Wild and Free

Chapter Chapter Five



(Auden’s POV)

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.

Another werewolf pack house? Near White Chapel? Of course I’d be interested to see what it looked like. Two and a half years of never seeing another of my kind, yes I might want to see.

But even knowing about it was a risk. I overheard, or more eavesdropped on Riley and Mason talking about their pack house in class the day after the mindlinking thing. It made me nervous to think that a pack was out there, so close to White Chapel. So close to me.

“Okay everyone, I’d like you to get in sets of three for your literature groups,” Mrs. Bradford instructed, right after I stopped listening to their conversation, “You together will choose a novel, read it collectively and do a presentation on it.”

Cassie and I looked at each other. Holden would’ve been our automatic third pick but he wasn’t in our class so it was just the two of us and we weren’t close with anyone.

“This is a big project and I expect you to work hard on it because I’m giving you time in class to work as well as out. I’ll dismiss two groups at a time to go to the library in this period to pick your novels.” our teacher went on. “And please pick appropriate books, please.” she pleaded and a group of guys in the back laughed, high fiving each other from that time that they picked out some little fourth grade books for their project. Cassie and I just smiled and rolled our eyes.

“You have ten minutes to pick your groups, come to me and i’ll note them and let you go to get your books,”

She turned and went to sit at her desk while the room erupted in chatter, everyone fighting to get with their friends.

“So definitely us but we need a third,” Cassie said. We both scanned the room looking for anyone who didn’t have a group.

I noticed Mason whispering something to his sister to which she rolled her eyes. She sat there for a second and I couldn’t sworn I saw her eyes turn white for a moment but it went away quickly just as she got up and started in the direction of our table.

“Hey do you guys need an extra person?” she asking nicely when she approached us.

“Yeah, we do actually, you’re Mackenzie right?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded, “Yeah but you can call me Kenzie, only my father calls me Mackenzie.” she joked, to which Cassie and I both laughed. “I also wanted to apologize for the seating thing yesterday, we didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“Oh no it’s fine. Not a big deal, we could’ve asked for you to move but we didn’t so it’s our fault too,” Cassie laughed.

“Yeah we got here early to get our transfer things worked out and my brother just grabbed the first seats he saw,” she explained, tucking a strand of her coffee colored hair behind her ear.

I looked over her shoulder, “That one’s your brother right?” I pointed my chin at Mason.

She nodded, “Unfortunately.”

I laughed in agreement and the three of us went to Mrs. Bradford who wrote down our name before letting us leave for the library. We were the first group to leave because the others had mostly just gotten together and started talking.

“So how are you liking White Chapel so far Kenzie?” Cassie asked while we were walking in the deserted school corridor.

She shrugged, “It’s pretty nice, different than I’m used to but still nice. I haven’t gotten to see the town much though because I live kind of far away.”

“Why not in town somewhere?”

“My father found a spot he likes out there. Honestly I have no idea,” she laughed. “But it’s a really nice place.”

“Maybe we can work there one day after school for the project!” Cassie said with an excited grin. Living in a normal house with your family kind of got you excited about places that were grand and new.

Kenzie went pale for a second but nodded, “Um yeah maybe, but we’re still moving in and the place is a mess so I’m not sure.”

“Okay well then my totally average house will have to do then!” Cassie joked as we all walked into the library.

“What’s wrong with your place?” Kenzie asked me in a hushed tone.

I swallowed, “Um, I’m not allowed to have people over during the week.”

“Then the weekend perhaps, to give Cassie a break,” she suggested, not meaning to be rude in any sense.

“Maybe...” I trailed off, going through the isles until we got to the novel section.

“What were you thinking of in terms of books?” Cassie asked us, ignoring the awkward moment. “I mean we could do a book that one of us has read and then we could give the others tips. You know just so we don’t just grab any book and have it end up not being good for a presentation?”

“That sounds like a fair plan, but the person should still have to reread it just to be fair,” I suggested. They both nodded in agreement.

We spent the next ten or so minutes looking for books that we read and liked and also would be good for a presentation. The criteria was thick and the options were slim.

I picked a book off the shelf and jumped when I saw another person on the other side of the bookshelf.

“Boo,” Mason said with a teasing smirk. I rolled my eyes and put the book back, blocking his view of me.

His little trio must’ve been the second group to sign up.

He pushed the book out of the way and opened the window again.

“Find a book yet?” he asked.

I shook my head and grabbed another from the shelf. Good story but not interesting enough for the project.

“Well I don’t really read so maybe you could give me some suggestions,” he said, taking down a book and pretending to study it.

I put the knockout book back on the shelf and faced him, “Here’s a suggestion, start reading.” I responded with a fake sweet smile. With that I pushed three more books in the way of the opening and went to and aisle that Cassie and Kenzie were looking through.

“Hey! I know,” I said, seeing a familiar title on the shelf and pulling it off to show them. “I’ll Give You the Sun. It’s written in kind of a unique, confusing way but the story is really good.”

Kenzie took the book and read to summary on the book.

“Aw you’re right it does sound good!”

“Okay well I have a feeling that if we stay here any longer Mrs. Bradford will think we left the school or something,” Cassie laughed, grabbing the other two copies off the shelf and checking all three out at the counter.

“Thanks for your suggestion Wilde,” someone called loudly across the room just as we were about to leave. I turned around to find a grinning Mason, leaning all broodingly against a bookshelf. The girls turned and looked at me confused and I just rolled my eyes.

“SHHH!” the librarian scolded him, causing me to smirk. He looked at me and scowled just before I slipped out the door with Kenzie and Cassie trailing, dumbfounded behind me.

“Okay I’m all for my brother being humiliated but what was that?” Kenzie asked while we walked back.

“He told me he doesn’t really read and asked me for a suggestion so I suggested that he start reading,” I explained vaguely.

“Nice job A!” Cassie cheered, “You call out that rude asshole!” her eyes widened and she looked and Kenzie, “No offense,” she cringed, biting her lip.

She just grinned in response, “None taken. Why do you guys hate each other so much? I mean he’s only been here a couple days.”

I shrugged and hugged the book to my chest, “We met on Saturday. Neither of us were really looking where we were going and bumped into each other. My necklace got caught on a button on his sleeve and he almost broke it when he pulled away. I tried apologizing but he didn’t say anything. Just sort of stood there scowling.”

Cassie stepped in as well, “Yeah and it was his fault too. I think it’s just common sense to say sorry even if it isn’t entirely your fault.”

Kenzie did say anything but cursed under her breath and I knit my brows in confusion but brushed it off.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized on his behalf, “I’ll smack him later for you.”

I grinned and the three of us made our way back to our English room. We gave our teacher the name and author of the book before she told us to sit at our seats and begin reading and taking notes.

About twenty minutes later the bell rang and we all filed out to go to our next class.

“Want to maybe meet up for lunch?” Kenzie asked us before we split up.

We both nodded, “Yeah definitely, just look for us. We’ll wave you over if we see you first.”

“Great! See you later,”

“Bye!”

Once she was gone Cassie leaned over and whispered in my ear, “So she’s a werewolf too?”

I nodded.

“Dang it,” she cursed, “I really like her.”

“Just because she’s a werewolf doesn’t mean she’s a threat and you have to be afraid of her.”

She looked at me sideways, “So you don’t think that her brother is making her do his dirty work or anything?”

I shook my head, “I definitely would have figured it out by now. Plus she seems to think he’s as much of a pain in the ass as I do so that’s something we can both agree on,” I grinned.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

Comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend


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