ONE - cold
Lia's pov

"Lia!" I threw my head to the side to see my older brother calling out to me from the doorway. He had on a dark sweatshirt and matching sweatpants while waving some keys towards me. I had been slowly unpacking, taking my time to figure out where I wanted everything. "Will you take me to go get some groceries?"

I looked at the books I had in my hands and tossed them on my desk. "You can't go yourself?"

"I don't feel like driving. So, yes or no?" He asked me, tossing the keys up in the air and catching them a few times. I grumbled under my breath but grabbed my coat from my bed and pulled it on along with some of my shoes.

As I walked past him I grabbed the keys and made my way downstairs with him in tow behind me. Our parents worked a lot, so Tristan and I found ourselves doing most of the stuff around the house. That wasn't to say that our parents were terrible, no they were just busy. You got used to it.

I opened the front door and was smacked in the face with the brisk air. I let out a sigh, seeing my breath in front of me. It was early November and although it wasn't snowing yet, I'm sure that it would be coming fast. This was a lot different than the weather we had in California. A lot different. I tugged my coat closer to my chest before I began to walk down the front steps and over to the little Honda that sat in our driveway.

"God, I'm gonna freeze my balls off," Tristan cursed under his breath as we hopped into the car. I quickly threw the keys into the ignition and started it up, putting the heat on full blast.

"Me too," I agreed with his statement and let the car heat up for a moment before I began to drive towards the closest grocery store nearby, which I had memorized the drive there but not the name. This town, Monkshood, was so small compared to the bustling city that we were used to. Our lives had done a complete 180 within the last week. I knew it would take time to get used to this.

"You know," Tristan spoke up and I glanced over to him before focusing on the drive. "We start school tomorrow. I was thinking... we should just run away." He said and I thought he was joking, but I glanced over to him and he had the most serious look on his face.

I let out a scoff and rolled my eyes, "You're being dramatic. I know this is a little different that-"

"A little different? This place is like a different planet! Look- Look!" He had thrown his body closer to me, making me swerve as he threw his hand in front of my face to point something out. "That guy is only wearing shorts! Can you believe that? These people are bred differently." Trsitan scoffed, partly from bewilderment and also from fear.

"Don't do that again," I shoved his hand out of my face, sending him a glare before I glanced to where he had been pointing. I could see the back of a muscular man, clearly only wearing shorts and practically sprinting on the sidewalk. I have to admit, that was weird. It was freezing outside, how could that guy handle it?

"Okay, keep your eyes on the road, I know you're looking at his butt now," Tristan said and I let out a dry chuckle.

"I was not-"

"Don't lie to me, I know what you women only look for in men. News flash, we have more than just bodies. We have soul, and wants, and needs-" I tried to ignore him as I pulled into the 'Monkshood Supermarket' and went to park. I knew at this point Tristan was just being dramatic, as he always was.

I got out of the car while he was mid-mantra before walking quickly to the entrance of the store. The car had been so warm and now I just wanted to get back in the car and stay there forever. At least it wouldn't be this cold in the store.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" I could hear Tristan yell from behind me but still made my way into the store. Once I did enter, I was once again greeted by warmth. Soon, Tristan had caught up with me and followed me as I grabbed a cart. "You know, if you just walk away from people when they're talking to you, you're not going to make many friends."

"Good, I don't really like people anyways. Especially over dramatic ones," I gave him a short look before we walked our way down the aisles, throwing stuff in the cart that we would eat or use for cooking.

"I know that was a jab at me, but I'm not going to pay you any mind. When you're sitting alone at lunch, begging me to sit with you- well, I'll probably sit with you but it won't be because I want to." He told me as if he were warning me of it and I just ignored him.

"I'm going to grab some cereal, stay with the cart," I tell him and don't let him reply before I go towards the cereal aisle. I pass a few people, who are giving me odd looks, but I brush it off and keep going. I knew how small this town was and expected to get a few curious looks. I had a feeling that everyone knew everyone in town.

I looked between the Fruity Pebbles and the Lucky Charms, not sure which one to choose. I enjoyed both and wanted both, but only needed one. I hummed to myself and I looked at the boxes.

"-look, I told you I saw someone new enter! She came in with a male-" I heard a girl's voice say, obviously failing at it being a whisper. I brought my head up from the very serious business I was dealing with and saw a few people around my age standing at the end of the aisle, staring at me hardcore.

The girl at the front let out a small squeak and her eyes widened as I looked at her. I'm assuming she was the one who spoke. I took a glance at the others in the group before turning my gaze back onto the cereal. One thing I had to say was that everyone here was extremely attractive. The group consisted of five people; two girls and three guys, most staring at me warily.

I hoped that they would just walk away and let the awkward moment they created pass, but I was sorely mistaken. Instead, I could hear them walking closer to me. I cursed whatever deity was causing this inconvenience. I just wanted to grab the stuff and go home and finish unpacking. Or rather procrastinate unpacking.

"That's a hard choice, I'd choose the Lucky Charms," I heard a guy speak up this time and once again brought my head up to look at them. This time I took a good look at the group. The guy who was the closest to me offered me a dimpled smile, pushing a hand through his messy brown hair. His green eyes stared at me intently and seemed to be waiting for my reaction.

The other girl stepped forward and shook her head, her dark brown curls waving in her face. "No way, the Pebbles are far superior!" She had a pink t-shirt on and shorts and it was then that I realized they were all very underdressed for the weather.

The guy from the front wore a red shirt and shorts, the guy behind him- who had an arm wrapped around the Pebbles girls - had sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a blue shirt and shorts. The other girl - who looked nearly identical to the pink shirt girl, except she wore primarily black- and other guy -who had dark brown hair and dark eyes and wore black as well- wore shirts and shorts.

"Um," I said after a moment, placing the Fruity Pebbles back on the shelf and holding the charms to my chest before looking at them. Here's my time to go! "I'm going to-"

"I knew you had good tastes," the first man said, bringing my attention to him. I was surprised to see his eyes looked a LOT darker now than before. Maybe it was the lighting? "I'm Donnie," he said and reached his hand out to shake. I hesitated but put my hand in his slowly, shaking it quickly before removing my hand from his.

"I'm Ande," the girl in pink said before pointing to the other girl. "This is my twin sister Callie," then Ande turned to the guy on her side, "and my handsome ma- uhm, boyfriend, Xander," then she gave a small glance to the guy that was stuck to Callie's hip, "and that's Deke, Callie's boyfriend."

"Lia."

"Are you going to Monkshood High?" Donnie said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I'll be a Junior there," I mumbled under my breath. "What about you all?"

"The girls and I are Juniors, but Xan and Deke are Seniors," Donnie said with a nod and leaned a little closer. It looked like his eyes were playing tricks on me, going from light to dark. I wonder if perhaps I was imagining it. Or maybe I was crazy. "Ande said you came in with a guy. Was it your boyfriend or-"

"Lia!" As if he knew he was being mentioned, Tristan began pushing the cart down the aisle. He had put  a lot more stuff in it and I narrowed my eyes. I knew I would have to double check everything he added and more than likely put a lot of it back. "Who are your new friends?"

As they began their introductions, I tossed in the cereal and did a glance over the cart. I looked up as Tristan began to get into a conversation with the guys, and Ande stepped towards me, a gentle smile on her face. "It'll be fun to have you in class with us! I'm sure we'll make great friends."

I tried to muster up a smile and nod to her. It was nothing against her, I just hadn't prepared myself emotionally for all of this conversation and it was very draining. "Sure. Our first day is tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll see each other at the school at some point." Considering the town was so small, I didn't expect much of the school. After a moment, I decided to change the subject. "How are none of you freezing?"

They both looked confused at my question and I gestured to my jacket then to them. "Like, I know I'm used to California weather, but there's no way you're not freezing your nipples off when you walk outside."

This gained a chuckle from both of them and Ande blushed a little at what I said. "I guess we're just used to colder weather. If you think it's weird now, just wait for it to start snowing." Callie said with a smirk and the look on her face made me think that she knew something that I didn't.

"I hate to break this up, but we've got to go," I turned my head to see that Xander was walking over to us, pulling Ande to his side and he spared me a glance before looking at her. "Grab what you want and let's go, or we're going to be late." His words came out as a soft demand.

Ande nodded before looking back at me. They looked at each other with so much emotion... I know I've never had anyone look at me the way they look at each other. "We've got to go, but we'll see you at school, okay?" She said to me but he was already pulling her down the aisle with the other following in tow - other than Donnie. As they passed the Fruity Pebbles, Ande grabbed the box and tossed it in their cart.

"We usually meet by the water fountain under the East wing stairwell," Donnie said and I turned my attention to him, seeing he was holding out his phone. "Here, put your number in my phone and I can help you if you ever need anything or have any questions."

"Woah, wait a minute," before I could even think of grabbing the phone, my brother had snatched it from his hand. I saw him quickly pressing things on the phone. "If you want to get to my sister, you're going to have to go through me. That's right, I'm expecting top tier treatment." I shook my head and chuckled, giving Donnie a sorry shrug.

"I wasn't trying to get her number for that- I was just trying to be nice," Donnie said and I saw a splash of pink go to his cheeks. "You can message me too if you need any help, Tristan-"

"Nope, you have to call me Mister Simmons if you're trying to get in my sister pan-" before Tristan finished his sentence, I pushed the cart into him, making him almost fall over.

"You don't have to call him that," I told Donnie with a small smile before pushing the cart more, waving Tristan along as he grumbled. "And we'll see you at school tomorrow." I didn't give Donnie a moment to respond before I had pulled Tristan out of the aisle and demanded that he help me put away most of his items from the cart.

*
Donnie's pov

"I saw the way you were looking at Lia," Ande sing-songed as we placed the groceries on the island in the pack house.

"Yeah, aren't humans your type?" Callie said as she put the milk away, flashing me an evil smirk.

I had to stop the growl from escaping my lips and pushed my wolf back. I knew she was just joking. Considering, I was the only one here who was bitten and not born into this, I wouldn't have a mate like them. I would imprint on someone. And even though my wolf was gravitating towards Lia, I didn't want to let them know that.

"She had a strong spirit, I could feel it on her," Ande said excitedly and I looked at her, seeing she was smiling happily and throwing tings it in the pantry. Then she looked over at me, "I think she would make a good mate for y-"

"Cal, come here," suddenly Deke and Xander entered the kitchen, pulling their respective mates into their arms. The sight of them having their perfect matches and knowing I'll never have that possibility made me a bit jealous, but I pushed that back and watched as the Alpha had come in after them, anger filling the room and making everyone go quiet.

Damien was a man of few words and although he can be scary when you first meet him, I know he's a good guy. He looked around at everyone and his eyes shown black, showing that his wolf was out. "What is that... smell?"

Everyone looked at each other curiously, not sure what he was talking about.

He let out a growl before stalking towards the counter and pulled out something from the bag that hadn't been put away yet; the Fruity Pebbles. As everyone's confusion seemed to rise, his anger seemed to dissipate as he took a whiff of the box. Then he walked out of the room and took the box with him.

"What was that?" Ande murmured against Xander and he held her closer. I turned and started putting stuff back away.

"I think he's having cravings; it must be that time of the month." Callie joked and we began to laugh but heard his loud growl from deep within the pack house meaning he heard her. Our chuckles quieted and we finished putting everything away.