Thoreau - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

I knew Mrs. Weber wouldn't be at school the next day and wondered who the principal had hired to be her substitute. Of course, the principal was my zio Leo Halder, so I could have linked him to ask, but thought it might be a nice surprise.
Maybe it will be my friend, Yolanda! I chirped to Spring as I skipped down the math hallway.
Doubtful, little one, Spring chuckled. Yola's going to college to become a kindergarten teacher, not a math one, and she wouldn't have time to teach, anyway. Between her classes, homework, and her mates, I'm sure she doesn't have a moment to spare.
I giggled at that. Shortly after I moved here, shy, quiet Yolanda had been mated to Beckham and Bowie Hall, who were anything but shy and quiet. Everyone thought it was funny because they were so opposite in personality, but anytime I ran into them, they all seemed as happy as they could be!
Curious now, I hurried into the classroom and saw an old man I didn't know sitting at Mrs. Weber's desk.
"Hello, mister," I said with a little wave.
He grunted, but didn't look up from the book he was reading. I was a little disappointed that he didn't introduce himself, especially since I had been polite, and I hoped he wasn't going to be a mean teacher.
Sit down, little one, and don't worry about him, Spring suggested, so I did.
Taking out my supplies, I made sure that my pencil had a sharp point, then set my backpack on the floor next to my desk. The substitute's silence was making me a little nervous, so I spun my magic ring around and around on my finger.
On the day Dad and Papa adopted me, my zias gave it to me as a last-ditch escape if I was all alone when something really bad happened. I'd offered to give it back to them after luna merged me with Spring, but Zia Ariel explained they'd made it especially for me and wanted me to have it, even if I never used it.
So I'd kept it because it was from my zias, and because it was cool! Made of heavy platinum, it had a flat circle on top with a wolf's head in the center. Strange letters decorated the outside of the circle, and knotwork scrolled around the band.
Besides, playing with it kept me from picking at the hem of my shirts and ruining them.
When Atty Bel Aire came into the room next, I leapt up to give him a hug.
"Hey, man," he laughed as he hugged me back.
I liked Atty's hugs. They were almost as good as Dad's and my boyfriends'! Working on a horse farm all his life made Atty super strong, so when he hugged me, I could feel it! He was also almost as tall as Wayne, so I could easily hide in his thick arms.
"How's Henry?" I asked him about my horse, like I did every day.
"Pouting until you come to see him again."
"Poor Henry!" I giggled. "Tell him I will see him on Saturday like always."
"How was your first day of work, buddy?" Atty put his backpack down and got out his notebook as I returned to my seat. "Azure said you did really well."
"I did do really well!" I crowed. "Azure and I had fun! I met all the residents, and only one was kind of mean. They liked to pet Spring, and he liked the attention, so everyone was happy!"
"That's good. I'm glad you like it. So, uh, I have some news that probably isn't going to make you happy, though. Your boyfriends got themselves landed in detention a few minutes ago."
"What?!" I howled.
"Settle down, young man," the substitute rumbled, but didn't look up from his book.
Still nervous of him, I lowered my voice to a whisper.
"What did they do?"
"They painted each other in auto mechanics," Atty chuckled.
"They painted each other?" I blinked a few times.
"They were supposed to be base-coating some motorcycle gas tanks so they could practice detail work tomorrow." Atty's chuckle turned into a laugh. "They told Coach Hall they were just trying to add a little color to each other's day."
"Why didn't they link me?" I asked with a frown.
"They probably didn't have time. Bridger said Mr. Halder threw their asses in the white room before they even had time to clean up."
"Ah."
I myself never had to go into the white room, which my zias had made for the pack school. It prevented anyone from linking outside it, which was a big punishment for shifters. Detention at the human school hardly meant anything when you could still link your friends, and Zio Leo knew that.
He also made it a practice to confiscate phones before detention, so no one could text, either.
Now I won't be able to talk to my boyfriends at all until this evening! I pouted.
Ask Atticus how he is, little one, Spring nudged me to use my manners.
"Oh, yeah. How are you today, Atty?"
"Fine, but this Chester..." He shook his head with a frown, and I wondered what was wrong with his wolf. "He's been acting up since my birthday. Mom says it's because he senses our mate, but I'll be damned if I can find her. She's not here at school, and I've sniffed through half the pack territory. Mom said I can take off Friday if I want to search the other half."
"Maybe she's a human," I suggested.
"I thought of that so, yesterday after school, I drove around Greenville with the windows down even though it was freezing cold, but I couldn't smell anything."
"Maybe she's not in the pack right now." I put my pointer finger on my chin as I thought. "Maybe she's on vacation or something."
On Sunday, a large group went with Alpha Ash to Royal Pack for the annual alpha conference, Spring chimed in, and Alpha Jay took several warriors with him to Duskfall yesterday. It could be she's with them.
"Maybe." Atty shrugged and blew out a heavy breath. "I hope I find her soon, though. Chester is making me crazy!"
That made me giggle, and I couldn't wait until my birthday next week. Maybe Spring would sense our mate and make me crazy, too!
When Ayla and Leilani came into the classroom, they fussed all over me, saying Azure told them I'd done an excellent job at the care home last night, and that I should be proud of myself.
"Thank you!" I chirped with a big grin.
"Sit down, everyone." The substitute teacher stood up and shuffled to stand in front of us. Once the girls were seated, he introduced himself. "My name is Mr. Stamper. Mrs. Weber left very clear instructions about this class. Which one of you is Roo?"
Roo? Like the Kanga's baby from Pooh? My eyes lit up. Had someone new joined our tiny class?
I looked around, but only saw my friend Atty sitting next to me, and Ayla and Leilani sitting behind us. None of them used Roo for a nickname, so who was Mr. Stamper asking for?
"He means you, buddy." Atty smiled and nudged my arm with his elbow. "Mr. Stamper, it's pronounced Reau. Short for Thoreau."
"You could have heard me yourself if you didn't have those earphones in," Mr. Stamper growled as he stood over me. "Take those out. You aren't listening to music during my class."
Whimpering a little, I curled in on myself and sank down in my chair.
"They aren't for music," I whispered.
Either he didn't hear me or he didn't like that answer because his hands came toward my face.
I couldn't believe a teacher would hurt me, but my biological parents had taught me that adults weren't trustworthy and would hurt you if they could. My logical brain knew not all adults were like that, and I'd spent the last couple of years retraining myself, but my instincts took over when Mr. Stamper grabbed my earplugs and pulled them out of my ears.
Covering my head with my arms, I sank down even more in my chair as my heart and lungs sped up.
Don't touch my human again! Spring growled and pushed out a wave of beta power that made Mr. Stamper stumble back a bit.
At the same time, Ayla and Leilani gasped, and Atty jumped up and got between me and Mr. Stamper.
"Mr. Stamper, he needs those," Atty's voice rumbled in my ears, but my brain wasn't processing much of his words. "They're special earplugs that filter out noises so he doesn't get overwhelmed. He can hear you just fine with them in, and they don't connect to anything that plays music."
Mr. Stamper grunted and muttered something, but he must have given my earplugs back. When Atty turned around, he laid them on my desk where I could see them from my hiding spot between my elbows. Dropping my arms, I grabbed them quickly and put them back in.
Should I link Beta Em? Atty asked as he sat besides me and put one arm around my shoulders.
I shook my head, but took his hand when he held it out. Squeezing it three times, I tried to get my breathing under control.
I'm going to link Briar— Leilani started to say, but I cut her off and looped Atty and Ayla into the conversation as Mr. Stamper huffed at us.
No. I'm okay. Mr. Stamper just made a mistake.
Reau, that wasn't a mistake. He was being mean to you for no reason, Ayla argued.
Briar and my boyfriends are busy in their classes, I muttered.
Well, we can at least let Mr. Halder know that Mr. Stamper might not be the best substitute for this class, Leilani scowled.
It will be fine, I said and tried to sound confident, but I knew they all heard how my voice shook.
It's not right, Reau, Atty insisted. I think you should tell your dad and papa if you don't want us to tell anyone.
I want to try to deal with it myself, please. Sitting up straight, I dropped Atty's hand and played my ring again.
I was almost an adult now. I needed to prove that I could handle things on my own.
Well, if Mr. Stamper does anything else I don't like, his wolf and I are going to have it out, Spring snarled, pacing back and forth in my mind.
I'll do my best, I promised them all. That way, he won't have anything else to complain about.
All right, Reau, Atty agreed after a moment. If that's what you want. But we aren't going to stay quiet if this gets worse, and you shouldn't, either.
Okay. Thank you.
"Mrs. Weber noted how far you all were in this class, but I want to see what you can do for myself," Mr. Stamper said. "Consider this a test, so do your best, and NO calculators!"
As Atty groaned at that last part, Mr. Stamper handed some worksheets to Ayla and told her to pass them out to the rest of us.
Scanning my paper after Atty handed it to me, I let out a little sigh of relief. It was normal math problems like Mrs. Weber gave us.
Determined to prove myself to Mr. Stamper, I picked up my pencil and got to work.
Since math was my last class of the day, Atty walked me down to the parking lot. I missed my boyfriends walking me and missed their hugs even more, but at least I didn't have to walk alone.
Atty waited with me until we saw Briar coming, then he patted the top of my head.
Upset because I didn't get my after-school hugs and from what happened with Mr. Stamper, I couldn't even hum at him, although I appreciated his affection.
"Have a good time at work, Reau."
"Thanks. Are you going home now?"
"Yeah, but I'm going to take the long way. See if Chester can scent our mate. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
He waved to Briar as he headed toward his old truck, and she waved back as she bounced up to me. Of course, she noticed right away that I wasn't happy.
"Aw, little brother, do you miss your boyfriends?"
"Yes," I mumbled and sighed.
"Well, you can do a video chat with them tonight. Right now, we have to get to work!" She smiled and gave me a quick hug before unlocking her car. "You have some people who are looking forward to seeing you!"
"Yes, they are," I agreed, cheering up a bit. "They would be sad if I didn't come, and who would get them ice water? They would be thirsty all night!"
"That's right. You need to find your smile again so you can brighten their day with it."
Find my smile? Did I lose it, Spring?
Yes, you did, he said. Don't let Mr. Stamper steal your joy, little one. He's not worth one tear in your eye or one second of sadness in your heart.
"Come on, Reau," Briar called. "I'll put on your playlist and we'll sing along the whole way!"
Oh, boy! I loved to sing!
"Okay!" A big grin spread across my face. "Come on! Let's go!"
Thursday was a good day.
Arch and Wayne gave me lots and lots of hugs and kisses on and off all day to make up for not seeing me yesterday after school, and I scolded them for having fun without me.
"As if we'd let you do something dangerous," Arch scoffed. "You know how strong paint fumes are."
"Then you should not have done it, either!" I scolded, shaking my finger at them. "Why did you, anyway?"
"I don't know." Wayne shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Arch smacked him up the side of his head, and I giggled.
And then I had to go to math class.
As soon as we were all seated, Mr. Stamper handed back our tests from yesterday, and I smiled, hoping he'd be nicer to me once he saw I could do the work.
He wasn't, though. If anything, he was meaner than yesterday.
Instead of handing me my paper like he did everyone else, he slapped it down on my desk, and my eyes widened at the big red F written across the top of it.
"Why didn't you show your work? The directions clearly say to show your work!" Mr. Stamper demanded.
"Did I not solve the problems correctly?" I whispered.
"Your answers are correct, but without seeing your work, I have no way of knowing your thought process or if you did the problems by yourself. For all I know, you linked someone to do the problems for you!"
Spring snarled as Atty, Ayla, and Leilani blasted their outrage in the link. I asked them all to calm down so I could think and give me a chance to deal with it before one of them jumped in. When the link went silent, I swallowed hard and gathered my courage.
"Mrs. Weber said I don't have to show my work unless I get a problem incorrect, and I haven't," I explained. "Not one all year so far."
"Mrs. Weber obviously babies you and mollycoddles you to the point where you've become lazy and defiant. If I tell you to show your work, you show your work! Redo it now with your work, and I'll give you half credit."
With a whimper, I nodded as tears filled my eyes. I didn't know what else to say to defend myself, and I didn't understand why I was in trouble.
Does Mrs. Weber baby and mollycoddle me? I asked Spring and my friends. Am I lazy and defiant? What is mollycoddle, anyway?
No, little one, none of that is true, Spring snapped, making me jump a little, even though I knew it wasn't me who he was mad at. I warned Mr. Stamper's wolf that if this behavior continues, he is going to regret it!
Ha! Atty snorted. You won't get a chance, Spring. When Beta Em finds out about this, he's going to go beast mode!
And Goddess help Mr. Stamper when your boyfriends find out! Ayla growled. If they stick-noted your science teacher's car for rolling his eyes at you, I can only imagine what they'll—
I don't want you to tell them, I sniffed and blinked back tears. I will try to do better tomorrow. I will redo this sheet and show my work. I'll—
Reau, I'm afraid that won't make a difference, Leilani said in a gentle tone.
It will. I reached for my bag and took out my big eraser. I will fix this! I will fix it right now!
Atticus Bel Aire
Poor little Reau. He didn't understand that Mr. Stamper was a loudmouth and a bully, just like my grandfather had warned me, and even redoing his test to show his work wasn't going to make the man happy.
Thoreau, Mr. Stamper has decided to pick on you for some reason, I told him bluntly. You need an adult to help you deal with this. It's not something you're going to be able to fix on your own.
And it's okay to ask for help, Ayla added.
That's right. People who love you want to help you, Leilani said. I ask my parents for help all the time with things I can't fix myself. Does that mean I'm making trouble for them or doing something wrong?
No, he admitted, but I need to prove I can handle things myself! I'm going to be an adult next week!
I shook my head with a sigh, knowing it was useless to keep arguing with him. He could be one stubborn little cuss sometimes.
Should tell Arch and Wayne, Chester encouraged me. Beta Beast just kill him. Arch and Wayne torment him. Deserves tormenting for hurting our Reau.
I told him I wouldn't, I sighed. The girls and I said we'd let him try to handle it himself.
And you did. Didn't work. Teacher will be worse tomorrow. You know this.
I did. Granddad had told me all about Adrian Stamper, and it didn't sound like he'd ever been a nice person, even when they'd been schoolboys together.
Atticus? Ayla linked me with only Leilani looped in. What should we do? I don't think he's going to listen to us, but we told him we wouldn't interfere.
Let's give it one more day. If tomorrow goes well, we'll let it go.
And if it doesn't? Leilani asked with worry in her eyes.
Then all hell will break loose because I'm telling Arch and Wayne.
Not Reau's dad? Ayla smirked. I can tell my big brother if you're scared to tell Beta Beast.
Since her big brother was Beta Tristan Harrington, telling him would be the same as telling Reau's dad.
They'll have to beat Spring to it, Leilani pointed out. He's seething!
Not to mention how hard this is going to be for Reau to hide from his boyfriends after school. Glancing at my little buddy out of the corner of my eye, I saw he was frantically erasing all of his answers from his test, and my heart hurt for him. But if he feels he needs to do it, I think we should support him, not rob him of a chance to show his strength.
Haha! Remember the time the alphas did that to luna? Leilani tittered, and Ayla and I chuckled.
None of us had been there, but Spring was, and he never hesitated to share it with anyone who asked.
A couple of years ago, Luna Posy drew a curse out of Gamma Landry. The alphas were worried about her safety and yelled at her, and that little luna yelled right back. She told her five mates not to underestimate her or steal her moments of triumph, then alpha-commanded them to shift and go for a run.
That was the moment she discovered she was the most powerful she-wolf on the planet. The alphas each drew his power from his individual packs and Five Fangs, but only Luna Posy could draw it from all six packs. She even made the king of werewolves stumble back a step once!
And she made sure her mates knew never to underestimate her again.
Sometimes we made the same mistake with Reau that the alphas did with luna that day. It was easy as hell to fight all his battles for him instead of helping him fight them himself. Even harder was standing behind him and watching him fight them alone.
Why? Because he'd already endured so much, and no one wanted to see him hurt even the littlest bit ever again.
Same with luna.
Wolf shifters denned in packs for a reason. We were tight-knit and family-oriented, and it was inconceivable to think of a parent, even a step-parent, hurting a pup. My mom would never raise a hand to me or my little twin sisters. My dad, either, when he was alive. Before the sickness took him and my oldest brother, Rowan, he loved us kids so much, Mom used to tease him that she was second place on his list of priorities.
Even my granddad, who was stern and strict as hell, would never have beaten my dad or starved him. He never would have locked my aunts in a dark room and tortured them with silver and mercury.
Yet both luna and Reau had endured years of abuse at the hands of those who should have loved and protected them, luna because her stepfather was insane and Reau when his dad's wolf went feral and his mom lost it after her wolf faded back to the Goddess.
It made all of us overprotective, but we had to support them, not smother them.
So we're agreed? I asked the girls. We'll wait and see how Reau handles this before we intervene, right?
Agreed, Leilani and Ayla said at the same time, then we closed the link to focus on Mr. Stamper's lesson.
Well, half-focus.
Chester was yammering at me to skip tomorrow and search for our mate, which ramped up my anxiety about why we couldn't find her, but I knew we had to support Reau, too.
We'll look for her in the morning, I promised my wolf, then we'll come to school for math class.
Fine, he grumbled. I just want to find our mate so bad!
I did, too, so much I ached for her, but I couldn't make her appear out of thin air!
And to be honest, every day that passed since Chester started acting up made me more doubtful that our mate was the reason behind his behavior. I'd half-convinced myself that he wanted to find her so much, he'd imagined sensing her.
At least we know it's not Briar, I told my wolf, who nodded.
She had turned eighteen six months ago, and I was glad she wasn't my mate. Oh, she was nice enough and beautiful, but she needed a man who would tussle with her. Both Chester and I would rather roll over on our backs and have our bellies rubbed than fight for control.
Azure Graves would be a good mate for her, I thought to myself. Or even better, Elijah Ford.
Azure's intensity would be a good match for her bossy self, but Eli was on a different level of dominance. If she mouthed off about something, I could absolutely see Eli grabbing her by the throat and bending her over the nearest surface to fuck the lip right out of her...
Shifting a little uncomfortably in my seat, I scowled at Chester as he laughed at me for arousing myself with my stupidly vivid imagination.
I glanced over at Ayla and Leilani to make sure they didn't notice me adjusting myself and breathed a sigh of relief to see them focused on their work.
Neither of them had turned eighteen yet, so if Chester really was sensing our mate, neither of them could be her, and I was glad about that, too. They were gorgeous, to be sure, as well as kind and sweet and anyone's dream, but I knew I was hardly in the same league as either of them.
Ayla wanted to be a chemical engineer, for the love of the moon, and I didn't even know what that was! As for Leilani, she planned to become a marine biologist, so I was sure she wouldn't have wanted a farm boy for a mate.
Besides, neither of them like horses, I thought with a frown.
I was willing to do a lot to make my mate happy, but I didn't think I could give up my horses.
Princess Rhys like horses. Has two at home! Chester reminded me.
Ha! If Ayla and Leilani are so far above me, Princess Rhys Winterlight for damn sure is! I mean, can you imagine us in the fae court? I joked.
Fae stables, maybe, he agreed with a smirk, then more seriously, but can make changes for mate.
I can only change so much, buddy. I sighed in misery. I can't be someone I'm not. I mean, I could go to college, but I'd hate every second of it. I don't have to take over the family farm like I planned, but I can't stop loving horses. I can get rid of my jeans and flannels and boots, but I can't suddenly become elegant enough for royalty.
Mate not want you to be unhappy or give up horses. Chester shook his head slowly. And you only focus on friends. Mate could be older girl. A woman!
His eyes widened when he said woman, and I snickered at him.
Oh, yeah? Who? Other than Briar, what female even close to our age is over eighteen and mateless?
Livvy Benson! He hopped up and down like a pup, and I grunted at him to stop.
Olivia Benson was the best unranked warrior in the pack and defended that title ruthlessly. Watching her at fighter practice was like watching one of my favorite horses run - all sleek muscle in motion with effortless grace and beauty.
Feeling my dick twitch again, I rolled my eyes.
Hush, wolf! I don't want to think about her right now!
Because you afraid boner gets harder? he chuckled.
Because the loneliness in her eyes hurts my heart, I growled, and I'm already upset about Reau's situation. He doesn't deserve this anymore than Livvy deserves to be mateless!
You always like Livvy. He rolled his eyes. Ever since a pup. Always begging Rowan to ask Willow to play so Livvy would, too.
I shrugged. No use denying I'd had a little boy crush on my big brother's friend. Being the awesome guy he was, Rowan often let me go along with him to hang out with him and his friends, who always included Willow Price and Olivia Benson.
It wasn't until I was much older that I realized Rowan was sweet on Willow and only dragged me along because he wanted to impress her with being a good older brother. Of course, he was competing with Alpha Mason's example, which was a hard act to follow. Even as a pup, I saw how much alpha cared about and for his twin sister.
Since Willow was best friends with Olivia, the two girls were usually together whenever Rowan managed to pry Willow away from her brother and his friends, and that was one of the reasons I was kind of quiet and withdrawn whenever I ran into Olivia now. While Rowan and Willow might have been mates if they'd survived to adulthood, Olivia probably only remembered me as an annoying tag-along who whined for ice cream.
I admire and respect her, I said carefully, but I always knew I was too young for her.
When you eight and she thirteen! he huffed. Not now!
It will be a moot point soon enough. We'll find our mate one way or another tomorrow, even if we have to run every inch of the pack!
As he yipped with happiness, I shut him out and started on the homework Mr. Stamper had assigned, hoping to finish it up in the few minutes left of class.
After all, the less I had to do at home, the more time I could spend with my horses.