Chapter 2

Matt stood in the hall, Mark beside him. He had a disappointed look on his face missing Chloes presence. He was staring down the hall she had just left, wanting to run after her but knew he couldn't, he didn't want to seem like a crazy stalker running after a girl he just met.

“What a love sick puppy,” Mark said, shaking his head in amusement. He grabbed Matt by the shoulder, steering him into the class, taking a seat at the back.

The class was quite small with two rows of tall, white tables. The back wall was filled with cupboards with labels and Hazardous signs. The walls covered in posters of the periodic table, chemical compounds and the chemical makeup of certain elements.

Each table was equipped with a lamp, microscope and test tube holders. At the front of the class sat the teachers desk with many papers littering the top and a massive white board in the center of the wall.

'So what was all that about?' Mark asked through the mind link while playing with the microscope

'What?' Matt asked, confused, watching his friend swap lenses as if there was no tomorrow. “What are you looking at?” Matt asked aloud.

'I don't know,' Mark said, looking up and pushing the thing away. 'I mean, what happened in the hall? With that Chloe chick, I see someone has googly eyes for one of the humans,' Mark said, wiggling his eyebrow at Matt, placing his chin on his hand as he stared at Matt with a knowing smile on his face.

'I don't have googly eyes,' Matt said rolling his eyes.

'Yeah sure, I saw the way you were looking at her, you were practically drooling,' He emphasized, nudging Matt with his elbows.

'I was not,' Matt growled, turning in his seat to take his books out of his bag, placing them on the table, Mark following suite and playing with the pencil in his hand. 'I think she's my mate,' he admitted, sighing and opening up his book.

'uhm, no, not possible, she human,” he said in matter of fact tone, pointing the pencil at Matt.

'I know its not, but I cant deny how I feel, I mean Zane was practically howling in my head the whole time,' Matt said, giving Mark a serious look. Mark gave him a confused look shrugging his shoulders. They both faced the board as students started piling in through the doors.

'I think you should talk to your dad, maybe he will know,' he suggested. Matt nodded.

As everyone took their seats, Matt started going through his book, keeping to himself. He couldn't understand the many diagrams that were scattered across the page, there was minimal information explaining each one, but still they made no sense to him

'God, I hope the teacher is good at explaining things,' Matt joked as the teacher entered the class, waling in with a couple books in his hands and a backpack hanging off his arm.

“Good morning class, I hope everyone had a good holiday,” he said, putting his books down on the table, “The holidays are over now, so I hope you are all prepared for the work to follow,”

He was a relatively old man maybe in his late forties to early fifties, his long light hair having a few grey streaks in it. He wore thick glasses with a thin frame and had a kind face. He was a bit on the chubby side but that just added to the kind look.

“I see we have some new faces this year,” he said, smiling at Matt and Mark “I'm Mr Herald, care to introduce yourselves?” he asked, hands behind his back.

Matt and Mark both introced themselves to the class, a couple of the girls staring at the both of them.

“Good, now lets start the class,” he said, turning towards the white board and grabbing a marker, “Chemistry is an important factor in our lives, it is the study of matter and the process of one or more substances causing a reaction, and we will be studying those reactions,”

he was scribbling things on the board and drawing diagrams that Matt couldn't understand, but kept writing the non-sense into his book, praying the class will become easier with time.

---

Matt, his father and the rest of the pack were all standing outside near the tree line in the yard, the tall trees canopying over them, providing shade from the bright sun.

When they had all gotten home they started homework which took a solid hour to complete, James helping where he could. Matt was still struggling with chemistry, not understanding what they wanted from him and not knowing how to draw the diagrams they wanted, not even his father understood.

Once they were done, they were rushed outside by James to start training. They stood there stretching their limbs while they waited for James to start barking out orders.

Matt had wanted to speak to his father about Chloe since he got home but hadn't found a window when his father wasn't busy so he decided to tell him after training, knowing everyone else would be busy by then.

Matt was very disappointed though, he hadn't seen Chloe since their first encounter, not sharing any classes, though he looked for her every chance he got but to no avail.

“Lets start with a two mile run around the trees,” his father shouted, making everyone groan in annoyance. They all hated the running part unless it was in wolf form, though they loved the other parts of training, especially combat.

They all formed a line and started jogging toward the tree line, Matts father ran in the front with Mark and himself close behind and the rest a bit further down. The cool, fresh air hit Matts face, he look a long deep breath, enjoying the feel of the wind hitting his face, making him feel free.

They dodged trees and bushes as they picked up speed, jumping over roots and fallen branches that lay on the floor. The sounds of the forest was calming to Matt, hearing the birds singing and animals running to get away from them.

“So, alpha, did you hear what happened to Matt at school today?” Mark asked out of breath when he shot a glance over to Matt.

“No I didn't, What happened?” he asked, sending a side ways glance at Matt.

“Don't,” Matt growled, sending his friend a death stare.

“Why not he deserves to know,” Mark said with a frown on his lips.

“Yes, but its not your place to tell,” He said in an accusing tone, Hoping Mark would keep his mouth shut.

“Then tell him already,” Mark argued.

“Ok, tell me what?” James asked, coming to a stop.

“Matt found his mate at school,” Mark blurted out, his eyes widening when he saw matt charging toward him. “Oh shit,” he cursed as he braced himself for the impact.

“You dick,” Matt ground out through clenched teeth as he tackled Mark, causing them both to fall to the ground. Before he could land a punch to Marks face, his father grabbed him by the arm, pulling him off of Mark.

“You really are in a bad mood today,” Mark gushed out, coughing in the process as he held his abdomen.

James gestured for the rest of the pack to continue running while Mark stood back to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. They watched the pack run past, a couple of them glancing back at them, sending questioning glances their way.

“Im so happy for you, son, what's her name?” James asked, arms out, ready to embrace Matt in congratulations. Matt side stepped, knowing his excitement would be short lived.

“Oh you haven't heard the best part,” Mark let out a chuckle, wiping the dirt off his shorts. Matt landed a punch to Marks stomach, knocking the breath out of him, making him tumble back to the ground.

“You just dont stop do you?” Matt asked with a devious smile on his face, his friend was really starting to get on his nerves.

“What's the matter Matthew?” James asked, tacking Matt by the shoulder, turning him to face his father, concern written all over his face.

“Shes human,” Matt said, slouching his shoulders, getting ready for the doubtful questions from his father.

“What? Thats not possible,”

“Well I guess we were wrong,” Matt said, getting a bit defensive.

“You didnt tell her about us?” James asked, panicked.

“No I didnt, im not that stupid,”

“Well continue this conversation back inside, but I don't want anyone knowing until we have answers,” James said with a pointed look at Mark.

“What are you looking at me for? Im the best at keeping secrets,” He said, folding his arms, pouting. This made Matt laugh.

---

Once training ended, Matt decided to take a shower and getting into clean clothes. When he was done, he went over to the kitchen, making a cup of coffee for himself and his father.

He made his way over to his fathers office, placing one of the cups on the table that took up most of the room. It was one of the smallest rooms in the house that his father converted into an office with the desk in the center. To the right of the room were three large bookshelves filled to the brim with books about all kinds of stuff, especially werewolf history and mythology.

A small two seater couch sat beside the door with a couple of photo frames above it of him and his mom. To the left was one large window, letting in much needed light as the sky outside turned orange as the sun started setting.

Matt turned on the lights and went to sit on the sofa, sipping on his coffee while he waited for his father. James entered to room, smiling at his son while he went to take a seat behind his desk that was littered with books and papers.

“Lets start somewhere, whats her name?” James asked, breaking the silence, “And thank you for the coffee by the way,” he said, taking the cup in his hand and taking a sip.

“Her name is Chloe, I dont know her last name though,” Matt said.

“And how are you so sure she is your mate?” He asked.

“I dont know how to explain it dad, Zane was shouting 'mate' in my head the whole time I was talking to her, he wouldn't shut up,” He said, rolling his eyes at the memory.

“This is so strange,” James said, massaging his temples.

“Im just as confused as you are,” Matt shrugged, shaking his head.

“ill have a look through some books, maybe theres something in there,” James said, tapping his chin.

“Give me some books, ill help, I want answers as much as I do,”

“That would help, thanks” James said, running a hand through his blond hair. Matt nodded, thinking how they could find the answers sooner and which books to look in first when a thought came to mind.

“W could ask the Elders, they should have answers,” Matt said, hopeful.

The Elders were some of the oldest werewolves in history, no one knew how they managed to live to such an old age. They were considered the wisest and most knowledgeable werewolves in the world, if a pack was having problems, they always turned to the Elders for answers.

Matt knew they might have the answers they are looking for. They must have something in the many forbidden books they had in The Great library were they had all the original books written by their ancestors, hold much knowledge that no one could ever fathom.

“I dont think we should inform them just yet,” James said, looking stressed, “I mean, we dont even know what she is, or why she is your mate, it could become dangerous not only for her but for us too if anyone found out. I dont think anyone should know about her until we know a bit more, and that incudes her son,” he said seriously.

“I guess you're right,” Matt said, giving it some thought.

“well id like to meet her,” James said, “ Maybe learn a bit about her and her family history, it could help.”

“ I really want you too,” Matt said with a smile on his face. “Just be careful though, she scares very easily,”

“What do you mean?”

“I dont know, she gets very tense and anxious very easily,” Matt said frowning.

“Hm, I wonder why,” James said.

Matt just shrugged, not knowing why himself.

“Just get to know her so long, maybe she knows something,” He said and Matt nodded, standing from the couch.

“Thank you for the support dad, and for believing me,” Matt said and turned to leave.

Matt left his fathers office after their conversation, looking for Mark. He followed the noise to the other side of the house, leading him to the living room where everyone but Mark was.

The room had dark grey walls and a 55' tv was set up on the wall to Matt's left and two large windows faced Matt, giving him sight of the yard. It had become dark since Matt was talking to his father and the temperature dropping rapidly.

The guys were playing a shooting game on the new x-box they had gotten from James when they first moved here. They were all sitting comfortably on the light grey l-seater couch while the girls sat at the small round table in the corner. Niki was no where to be seen either.

“Wheres Mark,” he asked but received no answer as everyone ignored him. “whatever,” he sighed, turning to head for the stairs.

The stairs were dark hardwood with a lip on each stair, intricate designs covered the sides with black metal hand rails, a few boxes still lay on the stairs with miscellaneous items that needed to find a place.

“Mark?” he shouted up the stairs, taking two at a time. They creaked under his weight as he made his way up, searching for his friend. He walked down the long hallway with doors on either side, some were open and he could see the mess they were in. When he came to Marks door, he knocked twice before opening and barging in.

“Jeez, at least wait till I say you can come in, I could have been in my beautiful birthday suit only for the rare few to see, not that youd mind though,” Mark joked, winking.

“Eww no thanks, I've seen enough of you when we were children,” Matt laughed.

“Sure you wouldnt,” Mark wiggled his eyebrows, “why dont I give you your first strip show, before you become a mated man,” He said, pretending to rip his shirt off and posing on the bed as he attempted to put a seductive look on his face.

“You look like youre drunk,” Matt laughed, “as interesting as that sounds, im not here for a lap dance,” he joked.

“Aww, why not? We could have had so much fun,” he said in a huff, throwing himself back on the bed to be dramatic.

“Yea, whatever,” Matt rolled his eyes.

“Mark sat upright again, crossing his legs and tapping the empty spot next to him for Matt to sit, “so what do you want?” he asked as Matt took a seat.

“Advice?” He said unsure.

“Youre asking me for advice?” he sounded shocked.

“Yea, I dont know how to approach Chloe,” Matt sighed.

“Oh shit, ok,” Mark said, raising his eyebrows.

“i just dont know how to talk to girls,”

“Well neither do I!” Mark shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

“Yes you do, you talk to them all the time,” Matt argued.

“I dont know, it just comes so easy, I dont even notice,”

“Well help me then,”

“i dont even know how,” He said, running a hand through his light brown hair, his blue eyes meeting Matts.“i cant believe you need my help to whoo your mate,” He laughed so hard he fell back, gripping his abdomen as he did so.

Matt rolled his eyes and crossed his arms infront of his chest, getting irritated. “will you shut up and let your mouth do the magic? I mean you spew nonsense all day,”

“Oh my mouth can do magical things,” Mark joked, sticking his tongue out at Matt.

“stop,” Matt said, “wheres the wise words you bless us with every day?”

“I dont know what to tell you dude, talk to her, get to know her,”

“And say what?” Matt mumbled under his breath.

“I dont know,” he yelled, throwing his hands in the air. “Look, you have my support, and ill help you where I can but I cant tell you what to do,” he said sincerely.