CHAPTER SIX

I watched her as she walked between the archway of lavender dahlias situated just in front of the main building and planted her palm across her forehead before her eyes settled on her brothers who were already hollering amongst their cluster of friends paying little attention to whatever it is she was saying. I couldn't blame them, I used to do worse at their age, and my chef bore the brunt of my rebellious stage. I laughed as her eyes narrowed as she spoke to them.

She was my primary assignment and final test before I achieved elite status in the gang and before my father would acknowledge me as his son. I crushed the butt of my cigarette against the white wall, leaving a dented ash color on the freshly painted wall. The guard was going to have a fit when he saw the ugly mess but I didn't care about that. The next donation my father would offer to the school would be enough to paint the school a hundred times over. For now, I had more important things to think about and Maria Goretti was on top of the list.

I waited for her to round off with her brother before I approached her. I didn't know how our conversation would go but I was giddy with excitement at the thought of it already.

***

Maria stiffened as she heard someone call out her name. The voice was masculine and it made her wary aside from the fact that nobody knew her by that name. To be honest, nobody except her brothers knew her first name among the entire student population.

She had been at St. Jude high school for a few months now and she had successfully managed to keep a low profile despite her brother's flamboyant attitude. People knew her as Goretti because of who her father was.

She had always hated that, even more than the fact that she couldn't make friends because before they were scared shitless of her. Being the daughter of the alpha was a burden she would happily discard in exchange for a perfectly normal life as an omega wolf. She had little interest in being at the top of the food chain for starters, only if the moon goddess would listen to her wishes.

She had always preferred being called Maria but since no one knew her by that name and no one cared to ask, she grudgingly accepted Goretti as her first and only name around this premises.

A large hand slumped over her small frame broke her out of her train of thought. Her knees buckled from the unexpected weight.

She frowned as she looked up ready to let out a load of expletives at whoever was bold enough to touch her without her permission. She could smell his unfamiliar scent. She opened her to berate him but the words died in her throat.

Goodness, he was drop-dead gorgeous. She had seen so many handsome men during her endless countless dinners with her father but none of them could measure up to the face her eyes were fixed upon. He removed his hand from her shoulder and stood two feet away from her, so she had enough time to roam her eyes over his body. He was wearing a button-up shirt, rolled up to his elbow to reveal a forearm that had seen a lot of exercises, she was sure of it. His pants clung to his thighs perfectly and his converse shoes completed his outfit. He looked like he fell out of one of her girly magazines.

His smile was etched perfectly on his bronzed face, and his hair cascaded down his face partially shielding his black orbs, it was a little bit curly at the front end and the back was styled so that it gave off a tousled look. She couldn't understand why he had to be so attractive.

The stubble on both sides of his face gave him a rakish look. Her alarm bells rang out loud in her head, telling her to steer clear of the incoming tsunami she was about to hit head-on but her feet refused to move.

Never before had she been so smitten by a boy and this meant a lot, given the fact she had an endless list of suitors as the days rolled by.

"Who are you?" She cleared her throat and straightened her back to make herself not feel dwarfed by his ridiculous height.

She bit back a smile as he feigned a dramatic gasp.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" He inquired, pushing his hair away from his eyes as he stared intensely at her.

"Nope." She said, popping the p. "And to be honest, I don't care." She added almost immediately.

***

I watched her for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

Nobody had told me she was feisty and drop-dead gorgeous as a matter of fact. I was beginning to lose count of the number of times I had complimented her beauty. That was the sort of effect she had over me within a short time.

She had a lively face, a full sensuous mouth with plump cherry lips, and sparkling eyes that could change from a soft moss green color to dark jade in moments, depending on her mood.

Her skin was the perfect shade of caramel, accentuated by her petite figure. Judging by her appearance and the fact that there were so many men like him vying for her attention would mean getting her to like me would be nearly impossible but I lived for challenges.

She slung her backpack over her arm and squared her shoulder, staring at me with a bored expression on her face.

"Let me introduce myself properly." I began, holding my hands up in the air.

"My name is Logan Zorander, my friends call me Lo."

I took her dainty hand into mine and kissed it, holding back my smile as she blushed.

Maria was finding it hard to concentrate on the words he just said. He had perfect white teeth, orderly arranged to enhance his long list of attractive features. He was as flawless as they came.

I took her silence as an invitation to continue. Without wasting any more time, I gave her the plan I had been preparing for an hour now.

"I know this might seem sudden or come as a shock to you but I'm still going to say it anyway. You're going to be my tutor for the whole term. I'm having difficulties with a few subjects and I can't afford to fail. My father would skin me alive, I spoke to Principal Adams earlier this morning and he agreed to this arrangement. I thought it would be polite to pre-inform you before he summoned you into his office during recess."

She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up a finger to silence her. Giving her time to argue would ruin my plan and I couldn't let that happen not when I was this close to succeeding.

"He said it would look good on your school report, you know, and help you get more recognition and in return, I get good grades and you get the credit for it. Trust me to make sure of that, I'll even push you to be class president or prom queen, whatever it is that you want. I just want this to be a win for the both of us."