Chapter 3: Lily

What an arrogant asshole! If he thinks because he’s bigger than I am that he can intimidate me, he’s got another thing coming. Did I feel badly that I basically threatened to rip his balls off, not even a little. Did I happen to feel the large bulge in his pants at the same time? Yes, and wow! That’s all I can say, wow.

I find Calista at lunch and we decide to find a private place to eat away from either of the men who have decided to pursue us relentlessly. We settle in and I listen to her vent about how Alpha Anders is doing basically the same thing as Clint, moving to sit next to her, trying to talk to her in class, constantly asking her out. It’s maddening. I tell her about Clint and what happened in Chem and Lit classes.

“Do you think they’ve set up some type of competition between them?” She asks me.

“What do you mean?”

I watch as Calista stares thoughtfully out over the track field where we decided to have our lunch. “Well, you and I are basically the only hold outs in the pack. Do you….do you think that this is just a game to see which of them can get one of us into their bed first?”

“That’s a terrible thought Cali.” I say, but then I think about it. Competition. It’s what Alphas and apparently Guardians thrive on. What if she’s right and they’ve set up some kind of competition between them to see who can make the final stand outs break first.

“Well, that’s just pissed me off all over again.” I tell Cali.

“Do you think they would do that?” My dear friend asks quietly.

I take her hand. Cali is a gentler soul than I am. It’s one of the reasons she didn’t continue in warrior training. She doesn’t like to hurt anyone for any reason. Personally, I think she’d make a fantastic Luna. She’s got the perfect personality for it, loving and caring to everyone around her. And when you’re in her inner circle, there isn’t anything she wouldn’t do for you.

Unlike me, I don’t have any problem causing pain if it gets the point across, like grabbing Clint’s balls. That makes me a much better candidate for warrior than Luna. Although, my path is one I can choose. Calista will have to be mated to an Alpha to become a Luna. However, she is focusing her studies on medicine which is an area she can choose and will be great at.

"I honestly don't know." I answer my friend.

After lunch we head back to our next classes. I have one more with Clint, although, judging his reaction to our Lit class, he probably doesn’t realize it. Maybe I can sneak in and find a way to keep him from sitting next to me. Of all my classes, human history is the most boring to me. We have to learn it so we can mingle with the humans, but their history and ours is very different. They tend to focus on their wars, whereas, in the supernatural community, fighting is very common. Packs fight for land, for power and for prestige. It’s not uncommon for packs to attack each other and deaths or permanent injuries are common. It’s one of the reasons that having a powerful Alpha and, in our case, a powerful Guardian is so important. It gives our pack an advantage. Even if another pack challenges ours, it’s very unlikely that they will win.

When I get to my history class, I see that Clint hasn’t arrived yet. I sit in my usual seat, which is in the front by the window. That still leaves two seats where he can sit and be too close to me, one beside me and one behind me. I’m still trying to figure out how to keep him away from me, when the man in question plops down in the seat beside me.

“That seat is assigned to someone else.” I tell him.

“We don’t have assigned seats in this class, Lily.”

“Don’t you prefer the back, Clint? I usually see you snoring away back there.”

“Oh, so you’ve noticed me?”

“Still fishing for compliments? Don’t you have enough girls stroking your ego and other body parts?" I ask in a snarky tone, and I swear I can see him flinch.

“I think you have the wrong idea about me.”

I turn to face him, staring him straight in the eye. “Do I?”

I watch as his mouth opens and closes a couple of times, no words coming out.

I raise my eyebrow at him and turn back in my seat. “I didn’t think so.”

The teacher comes in and it’s a movie day. I groan inwardly, while most of the class cheers outwardly.

The lights go off and Clint subtly moves his seat closer to mine.

I stare intently at the screen. “I’m not fishing for compliments.” He says.

“Mmhmm.”

“I do think you have the wrong idea about me.”

I wait him out, not saying anything.

“I just want to get to know you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Is that so difficult to believe?”

I turn to look at him. “Why?”

He frowns. “Why what?”

“Why are you suddenly so interested in me?”

I watch as he struggles for an answer. Has no one ever questioned him about this before? Probably not.

Calista’s thought about this being a competition comes rushing back to me. That’s exactly what this is. It’s some kind of bet between him and Anders and he didn’t have a back-up story prepared when I asked why he wanted to get to know me.

“We’ve never spent any time together. I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other.” He finally says.

I grab a piece of paper and begin writing.

“Right, you just suddenly decided that after all these years you wanted to get to know me?”

“I…well…yes.”

I shake my head and keep writing

 When class ends, I hand him the paper and walk out of class without looking back.