Chapter 7

Sage

"Okay." I say and I see the satisfaction cross his face as I lean away from him letting him sit back up his blonde hair falling back into his face. I don't know why agreed to go with him but it's either Jax, my father, or the student body that I'll have to face and even though I hardly know this guy logically he's the safest bet I have right now.

"If we're gonna go it'd be best if we get out of here before the bell." He says lifting me up off of him. I catch my footing and pick my bag back up off the floor.

"I have to drop the binder off at Lacey's locker." I say looking at the clock. Five minutes until the bell. Well shit. Our lockers are at the other end of the hall and I'll get caught in the middle if I try to return it. I bite my lip trying to figure out what to do when Jax grabs my bag and fishes the thick binder from my bag.

I follow him to the front of the library where there a girl I recognize as Logan. She looks up as Jax approaches. She gives him a wide smile "What can I do for you alpha?" She says a little too enthusiastically.

Jax hands her my binder and she takes it. "Can you make sure Lacey Reese receives this during the next passing period?" He says giving her a warm smile.

"Sure, no problem." She says placing the binder down Infront of her. Her eyes find there way to me standing just behind Jax and she narrows her eyes at me. She opens her mouth to say something but Jax cuts her off, "Make sure you get that to her." His voice has something behind it and I can't help but find a little satisfaction in the way she flinches away from him.

Jax turns towards me and motions for me to head to the door before him and I do so without saying a word. We make our way to the back of the large cafeteria to the double doors that lead out to the student parking lot. I follow hastily next to Jax all the way up to a beautiful black and red Jeep Sahara.

"You like it?" He asks as he lifts me into the passenger side. I settle in the seat and look aver at him.

"My mom use to say my first car would be a Jeep. I'm more of a wrangler girl myself but it's nice." I say and he cracks a smirk at my response. I watch as he makes his way around the vehicle and climbs into the driver side.

"Why do I have a feeling if you had one you'd flip it within a week." He says starting the engine and putting it in gear. I look at him from the corner of my eye a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"That's what a roll cage is for." I say leaning back in my seat and place my feet up on the dash. I'm not paying attention where we're going until we are turning down a familiar street.

Jax

I'm taking a short cut to one of my favorite places in town. I'm riding in cloud nine with Sage sitting next to me.

We're almost to our destination when her body language changes and she places her legs back on the floor Infront of her. She's ridged as she tries to sink as low as possible in her seat.

"Are you ok?" I ask looking at her from the corner of my eye. Her face is pale and she looks as if she's about to throw up. "Sage what's wrong?" I ask again slowing down a bit.

"Is there someone standing on the porch of the blue house with the white trim on the left?" She asks, her voice quiet. "If so did he see me?" Her voice barely audible as if she's afraid someone will hear her.

my eyes instantly find the house she's looking for and sure enough there's a man in his early fifties staring out of the porch of the normal looking two story town house and he has definitely noticed us.

I don't think I just floor it to pass by as quickly as possible. I successfully make it past the house before the man is able to make it to the street. He's yelling obscenities and throwing rocks as I make a turn and round the corner.

Sage has completely covered her face with her hands as if she's afraid to look back up. "He saw me." She finally says with a groan after a few moments and wipes at her cheeks. She's crying and I feel a stab of pain in my chest at the sight of her.

I turn into a parking lot of the natural hiking trails and park as quickly as possible. I hop out of the driver side and have her door open before she can even undo her seatbelt.

I help her out of it and pick her up setting her gently down in front of me. Tears are streaming down her face still and I gently brush them away. The fire from the contact settings my hand alight and she finally looks up at me. Her eyes, glassy and completely green now.

If I had known she lived down that street I wouldn't have turned there. "Don't worry about him." I say hooking a finger under her chin. "I'll make sure no one ever lays another finger on you. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

Gold flashes in her eyes as my words register with her. After a moment she takes a step back and I can feel the absence of her as the fire fades from my hands and all I can think about is touching her again.

She takes a look around the parking lot and I see the recognition cross her face. "I use to love it out here as a kid." She says. "I wasn't allowed to come back when the shifters came out. My parents said it was too dangerous." She says turning to the opening of the trail.

I grab her hand tugging lightly as the fire stretches up my arm. My fingers lock with hers and she quickly falls into step with me. We fall into a silence and the fire is becoming distracting as I'm trying to focus on where we're going.

There's a hidden trail out here that most humans miss because the markers were taken out a while back. I slow as we come to a small opening to the right of one of the largest trees out here. Sage doesn't notice and she loses her balance as I step off the trail pulling her with me. she stumbles into my side and I instinctively wrap my arm around her waist steadying her.

A low growl begins rumbling in my chest as fire spreads through my torso and I look down at her. Her eyes are swimming with green and gold. Her wolf is so responsive to mine and I fucking love it.

"You can't just pull me every which way." She says straightening up once she gets her footing. "I have two left feet as is." She says scrunching up her nose at me. So adorable.

"Sorry about that, babydoll. We're not sticking to the main trail there's a place I want to show you so we can talk." I say and she narrows her eyes at me.

"What?" I ask pulling at her again. I make sure to help over the tree roots in our way holding her steady until we make it past the overgrowth and make it to the opening of the new path.

"Why is it that every male wolf I've ever talked to has the need to call me that?" She asks annoyed. I can't help but chuckle at her.

"Probably because you're small, even for a human." I say pulling her the rest of the way down the trail. We step into a clearing on the edge of a cliff the town sprawling below and the mountain range beyond that is capped in snow. It's late fall and soon everything will be covered in snow soon.

I hear her gasp as she takes in the view Infront of us. I pull her out to the edge of the cliff to a fallen tree and I sit on it patting at a spot next to me. "Have a seat."