An “Enemy” in Need

UNKNOWN

School wasn’t as bad as she’d initially feared. Sure, she was the new girl for a while, but she was used to that feeling from her time in Australia.

Just like before, she didn’t go out of her way to make friends. She was polite and chatted with the kids who took the time to talk to her, but that was it.

Still, she was content with her school life. Surprisingly, there were no bullies at this school, just a few mean kids, but she could handle them.

After all, they were just humans like her. They were supposed to be on equal footing.

She would’ve preferred a werewolf school, but since that wasn’t an option—and understandably so—she settled for the human public school.

She never complained because she got to see her non-human friends in the afternoons and on weekends.

Everything seemed calm until another new student arrived at the school, a little over a month after Estella had started.

Her first impression of the new girl was that she was striking.

She was taller than the other kids, with fiery red hair and bright green eyes. Her skin was like porcelain, flawless.

She was beautiful, but unfortunately, she was also very bossy and arrogant.

She seemed to look down on everyone and didn’t seem to like any of the kids, judging by how she insulted anyone who tried to talk to her.

But that wasn’t even the most interesting or strange thing about her. The new girl, Sarah, was a werewolf.

Estella was certain of it. To someone who didn’t know about supernatural creatures, Sarah just seemed extremely talented, but Estella knew better.

Only a werewolf child could be physically superior in every way: run faster, see clearer, hear better.

Sarah flaunted her abilities at every opportunity, which Estella thought was foolish.

Even Cal was more humble and tried to restrain himself when he was with her, out of respect for their differences.

Despite everything, Estella liked Sarah. The feeling wasn’t mutual. In fact, once Sarah caught a whiff of werewolf scent on Estella, she became hostile.

For Estella, it was the first time she’d ever been truly bullied, but she wasn’t a pushover. When she was pushed, she pushed back, even if her strength was no match for the alpha girl.

She came home a bit bruised, but at least she felt good for standing up for herself. She hated being scared, especially of werewolves.

What struck her as odd, though, was the presence of a werewolf at a strictly human school, so one day, she asked Leslie about it.

She didn’t mention the bullying, of course, because she didn’t want anyone to make a fuss over her. Even with Max, she was careful to hide the occasional bruises on her skin.

“Well, it’s not common, but some packs are friendly toward humans and choose to send their children to mingle with them,” Leslie explained.

“After all, we do have to work with them from time to time.”

“Max didn’t do it out of obligation,” Estella pointed out.

“No, neither did Howie,” Leslie agreed. “To be honest, honey, I was a bit wary of humans until I met you.”

“Oh.”

This was something Estella hadn’t expected to hear, and it made her a little sad. She’d never suspected that about Leslie, considering how welcoming she’d been from the start.

“Don’t feel bad, honey. I think you’ve realized that it’s normal for werewolves to feel that way about humans.”

“But…,” she started, but Leslie cut her off.

“If humans knew about us, child, they’d be terrified. They’d hunt us down. It happened centuries ago.

“That’s why we had to go into hiding. We were nearly wiped out by your kind.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, honey. I’m just trying to explain, and it applies to all cases.

“When something is seen as a threat or an abnormality, it’s often met with fear and cruelty. The most common response is to retaliate with equal prejudice and harshness.”

“But that’s wrong in both cases,” Estella said, frowning.

“It is, but the world has never been a perfect or peaceful place.”

Estella was silent for a while, taking in what Leslie had said. Then she spoke again slowly, the frown still on her face.

“I don’t think Sarah is from a human-friendly pack. She seems to hate us all.”

“Then she was sent to your school either because she misbehaved and needed to be taught a lesson, or her pack is in danger and she needs to be protected.”

“The first one seems more likely, considering how she acts all the time,” Estella snorted.

“Is she giving you a hard time?” Leslie asked, smiling knowingly.

“She’s a pain in the ass,” Estella said bluntly, and Leslie gasped.

“Now, young lady, what kind of language is that?” she scolded. “I thought Lydia taught you better than that.”

“She did, but the triplets taught me some cool stuff too, and that’s the best way to describe Sarah, so I’m sticking with it,” she said stubbornly.

MAX

I became aware that Estella was having some problems at school. I felt bumps on my shoulder when no one was around and irritation when there was no reason for it.

The bond between us was growing stronger now that we were hardly ever apart. I could feel what she was feeling.

If I didn’t know she was my mate, it would be hard to understand what was going on.

Of course, as it was, I couldn’t openly tell her anything, so I tried to call the school first to see if anything had been reported to them.

I should have contacted Julian or Lydia first, but I didn’t think Estella would tell them about something like this, and I didn’t want to upset them, as they would surely make a big deal out of it.

The headmaster said that no one had reported any bullying or any other kind of trouble, and the only recent disruption was the arrival of a new student.

Estella had a knack for stirring up trouble with her teachers by ignoring the rules.

This got me thinking. Finally, after noticing a hint of a bruise on Estella, I asked her straight out if someone was bullying her at school.

At first, she tried to brush it off, insisting everything was okay. I pressed her, and she lied, saying it was just a game gone wrong.

But when I pushed a little harder, she admitted, “There’s this girl.” She rolled her eyes. “But I can handle her.”

“Is she hitting you?”

“No, and if she tries, I’ll hit her back, so don’t worry about me.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was holding something back. I could tell she didn’t want me to see her as weak, as someone I needed to protect all the time.

Sure, that attitude might land her in hot water, but I chose to set aside my instinct to protect and instead trust her. She’d earned it.

She was stronger than she looked, and that made both me and my wolf proud. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t keep an eye on her. Luckily, our bond helped with that.

Now that she was in school, I didn’t see her as much, but I kept my promise to drive her to and from school.

Balancing my responsibilities with the pack and university, it was a wonder I managed to do this almost every day. But I’d come to realize that, bond or not, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for her.

So there I was, driving to her school between my classes, when I suddenly felt a wave of distress. I knew instantly it wasn’t mine; it was hers.

Alarm bells rang in my head, and I floored the gas pedal to get to her as quickly as possible.

Something was definitely wrong, and oddly, I felt as if someone was pulling at my mind-link.

This would be strange enough, but my mind-link was already open.

UNKNOWN

Unlike most girls in her class, she didn’t hate PE.

In fact, a few years ago, she’d discovered she enjoyed it when she raced Cal. He’d admitted that despite her human limitations, she was a great runner.

That had motivated her to get better, and she’d found that running could be incredibly freeing.

So, she understood why werewolves got restless when they couldn’t run free for long periods.

It was rare since they had their own communities, but she’d seen it with Max when he’d spent too many days juggling university and volunteering at the human hospital without rest.

He’d become more irritable, but he never took it out on her, even if he would snap at his parents and occasionally his alpha.

With her, he was always warm, gentle, and funny. Plus, he kept his promise to drive her to and from school.

He didn’t always manage to do so, but even though she was disappointed the few times he couldn’t make it, she couldn’t complain about someone who tried his best to make time for her, no matter what.

Today was one of the good days when he could pick her up, so after PE, she was the second one out. The alpha girl had beaten her to it.

She didn’t mind because all she could think about was telling Max that the PE teacher had praised her in front of the class for her excellent running skills.

He’d called her, along with Sarah, one of the most talented runners he’d ever seen.

When she got to the locker room, she expected to find the alpha girl there, changing, but the room was empty.

She frowned as she looked around but shrugged off the slight worry and changed her clothes.

Soon the other girls from her class walked in, and she said goodbye, rushing out of the room, eager to meet Max and share her news.

She was done early, but she preferred to wait for him at the entrance rather than make him wait just because she liked to watch his car pull up in front of the school gate.

In a perfect world, he could come to pick her up in his wolf form, and she could ride on his back, but in this imperfect world, everyone would freak out at the sight of a wolf.

As she headed to the entrance, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

She turned to see the alpha girl crouching behind some bushes, but it looked more like she was spying than hiding.

Then she heard faint talking but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from or what was being said.

It was strange because whoever it was, they weren’t close enough to be seen, and she doubted they would be speaking so loudly. So how could she hear them? And why did she suddenly feel on edge?

She stood there for a moment, torn between the gate where Max’s car would appear any moment and the girl who was clearly up to no good.

Should she leave the alpha girl to her own devices or follow her and find out what she was up to?

The decision was made when she saw that Sarah had started to undress.

“Oh, God! She’s going to shift!” she whispered, quickly covering her mouth.

It was a good thing the little she-wolf was focused on the people she was spying on because there was no way she wouldn’t hear even a whisper with her super hearing.

Her movements were quick, and she shifted into her wolf form almost instantly.

It was clear she was a relatively new shifter as her legs trembled a bit before she managed to steady herself and leap to the other side of the bushes.

The moment Sarah disappeared from her sight, Estella ran in the direction she’d seen her go.

She couldn’t jump over the bushes, but she knew a way around them. The sounds from before were still audible, only now the voices had turned into angry growls.

She sprinted around as fast as she could, and after about five minutes, she reached the clearing where she expected to find the alpha girl and the other wolves.

But all she saw were two dirty, brownish wolves running away from the spot in the opposite direction she’d come from and another, smaller, ginger-colored wolf on the ground whimpering in pain.

Estella wouldn’t have noticed the blood if it weren’t already pooling around the wolf’s body. The animal’s body shivered and began to change.

She watched, amazed at the transformation happening before her eyes. She’d never seen it before, as strange as that might sound.

Max’s pack of werewolves usually shifted between their human and wolf forms in the seclusion of the forest.

Estella had witnessed Max’s full transformation into a wolf six years ago, the day they first met. But that was out of necessity and hadn’t happened since.

This was her first time seeing a wolf shift back into a human. The magic of the moment was quickly shattered when she saw the extent of the injuries.

The bright red of the blood stood out starkly against Sarah’s pale skin, and Estella could clearly see two deep stab wounds.

They were gruesome, and they weren’t healing. The blood just kept flowing.

Only one thing could halt a werewolf’s natural healing process—silver. Max had told her that when she’d asked if werewolves were immortal.

Fear gripped her as she quickly knelt beside Sarah. She pulled off her sweater and pressed it against the wounds, trying to stem the bleeding.

Sarah’s eyes fluttered open with difficulty. When she saw Estella, she weakly tried to pull away.

“Get your hands off me, you dirty human,” she hissed.

“Quiet and let me help you,” Estella commanded, refusing to let go.

She needed to slow the bleeding until she could figure out what to do next. If Sarah kept losing blood at this rate, she’d be dead within the hour.

Max had explained how silver-inflicted injuries affected his kind.

Max… Max should be here. He was supposed to be waiting for her at the gate. She couldn’t leave Sarah alone, but she had no way to alert him.

If only she could tap into the mental link Max shared with his pack, she could reach him instantly.

But she wasn’t one of them.