Anna

I opened the door and as expected Kathe was there. She looked different. She was wearing clothes that we bought yesterday and a bright smile adorned her face. Kathe twirled and asked how she looked.

I smiled widely. "You look beautiful, of course." I walked out of the house and led her to a clearing in the woods behind my apartment.

"Today we are going to test your stamina and resistance. The real training will begin on Wednesday. Where is your brother?"

Kathe looked lost in thought for a moment, probably mindlinking her brother. "He is almost here."

I nodded. Almost immediately a gray medium sized wolf jumped out of a bush. I explained to him what I had previously said to Kathe while she went to the bushes to shift.

They were going to run around the forest for a couple of hours and we would meet afterward. If they still could keep on going they will run again. What I forgot to mention is that once they say that they cannot keep on running, we will do defensive training. Rogues do not wait for you to rest before attacking you.

"I would rather have this training to be as classified as possibly. I will teach you something but you must keep it extremely secret. In my pack we have a special low howl to warn everyone that we should regroup. Once I shift I will teach it to you. If you hear me, come back. Also, howl like this if you meet any other pack member and we will come back here."

They both nodded. I walked behind a bush and shifted. I howled lowly, and they did the same; I nodded. The howl I taught them is not actually the one we use in my pack. It is the one I use to detect traitors. This is a test I give to all my initiates. If I hear this howl in battle some time I would know someone crossed me without my pack being affected.

We began running, each of us in a different direction. I rushed toward the south side of the territory. There is a waterfall at the limit of the territory that I find extremely relaxing. After about one hour of running the sound of the drizzling onto the rocks welcomed me. I stopped for a moment enjoying the sweet taste of the cold water.

I was about to take off again when I smelt the scent the wind carried to me. I could barely make who was the owner of the scent before my instincts took over me. I had to go to him; It was not a matter of choice anymore. I dashed until he was in front of me.

He did not noticed me until I tackled him. I felt warm tickles wherever my skin made contact with his. I was in awe, finally everything seemed to make sense. This is what I was waiting for so long. The moment was perfect until he shifted back, bringing me out of my daze.

I gave the signal to Matt and Kathe and ran back. Hopefully they can hear me. They were already there when I got there. Instead of shifting back and explaining things, I attacked them. They were both surprised but quickly recovered. I was going soft on them but for a couple of omegas they stood ground pretty well. I let the battle extend for over an hour.

Kathe was the first one to give in; Her brother stood in front of her growling at me. He has good instincts. I jumped on him and motioned to bite his neck. He whimpered; Kathe was hidden getting ready to attack. I let him go and let her take me 'by surprise.' We rolled together, snarling and soon I was on top of her. I walked away keeping my eyes on both of them. They were breathing heavily and blood flowed from their wounds. Kathe collapsed again and Matt rushed to her side. I lowered my head and wiggled my tail. Matt understood the signal and nodded. I walked behind the bush to shift back.

I threw their clothes to them and turned around as they shifted. "Good fight. You two are better than I expected." I smiled at them.

Their wounds were steadily healing but Kathe still limped her way back to my place.

"What are you talking about?" asked Matt. "You did not even get a scratch."

I giggled. "You two fought together and faced me even though you knew you could not win. You could have given up, knowing this was just training, but you kept fighting until the end. You have gotten my respect."

The siblings grinned. They drank a lot of water before leaving.

I took a shower and put on my pajamas. I sat at my desk and checked the class activity for the following day. When I made sure everything perfect, I laid down on my bed. I looked at my phone screen. Xander has been calling me the whole night so I had put the phone on quiet mode. I finally decided to answer the call.

'Anna? Are you there? Are you OK?'

'I am good. How are you?'

'Relieved to hear your voice,' said Xander. 'I was about to drive to your place. Do not scare me like that anymore.'

I sighed. 'Alexander, I need to ask you something important. Will you be honest if I do so?'

'Of course, love. What is bothering you?'

'Do you... Do you really like me for who I am?'

'How can you even ask that? Yes! I adore you for who you are.'

'Since when?'

'What? What do you mean?'

'Since when do you 'adore me' for who I am? with no hidden intentions.'

Silence... 'Alexander?'

'Why did you stop calling me by my nickname, love?'

'I know what you are doing, stop.'

'I hate lying, beautiful.'

'Keeping the truth is lying as well.'

'Not in my book. I am glad you are doing fine. Let's talk tomorrow. I love you.'

Did he really tried to avoid the topic by saying that he loves me? 'Answer my question. Close this call and I will never answer again.'

'Sorry, princess, I am tired now.'

'Xander...'

He hung up.

I laughed out loud from frustration. How difficult is for nearly every guy I know to be honest? Gosh. My cellphone rang again and I answered.

'I hope you are calling to answer my question,' I say.

'What question?' This voice is not Xander's voice. I checked the caller ID. Just my luck. I need to start checking who is calling before picking up.

'Caleb? Why are you calling at this time? If you have any question about the class you should ask at normal hours.' I scratched my head.

'Anna, stop that. You know why I am calling. I was worried you would not answer. Why did you run away earlier?'

'I do not know what you are talking about.'

'Anna...'

'I thought that the reasons for my behavior are pretty transparent. You are the one who always does shady things.'

He sighed. 'I know I do, but your reasons are not clear at all to me. Sadly, I do not know you well enough. I know nothing about you besides the obvious.'

'And what is the obvious to you?'

'Let me see. You are intelligent, strong, and you have had your own mishaps in the past, but you learned from your mistakes. And...' His voice sounded like a whisper now. 'You hate the fact that fate paired you with a younger impulsive boy. You hate that I am your mate.'

I fought myself to not comfort him. I closed my eyes and remembered all of the things he has done so far. 'Don't I have all reason to dislike that fate?' My voice had just the perfect amount of spite.

'You do... I might not be the most truthful person out there, but I do not lie when I say that I want to get to know you better. Meet me tomorrow at the pack house after class?'

'No. Bye.' I hung up the phone.

I fell into a restless sleep. The following morning I stood up a lot more earlier than before. When I stepped out of my apartment, however, there was already a flower waiting for me. I picked up the red carnation and put it with the roses. There was no note this time.

I drove to school and Caleb was nowhere to be seen. I went to print out today's activity and it was still early. The hallways were empty. I walked into the usually empty classroom and there he was, siting on the first seat of the first row.

"Missed me?" he asked grinning. I walked and sat on my chair. He stood up and walked up to my desk. He slipped a note to me.

I gave him one of the printouts and put the note in my purse. "If you have so much free time, work on today's activity."

He smiled and went to his usual seat. I checked my phone to distract myself.

"I was being sincere yesterday," he said as he walked down to me with the sheet in his hand.

I checked his work and it was perfect.

He chuckled. "What?" I asked.

"You always frown when I show you my class work. It is like you would rather have me being dumb or something."

Oops. He noticed. "How could you think that?" I asked.

He raised one eyebrow. I looked away.

"Anyway, let's hang out today. We have a deal."

I looked back at him and scowled. He put his hands up.

"Sorry, I would still keep my end of the deal even if you refuse to but I really want us to be friends. I promise I will not mess up today."

He looked down and put one hand in his pocked and the other one on the back of his head. He looked almost innocent again. I sighed.

"My answer is still no..."

He leaned to me and looked deep into my eyes, pouting. Manipulative little b... "Please? I-"

He was interrupted when someone walked in.

"Samuel..." he said and growled.

"What?" asked Samuel smirking.

"Go sit Caleb," I said. "You classmates will be here soon. You will get me in trouble if you keep acting like this."

He huffed and walked back to his seat.

A/N: My friends and I watched 'La Belle Personne' in our pajama party a couple of days ago. By the time the movie was over I just wanted to punch something. Most frustrating movie I have ever watched. I do not recommend it. It does make for some cool quotes though.

-I'm not ashamed to talk frankly. I thought that's one thing you liked about me. My openness. Imagining you could no longer love me is far worse for me than what you call the rules I set for myself. I know we're two people, and so like anyone we could be together. But for how long? If we're two ordinary people, how long will our love last? Eternal love doesn't exist, not even in books. So loving means for a finite time. There'd be no miracle for us, we're no different to anyone else. If I give myself to you, you'll go off.

-You don't trust me much, then.

-I'm not a fool. You're handsome. Everyone likes you. You've known a lot of women. I've met at least two of them. As with them, one day you'll leave to love another that you find more pleasing. And I won't survive. Not to mention the jealousy. Perhaps I'd be able to endure my sadness, others do.

-It won't work, Junie. You can't hold out alone against our love. Because I'm armed. And I'm not going to let you do it.