𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 • 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐦 (wolfblood)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧

And that was how their entire history class ended up standing in a rather large shelter in the middle of Liam's dad's field.

Everyone hugged their coats and scarves close to them as they chattered and talked over one another, clearly bothering the two people from the university who had come to examine and study the skeleton. Mr Jeffries stood in a bother as he tried and failed to settle his students, occasionally throwing an awkward smile at the lady with the lanyard around her neck.

Lia tugged down her black beanie (that she had stolen from Tom two or so years ago) so that it rested comfortably over her cold ears which were beginning to redden due to being exposed to the cold elements for so long. The blonde boy, who stood behind her, smiled down at the girl, reaching out to adjust her jacket. Lia looked up at him with a small smile of thanks before turning back around when Jeffries called out to his students, "All right! Settle down! Settle down, everyone!"

He took a long sip of tea before speaking up, "Now, we are extremely fortunate that my old university friend, Rebecca... that is, Dr Whitewood, and her assistant here have allowed us access to this fascinating site for the afternoon," he turned to face the woman with a smile, "Dr Whitewood, over to you."

The doctor stood up from beside the skeleton, reflecting the man's smile before turning to the group of students who stood before her, "Yes, hello! It's great to see so many young faces-"

"If you're a doctor, aren't you a bit late?" Katrina interrupted, pointing down at the skeleton with pinched lips, "He's well dead."

Everyone burst out laughing at the blonde's dumb comment and the Jeffries chuckled awkwardly, "Yes... thank you, Katrina."

The doctor smiled sweetly, "I'm not that kind of doctor - I'm a forensic scientist," her eyes scanned the group of curious pupils, "I presume you all know what a forensic scientist does?"

Two seconds of silence and blank expressions were all it took for Shannon to raise her hand instantly, "You use scientific methods to look for evidence and link suspects to the scene of the crime."

"Yes, that's correct." The doctor responded, rather impressed by her punctuality.

"Are the police involved, then?" Maddy piped up. The four wolfbloods held their breath in anticipation of her response. The doctor smiled, "No, not this time. I have a personal interest in unusual skeletons."

The four shared a look. Wonderful. Any sane human would have dismissed this as a genetic mutation of some kind. It was just their luck that the one scientist who happened to be examining this skeleton had a personal interest in 'unusual' skeletons. What were the chances?

"Yeah! Dad called her this morning." Liam piped up, his excitement causing Lia to become even more annoyed.

"And thanks to Mr Hunter," The doctor continued, "I've been incredibly busy dating these fascinating bones."

"Lucky bones." Jeffries muttered under his breath. No one else heard, but the four wolfbloods shared an amused glance. The doctor continued, unknowing to her old colleague's words, "And I can tell you that this skeleton is approximately 200 years old. And unique!"

"Yeah," Liam said in a 'duh' sort of tone, "Because it's a werewolf."

Shannon feigned a laugh, "Come on. Out of all the possible explanations, a werewolf is the least likely. You know, it's much more plausible that it's a human with some kind of genetic mutation, or even a hoax - the Victorian freak shows were full of them, animal bones mixed in with human bones, you know, billed as some kind of monster."

Her friends and some other students nodded in agreement at her valid point, while others looked a little disappointed in her lack of imagination. Doctor Whitewood raised an eyebrow, impressed by her knowledge, "Well, yes, erm..." she trailed off, in lack of a name.