Chapter 10: Werewolves

So this is why people hate school.

Now that I know, I don't blame them.

I was dying of sleep; the boredom threatened to suck out my life force. All the other students in the classroom were only pretending to listen, their eyes halfway closed. If it was a way to sleep while maintaining consciousness, I needed to learn it fast. The teacher drawled on and on and on.

It was physics. Who likes physics? Or, for that matter, anything that has to do with math?

I tried my best to stifle a yawn. I wasn't listening; I had given up less than ten seconds into the lesson. I rubbed my sleepy eyes.

I noticed that most of the class had stirred; all eyes were open now. But they weren't looking at the teacher. Every orb was trained on the clock.

One minute to go.

I joined the desperate watch for three o'clock.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick– finally.

The bell rang, immediately welcomed by the answering scrapes of chairs against the ground. All over the school, children breathed again. I grabbed my things and followed Lexi out.

"So how was your first day?" she asked with a smile.

"Revealing," I said.

She laughed. "What did you find out?"

"That people can read minds," I said one of the things that had puzzled me.

"What do you mean read minds?"

"They can just look at each other and know what they are thinking," I said. "Isn't that what is always meant by mind reading?"

" 'Tis not."

" 'Tis."

" 'Tis not."

"Whatever," I sighed.

"Hey, Lexi!"

We turned. She grinned at the guy approaching. "Leo. What's up?" They bumped fists.

"Hayley has cheerleader practice. So will you ride with me?"

"Nah. I'm gonna run home."

"Oh, sure. Hi," he said to me.

"Hi," I replied. "I'm Cindy."

"Sure, I know. You've been pretty quiet today."

"I have?"

"Definitely."

Well, maybe. I didn't talk much, except a little with some of the girls Lexi introduced me to.

But when was I expected to speak and I didn't?

"Anyway thanks for the offer Leo," Lexi said.

When we had walked off onto the grounds, I asked her, "What did he mean ride with him?"

"On his bike," she nodded to an array of motorcycles lined against the wall.

"Oh."

"What, did you think he meant to ride him?" she smirked.

"I don't know what I thought," I said casually. "What?"

She was staring at me. "Forget it, sis."

"Forget what?"

"Riding him."

"Um, okay sure, but why?"

"He's booked."

"Booked for what?"

"He turns seventeen tomorrow."

"What, so seventeen is when you're branded an adult, who can't be ridden anymore?"

She sighed. "Just don't get ideas, Cindy. Try your luck with anyone except someone who is turning seventeen."

I was lost. "I'm lost," I told her.

"Are you really that insensitive?"

"Insensitive?"

"Just leave him alone. He's under a lot of stress right now and he doesn't need another girl clamoring for his attention. Not now," she said firmly.

I scratched my head. "How did riding with a guy turn into staying away from him because he's turning seventeen?"

"What did I tell you about trouble?" Lexi warned.

"Lexi I don't understand," I said.

"Let's get home first, shall we?" she said when we reached the edge of the woods. "Do you want to run? Good. I haven't ran in ages," she grumbled as we went deeper.

"Shouldn't we take the road?" I questioned.

"Why would we take the road, Cindy?!" she asked back, exasperated, while carefully positioning a tree between the school and herself.

I held my tongue. Okay, maybe this was normal for people here.

She tugged off her top with one fluid motion, and I blinked in surprise.

"Why are you stripping?" I asked.

"Even if this wasn't my favourite pair of pants, I still wouldn't rip them," she said, holding up the jeans she was no longer wearing. "So what's your deal? You gonna tear those sensational clothes to bits just cause you're shy? I can give you some privacy," she continued as she lost her underwear too. Then she stuffed her clothes in a small opening in the tree's roots.

She then crouched down.

"Wait, you're going to run naked?" I said incredulously.

She gave me a puzzled glance. "You ask very weird questions, you know that?"

Something snapped. Then another. The sounds were coming from Lexi, who grimaced in pain. Then, before my wide eyes, she transformed from a beautiful but naked girl into a large, furry, orange-eyed beast. It gave a little hop like it had emerged from inside her chest, shook itself, and stretched.

It was a Wolf.

I was petrified, my mouth hanging open.

In another situation, I might have been so happy that it had allowed me to see it, and tried to make it stay for longer. In yet another situation, I might have cried out in horror at the sight of a human turning into a beast.

A human.

Of course...

"All the shifted wolves that haven't found their mates yet." ... "So why are wolves at school?" ... "Yeah but you're not a wolf." ... "What else would I be? Hell, what else would we all be?"

"Wolves?" I whispered faintly.

The great red canine in front of me looked at me like it was trying to convey to me some message.

Another sickening snap was heard, followed by another crazy transformation. The fur disappeared, the legs changed form, and the eyes shone ice blue again. Lexi stood before me, frowning in annoyance.

"What has gotten into you? And why are you not responding to me?"

I just now noted that my trembling hand was over my mouth. I pulled it off slowly and watched Lexi. Her scowl intensified.

"Lexi," I whispered.

Confusion settled onto her features. Then it was worry. "Cindy? What is wrong?"

I staggered back, shaking my head in shock.

"Cindy. Listen. Tell me what is wrong," Lexi begged.

I shut my eyes. Breathe deeply, I told myself.

"I didn't know," I said, my voice faltering even when I thought I was calm. "I just didn't know."

"What is it you didn't know?"

I opened my eyes, hers boring into mine. I shook my head again. "I didn't know we were wolves," I whispered.

"Huh?" Her eyes widened suddenly in realization. "Is that why... Is that why you kept mentioning humans? Is that why you don't link? So then... When you were asking about packs and Betas, you weren't just pulling my leg?" She looked up at me.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I ran a hand through my russet waves of hair.

"All this time I wondered why I was different," I muttered. "I never once questioned the possibility of being inhuman."

She tapped her chin. "I'm wondering. How come you've never shifted before?"

"What is shifting?"

She answered as she grabbed her clothes and began to put them on. "It's changing form. Bringing out your wolf."

"My wolf?"

She nodded. "That which you just saw was me shifting into my wolf and back."

"So that... that wolf lives inside your body, lurking there and waiting for a chance to get out?"

"We coexist in one body, Cindy," she said. "It's not entirely my body, any more than the wolf is entirely hers. We share it. When I shift, she usually takes over, and in this humanoid form, I am the one who's usually in control."

"Usually?" I latched onto one word as we began to make our way home.

"Yes. Sometimes she may get too angry and rebel against me, then I can take over even in our wolf form. But that only happens rarely. It has never happened to me."

"So... what's it like, not being in control of your own body?"

"It feels like... Like you're in the back of someone's mind. Pretty much where I keep her when I'm in this form."

"When you transform— I mean, shift— do you see things in black and white? They taught us that some animals don't see color— and canines were on the list."

She smiled. "Oh, no. She sees color; it's one of the perks of having me with her, I guess."

"And what do you get in return?"

"Lots. We can see, hear, and smell way better than any human."

"Right. So what does she eat?"

"Whatever I eat nourishes her too. That's why we have ravenous appetites and lots of meat on the menu."

"I haven't had very much meat in my life; though it has been my favorite food."

"That's why you're so slim."

"Thanks a lot, Lexi."

"But pretty."

"Thanks."

"Is there anything else you found weird about yourself?"

"Yeah. I was over possessive, and extremely violent. And strong. And fast."

"The possessiveness and violent nature come from your wolf; when a wolf claims something as its own, no one can touch it. And if it is severely crossed, it will lash out with force. The speed is wolf speed. Strength, as well as advanced recuperating speed, are perks which neither humans nor wolves have, but we Werewolves can enjoy."

"We Werewolves," I repeated. I sighed.

This would take some getting used to.

*Picture of Lexi's Wolf, Lattis*