Orphan Alpha novel Chapter 8

My hands shook violently as I pulled on my clothes in the pack changing room. I wanted to run back to the safety of my room in the orphanage, but I knew that wasn’t possible. Cam watched me, the concern on her face plain to see. I felt guilty for screaming my fear into the minds of the entire pack, though Cam assured me that they understood. I was new to the area and had been threatened by a wolf I didn’t know. More than that, I was hurt that my mate had not come when my fear had been broadcast to the entire pack. I understood logically that he was keeping his distance until I was of age, but even I knew that a mate’s primary drive was to protect their other half. I didn’t need extensive knowledge of my species or experience as a pack member to know that.

I followed Cam back into the pack house in silence. I could tell she wanted to say something but thought better of it as she led me back to my room. Seeing my backpack on the floor, I remembered that I had one last final the next day. I turned to ask Cam about getting to school in the morning only to find she had left me alone without making a sound. I sighed and flung myself onto the soft bed, to emotionally exhausted to care about changing for bed. I sobbed into my pillow, hoping the sound was muffled, until I fell asleep.

I woke to knocking on the door. I didn’t have a clock in my room, but I could tell by the lack of light coming through the window that it had to be early. I groaned, not ready to be awake, and tried to ignore whoever was at the door, but the knocking came again. With a huff, I flung the blankets off of me and made my way to the door.

“What?” I grumbled, yanking the door open.

“Hey sleepy head! Tristan said you have school and asked me to take you!” Cam responded, her voice annoyingly cheery for the early hour.

“What time is it?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

“Oh, it’s five!”

“Five? You woke me up at Five in the morning? I don’t have to be at school until seven!” I screeched.

“Hannah, it’s like an hour drive to your school from here. I figured you need at least an hour to get ready and eat breakfast, so five is exactly the right time to get you up. Today is your last required day, anyway, isn’t it?”

I growled in response. Cam was a super chipper person in general, the early hour only made it worse. I, on the other hand, was not even close to a morning person. I liked my sleep and being woken up two hours before I needed to be in school fouled my mood before the day even started. Cam plopped down on the bed and continued to chatter away as I went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

I hated to admit that she was right about waking me up at five, but by the time I had finished breakfast and we were on our way, it was already ten til six. She prattled on about the pack as she drove me to school, ignoring my lack of response. I hopped out of the car as soon as we pulled up, not stopping to ask her how I would get back after school let out. I suspected Tristan had already made arrangements for me to get home.