CHAPTER II

Bewildered. Totally bewildered and equally pissed off.

Whose smell is that?

Why does it attract me so much ?

"Hey" they greeted me gently by putting a hand on my shoulder - "Matt I …"

"Don't apologize Ricky, today is just not a good day for me" I said as I put my hand on his.

"If I have to apologize Matty, I knew you didn't like your full name and I still used it" he replied.

"You shouldn't have used the name and he shouldn't have run away, full stop." concluded Tony leaning on my back and giving me one of those comforting hugs that only he was capable of giving me.

"Here, my friend, I'm sure you're hungry." added Mike, who had not yet made an appearance as he handed me a rather large tupperware that smelled good.

"Thank you Mikey" I replied as I picked up the bottle.

"Bolognese noodles" he informed me as he pulled out a bottle of water from his rucksack which he also handed over to me.

"You take too much care of me" I said as I smiled at them.

"You have to take care of yourself, Alpha" replied Mike in a solemn tone.

"Please, not you too; it's enough that I have the Council on my back every day".

"You are the alpha of the herd by right of birth Matt" answered Tony.

"There are times when I wish I was just an ordinary 21 year old boy" I exclaimed.

"And we think the same Matty" started Ricky "but we were born that way, it's in our blood.

"It couldn't be in our blood to be ordinary, it had to be a werewolf," I said before I got a slap on the wrist.

"Shut up, even the trees have ears here, Matt" Mike asked me in a whisper.

"What a slap Mike brother, you're going to kill my brain cells" I said amusingly in order to take some of the tension out of it at once.

"I should have hit you harder then" he declared "Eat and shut up."

I practically devoured the noodles while my friends were each concentrating on their own.

At least I didn't finish my water in once.

"It's time to go to class guys" announced Tony after looking at the watch that adorned his left wrist.

I threw the container in the nearest wastebasket while they went ahead.

Again.

There it was again, that smell that I couldn't attribute to any university student I knew.

My head turned quickly to a new wave of that smell but I was only able to make out a blonde and curly hair.

"Blonde awake" said Ricky, coming back to me in a short run.

"Sorry, I'm coming."

"I'll see you at the exit" said goodbye to Tony as he returned to his pavilion and threw the keys to his truck at me.

My turn to drive back I guess.

I entered the class rather dragged by Mike who accelerated as soon as the bell rang.

"Walk on Matt" he asked when we started to walk down the aisle to our next class.

"Fuck the rush Mike, Hachens is always late."

"That's no excuse for us to be late."

I denied amusingly as I followed the blond man down the corridor.

As I had anticipated, the class was still absent from the teaching presence.

"I said it" I exclaimed as I sat in the top row of the stalls.

"Quiet, you're already annoying." said Michael as he took out his chemistry book and notebook.

I reluctantly imitated him and then leaned back on the chair, fiddling with my mobile phone hidden under the desk.

Ten minutes were all it took for the teacher to deign to appear in the classroom; but he didn't do it alone.

He was accompanied by a young man. Tall, with a wide back and a closed beard.

"Class I present Ryder Fisher, the new student of the course" presented Hachens.

"Excuse me, Sir, but my sister…" the boy started.

"Sorry sorry" he let himself be heard after the thudding noise the door made as he danced over the hinges "I was entertained at reception."

There it was again, that smell.

It was at that moment that I knew that something had changed in me.

My feet seemed to have come off the ground, floating towards her.

It was no longer mine, it was completely hers.

My chair rushed out against the back wall while my feet were flying towards the exit.

Everything was flashing around me, I needed air.

I ran around me, leaving more and more behind all traces of civilization as soon as my feet touched the wet forest floor.

The inner pull was immediate, heartbreaking, from the inside out; leaving my inner beast free.

I fell on my four powerful limbs, starting a furious race as soon as my claws took hold of the wet ground.

I didn't notice what was surrounding me, my body just wanted to run away from there before committing a madness.

I hunted, I drank, I relieved myself of the pressure that was tormenting my soul.

I howled to heaven, seeking comfort from the new sensation that had been burned into my soul.

I heard it, a few meters away from me I could hear the rustling of the grass before the powerful legs of my brothers.

A crazy grey marbled in white and a crazy sand coloured one crossed the green vegetation showing themselves to me.

Anthony and Michael.

They cut into the space between us, caressing my sides with their big heads.

"What's going on Matt?" I could hear in my head, Tony.

"What made you come out of there like that?" asked Mike.

"She." I answered, dropping me on all four legs.

"Who?" Anthony asked again.

"The new student" explained Mike.

"What happened, Matt?" my best friend asked again.

"It was all very strange, I had smelled it before but I didn't know who that essence belonged to but as soon as I saw his eyes everything went to hell, I stopped feeling mine to be completely his."

"Are you sure of what you are telling us?" asked Tony.

"Yes, I am."

"Let's convene the council then" declared Mike.

"The council?" I asked, looking at them both.

"I'm worry the legends we thought were stories are also true Matt" said Anthony looking at me with his deep brown eyes.

"What legends are you talking about?"

"That's better explained to you by the members of the council Matty, we are not the one to rebel such information" said Mike.

Frustrated, I pushed them away by turning on the site before speeding away from that place, I left my mind blank, guided only by my purest animal instinct.

I walked through the entire forest until I reached the back of my home, where after changing to walking on my two feet I went into my house, into my room to cover up my nakedness before throwing myself headfirst into my father's old library.

The shelves were filled with old volumes of medicine, mythology, and creatures that would traumatize the most reckless of humans.

I found it, hidden among immensely thick volumes; that book of sheets bathed in a light that made it shine by itself.

My fingers ran through its pages trying to find an answer to the distress in my chest.

Sheet after sheet I couldn't find it, it was impossible for me.

"So it's true" my father's deep voice roared behind my back.

"What?" I asked without looking up.

"The rumours are true then, the great alpha of the eastern herd has found his Achilles' heel."

I slammed the book shut, facing him.

"What are you talking about, Dad?" I asked.

"Not all legends are true, my son, but this one is."

"What the hell are you talking about, Dad?" I asked in anger.

"You've found your partner son, you've sealed the deal. You've found your she-wolf."

She-wolf?

Who is this girl? Why am I so attracted to her?