Wolf's Fire

Chapter Three

| Kat |

Time slows down, as my vision blurs in and out of focus. Louis is beside me in a heartbeat. Always on my tail being the overprotective Beta. My nose trains in on the alluring scent of pine and honey. It is overwhelming. The longer I stand in the hallway, the farther lost I become.

Louis' contact on my arm causes me to growl at him. Hell to all the humans milling around. He jumps, putting his hands up in defense. There was no reason to growl... But this new wolf has my own on edge. His head lowers in submission before saying quietly,

"Let's get out of here." He eyes me, afraid I'll bite, as he goes to put his hand on my arm. I let him this time and allow myself to be guided towards my locker 'Jeanette, Kat and I are going out for lunch.' He tells her through the mind-link. The smell is overpowering. Maybe I'm being overdramatic. Louis isn't reacting the same way I am.

'No.' The one-word response makes us freeze. Louis looks at me in confusion. Usually at least once a week, we'd leave for lunch. Jeanette's never objected. I close my eyes, my body starting to sway.

"Are you okay?" Louis suddenly asks me. The headaches have been getting worse all day. That, plus the smell of this new wolf is making me nauseous.

I shake my head. Instead of responding to Jeanette like I expect, he pulls me down the hallway, pushing slow humans out of the way until we get to the bathroom. I'm going to pass out.

"Out." He snaps, almost growls, at the girls. Human bodies bump into mine as they rush passed me. The door swings shut. "She's given you a cold, hasn't she?" I nod. It should be hitting its peak soon. Hopefully, by tonight it'll be over. He opens a stall door and pushes me in. I don't waste my time puking into the bowl. "Out." He hisses behind me as I suspect more girls try to enter the bathroom. I expect the vomiting to stop but it doesn't. Instead, it continues and continues until my insides hurt.

"What do you need, Kat?" He asks quietly, helping me stand slowly. He guides me to the sink. Using a shaky hand, I bring the water to my lips.

"Do you smell him?" I ask softly, looking at Louis through the dirty bathroom mirror.

"Yeah," He answers. "It's strange." I nod.

"What do you smell?" He scrunches his face as he thinks.

"foreign wolf." He says. That means nothing to me, which means he's not smelling what I'm smelling. "What do you need, Kat?" He asks again, changing the subject. His voice is softer. Kinder. I glance at him. My mouth tastes acidic.

"Water," I say, leaning back into Louis's chest. He rests a hand on my upper arm to steady my body.

"I've got you Kat." He says.

| Cameron |

Ms. Crowser grades those tests, her red ink pen marking mistakes. The history packet has the most red ink. The subject isn't logical. It's factual. Jeanette looks up and notices my fidgeting.

"Do you have any money?" She asks suddenly, making me jump. "It's lunch period in the cafeteria. You could grab a sandwich and come back?" I shake my head. Eric doesn't give me money. Ever. I have a credit card for emergencies. Like when the guys decide they want takeout and send me out in ten feet of snow to pick it up.

I'm an Omega.

I do all the dishes, clean the house and I get what's left of the food. If I go hunting and I catch anything larger than a rabbit I have to give it to Eric. Everything I own is Eric's.

"I don't have anything." She frowns. Putting down the red pen she folds her hands on the desk.

"Do you have school supplies? Notebooks, pens, a backpack? A laptop or computer." Again I shake my head. She's figuring me out. I can see her working through the facts. "Cameron-" There's a knock at her office door. I hear the front desk yell that Ms. Crowser's busy but the door opens anyway.

"Jeanette," The wolf looks to be about my age, with short brown hair and green colored eyes. He's in a power position. I can smell it on him. A Beta, though Jeanette doesn't seem deterred by him. There's something else there. A female scent that has my wolf circling within me. His reaction surprises me, and I make sure to quickly avert my gaze to the desk.

"What Louis?" She snaps.

"Kat's sick." All too quickly, she's out of her chair.

"Where?" Louis puts his hands up.

"I took her to the nurse so she could lay down. She threw up after third period." Jeanette sighs, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Did you let her go running last night?" The boy named Louis looks sheepish.

"I didn't let her do anything."

"Just go to lunch with Carissa." She says with a wave of the hand. "I'll check on Katalina after I'm done here." Louis gives me one more glance before leaving. She holds the door for him and watches as he goes. "Sorry about that."She says to me.

"It's fine." Shuffling through her bag and pulls out a five-dollar bill.

"Grab some food and come back. Here is a pass." She scribbles on a sticky note. "I'll talk to your guardian and make sure you get what you need for classes." The look in her eye tells me it's not up for discussion.

"I'll pay you back," I say, taking the money and standing.

The cafeteria is easy to find by its smell. Not all too pleasant, it smells like a mix of old beef and socks. There are three options for hot meals: pizza piled high with grease, Spaghetti and meatballs, and some kind of weird looking Chinese food. I just grab a prepackaged sandwich and a water from the cooler.

After I pay and I get the change back, my eyes land on Louis who sits with another wolf, a girl with dark blond hair. They both appear to be uncomfortable. As I head towards the doors, they look up at me. Louis pins me with a stare, but I shake it off and continue on my way.

By the time I arrive back at the office, Ms. Crowser has finished grading the tests. She talks to me while I eat. "Are you sure you've never had any schooling?" She asks me.

"Fairly." Pursing her lips, she types things into the computer.

"I'm putting you in advanced Calculus, Advanced Biology, English 302, and American History. You do need to take a language course, and an extracurricular."

| Kat |

By the end of the fifth period, approximately two hours later, the queasiness in my stomach has dissipated to the point that I can stand without vomiting. The nurse, who told me when I first arrived that I had a high fever, is now shocked that its down to what's normal. Shaking her head she mumbles something about sending me home, as she had requested I do earlier, but again I tell her I'm fine. It was probably something I ate, I lie. She writes me a pass to Calculus, that I take all to quickly before rushing out the door.

It's an easy walk to class. Without looking at Louis, I hand Mr. Miller the pass and take my seat. "Are you okay?" Louis asks from the seat next to me. I nod.

"Don't worry about it." The class goes by without a problem. The foreign wolf's smell still lingers in the hallway, but it's diluted. He mustn't have stayed for too long. Louis continues to stay by my side, to the point that I'm irritated. I turn on him in the hall. "Can you stop that?" I ask sharply. He takes a step back.

"What?"

"That overprotective bodyguard vibe. We're getting stares." It's true. The humans are glancing at us and it's most certainly because Louis is handing out death stares. He rubs his arm. "Does this have to do with the fact that I was sick this morning? Or that there's a new male wolf our age in town?" He doesn't answer me.

I shake my head. We can't have this conversation here. Taking a deep breath, I glance at my locker. "Just... go to class. I'll see you at the car." I leave him standing there, a confused look plastered on his face as I head to my next class.