Chapter 4: Never Beyond Average

I sat down in my seat at the back corner of the classroom and class began but the teacher's lecture fell on deaf ears as my mind, as well as my eyes, drifted off, looking out the window, into the distance.

All I could see were silhouettes of trees, of course, because this town was surrounded by thick dense woodlands. I heard the Shadow Pack was incredibly large in numbers but their territory was even larger.

How large?

I wouldn't know. Unlike the werewolves that freely roamed the forests and woods at night, I, much like other humans, had never set foot in the forest because I'd risk getting spotted and killed. –

My mind came back to the classroom when a thin paper booklet flopped onto my desk

I guess we're getting our Calculus test results back today.

I didn't have to look at the score written in red before knowing what I'd got. I had always classed myself as an average student with no uniqueness whatsoever, making sure to score exactly 50% on every assignment across all subjects.

It was impressive, the lengths I went to remain un-noticeable.

. . . . .

Lunchtime came quickly and, as always, I had made my own lunch from home, so I could always avoid the cafeteria- more specifically, the students in the cafeteria.

I skipped down the empty halls, to my spot outside under the tree but when I turned the corner outside, my blood turned cold as I was greeted with a terrifying sight.

I was rooted to the spot, staring at Marcus, standing under my tree with his back to me.

Had I been found out? But how?

Despite myself, I took one silent step closer and that's when I saw the girl in front of him. Relief washed over me, he's here with her, not for me.

-Wait were they making out? Was Mr. One-above-all, making out with someone?

I took another step forward and then muffled voices became audible,

"I've liked you for a long time and I really think that I'm your sole-"

"Mate?" Marcus finished her sentence as if he'd had these types of conversation many times over. He sighed, "I'd have to kiss you to find out,"

The girl seemed to be bubbling with excitement but Marcus seemed simply inconvenienced at the prospect.

Over the year I had made it my job to know as much as possible about Nightmare wolves, and a sudden piece of information came to the forefront of my mind:

'Despite the Nightmare wolves being born with unmatched strength and speed, the Moon Goddess had made sure they had three weaknesses; the first is that if their mate was not a werewolf, they'd have a hard time picking up their scent and so had to have 'intimate contact' with them in order to pick up their scent to know if they were their mate or not.'

That being said, I made the assumption that she was a human, also because she said 'soulmate' instead of just 'mate', meaning she had no clue he was a werewolf.

'pucker up' I whispered to myself as he leaned in to kiss her and I stared in anticipation- not in a 'thirsty creep' way, it's just because I'd never seen it happen before because I didn't have any Nightmare wolf friends for obvious reasons.

They kissed and I didn't know what I was expecting, howling? Fireworks? Something. Anything.

But there was nothing.

He just pulled away,

"I knew it was a waste of time," There was no sign of anger or disappointment in his voice, it was more like he just didn't care, he was just being blunt, "I could never be with someone like you."

He turned around and that was my queue to hide, so I did. From behind the bushes, I watched Marcus walk back towards the cafeteria as though nothing happened.

I looked back at the girl as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground only to pick herself and what was left of her self-value, back off the ground, and run into the school building.

Finally, I stepped out into the clearing, heaving a sigh of relief, I had escaped undetected. I smiled proudly at myself, even the Alpha-heir himself was unable to detect my concealed scent. I marveled at my own genius;

My daily efforts of clouding my scent with strong perfume and ointment, lighting scented candles around my clothes while they dry after washing and confining my wolf for years, had actually paid off.

The school day went by without anybody noticing my existence and I was grateful that I would live to fight yet another day.

As always, I arrived at my house promptly without taking any detours. My parents were at home and we all ignored each other as usual.

I went upstairs to my room without a word.

Due to my circumstance, around others, I played the part of a feeble, dully average, human girl and I played the part well, but in truth, I was nothing like that. But in this life, the world will never know that.

. . . . .

Night came quickly and as I tossed and turned in my bed waiting for sleep to subdue me, instead, something strange happened. Something stirred inside me. My heartbeat quickened on its own accord. Suddenly I felt the need to stretch myself out like I would if I just came out of a cramped position.

So I did; I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I let out a yawn while stretching...

As I did this, I felt my bones rub and slide past each other and suddenly my yawn morphed into a soft howl, to my surprise and I immediately cut myself off.

'Wait, no, this can't happen!' I thought, looking down to see smooth pure white, spotless fur.

But it did happen. I had shifted into a fully formed white Arctic wolf.