Defect.

Tristan’s POV
I stared at Venus, who as 2 rows ahead and 3 columns to the left of me. I stared at the side of her face until she moved her hair and used it as a curtain between us. I smirked, that’s right.

I’m glad I make her nervous. Yet I don’t really know why.

“Daniels” I reluctantly turned to face Mr.Macross. Staring at Venus is so much more fun than listening to this old man, “Let’s start our project yes?”

I nodded. I liked group projects; they meant that I didn’t have to do any work. As long as I chose a nerd and turned on the Good Ole Daniels Charm.

“Go! Find a partner!” Mr.Macross shouted. I was about to claim my friend Chris and a random nerd when Mr.Macross added, “Only groups of two!”

I cursed as Chris claimed the nerd I had in sight. I’ll get him for that later. I looked around and saw that the class was quickly partnering up.

Then I spotted Venus, a guy had claimed her. I growled. My wolf did not like this one bit.

Her scent floated towards me. She smelled like caramel and lilies, she must’ve showered before coming to class. She didn’t smell like me anymore. And I was pissed for some reason. That guy was new this year and didn’t know how I ran things around here, but I’ll teach him. The class was almost done partnering up when I picked up my desk in one hand, books in the other and slammed it down right in-between Venus and the new guy.

“My partner,” I said putting a hand on Venus’ desk.

The new guy looked shocked, “N-no! She’s my partner.”

I shot him a deadly glare. I was about to tell him to fuck off when Mr.Macross appeared next to the new guy.

“Yes. Mr. Daniels, he is Ms.Ballentynes partner.”

I shook my head, “No he isn’t. I am!”

“He claimed her first.”

“He didn’t claim her” I growled lowly. The new guy isn’t even a werewolf.

Mr.Macross was dead set about not letting me be with Venus—to be her partner I mean.

“Mr. Daniels find a new partner.”

I looked him in the eye, “No I am joining this group.” I said leaking Alpha power into my command. Any werewolf obeys and even humans were compelled to listen to it.

Mr.Macross quickly looked uncomfortable as if he was having an internal conflict. “Alright,” he said with a pained face, and walked away to bother another group.

I smirked, it never fails.

I sat down in my desk and the moment I did I felt Venus tense up beside me. I could feel her heart rate pick up as fear settled into her system. I smirked again, perfect. I looked from the new guy to Venus, and kept my gaze there as I spoke, “So which countries economy are we taking on?”

**

Venus’ POV

I stormed into Art just to find that Robins already there working on her crystal ball painting. I ran to our table, I needed to do some serious venting. Tristan had annoyed the hell out of me. And hid friend, what’s his name—Chris!

Chris kept throwing staples at my hair while Tristan laughed at it. He didn’t stop until Mr.Macross yanked the stapler out of Chris’ hands, Chris was about to complain until Mr.Macross looked him dead in the eye and said, “Detention.” That shut him right up.

Unluckily that left all of Tristan’s undivided attention to our group, to be more specific it left him to glare down my partner Jason. It made both of us extremely uncomfortable.

I kept waiting for Tristan to lean over punch Jason in the face for breaking one of his rules.

I made myself nervous with the mere anticipation. My palms were sweaty, my heart was thumping twice as fast as I could blink. Tristan’s musky scent wasn’t helping either, it kept making me calm yet excited—what the hell is up with that? I have had to shower in the gym showers before class to wash his damn scent off me.

Not to mention that I was scared.

Scared of what he might do simply because I know what he can do.

Tristan just sat there in all his cocky arrogance, wearing his infamous smirk. The bastard.

I grabbed my cube and slammed it down onto our table. Robins head whipped up from her work. I got out my tools and began to angrily chip off the pieces; giant chunks fell off from under the pressure of my tool.

“What’s wrong?” Robin asked.

I shook my head, “Nothing. I just need to vent some anger.”

“Alright, just don’t kill your work.”

I silently nodded and Robin focused on her crystal ball again.

I didn’t feel like talking, I felt like taking my anger out. And I was going to do that through art work. I haven’t felt an emotion so strongly in a really long time. Comparing my hate for Tristan, with my dislike for Alpha Henny, would make it seem like Alpha Henny and I are great friends; which we are kind of becoming because I had judged Alpha Henny unfairly.

He’s been so kind to me and Brady. I think that I could eventually forgive him.

I just hate how Tristan can make me feel any emotion he wants so immensely, and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t affect him in any way; it makes me feel even more helpless than I already am. I hate feeling so helpless, fragile and weak.

I sighed and put my tools down; I’ve been using the word “hate” far too much today.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. I felt the anger, and little bit of fear, leave my body. I did what I learned to do in the city; I cut off my emotions and let my body go numb with emptiness. Doing this hurts me deep down inside, it’s like it harms my soul but letting the emotions run throughout my body would be disastrous. I took another deep breath in.

“Feel better now?” Robin asked.

I slowly let it out, “Oh yeah,” I said and opened my eyes.

Robin was smiling at me, “Cool. Still wanna stay for practice today?” she asked me while taking off her signature black leather jacket and hanging it on the back of her chair. Robin was always known as the badass chick in school. Maybe that’s why Tristan didn’t scare her away from me; he knew not to mess with her.

“No,” I said quietly.

She laughed, “Me either.”

Robin didn’t need the practice. If there was one thing she excelled at, and surpassed the best, it was archery. She would be taking her team to the State championship and then onto Nationals.

I smiled at her laziness. Robin suggested a movie night at her house when I remembered about the promise I had made Brady last night. “I have to help Brady and Al-uh his brother, finish moving in.”

She slowly nodded, “Oh that’s right. It’s cool; we still got our Monday Movie Horror Night Mania, right?” Robin suggested to our special weekly tradition.

I smiled at her, “Yeah, it’s your turn to pick the movies.”

Her eyes went wide, “Shit! That’s right I almost forgot!”

“Robiiiiin,” Mr. Campbell warned about her yelling and foul language.

Robin sat up straight, “Yes, sir!” she mock saluted. Mr. Campbell shook his head but laughed and went back to helping a student.

I leaned in close to Robin and whispered, “You purposely get into trouble so you can hear him say your name.”

She turned to me with a big smirk on her face, “Hell yeah!”

I laughed at her sneakiness.

The rest of the period went on like that; Robin explaining why which teachers were hot and others were not even close. She even explained why Ms. Charms was a she-beast that deserved to be stabbed in the heart, or fired—you know either way is fine.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day and the beginning of the weekend. Robin and I put our things away and walked to the Senior parking lot.

She was in the middle of telling me how she’d throw the biggest party the second Ms. Charms was fired, when a girl with pretty auburn hair approached us. She stepped right in front of me and gave me a sweet smile—it was fake.

“Hi,” she said looking at me. She looks familiar.

I just looked at her and Robin said, “Hey.”

She made a condescending face at Robin that said ‘was I talking to you, little girl?’ even though Robin was taller than both of us. Then I recognized her.

Everyone calls her Kelsey, and she’s a werewolf. Her family joined the Pavone’s pack three years ago or so. Rumor has it that ever since then she’s been fooling around with Tristan so that one day he’ll properly mate with her and mark her as the Pavone’s future Luna—typical story in every pack.

She was just like Andromeda. Do what they want to get what they want.

There’s no question there. The question is, why is she talking to us?

She’s one of the werewolves that thinks very lowly of humans, I’m sure she categorizes me as one of them, or possibly even lower on the scale than them. And I hear she’s a real bitch. After she was done giving Robin her dirty look, she turned to smile at me.

“I heard what happened in Mr.Macross’ fifth period Econ class.” She lifted her Prada bag further up her shoulder, “and I came to clarify things.” She said as she slipped her hair over her shoulder.

I don’t need to be a werewolf to smell Tristan’s scent all over her, or to know that she banged him sometime today. It caused me to feel something in the pit of my stomach that hurt.

“Oh?” I said pained.

“Yeah, despite all the rumors going around I know that there nothing going on between you and my Tristan.”

Rumors? There were rumors? They started and spread so quickly.

Robin looked down at her, “Then what’s there to clarify?”

Kelsey ignored Robin completely and continued, “I just came to make sure that you keep it that way.”

“What if she doesn’t?” Robin said but Kelsey didn’t listen to her.

“Because if you don’t,” Robin threw her hands up into the air, frustrated because she was being ignored, “I will become your worst nightmare bitch,” Kelsey finished with another fake smile.

Cursing really isn’t Kelsey’s thing.

Robin broke out laughing. I knew that she was laughing at Kelsey’s way of cursing. Kelsey is a high class hooker – Ha, no not really. But her family has got money and she’s not afraid to flaunt it. Hence the designer clothes and heels she wears to school. Who in their right mind would ever wear heels to school daily?

If her body wasn’t so full of pure evil then she could be a great model. Too bad she’s also ugly on the inside. Kelsey finally chose to not ignore Robin anymore, and snarled loudly at her. It didn’t faze Robin though. Kelsey opened her mouth to say something.

“Venus,” a deep voice called me, and we all froze. Kelsey with her mouth open, Robin with wide eyes, and me with tingles all over my spine.

It was a voice with power.

An arm wrapped around my shoulder in a half hug, “Ready to go?” I looked up to see that it was Alpha Henny that had spoken. Kelsey must’ve known who he was because her demeanor did a full 180.

Her smile quickly went from sickly sweet to flirtatious in a matter of seconds. “Hello there,” she said to Alpha Henny, keeping an eye on his arm around my shoulder, “I’m Kelsey!”

Wow, she really wants to be Luna. It doesn’t even matter to what pack, as long as she gets to be a Luna. Or maybe, she knows that she was caught being a bitch and is now trying to play it off.

“Hi,” Alpha Henny said taking his arm off just to rest his arm on my right shoulder and lean on it, “You one of Venus’ friends?”

“Of course!” she said twisting her hair around. Alpha Henny chuckled darkly, “Then you shouldn’t threaten her, because last I checked friends don’t do that.”

Robin laughed loudly. I can’t believe he’s standing up for me even though we’ve only known each other for a few days. For a murderer he’s a great friend.

Maybe I can really forgive him.

Kelsey lost control of her façade, and for a split second we witnessed the pure evil and ugliness she harbored inside until she pulled herself together nanoseconds later, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Robin snorted, “Please harlot,” Kelsey nearly snarled at her, “You’ve been caught red-handed.”

Pride swelled within me, because my friends are standing up for me—also because Robin used the word ‘harlot’ correctly.

Kelsey gave Robin that condescending look. Robin returned it with her own look—by cocking her eyebrow and tilting her head to the side with a smirk. I’ve seen her give that look a million times before to different girls who had dared to mess with her.

It’s a look that says ‘whatcha’ gonna do about it?’ and it can set anyone off.

Thank God that she’s never used it on me before. I don’t know if I could withstand it and still manage to be her best friend. Robin finished with, “Did you come to pick a fucking bone with us, harlot?”

She was setting Kelsey off. Kelsey opened her mouth to complain, “Listen here you little piece of-”

“Kelsey!”

I looked behind Kelsey head and there, a few feet away, stood an angry Tristan—who was doing a great job at keeping his cool—glaring at us, “Come over here.”

Kelsey’s smile brightened up.

I got an idea and gave her a small smile, “Don’t worry Kelsey,” I wrapped my right arm around Alpha Henny’s side, giving him a half hug, “You don’t have to worry about anything.” I said softly.

I was tempted to give her a wink but I refrained myself when I heard the deadly growl come from Tristan.

“Now, Kesley!” he called her angrily.

Kelsey gave me a cheeky smirk before turning it into a sweet smile and strutting over to Tristan, who looked ready to rip off someone’s head—probably mine. One Kelsey reached him, she touched him and gave us a look that said ‘All mine.’

Robin moved in front of me blocking my view, “Hey I’m Robin Rhodes. Venus’ real friend” She didn’t bring out her flirty game face. She must think that I liked him or something. I removed my hand from his side.

She thinks that because that’s what I implied. Damn, I shouldn’t have followed my instincts, now Alpha Henny might be thinking that too. Just perfect.

I made a murderer think I’m interested.
Alpha Henny smiled politely at her, “Hey, I’m Henry Colt. And yes, I can see that.”

“Oh! You’re the infamous Henry—Brayden’s older brother right?” My eyes went wide at Robin’s question. She wouldn’t.

“That’s right. Did you say infamous?”

Robin eagerly nodded her head, “Yep, all this kid over here,” she winked at me, “has talked about for a while.”

I felt my face flush and I closed my eyes in annoyance—she did.

Alpha Henny broke out into a roar of laughter and Robin smiled slyly at me. “Well I hope so!” he said laughing. I’ve just gotten myself into some trouble. Then Alpha Henny gently pushed my head away causing me to laugh.

“If I catch his scent on you again, freak, there will be hell to pay.”

Yeah. I’ve just gotten myself into a shit load of trouble.