Enola Grey

Tss, tss, tss!

Ya! Ya!

Hiiyah!

*WHACK*

One last powerful roundhouse kick to the stomach pad ends my sparring session with my best friend, Hannah Chan-Jones.

“Moons Enola! Go easy on me!” She chuckles out, “we’re back at college tomorrow and I don’t want to be black and blue.”

“Sorry Hannah, I got carried away” I say sheepishly, wincing.

“I know, I know” she laughs, giving me a nudge with her elbow, “it’s that hair of yours - always so fiery.”

I roll my eyes at her comment. She is right though, in fairness to her; there is nothing mild about me.

I’m Enola Grey, nineteen year old daughter of Moon knows who. I’m an orphan you see – both of my parents were killed during The Expansion nearly twenty years ago, as was Hannah’s dad. We were both just babies when it happened so, sadly, we have no memories of our lost family. It’s been hard, growing up without a family, but we were taught at school why The Expansion was so important for our security, and how my parents died bravely supporting Alpha Rivera’s cause against the rogues.

Hannah’s mum, Helen, remembers my parents though; she was very close to my mother, and she tells me about them sometimes. Helen is the closest thing I have to a parent, and she has always treated me with love and kindness, as if I were one of her own. I love her dearly for that.

So, Hannah and I are like sisters, although we couldn’t look any less alike: me with my rich, auburn loose curls that flow down to my hips, fair skin, and bright green eyes; Hannah with her sleek, black bob, light tan skin, and narrower, brown eyes. My style is more crop top and mom jeans to her biker boots and leather jackets. I’m also a bit taller than her, standing at 5ft 9in. Pretty standard for a she-wolf, but I have a couple of inches on Hannah.

“Come on then, let’s get going” I say. Hannah nods, and we leave the pack gym and head back home.

I work at the gym since I don’t have any parents to support me. It’s okay though, I don’t mind it. It can be tough juggling work with school, but it means I get 24hr access to the gym, and keeping fit is something I love. Ever since Auntie Helen told me my parents were warriors, I decided that I would follow in their footsteps; try to make them proud, wherever they are. And so, I train, hard, most evenings. Plus, it keeps me out of trouble. There are a few girls at college who I would love to punch in the face on a daily basis. At least in the gym, I can work out all the anger they cause me.

“Han,” I ask, “did you hear that we have some Lycans joining us this year?”

“Oh my Moons, yes! Isn’t it strange?! They’re going to be in our year,” Hannah replies.

“Yeah, I thought it was a little weird… Why join college in the last year? There’s four of them, right?” I ask.

“Five. But yeah, totes weird. Aren’t they like, a bajillion years old or something? Why on earth would anyone choose to come to school?” She questions, joking but also quite serious.

“You’re right there,” I laugh out, then pause for a moment. “Wait, five of them…? You don’t think…”

“Don’t think what?”

“Do you remember, years ago now, there was some big palaver about some important Lycans who were visiting all the packs in the Mid-West?” I query.

“Umm, no, I don’t think so…” Hannah says, looking around as if searching for the answer in the starry sky above.

“No? They came here. Alpha Rivera brought them to the orphanage one day, I saw them, I think there were five of them.” I say, thinking back to the beautiful stoic faces of the five Lycans seven years ago. I was only around twelve or thirteen then.

“Now you say it Nola, I think I do remember something like that happening… I think mum was interviewed by them, or the Alpha, or both.” She’s tapping her lip with her index finger now, really trying hard to remember some detail. We are both quiet for a while, thinking.

“Hey, if I remember rightly, Lycans are hot” I say, nudging her arm with my elbow.

Hannah bursts out laughing, and so do I. “I’m serious!” I say between breaths.

“Yeah, I know you are,” she chuckles out after recovering slightly, “and if I remember rightly, they’re also super dangerous!” she finishes.

“I guess so,” I roll my eyes at her.

“… It does kinda add to their appeal though, right?” she adds finally, and we’re both laughing again. She is joking, of course, but it is a fairly serious matter in fact.

Lycans are dangerous, apex predators; much stronger and faster than any Alpha werewolf, and they’re bigger too. If you ever had to fight one, you should be worried – I read somewhere that they’re really difficult to kill, in fact the only sure-fire ways are to either rip its beating heart from its chest, or completely sever its head from its body - neither would be an easy feat. Even if you could get close enough to one without it tearing you in half, their skin is tough, like armour. I pity any fool who was ever set upon by a Lycan.

“Thinking about it, I don’t think it could be the same Lycans…” I ponder, “they looked about our age now, back then… and that was about seven years ago.”

“Don’t they age reeeeeaaallly slowly though?” she replies.

“Oh yeah… maybe.”

We are both quiet for a moment before Hannah breaks the silence. “Oh well!” she exclaims, “we’ll find out tomorrow I suppose!”

I nod in agreement, and we finish our short walk back in silence once more, both surely thinking about what tomorrow will be like. The first day of our last year at United Lands College. Us werewolves attend education until we're twenty years old, owing to all the extra curriculum we have.

Finally, we stop outside the orphanage – a place I will be leaving in approximately two months, when I turn twenty. I’ll have to start renting a room in the pack house then. I won’t be sad to go, I don’t think. There is nothing wrong with living there as such; I have a nice room and a comfotable bed, plus the house mother is a nice woman, though I don’t think she has ever truly warmed to me. But living in an orphanage is a permanent reminder that I am an orphan. That I am alone Enola.

It’s why I am so grateful to have Auntie Helen. I feel like she is like a small connection to my parents. She has told me that they were wonderful people, and speaks of them like they were as close as friends can be. I know everything she says is true from the sadness I see in her eyes when I probe too far for more details.

Hannah and I hug before I go inside, and she walks home, just a bit further on towards the central pack land. I have a shower before getting into bed, but I’m not sleeping just yet. My mind is too busy with thoughts of Lycans.

I can only remember one of them clearly. The day they came to the orphanage they did not look happy; the aura they were emitting was frightening and palpable. But, as I crouched on the landing, watching Alpha Rivera’s large form speak to the Lycans through the spindles, one of them turned his head. He knew I was there; he must have heard me breathing because I hadn’t moved or made a sound, but somehow, he knew. We locked eyes just for a second before I looked away. His gaze was too intense to hold, as much as I wanted to, but before I had looked away, I was sure I saw his eyes soften.

His eyes were the palest blue, almost silver, and surrounded by thick dark lashes. The image of him in my mind’s eye stirs a flutter of butterflies in my stomach, which I grab, trying to hold them still. They left soon after and never returned... until now perhaps.

Finally, I drift off to sleep wondering if those silver-blues will be at school tomorrow… If I will get to see them again.