Rejected but Unbroken

The school was buzzing by the time I got there. I wasn't late by like two seconds. But those two seconds counted and once more I survived by the skin of my teeth.

"You're not always going to be able to get away with that," my best friend Kale scolded me. One of these days, you're going to lose that race."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter if it didn't happen today. I pushed through the wall of students. "Hey, where's our future Alpha and Beta? Aren't they coming back today? They're the ones late."

"They at least have a reason. You decided to train all night again, didn't you? I tried to call you to wish you happy birthday last night and you wouldn't even pick up the damn phone. Let me guess, you forgot it again."

I followed Kale to the cafeteria, and we joined the line for breakfast. A piece of toast was far from cutting it for what I needed. I bumped Kale's hip, pushing him to the side so I could grab a particularly fat sausage. He glared at me and I smirked at him, taking the chance to take a giant bite of it. "So good," I crooned.

A couple of guys behind us cracked up. "Hey, look at Chloe. She sure knows how to handle her meat, huh?"

I rolled my eyes and glanced back at them. "At least I know what to do with it, boys, unlike you all. I better see you get some protein, too. Our drills have been way too lackluster. With Alpha Andy and Beta Jahmal returning, it's up to us to show them we can handle our warriors."

"You can handle me all right," one of the guys, Sean, grinned, grabbing himself and thrusting.

I grinned at him. "Oh, yeah?" I asked with my sultriest voice. Jade already knew what I was up to, and she cackled in my head. I took the sausage and licked along the length of it. Sean watched my tongue and licked his lips, a whimper escaping him. I opened my mouth wide, sliding the tip of the meat inside and thrust it in and out a couple of times and moaned before biting down hard.

Sean yelped and grabbed himself again, but this time he didn't thrust the thing at me. "I'm sorry, Chloe!"

His friends laughed at him and I joined in. Things were just easier with the guys. We trained together all the time.

One of the popular girls rolled her eyes at me. "Seriously, Chloe?" she snapped. "You're such a slut. I wouldn't be surprised if you're not sleeping with the entire damn pack the way you carry on."

"Hey!" Kale growled, stepping up. "Cut that out, Quinn. We don't need you causing problems. What she did was teasing, you're just being a bitch."

Quinn tossed her long blond wavy locks over her shoulder. "I just know the truth of that skank. Someone who wants to be sweaty with the other warriors all the time? Puhlease. There's no other explanation."

"Quinn!" squealed one of Quinn's little posse. "They're here!"

Quinn whirled away from her. Her power bar and extra smooth smoothie forgotten. "I'm not letting him get away from me this time. Watch this, girls. I told you that before he left, he had eyes for me, and I'm going to prove it." She smirked at me. "Have fun playing in the gutter, Chloe. A gutter whore is all you'll ever be."

Kale stepped forward, but I grabbed him by the arm, and he relaxed. "You going to let her talk to you like that?"

"She can say whatever she wants, Kale. I don't need to waste any brainpower on her. I'm more worried about us being able to have a perfect training session in front of the Alpha and Beta after they've been gone so long." I grabbed another sausage and gnawed on it. "Protein," I told him, pointing to another much smaller sausage. "Get on it."

"Have you heard?" chirped one of the normal classmates nearby. She must have been talking to her friend, but her voice carried. "There's a huge party welcoming Alpha Andy and Beta Jahmal back tonight. They're inviting the entire pack. It's going to be a huge deal."

"With everyone there, maybe we'll find our mate!" the other one replied with a giggle.

I wanted to gag, but Jade would lecture me for an hour straight if I did that. She was way more concerned with finding our mate than I was. I was content being just the way I was. I was happy with my lot in life and I didn't need anything else mucking that up.

"Maybe we'll find our mate, Chloe. We are of age," Jade suggested.

"Are you going?" Kale asked, saving me from having to tell my wolf yet again I didn't want a mate. Besides, I was no Quinn. Who would want me in the first place? "I mean, of course you're going. You don't really have a choice. You're an integral part of the pack."

Oh, how I wished I could tell him the truth. "Wouldn't miss it," I agreed. The juicy sausage I had been snacking on had lost a lot of its flavor. Instead of the smokey taste from the grill, it was more like burned ashy meat dissolving in my mouth. I swallowed the dry, nasty bite and forced a smile. "We should hurry. If we take too long to eat, we'll just get in trouble for missing class."

"You're right. I'll try to talk to Alpha Andy at the party." He grinned at me. "Maybe I can get an autograph."

I rolled my eyes hard. "You're pathetic sometimes, Kale. We're going to be working with him. Why in the world would you need his autograph?"

Kale grinned back. "Do you know how many women in our class would give me a kidney for that? Believe me, it'll be worth it."

For once in my life, I hoped that school would never end. The last thing I wanted to do was have to endure a party I didn't care about. It was time that could be spent training instead. This was just going to be a waste of time.