The call of Alpha Jared

Chapter 4

"Is she gone?" Bobby, who had taken interest in clearing the blocks that had been smashed to bits and pieces by Becca, asked, not even minding to look at her.

"Yes, I asked her to leave. She–"

"I heard," Bobby cut in before Becca was able to complete her statement. She nodded in understanding, concluding that he possibly used his werewolf ability to hear.

"You won't kill her, right?" Becca raised a brow, trying to read her uncle's expression to get reassurance that he would not hurt her best friend.

"Not," he replied, dropping the final brick. "Yet," he added and her eyes widened in shock.

"What?!" She shouted, her jaw dropping and her hands coming up to hold her waist.

"If she tries to rat us out, I'll know and we won't have much of a choice," Bobby replied, he had no single fear nor sympathy in his words as he spoke and it scared Becca to death. His face also held nothing but a cold stare.

"I'm joking!" he smiled, grabbing Becca's shoulder and shaking her profusely. "Besides, you said it earlier, even if she did, no one would believe her."

Becca let out a sigh of relief.

It all seemed so new to her, all along she had the ability to turn from a human into a wolf or a were and she knew nothing about it till she was 21. She wanted to be mad at Bobby for keeping it from her, but she knew better, she knew he only did it to protect her, he said she was HB, she assumed he did not want people to take her as weak. She was not weak, she did not want to be weak and from the minute he explained it all to her, she made a promise to herself that she was going to go to her limits, just to be strong.

"So, what're we doing next?" Becca asked, stretching out her muscles, to ease her body from the blocks she had just taken. Bobby looked at her and scoffed.

"You have to learn to control your wolf," he said, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt as he turned his neck sideways, allowing it to make cracking sounds.

"How do I do that?" Becca asked, her body bubbling with excitement as she kept on jumping from one foot to another, as if to be jogging.

"First of all, you need to calm down," he explained to her, taking a step forward and holding her hands to stop her from pacing. "You'll use more energy if you're not relaxed and you'll get worn out quickly!"

Understanding what he was saying, she paused her body movements and slowly inhaled the fresh breeze and then let it all out.

"Good," he patted her shoulder and stepped away from her. "The first step to controlling your wolf is to take full control of the abilities you are given in human form."

She narrowed her eyes at him, not understanding fully what he was saying.

"I'll explain," he added, wetting his lips with his tongue, before continuing. "We turn from humans to werewolves, that you know." He started and she nodded her head. "Also in our human form, for protection, we have amplified strength and hearing."

Her jaw dropped! It was almost impossible to believe. The stories and researches she made were all true, almost true.

"You mean like super powers?" she asked, a part of her getting excited all over again and Bobby could not help but roll his eyes.

"Yes, like super powers, but don't make it look like it's one of those cheap movies, this is more of reality," he said to her, trying not to laugh at why her face looked like it was about to explode.

"Let's start with your sense of hearing. Everything we're going to be doing is about concentration." His voice remained calm as he spoke. It was just like his father used to teach him and his sister when they were younger. He loved that he had the opportunity to teach someone too, mostly his niece. "If you concentrate enough, all you have to do is look for a sound, your head creates a perfect image of it immediately. For example, a cockroach just climbed the back of your shirt."

Becca did something related to a flip as she tried to search for the insect he had just mentioned. Calmly, he watched her struggle, forcing himself really hard not to laugh. She kept on shaking her body and her shirt, in pursuit of the insect, but still didn't find it. When he was sure he could not take it any longer, he burst into a loud laughter, falling to the ground and holding his stomach. Knowing that he had been playing her, she gave him a flat glare.

"Haha, how funny!" she said plainly, crossing her arms and resting all her weight on one leg, still glaring at him.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he apologized, recovering from the laughs and getting up from the floor. He dusted off the dirt on his clothes and straightened himself up. "I mean there was a fly, but I just wanted to have a little laugh. Now where were we? Yes, concentrate."

"Okay," Bella said.

He began, all serious again, like he was just not on the floor a few minutes ago, "Close your eyes! Relax your mind, focus on your ear, look for sounds around. Start small."

Bella obeyed the command and she tried her best to do as instructed.

She let her mind rest, trying hard not to think about anything that would distract her. Sounds around her became louder, but not as clear as she wanted it to be. It came at her all at once. The trees rustling, the bees buzzing, birds chirping and the wind blowing. The sounds from humans started, she could hear generators, snapping of twigs, murmurings and yelling. It hurt her, she could not control it, she couldn't take it, so she whimpered in pain, staggering backwards and falling to the ground, before opening her eyes. She placed a finger on her ear to find blood flowing down from it, making her panic. Becca looked up at her uncle, his face seemed relaxed.

"It happens on the first trial," he said, squatting to meet with her. He ripped a part of his shirt and used the piece to clean the bleeding ears. "Your body is trying to adapt to your new form. You have spent years staying human that it has to adjust, I have to warn you though, there will be pain, each ability you try to control will have its consequences. If it's getting too much for you, you can always tell me. I really don't want to rush you. Your ear should've healed now."

Becca sighed. Bobby had always been so sweet to her, even when he had to take strict decisions, she admired how firm he was about doing things yet so flexible with his decisions.

"I can do it!" she said, more to herself than to him. She had to do it, she had to show she wasn't weak, he was her only family and he had protected and cared for her all her life, she had to do something too for him in return.

Sitting upright, she closed her eyes once again, doing the same procedure she did before, taking in a huge breath and letting it out slowly. It started again, she was able to hear it all at once and it hurt her again, she felt blood trickling down her ears but she was not going to lose her focus, she kept still and Bobby watched her, amazed at how willing she was. She breathed in again and it all paused, the sounds for a moment muted, nothing was heard but her own heart beat, then slower than before, she let the breath out. Then there was one sound which caught her attention. The sound of rustling water from a distance.

"What do you hear?" Bobby asked, his eyes wide with expectations. A soft smile moulded on her face, as her face became more relaxed.

"A river," she replied. "At the far end of the forest. I can hear some fish jumping out!"

"What else do you hear?" he asked her, glad that she knew what she heard.

"There are four men there. I think fishermen. Their boots are heavy though," she continued to explain, still anxious about her new powers. "They're–" she paused at her sentence and frowned when she heard an explosion. Slowly, her eyes opened again but the frown never left her face. Bobby was chuckling and she frowned more.

"The fish are dead," she exclaimed!

"I know, it's normal, they're fishes, they're meant to feed us," he said to her but she was still bummed out. "Well, I'm happy about the progress, you're a fast learner!"

As soon as he had complimented her, she immediately forgot about the dead fishes and smiled widely at her uncle.

"How did I do?" she asked.

"You did good. Let's try it one more time before moving on," he replied, stretching his legs out to avoid the cramps he was beginning to feel due to the lack of blood flow. "Now you focus on humans, their voices. Try to create an image using their voice."

Becca began to clear her mind again, preparing it for the next challenge.

She didn't need to focus on her breathing this time, she placed more concentration on sounds. It started from the voice of a baby crying, then the shush from its mother and Becca smiled. She heard mumbles from a crowd and a bell ring, it was a nearby school, they had probably just closed, giving the students reasons to make noise.

"Focus on the humans you hear in the woods, most may be werewolves too," Bobby said and she turned her ear to face the direction of the forest. They both kept mute and waited for her to hear something.

"I hear bones snapping, is that someone shifting?" she asked him, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Precisely!" Bobby replied.

She continued to try and make out words from people, she could hear their body movements but no words from them. Giving up, she opened her eyes.

"I can only hear sounds and I don't think I can hear from a very far distance." Her shoulder slouched as she stated in disappointment.

"That is because we can't hear from a very far distance." Bobby replied with a smile. "You can only go like 100 meters. And at 100 meters you'll only hear sounds, but that is if you concentrate enough."

He smiled at her and she made a pouting face.

"How about you rest? I'll give you fifteen minutes. Freshen up." Bobby suggested, getting up from the ground. She looked at him for a moment, still trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

"I am!" Becca froze when she heard a voice say. It came out in a whisper and she almost wanted to believe she was imagining it. She felt oddly familiar with the voice.

"You will obey me!" the voice sounded again, this time more audible.

"Did you hear that?" She asked her uncle who shrugged in disapproval.

"Alpha Jared!" the voice was at its loudest now, making Becca give a deep gasp of fear.