Their Powerful Hybrid Mate

Lorraine Tick tick tick Question one. Screech Question one. A ball is thrown into the air - Tap tap tap Fuck me. I let out a heavy sigh, trying to ignore the kid next to me tapping his pencil against his desk, and all the other tiny noises that came during a test, when no talking was allowed. I didn't get any sleep last night, again, and every little noise was threatening to send me over the edge. Tick tick tick The clock was just as insufferable as the boy next to me. I needed to focus. Question one. Again. A ball is thrown into the air with an initial velocity of 20 m/s. The height ℎ of the ball above the ground after t seconds is given by the function h(t)=−5t2+20t+10. a) Find the velocity function v(t), which represents the velocity of the ball at any time t. b) Determine the time at which the ball reaches its maximum height. Goddess, I hate calculus. Why on earth they thought it was a good idea to teach eleventh graders calculus is beyond me. Half the class didn't know how to balance a checkbook or even sign their own name, but calculus, yeah, let's do that. So practical for all us average students who are just trying to get by. "Average, you?" Professor Harold said with a chuckle. "Let's work through it." "If you keep butting in, I'm never going to get it." I huffed under my breath. "If I didn't butt in, you'd be held back for sleeping through most of your classes. It's a miracle that you are able to learn as well as you can, otherwise you'd be in serious trouble right now." I let out another heavy sigh and dared to look at the clock. I only had half an hour to get through all forty questions. I was never going to make it. Maybe taking his help again wouldn't hurt. Learning information was no problem, it was knowing the information when I was asleep most of the time, as he so helpfully pointed out. "Fine." I grumbled. "Smart girl." He grunted. "Now, to find the velocity function, we need to take the derivative of the height function with respect to time...." Professor Harold helped me through all of my test questions. I finished just before the bell rang, and our teacher dismissed us, collecting our tests on the way. Mr. McGrath eyed me wryly, as always. "How do you think you did?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. "Fine, same as always." I shrugged as I handed him my test. I didn't hang around for him to respond. My teachers were all a little...unsure of me. Rightfully so. I slept through most of their classes and came out with perfect grades or nearly prefect grades. Either I was a genius or a liar and they didn't know which. My records were heavily sealed, so they had no idea who I really was or where I came from. And the reason behind that, well, that's my little secret. It's been my secret since I left home when I was fourteen and moved into a new pack with my grandparents far away from where my gifted royal family lived. My brother Hunter even cast a spell over my grandparents and I that would keep our identities secret unless we chose to tell someone. It's a long story, but to sum it up, two oddball werewolves, one a king, the other a gifted hybrid, met and made a bunch of pups. My siblings have their own cool gifts, intuition, spell casting, one can even control the weather, but not me. I was 'gifted' with the ability to talk to the dead. I would call it more of a curse than a gift. It was annoying when I was young, but the older I get, the more my powers seem to grow. And not only that, but my stupid ass heard that my brothers needed my help a few months ago, and I stepped in to help...with an entire undead army. That made my life so much worse. Since then, word has spread among the spirit realm apparently, and I have been being harassed ever since. It's worse at night, hence why I'm not getting any sleep. But at least people here don't look at me like I'm a freak. Well, not any more than any other high school weirdo anyway. People back home used to be afraid of me, like somehow the spirits I spoke with would suddenly grab them and drag them into oblivion. Or that I would start contorting and crawling after them like in some horror movie. Or worse, that my royal family would hang them by their toes for even speaking of the elephant in the room. These days, the only weird looks I get are from my teachers, or other envious students who pay enough attention to notice me sleeping through most of my classes while also maintaining a nearly perfect GPA. Gym class was probably the only area of concern. I was too tired to try to muddle through and often skipped class, but with how high my other grades were, it wouldn't be a problem come graduation next year. "Hey pretty lady!" My friend, Sarah, said, running up next to me, her arms full of books. She looked as flawless as ever, wearing a cute pink ruffled top with deep blue skinny jeans that made her blue eyes pop. Her chestnut colored hair was swept over her shoulder, a few loose strands framing her face. A far cry from what I looked like. Wearing sweatpants and an oversize hoodie, opting for comfort today over style. Just like most days. My hair was brushed but down, like always. I dyed it light brown this time, trying to hide the silvery white locks that began growing a few years ago. My skin was pale from lack of proper sunlight and I had bags under my eyes more times than not. I wore contacts to hide my unusually bright silver eyes, which turned them from interesting and alluring to a dull and lifeless blue color. I looked like a zombie next to her. "Hey." I said, fighting the yawn that wanted to escape. "You look rough, couldn't sleep again?" She frowned, concern etched in her gorgeous face. Goddess, I wish I had her glowing skin. I was paler than the moon. I shook my head. While Sarah was a good friend, I still haven't brought myself to tell her of my gifts, or that I'm essentially royalty. No one knew anything about my life before coming here, and I made sure to keep it that way for the past three years. "Maybe you should go see the pack doctor? Get a sleep aid or something." She suggested. "Yeah, maybe." I sighed. I'd be lying if I said a sleep pill didn't cross my mind every now and then. I have tried over-the-counter brands, but the spirits are far more...persuasive than the low-dose pills are. We stopped at our lockers and grabbed our lunches. I had half a mind to go to the nurse's office just to get a few minutes of sleep, but that would only raise more alarms and questions, both of which I didn't want. "So, rumor has it that this year's prom will be hosted at the alpha's home." "Yeah?" I asked unamused. "Mhm!" Sarah beamed. "They finally finished whatever renovations they were working on and want to have a party to celebrate, and I heard the teachers talking about it, they said Alpha might allow our prom to be the first big event! The triplets might even be there. How exciting is that?!" She giggled. Ah, the triplets. Noah, Owen, and Zach. They were three years older than us, and all kinds of trouble. I personally had been counting down the days until they got shipped off to the very prestigious college that their father, Alpha Rodger, built from the ground up. It was a specialized school for gifted, motivated people to expand their knowledge. They left shortly after their graduation, and I've only seen them a few times since. Thank goddess. "They are just people, Sarah." I frowned. "Gorgeous, muscular, identical people." She scoffed. "Who have yet to find their mate." "Even though they have f****d half the she-wolves in this pack and the next," I snorted. "Well then that just means they know what they are doing." Sarah rebounded. Ah, to have her positive outlook on life. "You are going to prom, right?" Sarah asked, quickly changing gears as we made our way down the three flights of stairs to get to the cafeteria. "I never have before. Why would I start now?" I frowned. I don't like crowds. I don't like people most days, especially dead ones. "Why not? You will be eighteen later this year, it might not hurt to get to know some of your prospective mates." She smiled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "And of course, I'm going to be there, so that should be reason enough." She said with a cheesy smile. I looked at her and we both laughed, and then suddenly a flash of a dark ominous figure appeared before my eyes, rattling me to my core. The shock of seeing such a creature sent me toppling down the second flight of stairs. "Lorraine!" Sarah exclaimed. But before I could even move or answer, two strong hands were on me, checking me over. "Hey are you okay?" Noah asked, concern written all over him. His brown hair was perfectly styled, as always, his beard trimmed short. Not to mention he was the picture of perfect health. I could see his muscles flexing beneath his shirt, just itching to be set free. His deep blue eyes bore into mine as she looked over me from head to toe. Although he was a triplet, he and his brothers each had their own distinct appearance, despite what Sarah had to say about it. Owen has short dark brown hair and green eyes, and Zach has curly light brown, almost blond hair and light blue eyes. "What are you doing here?" I found myself asking before anything else, too shaken up by the dark figure to answer his question. "Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and see the coach." He half smiled, helping me up. "Hi Noah." Sarah blushed, as she brought me my discarded lunch. My sandwich was crushed for sure. "Hi." He nodded back to her, looking at my crushed paper bag. "Do you need a new lunch?" He frowned. "No, it's fine. I'm not really hungry anyway." I said with a yawn. "Thanks for....this." I said awkwardly, gesturing to the stairs and floor. "Can I take you to the nurse?" He asked, looking over me and gently grabbing my arm which had a nasty brush burn on it, courtesy of the stairs. "No, I swear i'm fine. We'd better get going though. Have a nice day." I said, grabbing Sarah's hand and leading her down the rest of the steps. Sarah was giving me daggers for denying his help, but I didn't care. I didn't need or want his help. He and his brothers spent all of their free time harassing me from the moment I arrived in the pack. Even with their limited time, they somehow managed to get in my way and tease me to no end. I was happy when they left for college. But in all honesty, it wasn't them so much that bothered me, it was the other students, the girls primarily, that got jealous and would lash out because of it. The triplets almost seemed like they wanted to be my friends, but didn't know how to show it, especially with how distant I kept them, and everyone else. Sarah and I just became friends last summer. She was my first real friend to date. Though that could change if she ever finds out about my...gifts. I glanced over my shoulder just as we were rounding the corner and found Noah's eyes locked onto me still. Fuck me. Sarah and I quickly headed to the lunchroom, but not before stopping in the bathroom, so I could clean myself up a bit after falling down the stairs. Part of me also needed that time to take a few deep breaths and get the dark image of that man out of my head. His teeth. His claws. All of it needed to go. I had a few dark spirits harass me in the past, but nothing so...sinister looking. I splashed some water on my face and met Sarah back in the hall. She was already eating half her sandwich. "You sure you're okay?" She asked, her head tilting to the side, assessing me. "Yeah, but I forgot something in my locker. I'll catch up with you later?" I asked, already taking some steps back. "Oh, okay sure." She nodded, giving me a tight smile. I didn't give her a chance to ask me any more questions or stop me. I made sure she wasn't watching as I snuck inside the library, which was empty given the time and today's technology. I found my usual spot in the back corner and rested my head on my bag, which had my sweater jammed inside, and quickly drifted off. - - - - - - - - "Hey... Lorraine." Someone called, pulling me from my deep sleep. My eyes fluttered open, my neck already aching from the odd position and probably from falling down the stairs. I winced as I sat up, irritation already fluttering through me at the sight of Noah sitting in front of me. "Noah. What are you doing here?" I frowned. "I was looking for you." He said, concern in his eyes. "I felt bad about your lunch, so I asked the lunch ladies to give you a replacement, but they said you never showed up." "Oh." I yawned. Noah spoke before I could say another word. "Do you come here often, to sleep?" I snorted. "Does it matter?" A bell rang, cutting him off from whatever he was about to say. "What time is it?" "Just after two." Shoot. I slept through two classes. "I'll be sure to let Principal Manning know you missed them because of your fall. We should really get your head checked out-" "Don't." I snapped, gathering my things. "Please, don't do anything for me." "Lorraine-" "Bye." I said, rushing out of the library and to my next and last class, my most loathed class; gym. - - - - - - - - As expected, it sucked. Today was a mandatory mile run, which, for any werewolf, shouldn't take more than a few minutes; shifted or not. Unfortunately for me, it took me a solid eleven minutes, thus giving me a failing grade. Shocker. What wasn't shocking was the scolding I got from our gym teacher, who was also the coach for the boys' soccer team, which Noah had played in. Noah, his star athlete, who was standing to the side, wore a frown on his face the entire time. "I'm sorry Mr. Davis, I'll try to do better next time." I said after his first verbal lashing. "Sorry? Lorraine, you have missed half of my classes! And you hardly put in any effort when you do decide to show up! Today's run counted for a good percentage of your grade, you are going to fail gym-" "Hey, Mr. Davis, long time no see!" Noah said, swooping in. I rolled my eyes as they embraced, already grabbing my bag to leave. "I'll be calling your parents-" Mr. Davis yelled as he saw me preparing to leave. "I couldn't help but overhear. She had failed her run?" "Not all of my students are as motivated as you are, unfortunately." He sighed. "She didn't tell you that she fell down the stairs earlier? She was limping and everything. It's a miracle she is standing right now." Noah said, and I paused my steps. "Is this true?" Mr. Davis asked. As much as I couldn't stand Noah, I appreciated this gesture. And so I nodded. Mr. Davis huffed but scribbled something down on his clipboard he always carried around. "One week Fuller. You will retest in one week, no exceptions." He pointed at me with his pen. I only nodded, looking over to Noah with a silent thanks before heading out. Maybe college has helped Noah grow up. He was nothing but nice to me today. But I think back to two years ago, before they went off to college, and remember the hair pulling, how they would call me 'Rainey'. I remember the three of them snatching my books from me and tossing them over my head to each other like you would in the game monkey in the middle. Only, I was a foot shorter than them at the time, and not ballsy enough to challenge the three future alphas. Not when I had finally gotten into a pack that I thought I might actually be able to call home. I shook off the thought and the gesture, and went to my locker to drop off my things and finally head out. What a stupid long day. The halls were mostly empty by the time I got to the first floor, careful to hold the railing and walk slowly on my way down. I could see the glass doors leading to my freedom when my name was called, again. "Miss Fuller. A word please?" Our principal said, her glasses low on her nose, her foot tapping aggressively. "Uh, sure." I said, giving the doors one last longing look before following Principal Manning into her office...where my math, science, history and English teachers were all waiting, my grandparents seated between the group in the too small of a room, frowns on all of their faces. This day just keeps getting better and better.