From Rivals to Romance

I was woken up hearing my dad's screams. My heart pounded in my chest as I flung the flimsy blanket aside, without caring for shoes on the freezing cold floor, I ran downstairs. With my heart in my mouth. What could happen to my dad? He is a wolf for him to make such noise. Did he go running this early in the morning and get attacked by the wolves of the other pack? He is an omega, so it is easy for a pack of wolves to attack him if he is alone. That is why I always tell him not to go alone. I will kill them all. Or did he get into a fight with the members of our pack? I skidded down the stairs and out of the house. Readying myself to see him bloodied or at least to find him with a few broken bones. Instead, I found dad without a single scratch. Maybe he was having pain on the inside. “Dad are you okay?” I hurried to him and took his face in my hands and checked his face for any injuries. There were none, so I checked his hands and legs. “Where did you get hurt?" I turned him around and checked on his back. He looked as good as he had ever been. So why did I hear his scream? Did I dream about it? I don’t think so. He grabbed my arms and held me at arm's length. Looking me in the eyes, he said “What are you talking about Ana, I am perfectly fine. What could happen to me?” he looks fine. There was no blood in sight. “Dad, what was the noise I just heard?” I asked him. Just then, our neighbor, Martha, an old woman, and her son came running to see what was happening. “What is happening? Why are you howling this early in the morning?” so they also heard the howl. I knew it was not a dream. The three of us turned towards him, waiting for an answer. His face lit up, eyes dancing with excitement. He went to Martha and showed her a letter he was carrying in his hands, which I had not noticed in my fear. As soon as she read it, a gasp escaped her and she hugged him laughing, making me curious as to what was inside the letter. “What is it?” I asked them but both of them were too busy laughing and hugging each other to notice my question. Martha's son and dad's best friend, Frank, grabbed the letter from Martha as he too got curious. I went to him and saw that it was an acceptance letter from the Arcane arts academy. I snatched the letter from his hands. Why is it in my name? When did I apply for it? When Frank understood what this meant he went to Dad and they hollered in joy. Martha came to me and was hugging me tightly until I could hardly breathe. For an old woman, she has too much strength. “I knew you would make me proud. You will be the first omega from the mystic howl pack to get into the arcane arts academy. I always wanted to go there but I wasn’t strong enough. I am blessed by the goddess to see you get into the academy.” she said in her old voice, with tears in her eyes. Dad and Frank joined us in the group hug. All laughing, their eyes filled with pride that an omega like me made it into such a prestigious academy. I was the only one who was not thrilled by the fact. I had already told dad that I didn’t want to go to that academy, I was ready to go to any other academy except that one. I had refused to even apply for it. Even when he insisted. I think he applied it without me knowing about it. Now that I think about it, he had given me application papers but they were from a small academy in the nearby town. He must have disguised them in other university papers. I should have known when he was overly excited after that. My head was pounding just thinking about it. What is the goddess planning? I can't go to that academy. I was going to stop them and tell them that I would not go to the academy. But the three of them turned into wolves and howled at each other. It is a way of expressing happiness for the werewolves. The whole neighborhood was starting to gather outside now to see what the commotion was. While I was still in my pajamas. There was no stopping them. Everyone was talking now. Wolves can communicate with other wolves in our pack. I can hear them in my mind, telling everyone who would listen that I had gotten into the university. At least it made father happy. He looked like a little kid who had just gotten a new toy and was showing it off to other kids. He was telling everyone that his daughter had made it into the prestigious academy, running around, howling about his happiness. That is when our pack's alpha appeared, and with his family, we all greeted him. His house is in the opposite direction from us, so he must have just heard us and come to see us. He was a little older than my father and was a true and just alpha who would treat all his pack with love and affection. Because of him, our pack remains peaceful without any fights between the wolves. He announced that his son Eric had also made it into the Arcane arts academy. Eric is the same age as me. He was bragging to everyone that he would go to the academy. I was happy that I would not have to see him for the next four years. But fate has other plans. Nearly everyone was in their wolf form now. Everyone was proud that this year two of our pack members had been accepted. Alpha Brenndon was congratulating my father on my being accepted. I have to be careful as I have too many secrets to go guard.