It's Dark Within

Chapter 1: The Day Fire Met the Rain.                     “Christelle Carter! You have a lot of explaining to do right now!” Callum Carter screamed as he stormed up the loft stairs.                 When he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes landed on his younger sister yawning.                 “Good morning, Callum. Can I help you, dear brother?” I asked, moving over to my dresser to find a pair of shorts.                 With a huff, he put his hand to the forehead “Why did I just get a call from a man claiming that you ordered twelve pounds of Swedish lamb meat, fifty pounds of Elk meat, and thirty pounds of boar meat that is being shipped to our house?”                 I glanced over my shoulder and smiled a little. “Because, it’s for us. Our freezer needs to be stocked up for the winter when the deer leave the forest. Plus, the person I ordered the meat from gave me a really good deal on it with no names attached. I think he might actually have a crush on me.”                 Callum rolled his eyes as he turned around to avoid seeing his sister getting dressed. “What man see’s you and doesn’t develop a crush on you, Alina? I’m surprised that you even had to pay for anything. You have to be careful . Being what we are attracts attention, and the humans could give us away. Especially with your heat coming up soon.” Callum said as he let out a massive sigh.                 I shook my head. “I don’t understand you sometimes! We are Wulfkin, you can say it, we’re are at home you know. I love you, but I’m going to do things like go to the store and order things online. You are twenty-four and have only been in two relationships your entire life, and neither lasted longer than three weeks. I don’t want to cut myself off from the world like that. So, I’m going to go downstairs and make some coffee and then go for a run before school. Not to mention, me doing the whole heat thing is none of your business or concern. It’s just weird and gross.”                 Callum and I walked down the stairs and back to the main building our mother lived in. Our farm land was over two hundred acres, giving us plenty of privacy and room to do what we needed to do. As we walked suddenly, Callum stopped and put his nose in the air.                 “What is it?” I asked as Callum hands balled into fists.                 Callum shook his head. “It’s probably nothing.”                         Troy sat lazily in the living room staring at a hunter’s magazine.                 In our family, there was Milou, our mother and den master. Then the triplets, Callum, Troy, and Senan at twenty-four, and lastly me at eighteen. Our father passed away from a fire accident ten years ago, he was a fireman and loved to save lives before he died. So, Milou moved the family out to Ridge Hills and to the farm to keep us safe. All were family, but I was different than the rest of my kin. While my brothers and mother were able to transform into their wolf selves, I couldn’t. My body would ‘half’ turn as I called it. My eyes will turn yellow, my nails will become claws, my k-9’s would descend, and my senses were as heightened as the strongest wolf. Yet, my body never fully turned into a wolf. Everything about me was wolf, just not that.                 “What’s wrong with Callum? Moody again?” Troy asked as he glanced back and forth between me and Callum.                 Without hesitation, Callum huffed. “Shut up, Troy.”                 “What? You’ve been pissed off since we followed that-“                 “Shut the hell up, Troy!” Callum said as he picked up a book from the end table and launched it at Troy’s head.                 With a huff, I grabbed my backpack, rolling my eyes. “I have to go to school. Next time you talk about your secrets, make sure I’m not here.”                 As I stepped around them, going right out the back door. I knew something had been up with them for the past three days, but none of them will tell me anything. They endlessly treat me like I was a newborn baby. Fighting the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach I moved to go towards the forest that surrounded our home.             Running was a Wulfkin’s way of distressing and exercising all at once. My feet carried me fast, while my heart slammed against my rib cage. I stopped to take in the forest for a moment. My ears echoed with the sounds of birds, the rustling of leaves, the sounds of dear in the distance. My nostrils filled with the oak bark, wet leaves, and the scent of my brothers who had been out running before me. I could see their scent trails as I watched where they went. As I walked I listened to the trees and birds talk. My wolfy abilities gave me a unique advantage in the world.             Then another scent caught my attention. It smelled like burning wood, smoky. It was interestingly curious, and I wanted to know where it was coming from. Or who it was coming from. The alarm on my phone went off in my pocket, pulling my back to reality.             “Oh damn, I’m going to be late.” I groaned as I rushed through the woods.                     I made it to Ridge Field High right on time. I was sweaty and out of breath, but I wasn’t late. All around me the whispers and staring began as usual. I had gone to school with the same people for ten years, and still, they act like I is new and strange every single day. With a minute or two to spare, I sat down on the planter box for a dogwood tree. My only friend was Janelle, a strong-minded bleach blond with light blue eyes. Both of us were neither popular or very much wanted, at least to most the school. Some of the boys thought it was funny to try and get us to go out with them as kind of a sport. Janelle fell for it once and lost her virginity to one of those assholes, who dumped her two hours later over a text message. Some days we weren’t bothered at all, but recently the guys have become increasingly persistent. Maybe due to my heat coming or they were just getting bored.             “You were almost late again today, weren’t you? Did you run here? Your all sweaty.”             I smiled as I looked over my shoulder to see Janelle smiling with a sucker in her delicate hand. In all Janelle was pretty, I just hid it under dark make-up and heavy clothes.             “I just got here. I think I did pretty well, right?” I said with a wink.             Janelle rolled her eyes. “Gosh, your hopeless. But that’s why I love you.”             “I thought so.” I said as I tilted my head to the side to get a scent scan of the area.             “Hey, did you hear? We have a transfer student from Ireland! Some of the other girls were talking about him in the common area. Do you want to go see him? They said he’s a ‘bad boy’.” Janelle said with a smile on her face.             I shook my head. “A bad boy? What, does he have it written on his forehead? You have to stop listening to all those girls gossip. It will rot your brain.”             Janelle snorted. “I think that’s TV your thinking of, Christelle.”             “I don’t know…” I trailed off as I caught that same scent. Like fire.             I was up off my ass before I even realized it. My eyes were closed and my head was high as I sniffed the air, not even hiding what I was doing as other students stared.             “Christelle, what the hell are you doing?” Janelle asked as I followed my friend.             I didn’t answer, just followed the scent. When I opened my eyes, I could see a bright red scent trail off to the right. My feet moved to the trail and began following it, watching as it became stronger and stronger. The burning wood scent filled my mind, and all I could think about was my father.             “Christelle!”             Janelle yelled for me, but I didn’t hear anything. I turned another corner, walking down the hallways as I ran my hands across the lockers. Then I halted in my tracks. The scent trail stopped behind a tall, dirty blond curly haired guy I didn’t recognize. His back was to my, and he was surrounded by a few popular girls and two of the football players.             “Christelle? What’s wrong?” Janelle asked as I just stood there, staring.             I let out a deep breath as I realized, the scent belonged to a Wulfkin. One that wasn’t my brother. A wolf that was trespassing on their territory. Yet, something about his scent was calling to me. It was calming and exciting all in one, deep down I felt like this scent existed for me alone.               One of the popular girls, Mariana Jonson, looked over to see me staring, and laughed. “Look, Samantha. It’s the school freak, coming to check out the new meat.”                    Samantha Barns glanced over and laughed along with Mariana. “God, that girl is so weird. I can’t wait till we never have to see my again.”                 Chip Grand leaned around to see me and smiled. “Maybe she’s finally realized how great I am and will go out on a date with me. I don’t care if I’s a freak, as long as I carries it to the bed too.”                 “Your lame, Chip.” Mariana said as I rolled my eyes.                 I watched as the guy turned to look right at me, meeting my light grey eyes with his dark olive-green ones. For the moment, it was like nothing else existed. His eyes scanned over me as mine did right back to him. He was tall, with fair skin and curly dirty blond hair. He had nicely maintained facial hair that dusted his side-burns and jawline with a small attached mustache that adorned his upper-lip. A dangerous tension seemed to radiate off him, sending chills down my arms. Apparently, the gossiping girls were right. Everything about him screamed ‘bad’, but I wasn’t about to let him intimidate me.                 At the same time, he was observing me. Seeing my hip length silky black hair and bright grey eyes. As he smelled of fire, I smelled of the rain. My long legs shifted my toned and sleek body uncomfortably, and that’s when he noticed I wasn’t a human. I was Wulfkin, just like him.                 “Uh, Christelle? We’ve got to get to class. Come on.” Janelle whispered to me, pulling on my arm to tear me away from staring.                 Mariana laughed again. “Did you see that? I came over just to stare. What is my problem? That girl is as lame as you Chip.”                 “Shut your hole, Marina.” Chip rolled his eyes. “Your just jealous that I is ten times prettier than you even though I’s strange. Get over yourself.”                                         “What the hell was that, Christelle?” Janelle said as soon as we sat down in class.                 I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Jan. I got carried away.”                 “Carried away? You straight up walked over to the queen and king of the school and just stared at them! What the crap was that?!” Janelle panicked as she bit into her sucker, cracking it into three pieces as she sat down at the table in front of me and next to a sleeping Zach.                 “I wasn’t staring at them, I wasn’t staring at all. Was I?” I asked as I put my head down on my empty table. “I don’t know what I was doing.”                 Janelle sighed. “It’s fine. Maybe they will forget about it after an hour or two.”                 I went to say something else, but my train of thought disappeared when I could smell fire again. When I looked over to the front door, that same guy was standing in front of the teacher. My eyes scanned him while he wasn’t looking. He had muddy shoes, that smelled like wet leaves and soil, forest. His shaggy slightly curly hair was un-styled, and his posture was perfect. All in all, I found him interesting and strange. Intimidating, yet boyish.                 Finally seeing what I was watching, Janelle turned around and nodded towards the front. “That’s him, Christelle. The new transfer student from Ireland. You know that Mr. Davis will put him next to you since you don’t have anyone at your table.”                 I let out a slow deep breath, knowing full well that was going to happen, and now the new guy knew too. There was no way he didn’t hear Janelle. I watched as he glanced over his shoulder for a second before going back to the teacher. I didn’t really want to sit next to him, but at the same time I wanted to have his attention so I could ask why he was on my family’s territory. Feeling twisted and confused, I ran a hand through my silky hair nervously before biting on my bottom lip.                 “Well, since I have no one sitting with Christelle, why don’t you sit next to her?” Mr. Davis said with a smile. “Christelle, please raise your hand.”                 I ignored his request for my hand, knowing the new guy knew exactly who and where I was. “I’m right here.”                 Mr. Davis rolled his eyes as he gestured towards me. “Go sit down and I’ll introduce you to the class.”                 The new guy nodded and turned to go sit down.                 “Class, this is our new transfer student Jack Avery. Please be nice and welcoming, mostly you Christelle.” Mr. Davis said before moving to the white-board to start their lesson.                 My eyes followed Jack all the way to the table, making sure he saw me staring him down. He plopped down in the chair with a huff, staring right back at me with a confident curious look about him. I bit down on my lip as I gained the confidence to confront him.                 In a voice, so low that only his heightened hearing would pick up, I started. “You are trespassing on my family’s territory, but you already knew that didn’t you.”                 Jack shrugged. “There’s nowhere else for me to go. I’m not afraid of you, rain.”                 “You should have at least asked for our permission to be here. I know you were on my property within the last day or two. Were you spying on us?” I asked, faking writing down notes.                 “Us?” He asked as he leaned forward. “Please say there’s more woman as beautiful as you at that farm of yours.”                 Stunned, I huffed and leaned forward so we were nearly face to face. “I’m the only one, sorry to burst your perverted bubble. The ‘us’ you’re asking about are my three older brothers, and I think they know you’ve been snooping around on our land. What do you want? Territory of your own?”                 Jack smirked, and couldn’t stop himself from looking down to my soft pink lips. “If I’m the pervert, why are your cheeks redder than a cherries?”                 My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, shaking my head to clear my mind. “Stop changing the subject. Why are you here?”                 “I told you, rain. There was nowhere else I could go, but I honestly had no idea any Wulfkin lived in this part of the States. I haven’t been around any of our kind in a long time. My adoptive mother’s husband died and she moved us back here to her hometown. I couldn’t leave her, so, here I am.”                     “Oh.” I looked down to the table. “I get it, but you’re going to have to ask my brothers for permission onto our territory. It’s just the rules.”             Jack leaned his head against his hand as his gaze never left me. “How many of your family do I have to get permission from then? All of them? How does that rule work?”             I shrugged. “I think just one. I’m not too sure actually. My brothers…”             “They what?” He asked, seeing how my shoulders dropped at the mention of my brothers.             “They don’t like to include me in the territory affairs, or anything wolf related really...Why are we talking about my family issues? No, this is about you.” I shook my head.             Jack laughed a little. “Okay, rain. We’ll talk about me again. So, if I just need one member of your packs permission, why can’t you give it to me? I already told you why I’m here. I’m not a threat to you or your brothers, and I will promise you that.”             I bit down on my lip as I thought about it. “I…guess I could, but I don’t know. Wait, why should I? I don’t even know you.”             He shrugged. “Yeah, but you want to. You know as well as I do that I should be here.”             “No, I don’t.” I said with a huff. “Are you the only Wulfkin in your family?”             He nodded. “Yeah, my adoptive family are humans. It’s just me.”             I closed my eyes for a moment to think. My nostrils filled with that burning scent Jack carried, my heart pounded in my chest, and I bit the inside of my mouth from nerves. Should I give him permission? He wasn’t wrong when he said he should be here, something told my instincts the same thing. Jack was meant to be here. I just didn’t know why. He didn’t feel like a threat, not that I was sure I would know what one felt like. After a few more minutes of contemplation, I opened my eyes and glanced over.             “Fine, as a member of my pack, I give you permission to be in our territory. Please don’t make me regret this.” I said with a sigh.             “I promise you won’t, love.” Jack said with a wink.             “Yep, already regretting it.” I rolled my eyes.                                 As the class went on, I was painfully aware that Jack was next to me. I did my best to avoid looking over at him, but it was a struggle. Especially because most of the time, he was staring at me. I could feel his eyes like hot coal. Without realizing it I was chewing on my lip, or playing with my hair to try to distract myself from Jack. It wasn’t working, nothing was, and I just hoped that he was feeling the same. At least then it wouldn’t be only me.             I couldn’t help it. Finally, I gained the nerve to glance over at him. I saw he had his head down on his arms as if he was sleeping now, but his leg bouncing was a tell that he wasn’t asleep. I closed my eyes as I leaned my head against my hand. It might be wrong, but I couldn’t get the fire out of my head. The ash and burning wood flooded everything in me. It was nice, borderline addicting. I could almost see him sitting next to me, and for once, I fell asleep easily.                 “Christelle! Wake up!”             I shot up out of my seat and was face to face with a very amused Janelle. “What happened?”             “You fell asleep, love.” Jack said as he stretched and got up. “See you girls later.”             When Janelle thought he was out of earshot, she freaked. “What was all that Christelle?”             “I don’t know what you mean, Jan.” I collected my backpack and started for the door.             “You talked to him! You don’t talk to any male unless they speak to you first, not to mention that you fell asleep in class! I almost can’t even say the last part.” She put a hand to her heart dramatically.             I raised an eyebrow as we walked to our next class. Being in a small school allowed us to have almost all our classes together. “What last part are you talking about?”             Janelle stopped and sighed. “You don’t know, do you?”             “Know what?” I said as I glanced out the window at the cloudy sky.             “Well.” Janelle started, but paused before finishing her whole story. “After you were asleep, the new guy Jack, reached over and…tucked a strand of hair behind your ear before placing his hand right next to yours. Not on your hand, but touching it.”             I stopped and tilted my head to the side in confusion, almost like a puppy. “What?”             Janelle nodded. “Yeah. I was going to scold him and give him a piece of my southern attitude, but it was kind of sweet. So, I left him alone.”             “Why would he do something like that?” I asked myself as I looked up and saw Mariana all over Jack. I knew he could hear me, and thought I would play a little. “Look there, Jan. The wild beast in her natural habitat. How long do you think it will take her to ask him out?”             Janelle glanced over and laughed. “Maybe two more class periods. I bet she’ll be on her knees by lunch.”             While Janelle was busy going to the restroom, Jack looked over to me and shook his head disapprovingly. I smiled as I held back a laugh, running my hand through my hair, looking away.             “How are you doing Christelle?”             Now, I was sad. As I turned to glance over my shoulder, I saw Chip, Jason, Hans, and Blair behind me. “I was good, but now not so much.”             Jason smiled as he reached out to run his hand down my arm before I pushed it off me. “I bet I could make you feel better.”             “Shut up, Jason. You know Christelle is a girl of classy taste, she’d rather be with me.” Chips said as he took a step closer, cutting off my chance of escape.             The boys seemed to make a corral around me and the lockers. Hans winked at me as he looked up and down my body. “You’re going to have to give in eventually, Christelle. All the girls do, even your Janelle did.”             “Leave me alone. I don’t know how many different ways I can tell you four to f**k off, but I’m sure I’ve said  them all.” I said as I felt my heart rate speed up.             Jason laughed a little as he leaned against the locker right next to me. “Come on, Christelle. I bet you want it, all girls want it. You just have to let us work our magic.”             “Don’t touch me.” I snapped, trying my best to keep calm. “Why don’t you go bother Mariana or something?”             Chip rolled his eyes. “God, that girl is so easy and boring. I’ve already had her a few times, and so have the other boys. But no one’s touched you yet, that makes you special. And we really love, special. You’re like a delicacy while Mariana is a burger from a fast food joint. Good if your starving, but if you have the time then the delicacy is where it’s at.”             “Screw you.” I said as looked him right in the eyes.             Chip nodded. “That’s right, baby girl. I will screw you.”             “Leave her alone, yeah?”             I looked over to see Jack hovering over Chip with a menacing look in his olive eyes. Before I could say anything, Chip spun around to shove Jack backwards.             “Back off, lucky charm boy. That girls mine.” He said as he went to reach for my wrist.             Jack moved so fast that no one had the chance of reacting. He kicked Chip’s legs out from underneath him and reached over to pull me out of the circle of guys. “No. No she’s not.”             Chip growled as he hopped back to his feet. “Oh what, is Christelle yours?”             “No.” He said as he gestured over to me. “She’s not property. Next time Christelle asks you to leave her alone, I would just do it.”             “Jack, you don’t have to do this. They will hate you for it.” I said as I watched them glare over.             He shrugged. “I don’t care.”             “You just made a huge mistake, Irish.” Chip said as they filled out.             The warning bell rang over their heads, causing Janelle to rush out of the bathroom with her make-up bag nearly falling out of her hands. “We’re going to be late! Come on…Oh, hey Jack. I? Let’s go to class?”             I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll meet you there.”             “Okay.” Janelle smiled and took off.             Everyone was already in class, leaving the two of us alone.             “Thank you.” I let out a deep breath. “You really didn’t have to do that for me.”              He shrugged. “I wanted to, rain.”             I shook my head, but a small smile was there on my lips. “Why do you call me rain? My name’s Christelle.”             Jack leaned against the lockers as he looked down at me. “You smell like fresh rain.”             I laughed a little. “You smell like fire.”             Both smiled as we realized they were in a moment, lost together. I bit down on my bottom lip nervously as I saw his leg was bouncing. Both have our nervous ticks, and as I was thinking Jack suddenly reached out to put a random strand of my hair back into place. He watched me freeze as he leaned in close to my ear.             “You’ve got to stop biting your lip around me, rain.” He said before moving around me to go to class.             I stood in the hall alone with cheeks as red as an apple, not knowing how to take what Jack just said. Then I realized… “Ah, crap. I’m so late to class…”