"You have got to be kidding me." Dante said in a low growl, crunching the paper of his class schedule in an angry tight fist. "We have one class together. One." His ember eyes surveyed the empty white hallways of the Mountain School, there was a monstrous gleam in his eyes that told me just how much he didn't like our new arrangement.

"One class, plus lunch." I corrected, placing a reassuring hand on his forearm. "It wont be so bad." I said. In fact, I had an eager knot twisting in the pit of my gut. Not only had I never had a pack, but I'd never been to an actual school either. Just the thought of it sent a giddy thrill through me. And I was itching to find out why so many kids hated it.

We turned a corner, our heels rapping softly in harmony as we made our way down the twisting corridors. Finally we came to a stop at a looming wood door, a little sign attached to it stated that it was Organic Chemistry.

I frowned looking down at the little white paper in my grip. "This is me." I said, the eager twist in my gut turned into a nervous drop, sending my stomach into the soles of my shoes. Sure I could take down teams of Searchers and testosterone heady Alpha's, no problem. So why did I feel like my knees were about to buckle and I was about to break out in hives at the thought of entering the little room?

I shook my head, a snarl daring to echo through me as I pushed the weak feeling away. I was the strong one. Nothing should ever make me nervous. "I'll see you at lunch." I said, turning to dismiss my beta.

"Yeah, yeah. See you at lunch." he mumbled. Raking a hand through his disheveled pale hair and turning on his heels. His annoyed grumbling faded away as he paced down the corridor, leaving me alone at the threshold of Organic Chemistry. I took a deep breath, composing myself into one of my many ruthless façade's and grabbed the metal handle, shoving my way through the door with a confident grin plaster on my face.

That grin widened when I caught the scent of heady leather and sandalwood.

My eyes scanned the room wanting to find the face behind the lingering smell. My gaze raked the wide class until they rested on a Guardian couple at the back of the room. The girl had platinum hair that ran in a thick braid over her right shoulder, her ember eyes taking me in with slight curiosity as I entered the room. But it was the boy that sat next to her that held my attention. I could practically see his hackles raising as my green eyes locked onto his black ones.

Oh, man. This was going to be soo much fun.

"You must be Dakota." Said an older women, unlocking my gaze from the bristling alpha. "I'm Ms. Foris. As you probably already gathered, I teach Organic Chemistry." She said, giving me an encouraging smile.

"Yes." I agreed. I could practically feel the alphas eyes boring into my skin from across the room.

"Class," She said, pulling the whole rooms attention towards us. "We have, yet another, new student." she looked to me. "Why don't you introduce yourself, dear?"

I shrugged and turned towards the eyes of the class. Humans, Keepers, and Guardians watched me with bland interest. "Hi. My names Koda. What's your name?"

The students giggled and snorted at my sarcastic tone. The Alpha narrowed his eyes, their dark depths churning like two angry cyclones as he pierced me with his flickering gaze.

Ms. Foris's easy smile faltered at my words. "No… I mean." she forced another smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. "Why don't you just tell us a little about yourself?"

I held up my hand, stretching my fingers out wide as I ticked off facts. "I'm 5'7. Single. Shoe size 8 ½. Sagittarius. And like my porridge hot. Unlike goldy locks over there who only likes it juuusst right." I jabbed a finger at the Guardian with the long blonde braid. There was a collective gasp from the humans at my provoking jeer, the Keepers hid smiles that tugged on their lips, and the male alpha's hand clenched into a tight fist, snapping a pencil in two.

The girl looked unfazed and she crooked a smile at me, oblivious to her partners unease. "Actually, I prefer oatmeal."

I shrugged. "Same thing."

Ms. Foris ran a hand through her hair, obviously frazzled. "Why don't you go take a seat." she mumbled turning back to the black board at the front.

With exaggerated slowness I made my way around the room, making sure I brushed past the tense Guardian. I could see the air around him hum as he struggled to stay human. Finally I took my seat at the far side of the room, beside a human boy. I gave him a lazy smile. "Hello."

He didn't hesitate. "What did you do to make Ren so pissed?" He jabbed a thumb at the young Alpha, who kept stealing narrow eyed glances at our table.

"Your quite the observer." I said, spreading my fingers along the black lab table and thrumming them in a low gallop. So the alpha's name is Ren. I glanced in his direction, seeing that he was looking straight at me, I waved and flashed a fang filled smile.

He looked ready to explode with rage.

"Yeah well I'm not really on Laroche's favorites list either." he said, pulling my gaze from Ren. He gave me an easy smile and stuck out his hand. "By the way I'm Shay Doran."

I grasped his hand with a chuckle. "Dakota North." I said. "But you can call me Koda- Hey have I met you before?" I frowned, there was something about his mossy green eyes that was familiar. Though I tended to keep my distance from humans, this one just seemed… different.

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "I doubt it. I just moved here myself." He eyed me expectantly. "So, what did you do to make Ren so mad?" His voice was laced with honest curiosity. I would have felt bad if I'd lied to him.

So I told him the truth.

"I tried to kill him."

"Hmm." Shay said, pursing his lips as if he wasn't sure if I was joking or serious. Finally he said, "Yeah, trying to kill people tends to piss them off."

I shrugged. "Who would of thought."

After about an hour of boredom the bell finally rang, telling my already ravenous stomach that it was lunch time. Shay, whose eyes always seemed to be glued on the blonde guardian, bolted from the room hot on her heels, leaving me to clean up the supplies that were scattered on our table.

Grabbing test tubes and glass jars I turned to dump them in their labeled boxes, but was stopped when I hit a hard muscular wall. One that caused me to lose my grip on the objects, sending them tumbling to the ground at my feet, shattering into hundreds of sharp glittering shards.

I frowned looking up into Ren's dark eyes. With him so close I could see tiny silver flecks adorning his black irises. "Your fault." I accused, pointing a finger at the mess. "I sure as hell aint cleaning that up."

He waited until one last lingering student had left the room, leaving us completely alone.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled, grabbing my wrists and pinning them to the table behind me.

I bared my canines at his aggressiveness, but my voice was level and taunting as I spoke. "Didn't Logan tell you?"

He blinked, momentarily confused at me speaking his master's name. I was well aware of the feeling of his body flushing mine, our legs brushing each other, his face just inches from my own. His closeness made my hackles raise… before then making me blush, of course. What the hell! My mind screamed. I mean sure Ren was rather good looking, but I hadn't expected my body to react to his in such a… such a positive way. I snarled more at myself then at him. "Let go of me."

His grip on me only tightened as he ignored my words. "What does Logan have to do with this?"

"Well," I said, trying to wiggle my hands free. "Why don't you go ask him."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you just tell me." He shrugged. "Save me the trip."

"Why don't you just let go of me." I shrugged, mimicking him. "Before I kick you in your-"

"Oh good, you've met." Said a silky voice.

We turned to see Logan leaning casually in the open doorway, sunglasses shading his eyes like always. He cocked a smile at us, one that sent a cool chill through me. Ren stiffened before slowly releasing my wrists and taking a small step back.

I choked on a laugh. "Oh, now you let go."

Ren shot me a steely glance.

I raised a defiant finger.

"Bonding already, I see." Logan said with sarcastic delight, walking fluidly into the room.

"Oh yes, we're definitely bonding. Right Ren?" I punched him on the arm and gave him a cheeky grin.

"Why is she here?" Ren demanded… in a relatively respectful sort of way.

Logan looked to me, raising a dubious eyebrow. "You didn't tell him?"

"Why should I have to? You're the "Master"" Ren gave me an incredulous look, clearly projecting that he thought I was crazy for speaking to a Keeper in such a disrespectful way.

Logan shrugged off my words and turned to Ren. "Dakota here will be joining your pack."

"Whaaattt?"

"You should be honored to have such a great warrior joining your ranks." continued Logan, ignoring Ren's horrified look. "Dakota North is a legend among Keepers. I expect you'll treat her the way you would the others."

"But she-"

"This is an order." Logan's whip-like tone made Ren stiffen. "Do you understand Renier?"

Ren cleared his throat. I suspected it was so he wouldn't release a growl with his words. "Of course, Logan."

"Good." Logan said. "Now why don't you go introduce Dakota to the rest of her new pack mates." and with those last words Logan left the room just as quickly as he'd come.

Ren raked a hand through his dark ruffled hair and glanced at me. His eyes assessing me with a flicker of anger. He opened his mouth to speak but then stopped, his eyes turning from angry to amused in a flash. "Wait a minute." He said, a grin spreading slowly across his face. "Your in my pack."

"Yes. Very good Ren! You were paying attention." I said, letting the sarcasm drip. "That earns you a cookie for listening."

He shook his head, a cheeky smile plastered forever on his face. "Your in my pack." he repeated again. "I'm your Alpha."

"Yeah. Your point?" I snapped, a growl trickling with my words. His bemused tone was really starting to bug me.

"You have to follow my orders." He laughed darkly.

"I-" I blanked at his words. My mind churned slowly, trying to process what he'd said. When I finally understood, all my earlier cockiness dried up. My shriek echoed through out the entire building. "Son of a bitch!"