Mythical Mate for an Alpha

Chapter 4

I met up with Trish at the entrance to C Hall, just like she said. As she guided me through to our classroom, I could suddenly smell nothing but the scent of wolves. How odd. All the humans were kept on one side of the building, while the wolves were on the other. 

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. They wanted to limit the interaction as much as possible. There would be times when an overbearing mate could burst, or pack warriors would be called away suddenly. Limiting the number of humans to see this was probably for the best. 

Walking with Trish to our foreign language class, I could see all eyes were on me. A path opened for Trish wherever she stepped. I clearly underestimated who she was in this pack. Maybe I couldn’t sense the wolf aura as well as I thought I could. 

She kept a close eye on me. She would glance behind her shoulder every few feet to make sure I was still there. I could feel her protectiveness over me. 

As we neared the classroom I saw a younger boy get shoved up against the lockers. There were three big guys standing in front of him. It was the tall one in the middle who had done the pushing. 

The fear radiating from him definitely let me know he was human. The three in front of him were not. I could understand why Trish was keeping me close in this section of the school. 

A quick shift of the guy in the middle and a grunt soon followed. He had punched the smaller boy in the stomach.

By now I was starting to get a bit annoyed. I had seen this thing too many times in my life and it never made it easy or right. There is no reason to pick on another creature for being lesser or weaker. We all serve a purpose from our different creators. No one had a right to diminish that purpose. 

I could feel my backside tingle again. I knew I had to keep control or else my tails would surely come out. This was way more of a challenge than I thought it would be. HIgh school is definitely not for the meek.

I had to do something. I looked ahead to Trish and tugged on the hem of her shirt. She turned to face me, a moment of complete shock covering her face, before it was gone. I suppose I startled her. 

“Trish. Please?” I pointed over to the boy who was getting beat up at the lockers. Grabbing Trish was all I could think to do. The way she was regarded here by the other wolves, I knew she had to be someone important. She could most likely stop the poor kids bad luck.

Trish looked over to the three guys. Just as the in the middle pulled back another fist, Trish let out a deep throated command, “Stop, Casper.”

The wolf named Casper stopped mid-punch. He and the other two wolves turned to look at Trish. They stared at Trish a few more seconds than I was comfortable with. They all gave the slightest nod and walked off toward the entrance to C Hall. The boy slid down the lockers into a lump on the floor.

I wanted to help the boy, but Trish grabbed me by the hand. “Come on Kitty. He will be fine.” Reluctantly, I followed behind her.

There were two seats in the far back corner of the class when I led Kitty into language. I pushed her into the seat in front of me so I could keep an eye on her. There was something that just didn’t seem quite right. 

I noticed it when she spoke to me this morning. She smelled human at first, so I didn’t pay her any further attention. But as the class dragged on, my wolf was pacing in my subconscious. SHe kept saying that there is something about the girl.

At first I tried to block her out, but she kept coming back to it. I finally dropped the block to hear her out.

“Is she a threat Alara?” I asked my wolf. 

“No. I don’t feel any sort of threat from her. There is just something that is odd, something wild about her. I know she smells human, but I feel like I smell something else.”

Alara’s instincts heightened my own so I spent much of class breathing deeply and concentrating on Kitty’s scent. I tried to pick out every single subtle smell coming off of her. The more I picked through them, the more I realized they were all scents of the forest. Alara was right. If she were human, why would she smell so much like the woods?

It was not unusual for humans to venture to the woods. They liked to camp, to hike, to hunt. That wasn’t the case with Kitty. It seemed almost like it was a part of her, as though it was natural. 

“Could she be a witch?” I posed to Alara. She hummed in my head, thinking it over. 

“I don’t think so. That isn’t what I feel from her. She has an odd energy. It isn’t like the other supernaturals we have met. Their energy is always constant. Her energy comes over in waves. Sometimes it is not there at all. Other times it feels like she will explode from it.”

As I thought through our conversation this morning, Alara shuffled again within me. I could feel she wanted to talk so I lowered my eyes like I was reading my textbook.

“Her eyes. A glow flickered through them. If I had blinked, I would have missed it.” I said to Alara before she could even speak. 

“Yes. And her energy spiked at the same time. I could tell she was angry this time. She did not like the boy being mistreated.”

I scoffed in my head to Alara. “I will have to teach her then that you don’t try to pull a fast one on a wolf. Dumb kid had tried to swipe Casper’s wallet.”

“I don’t disagree. If that were us, we would have done much worse,” Alara growled. “But she has a soft spot.”

“Or she hates wolves,” I countered. “Either way, we keep her close. She could be friend, but she could be foe. Remember the saying, friends close but enemies closer.”

After language, I took Kitty to the locker rooms to change for phys ed. It was the last class of the day thankfully, and would only be for a quarter of the year in order to graduate. We would get 3 other electectives to fill the remaining three quarters later. 

Sitting on the bleachers next to Kitty, I saw her taking in her surroundings. I wonder where she had gone to school before. She looks to be my age. I can’t lie. There is something about her I like. Even Alara finds her presence entertaining.  

“Alright class. Let’s pick teams. Today we are going to have a little fun and play dodgeball. Trish and Shannon. You can each be team captains. Alternate your picks. Shannon, you start.” the teacher spoke out loud for everyone on the bleachers to hear. 

I popped down the three flights and stood out on the court. Most of the students in phys ed were wolves, save for only a few random humans. I pitied the poor humans that got stuck with us, but that’s just life.

Shannon and I alternated for a bit, with me picking my normal group. There were eight  

students left, and one of them was Kitty. I didn’t want her on Shannon’s team, but I also wanted to win. Competitiveness is a wolf trait afterall. 

“Give her a whirl, Trish,” came Alara in my mind. “Maybe it will give us some other clues.”

“I’ll take Kitty next,” I shouted. We then rounded out the teams. 

“Alright kids,” the teacher boomed. “All’s fair in love and dodgeball. You don’t want to get hit in the face, then you better put your arms up. If you are hit, you are out. If all balls end up on the opponent's side and they still have atleast one person standing, they can then tag back in a teammate. We go until all players have been completely eliminated on one side.” With that, he blew the whistle for us to start.

I started throwing balls with all my strength. Like most wolves, it was easier to pick off the humans on each team. They couldn’t move as quick as us, and they certainly couldn’t throw as hard.

I tried to keep an eye on Kitty at the same time. I didn’t see her picking up any balls, but I certainly didn’t miss how quick she was with a dodge. Is she faster than me?

As the Alpha daughter, I certainly had more strength and speed than all other she-wolves. Watching Kitty though, I realized she made even me look slow. That can’t be a coincidence. 

I was distracted long enough in my musings to take a red rubber ball right to my left side. Pissed, I glared at the sender and marched off to the bleachers. No matter, now I could really watch Kitty. She was getting more comfortable. Her throws were improving, but her agility was still the most impressive. 

Soon everyone on our team was hit except for Kitty. The opponents had three players still standing. They grabbed all the balls they could and hurdled them at her at the same time. I was on my feet in an instant when I realized she had blocked every damn one. It didn’t even make sense that she could do it. 

“Kitty!” I yelled to her. “Tag me in!”

Kitty ran over and tapped my outstretched hand. I started picking up balls with her, and throwing them back across the gym. We missed all three, but the fight was still on. In the same tactic as before, they teamed up and hurdled all the balls at Kitty. Just like before, she dodged every single one. 

This went on until Kitty managed to tag in all our teammates again, while the opponents did the same. After a good few rounds, the other side lost their stamina and got sloppy. We managed to hit them all and the game was over. 

Our team erupted in cheers with quite a few students congratulating Kitty for keeping us in the game. Even some of the wolves from the other side came over to meet her. They all said how she wouldn’t have to be worried about getting picked for teams again.

Kitty came running over to me and threw her arms around my neck and her legs around my torso. She was small, even for a human girl, so I had no problem holding her. She hugged me tight and hopped off. I was extremely caught off guard by her excitement and close contact.

She must have seen the look on my face and immediately bowed her head. “I’m so so sorry Trish. I got carried away. I never played that game before. I swear it won’t happen again. Please don’t be mad at-”.

“Stop!” I shouted. I realized it must have come out a bit too forceful as she flinched and dipped her head lower. I reached out and patted the top of her head like a puppy. “You’re fine. No apologies needed. I was just surprised. You helped us win. How can I be mad at that?” I gave her a light punch in the shoulder and she snapped her head up.

Her smile was wide and bright, but what caught my attention was the glowing that started at the outer corner of her eyes. Now I know I didn’t imagine it earlier. She was definitely not human.