Part One

“Griff!”

I opened my eyes and turned onto my back. It was the first day of the last year of school. Last night had gone on late and I still had a slight headache throbbing at the base of my skull. Mac, Jett and I had gone out to the woods, the deep woods, to drink and spar.

Alcohol didn’t affect us as it did humans but enough consumption could lead to foolish actions. I groaned as I got up when I heard Finley’s footsteps outside my bedroom door.

“Are you up?” she asked as she pushed my door open.

“Geez mom, some privacy,” I said as I stood in my underwear.

Her gaze never wavered as she looked at me. She was a beautiful woman, weird and complicated, but she was my mother and even if she couldn’t physically beat my ass, she’d tase me. Oh yes, you read that right. She tased my dad too, a few times, and then she laughed as he lay spasming on the ground.

“Why can’t you sleep in pajamas like normal people?” she asked me.

“Normal? In this family?” I asked her and she smiled at me.

“Yeah, okay never mind, breakfast’s ready,” she said as she looked at me again.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I headed for my bathroom.

“Did you sneak out last night?” she asked me and I stopped walking. Lying never helped, I shouldn’t lie to her.

“No,” I said and she laughed.

“Asshole,” she said and closed my door. She knew I was lying but I also knew she wouldn’t say anything, she never did, she was cool like that.

I showered and got dressed and headed downstairs to the dining hall for breakfast where I knew Mac and Jett would already be waiting for me. Of the three of us, I was the tallest and I had Damon’s training to thank for my physique and of course the ever present Alpha blood that made us taller and broader than the average seventeen year old. Mac was about three inches shorter than me and he sported Archer’s blonde hair and the blue eyes that both he and Finley had.

I looked more like my father with my dark hair and green eyes and Jett was a mixture of his mother and father. He had Connor’s light brown hair and he had dark brown eyes. When he was pissed off they became almost black in anger and he had a quick temper, we all did, it was the raging hormones and the jaguar aura that came with it.

“I saved you a plate,” Mac said as I sat down at a table next to him.

“Thanks,” I said as Jett didn’t even look up but kept eating.

“I wonder if the Preps will warn the freshmen to stay away from us,” Mac mused before picking up his cup of coffee.

“Why don’t you all just be nice this year?” Finley asked us and we burst out laughing.

“We have a rep Mom,” I said to her.

“A rep?” she asked me but I saw the twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, we’re the bad boys of the school Aunt Finley,” Jett said, speaking for the first time.

“Lord help us all,” she said as I laughed again.

“It does help that Griff here’s a chick magnet,” he said and Finley almost choked on her coffee.

“Who are you kids?” she asked as she looked at us.

“Apparently they’re the bad asses of Newport,” Connor said as he ruffled Jett’s hair, much to his annoyance.

“It’s not like we asked for the reputation,” I said as I continued to eat.

“No, but you also don’t deny it,” Damon said as he stood in the doorway.

“Why would I?” I asked and he grinned at me.

“That’s my boy,” he said as Finley shook her head.

“At least they don’t act like horny teenagers with girls all the time,” Sandra, Jett’s mother, said.

Finley laughed the hardest as she looked at me. I looked away feeling uncomfortable, I was no angel, but I also didn’t boast like the Preps did.

“Nice Mom,” I muttered as Damon laughed.

“I have no illusions that you’re still a virgin, either of you three,” she said and Sandra looked at her son.

“We need to get to school,” Mac said as Kat made her appearance in the dining hall.

“Ah running from your mother,” Damon said as I laughed.

“Why are you running Mac?” Kat asked him.

“Nothing,” he said as he stood up.

“We’re talking about their bad ass chick magnet abilities,” Finley said as I shook my head.

“Just don’t come home and tell me some random girl’s pregnant,” she said and sat down.

“Boundaries Mom,” Mac said slightly blushing.

“Let’s go,” I said as my face took on a stoic appearance and the mask for school slipped over my expression.

We weren’t friendly at school and we walked out of the clowder house to the garage in silence and got into my truck. We drove to school as Mac and Jett tried to choke each other out and I just increased the volume of the music as they swore at each other.

“You guys are idiots,” I said to them and they both laughed.

We stood next to the truck as we surveyed the parking lot at school. The freshmen had smiles on their faces and the Preps stood on the other side as we glared at each other. Nothing’s changed there, we still hated each other.

“Yep, this year’s starting right,” Jett said as he picked up his backpack and headed for his homeroom.

“Stay out of trouble,” Mac said as we followed behind him.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?” Jett asked him.

“Not with my pretty face,” Mac said as I grinned and left them at their lockers.

I chose a seat in the back and placed my backpack on the empty seat next to me since I already knew that Mac wasn’t in any of my classes. The principal did that on purpose since we turned sixteen and quit playing football.

The team didn’t completely suck and the school had their fair share of wins but they could be better. Mac and I had a promising career in football and he couldn’t understand why we’d just quit everything. He’d never understand the true reasons, since we bulked out even more after getting our jags, and that was exactly why we quit.

Travis Scott on the other hand was a football god, quarterback and he could do no wrong in that school. Even with the rumours milling around the coach still thought he walked on water. As luck would have it, the prick was in my homeroom and we glared at each other again as he stuck to the opposite side of the class.

I was already bored as I listened to the teacher drone on about tests and projects and I looked out of the window until the bell rang. The rest of the day until lunch time pretty much went the same way, I was never called out for not paying attention and as I walked to the cafeteria I heard the whispers and almost smiled.

‘Don’t look at him’ – ‘They say he was in jail over summer break’ – ‘I think he’s hot’ – ‘Even Travis Scott avoids him’ – ‘He’s killed a few people’

You couldn’t make this shit up and I sighed as I found Mac and Jett at our usual table, right across from Travis Scott and his preppy followers. I sat back on focused on their conversation and I caught some of it.

“We need fresh meat,” Paul said.

“Too early to start with the freshman. Who hasn’t been to any of our parties?” Travis asked.

“A few girls, some I’d never hook up with,” Paul replied.

“We need a new game plan, some girls are getting jealous when we bring in new ones but I think it’s time I got myself a girlfriend,” Travis said and Paul laughed loudly.

“A girlfriend?” he asked.

“Yeah, why not, I’m tired of hooking up with semi-conscious girls, I need something else to excite me,” Travis said.

“You’ve always had a boner for Samantha Cartwright,” Paul said and my eyes flitted towards her.

She wasn’t really part of any group in school, almost like us. She kept to herself with her one other friend and I knew that she didn’t go to school parties. In other words, she was one of the few good girls in school.

“Yeah, I could always charm my way into her pants,” Travis said and I caught him staring at her.

I tuned them out and saw that Mac and Jett had been watching me intently. They knew me well and I guess they saw it in my eyes because Mac was shaking his head and Jett looked ready for a fight.

“It’s our final year, Griff,” Mac said as he looked at me.

“I know,” I said.

“I caught some of that,” Jett said as he glanced over at their table again.

“He’s going to destroy her,” I said.

“Shit man,” Mac said as his hand went through his hair.

“We could always torch his car,” Jett said.

“Seriously,” I said as I looked at him.

“Okay bad idea,” he said as Mac laughed.

“You think?” Mac asked as he hit Jett on the back of his head.

“Ouch asshole,” Jett said with a grin.

“I assume you already have a plan,” Mac said as he looked at me once again.

“I’m going to take what he wants,” I said as I looked him right in the eye.

“No offence Griff, but what makes her so special? We’ve never done anything to stop him before. Why her?” Jett asked.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

I didn’t know what it was about her, but I couldn’t let him corrupt her, hurt her, break her. Something inside me just needed to do this.

“Is she…?” Mac asked.

“He hasn’t said anything,” I said.

“Then I really don’t get it,” Jett said.

“What’s not to get? She’s a girl, he’s an asshole, he’s going to ruin her life,” I said as I stood up.

“Fine, fine. So what are we doing?” Mac asked.