Mythical Mate for an Alpha

Chapter 2

Staring up at the two story stone structure, I couldn’t stop the smile that lit up my face. This was it! I was really going to attend high school. 

Over the past few weeks, I had made my way into town to the local shopping mall and other complexes. I was fully stocked with clothes, school supplies, and other things I heard teenages talking about. 

I didn’t totally operate in the dark. I made it a point to stay up on local and world events. I considered myself an academic in every sense. Not knowing what was in-style was completely unacceptable if they were going to take me seriously in school. 

Despite my true age, in relation to humans, I looked to be about the same age as the kids I would be in classes with. I knew the lingo, and all the other popular gossip in music, movies, and boys of course. 

Walking up the wide front steps, I took a breath and pushed through the front doors. Taking in the sights and sounds around was thrilling. I could smell so many things. Other supernaturals might find it too overwhelming, but not me. No. To me, it was all an experience. I could smell the polish used on the flecked beige floor, bubblegum, loose paper, old books, and about 12 different perfumes. 

Hands in my trendy jean pockets, I made my way across the foyer and searched for the main office. Past the rows of bulletin boards and trophy cases, I saw a frosted glass door with the words MAIN OFFICE in large black print. 

I turned the knob and stepped into a wide expanse of an office. It looked more like a small business. There were 6 desks, phones ringing, and a dozen or so people all milling about. As I eyed the scene, a voice cut through my thoughts. 

“Excuse me dear. Is there something I can help you with?” 

The woman was sitting at one of the desks on the other side of the long counter than ran most of the length of the room. I smiled at her and purposefully strode right to the counter and popped up on my tip toes, elbows and forearms resting on the counter.  

“Hi there!” I greeted. “I’m brand new. My grandma sent in my paperwork a few weeks ago. I was wondering if I could get my class schedule, uh, and maybe a map?” I beamed at her.

The plump brunette woman who looked like she was in her 40’s, gave me a giggle and stood up from her desk. “Well, I will say, I don’t think I have come across a student yet who was this happy to be in school.”

A small blush crept up my cheeks, but my smile never waivered. I was genuinely happy to be here. The nice woman walked over to a filing cabinet closer to where I was standing at the counter. I took a quick whiff of air and recognized her scent as human. I wasn’t sure about the others. Without them getting closer, it was hard to tell with the overabundance of scents in the building. 

“What is your name sweet heart?” She inquired.

“Kitty.” I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Kitty Redwood. I’m a Senior”.

The brunette, whose name I came to know as Janet, ruffled through the stacks until she found my schedule. She handed it over to me, a small frown creasing her forehead.

“Well Kitty, I can only help with the schedule. We don’t have a map that could help you. I guess it isn’t something we really think about as transfer students are pretty rare here.”

“No worries Ms. Janet”, I chirped. “I’m sure I can figure it out.”

She gave me a small waive and I turned toward the door back into the hallway. 

Skimming the sheet in my fingers, I noticed it had my locker number and combo on it. I gushed internally, thinking about all those teen movies I had watched over the decades. No matter what year it was made, they all had the same typical school hallway filled with rows of lockers. The insides were decorated to match their owners. 

“Locker 314,” I said more to myself than anyone else. Looking around I noticed a sign on the wall that said ‘A Hall’. I took a peek at the lockers here and they all started in the 100’s and headed into the 200’s. The building was shaped a bit like a U, so I headed back toward the office and the other side of the ‘U’.

The sign here said ‘B Hall’. The lockers started in the high 400’s closest to the office on this side. I continued to walk down B Hall and noticed the numbers decreasing. With a skip in my step, I kept going. At the end of the hall, a few lockers from the end, I saw my 314 right there on the right hand side. 

I checked the combo on my schedule and fiddled with the little silver dial. A few twists left and right, a sharp pop, and tug later, I was looking at the inside of a plain gray barren locker. I thought it was glorious. I made a special point of picking up some magazines the last time I went to town. I planned on cutting out some cool pictures to be able to hang up.  

I tucked my bag away inside, keeping only a notebook and pen for now. I figured I would get the books I needed in each classroom. 

I had gotten to school relatively early, so the halls were only just starting to fill. Looking at my schedule again, I checked to see where my classrooms were. Most seemed to be in ‘D Hall’. I could only imagine that was on the second floor above where I was. Now, to find the stairs. 

I saw a tall blonde girl a few lockers over from mine. She was a good 6 inches taller and was dressed in some kind of uniform. I tapped her lightly on the shoulder. As she turned I saw that her uniform has a Lion on the front. It was the school mascot. This must be some kind of team uniform. 

She looked down at me a bit confused at first, then gave a small smile. “Hi,” was all she said as she continued to look at me. 

“Hi. I’m Kitty. First day. Could you possibly point to the stairs?” I held up my schedule for her to see. “Most of these are in D Hall. Figured that was upstairs.”

Nodding her head, she looked over her right shoulder and pointed down the hall where B Hall starts.

“Thanks.” I smile back at her. I waited half a second to see if she would atleast give me her name. Instead, she turned back to her locker. Sensing I wouldn’t get anything else from her, I turned in the direction she pointed and tried to make my way through the growing crowd of students in B Hall.

Sniffing as I went, the only scents here were humans loaded with perfume and cologne. I was a bit surprised. I knew there was a werewolf pack not too far from here. I had watched their kind enough throughout the decades to know they attended school. Much of their lives assimilated with humans. 

It made sense. The werewolf community had gotten too big to really keep themselves hidden. The world had advanced too much for them to continue to live primitively. As with all things, they adapted. And adapted well, I must say.

Over the years I traveled throughout most of the northern part of the country. LIving for as long as I have, the challenges I made for myself ran out by staying in the same place for too long. I also had to limit my interactions after a while. Humans age regularly, but not me. At 298, someone certainly would have recognized something was going on had I remained in the same place. 

Wolves liked to stay in the depths of the woods just like I did. Safety was, and still is, the most important reason. The supernatural world is still very much a secret to humans. There are a few I have seen over the years, get taken into the pack. This usually happens on the rare occasion they are mated to a wolf. It isn’t common, but it does happen.

Wolves have been the closest creatures to myself that I have ever come across. I have never met another Kitsune. I always wondered if there were any others out there, just a few miles north or south of me, always passing each other unknowingly. 

The idea was exciting, but it didn’t bother me much. If I was the only one, then I was grateful to my Creator for giving me the chance at a life. It wasn’t always easy, but the joy has always outweighed the struggle. 

Finding the door at the end of the hall, I followed behind a line of students making their way up the staircase as others were making their way down. Flowing with the group was like trying to flow with the sea. I was not so grateful in that moment for being so small. It made this trek a bit of a wrestling match. 

After finally coming out of the stairwell, I noticed two things. The first is that the second floor looked very much like the first save for the rows of classrooms instead of lockers. The second is that I am now standing in D Hall. Let the day begin!