Evelyn

"Why don't you sit down while I get the food? What would you like to eat?" asked Clay scaring the crap out of me.

"I'm not very hungry; please just leave me alone!" I snapped,

Sighing; he said, "Just go find a seat, and I'll grab something."

Ugh! What was the point of asking when he wouldn't listen to me anyway? Today was definitely not going the way I expected it. With a sigh, I looked around for a place to sit.

"Hello, Eve," Said Penny, popping out of nowhere, making me jump, "Would you like to sit with me?" With a nod, I followed her to a table towards the back of the room, where I spotted a boy talking to another boy with dwarfism.

"Hey guys, this is Eve." Said Penny, sliding into the bench. "Eve, this is my best friend, Tommy Chen,"

Tommy smiled as I slid in next to Penny.

"Hello, Eve, this is my little brother Zack," He says, motioning to the boy with dwarfism.

Tommy and Zack looked half Japanese and half African American; Tommy had stylish short metallic blue hair, light olive-colored skin, and bright almond-shaped blue eyes. Zack had short black hair, blue eyes, and light olive-colored skin.

"Little my ass, I'm two years older than you, dick face," Zack said with a glare.

Penny shook her head. "Don't mind them; they're always fighting over something." She said, "So, have you seen any of the Triple Delicious?" She asked, pulling a sandwich out of her lunchbox.

"Triple Delicious?"

"Oh yes, girlie, they're the three hottest boys in our grade," says Tommy, "Clayton Branham, Asher Denton and Shawn Altaha. But getting their attention draws the attention of the Three Bitches. Harmony Williams, Shelby Denton, and Mercedes Blackwater."

"Harmony is obsessed with Clay," Says Penny, "They dated last year, but they broke up for some reason. She thinks that if she can't have Clay, then no one can."

Tommy gasped at something behind me; I jumped when a familiar voice said, "When I told you to find a seat, I didn't think you would pick one back here." said Clay as he slid into the bench beside me, followed by Shawn and Asher to his right.

"Well, things just got interesting," Mumbled Zack.

"Sorry, Penny asked me to sit with her" I explained to Clay. Why was I explaining myself to this asshole? Was this a case of Stockholm Syndrome?

"I don't know what you like, so I got some of everything," Clay said, motioning to the heaping pile of food on his tray. "Please grab what you want, and I'll eat whatever's left."

Sighing, I grabbed the chocolate milk and an apple from the tray. "Thanks"

"Is that all you're gonna eat?" Clay asked, with a dumbfounded look on his face.

I nodded while taking a sip of milk. "I told you I wasn't hungry."

"Dude, she took your chocolate milk," Shawn stated

Smack!

"Ow!" Yelled Shawn, rubbing the back of his head. "What the hell, man?!"

Clay frowned when he saw the look of guilt on my face, "Don't be upset; I told you to pick whatever you wanted. Next time I will just get extra." He explained while glaring at Shawn.

After lunch, I followed Asher, who was in my next class.

When the bell rang, the art teacher told us to create our biggest fears. I sat behind my easel, using watercolor to paint angry storm clouds.

"Is that a thunderstorm?" Asked Asher,

I nodded, then snuck a peak at his picture. I tried not to laugh at his poor drawing of a spider with the head of a dog.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, motioning to his drawing.

"It's a wolf spider." He said with a proud smile.

I was ready to go when the final bell rang. I froze in the hallway, sighing in frustration, when I spotted Clay leaning against my locker.

" Did you want to go for a drive through town?" he asked while nervously running a hand through his hair.

I looked into his eyes and saw no ill intent; what could it hurt? So with my decision made, I nodded, grabbed my things from my locker (that Clay took from me), and then followed him outside to where a shiny cobalt blue Jeep Wrangler was parked. I cursed when I saw how high off the ground the Jeep was.

After tossing our bags into the back, Clay opened the passenger side door, then lifted me so I could slide into the seat.

After driving me through the small town, Clay parked the Jeep in front of his father's herb shop called 'Natural Healing Remedies.'

When we walked inside, a tall man in his forties was behind the counter with long black hair, a square jaw, brown eyes, and dark-tanned skin. "Hello, son; who do you have with you?" He asked,

"Father, this is my new friend Evelyn Monroe; Eve, this is my father, Chogan Branham."

After we looked around the shop, we visited Mamaw's pet shop across the street, then walked down the street to the local diner called 'Mother Wolf's Den.'

Behind the counter was a woman with long sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin.

"Clayton, my boy!" The woman said with a smile, wrapping Clay in a tight hug. When she spotted me, she gasped, then looked up at Clay with a smile. "Who do we have here?"

"Ma, this is Evelyn Monroe; she's new in town, so I offered to show her around." He explained.

His mother smiled brightly, patted her son affectionately on the cheek, then turned to me.

"Hello, dove, my name is Tallulah, but you can call me Lala like everyone else." She said, "You guys go find a seat. I just made a fresh pot of my cheesy potato soup."

We had just slid into a booth towards the back. When I spotted three familiar faces entering the diner.

"Hello, Clay," greeted Harmony.

Clay sighed, saying, "What do you want, Harmony?"

She pouted her lips and batted her eyes, "You don't need to be so mean. I was just wondering if you're attending the party this weekend."

"I'll probably be there," he said, running his hand through his hair, "But I can't talk to you right now; I'm here with Eve. "

She glared at me, then with a flick of her hair, she twitched back over to the booth were her friends were sitting.

"Harmony wasn't like that when we were kids, but after her mom died, she was left with her dad, who is our packs Beta, meaning the Alpha's second in command, and he is very strict with Harmony and her sisters," Clay explained, "But that doesn't make it okay for the way she treats people."

"Man, that sucks, but I agree with you completely."

"Here you go, kids," Mom announced, placing two steaming bowls of soup on the table.

A few hours later, we pulled into the U-shaped driveway that led to my Mamaw's house.

"Is this it?" Asked Clay.

I nodded. "Thank you for the town tour and dinner; it was amazing," I said as I hopped out of the Jeep.

"I'm glad you liked it," he said with a smile that did funny things to my heart.

It was a little after sundown when I decided to sit out back. I was scanning through the cellphone Mamaw had bought me when a loud bark scared me so bad my new phone flew from my hands and landed somewhere in the grass with a thud.

With my hand pressed to my chest where my heart tried to escape, I turned to find a familiar fuzzy face, who I swear was smiling with his tongue hanging out.

"Puck! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Bark yip!" was his reply with an added tail wag.

"Don't act cute with me, mister. You nearly gave me a heart attack! You scared me so bad that I threw my new phone somewhere in the yard." I complained as I stood from the chair.

I don't know how he understood, but after a few minutes of looking, he carefully brought me my phone, which had landed further away than I expected.

"You know, you are way too smart for a normal wolf. Were you raised by humans or something?" I asked. I wonder if he was from the sanctuary.

"Bark bark," was his reply with more tail wags.

"I will take that as a yes."

We sat and talked for a while. I told Puck about my first day of school and how I met an asshole named Clay, who I realized might not be so bad.

"And can you believe that Penny said that people call them Triple Delicious? That's ridiculous!"

Puck hid his face in his paws with a groan.

"Exactly!" I laughed.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm, shocked at how well I had slept for the first time in months. I felt lighter as I went through my morning routine. Today I wore a pink t-shirt, a pair of black leggings, and a green hoodie Mamaw had bought me with a wolf on the front.

Mamaw was already gone to the shop but had left some breakfast on the table and some money for lunch.

I was startled when there was a sudden knock on the door. I was shocked to find Clay standing there when I opened the door. Today he wore a gray t-shirt with the school's logo, black basketball shorts, and shiny white Nike sneakers. His hair sticking up everywhere was hilarious; he must have been running his hand through it already.

"Hey Clay, come on in."

The house seemed to grow even smaller as he took a step inside. I watched as he nervously ran a hand through his hair as he took me in.

"Good morning Little Bird, I forgot to ask if you wanted a ride to school yesterday, and I realized I didn't even ask for your number."

"Oh, I see; well, I wouldn't say no to a ride to school, and I didn't even have a cellphone until yesterday. My Mamaw was nice enough to buy me one. Why don't you come in and sit down?" I said, motioning to the couch.

There was only a vintage loveseat and an old rocking chair. I regretted sitting on the loveseat when Clay sat next to me. His hulking size covered most of the room, making our legs rub together. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as something earthy mixed with a hint of men's body wash hit my nose as we sat there.

I jumped when he suddenly cleared his throat; he finally spoke after running a hand through his hair. "Umm, if you want, I can give you my number. That way, you can text me or call if you need a ride or want to chat."

After a quick exchange of numbers, I grabbed my bag, and then we left for school.