Okay! Sorry for the delay guys. I am better now! Pretty much 100%. I was still struggling story-wise until I realized it was the end of Chapter 17 that was getting me. So I was going to wait for it to be fixed but it’s been multiple days. So I’m going to post two chapters today to make up for Sunday. For now, I’d rather just say that Winter’s Dad end up picking her up and starts to interrogate her over the ride with Alpha Damian. That’s where this chapter starts. I’ll give a heads up when chapter 17 is updated. I really am sorry for the delay. You guys are the best. <3
One thing I didn’t expect was Mr. Penn waiting outside of Statistics. Krista elbowed me and waggled her eyebrows as he motioned me to follow him. I gave a quick wave to Krista and I followed a few steps behind. Usually Krista and I would part anyways, since I had my Study Period and she had her Pottery class. Mr. Penn lead me to the front office and held the door open for me. Principal Miles seemed to be surprised and immediately frowned. He stepped up the counter and tapped his fingers on the wood. “Is everything okay, Caspian? Winter?” I shrugged and Mr. Penn must have realized then that this looked like I had done something wrong. He waved his hands before reaching into his back pocket for a folded piece of paper. “Miss Winter expressed the interest in learning German. I thought during her Study Period, she could take German from me. However, I wanted to make sure she could get the credit for it.” Principal Miles let off a sigh of relief. “Is that so.” “Principal Miles, that s
I nodded again. “We did. My Great-Grandmother was a full-blooded witch that found refuge in Dawn Claw. At the time, my Great-Grandfather had lost his mate a few years back. He had been the current Gamma of the pack. They two of them didn’t have an…instant…connection. At least not from the stories my mother told me. But they did end up marrying and having my Grandmother and a Great Uncle.”“A witch line is passed down through the eldest female? Correct?”“Yeah. It’s why I have the last name Cyprus and Rebecca doesn’t. Hannah never had the last name Cyprus either. She took after my Grandfather, Gregory Tank. She changed her last name when she moved in with Dad.”Mr. Penn cocked his head to the side. “I remember Linny doing spells, or always having a potion on hand.” He looked down and smiled to himself. “She always smelled like herbs. Like mint and rosemary.”“That’s what I remember as well.”It was weird. I didn’t talk about my mother with Luna Ember much because I knew it was a touchy
“Winter!”I jumped when I heard my name being yelled. Looking past Mr. Penn, I saw my dad storming into the library. Blinking, I tried to think of a reason why he would be here. Better yet, what I would have done for him to come all the way here for me.“Dad, I…”Dad looked from me, down to Mr. Penn, who was frowning now as he sat across from me. “What is going on here?”“I…needed some extra tutoring.” I slammed my books shut. “Mr. Penn was willing to help me so I didn’t fail.”My dad scoffed. “Of course you need help.” He shook his head though. “Where is Rebecca?”Furrowing my brow, I shook my head. “I…don’t know. Mr. Penn was tutoring me through my study period. I don’t have the same schedule as Rebecca. So I don’t know…”“Give me your phone.”I scrambling to remove the video app that was up for the German, I handed it to my dad. He frowned as he looked down at it.“You don’t have Rebecca’s number in your phone.”It was so hard not to scoff. “I know it by heart. I don’t need to have
*** Caspian’s POV ***I shouldn’t have gotten as much of a kick out of Winter pouting as I did. If anything, talking about Linny today just made me see more of her in Winter. They had very similar mannerisms and it was funny to watch. Winter was a bit more reserved unless she lets the fire out.‘You are mean. Let the poor she-wolf be.’ Onan was surprisingly against the whole charade.‘I’m not mean. She needs a ride home, and I could give her one.’He huffed. ‘You didn’t need to force her to go with you.’‘I didn’t. I just…give her the option of Damian.’‘And you knew she wouldn’t take that because you know her personality now. She doesn’t want to inconvenience others. You are being mean, Caspian. I at least have the excuse of being a grumpy old wolf. Why are you being mean to the she-wolf?’I let out a huff myself. ‘You are no older than I am, Onan. You just act like an old man. That’s different. I’m just giving her a ride home.’‘Sure, Caspian. Sure.’Glancing at Winter in my passeng
I blinked at them. “I’m sorry…what? What are you doing in here?”“Well, you wouldn’t come over for dinner. So…we thought we would come over here and cook for you.”“How did you…?” Stepping in, I shut the door behind me.Ember scoffed. “I’m technically your landlord, Cas. I have a key.”Opening my mouth, I just decided to let it go. The two of them were a little over enthusiastic about having me back but they were my family. My Uncle in Blue Crescent took me on as a favor to his brother. One that he owed from long ago.He never treated me like immediately family. I was always the cousin who was from another pack. That’s not to say he treated me if anything other than respect. He just was harsh but in a good way.I didn’t mess around in school anymore like I had been after my parents died. His rigid way of doing things
Pulling my sleeves up, I was washing out the pot that Ember made the sauce in. She was next to me, rinsing off the pan she made the chicken in. They had refused to give up their “big plans” so, at a stalemate, I got up to wash the dishes. Damian snuck a beer from the fridge and was sitting behind us at the island.“Em, I have a question about Linny.”She looked up at me, and I could see the flash of pain in her eyes. “What about? Is this about Winter?”I pursed my lips together. “It was something Winter said. She said that Linny tried to curse Caleb? That the curse was the reason why he hates Winter. Even though she is his own blood.”“She told you that?”Turning around, I looked at my brother. “Yeah. I also met him today…officially. He definitely doesn’t realize who I am.”“I didn’t expect him to. He was wrapped up in his own drama back then. On
Despite Monday’s surprise dinner, the week went smoothly. I’d turned in the plan for Winter’s German session, much to the surprise of Miles. It was a debate with him if she was willing to take on two tests for language at the end of the year but I assured him she was going to be fine. The lesson’s were progressing along smoothly in the Latin classes and most students were showing improvement even within the few weeks I had taken over.There were problem students. In the Latin 1 classes, it was easy to tell who took the class because they wanted to and those who didn’t. I needed to figure out something to motivate the ones who either took the class because of their parents or because they didn’t like the other options. I didn’t have the problem of not liking languages, so I needed to think of something that would have helped motivate me in the past.“Mr…Penn?”I looked up from my book at a few she-wolve
Damian pulled into the parking lot that housed the training grounds. The building itself had been added onto and then looked like it went through a remodel since I’d left. It looked impressive and I wondered how much it cost to update it.“Come on. We will start on the side here.”He jogged past the cars and the building. I nodded to a few of the warriors coming and going before jogging after my brother. This was definitely part of a show. By the time I reached the trees, Damian had already shifted and was raring to go. His wolf, Aurik, at the forefront. Onan was jumping at the chance to run with him.Stripping, I placed my clothes next to the pile that my brother left. However, I did fold both our clothes into neat piles before I shifted. Onan took over almost immediately and barked at Aurik.‘Onan has been itching to chase Aurik.’ I opened up the mind link with my brother.‘Chase? How dare you.&rsq
Luna Ember didn’t say anything for a while. “We had a meeting about the future leadership for the pack. We didn’t decide on anything but we did pretty much invalidated your Dad’s picks.”“Picks? I thought he only had Rebecca as his replacement.”“I won’t go into it. He wasn’t happy when he left the meeting. I…we…never thought it would be bad enough to turn on you though. Damian and I hoped that we would adjust his anger away from you towards Caspian.”I cocked my head to the side and then it clicked. “The rumor that Mr. Penn was going to be Beta…that was you.”“Exactly. You really are too smart for your own good.” Luna Ember chuckled but it fell off fairly quickly. “Are you safe?”“I am. I’ve got multiple layers of security between me and outside.” I looked around the room at all my books. “I have to go home eventually though. I can’t stay here.”She sighed. “I know. Damian is trying to get him to calm down. I’m sorry, Winter.”
*** Winter’s POV ***I was laying on my stomach in bed when I heard something crash in the living room. Sitting up, I listened intently. Sure enough, something else broke and shook the walls of the house. Footsteps thundered down the stairs until Hannah started yelling to stop. Even Rebecca wouldn’t go that far. That meant that it was my dad.Scrambling up, I grabbed my backpack and shoved my books into the bag. Not just that but I grabbed an extra set of clothes, some snacks that I had hidden, and a few of my travel sized toiletries. Opening up the window quietly, I slipped out. They probably wouldn’t hear me since it sounded like a heard of elephants was stampeding through the living room right now.Closing the window behind me, I crept along the roof before I slipped around the side. Just as I did, the door to my room slammed open.Dad’s volume could be heard even with the window being clos
I stared at my brother. He was smiling up at me with his cheesy grin. His face didn’t show anything other than thinking it was funny to say something like that. Turning on my heel, I threw the door open and headed down the hall.“Cas! Wait!”Jogging down the steps, I turned and glared up at my brother who was still smiling at the top. “That’s not funny, Damian. It’s not a fucking joke.”“Who said I am joking?”I threw my hands out. “You are Alpha. You! I told you time and time again that I did not want to be Alpha. That I was not cut out to be Alpha. I left because I didn’t want to be Alpha.”Damian sighed. “No. You left because you didn’t want the pack to fight over who should be Alpha. Not that you didn’t want to be Alpha.”“It’s the same fucking thing!”“No, it’s not.”
This was a conversation I did not want to be apart of. Hell, I didn’t even deserve to be in the room. I didn’t care that I was to keep the charade up that maybe I was going to be Damian’s pick for Beta. In this room right now were some of the most influential people in the pack. I did not belong.‘Stand up straight. You aren’t here as a Penn. You are here as a Herne.’ Onan snapped at me.“Who do you suppose we throw out there, Cal? Hm? Just give the pack a bunch of names? Let them decide?” Maddox was rolling his eyes but there was an irritation to him that normally wasn’t there.“The pack is getting restless. They don’t know what the future holds. I think it’s time we show them what the future looks like. What the next generation looks like so they feel secure in the pack’s future.”Brittany scoffed. “Oh? You think any
I stepped into the library, fully accepting that I wouldn’t see Winter. She hadn’t been at school Tuesday or Wednesday. Damian and Ember weren’t saying anything and I had no information coming in from anyone. It was frustrating to the point where I started to show up at the training grounds after school to let off some steam.After yesterday though, Damian told me to lay off because too many patrol warriors were calling off because I had gone a little too hard. Onan chuckled but we would have to just do a straight run today. However, I was surprised to see Winter, sitting in the back of the library.She had her book open on the desk and a notebook open next to it. Coming up to her, I looked her over. There didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong. I didn’t realize how worried I looked until Winter looked up at me and smiled.“I’m okay, Mr. Penn.”Nodding, I sat down on the other side of
“Miss St. James, if you would hang back for a moment.”It had been a long double period but we made good progress into The Hobbit. I’d decided to do the same thing I had chosen for Winter for her German Midterm. It was going to be hard, but I knew that they could do it. It would help them feel more confident in their skills and would give them a boost into mastering the language.“Mr. Penn, I need to go. My Dad is here to pick me up.”I frowned. “I just wanted to ask if everything was alright.”Leaning against the desk, I set my hands on the edge of my desk. She was shifting her weight and even tapped her toe into the ground.“Does it have something to do with Miss Sierra?”Krista growled. “I hope she walks too close to a flame with the amount of hair spray she uses.”“Krista.”“Sorry, Mr. Penn. She doesn’t deserve anything. She cheats in
I looked at my brother for a long time. Unsure of what to say. It really never crossed my mind that my leaving would take such a toll on him. I always thought it was better that I left. There was nothing for me at Blue Crescent. The last thing I wanted was to get in Jared’s way. He was taking over for Uncle and I didn’t want anything to do with that. Leaving made sense back then.‘You didn’t even discuss it with them though. You just up and left. You didn’t even talk to them for a month until you had already enrolled and were in classes.’Sighing, I shook my head. “It was never because of you. I just felt like an extra. I was always in the way. Here and back at Uncles. Always. I just thought it would be better to remove myself from everything. It had nothing to do with running from you. I was…running from everything within the packs.”I continued after a breath. “I’m an Alpha. J
Damian pulled into the parking lot that housed the training grounds. The building itself had been added onto and then looked like it went through a remodel since I’d left. It looked impressive and I wondered how much it cost to update it.“Come on. We will start on the side here.”He jogged past the cars and the building. I nodded to a few of the warriors coming and going before jogging after my brother. This was definitely part of a show. By the time I reached the trees, Damian had already shifted and was raring to go. His wolf, Aurik, at the forefront. Onan was jumping at the chance to run with him.Stripping, I placed my clothes next to the pile that my brother left. However, I did fold both our clothes into neat piles before I shifted. Onan took over almost immediately and barked at Aurik.‘Onan has been itching to chase Aurik.’ I opened up the mind link with my brother.‘Chase? How dare you.&rsq
Despite Monday’s surprise dinner, the week went smoothly. I’d turned in the plan for Winter’s German session, much to the surprise of Miles. It was a debate with him if she was willing to take on two tests for language at the end of the year but I assured him she was going to be fine. The lesson’s were progressing along smoothly in the Latin classes and most students were showing improvement even within the few weeks I had taken over.There were problem students. In the Latin 1 classes, it was easy to tell who took the class because they wanted to and those who didn’t. I needed to figure out something to motivate the ones who either took the class because of their parents or because they didn’t like the other options. I didn’t have the problem of not liking languages, so I needed to think of something that would have helped motivate me in the past.“Mr…Penn?”I looked up from my book at a few she-wolve