Break time has arrived. I’m already in the cafeteria enjoying my lunch. I can’t stop thinking about the whisper I heard a few hours ago. Lorraine suddenly showed up with her friends.
“You shouldn’t be enjoying your lunch here, Lauryn,” Lorraine mumbled and put her tray on the table.
“This is a public place. You have no right to kick me out. Anyway, I was the first one to sit here,” I said.
One of Lorraine’s friends protested to me. “You’re the new student here. How could you give us this shit?”
“Is there something wrong with being a new student here? Since this morning, you’ve been acting like you’re the owner of the Ethereal Hunters. Girls, you’re just snot-nosed kids hiding behind your parents’ titles,” I shot back.
“How dare you!” Lorraine shouted at me.
I gave Lorraine a glare like I’m annoyed by their presence. Lorraine picked up her tray and left me. She grumbled but I didn’t care about any kind of bullies. If I’m weak, I’ll get the same treatment as before.
All the students in the cafeteria stared at me in disgust.
“Why did you act like that? We’re family here,” a student asked me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, you’re terribly anti-social,” she grumbled and avoided me.
“Can I sit here? The other tables are full, Lorraine and her friends won’t let me sit with them.”
The strange man who glanced at me sharply this morning, greeted me.
“Have a seat,” I replied.
“Thanks.”
“Nevermind.”
Everything becomes awkward in an instant.
“You just moved from Highcrown Walkers?”
I nodded.
“I’m also a former Highcrown Walkers.”
I paused then tried to remember this strange student’s face. Unfortunately, I don’t remember who he was.
“Alpha Hughes kicked me out last year for failing my weekly hunting test,” he said.
I raised my eyebrow. “Weekly test?”
“It’s a weekly test to determine who can get into the intelligent wolf agency–”
“So, you’re in the same batch as my older brother? Last year he took the test to get into the intelligence wolf agency. But he failed.”
“There were a lot of failed participants,” he whispered.
“Did you get kicked out just of that?” I asked.
He shook his head, then said. “It’s complicated.”
“Well, so you repeated in 12th grade because you didn’t pass that test at Highcrown Walkers?”
“That’s right. I’m repeating a year again because I struggled so much last year. I’m lucky, Alpha Matthew accepted me here.”
I nodded then I reached out to him. “Lauryn Anderson.”
“Jamien Barnabas.”
I gasped. “You are Jones Barnabas’ son?”
“He’s also a late bloomer, he just got his wolf last week.”
“Late Bloomer?”
Jamien glanced at me as he chewed on his potato. “How do you know about it?”
I was confused, a voice lodged in my head. The voices became mysterious whispers. No one was near me, except Jamien. Jamien didn’t say anything about his late bloomer. I got up and walked to Mom’s room.
Mom threw the book out of her hand when she saw me coming with a gasp.
“What’s going on?” Mom asked me.
“I hear mysterious whispers from my mind,” I shot back.
“What do you mean, Lauryn?”
“I heard these weird whispers, and it was like–”
“Can you smell another scent?”
I shook my head. “But the whispers are so real, Mom.”
Mom asked me to sit on the couch. “Keep it down.”
“Has Randy and Chloe’s harsh treatment driven me crazy to hallucinate like this?”
I covered my face in despair. Mom strengthened me, she clasped my hand.
“Lauryn, this isn’t a hallucination,” Mom said.
“It’s an unreal incident however, I feel like this is real, Mom? How can you say this is not a hallucination?”
“It’s your wolf, Lauryn. You’ve found your wolf, and she’s trying to re-link with you.”
“That’s right, it’s me. Can I get a cool name?”
I was speechless. The whisper grew clearer in my ears.
“Mum, are you sure this is my wolf?” I asked her.
“If you hear those strange whispers, this is a sign that your wolf has already appeared, Lauryn.”
“But…”
“This is good news. After lunch is the last lesson, prepare to go home. We’ll stop by the supermarket to buy groceries.”
Mom was excited after hearing this. I was silent in my seat. I still didn’t understand something.
"Mark once said that the first transformation only occurred during the full moon."
"It's okay. Each beta gets their wolf in a variety of unusual ways."
Today isn’t the day when the full moon appears. So, why did I get my wolf now? Am I not going to be shifting in my first transformation? And why did I get my wolf, when I've only been in Ethereal Hunters for a week?
“Go back to your classroom, the bell has rung.”
I nodded and walked over to my classroom. Everyone stared at me when I entered the classroom. A stinky water spilled over me. I shouted out loud. Lorraine and her friends laughed in satisfaction, but I’m done with the bullies.
“How dare you treats me like that, Lorraine?” I grabbed her collar.
“I’m the one who should ask you ‘How dare you humiliated me before everyone, Lauryn Anderson?’ You’re nothing here but a loser as Jamien,” she growled.
“Are you sure he’s a loser? Though you’re just a shit of a greedy Beta?” I asked her.
Lorraine slapped me, and I returned it.
“How dare you!”
She about pushed me down, but Alpha Matthew came in with his assistant.
“What’s going on here?” he asked coldly.
“They’re get into a big quarrel,” someone said.
“It’s a school not a champion match. Stop being a childish!” He growled. “You should follow me into the headmaster room after school!”
“I’m glad to hear this. You don’t have to pretend anymore, Lauryn,” dad commented. “True. We don’t have to worry about letting you go alone,” Mark said.“Why are you so thrilled? Why don’t you wonder about my wolf?” I asked them. “Look, this is the thing that makes us relieved, baby. You’ve been through two tough years. It’s about time you found your perfect life, and your real partner,” dad said. “Isn’t full moon yet,” I complained. Mom came up to me to calm me down. “It’s okay, baby. You’re not used to this yet, that’s why you’ve become sensitive.” Mom added roast to my plate, while I scowled in annoyance. I enjoyed my dinner uncomfortably. My wolf kept screaming in excitement because of a fresh scent that came out of nowhere. We became awkward with each other.“What about your first day at school?” dad asked.“It’s suck. Lorraine makes me furious. She’s good at playing victim when Alpha Matthew invited us to the headmaster’s room,” I said. “What’s going on?” dad asked.“She s
Alpha Matthew waved his hand to me when he looked at me walking toward him. He smirked again but still I couldn’t find out what’s his meant by that. It’s not after school yet. Alpha Matthew makes an announcement by the megaphone, and it made me run over to the parking lot.“What are you doing?” I asked him.“I waited for you for about thirteen minutes under the scorching sun,” he mumbled.“Who cares about your problem? We should’ve met when school hours were over. You embarrassed me in front of everyone.”“Get in the car immediately. We’re going somewhere.”“I have assignments in my class, I have to assign them before the class hours are up,” I refused his order.“I will contact your teacher to complete your grades in the subject.”Alpha Matthew pulled me into his car. Alpha Matthew took me somewhere far away from my school. The place was very magnificent yet heavily guarded. We got into that majestic place after Alpha Matthew entered the password.“Jamien why can you be in this place
I handed him my phone and it made Jamien jump out of his seat. He couldn’t speak when he saw the thousands of obscene messages from strangers. Jamien Barnabas is the only person I gave my phone number to.“I have more important work to do than giving out someone’s number, Lauryn. I didn’t do anything to your phone number,” Jamien told me.“Then who else has my number but you?” I asked.“Hey, why are you yelling at each other in front of me? You can talk about this without yelling at each other like that,” Alpha Matthew spoke up.Alpha Matthew didn’t say much and grabbed my phone. Alpha Matthew smirked when he saw it.“Are you sure this is Jamien’s doing? Jamien is a boy who understands manners. There’s no way he’s doing anything to affect his honour.”“But—”“Believe me, this is not Jamien’s doing. Stop fussing over this, you’d better have fun.” Alpha Matthew returned my phone.I’m just so upset about his selfish behaviour. Even so, I can’t argue with him because he’s the leader of th
“A-Alpha Matthew?” Julie Duke froze when she saw Alpha Matthew dragging Lorraine.Alpha Matthew pushed Lorraine to the ground. Everyone was fixated on seeing Alpha Matthew’s aggressive treatment.“Please explain to them what crime you have committed,” Alpha Matthew commanded Lorraine.Lorraine lowered her head and said, “I took Lauryn’s cell phone from her locker and spread out her cell phone number.”“Where are you spreading Lauryn’s number?” Alpha Matthew asked Lorraine.“I don’t know where I’ve spread it, Alpha Matthew. I passed Lauryn’s number to a junkie,” Lorraine said.Alpha Matthew smirked. He tried to punish Lorraine in the presence of everyone.Jeno prevents Alpha Matthew’s treatment without saying much.“Why do you insist on punishing her over a trivial matter?” Jeno asked Alpha Matthew.“Trivial matter? You should know that it violates a person’s right to privacy.” I saw Alpha Matthew’s uncontrollable emotions and I swatted away Julie Duke’s hand.“You shouldn’t behave lik
“How do you know if I don’t have a wolf?” I replied to him.“It was very predictable. Your parents were very worried when the day the sign was given. They tried to cover up something very secretive,” Alpha Matthew said.I was silent, but Alpha Matthew came over to me.“If Alpha Hughes thinks you are his family, he won’t drive you away just a trivial matter, Lauryn. He will try to help you out of your troubles,” he mumbled.“Why do you ask me like that? Are you planning something?” I asked.“No, I didn’t.”“These few years Alpha Hughes has been different. However, I don’t think it’s a big deal. He is still my uncle,” I said.Alpha Matthew was silent and nodded. He took me around the lake with a canoe. He drove me home when it was 8 p.m.“Why are you getting home now? I’m so worried about you, Lauryn.” Dad was nagging when I just walked into the house.“Alpha Matthew asked me to go somewhere else, Dad.”Mark looked surprised. “He takes you away to that magnificent place again?”“Not. He
“It’s like a threat from someone,” Mark muttered.“Who’s the bastard who tried to threaten our family?” Dad was swaying.“I don’t know either, Dad. The message was so mysterious and threatening,” Mark replied.I looked at the paper and sighed. I thought it was Lorraine and her friends.“I know who did this. I’ll discuss this with Alpha Matthew tomorrow.”Mom turned around. “Do you know who threw this in the window?”“I know who it did, only I’m not so sure because they have multiple alibis.”“Are you sure, Lauryn?” Mom asked again.I nodded, then went back to my room. I took out my phone and texted Jamien.Me: Did you tell me to go to the lab tomorrow? Without waiting for him to retaliate,Jamien: Alpha Matthew sent you with Mark. We’ll plant new seeds that are fresher. Me: Whoa! I didn’t think he’d be this desperate. By the way, did you hear the noise? Jamien: Well... I heard it. What’s going on, girl? Did you forget to lock the door and a cat came in and stole your food? Me: How
“How do you know if I want to talk about it?” I asked Alpha Matthew.“It's not too hard to guess, Mate. I have thousands of surveillance cameras in every packhouse alley.” Alpha Matthew rolled his eyes.“But do you know who did it?” I asked.Alpha Matthew whispered. “That's not Lorraine. I gave an order for Lorraine's parents to lock Lorraine up a week later. She's so mischievous and should get good guidance from her parents.”“If it's not Lorraine then who is it? I have no problem with anyone but Lorraine and Julie Duke,” I muttered.Alpha Matthew was silent, he sighed then said, “Go inside. I need help tidying up my messy bookshe
I shook my head. “Many people died in vain after Alpha Hughes led the High Crown Walkers. I don’t know why that happened, but everyone says that there is a betrayer on our side,” Alpha Matthew averted his eyes. “I wonder if that’s why you always make me say everything bad about Alpha Hughes?” I asked tentatively. “I did. I have a gut instinct that he’s the cause of all the chaos,” Alpha Matthew replied. “But how did you know that Alpha Hughes was the cause of the chaos? I’m sure you were a toddler when it happened.” Alpha Matthew looked at me with an intense gaze. “I witnessed thousands of werewolves dying everywhere. They were killed by something mysterious.”