Plans were trying to form inside Karliah's head, despite it being also filled with a lot of blood due to the headstand she was desperately trying to keep straight with the help of some random dominant girl she had been paired with.

She was also trying not to let her fear of her shirt becoming untucked from her tracksuit bottoms distract her either. Not because wolves were shy of their bodies - It was the complete opposite for most wolves in fact, but because she was always worried that if people saw her breasts, they'd be able to tell instantly that they were implants. They weren't very big, she only wore a B cup bra, but humans always seemed obsessed with knowing if something was 'Fake'. There were whole magazine articles and TV shows dedicated to sniffing out celebrity plastic surgeries without even seeing their bodies, and she knew lots of wolves enjoyed human media. She had never had anyone question her with her clothes on (and she had special permission to change in her own room when she had P.E) but there was no way she wanted people to see them out in the open, the scars were usually hidden by the sports bras she always wore, but her super self-conscious brain just couldn't stop nagging and worrying her. It wasn't as if none of her pack had some kind of clue anyway, the elders and her parents obviously all knew everything, but since she had started her transition so young, the older and middle aged people knew only of the very brief period of time when she was the 'Bouncing Baby Boy' of the Lunar Warrior clan but knew never to mention it, and the young generation either weren't around or were only toddlers themselves at the time so didn't notice a difference. Karliah knew she shouldn't let these thoughts eat away at her, why did she care if others knew anyway? She took a deep breath and tried to refocus her thoughts to more important things.

Like how she wasn't getting anywhere with Cassie the way she was going. She kept trying to get the girl's wolf to come out with touch and generally trying to get as close to her physically as possible, but while Cassie herself seemed to respond well (And even came in her car which she was particularly proud of) it wasn't working on her wolf. There was no sudden click of realisation.

She needed to learn more about her. But she didn't know how to start a conversation (Or what she really wanted to do: ask her millions of questions) without seeming awkward and suspicious. Being told that someone is your mate ruins it, and it's generally frowned upon in the community, plus Karliah just wanted Cassie to feel it for herself. When she caught the first scent of her mate as she was walking into that fateful DSHE class, it filled her with a child-like excitement, she couldn't believe that she'd found them so soon! And then, when their eyes had met, she had struggled to even pretend to be angry at this adorable Victorian doll, even if said dolly was being ruder than anyone had ever been to Karliah. Figures, she thought, that my mate would be the first person in my life to call me a name or speak down to me. She tried not to grin too much at the thought (People might think she was going a bit nuts from all the blood flooding her skull). She had been so pleased that Cassie had literally handed her an excuse to touch her, to spank her, to rub her round arse and hold her in her lap - Karliah had assumed that she had felt the connection too. But, all that happiness and excitement quickly diminished when it became blindingly obvious that Cassie hadn't noticed it at all... Karliah had tried her best not to seem too crushed but now she was really feeling it... She needed a different tactic.

Her omega friend seemed sweet... Maybe he could help her infiltrate the friend group Cassie was part of. She wanted to learn everything about her mate and she wanted her mate to know everything about her. She didn't know why it was taking so long for it to click for Cassie... Maybe she's under a lot of stress... I've heard that can block the wolf from recognising their mate sometimes...

"And swap!" Called the coach, the headstand group all lowered themselves down and stood to help their partners with their turn. Karliah glanced at the handstand group and noticed the alpha of Scarlett Moon taking his turn to stand on his hands. Maybe he might be able to help me get close to her...

~

Sam had his head tucked down, staring through his own stick thin legs at the rippling muscles of his Alpha's chest and abdomen, blazing out in the open because of his top slipping down during a perfect handstand. Sam's thighs shook a little at the sight. His wolf was squirming inside of him, trying to force its way into control so it could run into its mates arms and grind all over that perfect body. Sam tried to look away but found it impossible, his dark skin had a thin, shiny layer of sweat across his stomach.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Hanmi whispered beside him.

"Uuuh" Sam blinked a few times and looked over at her with a blank expression on his face. "Sorry, what was the question?"

"I said, are you okay?"

"Yeah... Just a bit... Dazed, I guess" He murmured.

"Thinking about Cassie?" She offered. Her bangs hung lopsided across her forehead as she watched him round her arm.

"Um..." Sam didn't want to lie but he also didn't want to tell the truth...

"No whispering during class!" Barked their teacher, causing both subs to jump in unison. "Sam and Hanmi, I will see you afterwards" He added, sternly.

~

By Thursday, the bruises on Cassie's thighs had turned green - the one on the back of her right thigh was particularly dark still. But she covered it with black tights under her navy blue, sailor style dress with a rounded Peter Pan collar. She added a black cardigan as it was getting colder now that it had hit October and her favourite black heeled booties (Which had received a terrifyingly thorough cleaning since that day in the cabin with Brandon. All the clothes from that day had been washed rather severely, but it made her feel better and that was what was important).

She had decided she was going back to school that day because she missed her friends (Not because her mother had told her she wasn't allowed to stay home another day when she was clearly fine) and her stomach was cramping at the thought. She paced around her room while she waited for it to be time to leave, and when it finally hit 8:20 she walked downstairs and met Sam at the front door.

"How're you feeling?" He asked. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and they slipped through the double doors. They had been offered a lift by Cassie's mum but they wanted to walk and talk, to catch up on the few hours they'd been apart each day. Once they were out of earshot of any pack members, Cassie spoke,

"So, how was school?" She felt almost awkward asking him.

"It was okay... I missed you though..." Sam shrugged. Cassie sighed,

"I missed you too"

"And Alpha Karliah missed you" He tacked on.

"What?" Cassie slowed, "Did she say something to you?"

"She came and spoke to me yesterday, she was worried about you being off school" He tried to play it nonchalant but Cassie wanted to know everything.

"And what did you tell her?" She asked suspiciously.

"That you were sick" Cassie folded her arms over her chest because now she new he had to be lying.

"You lied to an alpha?" She scoffed.

"Yeah, but then I cried and told her you were faking it"

"Sam!" Cassie cried, putting her head in her hands. What if she tells a teacher? She thought.

"Sorry... She was really nice though..." Sam mumbled. "And she seemed genuinely worried about you..." He added, "I thought you liked her?"

"I... I don't know. I like the stuff that she does..." She blushed... She didn't know why she enjoyed being spanked by her... Or pinched by her... But everything she did just felt so good...

"You mean the dirty stuff?" Sam wiggled his eyebrows. Cassie blinked, mortified that she had been sniffed out so quickly.

"Don't you judge me 'Mr I've done stuff but not THE stuff'" She teased.

"H-Hey! You asked about that in front of my alpha!" Sam blushed himself, just thinking about that awkward meal.

"He doesn't belong to you" Cassie laughed. Wrapping her arm around his waist as they walked. Sam sighed,

"Well... Actually, I need to tell you something about that" He mumbled.

"What do you mean? You're not moving packs are you?" She asked, grabbing his arm now and turning him to face her.

"You have to promise you won't tell!" He put out his pinky and she shook it solemnly. Sam looked left and right to check for nosey listeners before leaning in to Cassie's ear and whispering, "Markus is my mate."