Why me?

Chapter 11

I wake up on Eric's bed, and he is asleep on the floor, his hand brushing against mine. I slowly extracted myself from the blankets and opened the unlocked door.
I peer my head out of the doorframe and I am greeted by an empty hallway with a dark purple carpet. It is so big that I can reach out both arms and stand in the middle and I cannot touch either edge.
After walking for about five minutes, I encounter a girl with blue eyes and black hair. She is relatively taller than me, and she smiles and then a strange expression briefly passes over her face. When I get closer to her, an instinctual, primitive part of my mind screams WEREWOLF, and I immediately recoil.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you". Her voice is light and airy, and I feel guilty for recoiling.
"Hi, I'm new here, could you show me to wherever I can get food"
"Sure, but you're going the wrong way" she snickers.
I laugh and let my shoulders relax.
A few friendly-conversation-filled minutes later, we enter a large space, and I can barely contain my fear in the gasp I let escape. As I enter the dining hall, I try to seem normal. Key word is tried. Eventually the shock of entering the loud dining hall full of predators dulled a bit, but every time a werewolf laid eyes on me, I flinched.
"Hey, you never told me your name. I'm Racheal."
Thank you SO MUCH Racheal for distracting me.
"I'm Ali"
"Does that stand for something or..."
"It stands for Alice, but no one at home really calls me that."
We finally reach the end of the line and Racheal directs me over to a very non-empty table.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
"Not much, I have unexpected patrols this afternoon."
"Ugh, that sucks, I'll probably have to go too"
"Who are you?"
I look up from my macaroni to see a guy with blond hair and brown eyes that I instantly recognize. He chased my through the forest.
A shudder runs uncontrollably down my body.
"Ali, I'm from Formenville, just a few miles from here"
"What pack?"
I get really confused for a second but then I know what he's talking about.
I decide to ignore him as watch another guy at the table shovel food into his mouth.
"Hey, I asked you what pack you were from"
"I don't have a pack."
"You're rogue?" He said, eyes widening.
"No, I..."
I just let my voice stop right there, and I see Racheal give this guy a death look.
They introduce themselves. Nathanial, a guy with carrot-orange hair and brown eyes. Georgia, a pretty girl with significantly purple hair.Ralph, a guy with brown eyes and a shy demeanor. And Greg, the dude who chased me around the forest with the guy I knocked out with the tree branch. Racheal needs no introduction.
They are pretty friendly, and a little more delicate with their conversation than before. But not by much. For example, Nathanial is still having food shoved down his throat by Georgia.
"Where the heck have you been?" Eric asks, furious.
Everyone at the table flinches, but I am unfazed by his outburst.
"And why are you hanging out with them?" he continues, and I think I am in for a lecture, so I interrupt.
"I can't hang out with boys? Or do you mean people like yourself?"
I think his sudden anger has brought on mine, and I stand up.
A low growl escapes his throat, and I twitch just a bit, and mentally scold myself. I shouldn't be intimidated by Eric. Correction, he looks like murder right now.
"Eric" I say in a calm, quiet voice that I never used before. Strangely, he seems to calm down. I turn to the table and sit down and I hear Eric quietly padding away. I notice that everyone's posture deteriorating and their mouths are gaping.
"What?" I ask when my fork is halfway to my mouth.
"You must be crazy. No one talks to the Alpha like that" says Georgia shrilly.
"You must either A) be missing the pack instinct or B) Georgia is for once right, crazy" Ralph says.
Thanks for the moral support, Ralph.