I smiled as he retreated from my bedroom. “I have school and a future to think about. Maybe someday you can show me all the wonders of the world.”
Maybe someday when my wolf was under control and I didn’t feel like such an imposter. Maybe someday if they knew what and who I was, and they accepted me. Until then I would be here, trying to figure out one day at a time.
“Get some rest, kiddo.” He closed the door and I flicked the lamp off.
Even in the darkness, I couldn’t rest so I laid in the dark until the sun came up and shined through my window. I rose from the bed like I hadn’t been awake all night and got in the shower.
My phone rang on my nightstand and I smiled. I wasn’t even a tad tired as I wrapped my long hair into a towel and piled it on my head.
Crisscross applesauce is how I found myself later that afternoon, with a bunch of preschoolers. They were learning about their wolves today and Tracey figured it would be the best opportunity for me to learn. I sat in between two little girls that couldn’t stop giggling with each other. I was supposed to be the buffer, but I didn’t think it was working very well. They would both look at each other then look at me and burst into a fit of hysterics. They were cute little things with pigtails and bows in their hair but they were certainly mischievous too. I ignored them the best I could to paid attention to Tracey’s mother, Vivian. Her pale hair was pulled back into a loose knot on the back of her neck and her face was bare from any makeup.
“As a werewolf we are stronger, faster, and healthier than our human neighbors. We heal at a faster rate and their sicknesses do not affect us either. How many of you have been feeling more hungry as of late?”
A few children raised their hands around me. There were probably ten of them, which was odd to me because the pack hadn’t seemed that big when I had been here before but then I remembered what was said about there being jobs on the pack lands. I probably hadn’t seen even half of the pack because of that.
Vivian continued on with the lesson. “Your wolf is a part of you now and because of that, you will consume more food than an average human does. You will need more water too. Your wolf will require much from you but in return, your wolf will provide. Your senses will be heightened, your body will be stronger, and with your wolf you areimmortal.”
Blood rushed into my ears at the sound of that.What?My eyes searched Vivian’s but she just kept a small smile on her lips as she watched the little children around me. This was how they dropped the ball on me? Around a bunch of children? I breathed heavily through my nose as I tried to ground myself. I was going to throttle Tracey, then I was gonna go after Rafeagain.What had he given me? A whole lot of shit that I wasn’t prepared for is what he gave me.
Vivian’s question quieted my thoughts. “Who knows what immortal means?”
The little girl to my left raised her hand. Vivian nodded in our direction and the little voice wrapped around me in a sweet embrace. “It means that we will live forever to protect our human neighbors. We are their guardians.”
Then the rubber band in the center of my chest snapped again. Guardians?
Vivian’s grin confirmed it. “Yes. There are other races out there that would harm the humans. The humans that are so close to what we are. If we don’t protect them, no one will.”
Chapter 37
Jade Rivers
It had been a week since I had started the preschooler’s class. I had learned far more than I thought I would. I was still excelling at my college courses and thankfully, with a forged doctor’s note from Tracey, I was able to do all of my school work at home. But by home, I mean mainly at the Crimson pack lands. My parents worked from home and if I didn’t at least act like I was going to school, there would be some major questions. Questions I didn’t have answers to. Not yet at least.
My heightened senses were seeming to level out and the smell of my mother’s vegan cooking didn’t make me want to run away anymore. But I still ate dinner with Tracey and the pack. Even though Rafe had given the order for all of us to stay on pack lands or in my case, home, he had disappeared onofficialAlpha business. Which left me to enjoy my time in peace and my pup classes without his haughty smirk peeking through the window every day. I could do without him lurking in the shadows.
I brushed my hair away from my face and felt it. The pain stabbed right through my middle and brought me to my knees. I fought to keep my eyes open against the rolling of pain throughout my body. I had a few more days till the full moon. We had expected my wolf wouldn’t come till then and my parents would be out of town. They hadn’t left yet…
The first crack of my bones seemed to echo around the room. My breathing became labored as I dragged myself across the floor to my phone and my laptop. I turned the music up as loud as I could without causing panic and dialed the first number I could as another crack sounded. The phone rang once before it fell from my hands and I threw up into the little trashcan beside my bed. When Tracey finally picked up I couldn’t even speak. My body continued to contort and pop on the floor. I hoped and prayed that the music covered the sounds of my body transforming.
Why couldn’t my wolf wait? Just a few more days… We had a few more days. Agony ripped through me and I let out a pain-filled groan into the phone. Sweat dripped down my brow as I struggled to tell Tracey what was wrong. “My wolf is coming early.”
Tracey swore on the other end. “How much longer do you have?”
Tears were streaming down my face now. Was it supposed to be this bad? “Maybe a few minutes.”
There was a knock on my door and my entire body seemed to pause at the sound. Could my wolf wait it out for a few more minutes? “Your music is kind of loud. Do you need anything?”
I managed to drag myself across the carpeted floor to the bathroom just as my mom opened my bedroom door. “Jade?” She knocked on the bathroom door and I managed to swallow down some of my panic.
I struggled to get to the bathtub as another crack went through me and my music was turned down.No, no, no, no. “Yes, I’m fine, just some nerves about the finals coming up.”
Somehow my voice didn’t shake but the rest of my body was. “Okay, well please let me know if I can bring you anything.”
“Uh-huh,” A shiver went down my body and nausea held me tightly in its grasp.
A few seconds later there was a knock on the door again. My body shook too hard for me to even answer. I threw up in the toilet as the door opened. Another pop sounded and I cried out. This was it, the moment my mother would find it all out. Except it wasn’t my mom in the doorway, it was Rafe. His face was blank but his arms hung at his sides.
“I called Tracey,” I choked out.
