Chapter 8

LUCE

The ringing in the distance pulled me from my subconscious, and my eyes fluttered opened.

I was laying in my bed and my alarm was ringing next to me. I shut it off quickly and whipped the blankets off if me. I was in my pajamas still.

Had last night really been a dream? It felt too real. I examined my body and all the cuts and bruises had healed magically.

The only pain I was feeling still was my shoulder and head, so maybe I wasn't dreaming. But logically there would be no explanation for me transforming into a wolf. That was something that only happened in books and movies.

I shook off everything that may or may not have happened last night and got ready for school.

My mom was making breakfast when I got downstairs. She laid a plate of potatoes, eggs and fresh fruit in front of me and gave me a warm smile.

"You finally look like you're feeling better today" she said.

I had told her I wasn't feeling good this weekend and feeling homesick so that's why she let Ari stay for a couple days.

"I'm feeling better" I gave her a reassuring smile, I was the farthest thing from being okay but I didn't want her to worry.

I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence and headed to school. I was running a little behind and was definitely going to be late.

When I made it into the parking lot a felt like someone was watching me. The parking lot was full so I had to park in one of the farthest spots from the entrance.

I grabbed my stuff and hurried before I was even more late for home room. As I approached the entrance I saw a tall figure leaning against the iron gate.

His head lifted and our eyes met, Parker pealed away from the gate and walked toward me. Without saying a word he grabbed my elbow and started dragging me the opposite direction of class.

Where his fingers touched my skin it felt like tiny fireworks were exploding. He smelled like pine needles and cologne which oddly smelt so good to me.

I tried to pull my arm from his iron grip but he held me firmly. "Where are we going? We're going to be late" I asked.

"Not here" was all he said. "Just follow me" He released my arm and continued walking without turning around.

I sighed and continued to follow him into the tree line outside of the school. We were probably 400 meters away from the school and hidden by the thick trees when he finally stopped and turned toward me.

My heart started to flutter like crazy as he stared down at me. He was at least a foot and a half taller than me.

"Start talking" was all he said as he looked down upon me.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. "You're the one who dragged me out here. What do you want?" I demanded. He had some nerve to drag me out her for no reason and demand answers to something I didn't understand.

"Who are you?" He looked me up and down

I blinked a couple times, what did he mean by that? He knew who I was. "Listen, Parker. You're going to have to elaborate on what you mean because you know who I am."

"You need to start talking, because you aren't safe here." He looked around as if someone was going to be lurking behind the trees.

"It's Luce, Luce Walker?" Maybe he hit his head and was just confused. "Do you need to go to the nurse?" I asked, he was starting to look pale.

"No, I know your name. Who are you? You do realized you just moved into our territory and my father doesn't take kindly to rogues." His green eyes bore into me. I could tell he was frustrated but also sad, I could see it. No, I could feel every emotion he was feeling.

I started to get light headed and felt unsteady on my feet.  I started to sway and felt like I was going to collapse. In a second he was next to me and holding me up,  His arm wrapped around my waist firmly. My cheeks flushed as his face was just a few inches away from mine.

"Are you alright?" His asked, a little breathless.

"I think so," I stared into his eyes, the heat radiating from his body engulfed me. There was something so familiar about his eyes, and the comfort being with him brought me. And then it clicked, I knew what he was talking about.

"Parker" I whispered, "I'm fine." He understood what I meant and he let go of me, I was more steady on my feet now. Just his presence made me feel dizzy.

"How do you know?" I asked

"I saw you, last night." He stated.

"You saw what last night?" I asked, I had to be sure. I needed answers.

"You turned into a wolf! You damn near tried killed me too!" He shouted.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I let out a small gasp. "This isn't real."

"Did you not know you were a werewolf?" His forehead creased in confusion.

"I'm a werewolf?" I scoffed. He had to have been playing a prank on me. I pinched my arm, again and again. Maybe I would finally wake up from this crazy dream.

"I'm the wolf from last night, I sensed you and came to check on you. But you woke up and I knew something wasn't right. You were shifting but you had no control over it." He looked so concerned.

"Is this real?" Was all I could ask my breath becoming shaky. I didn't know what was really anymore.

"Yes." He sat down on a rock beside us, his eyes were now at my eye level. He still looked very concerned "You aren't safe here, no one can know about this."

"What do you mean I'm not safe?" I asked

"I don't have time to explain. Meet me here later tonight. Just before sunset." Without another word, and before I could answer he already walking away.

The day had dragged by and I hadn't seen Parker all day. It was time for PE and I was getting butterflies at the thought of seeing him. I got to class early and was already changed. I sat on the bleachers and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Dylan plopped down next to me, I hadn't seen him since the party or talked to him. I felt nervous looking at him as I remembered our kiss. My face flushed looking at him.

"Ari said you made it home safe this weekend, You really had us worried." I felt guilty he had texted me multiple times and called checking to make sure I was okay but I couldn't bring myself to face him.

"Yeah I wasn't feeling good so I took off, sorry for not saying bye." I'd have to thank Ari for keeping my secret. I wasn't ready to discuss this, let alone with Dylan

"I also wanted to apologize for the other night. I made a fool of myself. So I'm sorry if I made things awkward between us." He looked down, he couldn't even look me in the eyes.

I tried to lighten the mood "We both had stuff to drink, it happens."

"I was worried you hated me. I felt like I ruined out friendship." He rubbed his hands through his dark hair and let out an exaggerated breath.

"I promise you I could never hate you Dylan. You just surprised me, I wasn't expecting you to kiss me." I shrugged, "I've never kissed anyone before." I bit my lip, embarrassed at the confession I just made.

His expression turned to shock and he looked at me a little dumbfounded. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to take your first kiss.." He couldn't finish his sentence without stuttering.

I waved my hand at him, "It's okay."

"You were probably picturing something so much more romantic than that, I robbed you of an experience!" He felt genuinely guilty and it made me smile. I wasn't that concerned about my first kiss in all honesty. I was just glad to get it out of the way.

"Dylan stop worrying, I'm fine. It was perfect." I stated, hoping to console his ego.

He gave me one of his million dollar smiles that made me want to faint. Maybe I had stroked his ego too much?

"We can talk about this another time" I nodded toward Ari who was walking over towards us. The last thing I wanted to do was to complicate all of our friendships.

She sat down next to me, "What were you two talking about all hush hush over here?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

I hated how she could already read me so easily, "Nothing, your brother was just making sure I got home from the party okay." I knew she wouldn't push the subject any further.

"Hey I think hottie over there is checking you out." Ari whispered to me. I turned my head and across the gym, Parker sat on the bleachers opposite of us. We made eye contact and he smirked, as he turned back to his conversation he was having with one of his friends. 

Dylan just rolled his eyes, "Great" he murmured under his breath but I still heard it.

The teacher blew his whistle and ordered us split into two teams, because we would be playing soccer today. I wasn't very athletic so I decided to hide in the back by the goal. Ari stayed by the goal with me and we talked, while Dylan and our other teammates kicked the ball back and forth.

Parker was really something to watch, he was graceful for how tall he was. He easily weaved in and out of people. It was like he was dancing around as he kicked the soccer ball.

He came towards me and I stood still as a statue. He smirked and kicked the ball past me spinning around me as he ran by.

I chuckled to myself, Dylan had no choice but to stop him. He ran up to him to try and kick the ball, but Parker pushed forward colliding with Dylan sending him flying backwards. With one final kick the ball went sailing through our goal. He jogged over to Dylan and extended a hand.

Dylan looked a little dumbfounded but grabbed his hand as Parker hoisted him up. "Sorry about that" he said with a small smirk.

Dylan just nodded as Parker jogged off. "You okay Dylan?" I asked, that looked like it hurt. It almost looked like he did that on purpose.

"I'm not going to lie that hurt" He said rubbing his behind and lower back as he let out a small chuckle. "I told you he thinks he's hot shit"

"At least he apologized" I stated.

He shrugged his arms " I think he was just showing off for you." He walked away a little annoyed and Ari raised an eyebrow at me. I mouthed "I don't know" to her and she shook her head at me.

By the end of the school day my stomach was in knots again thinking about meeting with Parker.