Rogue, meeting, promise

After meeting with Sora, Akari was almost late for her first lesson. Thankfully, her teacher hasn't arrived yet, so she calmly sits on her chair. Her desk is right next to Akio's desk. She is a little jealous of him to get the seat next to the window. She also wants to lean on the window and watch people below. The breeze blows Akio's hair gently as he leans his arm on the window frame.

"What's wrong?" Akio turns to Akari, bothered by her long stare without saying anything to him. His question brings Akari back to reality as she tries to form a sentence in her head.

"Nothing. It must feel nice sitting next to the window. I envy you. I forgot to save a seat for myself even though I was the first one to arrive at school." She pouts.

"Haha! Too bad. First come, first serve, Akari."

"Teacher is so late~" Kenji grumbles. His desk is behind Akio and he also gets to sit next to the window.

"Maybe there's no class." Akari lays her head on the table, closing her eyes.

The class becomes noisy. All the students are chatting with each other and sharing their stories about their school holidays. Whispering is heard in Akari's ears, but other students are busy talking and they don't catch the whispering between Akio and Kenji.

"There are reports of rogues appearance in our area. One was seen drinking lake water. Another one is in the hunting area. That one is aggressive and a threat to our kind because they hurt one of us." Akio says.

"How's their condition?" Kenji asks, worried of his fellow kind.

"I heard it's pretty bad. The wound took too long to heal. He was only looking for food. They said he caught a deer, but someone attacked him from behind and stole it from him." Akio slams his fist on his desk. The thought of it angers him because someone is provoking them. If someone is messing with one of them, that means they are messing with Akio too.

"You think they are the same person? The one at the lake."

"I don't know yet, but if they are, our house could be the target." Akio's eyes are serious.

"Isn't that bad?" Akari suddenly interrupts their conversation.

"I thought you were sleeping." Akio smiles at her. He didn't expect Akari would overhear their conversation.

"I was, but you guys were having a serious conversation, so I can't help but listen to it." She rests her chin on the palm of her hand.

She continues, "Are we... in danger?" Her bitter memory comes back hunting her. She shivers at the thought of it happening to her once again. She has lost both her parent. She doesn't want it to happen again to her new family.

Akio opens his mouth to say something but stops himself the moment their teacher arrives. All of the students stand up and greet their teacher. Akio is deep in his thought. He knows he shouldn't promise Akari that it will be fine in the future but, one thing is for sure, he will protect her if any harm is directed at them.

While the class is still in session, Kenji whispers in a low voice. It's the lowest he could do to avoid being heard by others in the classroom. All of them are humans except Akio, Akari, and him being the only werewolves in the class.

"How about we go check later? We might find something to lead us to them. If we are lucky, we will find them and catch them. What do you think? Lunch break sounds good?"

"Yeah. Let's invite Takao too." Akio whispers back.

"Should I come with you guys?" Akari interferes.

"No. You stay at school. If anything happens and we didn't come back, alert our father." Akio shakes his head, still whispering.

"Okay."

After a few hours, the bell rang signifying it was time for the lunch break. Without wasting their time, Akio and Kenji rush out and look for Takao. Three of them leave the school before changing themselves into their wolf form in a hidden spot. They run at full speed with all haste and reach the lake only in a few seconds.

"Let's spread out." Akio gives a command.

Kenji found a pant hanging on the tree branch nearby. It is still wet and water dripping from the pants. That means someone was here not too long ago. He waves over at Akio.

"They are nearby."

Takao walks to them with plastic wraps and says, "This person is camping here. I found these and ashes over there."

"They will come back." Bushes move behind them.

Akio continues, "Speak of the devil."

They wait a moment before a shadow appears in front of them. What they see first is a light grey fur. A pair of golden eyes are staring back at them. None of them move from their spot. The wolf approaches them without hesitation. They ready themselves in case the other party tries to attack them but they didn't. Instead, they pass by them and go to their wet pants. Changing into human form, a feature of a young man takes the pant down and wear them. He then turns around.

"Who are you, people?" He asks.

"We could ask you the same thing too. Where did you come from? You don't belong to any pack. Your smell is similar to the rogue." Akio steps forward.

The man gives them a cold stare but there is nothing suspicious coming from him. He is defenseless and seems weaker than them. There's no need for three people to hold him down. Even a female can easily take him down without breaking a sweat.

"They kicked me. Did I cross your border? Sorry about that. I will leave now." He turns around to leave but couldn't when he heard a growl behind him. He knows he shouldn't move carelessly because one of them is Alpha. Wrong choice and he would be dead.

"No one is leaving. Keep walking and don't even try anything funny." Akio orders in his Alpha voice.

Akio sends Takao to school to tell Akari that they are both fine while he and Kenji bring the outsider to the house pack. They want to interrogate him further.