Taking Down the Alpha King

Sniff

I SAT OUTSIDE the cinderblock building, dreading the thought of entering yet another school. “Do I have to go in?” I looked to Dremelda, the closest thing to a nurse maid that I’d had, hoping she would concede to my wishes and let me travel back with her.

“Of course you do, Reule,” she chuckled, her white hair spiraling down her figure. “What would your father say?”

“Nothing he hasn’t said before.” I mumbled the words, wondering if he was listening to me even now.

The anxiety swelling in my chest was enough to choke me. “Promise me you’ll be here as soon as the last bell rings?” My eyes were pleading. This was the fifth high school I attended in the last three years. It was a lonely business, being the only teen in a pack of black world wolves. There were no friends to take with you, and usually no friends inside of the walls of these places that were deemed as your “Second Home” by every teacher walking their halls. Crinkling my nose, I wondered who would say that.

Who would think that these archaic institutions of thought were worthy of the word “home”?

Not me.

But I also haven’t had a stable living situation in the past ten years. Grumbling as I zipped the top of my backpack shut, I hopped out of the car. “It smells weird here.” I complained to Dremelda as she rolled down the window to wave.

“You say that in every new place. You’ll be fine. Run some fairy spray under your nose if it gets to be too overwhelming.”

Rolling my eyes, I took my first steps into the school. “And of course, I didn’t bring any with me...”

Looking from face to face, I was overwhelmed by the number of humans that swirled around me. My nose was rejecting every sniff, a horrendous sneeze begging to be let as the stares of wide eyes trapped me. I could hear their whispers, the tone of their curiosity centering around my appearance first.

They wanted to know why my hair was this color. They wanted to know why I wore fur like a trapper. They wanted to know why I was intensely staring back at them like a freak.

Whoops.

I blinked a few times, hoping the wolfish stare that I had mastered would rest until I was back at the camp. I had a knack for arresting attention, and it appeared here would be no different than anywhere else. Humans thought I was a freak. I thought they smelled bad.

It was a vicious cycle.

Holding the transfer papers from my last school in my hands, I wandered at a leisurely pace until I found the office. The first bell had already rung, leaving me alone in the hallways. Entering the lobby, I handed the papers to the lady behind the desk, noticing immediately the way her shoulders stiffed as she gave me a once over.

“Hello,” I said softly, allowing a minimal number of pheromones to escape. To wild wolves, that smell would drive them crazy in lust... but to humans, it had this hysterical effect of ease. Her cold washed warm as a new smile lit her face.

“Hello, Reule. I’m Mrs. Cassidy. It’s lovely to meet you.”

==========================

His eyes were boring into the back of my head. I could feel them and their weight. Human boys were always interested in my kind. Why wouldn’t they be? We were more beautiful than their females, stronger, smarter, and more captivating. There was always one hopeless fool that assumed he would be able to break me.

No one ever had.

Sighing, I etched another doodle into the margins of my notebook paper. The school here was terribly boring compared to Portland.

It was second period and not one fight had broken out.

The teacher was rattling on about production, but my mind was too preoccupied to listen. I was consumed with thoughts of the fairies. After I had moved them, had anyone checked to see if they were faring well? If they were set to rights, had my father given them enough time to rest before he started the milking process?

It was uncomfortable to think of them in that state, strapped into the machines that stripped them of their most valuable possession. No one else in the Black World had an operation his size...which meant no one had killed as many fairies as he had. I hated him for it.

My mother had never harmed another creature in her life until she met him, as they told me. The wolves she was born from were peacemakers, not warriors. When she was mated to him, she said she had felt her heart stop beating and she never thought she would ever feel it pump again, so long as she was married to him.

It was sad to think that she may have never loved him. I was too little to remember, but that’s what I had Dremelda and Harry for. They told me of her grace and beauty, and how she was the prized princess in her time. My father has been the stock of nightmares, shocking the realms when their match had been announced. What power she had gained for my grandfather once the wedding concluded. He died a very rich, extremely prominent man who left an empire for my uncle to run.

An uncle that hated the sight of me, and the mention of my father.

“Miss Black?” The teacher was asking a question, jerking my mind from the bog.

“Yes?” I answered, consciously willing my body to control the mood in the room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand. Can you please repeat the question?”

A dopey look of appreciation covered his face; a warm smile emanating from his features. “Oh, that’s all right. It’s hard on your first day! Let me ask someone over here—” I watched as he fumbled over the next student's name, his body still reacting the way I wanted it to.

“Um, L-Lo-ogan! Let’s see what you’ve got to say, sir.” The mustache around his lips was twitching with his nose. His beefy hand was holding his oversized glasses in place as he put emphasis on Logan’s name again to draw the other student’s reply out.

I twisted to see who he was talking to, the direction of his speech bouncing off the boy behind me. Landing my eyes on him, I knew instantly he was the one who had been staring. The way his heart raced when he noticed me paying attention was telling enough. He cleared his throat several times, flipping nervously back and forth through the pages we were supposed to be reading.

“Y-yes.” I watched him struggle for several more seconds before I lost interest and turned back around. This is what I always got... the pitiful nerd boys that were interested. He was thin, dark, and sullen looking. The rings around his eyes were probably from staying up playing videogames all night. How repulsive. I took in a tiny sniff, wondering if I could catch the scent of body odor to complete my analysis. He was completely outfitted for the cold, meaning he didn’t eat much.

I turned my head ever so slightly to test the air. Interesting, but not enough. And definitely not body odor, which was pleasantly surprising.

Risking a deeper inhale, I closed my eyes in hope that my irises didn’t give me away. Focusing, I filtered through the options. I smelled the intermingling of spruce and pine... figures. There was a lingering smell of coffee... but that could be from the teacher that was a mere two feet away. I could also smell peanut butter, and leather, and body spray and... pet dander? He must have a dog. After another small sniff, I confirmed: definitely a dog. And there was also a distinct metallic taste that I couldn’t quite place... one that made me think of...

My eyes shot open. Gun metal. It was the smell that ammunition carried. I gave a wary blink, a once over capturing the details of his person. Could his parents be in law enforcement? No. He was too quiet for that. Usually, kids that had cops for parents were terribly outspoken.

Could they be in gangs? My nose snarled, dismissing the thought instantly. In this sleepy town? They might have a gang of needle pointers, I snickered. Game preserve? I eyed his hoodie, wondering if I had guessed it. He might have a dad that was in the parks... it would fit. They carried rifles, and that would coincide nicely with the person sitting behind me.

Swiveling, I wondered if this human lover boy might prove useful. He would know the parks, and could help my father set up the barrier. Turning on my most dazzling smile, I beamed at him, inwardly laughing when I heard his heart beat rapidly increase.

He shot a tiny smile back, a slight lift in his eyebrows.

“Hi.” I whispered, leaning back a little. “What’s your name?”