Chapter 0011

Skylar POV

“What bonfire?” Sierra looks at me accusingly.

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t do parties because I don’t have friends. So I don’t usually pay

attention to the social scene.” I look down at the ground after that word vomit confession. Taking a

deep breath I look back up at Sierra. I wonder when she is going to figure out I am not someone to

know and she'll move on like everyone else.

Sam looks at me and chuckles a bit but then quickly turns confused when I don’t join in laughing

then looks between the two of us. He clears his throat. “We have a bonfire the weekend following

the first full week of classes. Which happens to be tonight, you should both come. It’s in the clearing

in the woods behind the packhouse, nothing too crazy, but it is tradition. Will you come? Please say

you’ll be there.” He’s looking at Sierra with big puppy dog eyes. Is he pouting?!

“Of course! We can’t break tradition!” Her cheery personality shines through. “Is there a dress code

for this particular get-together or is it come as you are?” She smiles up at him. So, this is what

flirting looks like up close, interesting. She definitely does it better than Kaley, I think I get the appeal

now.

He looks a little lost for a second before blinking and coming back to his senses. “Come as you are,

but I would dress warm, it’s already starting to cool off and the clearing is in a bit of a valley that

holds the cooler air.”

“What time?”

“We are going to start setting everything up now, so you can come whenever, but the bonfire is lit

near dark, so like 9. But, really you can come whenever.” He smiles at Sierra. It’s really cute to

watch him flirt. I don’t even know if he realizes that’s what he’s doing. She seems to have him under

a spell.

“Well then, we will see you later Sam.” She smiles at him again and she gets into her car, I follow

suit. Once we are both in and the doors are closed she looks over at me. “Okay, I was just trying to

get us away from the b*tch trio and the hot brigade, but after all of that I really am hungry, where’s

the best burger place here?”

“The hot brigade? Really?” I question her, shaking my head. She just laughs as she starts the car.

I laugh and start giving her directions. We eat and head to her place which just so happens to be at

the end of our block. “I didn’t realize your aunt and uncle were some of our lead warriors. That

would explain your fighting skills. I guess I never really asked about you today, sorry about that.” I

look down at my lap as I sit on her bed as she digs through her closet.

“Don’t worry about it, we have plenty of time to get to know each other. And what I want to know

right now is what do you mean ‘you don’t do parties because you don’t have friends’? You’re not

going to just slide that into conversation and hope no one heard it.” I cringe. After I said it, I felt like I

was whining.

“Exactly that, I do not have friends, I don’t go to parties, no one chooses to hang out with me. They

mostly choose to avoid me. It’s been like that for a long time. You are the first person I have had

more than one conversation in a row that wasn’t in school about an assignment or at training.” I

shrug. It’s weird though when I used to think that stuff to myself it hurt, but I feel nothing now, like I

am numb to the fact that I am avoided unless absolutely necessary by my peers. That can’t be

good.

“That’s a lot to unpack and I have a feeling the silver laced whip marks on your back fall into this

same story too, right?”

“Wait, what? How did you know they were silver laced whip marks?” I’m stunned, that’s oddly

specific knowledge to just guess and I told Delta Kyle by accident over mindlink today. No one else

knows.

“I will allow the topic to change, but we are going to circle back to the friends thing. My parents are

chemists. I already told you they work for our Alpha King. Many of the things they work on are

chemical weapons and antidotes for war.” I flinch at the thought that her parents make things to

harm other wolves, things like the silver powder that was rubbed into my wounds. “Don’t look at me

like that. They aren’t bad people, but they have seen bad things. It’s their job to know the worst

things that could be done to our Alphas and the Alpha king and be able to stop it or reverse it.

Sometimes they have had to reverse engineer some of the things used in battles. That’s one of the

reasons I am here, my parents are on some mission I don’t even have details about. It wasn’t safe

for me to be alone, but it would be odd if I stayed with people in my pack for too long since I

normally stay by myself when they travel. So staying with family was the best cover for my

protection.” She leans back out of her closet and attempts to glare at me, but her happy features

don’t really do that look. “This goes without saying, but keep that to yourself.”