Rejection Trials

“Oh” I gasp as I feel his fingers slide up the arch of my back as he laid me back onto the grass. His lips and teeth dragged across my neck. I grabbed at his waist band since his shirt was already gone. “Open” he growls commanding my legs apart for him. Never have I felt the overwhelming pressure of an Alpha’s command. My legs opened for him before I could disobey. I looked down and realized I was devoid of clothes already and he was making quick use of his belt. As he pushed himself deep into me, I felt his teeth piercing the flesh of my throat. “Bel” I whimper as my whole body shutters. I force myself upright while opening my eyes again to see a large black bird staring at me. “NO.” I yelled looking at the trees around me. “Thank goddess it was just a dream.” I manage while gasping for air. “Steve, don’t look at me with that tone” I say to the bird as he stares into my eyes intently. I am sure you are wondering why am I talking to a bird and is this person mentally all there? Well, I may not be able to answer the latter with good confidence, but I can explain why I am talking to this judgmental black bird. His name is Steve, and he has been my one and only companion and sometimes friend. It’s been six years since I left the Death Falls pack and officially became a rogue. I am not exactly sure if I can say that since I have technically always been a rogue. I was born outside of a pack and never officially joined one. As a child, a man of the Death Falls pack took me in so I went to school there even after he passed. However, due to some unfortunate and unseen circumstances I had to leave. I stretch my legs and lean back against a tree. While looking up at the stars through the trees I reflect on how utterly ridiculous and silly my life has turned out. I am only 22 and I have already done so much and yet I feel like I haven’t done enough. That I am behind. Probably due to a certain pest that has been holding me back for the past 6 years. Steve is grooming his feathers clearly interested in hearing my woes. How many times have I rambled to him throughout the years? I poke his chest gently and he looks up at me like I have offended him. As he honks at me, I hand him some nuts I have stashed away for him. As he takes them out of my hand, I am suddenly forgiven I suppose. “I think it is finally time to head home Steve.” I say reluctantly standing and shaking off the leaves. SIX YEARS PRIOR (SYRUS POV) Whoever decided to make werewolf school at nighttime is my personal hero. Werewolves naturally being nocturnal means that our normal days begin at night as we sleep all day. However, I am still struggling to get up on time. Luckily living in the pack house has its perks as I hear the annoying alarm wolves running up and down the hallways to wake everyone up. My room is at the end of the hallway under the stairs that go up to the next floor. It is small but fits my bed and has storage beneath the mattress. This room was assigned to me as the bare minimum, but I honestly preferred it. Like true wolves I enjoyed feeling like I was sleeping in a den or underground. The pack house itself is a massive estate. The only people who live here are the top ranked wolves and those who don’t have their own house on pack lands. Ever since my guardian died I was moved to the pack house like the rest of the orphans. Despite all the noise in the corridors I still managed to snooze a little too much. I race down the halls to try and catch the bus that transports all the kids to school. Of course, I crash into a living wall that I know as our pack gamma, Gabriella. “Syrus” she grunts while steadying herself. She was one tough wolf to withstand a wolf collision. She oversees a lot of things along with training the new warriors she also oversaw making sure the teens from the pack house all went to school. “No time.” I made out while continuing to jump onto the bus as the doors were closing. Now for my favorite part of the ride. I walk down the aisle of the bus, and no one even glances up at me. They clear the walkway completely, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. ‘Pathetic’ I smirked showing off a bit of my canines that never seem to retract all the way. Truth is most of these warriors to be could kick my ass in a fight. But rumors are an ugly and powerful thing. And what more powerful rumor than you are being a cursed omen of death. It is a bit of a story of how I got this label however, since it takes 45 minutes to get to school on the bus, I have time. Eons ago, 15 years to be exact, I came into this world. I have no idea who my parents are as I don’t have many memories. What I do know is that I have been altered and experimented on with blood magic and other forbidden forms of magic. This caused a lot of changes to my body, some of which are visible to this day. My hair is black and absorbs most light cast onto it. Meaning I have no shine to my hair. My teeth don’t retract all the way, so I always have my canines slightly out. My eyes are the most obvious being that one is brown, and one is almost completely white. My left eye was cursed causing the color to disappear from the eye and in the process giving me thermal vision in that eye. Which sounds cool but try walking around seeing thermal vision in one eye and not in the other eye. It used to give me vertigo a lot growing up. Almost all my senses were heightened to an extreme. My sense of smell is very overwhelming at times causing me to gag at most perfumes or strong scents. My hearing is so sensitive that I can pick up on people’s blood flow and breathing from far distances. But when I am close to people it is too loud for me to hear anything at all, so I wear ear plugs that muffle the sound. I can see very well in low lighting or no lighting but bright lights almost blind me entirely and cause headaches. So, I must wear dark glasses most of the time which also keeps people from staring at my eyes. What is the point in having heightened senses if all they do is completely overwhelm me. Now as you can tell I look and behave not the most normal around people. When I first came to this pack, I was 6 years old. Apparently, people used to make fun of me regularly and beat me up. The fear they now hold against me did not start until the pack was attacked. I was brought to this pack by one Oliver Barghest who found me dying in the woods at the tender age of 6. Oliver is a legend amongst werewolves. He was also old enough to be my great-grandparent. Not only was he some badass he was gentle and kind. Which is the only reason someone would take me in. The pack was attacked when the alpha was out of town and nowhere close. The story goes that over 50 wolves showed up and attacked out of nowhere. There had not been war amongst any werewolves for almost two decades. The wolves that attacked were fighting like experts, each taking on multiple wolves at once. Oliver, Luna Diana Canisson, and a mangy black dog fought off most of them while the pups and other wolves fled to safety. When the sounds of c*****e silenced the pack was approached by the terrifying black dog who was barely the size of a coyote. The eyes were different colors, one yellow and one white. Despite the small size of the body the ears of the beast were large and almost rounded at the top. The creature was chirping fiercely and running straight toward the pack. The mut lead them directly to Oliver who was stammering almost ripped to shreds carrying the limp body of the Luna. As soon as the men too the Luna in their arms Oliver collapsed succumbing to his injuries. The feral looking mut was apparently me. The look of my wolf form alone freaked out the entire pack because I don’t “look right” and I “look evil”. Werewolves don’t have their first shift until they turn 16, yet I was not even 10. Some even said that I caused lightning to tear apart the surrounding forest. I say the attack happened during a bad thunderstorm. Most of the pack wanted me out but, Oliver’s dying wish was that I be a part of the pack. Since Oliver was a legendary warrior and just saved the pack and the Luna no one could argue. I wish I could remember that night. I wish I could remember Oliver. The only reason I know what he looked like is pictures and his statue in the town square. Ironic that the only kind person in my life I don’t remember. Maybe I am cursed. ‘Looks like the building didn’t burn down overnight’ I grumble to myself as the bus pulls up to the school. Packs here are a lot bigger than other parts of the world. Our pack is one of the largest and has it’s own school. However, surrounding packs are allowed to send their kids to our school as well. All of this to say there are way too many people here. I heave myself out of the bus forcing my legs forward. Once I step onto the pavement, I smell something so overpowering I almost collapse. Thinking it is someone’s perfume I follow this smell ready to give them a piece of my mind or just glare at them, I’ll decide in the moment. As I wind through the halls, I realize this isn’t a bad smell. It’s a warm smell, a comforting smell. The smell is like coming home to a home cooked meal smell. The smell takes me into the main courtyard where all the powerful and popular kids’ hangout. My eyes follow the scent the rest of the way as entering the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was Belvedere Canisson, son of the current alpha and one of my biggest tormenters.