Hunter’s Pov I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face even if I tried, not that I would want to as I stood outside the school with my pack as I waited for the buses to pull in. It had been 4 days since that night I took my angel to the ice-cream diner, the night I thought I had made things worse when I had thankfully made the right decision. I remember feeling so nervous when her brother told me about her issue with needing a ride, how I had immediately told him I was picking her up even if Jack thought it would only make things worse. I was thankful I didn’t listen to him, I had shown her my softer side and I couldn’t have been more relieved that I did. “You know it is official, I have never seen you so happy” Liam stated with a smirk as his own mate stood by his side, Kelly on her phone as she played what looked like some penguin game which I couldn’t help but shake my head at. Liam thought it was adorable that she was so obsessed with it, the rest of us just finding it as amusing as hell that a girl her age could be so interested by it. “How could I not be, the rouges haven’t been causing a problem, Zoe is finally giving me a shot and my wolf is practically purring with contentment” I grinned, my pack mates finding it hilarious but I didn’t care. Why would I, I was finally getting a shot with my mate and while we were taking it at an extremely slow pace I was to thankful that she was even giving me a shot to be bothered by it. “Whatever dude, I still don’t like her” Josh muttered caught me to glare heavily in his direction, Hannah had nothing against my mates history so why should he? Sure it was sad that Hannah was nearly taken out, but if she can give my mate a shot then he fucking can! “You know what will happen if you make her uncomfortable Josh, do not forget that” I hissed causing him to shudder as he recalled what happened the last time he upset her, he may be one of my closest friends but I was still his alpha and Zoe was still my mate. He needed to learn his place! He could do it the easy way, or the hard way it was up to him. “Sorry alpha” he muttered causing me to nod and Hannah to kiss his cheek in thanks, it was amusing to watch as his face light up as he pulled her closer, and while I would have probably laughed at his display a few weeks ago I knew exactly what he was feeling thanks for my own angel, my Zoe. “Buses are here” Jack grinned as they started to pull up, my back straitening as I pushed myself off the wall. I had tried to get her to let me give her a ride but she had refused, saying the bus journey was her thinking time which I could completely understand. I didn’t want to push her after all, I knew I was a lucky fuck to get the chance she was giving me and I wasn’t foolish enough to throw it away for something so trivial. We all stood as the rouges got off the buses, ok I admit that is slightly untrue due to a large number of the rouges actually being the mates of some of our females. Because of this, like the situation I had with Zoe they were immediately connected to the pack and no longer considered a rouge, though at the next full moon there had to be a ritual for them to be mind-linked with the pack when we were in our wolf forms making it official. “Zoe” I found myself breathing much to the amusement of my pack when I felt the ache in my chest loosen when her scent drifted into my senses, my wolf no longer pacing in my inner cage as it was calmed by our mate. As I continued to look in her direction I found myself grinning when her form bounced down the steps of the bus, her head snapping in my direction causing my heart to flutter at the similar goofy smile she wore which was so much alike to mine. “Morning everyone” she greeted with a killer smile as she walked into my embrace, my arms wrapping around her small waist as I pulled her against me and breathed in her all to addicting scent. Mm… “Morning gorgeous” I breathed as I nuzzled my face in her thick curls, hearing my pack greet her as well as she relaxed in my embrace and wrapped her arms loosely around my waist, effectively pulling me closer. Hell not that I had anything against it, she could pull me as close as she wanted if it felt his good. “So Zoe did you hear what your sister done the other day?” Ellie giggled causing my mate to sigh, the fact she was the missing Greenwoods was all around the school now and people were continuously talking about it or giving her stares. I tried my best to silence them all, but gossip was gossip. I was just glad her hearing couldn’t pick up some of the whispers going around, even if sometimes I was paranoid that she could in fact pick up on what they were saying. I couldn’t help the feeling that she was hiding something from me, something big that I was completely missing. It’s not like I didn’t know she didn’t have a great life, being kicked out at such a young age, but hoped that someday she would trust me enough to tell me about her past. It was sickening how her parents had tossed my angel aside, and I knew if they weren’t on a business trip I would have immediately gone and ripped out their throats as soon as I had found out. That business trip had saved them, but they were going to feel my wrath when they got back and that was a promise I intended to keep. “I wish you wouldn’t call her that, I prefer the term slut, or whore, or whatever else you could think of” Zoe mumbled against my chest causing me to chuckle along with the rest of the pack, it was not a secret that no one liked Stacy and the only reason she was even living at MY pack house was due to my respect for her parents since they had alpha blood. That thought made me freeze and my eyes to narrow slightly, the little respect I had for her parents was successful gone when I heard about how badly they had treated my mate, and as soon as I had the all clear from my angel to make my pack aware of how disgusted I was with them I could successfully kick them out of my territory, or kill them it depends on how badly they had treated her. Well that was my plan anyway, I had yet to introduce my mate to my parents though that was the next step on my to-do list. Shaking the depressing but serious thoughts from my head I concentrated on the warm and complete feeling I got from my mate, who had still yet to move from my arms not that I was complaining. It was when I clued back into the conversation I realised I must have zooned out since the females were gigging and even Josh wasn’t able to hide the smile which seemed to appear on his lips. “What did I miss?” I asked curiously, Kelly snorting as she stood by Liam’s side as I did so. “Nothing much, just a very delightful overview on what Zoe thinks about her sis-sorry about the whore” Kelly corrected herself with a giggle, Liam looking at her adoringly as she did so. “Thanks for the correction Kelly, much appreciated” Zoe mumbled causing another round on laughter to sound around the pack before we started to head inside. “You ok?” I asked her when she made no move to let me go, again not that I was complaining or anything. “Yea I’m fine” was all she sighed out before jumping up suddenly, surprizing me enough to only just catch her in time as she wrapped her deliciously long legs around my waist in a way which made me want to do nothing more than to mount her right there and then. She really wasn’t making this whole taking it slow easy was she? “You sure?” I asked concerned as I walked into the school where my pack mates had already gone, my hands firmly on my mates firm and perfect arse as I held her weight so she didn’t have to strain her legs as she kept them wrapped around me. I wasn’t complaining about the position though, hell no I LOVED the position, I just wished I wasn’t having to hold myself back from stripping her down and marking her like both me and my wolf so desperately wanted to. “I’m fine Hunter, thank you for asking though its sweet” she mumbled against my neck, her breath on my naturally hot skin making me shiver. I felt her smile against my tanned flesh, her comment making my grin even wider as I felt my heart flutter at her compliment. Yep, I was whipped. “So you think I’m sweet huh?” I teased, I couldn’t help myself. “Yep, I think your adorable” she giggled, the sound making me pull her even closer against me as I took my time getting us to class. I had switched all mine to be with hers, so we had all our lessons together except for when I went to shifter classes to help train my pack to fight, to shift and such where I had to reluctantly leave her. It was times like that I wished she could shift, but shifter or not she was still my angel and it changed nothing about how I felt about her. She was my everything, even if she was only just beginning to realise that.