Chapter 2

Mistrea stretched out in bed and opened her eyes on a beautiful sunny Tuesday morning. She relaxed for a few more minutes before getting up to prepare for the day. She organised coffee and made herself some toast. As she sat eating she opened her diary to see what she’d organised for the day.

She had a ten o’clock appointment with Mr Patrick Henderson, the Principal at Kendrick High, she laughed to herself at the school’s name. If they only knew! Then she gave herself a mental shake and started organising her thoughts in regards to the meeting.

Mistrea tidied up the kitchen and checked the time, it was still early but she was eager to leave so she grabbed her bag and keys and headed for the car. She parked the car in the main street and wandered up the street checking out some of the stores.

Mistrea noted the stationary shop and also a book store, two of her favourite places to browse. She went into the stationary shop and had a look around. She ended up buying a notebook and pen then decided she had time for a coffee before heading to the school.

She found a small café ordered a coffee and took a seat in a booth by the window pulling out her notebook and pen while she waited for her order to arrive. She jotted down a few ideas for her first class and smiled at the waitress when she placed her coffee in front of her. She lifted the cup before blowing on its surface and taking a sip.

As she placed the cup back on the saucer her eyes were drawn to the window and when her stomach did a familiar flip flop she almost cringed. She lifted her eyes and saw Zac across the street sauntering along at a relaxed pace.

Sauntering? Seriously where the hell did that come from? Although she had to agree it was the correct word for what he was doing. He stopped and she pulled back from the window not wanting him to see her. He looked at the café, scanned the front window as if looking for someone then continued on his way.

Mistrea breathed a sigh of relief and drank her coffee; she needed to focus on the upcoming meeting. When she was ready she made her way to the counter to pay. She wanted to scope out the high school before the meeting so she could get a sense of where she’d be working.

As she drove up the street on her way to the high school she saw Zac out of the corner of her eye. He was standing on the sidewalk with a man almost as tall and broadly built as he was. She kept her eyes on the road ahead and kept driving ignoring the fact that he was watching her.

When she got to the high school she parked and locked the car before moving towards the front entrance of the building. She found her way to the main office and approached the reception area.

The receptionist greeted her warmly, “How can I help you?”

“Good morning, I’m Mistrea Larkin I have a meeting with Principal Henderson.”

“Please take a seat Miss Larkin; I’ll let him know you’re here.” She smiled and buzzed Henderson to let him know she was there.

She’d barely got the words out and Principal Henderson came through his office door to greet her. “Miss Larkin it’s so nice to finally meet you, please come take a seat,” he indicated his office.

Mistrea smiled and preceded him into his office and taking a seat. They chatted for a few minutes, he’d read some of her academic work and she figured that was a plus in her being appointed a position at the school. Several minutes later he was showing her to the room she’d be using; it was smallish but light and airy. On the plus side she was told she could make it her own.

She turned to Mr Henderson, “How many students have signed up for my class?” she shook her head, “never mind sometimes it’s best to start with just a few, but you did stipulate that only sixteen years and over can sign up for the class?”

Henderson nodded, “Yes I was very specific in that regards and as to your first questions I believe you have six or seven students signed up but that may well change depending on what the students have to say about your class.”

He left her at that and she spent some time getting a sense of the room. She took some notes as to what she might be able to use in the room, posters information sheets, books on poetry, short stories and novels from a range of authors.

Mistrea grinned as she left her room excited at the prospect of teaching a bunch of kids about writing. She’d only taken a few steps when the bell went and a swarm of students erupted into the hallway. She did the only thing she could do and moved against the closest wall deciding to wait it out.

She got a few curious looks from some of the students and a couple of the older boys gave her the once over twice which gave her the heebie jeebies. Then just as an overly confident male student stepped up with a smirk on his face and a hand reaching out to her she heard someone called out to her.

She turned and was grateful to see Kyle, Reece and Dylan headed her way. “Hey guys it’s nice to see you again.”

“Mistrea what are you doing hanging out in the hallway? It can be dangerous if you don’t know your way around.” He looked at the guy still standing close to Mistrea and without thinking pulled her to his side. She wasn’t surprised by this, but certainly was when Reece and Dylan flanked her as well.

She sighed. “I need coffee, or maybe a stiff drink!” she watched the mass of students as they went their individual ways and Kyle couldn’t help but laugh before turning to the guy watching their interaction.

“Greg,” Kyle began looking at the guy in front of Mistrea, “this is our new writing teacher, Miss Larkin.”

Greg immediately took a step back and his expression changed, “Nice to meet you Miss,” then he turned and walked off to his next class.

Mistrea looked at the guys curiously, “What, because I’m a teacher I’m suddenly too old for him?”

“No,” Reece answered, “it’s because you’re a teacher he backed off. You’re a no go area. What are you doing here anyway?”

“I had a meeting with Principal Henderson and I was checking out my room, getting a feel for it.” They rolled their eyes and she grinned, “So if you’re not busy first think Thursday morning I could do with some help setting up?”

“But I didn’t think your class was until the end of the day?” asked Dylan.

Mistrea started moving to the entryway and they followed, “Yeah I know but I have a few posters that I’d like to put up and well…”

“You’re too short!” laughed Kyle.

Not to be outdone Mistrea batted her eyes at all three, “And y’all are so big and strong!”

“Okay that was the worst southern accent I’ve ever heard!” stated Dylan.

“Your right but at least you knew it was southern,” she smiled and left them standing at the top of the stairs before looking over her shoulder. “Kyle I’ll see you after school okay. I’ll even have cake for you to try.”

That put a grin on his face and all the way to their next class his friends kept asking him what was going on and could they come with him to Mistrea’s as well. He didn’t answer them because he knew they’d follow him there anyway.

When Mistrea got home she got herself organised in the kitchen and spent a good few hours baking. She made chocolate chip cookies, an orange and poppy-seed loaf and her personal favourite chocolate cake with a choc-peppermint frosting and topped with slices of fresh strawberries. When she put the last piece of strawberry on the cake she stood back to checkout her work. She smiled and finished tidying up the kitchen so she could get a few things organised for when Kyle arrived.

By the time Kyle got there Mistrea had several books for him to read and also exercises for them to do together. She laughed when she opened the door. “Hey guys, come on in you’ll all get to be taste testers so I’ll know what to bake for the get-together this weekend.” She turned around heading to the kitchen all three boys following her.

“Wow!” called Reece, “this spread looks great.”

“Eat up guys then you two,” she pointed at Reece and Dylan, “will have to leave so Kyle and I can get some work done.”

“No problem!” they both stated and all three sat down at the kitchen table digging in while Mistrea poured glasses of milk to wash it all down with.

She left them to it and went upstairs to gather what she needed for Kyle. She set everything down in the living room hoping for a relaxed feel so Kyle wouldn’t get all tensed up about the session.

When she was ready she went back to the kitchen and saw that a good amount of the food was gone. “Okay guys what’s the verdict?”

“Chocolate cake!” they all stated at the same time.

“It’s all good Mistrea and the kids will love the cookies, but…” Reece grinned.

“So chocolate cake it is and maybe some cookies for the kids.” They all grinned and reached for another cookie.

Mistrea finally waved Reece and Dylan off then cleared the table rinsing out the glasses and leaving everything to wash after dinner. She turned to see Kyle standing in the doorway a grimace on his face.

“What?”

“Umm…” he held up the book he had in his hand and shook his head. “This is a girly book, I mean a… a… geez Mistrea it’s a romance book!”

She tried not to laugh, “It’s a romance novel and yes, you are going to read it eventually. If it helps there are some really sexy bits in it?”

His face flushed and Mistrea shook her head and moved towards him. “Well work up to the romance stuff. But there are a few books here I want you to read.”

Mistrea was smart enough to know that if she tried to get him to read something he didn’t want to read he’d be more apt to read what she wanted him to read.

Kyle followed her to the living room and sat next her as she picked up a stack of books. “You don’t have to read them all at once. One book at a time okay, how about we start with Call of the Wild, it’s a classic and a real guy type of book.”

“How come I have to read, I mean you said you’d help me with writing?”

“To write you need to read Kyle and the more you read the easier it’ll be for you to find the right words when you do write. Does that make sense?”

He sighed, “Yeah it does, unfortunately. Okay so what’s this book about anyway?” he turned the book over and read the back of it, “this might not be too bad.” He grinned and they set to work on some of the writing exercises Mistrea had organised for him.

By the time they’d finished up Mistrea was happy but tired. “How about you take the orange and poppy seed cake home with you? It’ll give your mother a chance to sample my cooking and I won’t feel like I have to eat it.”

“Sure thing Mistrea and thanks for today.”

When she got into bed that night it was with thoughts of a group of eager students wanting to learn whatever she had to offer. She woke in the early hours of the morning and pulled her dressing gown on as she went to the balcony to see if she could figure out what had woken her.

Mistrea was somewhat shocked to see an enormous wolf sitting across from her house. He and it had to be a he because it was so big, just sat there looking at the house. She opened the balcony door and stepped out never taking her eyes off him.

The wolf stood and watched her for a minute before lifting his head and howling. It was the most mournful sound she’d ever heard, but the strange thing was although it was sad it also warmed her heart. She watched as he turned and ran into the brush behind him then she turned and got back into bed wondering why the wolf had been there.

She didn’t go back to sleep so much as drift in and out of it. The wolf kept coming to mind and even though it should have made her uneasy that he’d been hanging around her home it somehow comforted her. Mistrea knew he was no ordinary wolf, he was strong most likely an Alpha and the only man she knew that fit that bill was someone she really didn’t want to deal with on a personal level just yet.

By five o’clock she was wide awake so made her way to the kitchen to put the coffee on. She’d write for an hour or so before she ate then organise what she’d need for class on Thursday. As Mistrea sat at her kitchen table munching on a piece of toast she had to smile, she hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.

Maybe coming back was the right thing to do? God I hope so.

Once she had everything organised for her class she showered and dressed, checked that everything was locked then headed out the front door to her car. She would need a few things from the store if she was going to bake enough to take to the community gathering on Sunday.

The town had grown a great deal over the years but there was still a warm small town feel about it, a feeling she liked. Once Mistrea finished her shopping she packed it all into the car and took a look around.

“Coffee and maybe a sandwich!” Mistrea returned to the café she’d tried out the morning before and ordered a skim milk flat white and a turkey salad sandwich. She’d just taken a bite of her sandwich when she saw two men come in. She almost choked as she realised it was Zac and the same man she’d seen him with yesterday.

She turned slightly so she wasn’t looking their way and looked out the window as she ate. Zac was someone she’d need to deal with eventually, she just wasn’t quite ready to do so yet. That she’d stood up to him in regards to Kyle surprised her, she hadn’t realised he was so arrogant and she wanted to suss out the town and its residents before she tackled him. Unfortunately he spotted her and was moving her way.

“Good morning, I’m Zachary Hunt; we met the other day in the car park. I believe you were explaining to me how you were going to help Kyle?” Mistrea looked up at him and he smiled. “I spoke with Mae and she told me you’ll be helping out Kyle. Looks like you were right about the honey.”

She raised a brow but didn’t say anything which peeved him. “This is Wade Benson my business manager.”

Mistrea reached out a hand, “Hello Mr Benson it’s nice to meet you. “I’d ask you both to join me but I’m about done and I wanted to wander around and get a better feel for the town.”

“Of course, I hope you’re enjoying your stay. Is this a visit or are you considering living here permanently?”

She smiled sweetly not wanting to answer Benson’s questions but not wanting to appear rude by not doing so. “I’ve purchased the house I’m living in, but undecided as to whether or not I’ll be staying. I’m pretty much a city girl, but if I fit here I’ll consider staying. If you’ll excuse me I really need to get going.” She got to her feet gave them both a nod before going to the counter to pay.

On her way out she turned to them both, “Perhaps I’ll see you both on Sunday, I hope you like chocolate cake.” She smiled then exited the café.

Mistrea couldn’t help the grin on her face as she walked up the street; the look on Zac’s face was priceless! At least she’d have a few friends around her on Sunday, Mae for one as well as Kyle, Dylan and Reece. As their new neighbour she’d be introduced to some of the other women and that’d keep Zac and his friend away from her.

Mistrea spent another hour exploring the town before making her way back to her car and home. After she put the groceries away she called her lawyer Charles Jenkins, to discuss a few things including the house and land she now lived on. She needed to know exactly how much of the area she owned and intended to have Charles organise to have a surveyors mark it out and produce maps so she could see for herself.

If this was to become her home she wanted to know where she stood, especially against the local Alpha, as her land sat against Pack or Community land as it was referred to outside of the Pack.

Charles Jenkins was a good friend and an excellent lawyer; he and his firm had taken care of her family for a great many years. He had helped in maintaining the secrets that would soon be revealed. Mistrea knew it was almost time but she wanted things to happen when she was ready and not before.

Mistrea also knew that there were bound to be disagreements and the need to negotiate in regards to land and access. She’d discuss what she wanted and what she’d agree to with Charles at a later date, for now she needed to see what was hers so she could walk the boundaries. Mistrea needed to reconnect to the land she’d missed for so long.

Thursday morning came bright and sunny; Mistrea was up early and ready to go by seven thirty. She was surprised to hear a knock on the front door and grinned when she saw Kyle, Dylan and Reece.

Reece greeted her first, “Hey Mistrea, we figured we’d give you a hand from here and you could drive us to school and back?”

“If that’s okay?” asked Dylan.

“Thanks guys. I’ve got everything I need in the car so we can get going if you want?”

It didn’t take long to get to the high school and by the time they had her room set up they were all feeling like they’d done a good job.

“I’m going to check out the school library and see what the range of books is like then I thought I might go home until it’s time to come back for my class. It’ll give me time to get my head in the right space.”

“Okay Mistrea and umm, since you’ll be our teacher we’ll have to call you Miss Larkin, at least in school.” Kyle looked a little embarrassed but Mistrea smiled and nodded.

The library turned out to be fairly well supplied which pleased her, but they were mostly academic texts and she’d have liked to have seen a larger section committed to novels. Children needed more than academia, they needed to stretch their imagination and use it for fun as well as learning, besides Mistrea considered all reading a means of learning.

Mistrea was excited when she got back to her classroom. She had no idea how many students she’d have as this was an extracurricular class, students didn’t have to take it. She was surprised when eleven students showed up, she waited another couple of minutes to make sure there weren’t any stragglers then she began.

“Good afternoon, my name is Mistrea Larkin, I’ll be your writing teacher for the semester.” She shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “That sounded so formal and for the most part I’m not. I’m more the relaxed easy to get along with type of person, so how about I start again.”

Everyone smiled not sure what she had in mind. “Hi I’m Mistrea. I’m a writer a reader and I love to sit by the pool or at the beach and soak up the sun. I already know Kyle, Reece and Dylan and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone else here.

This class won’t be like your regular classes, we’ll talk a lot about books and we’ll be reading, because reading is a huge part of writing. We’ll look at a wide range of books everything from children’s books to romance! Yes romance, have you got any idea how big a seller that is?”

They laughed and she pulled the chair out from behind the desk so she could sit with them. I don’t want you to look at me as a teacher; I’m more of a guide or tutor. We’ll look at different genres as well as poetry and academic writing.”

“Poetry!”

“Yep and you might even find yourself writing some.” She grinned at the look of horror on a few faces. “You can say more in a few lines of poetry than you can is ten pages of a story; if you know what you’re doing. When we are in this room you can call me Mistrea, outside of it you’ll need to call me Miss Larkin. I don’t mind if you call me Mistrea all the time, but your Principal might. Now how about you all introduce yourselves and tell me a little about your writing experience.”

The next twenty minutes was spent getting to know each other then Mistrea handed out a list of books that she thought might interest them as well as photocopies of pages from a few books that she wanted them to read before the next class.

They spent the rest of the class talking about writing, the different genres, what interested them and why. They also talked about what they thought would sell best and discussed a project she was hoping they’d be able to work on together producing an anthology of their collective works to either have published in hard copy or as an e-book. This got them excited and by the end of the class they were hyped and talking about what they might write.

Mistrea drove the guys as far as her home and they cut through the area adjacent to her house to get home. Kyle followed her inside and she made tea and put some mini jam muffins on a plate. After they ate they talked more about the class and how they could use it to help him build on his skills.

She didn’t set him homework but got him to talk about what he’d been reading. He was a little nervous at first but once he got started he was enjoying the fact that he could talk about a book and actually know what he was talking about.

Kyle went home that afternoon feeling good about himself and knowing that Mistrea had helped him realise that he could be more than he thought. He gave his mother a hug and helped her organise dinner, something he rarely did. After dinner he sat at the kitchen table and focused on his homework before reading more of Call of the Wild.

The following day was Friday and she didn’t need to be up early so Mistrea planned on a late night of writing. She had an early dinner, put on a pot of coffee and made her way upstairs to the loft. It felt like ages since she’d sat and just wrote and she was truly looking forward to it.

As she sat down at her laptop she opened up a new word document and closed her eyes. After a few moments she opened her eyes and began to write. The words came slowly at first then she got into the rhythm and they began to flow.

She stopped at intervals to fill her coffee mug and several times she grabbed a snack to keep her going. She heard a howl outside but ignored it, when it sounded again she opened up iTunes put it on shuffle and listened to whatever played.

Mistrea made sure she had it up loud enough that she wouldn’t be distracted by anything outside and when she started feeling stiff from sitting she got up and danced to the music to get the kinks out.

When the words finally dried up it was the early hours of Saturday morning. Mistrea saved the document, turned off the music and shutdown the laptop. She fell into bed exhausted but hyped; she’d gotten the first three chapters of a new book done. Claire would be very happy with her!

It was midday when Mistrea finally woke up. She took her time in the shower washing her hair and letting the warm water wake her up completely. She made toast and had a glass of milk and some fruit before setting about baking. It would take a good few hours as she wanted to make a large block chocolate cake so there’d be plenty to go around then she worked on making the cookies.

She cleared a shelf in the refrigerator to put the cake when she finished frosting it and decided to put the strawberries on it first thing in the morning. She readied containers and sheets of greased proof paper to layer the cookies with then made herself a sandwich and a coffee as a reward.

Mistrea turned on the stereo as she packed the cookies and got lost in the music, today it was The Eagles. She was so into the music that she didn’t hear someone knocking on the front door and was startled when she turned and saw Kyle standing at the doorway of the back door.

“Holy crap! You scared the hell out of me.”

He grinned, “Nice moves Mistrea.”

She rolled her eyes and he laughed, “I knocked on the front door several times, I guess you didn’t hear me huh?”

She waved him in and showed him her handy work. “I just wanted to check if you’re still coming tomorrow and if you need a hand with anything… umm I’m thinking yes.”

“That’d be great Kyle, I kind of got carried away and there’s no way I’d be able to get the cake there in one piece.”

“I’ll bring Reece and Dylan with me so we can get everything there.”

“Thanks Kyle, you’re a lifesaver!”

“I know,” he grinned, “We’ll be here about eleven thirty or so if that’s okay. It’ll give us time to get everything there and mom and the other women can set things up how they want it.”

Mistrea gave him a cookie in thanks and he munched on it on his way out. “Oh,” he called back to her, “My mother loved the orange and poppy seed cake! See you in the morning.”

When the kitchen was cleaned up and everything was ready for the morning Mistrea snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie. She didn’t last long, her eyes started drooping and she was soon climbing the stairs to her bedroom. She wanted to be up early and if at all possible she wanted to look good.