Nerdy to Badass Werewolf

"Happy birthday, Skylar! Wake up right now!" I heard my brother Cole yell in my ear. I groaned and covered my head with my pillow, trying to block him out.

"Go away! I'm trying to sleep here!" I yelled through the pillow, though I was sure it came out muffled.

"Well, if you don't get up right now, we'll have to force you to. Are you sure you want that?" I heard Will, the eldest of the triplets, ask me teasingly. Instead of answering him, I turned my head in the other direction.

"Alright, Skylar. You leave us with no choice, then," Diam, the youngest, said before everything became suspiciously silent. Just as I was about to check what they were doing, I found myself on the floor with three huge oafs on top of me. I groaned as their weight crushed me.

"Why are you guys such jerks!" I yelled when they finally crawled off of me. I didn't really mean that—I never could. Although they were highly annoying, they were the best brothers a person could ask for.

"Because we love you!" Will sang loudly as he rested on his elbows, watching me with a teasing smirk. Yeah, and he was supposed to be the mature one. Not.

"Now get up. School starts soon, and Mom made you a surprise birthday breakfast." I looked at them as if they were stupid (which they were). Why would they think that would get me out of bed?

"Can't I just stay at home? It's my last day anyways, so what's the big deal?" I asked them while biting my lip, trying to keep myself from laughing since they were wearing colorful party hats.

They eventually did persuade me to get up, though it took a lot of convincing and a bribe that involved Oreos. I slowly stood up before making my way to the bathroom and taking a quick shower. Once done, I walked out and got changed. I walked over to my mirror, assessing my outfit. I always dressed in plain clothing. I was wearing a plain black T-shirt with dark blue jeans and sneakers. I didn't believe in dressing up for school. What was the point?

I put my hair up in a ponytail, not bothering with any make-up since I didn't wear it. Some girls enjoyed wearing it, but I was not one of them. I'd just never liked the 'feel' of it on my face. Once I was satisfied with how I looked, I headed downstairs only to be stopped when I crashed into someone’s chest. I looked up and saw it was Will. I was then passed on to Cole and then finally Diam. By the time they put me down, I was gasping for breath.

I think they were trying to kill me.

I did love them with all my heart, and I knew that the feeling was mutual, but they sometimes forgot that they were stronger than me. My big surprise breakfast was chocolate chip pancakes. Yum—though Diam did try to steal some of mine, causing me to almost stab his hand. Twice.

No one touched my food.

After eating my delicious breakfast, I went upstairs again to grab my bag and the homework that I forgot to put away. Once I knew that I had everything, I headed downstairs again. I said goodbye to my parents before jumping into my brothers' car. The trip to school was silent, with me reading one of my favourite books, Diam and Cole on their phones, and Will driving.

Honestly, I was so glad to be leaving this place for a year. For some reason, my school was really behind socially and still picked on the 'nerds' of the school—which was pretty much just me. Sure, there were the 'geeks,' but everyone classed me as the 'nerd.' Stupid labels. I was bullied constantly, but hey, what can you do? Maybe I could stand up for myself? Yeah, just one problem with that:

Kyle Black.

He was your average good-looking, football-playing jerk—and the big reason why my life at school was hell. Sure, some days I just wished I could wipe that smug smirk off of his face, but then I remembered that he was the future Alpha. I couldn't mess with him. People seemed to like calling me 'Nerdy Skylar.'

It didn't even rhyme!

I just kept reminding myself that this was my last day here for a while, so I'd finally be free of all my bullies later today.

Finally we pulled up to the school grounds. I looked around and saw everyone hanging around and talking with their friends. At least I knew I had a few people waiting in there for me. They made being here a little less painful. As I climbed out the car, so did my brothers.

"What are you doing?" I asked them as they stood in front of me, folding their arms over their chest and trying to look intimidating. I rolled my eyes before giving them my attention.

"Now that you're sixteen and can find your mate, we want to discuss a few things with you. When you do find him, you will not let him mark you. Second, if you feel any pain, you call us immediately. Don't try and act tough—just call us, and we'll be over as soon as possible. Lastly, we'll pick you up from here and hit the road straight after. Understand?"

"Yes, fathers. Bye!" I yelled back at them, heading towards the front of the school. I watched them drive away, which made me feel nervous. I gulped as I felt people's glares on me, but I couldn't concentrate on that as only one thought kept running through my head:

"I hope I don't meet my mate today."

Once I was by the courtyard, I ducked my head and began making my way to the front of the school. My family wasn't so aware of what happened once they dropped me off here. I couldn't tell them, though. I just needed to deal with it by myself. Well, it wasn’t like I was alone in this place.

As I was about to walk up the front steps, I heard someone call my name. I stopped and looked around me, searching for the person. I knew who it was, considering the fact that only two people in this school called me by my actual name.

Dylan.

We'd been friends ever since we started high school. I still remembered when we first met: I had been eating lunch, and he, being the weirdo that he was, decided to try and steal my lunch. I may have punched him in the face, causing him to tackle me to the ground, ending with us both getting detention. Having detention with him was interesting. I never knew that a person could shoot a spitball so well that it would hit the inside of a sleeping teacher’s nose. I didn't know what I'd do if I ever lost him as a best friend.

"Happy birthday, Sky!" Dylan yelled out as he pulled me into his embrace, hugging me tightly. I wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling. He pulled back before dramatically bowing down and holding out a red velvet cupcake with Oreo icing. Yum.

"Thank you, Dylan," I said as I gave him another hug before taking a small bite of the delicious cupcake.

"And here is your present—"

"Dylan, I told you I didn't want a present," I whined, pouting up at him while crossing my arms over my chest, still holding the cupcake.

"Yes you did, but when have I ever listened?" He made a good point. No matter how many times I'd told him to not buy me presents, he always did. I put my hands up in surrender, playfully glaring at him. He smiled before reaching into his bag and pulling out a small black box. He opened the box, causing me to gasp. Inside was a small bracelet with half a heart on it reading, 'Best…'

"Dylan, it's beautiful. Thank you!" I said as I put it on my wrist before hugging him tightly again. I pulled back and asked for the other half. He winked before pulling out his car keys and showing them to me. I smiled as I saw that the other half was a keychain, this one reading, 'Friends.'

He then proceeded to put both halves together, showing the whole thing: 'Best Friends.'

"I love it. Thank you so much, Dylan."

This was honestly one of the best gifts I had ever received. Dylan and I always had this game of outdoing each other in giving presents. It seemed like he was winning at the moment. I needed to up my game.

"If you ever miss me, you can just look at that and remember that I'll be here waiting for you when you return," he said sincerely as he put his keys away.

"I could never forget you, Dylan. You've unfortunately made sure that I will never forget," I said teasingly as we heard the bell ring. We looked at each other before walking up the stairs and entering the school. We walked to our lockers, grabbing our books before heading to our separate classes. Walking by myself was slightly difficult. I was not a 'weakling,' but I just chose not to fight against someone. As a result, people shoved me around all the time—but only when Dylan wasn’t around.

I finally reached my homeroom and saw that I was the first person here. I rolled my eyes, as this was not shocking. I took my seat at the front and waited for the bell to ring. I looked to my left and stared out the window, seeing a fancy car pull up. A guy stepped out, and I instantly recognized who it was: the soon-to-be Alpha, Kyle Black. Even I couldn't deny that he was a good-looking guy, but unfortunately, he knew that too. He'd sleep with anything that walked and had breasts. And that was a fact, not an opinion. I turned away from him as I heard the bell ring.

People started to walk into class, followed by the teacher. I scratched the back of my neck as I felt my wolf begin to jump around, excited. It was odd, though. I could feel her inside of me, but she hadn't said a word yet. I didn't even know her name. I just shrugged it off, not wanting to deal with this crazy wolf at the moment. The teacher did roll call before the bell for first period rang. I got my stuff before walking out the room and heading to my first class. It took a bit longer than usual since I was tripped twice by a group of jocks. I just ignored those morons before walking into the class.

I took my seat, which was surprisingly in the back, and waited for the teacher to start the lesson. As everyone filled the room, I just shrugged off the rude comments they threw at me, being used to all of it by now.

When would these people grow up? Was that too much to ask?

The teacher finally entered the class and began the lesson, discussing something we had already learned about. I still didn't understand that. You always move onto a new grade, but they basically teach you the same things over again. Sure, not every class was like that, but most were. It was becoming extremely annoying. Could they not teach us something different for once?

I immediately stopped ranting inside my head when I smelled the most delectable scent ever. It was a combination of mint and chocolate—my two favourite smells combined. Then, my wolf said the one word that I had been dreading from the moment I woke up this morning:

'Mate.'