateless, which was rare for alpha wolves. I groaned internally and jumped up from my spot on the ground.

"I'm going to go shower and go out with Jax or something." Jax was my best friend, and beta-to-be. Basically, my right hand man.

"Aight. Go get 'em, Tiger," Drew said, smacking my shoulder lightly. I just rolled my eyes and made my way up to the pack house.

"Hey, handsome." I groaned and shook my head.

"Hi, Holly. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, just wondering if you'd like to have some fun?" She giggled and ran a finger down my bicep.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm trying to find my mate." She sighed and pulled her hand back.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me know how it goes, alright?" I smiled at her and nodded.

"Of course, Holly. I'm sure you'll find yours too. Alpha is having a get together with the other packs and their unmated wolves. Maybe you'll find him then?" She shrugged and backed away.

"Maybe. Hey, you should go shower. You reek." She scrunched her nose. I laughed and flipped her my middle finger, trudging up the stairs to my room.

Holly was a nice girl, and one of my other best friends, and when I was younger, I did have a bit of a crush on her. The day before my sixteenth birthday I kissed her, and told her I wanted her to be my mate, but sure enough, the next day I felt absolutely nothing. She was only a month or so younger than me, so she knew soon enough as well. We were still great friends, and I'd be lying if I said she wasn't absolutely gorgeous, but I refused to do anything with anyone other than my mate. It wasn't fair to anyone, and frankly, wasn't something I was interested in anyway.

Now I just had to find them...

Gill

"Well, what do you think?" I asked my father, showing him the pictures I had printed at the library. The house I had found was perfect. It was big, but still within our budget. It wasn't too far from town, and was right on the edge of the forest, which meant some amazing views from upstairs. It was within walking distance from the local high school, as well as the mechanic shop my father would be running. It had three bedrooms, one of which I thought I could turn into an art room. And it was also move in ready, all we had to do was buy it.

"It's perfect, Mijo. And I'm assuming the spare room is for your art?" He raised a brow.

"You know me so well," I laughed.

"Well, you better start packing. I'll call the realtor." (A/N I am nineteen and have no clue what the process is for buying a house so just pretend this is how it happens, k?) (Double A/N I am now 22, and I vaguely know what the process of buying a house is and I know it takes longer than this,but for the sake of the story, please ignore that fact 😂 Triple A/N ok last time I swear...I'm almost 24 and guess what...still have no clue about buying a house)

"And call for pizza while you're at it? You were supposed to cook, remember?"

"Okay but all we had was mac and cheese, and you made that yesterday. I know we're poor, but mac and cheese two days in a row is a new low." He whined.

"Remind me, who is the kid and who is the parent here?" As if furthering my point, he stuck his tongue out at me. I just shook my head and made my way up to my bedroom. "Don't forget the mushrooms!" I called down when I reached my door, rolling my eyes at the obnoxious barfing sounds my father was making.

My father was weird.

If you're reading this, that means you have made it to chapter two! YAYYYY ❤❤❤  I hope you enjoyed it! Love you ❤❤❤