---
Leo:
I watched James walk away with Bella. Honestly, I wanted James to kill Alex, but I had to stop him—Bella was really scared. James is the kindest among us three, so both Henry and I were happy for him.
I turned toward Henry and found him staring at the beaten Alex.
"Let's go. We'll be late for class," I said.
"What about him?" Henry asked, pointing at Alex still lying on the floor.
"Leave him there. His buddies will eventually find him, and if not… he can walk or whatever," I replied.
"Even if you hadn't said anything, I wasn't going to help him. He doesn't deserve it. But we should do something about his bullying. If we're counting, this is the third time he's been caught. Who knows how many times he hasn't?" Henry said as we walked toward class, leaving Alex in the hallway.
"You're right. He doesn't know when to stop. I'll talk to Dad about this. Only Alpha Michael can stop this behavior," I replied.
As we walked to class, I spotted Aiden with his friends.
"Hey! Henry, Alisha is friends with Aiden, right?" I asked. (Alisha is Henry's sister.)
"Well, you could say she and Abigail are friends. Why?" Henry replied.
"Ask her if she can ask Abigail and Aiden to deal with Alex," I said.
"We don't need them. We can…" Henry started, trying to argue.
"Alex is Alpha Michael's son, Henry. If we try to handle Alex on our own, he might retaliate—even if it was his fault. So ask Alisha," I said.
"You're right about that. But what are Aiden and Abigail going to do?" Henry asked, trying to understand.
"Their father is Alpha Michael's brother… technically a stepbrother, but he can still talk to him," I explained.
"Oh! Good idea. I'll text her," Henry said, taking out his phone. After a moment, he smiled. "It's done."
"Good. Now we wait," I said.
---
Henry:
As we sat in class, I texted Alisha to let her know what Leo had said.
"Ok! I texted her. She hasn't seen it yet, but we'll hopefully get a positive response," I said, and Leo nodded.
The bell rang, signaling the start of class. After three exhausting hours, the bell rang again for lunch break. We went to the cafeteria and stood in line.
"God! Why is it always so crowded here?" I complained.
"I don't know… maybe because our cafeteria food is amazing," Leo replied, laughing at my misery.
I gave him a taunting look, trying to ignore him—but he laughed harder.
"You know it's your fault we have to wait in line," I said.
"What? How is that my fault?" Leo scoffed.
"You took too long coming out of class," I said, exaggerating.
"Well, I had to check if this face is presentable or not," Leo said, looking smug.
"Oh, please! Don't be ahead of yourself," I said, smiling.
"Henry, if you turn around, you'll see it's your turn next," Leo said exasperatedly.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" I said, turning quickly and almost falling. Leo laughed.
I grabbed my lunch while he got behind me. As we looked for a place to sit, I spotted Alisha sitting with Abigail, Aiden, and his friends.
"Look, Alisha. I think they're talking about the fight," I said.
"How do you know that?" Leo asked.
"Well, look at how they're laughing. I don't think she's seen my text," I replied.
"She will eventually. Now stop staring at them and start eating—you were starving a few minutes ago," Leo said.
"I was going to," I admitted sheepishly.
We started eating.
"Today's your first day of training. Aren't you excited?" Leo asked.
"Ahh! Very excited. Tell me what I'm going to do," I said.
---
Leo:
"Well, since it's your first day, not much," I said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Henry asked, confused.
"It means today they'll just see how strong your wolf is, and then tell you to run five laps in your wolf form," I explained.
"Not what I expected, but it's still something," Henry said, a little disappointed.
"Come on, man. It's just one day. Tomorrow we start proper training. Why are you sulking?" I asked.
"I'm not sulking," Henry replied, annoyed, looking at his phone.
Before I could say more, he stopped me.
"Alisha texted back. She said she discussed it with Abigail and Aiden—they agreed to help. Also, we're meeting them during lunch tomorrow," Henry said.
"Good! Then we can ask Alisha more about this when she gets home, and also tell James before talking to Dad," I said, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Henry asked.
"The lunch break's over, dummy. Let's go," I said, laughing.
"Oh! Let's go. After two more periods, my training begins," Henry said, grinning like a madman. I smiled, seeing him so excited. We walked out of the cafeteria and toward our class.