Kim and Zara had made their lunch date a daily thing, so they were, unfortunately, growing closer. Jared always sat in on their conversations, so I made it a point not to sit with him.

Today, however, I had no choice. There were no free tables.

"I went to the museum in Cairo and then Luxor and Hathor temple," I heard Zara say.

I rolled my eyes. Shock. She's boasting again. What a surprise.

Kim's eyes were round and wide. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

Zara smiled. "You have to go to Egypt Kim. It is something you have to do at least once in your life!"

Kim's giddy smile faded. She didn't say anything this time, and I could see Jared look completely disheartened. I knew he had this constant fear that Kim was missing out on things because of imprinting…. because of him.

I glared at Zara as an awkward silence now settled around the table.

Zara met my gaze, and I took satisfaction in the fact that she quickly looked away. She nervously rubbed her neck. "Uh…"

Thankfully the bell rang, and saved us all.

{}{}{}

Everyone was sitting in their final class of the day except me. It was my turn to go out on patrol, but I was still waiting for Jacob to join me. The halls were silent as I hovered beside my locker.

Just then Jared and Embry came down the hall. "Hey, how was your shift?" I asked.

"Fine," they answered.

It was another five minutes before Jacob finally arrived.

Straight away I got him into a headlock. "Sam's going to kick both our asses if you keep being late."

Jacob tried to wrestle his way out of my grip, but he had no chance. The other two were cheering me on as I continued to dominate Jacob.

Suddenly there was a sweet smell in the air. It was a mixture of marshmallows and vanilla. We all turned in the direction of the perfume, and a second later Zara appeared from around the corner. She stopped when she saw us. It never failed to surprise me how strange Zara looked in school. Her outfits were more fitting of a her working in high end bank or something with her cream shirt tucked into a pink, knee-length skirt.

"Jared," Zara said then with such relief. Her eyes seemed to light up, and that bothered me.

The sound of her pink heels echoed as she came closer. After saying a quick hello to Jacob and Embry, she turned hopefully to Jared. "Can we talk?"

Jared gave me a sideways look, but I was too busy glaring at Zara. Why the hell does she want to talk to him?

Zara just ignored me and kept her focus on Jared while he was just trying not to notice the slight shake in my arms. I slowly let go of Jacob then and both he and Embry also looked concerned. They're probably worried about what Paul, the mayor of anger might do.

"S-ure," Jared eventually said.

He walked Zara away from us then.

"What's up?" Jared asked when they were a safe distance away. He was still overly aware of me though.

"Well...I just wanted to apologise," Zara started, "I think I may have put my foot in my mouth at lunch and I got this feeling that I may have said something wrong."

A slow smile spread across Jared's face then, and he quickly shook his head. "Oh no Zara it's not you, it's me. It's hard to explain but thanks anyway."

Zara grinned, showing her pearly white teeth. "Oh great because I was really worried that I offended you or something."

I couldn't handle this anymore she was sweet talking her way out of trouble! Even though both Jacob and Embry tried to get me to stay, I didn't.

Zara jumped a little when she saw me suddenly appear beside Jared.

I glared at her. "It's not so much putting your foot in your mouth as showing off."

"Paul!" Jared snapped.

Immediately Zara's almond-shaped eyes faced me. They were just so big, and It was like I was staring into pools of shiny melted chocolate. I found myself getting lost in them for a second.

Zara's smile disappeared, but she remained calm. "Excuse me," she said putting her hands on her hips.

I continued to stare her down. "You heard."

Zara rolled her eyes then. "What would the infamous Paul know?"

I felt my jaw clench. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Zara just shrugged. "Your reputation precedes you."

My hands balled into fists then. "As?"

"As a complete and utter tosser," Zara answered before walking off.

Immediately Jacob was on his phone as he tried to find out what her English slang meant.

"Oooh," I heard him say before he handed his cell phone to Embry. By now they were laughing.

I walked towards them then and made a move to grab the phone, but Jacob just shook his head as he moved it out of my reach. "No way. I'm not showing you, " he said as we both left Embry and Jared and slipped through the fire exit. "I don't want to be the reason you phase," Jacob finished.

We were barely near the edge of the forest when I grabbed his cell phone.

Jacob tried to grab it back "Paul no!"

It was too late.

Tosser. Noun: (British slang) a stupid or despicable person

I phased immediately.

{}{}{}

Out on patrol

Sam: Paul, You have to break away and go see Mrs Castellano. One of her kids ran into the forest 30 minutes ago and hasn't been seen since.

I groaned. Stupid kid! He's probably lost…serves him right.

Sam ran past me then. Go, Paul.

With a roll of my eyes, I changed course and headed north towards the school. I had barely time to phase back when Mrs Castellano came running out. She was a chubby middle-aged woman with light blonde hair.

"Paul! Paul! You have to go and find Fabien. Some kids were bullying him during recess, and now he's disappeared," she explained while nearly on the verge of tears.

I held up my hands. "Okay. Okay."

I quickly walked back into the forest and started roaming around in human form. It felt like a good twenty minutes of pushing my way through the thick branches that I caught the scent of baby shampoo, and subconsciously I started to follow it. What were his parents thinking though? Fabien…really? That's enough to get any kid beaten up.

Just then I heard someone sniffing, and sure enough after clearing a few more trees, I spotted a kid sitting on a large rock. He was staring into a massive pond with his knees drawn to his chest, and his arms wrapped around them.

"Hey, kid!" I announced out of the blue.

The boy jumped out of his skin in response.

I held up my hands as I emerged from between the trees, showing him that I meant no harm.

The boy's large brown eyes watched me nervously as he took a shuffled back.

He doesn't trust me...At least the kid has some sense. After all, I'm a 6 foot something stranger with more strength and speed than him.

"Fabien, right?" I asked, and when the boy nodded, I added, "Mrs Castellano sent me."

This seemed to upset him even more.

"Come on we have to get back," I told him.

However, the boy just shook his head and remained where he was.

I was stumped. I'd never had to deal with kids before.

"It's dangerous here," I tried to reason.

This still didn't help, and with a sigh, my hands reached into the pockets of my denim cut-offs. I pulled out the haribos that I'd been saving.

I held the packet out so that Fabien could see them. Straight away his eyes widened, in excitement.

I managed to smile as I kept the haribos just out of his reach. "If you want them then you have to come with me."

The boy sighed in defeat but was happy as he took the sweets from me and began to walk. We had barely reached the backyard of the school when I smelled that perfume. Oh sh-

Suddenly Zara appeared from around the school building, and as soon as she spotted Fabien, she came running.

My eyebrows shot up. Not only because it was impressive that she could run so fast in her ridiculous shoes that were gouging holes in the grass but also because what the hell was she doing here?

The second Zara reached Fabien she threw her arms around him. She hugged him hard.

He groaned, trying to push her away. "Zee zee I'm fine."

I screwed up my nose at the cute nickname before mentally slapping myself. If only I had got the kid to talk I would have known straight away that he was Zara's brother. His posh accent was a dead give-away. Zara's hands immediately travelled around his body to check for any injuries. When she didn't find any her worry quickly morphed into anger. Zara held her brother at arm's length.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she asked, shaking his shoulders a bit.

Fabien just shrugged before kicking the ground.

Zara glared at him. "Why the hell have you been acting so crazy lately? You could have got lost or hurt yourself!"

My forehead creased as I watched her scold brother. I couldn't check the impulse to say something. "Hey give him a break."

This was a mistake because just then Zara turned to face me. She stood up. "Did I ask for your opinion?" she said as she took Fabien by the hand. "Shock you are here. After all, you're nothing but trouble!"

"No zee actually," Fabien began. I knew that he was going to defend me, but Zara didn't want to hear any of it and turned on her heel. She pulled Fabien along and just before they disappeared he gave me an apologetic look over his shoulder.

My body started humming, and soon enough I was shaking like mad. That girl!

I immediately walked back into the forest and exploded. The next thing I knew I was crashing through the trees. What the hell is wrong with that spoilt brat! I just saved her brother from a danger that she doesn't even know about! Who does she think she is?!

{}{}{}

Fifteen minutes later

I had cooled off slightly but I was still in wolf form, and oddly enough I was subconsciously following Zara's car. I had no idea why I was staying near the source of my anger. This was so screwed up, but I just ran through the trees, keeping my eyes on the car that was only half a meter in front of me. It was another few minutes before Zara began to slow down as she approached a built-up area. The trees started to thin out near the road, so I was forced to move in a little deeper into the forest.

Eventually, Zara pulled up beside a large house and a posh one at that. It was three floors tall, with a large driveway and a front yard that was in pristine condition. The whole place was surrounded by a white picket fence and some perfectly straight hedges.

My chase had come to an end and yet I still just stood there staring at the pair in the car. It seemed that Zara had cooled off as well because she gave Fabien a small smile. He just sat there silently in the passenger seat.

Zara sighed. "Look…I'm sorry for shouting at you little man, but your school called me saying that it was an emergency. You had me so scared. Do you realise that?"

Fabien nodded as he turned to face her. `

"Are you going to tell me why you ran away?" she asked.

He shook his head.

Zara's held her hands together. "Pleeassse."

Fabien's eyes quickly welled up, and his lower lip wobbled. "They were making fun of the way I talk," he mumbled.

Zara's smile quickly fell. "Oh, Fabien." She leaned over to gather him into her arms. This time he accepted the gentle hug.

"I want to go home Zara," he sniffed.

At this Zara held Fabien tighter and she pressed her cheek to the top of his head. She stroked his hair as she looked out of the car window. I nearly ducked when I thought she was looking my way. However Zara wasn't, she was staring off into a memory inside her head. "So do I, little man, so do I but we can't. Dad's got a fancy new job here," she told him.

Fabien sniffed as he pulled away.

Zara held his hands. "You've got to understand that this is something that dad has wanted to do since he was my age and you sometimes know as a family you have to make sacrifices."

Fabien just wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Can you understand that?" Zara asked

Fabien paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Not really."

This made Zara laugh. "Yeah, why would you? You're only eleven." She then pulled a face at her little brother, and he started laughing.

Satisfied, Zara opened her door. "Come on you little troublemaker let's get some ice-cream."

At this, Fabien shot out of the car. "Yay!"

Zara's face fell for a moment as she trailed behind Fabien. "I wish my problems could be solved by ice-cream," she muttered to herself.

However, as soon as Fabien turned around, she put her smile back on. I continued to watch them as they raced to their front door and it was only when they disappeared inside did I look away.

She doesn't want to be here? I didn't understand why this idea bothered me. After all, she was annoying.

I don't want to spend time with her but if she returns to England now…My stomach subconsciously twisted.