"Delilah! Wake up!" My mom shouted in my ear. "It's time for school!"

I groaned in my half sleep. I really, really didn't want to go to school.

Most teenagers don't go to school because they don't want to learn. I don't want to school for a completely different reason. My school was a werewolf—only school, and it was on the borderline of my pack and the neighboring pack's boundaries. Tensions were always really high at school, and I hated being part of it.

"Ok, mom." I replied drowsily. "I'm getting up."

Another reason that I don't want to go to school is that last night I dreamed about twelve years ago again.

That was a peaceful night when my mom told me that story for the first time.

"In a beautiful forest, a wonderful pack lived. The alpha and his family were kind and loving people, as were all the other pack members. Everyone who ever met this pack talked of their kind hearts.

"This pack was so nice that they had no enemies—except one. The pack that lived just to the south of them, in a hot, dry desert, was jealous of them. They wanted their land and power to themselves.

"So on the day of the future Alpha's shift, they attacked. Nobody saw it coming, and almost everyone was killed. Only one person was spared. The Alpha's son went and hid in the forest, and he survived the attack. But when he came out, and saw his whole pack dead, he had to flee so not to get caught.

"A year passed, and the Alpha's son was faring well as a rogue. He had this natural power to him that made all the rogues want to follow him. Eventually, he had even created his own little pack of rogues.

"But to rule the rogues, you must be cruel, since no rogue is kind. The time the son spent away from his family had turned him cold—hearted and malicious. His only goal in life was to control all the rogues and take over the land that was once his.

"That Alpha is still at large doing his evil duties with evil rogue pack. Because remember, Delilah, no rogue is good."

Somehow, this story impressed me and even had been my dream again.

I shook my head and got rid of these weird thoughts. Well, it's time to go to school.

Werewolf—only schools were different from human schools in almost every way. We had different studies, different athletics, and different drills.

Punch, kick, scratch, and bite—it's all been taught before. The only thing interesting about werewolf high school is the moment you're mated. Which, for me, seems like it's never going to happen.

Most eighteen year—olds find their mate in their pack. Eighteen is the age in which were can begin mating. Not me, though. I haven't found mine yet, and it's three months past my birthday! Most werewolves I know start planning families by then.

The best I could hope for was that my mate was simply in a pack close to ours. The worst I could think of was that he could be dead.

When I arrived at the school, my best friend, Liana, came barreling toward me. "Delilah!" she shouted. "Jarvis has been looking everywhere for you!"

She tackled me down in a hug and started laughing.

"Whoa, watch where you're going there, Liana. I might just have to bring out the muscles on you." I said jokingly.

"Oh, come on, Delilah! You've got to think of something better than that! We all know your muscle mass is nonexistent. You should have threatened me with Jarvis instead. And speaking of Jarvis ..." Her lips turned up in a teasing grin.

Jarvis...his parents must have hated him to give him that name. And, in fact, they did hate him.

Weakest of all the beta's children, he was the black sheep of their family. The beta family was one hundred percent against Jarvis. Their hate for him became so bad that they kicked him out when he was thirteen.

I was fifteen at the time, and took pity on him. He almost reminded me of the Alpha of the Rogues in some twisted, foreign way. So I let him stay with my family until he grew "worthy enough" to be accepted back into his family. But I regretted letting him live with my family, because now he this strange infatuation with my family and me. He did whatever he could to get back to living with my family again.

"Oh, no. Liana, don't tell me he's gotten himself kicked out of the house again. If that stupid boy can't keep his nose out of trouble, why should I help him? I mean, the only reason I help him at all is because he has those puppy eyes I can't resist."

Liana snorted. "Delilah, you're such a sucker. And yeah, he got himself kicked out again. But I guess I could have just let him tell you that himself. You guys are sparring partners in third period, aren't you?"

"Since he beats me every time, I think it's unfair to say that he and I are partners."

Liana opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Jarvis. Jarvis leaped over to us and gave me one of those weird boy hugs. "Hey, guys. Guess what?"

He didn't even try to hide his excitement.

"Hmmm...let me think. You got kicked out of your house?" I tried to hide every ounce of sarcasm in my voice.

"Yeah, can you believe it? My parents must hate me." He chuckled merrily. "Oh, well. Who cares? That just means I get to stay at your house again!"

"Ok, sounds great. See you there." Jarvis left as soon as I accepted his offer.

Liana turned on me and raised a brow. "You did it again. You gave in to those puppy eyes he was using at the end."

I was shocked. I didn't even realize he was using the eyes! "Ahh, dang it." I moaned. "Are you serious?"

Liana laughed. "Yes. Now, come on, we need to go to class."