The Alpha's Mate (Unedited)

Part 9

I woke up groggily. My head felt weird; the only thing I could describe it as was exposed.

I turned and noticed I was lain in the same bed. God, this feels like groundhog day.

I jumped up, with surprising agility. What the hell? Everything looked as though it was in intense high-definition, illuminated and I blinked at least ten times before I realized it wasn't in my head.

I heard footsteps.

No, I heard multiple footsteps, as if an army was practising marching outside the room. I touched my ears. The door opened.

To my surprise, Luna glided in. She smiled softly and perched on the edge of the bed, gesturing for me to sit down next to her. I frowned and remained standing. She sighed.

"Are you feeling...okay?" Luna said eventually.

"Yeah, I feel great." I replied.

A large whistling sound rang out and I flinched, my hands shooting to my ears.

"Oww!" I exclaimed, shrinking onto my knees. Luna was beside me in seconds, patting my back.

"Yeah, that's a side effect of our...condition" she explained.

"What on earth was that?" I asked, alarmed and Luna pulled me over to the window. I looked out onto a huge, grassed field, fringed with a wall of impenetrable trees so thick, no one could possibly see in or out. A group of teenage boys and girls were jogging around on the grass, Rafael stood by the backdoor, holding a whistle in his mouth. That was what I heard? It felt like it was next to my eardrums! Wait...

"What condition?" I suddenly asked, whirling to face Luna. She looked down at her feet.

"Well, um, you know we're werewolves..."

Oh no. I don't like the sound of this.

"You know the myths; what happen when you get bitten by a werewolf..."

Rafael's bite. I felt literally sick.

"No" I whispered, barely audible. I dropped my stare to my hands. They looked perfectly normally, if slightly less - well, imperfect. This couldn't be happening.

"Does the, um, full moon, um, do anything?" I said quietly. Luna grimaced.

"Yes. You will have to transform then. But any other times you can shift at will." As she spoke, I felt a weird power rush surge through me, ready to be tapped into. No, thank you.

"Is the change...reversible?" I said. Luna shook her head, regretfully. I nodded.

"Please could I just have some time alone?" I said and she walked out the room, shutting the door behind her carefully. I went and sat on the bed. I was going to have to leave home; I couldn't risk hurting my family or letting them find out. But I wasn't about to stay here.

I waited for exactly fifty seven minutes, until they had all dispersed from the backyard and it was deserted. I pushed open the window frame easily (urg, werewolf strength) and reached for a tree, whose branches tickled the window pane. I climbed down it and dropped softly onto the grass below.

And then I ran.

I sprinted down the field and ran blindly into the wall of trees, charging through branches which scratched my bare arms. I ended up in another person's garden but I knew where I was; I cut through it, back to the road and jogged to my house. And I wasn't even out of breath.

I dared not think what this meant.

I walked in and crept upstairs. Mum wasn't in, so I rushed up to my room and snatched an old suitcase from under the bed. I tossed in a load of clothes and underwear and my box of sentimental items. I threw in a few books, my scratched phone, iPod, toothbrush and tipped the contents of my saved up cash into a purse before squeezing that in too. I lugged it down the stairs and down the road to the bus stop. I knew it would arrive in exactly two minutes.

It arrived punctually, and I dug out some change to pay the bus driver, not listening to where he was going. I could still see no sign of Rafael or Luna or any werewolf and it was making me extremely nervous.

I sat on the backseat of the bus, slouched so low in my seat that it was impossible for anyone to see me from the outside.

The bus rumbled off and I breathed a sigh of relief. But where was I going to go?

I had hardly any money and I was barely sixteen. I shuddered at the thought of living like a homeless person. And this was one person's fault I was sat here right now.

Rafael and his stupid temper.