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“All right, class, make sure you address your envelopes the way I demonstrated on the board, and be sure to seal them properly before you leave them on my desk. I plan to put them in the mail to Colorado today after school, so hopefully by next week you will have an answer back from your pen pal! Now please, pack up your bags, and line up at the door in a single file line so we can head out to dismissal for today. Don’t forget to put your letters on my desk!”
I rolled my eyes at Mrs. Appleton’s words, exchanging an annoyed look with my best friend, Reid Thomas. He was just as unenthusiastic about this assignment as I was, but I knew I had to turn mine in. Otherwise, my dad, Alpha Harrison Stone, would make me run extra laps and do extra push-ups and sit-ups at training.
He had high expectations and standards for my brother and me. Well, mostly me, since I would be the alpha of our pack someday.
“What did you write?” Reid whispered to me while we both made our way down the aisles to drop our letters off on top of Mrs. Appleton’s desk.
I shrugged. “I told whoever they are that I only wrote them because my dad would punish me if I got an F on an assignment that is as easy as writing a letter to a random person in another state.”
Reid followed me back through the rows of desks to the back of the room, where we kept our backpacks. My black bag and his gray bag hung next to each other on the hooks below our names.
Even though we were 6th graders, Mrs. Appleton liked to keep her classroom set up the same as all the primary grade classrooms. Alphabetized everything: seats, backpacks, book boxes, even our line when we left for recess and lunch. It was a little childish, but I was not the teacher, so I tried not to complain. Often.
“I told mine to never write to me again,” Reid explained, throwing his backpack over one shoulder and placing his baseball cap backwards on his head.
Hats weren’t allowed inside, but somehow Reid always got away with wearing it. He would just flash his signature cheeky grin at the teachers and they would just pretend they didn’t even notice he was breaking the rules.
If it was me, on the other hand, everyone would notice and make a big fuss. Because Future Alpha Wesley Stone should always be the picture perfect student. Future Alpha Wesley Stone should lead by example, even at only 12. No pressure, right?
“I’m just glad Mrs. Appleton isn’t going to be reading them before she sends them to her sister’s class. Can you imagine the volcanic eruption that would take place in my dad’s office if he got a call telling him what I wrote?” I flinched and grimaced, and Reid laughed.
We were finally in our line, waiting for the bell to ring so we could make our way through the halls and off the campus, where the sprawling pack grounds waited for us to spend the rest of our day training and goofing around.
It had always been my favorite time of day. Getting to be outside, running through the forest and then throwing a football or bouncing a basketball around with my friends — nothing could hurt that.
The anticipation spreading between all of my classmates was high. Not only was it the end of the day, but it was also Friday, which meant two whole days with no school. What kid, human or werewolf, didn’t love the weekend?
The bell finally rang, and we all tried our best to not run out of the door. The kids at the front made a decent effort, but by the time Reid and I made it out, (with our last names being Stone and Thomas, we were always one of the last in line and out the door) we were all running, pushing past each other to be the first one through the gate at the front of the school near the office.
With werewolves, almost everything ended up being a competition, especially between young males. Being the first student out of the gate had always been one of those things that everyone automatically fought for. It was an unspoken tradition. No one ever declared it was a race, it just was, and always had been.
Even though I was still only twelve, and there were students one and two years older than me at our school, I’d had the honor of being first out of the gate since I was eight. I think, at first, the other kids were scared to hurt me, afraid to be the one that made the future alpha come in second place. But at some point, I actually became the fastest.
Part of it was genetics. Werewolves born with alpha blood became Lycans and were genetically predisposed to be stronger, faster, and bigger than other werewolves. But it was also because I trained harder and longer than any other kid in our pack.
I reached the gate first — of course — followed closely by Reid and our other best friend, Nolan Shepard, who was one year older than us. Not far behind him was my little brother, Sebastian. He’s two years younger than Reid and me, and three years younger than Nolan, but the four of us had been inseparable since we were pups.
Our parents were the current leaders of our pack, and the four of us would take over for them in the future. Once we were ready, of course. And once I found my mate.
“Ugh, Nolan, be glad you’re a year older than us. Mrs. Appleton made us do this naive assignment. We have to write letters. To pen pals. It’s just… so naive and childish!” Reid complained as he punched Nolan lightly on the shoulder.
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