One of them

Chapter 5

A/N: Picks up after last chapter, enjoy <3

Walking through the halls the three of them were side by side. Corey finally spoke, "I overheard Nolan talking to Gabe..." he said breaking the silence between them.

Mason sighed, "You're spying on them?" he asked.

Corey nodded, "Since he stabbed me? Yeah."

"Wait, who stabbed you?" Liam asked confused, the pair shared a look before Corey looked down.

"Nolan... with a pen," Corey admitted.

"He's losing his mind Li," Mason said shaking his head.

"Nolan's gonna try to get you to shift. He wants proof, and he wants everyone to see it," the chameleon said, only worrying the beta more. He couldn't hurt Nolan and he wasn't sure he would be able to keep in control either.

"So what's he gonna do?" Liam asked.

"I don't know. That's all I heard," Corey explained, Mason turned to him.

"Could you stop obsessing about what people are saying?" he asked but before Corey could respond Liam's heartbeat rapidly increased. The rich scent of sugary cinnamon infiltrated his senses.

"Nolan's coming," he announced panicked, he wasn't scared of Nolan. No, but he feared what he could do to Nolan if the boy tried to make him shift. Despite the current situation he did not want to hurt him. Looking behind him he realised it was the counsellor's office, he didn't hesitate to push the door open.

He immediately closed the blinds after peeking through it, "Mr Dunbar?" a soft voice said. He turned to see Monroe, more importantly the confused expression upon her face.

Liam let out a shaky breath, "Oh, sorry! Uh...uh, I thought we had an appointment?"

"Not that I'm aware of..." she replied confused, Liam ran a hand through his brown hair.

"What I meant to say was... I wanna make an appointment," that seemed to make her happy.

"Great! When?" she asked.

"Now, if you're available," he replied.

She stared at the papers in front of her "I'm kind of in the middle of something..." as she spoke Liam had made himself comfortable sitting in the chair across from her, "...But, I guess it can wait," she said. He nodded, sitting in silence for a moment before he realised what he needed to do.

"Oh. So, uh... I'm having a lot of issues. Um, lots of issues. Big issues.." he said in a dramatic tone.

She nodded, "I know. I heard a rumour going around" she said, immediately sending his heartrate into overdrive.

"What...What kind of rumours?" he asked.

Her expression softened, "Some kids are giving you a hard time?" she said suggestively, he nodded.

She wasn't exactly wrong, "kinda," he said.

Folding her hands in front of her she spoke, "I'd like to help. But, you're gonna have to be honest with me, Liam. I need to know who's harassing you," she said.

"Why?" he asked, not completely buying that.

"I think I can give them a little direction," she said, that smile still plastered across her face.

Liam scoffed, "they're already directed... at me," he said.

Monroe nodded, "I won't condone bullying of any kind. You don't have to think of it as turning them in. You're just helping them be better classmates."

Taking her pen in her hand she held it as if to write before looking up to Liam, "I'm going to need their names," she said.

But that was when Liam caught sight of the scratches across her neck, almost resembling claw marks... "What happened?" he asked.

Her head bopped up, "excuse me?" she asked.

"The scratches. Uh, how'd you get them?" he asked.

He noticed the jolt in her heartbeat as she spoke, "Oh, um, from a branch in the woods. Why don't we get back to you?"

Liam frowned, "What were you doing in the woods?"

"Running," she said in a flat tone.

"From who?" Liam asked, not letting this drop.

"Whom," she corrected making him pull a face in confusion and annoyance. "From whom? Not From who? Whom, is grammatically correct. We don't like to use it because it sounds unnatural. But, some things that make us uncomfortable are still the right thing to do," she said.

Yep, that wasn't fucking weird at all... "So... whom were you running from? He asked, this time with a more smug expression on his face.

She clicked her pen, "Liam, are you gonna give me the names or not?" when he didn't answer she sighed, "Then I guess I can't help you."

After exiting the room he was met with Mason as they walked towards their next class, thankfully Gabe and Nolan free. "So, our guidance counsellor is a Werewolf Hunter? I'm never asking for guidance again," Mason said.

Upon sitting down he shared a glance with the girl beside him, not a minute later she was grabbing her bag in fear and changing seats.

"Maybe she forgot something?" Mason said but Liam shook his head, he could smell her fear.

"Is there a problem, Liam?" Ms Finch asked giving him a glance, he perked his head up.

"Um, no... not with me," he said.

"Who will let Liam join their group?" she asked.

No surprised that Mason and Corey immediately raised their hands, "Someone other than you two," she said. When nobody raised their hand she clicked her tongue, "You all have one minute to volunteer, or the whole class fails the day's lesson," she stated.

Liam whipped his headaround, "this is just making it worse," the beta said which was unfortunately met with worse news from Corey.

"Yeah, well, it's about toget worse-worse," Corey said.

Liam frowned, "why do you only show up when there's bad news?" Liam hissed.

Corey's eyes trailed down, "The entire lacrosse team is looking for you. They're blocking the exits," he said.

Mason frowned "why?" he asked confused.

"They're gonna make Liam shift in front of everyone..." Corey said, explaining what he had overhead.

"That definitely can't happen," Mason said worried.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Liam asked concerned, before he could reply Ms Finch walked towards him.

"All right, Liam-- looks like you're not winning any popularity contests, so why don't you work alone. And I'll decide whether or not I was bluffing about failing everyone..." she announced.

Published: 2nd September 2023
Word count: 1023