Alma

Chapter Eight: Alma

Alma

Godsdamn I hate some f*****g people so much. I can’t calm down or get my wolf under control. I happily go to the sensory deprivation chamber, noticing one is already open-- Nao must have been preparing for the worst case scenario. I need to tell her about the bond situation, and soon. I don't mind the sense-deprivation chambers. My wolf loses herself, so I am no longer having to fight her for control. I am able to calm down, or sleep, or blow off some steam. I enter the room, and before closing the door, I set the timer for an hour-- after an hour in nothing but pitch-black silence, I know my wolf will be itching for light, or sound, or some other type of stimulation. I need a break, not prison. When I am fully swallowed by the night, I confidently stride to the middle of the room and I shadow box with the open air, fighting invisible enemies brought to life from insults. I use every bit of speed I have, every ounce of strength I possess, exhausting myself so my wolf has no more fight to give.

The school put in the sensory deprivation chambers specifically for the animal-based creatures. After years of locking up shifters behind silver, or using iron cages to calm the raging animal, someone found out that darkness and silence for a certain amount of time will calm the beast-side more effectively and more safely than injuring them. So, when a shifter or a Fae with an animal familiar is on the brink of turning feral, they get put in a sense-dep chamber.

Ro and I write letters and text one another all the time, and I found out a week ago that he will be back in the fall, which is great. I have seven more months until he shows up, and two more until this year ends. I hope he is doing okay in his pride with his mother and father. They are really supportive of Ro and his new mate, Blake, and I can’t wait to meet her. I’ve talked with them both and they seem so happy.

Blake is a lion-shifter through and through. She has the stubbornness of a dominant female, but also the drive that a true lionnes dam would have. She recently cut all of her hair off, dying the remaining buzz-cut bright blue. She and Ro also got rings tattooed on their fingers to celebrate their being mates. I think its really funny trying to picture super serious, mostly silent Ro with the ever-excited, eccentric Blake. I try to imagine what meeting her will be like, but my daydream is shattered when my fist connects with a body. “What the f**k?”

I exclaim the words at the same time as the fact the door is open registers. I see the tall form of Dante in front of me, clutching his face, specifically his throat. “Did I just throat-punch you?! Oh gods, I am so sorry! I didn’t even realize you were in here! Why would you even come in here?”

“To… apologize?” He rasps out the words like a question.

I roll my eyes. “Why? It’s not like you didn’t do anything. I saw the wolves leave. You just forgot about Aubrey, but I took care of her. No hard feelings? I know she’s your girl.” I take a couple of steps back because I really don’t want to piss off the only alpha I currently have, even if there were no bonds connecting the two of us.

Dante has recovered by the time I rush the words out, and makes a confused noise at me, c*****g his shadowed head sideways. “Aren’t you two together?”

“No.” He sounds flabbergasted, and I really want to chuckle at it.

“Well, I suggest telling her that, because she thinks you two are. Have you not paid any attention to the gossip? You two are the alpha couple.”

Everyone has been talking about my recent track record of fights, except the people who know me: the half blood rejects. We’re all pretty discriminated against, especially those who can’t phase into a full animal form, and so we all hang out together, studying or reading as a group. They are a gossip mill and it sometimes gives me a headache, but they are my little pack of outcasts. Sadly, whereas my wolf loves them to bits, she won’t run with them, and even if she would, the full phasers have schedules that don’t work with mine.

By the look on Dante’s face, no he does not pay attention to the small pieces of gossip. I ignore his confusion for a second as I need to make sure he is okay. “Now, did I break anything?” I turn the two of us to face the light from the door so I can get a good look at his throat.

He shakes his head as he rubs where he got hit. I can already see a bruise forming. “I’m really sorry, really. I didn’t realize you were in here.”

Dante’s eyebrow lifts, showing just how much he believed me. “I swear,” I tell him, raising my hands up in my defense, palms facing him. “I was stuck in my head.”

“What were you thinking about?”

I turn around and gesture to him to follow me out of the chamber, going to the weight/cardio room and hopping on a treadmill, turning the machine on so I can walk and talk at the same time. “I was thinking about Ro, and his mate.”

“His mate?” I swear I hear some hope in his voice, which was still a little hoarse, but getting better.

“Yeah, Blake. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Really?” I must be going crazy… he sounds relieved!

“I really can’t wait. Like, I am super excited about meeting Blake; so far, they are absolutely adorable together. Complete opposites-- she is the happy-go-lucky to his dark and brooding. We talked over the phone, and, of course, I started sending her letters too. She is enrolling here with him next year. I think it is pretty great that they get to finish their last year here together before going home to Ro's pride.”

“I can tell.”

I turned to him, speeding up the treadmill to a light jog. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You’ve got the biggest smile on your face right now.”

“Is it goofy looking?” Ro always said I had a goofy smile, especially when I smile because I see other people happy. I don’t necessarily like other people seeing it. But Dante doesn’t need to know that.

“A little,” he answers, after a second of consideration. He climbs onto a treadmill beside me, also jogging, probably so he has something to do.

“That’s fine. I can have a goofy smile while thinking about my best friend being happy.”

I realize I haven’t been very happy around Dante, or at all for the last few months, but it’s been difficult. Everything seems to just hurt, and is getting worse. I’m getting over it though, and decide I will try harder to be happy from now on, if only because everyone deserves to be happy.

“I want to apologize for how awful I’ve been. Really,” I give Dante a sad smile and my wolf sends me an approving rumble.

Dante is quiet for a minute and my wolf’s panic begins to rise again. I try to placate her but she begins running through every possible horrible thing that could happen before Ro and Blake appear. I growl at her to stop her.

“What are you growling about? Are you angry I didn’t say anything? Normally I say too much.”

I look over to Dante with a confused expression before pointing to my head. “My wolf is panicking again. My bond with my home pack is slowly dying, and its not only painful, but its making my wolf go crazy.”

I don’t wait for Dante to respond before I pick up my pace again to a run. Looking over, I see Dante also speeding his own machine up to the same level. Trying to keep up again? I go faster, and laugh as Dante only sighs and kicks up his speed.

We stay on the treadmills for about an hour, just running in silence, when the dinner bell rings. Slowly, I turn the speed down until it shuts off, and then climb off the machine and wait for Dante to run for a few more minutes. The music that is always playing has been turned down in preparation for closing up the gym by the time slowpoke shuts off his treadmill. “Finally,” I say as we leave the room, and I feel my goofy smile splitting my face again.

***

We head to dinner and find a crowd surrounding one table in particular. I walk straight into the crowd, separating from Dante, and crawl under the swinging elbows, pushing forward to find Mark bleeding from his lovely freckled face. “What the hell happened?”

I ask the question of Heather, a fellow dominant half-wolf, half-human shifter. She looks pissed off at the world, which is actually not like her. “Hey.” I snap my fingers, drawing her attention. “What’s wrong.”

“Damn Brent. He’s what’s wrong.”

Brent is a half-wolf shifter who is a little on the short side, both in stature and in temper. The man is also the beta of the school pack, and though he is a very loyal person, he can be a total ass, especially when it comes to protecting his sister. “What did he do?”

Heather gestured at Mark, who looked damn near feral. I notice Brent circling the fox, and I wait for the Beta to approach where I stand. “Who started the fight?”

“I asked Mark to help with the planning of Bet’s party, because he seemed like some good eyes to bring in, and he was…” I give her a bored look. “Brent attacked him when I asked Mark to meet you and I at the library tonight, because I can finally join tonight.”

Heather knew about Mark after I told her about my wolf trying to steal him from his troop. Mark and I had been texting back and forth, as well as going for runs together since we met in the gym after the fight with the Oni. Of course, Mark has also been coming to the library basement where my little pack likes to study, and was promptly added to the pack chat. My wolf has been trying endlessly to steal him from his troops, urging me to trying to tell me it was important. I just wish she would tell me why.

I hadn’t thought to ask Mark to help plan Bet’s party, even if the fox was a genius at planning and designing things. I mean in a matter of an hour he had a whole hypothetical pack house set up that could cater to the needs of half-bloods and full bloods without issue, and a running schedule that would let those that couldn’t phase feel included fully. The guy was great at interpack relations, and interpersonal relations as well. His troop was truly lucky to have him. Bringing him on as a party planner? He’d probably know exactly how to set up everything so no one from any race would be offended by the colors or the theme.

“Is this a dominance battle or just Brent being Brent.”

“Brent being Brent. Mark hasn’t made a move to attack yet. Hence the crowd goading him.” She gestures to the two guys. Brent’s eyes were lit up, only one glowing the amber from his wolf.

Heather and Brent were an interesting duo. Heather couldn’t fully shift, but Brent could; however, when Brent partially shifted, it was only one one half of his body-- only one side grew claws, only one eye lit up, only one fang descended. It was interesting to see, but no one f****d with him about it-- mostly because he was a really strong fighter as a person, a wolf, or an intermediate. He earned his title of Beta.

Brent in his first year was adorable. He had been very shy, and very sweet. He hung out with the other half-bloods, and even fought a few full blooded wolves over something someone had said about one of his friends. But that changed when Aubrey showed up. Aubrey claimed she was the alpha female, and most of the female wolves decided to go with it-- why wouldn’t we? We aren’t listened to as is. Well, Aubrey also had though Brent was cute, and he was attractive-- so she decided to date him. He got way too involved, think Aubrey could be his mate… that was until he caught her sleeping with some bear-shifter on their anniversary in our second year. Brent had torn the bear shifter to shreds, while Aubrey blamed Heather, and claimed Brent spent too much time with her and the other half-bloods, and that was why Aubrey had resorted to cheating. Since then, he avoided us at all costs, but couldn’t help but blow his stack if someone went after his sister. I had missed him quite a bit in the following years-- we had been close friends, and he was one of the few wolves that my wolf had created a pack bond with. His rejection had hurt, alot. But, he was also the reason I couldn’t run alone any longer-- he and I used to go for runs together, until Aubrey had told him I attacked her. As a result, he and a few buddies attacked me when I was at my most vulnerable-- when I was sleeping off a shift. I had woken bound in silver chains, bloody and bruised, burning every time I moved or made a sound. My wolf had been traumatized for months.

I watch Brent take a few more side steps toward me. When he is directly in front of me, I slowly lift my hand and catch the hem of his shirt without him noticing. I ball the shirt in my first, and hook his ankle with my foot on his next step, knocking his feet out from under him. He falls forward, but doesn’t faceplant, only because I yank him back by his shirt, choking him a little bit with it. “Hello, Beta. How are you? You seem just swell. How’s ‘bout you and I finish this dumb fight of yours, huh?”

Before Brent can say a word, I drop him, only for him to get to his feet. I smile fiercely, showing all of my teeth. Then I throw a lovely little lovetap, feeling his nose crunch under my knuckles. While he grabs his nose, I shove him hard, and he is back on the ground. “Leave the shifter alone, Brent.”

I casually stroll over to Mark and, with Heather, we walk out of the cafeteria. Dante is nowhere in sight.

On the way to the library, I watch Heather and Mark. He is absorbed by her every word, and she is basking in his attention. I can’t help but smile at the duo. She is a few inches taller than he is, barefoot. Her heels are in her hand, but those inches really are because her hair is so f*****g poofy. We’ve tried to tame it, but no luck; it looks best natural anyway, although the braids she can do with her hair? Amazing. Don’t even get me started on her locs. Mark seems to have no issue with their height difference, at least none that he voices, and I chuckle.

They become more and more sucked into their own world, so much so that they forget the library has a door, and stand outside of it, deep in conversation. I catch Heather’s eye, mouth “Have fun”, and tell them to shoo. With a face-splitting grin, the two leave, and I head inside, happy that my pack mate is happy, and sure I will be planning another celebration.