The Hybrid Series: Freak (Book 1)

Chapter 1

Olive

Freak.

That's me.

I struggle to make friends, more than likely made worse by my low self-esteem due to years' worth of bullying. I would love to say it's just a select few that take an instant disliking to me – but no... you see, my mum and I have moved around a lot, usually, once a year, sometimes twice.

It's been this way ever since I turned thirteen and my wolf emerged, ever since then my mum will scoop me up and move at the first sign of trouble, it's become quite an annoyance for me, but I know she's only trying to protect me however she can.

I try to keep my head down. It's not that I like drama, I just seem to attract it. It never used to be this way, I was once quite a popular girl in my school with masses of friends, but when I got my wolf my scent changed, as it does with every wolf - that's when the bullying started.

You see, my tormentors – who are the she-wolves of the pack, tell me I 'smell weird', I'm not sure why – but it is true, my scent is just.... odd. Don't get me wrong I don't smell bad, I don't suffer from body odour, nor do I stink like a skunk. I just smell different to other wolves; this seems to be the reason I have a target on my back.

With every pack I move to it always ends up the same, they take one whiff of me, tell me I smell weird, and then start calling me names, blocking me from anything social, and then physically bullying me. Which is fine... well it's not, but I'm not really interested in having friends anymore. After all, my friends in my first pack turned their backs on me so quickly, who would want or need friends like that anyway!

The guys, on the other hand, appear to find my scent intriguing, I don't think I'm unattractive, but, I wouldn't say I'm drop-dead gorgeous either. I have long dark brown hair with reddish-golden hues when the sun hits it just right, rich chestnut eyes, a scattering of freckles over my nose and full, plump lips. The fact that guys tend to find me intriguing just makes my attempts at being a lone wolf all the harder. They usually try and sit with me or befriend me, but this just makes the bullying worse from jealous she-wolves.

I'm not sure why they waste their time trying to sit with me either, maybe it's simply pack mentality, so they try to keep the pack together at all costs, or maybe they see me as some kind of damsel in distress. Little do they know it's actually their attempts to engage with me that causes my distress.

The first time we moved, Kelsey Richards – my former best friend, decided to take the bullying up a notch, she was angry because Sam – her crush, had asked me out... as if that's something I have any control over.

I was sitting under my favourite tree, reading a book to pass the time and minding my own business. Sam had come to sit with me and tried to engage in conversation. I simply gave him one-word answers and continued to glare at my book, refusing to make eye contact. I hoped this would be enough for him to get bored and leave. It wasn't. He asked me if I would like to grab a bite to eat sometime, it was kind of sweet, but I didn't want my life to be harder than it had to be.

I said no. He was a nice guy and all, but not my type, and I didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention to myself, the less attention the less bullying I would endure; however, that didn't stop Kelsey from getting pissy about it anyway, Kelsey came storming across the field. Murder in her eyes, practically frothing at the mouth.

Suddenly, she is screaming "HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE SLUT! Sam is mine and you're trying to take him away from me!" I rolled my eyes, I didn't want to deal with her crap today.

I tried to explain things, "Kelsey, he asked me if I wanted some food, I said no. I don't want Sam, he's all yours".

Clearly, she took no notice of anything I said, because the next thing I know she lunges at me screaming like a banshee, grabs a fist full of my hair and tries to yank me down to the ground! She hadn't laid her hands on me before, I was shocked, to say the least. I could feel the anger start to boil within me straight away, bubbling away threatening to boil over and take over completely.