Running Free [COMPLETE]

4. The Talk

Eliza didn’t know what to say to the angry male figure in front of her. She felt herself shrink a bit at his looming form.

“What are you thinking? Wafting your pheromones out like that? You have half the damn school going crazy off your damn scent.” Eliza heard the words he said. Singularly, they made sense but put together in those sentences, she couldn’t comprehend their meaning.

“Wha-What do you mean? I just walked through the front doors.” She looked away from his hard stare and felt like a small child being reprimanded. He gave out a heavy sigh and looked upwards.

“Your. Pheromones. Keep them in check or-“ He stopped mid-sentence. A realization hitting him as he spoke. “You’re not part of my pack.”

Eliza’s eyes widened. She looked like a cat clock on a wall, “Uhh, no. I’m not.” Liam was perplexed. How was this girl living in his town and not part of the pack? Who were her parents? He should know who this girl is.

He stepped up to her, close enough to feel her warmth radiate off her body and he leaned down to inhale deeply. Her scent was unique and nothing like anything he had ever smelled before. She definitely wasn’t from his pack or any of the surrounding packs. She smelled of something ethereal, of stars dusted across the ebony night sky. He could smell the wolf in her, but she was undeniably way more than just wolf.

“What… are you,” he asked stepping back, a puzzled look plastered on his face.

“I don’t know. Your guess is good as mine,” Eliza shrugged

“What about your parents? Who are they?”

“My parents are Cindy and Greg Baker. They have lived here their whole entire lives. They adopted me when I was a baby.” Eliza spoke matter-of-factually. This was all old news to her, but Liam’s expression immediately changed. She wondered if it was pity she was picking up in his gaze.

“So, you’re adopted?” She nodded and he continued, “And your adoptive parents are human?” She nodded again. What else would they be, she asked herself. But this explained the many questions that Liam had hanging in his mind just moments before. He crossed his arms and looked at Eliza, trying to determine what he could do. She wasn’t part of his pack, but she unknowingly landed in his pack’s territory and they couldn’t have a young unclaimed she-wolf just prancing around.

“Ok. I’m guessing you recently shifted for the first time, right?” Is that what happened yesterday in the woods, Eliza thought. She supposed so.

“Uh-huh. Yesterday,” she answered sheepishly. She wasn’t sure what it was about Liam that made her submissive. Maybe it was his stance or body language, but she kept her head low and was compliant.

“Ok. So, usually, your family would be part of a pack and you would grow up learning the ins and outs of what that entails. You would also learn how to control the gifts that come with being…” he struggled to find gentler words for her, “more than human.” She looked up at him then. More than human? She realized at that moment that there was so much she probably didn’t know. It wasn't just the weird thing that happened when she went for her run. This "shift" was something bigger than she could've imagined.

“Since it looks like you weren’t able to grow up that way, I’m gonna see what I can do to help you,” he gave her a reassuring smile. “Let me see your phone.”

Eliza pulled her cell from her pocket and unlocked it before passing it over to Liam. “Why are you helping me,” she asked as he typed his number into her phone and sent himself a text.

“You are naive and freshly shifted. You could easily bring a lot of trouble our way.” Eliza gulped. She didn’t want trouble, but it was evident that she didn’t know anything about her new abilities and needed Liam’s guidance.

“But first,” he said, handing the phone back to her, “let’s get your pheromones under control before they have to lock down the school because everyone is fighting to get into your pants.”

“My pheromones? They did that?”

“Yeah, we all have them. They only seriously affect humans or our mates.”

“Mates,” she asked. The word caught her attention.

“Yeah, but we’ll get to that some other time. Right now, close your eyes.” He walked over to her as she closed her eyes. His voice came out low and raspy against her ear, “Take a long, deep breath out. Good. Now look in your head for the edges of the darkness. Keep your eyes closed. Good... You know exactly what I’m talking about. Now… Remember when you first shifted, how it felt like something was set loose? Start gathering it up. In large, slow sweeps, gather it all up. Start bringing it back inward to that cage in the back of your mind.”

Eliza could feel the ribbons in her mind peel back, rolling, tumbling back into the alcoves. That darkness that purred as it roamed freely through her emotions and thoughts made its way back, far back. Growling quietly as it settled behind the bars where it had lived all those years. When she opened her eyes again, she was struck by how muted everything felt. It was like the sky had clouded over giving everything a grayish hue. She looked up to Liam. He had a reassuring smile pinned to his lips.

“There. Back to normal,” he said, stepping back towards the door. He lifted his phone up and continued, “I have your number, so I’ll see what I can do. I’ll text you as soon as I know something and you,” he pointed at Eliza, “keep it locked up for now.” With that, he opened the heavy classroom door and walked out.

Eliza stood in the room; a bit shell shocked by her conversation with Liam. He hadn’t even asked her name. All she knew, though, was that she had a lot to learn and she needed to keep her head down, out of trouble, if she was going to get any help.

When she stepped out of the room, the hallway was back to what it looked like every day. Eliza no longer elicited lustful glares. She got nothing more than passing glances.

“So, what happened? What did Liam Clearwater want,” Debbie asked, walking up to her just outside the classroom door. The first bell of the day suddenly pierced the moment.

“Sorry, Debbie,” Eliza shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “I gotta get to class. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, sure,” she seemed disappointed, but Eliza could tell that Debbie had no hard feelings.

The rest of the day moved on with nothing out of the ordinary. Eliza made a point to keep herself in check. She waited patiently for Liam’s text and she would wait however long she had to. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long.