No Scent

The long hallways of the science and technology building was less noisy as ever, since the high school students were back in their class after a lunch break. In one of the hallways, clover could be seen walking out of a room. Her grip still remained on the door knob as a feminine voice came from inside the room.

‘’Miss smiths, do not forget our discussion.’’

‘’Yes ma’am. Please send my greetings to the principal and thank you for the opportunity.’’ After giving her necessary greetings, clover shut down with a small smile on her lips. Ever since she submitted the registration form a day after she got the sheet, the school has been taking her registration very seriously.

Now all she needed to do was to make them not to regret their decision on herself. Her final year’s result was very important so she couldn’t just relax yet until the admission letters with her scholarships was in her hand.

‘I can’t wait….’ With that giddy thought, clover turned on her feet, her destination was her classroom to catch on the few notes she just missed, though with a good and important reason.

Nearing the dead-end of the hallway, clover was about to make a new turn on the right, stepping into another hallway. However…..

*ugh*

*groan*

She didn’t expect another to be doing the same as herself.

“Shit...’’ A moaning curse spewed out from the person who bumped into clover.

‘’I’m so sorry.’’ Apologetic words came from clover before she could even stop herself. A moment after she did, and adjusted her almost fallen glasses, she froze, her eyes fixed on the hunched back of person she crashed into. A lot of questions flickered in her gaze.

First of all, how did she bump into someone?

Second of all, why didn’t she hear or smell the person coming her way?

Humans had all kinds of scent. When they sweat, when they ate, when they shower, and even when they go through the process of an intercourse. Clover had sniffed many scent from humans. A werewolf’s nose was that sensitive, and could be very upsetting.

Yet, she did not get a single scent from this human

Before the gears in clover’s head cranked up and down in deep thoughts, a scent suddenly made its way to her nose.

‘’Sorry isn’t enough.’’ The same voice came again. Seeming to be done, the hunched back straightened up, until a sharp gaze landed on her figure.

‘’You do owe more than an apology for prolonging my injury.’’

‘’…...’’ Underneath those sharp gaze, clover instinctively avoided them, looking elsewhere and not to the boy with a copper-like skin. She had always received those types of gaze in the clan and hated them more than anything. She wasn’t ready to receive them from high school, her place of escape from reality.

‘’Hey, look at me when I am talking you. Why are avoiding my stare like I am the bully here?”

‘’……’’ Silence from clover was what responded to the boy who seemed annoyed from his voice. She had already made a mistake of apologizing. She did not want to make another by talking again.

‘’You are not going to talk, are you?’’ He asked with an arched eyebrow.

‘’……’’

After a moment of clover looking elsewhere and the human deeply looking at clover, he suddenly limped past her with some parting words. The alcoholic scent coming from the injury wrapped behind the bandage on his knee, became more concentrated as he paused for a moment right beside her.

‘’Since you want it to be that way, then don’t forget that you owe me one, miss nerd.’’

‘’……’’ Clover stood in place until she was sure that his footsteps had disappeared from the hallway.

‘’That was close.’’ She whispered with a relieved sigh before resuming her footsteps. It seemed she would have to be more careful of these humans since there was one she couldn’t sense properly.

Clover suspected no thing as her abilities as werewolf were not really up to par. Even omegas, the common werewolves and workers of the clan, were more superior than herself in terms of these abilities.

If only she was trained….

Clover didn’t dwell much on any depressing thoughts and forced herself to think of her happy and planned-out future in the mortal world. If everything was alright, she could move her mother’s grave with her father’s permission. Surely, her step-mother would probably be the happiest and persuade him to grant her the permission.

While clover was in thoughts about her planned-out future, she didn’t make out the same sharp gaze that had been on small figure until she was no more in the hallway. The owner of the sharp gaze peeked with his head out of his hiding place which was the dead-end of a hallway facing the room that clover had walked out from. His gaze still fixed on the spot where clover previously stood a moment ago.

‘’So that’s why I couldn’t….’’ He hummed seeming amused by something. His eyes flickered a golden color with a knowing glint, and his lips tugged up, making out an interested smirk. ‘’I didn’t expect to see another me in this world.’’

****

Pah! Pah!

Two hands clashed together, creating a clapping sound, so crisp and loud, attracting the attention of the women seated on many sofas and couches in the room.

‘’Alright everyone, we shall begin the meeting.’’ A woman said, her lips curling up into a wrinkled smile. Her eyes swept past every single werewolf in the room. Though, they paused on a particular face that seemed so familiar and nostalgic to her, yet her heart churned and twisted with an uncomfortable sentiment.

Pursing her lips, the woman whipped her gaze past that particular face and faced every being in the room, her wavering smile went back up again, albeit a little brighter and forced than before.

‘’The Alpha and the successor’s birthday is coming up soon. We have till the end of spring to make preparations. The food, the theme color, the dressing styles, the cake and drinks, the appreciative presents, and all will be in our hands. The guest’s list is also important and the most as well.’’ The woman took a pause to moist her throat with her saliva, then continued her words. ‘’ Let’s start with the guests’ list. Sarah will be briefing us on that.’’ The woman glanced at another, before sitting back down on a single sofa. While doing so, another woman named Sarah stood up, intending to continue the speech. In her grasp was a brown folder with a printed paper on top.

‘’On this list that I worked on, it is appropriate to invite the other Alphas in the society.’’ The second she finished her words, murmurs of disagreement came up from the werewolves present in the room.

‘’We are inviting them again?’’

‘’They did not bother come the first time we invited them.’’

‘’What are you thinking Sarah?’’

‘’How can we invite another clan into our own?’’

‘’Even if we invite them, the Fangfrost clan are not one to easily leave their pack.’’

*murmur* *murmur*

Their noisy room did not surprise the woman. Her not-so-surprised face seemed as if she had expected the disagreeing murmurs to happen.

In the werewolf society, even there were of the same creatures, all had never been in unity. Every werewolf differed from each other yet each were almost the same, leading to them to three separations.

Those three separations were the three clans of the werewolf society.

The Ravenhowl clan.

The Fangfrost clan

The Moonclaws clan.

‘’I understand what you are all worried about, but our successor is returning from the academy, and this is her sixteenth birthday. She will be two years away from finding her soul bond, and this age is also the age that she would be recognized formally as the Alpha’s successor of our Ravenhowl clan. This birthday is more important than others, and I am sure the other Alphas would know that as well. Even if they don’t intend to show up, they would send either their beta, gamma or even their heirs to the banquet as a sign of acknowledgement and peace. One of the Elders and the oracle will come to perform the sacred ceremony as well.’’ When Sarah heard no murmurs of disagreement, she took that as a sign that everyone was in accordance with her words.

‘’As Madam Higgins said, I would be omega in-charge of the guests’ lists. Once our successor arrives from the academy, I will need someone to take notes of her close friends in the academy. At least, she wouldn’t be too bored in the banquet after the sacred ceremony. Is there any volunteer for this?’’ She asked, her eyes sweeping past all the werewolves in the room.

‘’I am not very familiar with successor.’’

‘’She’s just like Alpha. Her presence is frightening for me to withstand as an omega.’’

‘’I am too nervous to volunteer for this.’’

‘’Hey Sarah, why are you asking such obvious question?’’ The runt has been doing that in the last years.’’

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’I agree too.’’

‘’I’m in favor of her words.’’

‘’……’’ Sarah did not agree immediately to those words uttered to herself. Her eyes looked past everyone and stared straightly at the only standing figure apart from herself in the room.

The Alpha’s first daughter, popularly known as the runt.

As one of the banquet’s planner, she knew the runt was the best person to handle the heir since they were family. But….as someone a bit familiar with the education in the mortal world, she knew the runt should be very busy with her studies.

If not for the first Luna, she would have assigned the runt to handle the successor as it had been done in the past years. Sarah was like others who hated runt for her cursed fate, but she wasn’t one to forget kindness so easily like other have done in the clan.

And so, Sarah did something surprising the entire werewolves in the room.

‘’Will you be up for it?’’