ELEVEN | TUTORING

I collect my school lunch and look around the room as the smell of humans and food suddenly give way to the sharp scents of pine and parchment. I look up to see Zane stalk into the room, eyes scanning the crowd. Silently cursing, I use one of the side doors to leave the room. I find myself outside, the cool air ruffling my hair. I frown, trying to draw myself a mental map of the school to figure out where I've ended up. There are trees to the right and a parking lot to the left.

*Huh*... I look down towards the trees and see a figure jogging towards me. I squint a little, then relax when her profile snaps into place. She's fast. In less than a minute, she's crossed through the trees and stops a few feet from me. Like yesterday. Only today, she pulls something flat and rectangular from her pocket.

"What's this?" I feel relief wash over me when I see her. She passes me an off-white envelope that says 'You're invited..' on the front in cursive blue letters.

"I couldn't get Yuri to give this to you. And Z was being an ass, so," She bounces a little on her feet, like she had yesterday. I smile and take the invitation.

"Thanks, but I'm still not sure if I'm going to go." I admit to her, a pang of guilt slices through me when her smile wavers. She shrugs, her face becoming careful again.

"I know but..." She fixes me with a hopeful look. "I can help keep Z away for the rest of the week if you promise to stop by."

"Why would you help me?" I ask her, frowning.

"Z's a good brother, but I think he needs to be challenged more. He doesn't let a lot of people in either." She says slowly, thinking through her words. "I guess I just want to see him happy."

"And me avoiding him would make him happy?"

"Oh, no. That'll probably drive him nuts and piss him off. He'll find a way to talk to you at some point, but at least we can play with him a little before that." She's grinning now. "He needs to be challenged." She repeats, like it's a clue.

"Challenged." I echo, not really sure what she means by that.

"Hey, avoid the drama department today. The soccer's field bleachers are a good place to sit. Outside where scents get mixed...it's harder to track someone." Caly glances over her shoulder, and this time I see a familiar shape pop out of the side door. Zane's eye's narrow when he sees me talking to his sister and he starts towards us.

"What?" I frown at her, still surprised she's helping me run from her brother. She smirks at me and nods towards the bleachers on the other side of the parking lot.

"Make him work for it." She says softly, winking at me before jogging over to her brother and pulling him to a stop. She says something to him, face devoid of emotion, but eyes sparkling knowingly.

"Dammit, Red-" Zane growls just loud enough that I can hear it before turning and stalking after his sister. I blink, utterly thrown by the help I've been getting from Yuri and Caly. My cheeks flame as I think about Caly's parting words. *Make him work for it*.

- - -

I round the corner of the metal bleachers and stop, seeing a familiar girl with ash-blonde hair sitting on the bottom row of steps. She looks up and waves me over, looking surprised, but not annoyed. I go over to her, setting my backpack down on the seat before sitting down.

"Hey, I didn't know anyone would be out here." I smile a little sheepishly at Darine. She shrugs and passes back a tiny smile of her own.

"It's quiet here." She glances back at the field across the lot. I can just make out the forms of guys and a soccer ball being passed around. I catch a few familiar faces and realization dawns on me.

"And the view's not bad either." I smirk at Darine knowingly. "What's his name?" I set to work on the tray of food. "Choir-guy." I prompt when she just turns to stare at me.

"Trevor." Darine lets out a wistful sigh, her eyes getting that dreamy look again when she looks back at her crush. "I know, I know... I look like a crazed stalker." She draws her knees up to her chest and sets her chin on them. "But, I can't stop thinking about him. We used to be best friends in elementary school." She lets out another one of those deep sighs. "I've had a crush on him for years, but we haven't even talked since middle school - and that was for a group project."

"Why not try to rekindle the relationship?" I ask her around a mouthful of grilled cheese. She glances at me and grimaces.

"You eat like a starved bear." She comments dryly. I roll my eyes and ignore her, ripping another bite out of my sandwich. "I don't know." She turns back to look at the guys. "Maybe I'm too scared?"

"You stare at him all the time. If he hasn't figured it out by now, then he's an idiot." I tell her. "Or socially incompetent."

"He's shy." She murmurs, nodding a little.

"Ah. So he *is* socially incompetent." I polish of the rest of my sandwich and move onto the mac'n cheese. There's not much of it.

"So are you." Darine grumbles defensively. "I never see you hanging around anyone in the halls. And you don't seem the type to have a lot of friends."

"Ouch." I mutter back and pop open the juice carton. "But, that's my problem, though. We're talking about *your* problem."

"Mhm." She pouts a little and glances up at the sun. I drain the carton of juice and crush the thing into a neat square before putting it back on the Styrofoam.

"You should ask him to the dance." I recommend, thinking of the girls who cornered Zane earlier. And suddenly, I'm not hungry. I set my tray aside, grabbing the untouched apple and shoving it into my backpack for later.

"What if he says no? Or, worse, already asked someone?" Darine whines, wrapping her arms tighter around her knees.

"Then you try again for the next dance. And the next." I smile sweetly at her, repeating the advice Paris gave to our cousin, Ryker, when he asked her the same. "If you really like him, you'll keep trying until he tells you why he says no or you pluck up the courage to tell him you like him."

"What if he doesn't like me back?"

"You'll never know till you ask." I shrug, stretching out a little and leaning against the riser behind us.

"I don't think I could go on if he rejected me."

"You'd be surprised how much you can endure." I tell her, feeling a little sadness leaking into the words. I can't help but think about the pain of leaving the Pack, how the physical and emotional scars still haven't healed.

"I'll see you in class, Scarlett." She springs up as the bell sounds from the school and gets her stuff together.

"See you." I nod to Darine as she passes and heads back inside. I find myself hesitating to go back into the cluttered halls despite feeling the new coldness slowly filtering back into me. Maybe this is what humans call loneliness? When you're in a Pack, there's no such thing. Not really. Wolven are social creatures by nature, being alone is never really an option unless you want to go mad. Mom and I never really severed the link with the Reinier Pack for that specific reason. We'd be insane by now if we had or in a Pack who would be just as gung-ho about killing us.

Maybe the Pack bond is finally fading like Yui suggested? I wonder if Mom is having the same problem. I chew my bottom lip anxiously as I finally head back inside - wondering the whole way to Latin just how much time we have to find a new Pack before we go crazy.

- - -

The rest of the day flies by uneventfully. During PE, like yesterday, Yuri acts as a physical barrier between me and Zane. I really have to get him a gift or something to thank him for running interference.

"I'm not gonna do this forever," Yuri warns after sending Zane away to talk to the coach about something called the Two-Tag Tournament Yuri apparently signed the two of them up for. "Z's a persistent guy, and really doesn't like to get blown off."

"Poor baby," I grumble snarkily. My shit mood's come back and I'm starting to get restless.

"Dunno what happened between you two, don't really care, but I suggest you talk to him before he gets really pissed." He advises, tone serious.

"That's not him pissed?" I nod at the fuming Zane, color painting his cheeks as he just barely restrains himself while talking to Coach Lyle.

"No. That's him annoyed." Yuri chuckles darkly. "Trust me, babe, you don't want to make him mad."

"Hm." I hum quietly, stretching before heading outside to do my usual laps around the trail. Yuri stays behind with Zane - and again I get to be alone all period. Maybe I should buy Yuri a gift basket or something? The huge guy would probably appreciate money more - or maybe a juicy steak? I debate a little as I jog. When the class is over, I head inside and duck into the girl's locker room to shower and change. Since I was alone again, I was able to kick up the speed every so often and got a little sweaty.

I'm sure Ms. Jin would appreciate me going to tutoring clean. And I get the added advantage of avoiding Zane on my way to Ms. Jin's room. Today is Mr. Hale's book club meeting day. I should try to avoid his room since I know Zane goes. Considering Mr. Hale's room is only a few doors down from Ms. Jin's, that may prove difficult.

- - -

"Welcome back to tutoring." Ms. Jin says to me when I walk into her classroom. Mr. Hale's door had been closed, giving me the perfect cover getting here. Ms. Jin gives me one of her kind smiles. I take my normal seat and pull out the textbook from Latin. "Now, I'd like for you to start going over the second chapter." She gives me instructions and has me repeat a few Latin phrases, quizzing me every few minutes like she did yesterday. I'm ready for another few hours of instruction when she goes quiet.

"Okay, Ritska, I'm leaving for the day, be sure to lock up once you're done here." A voice calls from the hall and I see one of the other language teachers wave at Ms. Jin.

"Will do, Valerie." Ms. Jin salutes the older lady with a smile. Once the women's gone Ms. Jin skips over to the seat in front of mine and flips the chair around. She sits and plops her chin into her hands, looking at me expectantly. "Now that the humans are gone," *What the what?* "What do you think of our little town? Nice for a new-territory kind of Pack, huh? Of course, I'm sure you have lots of questions for me about the Azures and the territory - oh and I'm sure you want to know all about your parents too. But there's no need to be shy. Ask away." She prompts, waiting expectantly.

I sit back abruptly, stunned by her frankness and the now billions of questions swirling in my head. After avoiding Zane these last few days, my curiosity has been eating at me like a cancer. I want answers. More than anything, but how much can I really trust any of them? The last time I trusted anyone fully I nearly died. And they were family. These people are strangers.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ms. J-" I decide to play dumb, trying to make my mind go blank.

"Please, call me Ritska." She insists, giving me another weird, knowing smile. "And don't try to lie to me, Scarlett, it may not look like it, but we're the same - hybrids like us should stick together. Though I am relieved to see you've managed to come this far without too much conflict." *Without too much conflict*. I feel my body tense.

"I don't know about that." I hear myself breathe out after a moment. A sad look crosses her face and she reaches over to rest a cold hand on one of mine, a sympathetic smile gracing her face.

"Of course, what happened to you was awful, just terrible, but you survived it and *that's* what's important." She says genuinely. *She knows*.

"I don't know what you mea-" I start, but she cuts me off again.

"Honestly, honey, it's okay. You don't have to pretend around me." She insists, but when I don't answer she releases my hand and sighs. "Alright, I see I may need to break a few rules to prove to you I am what I say I am." She closes her eyes, a twitch of emotion flits across her face before her eyes open again. A gasp escapes me as I stare at her now opaque eyes. Her eyes have almost literally glazed over in a white film and her pale skin becomes almost ashy-grey as if she were dead. "So you see-" Ms. Jin begins, then her warm expression is suddenly whipped away, her eyes begin to glow white. Her hands grip the sides of the desk, the wood groans under her fingers, her knuckles turning white.

"Ms. Jin?" I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the sudden change, the air around us seems to get colder and all sounds disappear.

"*With the arrival of snow will come blood, Red will become white, darkness will over-take the night. Bare trees lay witness to the death of Blues. The proud will fall. Beware temptation of one half, strengthen the other, do not let Red go dark. Embrace your true nature*-" She mutters something in Latin I can't distinguish, then suddenly Ms. Jin's eyes go back to normal and she slumps forward, breathing hard. When she finally looks up at me, she has tears streaming down her cheeks, which she quickly moves to wipe away. Her eyes are wild, fingers shaking...like she was just somewhere else. Somewhere awful.

"Are you alright, Ms. Jin?" I ask slowly, carefully.

"Yes, I-I apologize, dear, I didn't mean to frighten you." She stammers, giving her head a little shake. "I'm part Oracle, you see." She explains, her expression resuming her usual calm and carefree gentleness. "Now, why don't we end our session here?" She asks, looking at her watch, her hands still shaking slightly. "Yes, now is a good time."

"Ms. Jin?" I ask slowly, a little hesitant to voice my thoughts. "What did you mean -"

"Listen, Scarlett, I'm just an Oracle, I don't always know what my prophecy means." She gives me a little, shaky smile and I know she's lying. "But I'll let you know after I've consulted with my Alpha."

"Alpha?" I blink, thrown by her use of the word. She's good at changing the subject. Too good.

"Why, yes, honey. I'm part of the Azure Pack and have to report to my superiors." *Superiors. Plural*. I note, frowning.

"But- you're a hybrid." I stare at her, still not sure I even know what she is, but she sure isn't anything like a Wolven.

"Yes, but Azure Pack are not *all* Wolven either. There are a few hybrids in our Pack." Ms. Jin states, making the room around me spin. "Well, this has been pleasant, we should meet like this more often.. Though I believe if you keep up with your studies, we won't have to meet for tutoring anymore." She claps her hands together and smiles at me. "You should visit the Pack when you get the chance-"

"Thank you, but I think I'll pass." I interrupt her quickly, standing and gathering my things before she can change her mind about the early end of tutoring.

"Alright, well, if you happen to change your mind, just let me know." She shrugs. "And, Scarlett?" I pause on my way out of the room, not turning to face her. "You shouldn't avoid Zane." I don't say anything to that. I know by now even feigning stupidity around Ms. Jin would be in vain. Instead, I just walk out of the room, down the darkened hall and down the five flights of stairs. My thoughts are my only company in this hauntingly empty school.