Chapter 2

Sabine put on the happiest face that she could, even so, Adne wasn't buying it and she smacked her on the back of the head, just as Ethan came up to them and enveloped her in a huge bear hug, nearly cutting off her air supply. "Happy birthday," he sang, giving her a peck on the cheek, as to not embarrass her in front of the others.

She couldn't help but smile at Ethan and be annoyed at him at the same time. Sabine pinched him playfully on the arm. "I can't believe you told everyone that it was my birthday."

He shrugged apologetically. "I just can't believe that there's anyone in the world who doesn't like celebrating birthdays. That is just not normal." Well, sorry to burst his bubble, but for this chick, it was a very normal thing. She didn't mind the presents, who wouldn't, it was just that everyone went overboard trying their hardest to be nice to you, even if you didn't like the person. Why not be nice every day, instead of just on birthdays? The world would be a better place.

"Well believe it," she murmured, folding her arms against her chest, trying to ignore the fact that Connor had come up beside her and started dancing some kind of jig and singing very badly off key. Couldn't he see that she was talking with Ethan? Oh what she wouldn't give for a moment's silence. Her head felt like it was about to split open at any moment. "Connor, that's enough!" She grumbled, pushing him to the side.

"Sabine, what's wrong?" Inquired Ethan, who was helping Adne pick Connor up off the floor. What was wrong was the useless idiots trying to make her happy. Okay, so maybe they weren't useless and they weren't idiots. They were the closest thing that she had to family.

Anika had noticed Sabine pushing Connor and she came over to see what all the commotion was. "Is there a problem over here?" She asked, looking only at Sabine, who couldn't help but shrink into Ethan. Anika wasn't a bad lady by any means, but there were times when she scared the heck out of her.

"I'm sorry," Sabine moped. "I didn't mean to ruin the party. I'm just not in a very good mood right now. I know you guys are just trying to help, but it's actually making things ten times worse."

Instead of the scolding that Sabine figured was coming, Anika wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Would you like to talk about it? I find that if you talk about your problems, it tends to help immensely. So, spill it. I'm all ears. What's on your mind?"

Did Anika actually think that it would help to talk about this to her? Ha! Heck no. If anything, this would be a terrible thing to talk about, seeing as it had everything to do with the Elemental cross. And Sabine was pretty sure that if Anika were to ever find out what she was planning on doing, she would no doubt lock Sabine up for the rest of her life and that would not be good. If she was locked up, she wouldn't have any chance of ever becoming a wolf again and that was something that she wasn't okay with.

"It's a sweet offer, Anika, and I appreciate the kindness more than you could ever know, but this is something I cannot talk about." Sabine paused and realized that everyone in the room was staring at her. No doubt they were all wondering why she would ruin a perfectly good party. This was the last straw for Sabine, she simply couldn't stand it any longer. "Thank you for the party, Anika and I'm sorry that I ruined it for you, but I must take my leave." Without another word, Sabine turned and started walking out of the room, leaving everybody with their mouths hanging wide open.

It only took Ethan about half a second to shake his head and clear his thoughts, before he realized that Sabine had left the room. "Sabine, wait," he called after her, catching up quickly. Sabine was very surprised by how quickly he recovered. She half expected him to take a little longer. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" Sabine wasn't used to Ethan talking to her like that—cussing. She was determined not to let it get to her, but unfortunately, it already had. She was definitely going to have to talk to Ethan about not cussing at her. Ethan, however, continued talking before she had the chance to mention it. "Do you want to explain to me why you're running out on a perfectly good party?" She should have known that someone was going to question her about it.

Did she want to explain to him that she was planning on leaving everybody? Heck no! But it was only a matter of time before Ethan would no doubt figure it out. He was a smart boy and not much got past him. She was also pretty sure that the party would continue to go on just fine without her. She may have been the birthday girl, but that didn't matter. "Just leave me be, Ethan. I'm begging you."

"I don't think so," he hissed, pulling her back by the arm so that she couldn't get away, which for some reason, really bothered her. She wasn't used to being held back by anything. "What has gotten into you lately? It's like you've been ignoring me and I can't even talk to you anymore." He pulled his hand up to Sabine's cheek, who cringed slightly. She was certain that he was going to strike her—though he never had before—but he surprised her by cupping her cheek, rubbing his thumb in small, soothing, circular motions. If it had been any other time, she would have relished in his tenderness, but right now, it was just annoying. "I'm worried about you."

Join the club. Sabine thought dryly. Apparently, so was everyone else in the academy and they were all determined to let her know about it too. She was pretty sure that within the past fourty-eight hours, everyone had managed to corner her and tell her so. Ethan was the last one to say something. She couldn't help but sigh in relief that there was no one else on the list, unless they got Tess and the rest of the staff to help with that too. "You're not the only one," she mumbled, trying to break free from his grasp.

"You don't have to do this alone you know," Ethan stated. Ugh…these people were never going to learn, were they? She had to do this alone. It didn't concern anyone of them.

"Actually, Ethan, I do. I love you, I really do and you mean the world to me, but please will you let this one go? I just need to be by myself for a bit. Is that too much to ask for?" Apparently, it was. She should have known that she wouldn't have been granted this one wish. She didn't ask for much at the academy. They could at least comply with her. If only she had a Genie in a bottle, surely he would grant her the wish. She thought about that for a moment and decided that even a Genie would probably be against her on this. It wouldn't surprise her.

"We're a couple now, Sabine. You made that decision when you gave Ansel your wolf-essence and decided to stay here with me. Well, I'd like to tell you something. Couples stick together, even for the bad parts. I want to help you," he brought his voice down to a whisper, though it still echoed loudly through the halls. It wouldn't surprise Sabine if the others were listening in on their conversation. She couldn't help but shutter at the thought.

Maybe, eventually, Ethan could help her and she would welcome it with open arms, but not for this one. She had to do this alone. In no way did she want to get anyone in trouble, especially Ethan. He meant too much to her for his life to be thrown away in the blink of an eye. "Please, Ethan," she begged through gritted teeth, which were actually starting to hurt from the amount of pressure she was putting on them, to keep from lashing out. "Just . Let. Me. Go!"

Ethan's face fell, as she said that. Clearly she had said the wrong thing. She only wanted to go to her room and conjure up a plan. After all, he had this coming to himself, when he came after her. "What do you mean, let you go?" His voice cracked at the word "go," and he was so quiet that Sabine had to strain her ears to be able to hear him.

Her eyes widened with horror as she suddenly understood Ethan's change in tone and fear. She had to slap herself mentally, for being so stupid. He probably took what she said as to break up with him. That wasn't what she meant, by any means. She had to clarify that was not the case. "I meant, just let me go to my room. What did you think it meant?" She asked curiously, her heart pounding wildly in her ears.

Ethan sighed as she said that and his face began to relax, though his body began trembling. Sabine quickly wrapped her arms around him, to reassure him that she still loved him and would always love him, no matter what happened. "Nothing," he murmured, though he seemed to be having a rather difficult time talking. How stupid was she to think that she could get away with doing this, without hurting anyone in the process. "I'm sorry," he apologized. Sorry? What had he done to be sorry for? He was just trying to be a good boyfriend and Sabine couldn't fault him for that. Without another word, Ethan leaned in and kissed Sabine passionately, she accepted it without any hesitation.

They hadn't been kissing for long, before someone's footsteps echoed through the hallway, coming straight for them. "Are you two done with your make-out session yet?" Connor asked, clearing his throat. No doubt Connor was plotting ways in which to make fun of them for this.

"What do you want?" Ethan questioned, annoyed by the untimely interruption. To tell you the truth, so was Sabine. It was like everyone was flies on the wall, listening to her every word, just waiting for her to say the wrong thing.

Connor raised his hands in a surrendering position, as he came into view, telling them that he hadn't come for a fight, though Sabine didn't believe that for a second. He was probably afraid that Ethan was going to pummel him to a pulp—definitely something to be afraid of. "Relax, bro. I'm come in peace," he chuckled, as he formed his right fingers into the peace sign. "I bring you good tidings of great joy." Connor couldn't seem to stop laughing at his own lame joke.

Now, Sabine was the one who wanted to pound him to the ground. She had never been a big fan of his jokes. They annoyed the crap out of her and if all he came here to do, was make stupid jokes, well he could go right back where he came from. That would be just fine with Sabine. "Dude, I'm not really in the mood for your jokes today," Sabine grumbled.

"No kidding," he chuckled, though one glare from Sabine and he immediately shut up. "Sorry, sorry," he muttered, pausing for a second. He was probably wondering if telling Sabine this would be a good idea or not. He shrugged and went right on talking, keeping his distance from her just in case—smart man. "Anika sent me to come get you two. She wants to cut the cake and is get a little anxious. Sabine, if you want to get on her good side, then I suggest you come along as quickly as you can. You haven't seen her angry and you really don't want to."

Actually, that wasn't true. Sabine had seen Anika angry, a couple of times. Once, when Connor had snuck into her office to get her password book, so that he could get on the computer. Apparently, Anika didn't want anyone communicating with the outside world. Everything here was passcode encrypted and there was only one phone in the entire academy and that was also locked away in her office, though Sabine didn't understand what was so wrong about phones. Thankfully, Anika didn't know about her own cell phone, which she kept safely hidden in her room, though she didn't why she kept it; considering the fact that all her friends and family were wolves now. It was still nice to have one thing from home.

The other time that Sabine had seen Anika angry, was when Ethan tried taking Sabine's shirt off. They had been out in the garden at the time, and they had thought they were alone. Neither of them realized that Anika was tending to her plants. She shrieked loudly when she spotted them and gave a scolding that neither of them would ever forget. Poor Ethan was scarred for life when she took her own blouse off in front of them, demonstrating the fact that not everybody wanted to see people naked. Ethan agreed that it was disgusting.

Ever since then, Ethan confined them to his bedroom or Sabine's. Like on that particular day, it was a rarity that they kissed out in public, just in case things started to escalate, though they never did. She supposed that it was for the best. Sabine didn't want to risk getting pregnant anyway. She was only sixteen and definitely not ready to become a mother, even if Ethan was ready to be a father.

Anika's good side was definitely a place she wanted to stay. Well, so much for trying to come up with a plan to pull the Elemental cross from its place. She thought bitterly to herself, as she hesitantly followed behind Connor.