21.- You are bound to me

Lupita decided to go with John. After what Aoi said she didn't think staying in werewolf territory would be safe for any of them. Staying with humans wasn't the best either, as they were noisy beyond belief, but it was her best option as rouges would never think to attack a densely populated area. Many times Lupita had tried to block out the sound with either pillows or locking herself into rooms, that was until John offered a solution. He had given her a pair of headphones that blocked out all outside sound but she was still able to hear the sounds around her. She would definitely use these at school as they were slightly better than the ones Mai let her use.

Going to school was always something she was dreading these days. The days were long and tiresome. She would constantly get picked on, she couldn't fully understand what was happening in school or when she was talking with her friends. Even though she thought she knew English well, she soon realized how difficult it really was. A few phrases her friends would say made no sense to her, and when she tried to say something it would often be wrong. It became tiring after a while, and she resorted to talking less and less.

Everything was new. Everything was confusing. Especially her feelings towards the vampire. They didn't make sense in her head. She was supposed to hate her. Despise her. Want to kill her. And sure, she felt like that with every vampire that passed her, (especially that one teacher. There was something very wrong about him) but Ambrosia. With her, those feelings were dulled. The need to rip her head off only surfaced after being in the same room with her for an extensive amount of time. But those feelings would disappear after a simple touch from the vampire.

She had only sat next to the vampire a few times in these past few weeks and on those occasions, she had subconsciously been trying to be closer to her. The vampire seemed to be having the same problem but had more control over it and had gradually gotten colder toward Lupita. It hurt her to see the vampire purposely turn away when they saw each other, or when she would laugh along with the others when a snarky comment was made towards her. Lupita couldn't blame her though, as she had been no better. The mate bond and her deeply rooted hatred for vampires made her inattentive and distant whenever they had gotten the chance to talk. One side of her told her to stop stalling and claim the girl before anyone else got to do it, and her other side told her to kill her and the rest of her kind.

Today was an extra slow day, as it was only a few days until the new moon. This meant the whole werewolf part of school was extra irritable, slower, and weaker. This in turn meant that the other students became even more annoying. The only ones that seemed to have sympathy for the werewolves were the merfolk. Most of them were either in wheelchairs or walking around on crutches as the moon gradually lost its power.

Lupita decided that she needed to have a long nap in the forest after this. She would not be able to survive in John's house with how she was feeling at the moment. Having religious history didn't quite help her fatigue either. She had immersed herself in her pack's faith and she knew every last thing that the teacher tried to teach. There were quite a few holes and errors in the teacher's teaching, but Lupita had no energy to correct them.

The final bell rang and Lupita's head fell to the desk. She had no energy to pull it up and stayed with her forehead pressed against the cold wood.

"This new moon thing is really taking a toll on you, isn't it?" Jazmyn asked and scratched her back. Lupita only hummed as she forced her head up from the desk.

"I am jealous of you," she said and squinted at the halfling. Because of being half-human, Jazmyn felt almost no different than before. Lupita guessed she would feel more of an effect once the moon was fully gone. But Lupita still got jealous when her friend could so easily walk around as if nothing was wrong.

"We all are," North said as they came over to them, dragging her feet as they fought to keep her eyes open. Since both North and Lupita were shifters their effects from the upcoming new moon were stronger than any other werewolf, though Lupita suspected hers to be worse as North still seemed to be functioning somewhat normally, while even a step for Lupita would leave her almost panting.

After taking a few deep breaths, Lupita finally stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. She had to get out of this big box of sweaty, mean, young adults.

"Is John picking you up today?" Jazmyn asked as they slowly walked through the hallways. She walked close to Lupita and occasionally supported her when she lost her balance.

"He is coming here. But I'm not going to go to his home. I need forest," Lupita said and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Her feet felt like they were made of bricks and her eyelids felt ten times heavier than normal.

"Is that safe?" Jazmyn asked and waved at Valeria who had shown up beside them and was now supporting North as they continued to walk.

"I don't know," Lupita said. It was a lie. She knew it was dangerous. Definitely now when she was fatigued and her connection to her wolf was weak. But she needed to be outside, in her element. She would not survive staying in the human part of town.

"Shouldn't someone at least go with you?" Jazmyn asked again. "Mom won't let me come with you. But maybe North can?" One glance at North shut down her suggestion. Jazmyn opened her mouth again to say something but quickly shut it after one look at Valeria.

"I'll be fine," Lupita said with a weak smile as they walked out of the school building. She looked around for John but her eyes found Ambrosia instead. She was talking with the tall lanky boy and the dark-skinned girl. She was wearing her usual all-black clothing, though with a slightly thicker long-sleeve shirt and tight-fitting pants. The witch was wearing a cozy-looking, multicolored, knitted sweater and soft-looking brown pants. And the boy was wearing all black, with a black leather jacket. It became clear to Lupita that Ambrosia had still not fully turned, which slightly confused her.

Lupita was brought out of her staring by a heavy hand on her shoulder. When she looked up she saw John's bearded face giving her a smug smile.

"She's pretty," he said and patted her shoulder. Lupita nodded and glanced back at the group only to find the boy giving her a death glare. She returned it by sticking her tongue out at him. Sure, it was childish, but it was fun to see him get very confused by it. "He doesn't like you," John said and hummed deeply while giving the boy a dirty look. "You have your stuff?" John asked and Lupita handed him her backpack. "And be home before midnight."

"I will," Lupita said and smiled at him. She rarely talked to him. It was more just using gestures, noises, and facial excretion. Talking didn't feel quite natural to her, and she didn't like speaking a language that wasn't her mother tongue. So John had been doing a lot of the talking and they found several ways for her to communicate without using words. One of them was sign language. Lupita knew the Norwegian form and had been taught the English version as well. John was trying his best to learn the basics and he was doing very well.

"Are you sure you will be ok?" this time it was Valeria that asked. She sent a cautious look to Lupita's shoulder and her jaw tensed.

"I will," Lupita said and smiled at her. Her shoulder had healed very well and she could use it like she did before. She had been tired for a while and had only returned to school a few days after when she felt just like before.

"Then I wish you luck," Valeria said and adjusted North who had almost fallen asleep in the little time they were there.

"Thanks," Lupita said and turned to John. She signed "I love you" to him before walking toward the forest. Which was coincidentally also in the same direction in which Ambrosia and her group were.

"Where are you going?" the boy asked and purposely bumped her shoulder.

"None of your business," Lupita said and continued to walk to the forest.

"Don't," the witch said when the boy was about to open his mouth again. "The werewolves are feeling bad enough as it is. Keep your mouth shut or they will rip your head off."

"She can't do anything," the boy said and wrapped his hand around Lupita's upper arm. Lupita didn't waste a second and swiftly punched his face before clawing his arm. He quickly let go of her hand and fell to the floor before looking at his arm in horror. It was not bleeding, but there was a clear mark left from her claws. "How?"

"Werewolves can still hurt you, dumbass," the witch said and hit the back of his head. "It will heal, don't worry. Won't even scar."

The boy still looked at his arm with a look of shock. Lupita turned her attention to Ambrosia who was giggling slightly at the boy. It warmed her heart slightly that she had been able to make her laugh.

Lupita shook her head and quickly headed for the forest. The forest was on the left side of the school. The first few meters were just forest, then came the big fence, then came miles of pure forest. The fence was harder to get over this time, but once she made it she was free to do as she wanted. This forest wasn't claimed by anyone and was free reign. Which meant it was slightly more dangerous. But once the fresh air entered her lungs, she felt free. The fatigue was still there, but she felt her wolf resurface slightly at the feeling of freedom.

The forest was peaceful. The birds chirped happily and the sun shone through the trees. Lupita spent most of her time just laying in the grass, walking, or climbing trees. It was nice. Much better than in the city.

While Lupita was weakened by the looming new moon, her wolf had fully woken up for the few hours of freedom and was happily trotting around in their headspace. She occasionally took control of their body if she felt the need to or if she just wanted to. It was a nice few hours. Just them and no one else. Maybe an occasional bird would fly by and a squirrel and also... Lupita quickly looked up at the little red squirrel that was climbing towards her where she was laying on a branch. It was her squirrel.

"Hei," she said and scratched it behind its ears after it climbed into her hands. "Jeg må gi deg et navn," she said and looked at it. She finally concluded it was a male and then studied it to find something to name it after. "Hva med...?" she thought back to their first meeting and smiled. "Tyven," she decided. The squirrel gave her an unamused look and jumped out of her hands and onto the branch she was sitting on.

As Lupita was about to apologize to the animal, she looked down to where he was looking and almost lost her balance. Ambrosia was walking around in the forest, looking lost and slightly scared. Lupita didn't even get a chance to ask the squirrel about the vampire before he jumped on her which caused her to fall off her branch. Luckily it was not too far off the ground and once she hit the ground, the only thing that really hurt was her back.

Lupita groaned and rolled over to her stomach. She was sure her whole face was flushed with embarrassment once she saw the black boots in front of her.

"Are you ok?" Ambrosia asked and kneeled down. Lupita only groaned and managed to sit up. It took two tries to fully straighten her back without too much pain. "That looked like it hurt," Ambrosia said with a laugh.

"It did," Lupita said and looked at the vampire. She was dressed surprisingly nice. Her black long sleeve had lovely embroidery, her pants were nice and fit her perfectly and her high boots had pretty red flowers on them. "You are pretty." Ambrosia's cheeks turned slightly pink but she quickly shook her head and stood up.

"You are clearly ok," she said and dusted off her pants. "You should get out of here. You don't belong here." Lupita scrunched up her nose at the vampire. She used to be cold, but this was new.

"Why are you mean?" Lupita asked and stood up as well.

"I'm not," Ambrosia said and straightened her back to make their tiny height difference even more noticeable. "I'm just stating the obvious. You don't belong. You are wild. What made you ever think you could fit into this place?"

Lupita felt a growl form in the back of her throat. She didn't like this part of Ambrosia. What was causing her to act like this all of a sudden? She knew very well she didn't fit in, but having the person she liked saying that to her made her feel worse about it.

"You are mean," Lupita stated and growled at the vampire, the strange want to rip her head off suddenly surfaced. It seemed like Ambrosia noticed since she suddenly looked terrified and stared at Lupita.

A squeak made Lupita look to the side. The squirrel, Tyven, was looking at her with big beady eyes while holding...

"My hammer!" she shouted and dove after him. He quickly jumped out of the way and continued to run into the forest. "Come back!" Lupita started to chase after him with the vampire on her tail. That hammer necklace had been one of the only things she had left from her birth mother, she couldn't lose it.

She continued to chase after the squirrel. Through many twists and turns which left her with many cuts that did not heal nearly as fast as they should considering how small they were. As she continued to run, she noticed Ambrosia never once stopped chasing her and the woods gradually got darker. Just when Lupita thought she couldn't take it anymore the squirrel stopped and she dove down, catching it and scraping up her t-shirt in the process.

"Jeg hater deg," she said and scowled at the squirrel who seemed to have no care in the world about what he just did. "Gi meg den." She took the hammer necklace from him and just as she was about to put it on, a pair of polished, black boots appeared in front of her. She slowly looked up and was met with a pale, ugly face. He looked like the vampires from her books back home. His cheekbones were more prominent than any she had ever seen. His skin was pale and grayish, his hair was long and looked rather unhealthy as it fell down his head in small batches of long, greasy, black strands. The clothes he was wearing were black but looked way nicer than him. It was composed of a long black robe with gold buttons and red accents.

As Lupita inspected further she saw more and more vampires behind the ugly vampire. All dressed the same, but they looked better than the one in front of her. They began whispering the second Lupita showed her face. Some cowered in fear while others looked at her in disgust.

"A dog?" the vampire in front of her said while he raised an eyebrow. His voice sounded like the hissing of a snake with venom dripping off every word he said. Lupita growled and launched at him, but he easily stepped out of the way which caused Lupita to go face-first into the dirt.

The vampires around laughed as Lupita spit the dirt out of her mouth. This only made her growl deeper and she turned around quickly, her claws out and ready to strike. But the vampire stepped out of her way once again and she only managed to scratch his robe. It only seemed to anger the ugly vampire since before she knew it, she was leaning against a tree with the left side of her face throbbing in pain. When she touched her nose and lip she felt a warm liquid coat her fingers. She didn't bother to look at them as she knew that would only make it worse for herself.

"A feisty one at that," one of the vampires behind the ugly one said.

"She is a stray," the ugly one said and scowled at her. "A very dirty stray," he said while looking at the part of his robe that she tore. "Who dares to lay her filthy hands on her superior." Lupita growled at him and felt her jaw ache as she bared her teeth at him. Her boldness earned her another slap and she felt more liquid stream down her face.

"Keep your mouth shut!" he yelled and grabbed her jaw harshly. Memories flashed behind her eyes of her past. A vampire, much like this one, treating her as if she were the scum of the earth. Day and night. At every hour and at every minute they were together.

"And she cries!" the vampire behind the ugly one said and the others began to laugh. Lupita felt her treacherous tears stream down her face as she was forced to look at the vampire in front of her.

"We should get rid of you this instant," the ugly one said and harshly moved her head to the side before letting go. "Seeing as you are clearly incapable of defending yourself." He stood up and slowly pulled out a silver dagger from his robe. Lupita looked at him with tired eyes. She never thought this was how she was going to die. She had thought she would die in the ring, fighting, but never like this. Weak and useless.

Just as the vampire raised his dagger and got ready to strike, a figure appeared in front of her.

"No!" they screamed, and Lupita felt pebbles hit her face as the person skidded to a stop. "You can't do that!"

"Why can't I, youngling?" the vampire said with his dagger still raised. "This thing disturbed our ritual."

"I know, but she didn't mean to." Lupita quickly realized who it was and felt her heart skip a beat as Ambrosia defended her. "I chased her here. I'm sorry if she disturbed you."

"It does not matter. She is dangerous, and I wish to dispose of her," the ugly vampire said and kept his dagger over his head. He leaned closer to Ambrosia and whispered, "So step out of the way. Before I kill you too."

Lupita was about to defend her mate, but before she could she felt a sharp pain in her palm followed by a surge of magic. This was too familiar. She looked up and saw Ambrosia holding her hand, blood dripping down her forearm and onto the ground. Memories flooded her mind, and once she saw the collar in Ambrosia's hands she was gone.

She screamed and scratched at the man's arm as she felt her blood drain from her palm and mix with the few drops of his that he had let drop there before cutting her. The blood flowed from her palm and into the metal collar someone was holding in front of her neck. As the ritual finished she felt the collar clasp onto her neck and she fell to the ground.

"Get up."

Without a choice, she was pulled up to a kneeling position. Her head was down as she felt the metal dig into her skin.

"Look at me."

Her head jerked up and she stared into the red eyes in front of her.

"You are bound to me."

A/N: wow, this is a long one. Don't worry people, it will only get worse from here.

Also, I am now on break, but I have been concentrating on my dnd world, but ill try my best to be consistent.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and if you see any spelling mistakes it would be lovely if you pointed them out (kindly please).

Hope you are all taking care of yourselves both mentally and physically. Make sure to eat and drink something.

If no one has said it to you yet: I am incredibly proud of you!!

Hope you have a lovely day/night/evening.

Love you all and thank you for reading. Leave a vote or comment, they are very appreciated! ❤💖❤💖❤💖❤💖❤💖

Also happy pride 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈!!!