CHAPTER 6
LENA. The ride back home was silent, save for the occasional honks of vehicles driving through the intersection. My earbuds were driven into my ears while I listened to rock music to drown out my intrusive thoughts. The thoughts of my mother's very mysterious death and that of the very eerie discovery I had experienced from last night, kept clashing. It felt like a war was going on inside my head as several trains of thoughts fought for dominance. Even while the rock music played, it couldn't scramble off the discovery I had made today. I could still picture the face of great awe on the Pack witch's face after I narrated my ordeal to her. How her expression morphed from awe to ardor; like she had found a rare gem. I mean, it wasn't far from the discovery she made. I, Lena Hales, a white wolf. A seeming rarity. I had never heard of white wolves. Maybe if I paid more attention in Lycan History class or read more books about our origin, I would have gotten an idea. I made a mental note to visit the library once I resumed school. Though the pack witch had given me a deep explanation of what I was, I still felt like I hadn't gotten enough. My greed for the knowledge of who I was heightened as the bus drew closer to our town. It was a mixture of intense curiosity and excitement. Finally, the bus cruisd to a halt and I stood from my seat, squishing past standing passengers as I made my way out of the bus. I jumped down while holding my hood from falling off. Wouldn't want to scare people and get strange glances. I was too tired for that. The sun had set about an hour ago, fading into the horizon as it welcomed the gloomy darkness of twilight. As I walked past the bus stop, I made a turn and began walking down the lane that led to my home. It was situated at the far end of the lane. A medium-sized, semi detached house. The streets were empty, void of cars. It felt like a dark energy was hovering in the air. Waiting for the right time to descend on an unfortunate individual. My footsteps quickened as I felt a wave of intense dear wash over me and I broke into a trot, not stopping till I got to the wooden gates of our home. I pulled the latch and walked in before locking it and walking up the front porch. From the looks of it, sympathizers had already left. The door was closed and there were no cars parked on the driveways, nobody standing at the porch with a glass of wine in their hand and speaking in low tones about the suddenness of my mother's death. The tenseness left my body. The house was dark, save for the dim light coming from the kitchen. I stopped halfway and leaned against the wall. Things are different now. I didn't hear the voice of my mother on the phone with one of her friends. My younger brother, Jason wasn't running towards me to welcome me and ask if I had gotten candies from him. My father wasn't also here to give me a kiss on the forehead before asking where I was off to. They were probably upstairs and I had to speak to them. They had to know. This wasn't something I could hide from them, thanks to the very obvious ashiness of my hair. Like I thought, I found my father in his room. Jason was on the bed beside him, fast asleep. As soon as I walked in, he placed an index finger on his lip. I nodded and stood at the edge of the bed. Slowly, he pulled out his hand from behind Jason's neck, careful enough not to upset him and soon, he was climbing out of the bed and walking towards me. He looked really messed up. His shirt was buttoned to the wrong places and his hair was a messy pile above his head. His beards were starting to grow out and he had dark circles. "He's been crying nonstop," Father said as we walked out of his room. He shut the door gently and led the way downstairs. "I shouldn't have let him see your mother's dead body. He is greatly traumatized," I swallowed the bout of sobs that threatened to escape my throat as my eyes brimmed with tears. Throughout the day, I hadn't thought so much of her. I was occupied with the new change I was experiencing but hearing that she was dead all over again, it sent a terrible wave of sadness over my body. The realization was too vivid and painful, It washed me down like a tsunami, crashing into a small town and destroying everything— my defenses and failed attempt at being strong for everyone. My father pulled me to his side and we both stopped walking. I began to sob uncontrollably as tears poured down my cheek. The news hit me so hard right now. It felt like someone was hammering away at my heart and tearing out the healthy remains just to make me incapacitated. I slid to the ground and cradled my knees to my chest as I tried to stop the burning sensation in my chest, tried to gather the fragments of what was left of my broken heart. "She's really gone," I sobbed. "Every time I think about it, it hits me so hard. So so hard. To think that I won't wake up to her voice from the kitchen, asking me to come down to get breakfast," "Lena..." My father began. I looked up at him to see him staring down at me, his eyes wide in shock. "What did you do to your hair? Don't tell me it's something that got triggered by your mother's death because I wouldn't be pleased!" I wrapped my fingers around the wooden banister and pushed myself off the floor. Shaking my head, I spoke with a hoarse voice. "No. This is not something I did out of the influence of my grief," I snorted. "We need to talk. It's really important."CHAPTER 7 LENA. We were both seated across from each other. My fingers caught the hem of my hoodie and I began to pull at the free threads that had been let loose when the ends of my hoodie caught against one of the sharp edges of the railings at the bus terminal. "So, are you going to just stare at me from across there or tell my why your hair is the shade of platinum silver," He spoke up, his manly tone slicing the silence between us. My system wobbled up. I tried to compose myself, search for the right words, the right way to begin this. It was all confusing, and I have no idea how to start. "Dad, I am as bewildered as you are right now. Last night, while in my room, I— I don't know how to explain it. One moment, I was crying and the next, I felt a wave of intense despair engulfing my whole body. The temperature in the room suddenly dropped to zero or something. I don't know. My room was frozen and there were spikes of ice forming on every object that had frozen. I d
CHAPTER 8 LENA. This morning, I decided to come to school using the school bus. Leah had called this morning to inform me about her driving over the house to come pick me up but I turned her down immediately. I wanted to walk to school. Besides, it wasn't that far from my home. But on the way, I decided to get on the bus because it was almost time for classes to begin. Only that I got to school to see everyone milling about the parking lot. I climbed out of the bus and scanned the parking area for Leah's black Jeep Renegade. As soon as I saw her, I hiked my backpack higher and hurried my footsteps. She was standing with one Brenda, of the girls from cheerleading and as I drew close, I realized they were talking about Henshaw's death. "Can you believe this? He was found close to the filling station, dead. They said his body was mangled. I have the photo," Brenda said and pulled out her phone from her pocket. Leah contorted her face in disgust and waved her off. "I
CHAPTER 9 LENA. I couldn't contain the rage that filled my whole body as soon as I saw Trevor right beside me with a bunch of flowers in his hand. I wished I could wipe off that look of faux sympathy from his face. I tried to push past him but he blocked the way. "Can you at least hear me out? I know I fucked up but that isn't why I am here," Taking steps backward, I folded my arm and cocked my head to the side. "Really? So why the fuck are you standing right before me and encroaching my space?" The rage I felt from seeing him a few days back with those girls and the deep grief I was going through right now, combined with the pure resentment I already had for him laced up to form a rage I couldn't contain. I felt like I was exploding. Leah sensed the emotions rolling off me and grabbed my hand. He pushed his hand forward and stared at me. "I got this for you. These are your favorite. Carnation. I heard it makes someone who is grieving feel better," I deadpanned. "
CHAPTER 10 LENA. Mate? That was impossible. I sat up for a moment and stared at him, long and hard. He took a puff and turned to look at me. His perfectly arched brows lifted in askance. "Staring like the others? I thought you were different?" Frowning, I took the cigarette from his hand and took a few puffs. "What's wrong with staring at you?" "Nothing at all. Sometimes, I feel comfortable and most times, I feel my skin crawl," Scoffing, I shook my head and took another puff before handing it back to him. "You feel your skin crawl. That's really funny," "Funny? How so?" "You believe you're special. I don't know if you are and I don't care. You're just a fine specimen and trust me, everyone is going to stare, including the boys," "I don't think it's about my looks," He said with a shrug. The cigarette hung off his fingers. "Then what do you think it's about? Your ego?" "Ego? Nah. I just think I am special," "Narcissist much?" He chuckled to himse
CHAPTER 11 LEAH. I was taken by surprise. I flew out of my seat and Trevor followed suit. He had been beside me all morning, begging me to help him make Lena talk to him. This was a terrible situation and I wouldn't have let him help but she had to be taken to the sick bay. "Trevor, we are taking her to the sickbay, okay?" He stood, frozen to the spot as he watched Lena's pale body sprawled on the floor. I had just fallen to my knees, right beside my best friend when I realized that Trevor was still standing a few feet away from me. I looked up at him, glaring with everything I had in me. If glares could kill, he would have collapsed to the floor. "You fucktard! Didn't you hear what I said?" He blinked several times and stuttered and rushed towards me. "I'll lift her up. Don't worry," Standing to my feet, I watched as he lifted her up with ease. We rushed down the empty hallway, towards the staircase that led to the second floor. It was quite a hassle for
CHAPTER 12 LENA. My eyes fluttered open. Looking around, I realized I was somewhere else. Infact, I was out of this world. I looked around me to see that I was surrounded by plains. My skin was pricked by the low grasses I lay on. Pushing myself up my feet, I felt a wave of dizziness hit me but I was able to control myself from falling. I walked a little distance, hoping to see a road or a house. Anything to let me know that I was close to civilization but there was none. Nothing. I could see nothing but plains and small bills that were dotted with grasses. "Where the hell am I?" I began to stumble my way over the tiny hill. I missed a footing, hitting a rock I hadn't been quick enough to see. I stumbled down the hill. There was no way to stop as it was sloping and smooth. Finally, I hit solid ground. I groaned in pain and sat up to check the scratches I sported from the very strange fall from above. Just then, something hit my nose. It was the smell of iron.
CHAPTER 13 LEAH. This was absolutely impossible. Hell, Luke was my mate so what the hell was going on right now? I took a few steps back and shook my head like I was trying to clear some sort of charm that had been cast on me because that was what it felt like. Yet, my wolf kept whispering the same words into my ears. Mate. Mate. Mate. Damon was definitely one of the most handsome male in Willow High right now. The hottest, even and the only person who didn't seem to be affected by his looks and charms was Lena. Though I had a boyfriend and a mate who was Luke, I had shown a bit of interest. I mean, he was really attractive. Who wouldn't fantasize a little about this god-like being standing before me. "L—Leah," I stuttered and cleared my throat, blushing slightly that I was this way with him. "Leah," He said and nodded his head. "You look quite familiar," I frowned slightly. "How? We've never met face to face before. This is like our first time," He lo
CHAPTER 14 LEAH. Luke had class so we spent little time together. While I was with him, I kept zoning out and blocking out most of what he was saying. All I could think of was the encounter I had with Damon. It felt strange. I went to my next class and for the rest of the time before lunch, I was so lost in class. It was unusual for me to be this distracted. As soon as the bell rang, I picked my purse and walked straight to the sickbay. I met Luke on my way there. As soon as he saw me, a smile covered his face. "We meet again, beautiful," I looked up at him with a smile but I felt empty on the inside. His once beautiful green eyes didn't look all that and his hair, I felt it was better a bit longer and falling over his face or piled up in a low ponytail. I shook my head. I was thinking of Damon again. We walked past the lockers and climbed up the steps, hand in hand. We were the It couple. The school's prom King and Queen. Why was I going to let some random new st