CHAPTER 4
Tornado, that’s a word I can describe in my current situation. Strong winds and twists flipped my world upside down. Was there something I didn’t know about myself? I don’t completely believe in them. Everyone in here cannot be werewolves. There must be humans somewhere else.
I was stunned even after Angelo and Nana left the house before we had our quiet dinner. No one talked about what happened again. But Felix pleased me that I should be more careful about my actions.
I don’t want to believe them that this town was full of werewolves. I haven’t seen Nana or Angelo turn into werewolves. Even last night, I only heard the scary sound and growls but there are no creatures who appeared in front of me.
In the first place, I wouldn’t believe in werewolves if I hadn’t seen them kill my parents before. Having another creature living in this world was unbelievable. It sounded like a fantasy.
At the same time, I was afraid to see werewolves in this town. So I followed my brothers’ orders. I didn’t go out for the whole week until it is time for me to attend the community high school.
Glad that the school didn’t have any uniforms. I prefer choosing my outfit to wear rather than being forced into clothing I’m not interested in at all.
“Make sure you’re back before sunset,” Felix reminded me. I glanced at Jay and he just smiled at me. His face was telling me that I need to follow our oldest brother for the sake of our lives. He’s been the obedient one, the one who follows our parents and Felix.
“Do you want a ride to the school?” Jay asked me kindly. They were on their way to work. Of course, they were using their car.
I shook my head. “It’s fine if I walk.”
Jay softly brushed my head. I chose to walk because I like to see nature once again. It wasn’t that far from our house in this town. Sweat won’t make me feel sticky after a few minutes of walking.
When my brother left, I packed my bag. I also put on sunscreen all over my face because I’m scared to meet skin cancer. I glanced at myself for the last time in the mirror before going out.
The first person I saw was Angelo. He was wearing black pants, a white t-shirt covered by a black and red shirt, also clean white sneakers.
“Hey,” he greeted. He’s the social one, I supposed. Though his family was asked to take care of us, he didn’t have to be friends with me. He walked towards me and for a single second that he wasn’t looking at me, I rolled my eyes. “Are you attending classes today?”
He’s nice. But I don’t like friendly people. I have this fear in my chest that friendly people were mostly fake. And they were going to leave after they got the thing that they wanted from you. I have nothing for Angelo to steal from me. Maybe he’s just friendly.
I nodded. “Yes.” As an introvert talking to a stranger who ‘saved’ my life yesterday, I don’t have any more words to respond.
“Nice. Me too. We should walk together.”
And we did. We were silent for at least five seconds when he started to speak up again. “What are your hobbies?”
“Reading. How about you?” Four-word reply. That’s a record.
“Many things. I like football. I haven’t seen you since then. You stayed at home?”
“My brothers warned me on going out, especially in the afternoon. Though I like running, I’m afraid that I’ll get killed by werewolves.” I stopped walking. I looked at him from his hair to his shoes. “Are you a werewolf-like anybody else in this town?”
“Yes. I just learned how to shapeshift last month. It’s a thing when you turned sixteen to eighteen.”
“Unbelievable! Can Nana also turn into a wolf?”
“She can…” He chuckled. “Before. But now she’s staying at home, making healing potions.”
“Is she a witch?”
“No. That’s just her specialty since before. A werewolf who can me drinks that can cure up physical pain. She’s too told to turn into a wolf and fight others. You have a lot to learn about this town.”
Of course, there are things that I need to understand. Why did we choose to live in this town? And why my parents were killed.
“I’ve watched movies about werewolves before. So is there an alpha or beta in this town?”
“Most of the people in here are Alphas. You can recognize the children of Betas in our school when you find someone bullying another. There’s also a reason why werewolves can only shapeshift at night. That’s the rule that the Alpha in this town made before he leaves. He’s still out there, leading this town, but he wasn’t visiting the place.”
“My brother said your family’s not part of a pack. How come that you follow the rules of the leader of this town?”
“If we don’t follow, we’ll get killed. We’re lucky enough not to be attacked by other werewolves.”
I sighed. “How can I believe that you’re a werewolf? What if all you are just lying to me to scare me yesterday?”
“If you don’t believe me, ask others. And you’ll be their feast.”
He’s making sense. My brothers only told me to trust Angelo and his family. Other werewolves in this town didn’t know that I’m a human. If they knew, they would probably bite and kill me as they did to my parents.
The school gate appeared in front of us. We’re already here after that short walk. There were a lot of students in this school, gathered like ants. A group of female students was looking at Angelo. He’s an eye-catcher with his looks. There’s no explanation for that.
“Angelo,” I called. I panicked. There were a lot of people, not humans, but werewolves.
“Don’t be scared. It’s still daytime. And I’m also at school so you don’t have to be scared.” He patted my head. “Don’t call me Angelo. They address me as Gelo.”
“What would I do if you’re not even my classmate?”
“Be normal. Be a student. And don’t trust anybody else.”
CHAPTER 5I don’t know what Angelo means by not trusting anyone. I don’t trust him either. I was forced to trust his family for the sake of our safety. Not trusting others was an easy task for me. I don’t talk to strangers, especially social people who only know how to talk a lot.Angelo’s first class was different than mine. My brothers were familiar with my previous classes that’s why they picked the same for me. I picked AP US History before because I thought that would be amazing and entertaining. I was wrong. The teacher we had was boring. It felt like an hour of speech and not an engaging lecture. I took European History back in junior year and the teacher was great. In US History, we are forced to finish a certain number of pages for the recitation next class.I do love reading. Being a reader since I was a child was an advantage for that class. It took me a few minutes to read fifty pages while others took more than an hour.
CHAPTER 6For my next days as a high school student in the community high school, Angelo became my walking buddy. It wasn’t awkward between the two of us. Aside from Saturdays, we get to spend other days with each other. He’s a more open person than I thought of. I guessed I earned my first friend in this town.I was waiting for him when Nana offered me cookies. It looked like a normal cookie, then I remembered that she was a werewolf. I’m afraid there’s something in the ingredient of that cookie.“It’s a normal treat, dear. You don’t have to be scared of us. I told you to trust us,” she said and I accepted the cookie.Inside their house, I saw a family picture near the television set. Angelo got his features from his mother. They almost looked the same. His brother was also good-looking like him though they didn’t have the same face. His sister, like his brother and Gelo, was also attractive. I guesse
CHAPTER 7My parents were covered with blood. I was at the staircase and they were at the door. Werewolves did these things to them. And I wasn’t able to save them.They were screaming for help. They screamed for pain. I couldn't move my body from my position. I want to run towards them. I want to help them to stand out. But I was frozen in my place.“You’re always my girl, Cath,” Daddy said in a low monotone voice. His voice sounded like he was losing blood.“You’re always our baby.” My mom smiled despited of the pain she was struggling with.I love you Mom and Dad, I thought to myself. I wasn’t able to let it through my mouth. I love them and I wished I was able to protect them.My eyes opened. Everything was a dream. A nightmare. I found myself in a dark place. Old classroom chairs, broken tables, dirt on the ground. I was tied around a chair. Where am I?I almost forgot that Mr. Higg
CHAPTER 8Jay was massaging my nose with an ice pack. There’s a stream of blood that bled from it earlier. The way Ms. Durrant spanked my face with the plank must be that hard to cause bleeding.Angelo saved me. I don’t know what happened to me if he didn’t arrive there. Those three teachers must’ve killed me. The two other werewolves he was with were Minnie and Sage. The two of them looked the same as what I saw in their picture frame.The night was already dark when we left the basement of that building. There was no other person in the school aside from the three teachers who kidnapped me, me, and three people who saved me. The school was surprisingly open during the night even without bodyguards. We’re lucky that we didn’t encounter any wolves. I mean, there were werewolves in human form around. But none of them shapeshifted into a wolf.“What happened, Catherine?” Felix asked. He wasn’t mad at this moment. Instead, worries were planted all over his face. If it’s my fault that I w
CHAPTER 9Gwen and Aki chaired themselves on both of my sides. Their face was curious. I knew they were going to ask about what happened yesterday. I had to thank them for telling Angelo where I was. They indirectly saved my life.“I’m flattered to see that you’re perfectly fine. We knew what happened yesterday,” Gwen said. Her dazzling hair was blown by the wind coming from the outside. I hope they were not gaining my trust for the worst-case scenario. I reminded myself to socialize with them but not put my trust in the first place.“We’re still unable to shapeshift. We knew Gelo already learned how to shapeshift. Our parents were slaves of betas. Fighting them would put our life at stake,” Aki explained. Then he narrated a whole lot of a story about his friendship with Gwen since they were kids. Unfair justice was also applicable in the life of these werewolves. We can’t go wrong on our steps, especially if we’re going to face the higher-ups.“Don’t worry that much about me. Angelo
CHAPTER 10Today, my brothers will kill me. At least on the inside. I have to tell them my decision on training with Angelo wherever he was training. This wasn’t for my safety—for them. The family who took care of me. This was my way to give back on their efforts on me.I expected Felix would open up a hot debate about the matter. They won’t let me go. For them, it would be too dangerous. They didn’t want me to open up as a half-blood werewolf. They wanted to keep things normal to me. But life wouldn’t be normal because I’m different. And I belong to these creatures living in this town.Felix was watching a thriller action movie on our television—Jay was folding clothes. I choked my fears as I approached them.“Catherine,” Felix muttered. He has strong instincts as he felt my presence though I wasn’t too close to him. “You need anything?”We weren’t siblings only in paper. He’s my brother because of our connection.“I don’t. I have to tell you something.” He picked the remote lying on
CHAPTER 11The training grounds look like a gym.There were a few attractions like hurdles and sit-ups. It wasn’t a typical training ground where we are going to train outside. There’s an apartment-like house near the low-lying grasses. Inside the building, there were gym types of equipment like stationary bikes and things I don’t know the name of. I wasn’t going to the gym even before. Running and walking was the only exercise that I know.I didn’t care about how our training would be. Walking our way here was more of a training than a warm-up. If Angelo described it as a warm-up, I’m afraid that the training would be vigorous.The last time I count the number of young peers in here, we were eleven. I lost count when I answered the registration form. I don’t know how things work in this place. But it’s a similar process to what humans do.Unlike the classroom in the community school, this place was full of people chattering. They have their own group of friends. I wonder if Angelo ha
Chapter 12Three kilometers into my pedometer and I can’t run anymore. We didn’t have a proper warm-up. And the rule was that we can’t walk around. My muscles were soaring and I can’t handle this anymore.I was gasping. I needed water to hydrate myself. I lost more than a liter by all the sweat all over my body. Angelo was either beside or behind me. I was never behind him.There’s a huge gap between our conditions. At this moment, I already lost all my energy. But he’s fine as if he didn’t run at all. It made sense that he’d been doing this since the day he trained her.I wanted to stop. I wanted to quit. But quitting is for weak people. It is for those who can’t handle things anymore. If I didn’t continue to train here, I wouldn’t be able to gain the strength to protect my brothers. This isn’t just for me, I reminded myself. This is for my brothers and justice on the death of our parents.Then I collapsed on the ground. I can handle it, but my body cannot run for more. Aside from no