Heat

II.

"Wait what?" I sputter and clumsily collect my items. I shove my phone into my pocket and jog a little to catch up to him. He ignores me and keeps walking to his truck. I watch him open the driver door and sit. His eye look over at me and show me he's annoyed that I'm not getting in yet. He rolls his eyes and scrunches his nose in annoyance. I hurriedly open the door and jump in next to him.

"Do you even understand anything that is going on?" He asks after sighing in frustration.

"I know I'm very confused about what you're talking about" I tell him only taking a glance at him before turning to stare at the school. I fidget with my hands a little nervous about what all this is about. He's acting like I kicked his dog.

"You had your first shift last night right?" He's staring at me with so much frustration in his eyes and yet I have no idea what is going on.

"Shift? I don't work" he groans and rubs his eyes hard.

"Edan do you even know what you are?" His voice is a bit calmer now.

"A person? I'm not sure what the answer is to that or why you ask" I turned in my seat to face him now with my arms crossed. I feel a little defensive now as he getting a little too philosophical for me.

"You really don't do you? This whole time?" His voice seemed to drop more like he was saddened for me. "Are your parents your biological parents?"

"Excuse me?" What kind of question was that. How does he assume anything about my family and where is this coming from. My eyebrows knit together as our eyes lock in an unannounced staring contest.

"Please just answer the questions, I'm trying to make life easier for everyone" he groans and breaks eye contact for a bit. I let out a sigh and focus my eyes on my lap. I look back up and see him waiting for a response.

"As far as I know those are my biological parents. Why?"

"I'm gonna take you somewhere, I'll drop you off at home later but we need to get out of here and continue this conversation" I nod wearily and he puts the keys into the ignition and the car hums to life. He wipes the rain residue off the windshield and pulls out of the parking lot. A couple moments of silent pass without saying anything. He's taking roads I don't recognize or had any desire to come down, this must be where he lives.

"Are you taking me to your house?" I ask turning my head to him more.

"Kind of" was all he said. He didn't take his eyes off the road to glance at me. He was on a mission and focused.

"Why is this so important that we have to go to your 'kind of' house" now I'm a bit annoyed but he did say he would take me back home. The truck pulls into a gravel pathway leading to a large house. It looked almost like a community center with how big it was and how many people were outside. We reached his parking spot and he turned off the car. I didn't move to get out until he was going to make a move.

"Edan" he sighs, "last night was your first shift into a werewolf" there's no sense of joking from him. Both hands are tight on the steering wheel but his eyes are staring straight into me. I narrow my eyes at him, I don't really believe what he's saying but I can't be sure if it's a prank.

"Were-wolf" I stretch the words out like it's a new word I'm hearing for the first time. Ethan's eyes widen slightly and he nods.

"Yeah"

"Look, I don't know what happened to me last night or what you think I know I did but that is fiction. I was sick and now I'm better. End of story" I say staring back into his eyes.

"You have a lot to learn Edan" he makes a move to get out of the car but I put my hand on his arm.

"Are we done? Can't you take me home?"

"We're not done yet. There's a couple things we need to do before we can let you go back home" I furrow my brow. What things did I need to do? He shrugs off my arm and climbs out slamming the door. I leave my bag in the car and rush out catch up. I fall in line with his steps towards the house but I take a moment to look around. Kids have been ushered inside by their parents and the adults shield their kids as we walk by. Ethan continues to say nothing and just leads me up.

My leg rattles up and down with nerves and anticipation. Ethan left me seated in the living room, said he needed to get someone else here too. When he appears in the doorway, without thinking my mouth moves on its own.

"What is going on Ethan, can you please just tell me now?" It might have been rude of me but I got dragged here. A woman appears from behind Ethan. He resembles her in some ways so this must be his mom.

"Edan" she says smiling warmly. Her arms reached out to me to embrace me in a hug. "Welcome to the pack house" I remain silent and just eye her and Ethan.

"Edan, this is my mother Jeanne. The Luna of the Blue moon pack"

"The what of what" Can Ethan ever get to the point.

"Dear, we didn't understand your unique situation but now we do. You are a werewolf and adopted by humans who had no idea about the realities of the world" I chuckle. What am I supposed to say to that?

"You are a rogue. Someone without a pack. I am the Alpha or soon to be Alpha of a pack. I brought you here to clear the air. I don't tolerate rogues on my land and am solving the issues of them here. My father was lenient but I will not be" Ethan was stern. He really had grown up a lot in the four short years of high school. He was mature and I almost admired him if it wasn't for the fact that he is speaking nonsense.

"Right" I say drawing out the I. "I know people have called me rogue plenty of times and now it doesn't bother me but this whole werewolf thing, what are you doing?"

"Honey your first shift was last night... do you remember anything" of course no one would answer my question. Jeanne's hand rested on top of mine in comforting way.

"Look, I was sick a couple days ago, I went swimming in the lake a couple yards from my house and woke up at home. Fever things" I shrugged it off, they didn't have to know that I woke up naked in the back yard at dusk.

"Why can't she remember?" Ethan asks a little concerned now. I blacked out but memory is always fuzzy with a fever, you're lucid with it.

"I'm not sure Ethan. Maybe she isn't connected and I guess 'tamed' would be the right word for her" Ethan's mom shrugged and looked between Ethan and I.

"Tamed?" I asked a little offended. I was a wild animal.

"Edan, you are a werewolf and you need to be careful from now on. You need to work on 'taming' your inner wolf" he air quoted around taming but something else was wrong.

"I think I would know if I was a fantasy creature or not you know?"

"I don't think you do. You weren't brought up or trained like us. You need training and you need it soon" Ethan scooted to the edge of his chair to get closer to me now. His face was riddled with worry and concern.

"Suppose I believe you and agree to get trained, what does that look like" I was playing with my hair at this point a little nervous to maybe accept that something was different about me. It wasn't just one person coming at me to say this it was two and they didn't appear to be lying. Ethan let out a sigh of some annoyance, like he had no choice in the matter.

"You and I will be working side by side together to tame you, that means you coming here after school" Ethan is up now and offered his hand to me for me to get up as well. I eye it but take and stand. He tugs it before breaking away and picking up the pace to stay ahead of me. He leads me out the doors of the 'pack house'.

"Today is day one and we'll work on shifting"