Alphas daughter

Chapter 7

The morning was slow. Very slow. We were all slightly on edge as Jordan filled the others in on the Rebecca situation, and she hadn't been seen yet this morning. My gut clenched thinking about her knowing our secret and I could tell everyone else was cautious and uncomfortable all morning.

After sitting through the torture of English for an entire hour - which I had to sit beside Zach in - I was more than grateful for the hour of sport. We all desperately needed to release some built up energy and let off some steam. Also, being part wolf meant I was always the best in the class when it came to sport and I was more than happy with that.

"Today we are doing cross country," our teacher announced. Everyone groaned except for me and my friends who were relieved to be able to run, even if we had to hold back to keep the secret. "Our reigning champion is Miss Reed, we will see if anyone can beat her this semester." I smiled inwardly, knowing it was unlikely.

We all took our places at the start line and I took a deep, slow breath in. There was a strong wind at the moment, and the cool, crisp air filled my lungs, cooling my core. I released the breath to see a small cloud of warm air puff out in front of me.

As soon as the whistle blew I was off. It was more of a slow jog than a run to me but I was still much faster than the rest of the group. We had to run around the entire school grounds which calculated to roughly a mile and a half, which my wolf could probably run in around two minutes but sadly, human me had to be a little slower. On average, the class took between 10 and 20 minutes to run the course, so in previous years I have finished after around 9/10 minutes.

I swung my arms by my side as I strode along the grass that was now a blur of green beneath me. The wind brushed against my skin, whipping my face as my hair swirled around behind me. Each step caused a crunching beneath me as I stepped on twigs and the leaves that had already dropped off the trees.

Running was always something I enjoyed. When I was a cub, it would be my escape. No matter how sad, how angry, how scared I was, running cleared my mind of thoughts and my heart of emotions. My fogged feelings always subsided as I raced through the woods.

I spent days on end as a cub, running with my mom. She was always graceful and light-footed as she ran while my small legs stumbled and clumped across the ground. I used to race her when I became more confident and she always let me win - the rush of adrenaline and victory I received was what made it so rewarding to me.

After running for a few minutes, out the corner of my eye I saw Zach overtake me slightly and I knew exactly what he was trying to do. I continued at the same pace for the next half of the course and then gradually I started to slow down.

As I slowed, Zach also began to slow, still remaining in front of me. We continued to run at the same fast pace around the course, neither of us even remotely out of breath as our legs took over. While others were slowing to a walk to catch their breath, the hardest part for us was controlling our speed, desperately making sure we didn't get carried away.

One of the biggest difficulties with being a werewolf is control. Not necessarily control of the wolf within but of the abilities we take for granted. In the human world, its not easy to remember that you shouldn't hear what you do, you can't run at the pace you want, you cant lift what you shouldn't be able to. When I run, I feel my wolf blaring inside, seeking escape and I find it difficult to rein it back in.

I continued to slow until I was a hundred meters or so from the finish line where I sprinted - a little faster than humanly possible - to the finish line, overtaking Zach and taking him by surprise. The air gushed over me as I flung over the finish line; the energy still bubbling in me. My heart rate had barely increased and my breathing remained regular.

Once I crossed the line I waited for him to finish as well, a smirk spread across my face. I leaned against the school wall, pretending to be out of breath while I waited for the rest of the class to finish.

I grasped a bottle of water, not that I needed it, and began chugging it, desperate to create the illusion that I was worn out. Around me, classmates collapsed on the floor - a little overdramatic if you ask me - after finishing.

A girl ran over the line screaming that she was about to throw up while others threatened to faint. The rest sat on the floor, faces bright crimson and shiny from the beads of sweat trickling down their foreheads. They sat panting like dogs, attempting to catch their breaths and chugging water.

I splashed some water onto my face to paint the image that I was sweating although my muscles had barely warmed around the track and goosebumps still coated my cold skin. I continued to hyperventilate and gradually slowed my breathing back to its original pace.

Once the last person crossed the line, Miss Graham, our sports teacher, began speaking and the rest of the class crowded around her. I hovered at the back, not participating in the heart rate activity, knowing full well that mine was still the resting pulse and that may raise concern.

Ryder suddenly grasped my neck and pinned me against the wall, the rest of my friends stood behind him with their hands on their hips and Zach sat on the grass off to the side, watching the scene with a confused look. They all shared the same calm, well rested demeanour as me. None of them had a drop of sweat on them and their heartbeats were regular.

"What was that?" Ryder growled, a smile was spread across his face but his eyes expressed his seriousness. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion and anger as he glared at me.

On impulse, I let out a surge of dominance, yet Ryder just sent me a look that mocked my attempts to prove something he already knew. This wasn't him trying to be dominant, this was him being a friend.

I let out a small laugh. "I couldn't let him win Ry," I grumbled, pushing his chest so he would let go of me. I was much stronger than Ryder so he instantly let me go, but grasped my wrist to restrain me from walking away.

"Ella, you have to be a bit more discreet before people start to realise that you are ten times faster than this Usain Bolt dude they always talk about and start to think something is up," he lectured while I just rolled my eyes. He was grinning so I knew he wasn't really mad, meaning it couldn't have been that obvious.

"I know, I know," I scoffed, raising my free arm in defeat. "Chill, I was careful and none of these idiots would notice anyway." I laughed and he rolled his eyes back at me.

"Well we already have one problem with our exposed secret," he said glancing at Jordan, who bit her lip. "We don't need another."