Truth be told (on hold)

Chapter Thirteen - A Stranger's Eyes

Mike’s Point of view

She didn’t seem herself the morning we went back to school, I just wanted to hold her in my arms and tell her she was going to be fine. But that bond meant he could hear anything she could, tap into any of her thoughts or feelings. He told me if he saw me with her he’d rip my throat up, and I didn’t doubt that because of his age and how strong he was. I hadn’t seen her since Christmas day and she seemed to almost blank me as I spotted her walking to school. I skipped over to her side but she jus sighed and shoved past me. I knew she wanted to keep me safe but it was killing me from the inside out seeing her walk in tears.

She sat down at her normal seat in the canteen, and pulled out the same book that she had started reading the first time I met her. Dracula. I questioned her intentions every time I saw her flick through it, as if she wanted more information about her father. He seemed to have been more friendly with me if he saw me out, instead of huffing like he did only last week. He’d also visited the house a lot more to have talks with my dad because he was the pack alpha. ‘He’s a nice man’ my dad would say, strange for the wolf who insisted that vampires were worse than humans.

I tapped her shoulder ever so slightly, just so she could tell I was there. She shrugged my hand off and returned to the page she had been studying. From what I could see it spoke about his wife, her mum. But I knew it was made up, I just didn’t want to shatter her hopes of finding her again. I knew how it felt; mum had run off a few years ago. She couldn’t take the level of stress in the house.

‘Everything ok?’ I asked, sitting in the seat next to her. I didn’t move in for the usual hug because of the bond, and the large scar on her neck shone to me like the sun.

She just shrugged again, her shoulders heavy. ‘Nice. Going out later’ she stated, carefully turning the page of her book, her gaze not leaving the pages. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

 ‘With Zack?’ I asked. I hated that guy so much, the next time I was to turn wolf he had better watch out.

‘No actually. Dad’s taking me on my first hunt’ she smiled slightly. I raised an eyebrow. Usually she was dreading her first hunt, but she seemed happy. It unsettled me to think about it. About how her body lusted for blood. She just saw people as walking blood bags.

‘Oh. Have fun’ I sighed, not knowing what else to say. I had the pack meeting tonight which meant I would have to go wolf. And I worried for her in case she walked near the house. I always worried for her. She was like nobody I’d ever met.

‘I love you’ I mumbled, walking over to the vending machine to hide my watery eyes. It was not like me to cry, not over a girl. But to see the pain he’d put her through it made me want to bawl.

‘Mike, what’s wrong?’ I heard her ask my, feeling her hand on my shoulder. By now I’d got used to how cold she was. I placed my hand on top of hers delicately, forgetting about the world.

‘I can’t see you like this. You don’t speak to anyone anymore ever since he bit you. I understand why you want to stay away but I-I just can’t’ I choked on my tears. She didn’t care about me anymore, it was like she’d rubbed me out of her memories. I grabbed my bag and ran out the gates, not looking back. I slammed the door of my house behind me and sat against it, sobbing.

‘She hates me, dad’ I mumbled, wiping my eyes. ‘All I wanted to do was help and she hates me’

‘Stop crying and get to the point’ he growled. He stayed in wolf form all the time, and his pitch black fur showed his status as current alpha. He didn’t scare me anymore so I shrugged and stood up. He looked up and i gulped as I saw his teeth.

‘Wednesday. She’s scared that because of her bond I’ll get hurt. So she hardly speaks to me anymore. And truth is dad I really like her’ I sighed, running up to my room.

I sat in front of my door in wolf form and curled up, wrapping my tail around me slightly. I liked being like this because I didn’t feel like me. I felt like the animal I truly was. I whimpered and shivered, so I pawed my blanket down from my bed and laid it over myself using my sharp teeth. It settled down onto my tanned fur and I nuzzled into my paws again, hiding my eyes with them.

I stretched my front legs out and yawned, my ears pricked up as I heard howling. Oh know I thought. I’d fallen asleep and dad was angry. I jumped up onto my paws and nudged the door open, bounding down the stairs. I growled and shook myself, then walked into the main hall where all the wolves were. Dad nudged me inside and sent me a thought, which is how wolves spoke to each other.

*How dare you turn up late. You know that as future alpha you need to pay as much attention now as you can*

I slumped over in the corner, not interested in what he thought. I had many brothers and sisters, the only one I was close to being Chilli. She isn’t my real sister, she was adopted, but I felt protective of her like any other older brother. She hung around with Wednesday and told me what she thought of me. They made me blush sometimes. But they’d fallen out recently, so I hadn’t heard anything else.

I walked out of the double doors and into the garden, sniffing the fresh air. I picked up the scent of mown grass and flowers, and also the scent of a barbeque, with steaks and kebabs. I padded around the garden, the grass soft under my paws until I bumped into her.

Taylor. The girl I’d been friends with all my life, one of mum’s friend’s daughter. She was considerably smaller than me and her fur was a dusty grey colour, her eyes a pale blue. She still had that cheeky smile. I tackled her and hugged her close.

*I haven’t seen you for ages* I thought, nuzzling her cheek with my nose

*Me neither, you haven’t changed* she thought back, jumping out from my grip. She paced around the grass and tugged at a flower with her teeth, biting through the stem eventually. It was a pink rose. She held it between her teeth and walked back inside, my eyes following her. She was no Wednesday, but she was the most attractive wolf I had ever seen, and she was my best friend. I padded after her, sitting on the floor next to her and rested my head on her shoulder. Her fur was soft and tickled my cheek.

*Tease* I thought, nudging her

*Oh, I’m the tease? Says the wolf that follows me around pretty much everywhere. And I see the way you look at me* she thought, sniffing at my fur as if there was something different

*You smell like, a vampire* she gasped, shuffling away from me. I shook my head fast as she ran off to her dad, who told my dad. I could hear his loud growling from the back of the room.