Love and Submission

Chapter Five

Sunday was the most boring day at Olivia's hotel job. Normally this was a good thing, it meant she had plenty of time to do her homework and catch up on reading. This Sunday however came on the tail end of the craziest week of her life so now all she had to do was think about it. She had tried to research werewolves on the net and came up empty. The only information on them was Hollywood or fanatical Goth websites that were more into vampires. That everyone knew everything about. It was frustrating and then she felt stupid for even looking it up in the first place. Werewolves weren't real, no matter what she'd seen. But she had seen it. She had watched Connor change from a man to a wolf and then back. Disgusting process though it was she had seen it and touched him as a wolf and then as a man. He was definitely real.

She put her head down on the desk and sighed. Her rational logical mind insisted that being a werewolf was impossible. The other part of her believed it more and more. She had never been what anyone would call athletic before being bitten. She had been a victim of poor hand-eye coordination since early childhood and when puberty hit she had developed curves. She had hips and breasts now, not one of the perpetually thin girls who made up the popular crowd but not overweight either. It had put even more strain on her underdeveloped stamina. Now she could run easily. Up and down the stairs without breaking a sweat or even breathing heavy. Chasing around her siblings was nothing now compared to the challenge it used to be.

There was also the other evidence she couldn't ignore. Her vision was now 50/50 at least. She could hear her entire family moving through the house, talking, and if she concentrated hard enough she could even hear them breathing. All from the safety of her basement room. She could smell things more clearly too. It had taken her most of the weekend to adjust to all of this heightened sensory perception and sometimes it was still challenging. She found it was easier if she didn't focus on it. All of the evidence pointed to a massive shift in her being. She had even considered going to the doctor and having them test her but thought better of it. What if she really was a werewolf? Could they detect that in your blood or something? The repercussions of a doctor discovering a real live werewolf were just too much to risk.

So she was stuck going back and forth on the subject while she waited for her twelve arrivals to check in. She ended up doing her homework but only by sheer force of will and her mind continuously wandered away from it. Thankfully she had the excuse of being sick to blame. She groaned and thought about Kitty. Her best friend had not been satisfied with all of her assurances over the phone but Olivia couldn't risk her coming over just yet. She didn't want to blurt all of this craziness out and have her friend pass the word along. She would have been institutionalized in a heartbeat. For now, the only one she could discuss this with was Connor. He had stayed away from her just like she'd asked and while she was happy for that at the same time she kind of missed him. He was the only one who had any answers, deranged though they may be.

When her night relief came in she nearly sprinted for the door. Being cooped up indoors was starting to become an irritant for Olivia. She always wanted to be outside where she had space to move. She'd taken to driving with her windows open and even cracking open the one in her bedroom at night. The fresh air was a necessity when she could smell the difference between that and the stale air circulating around her house. The wind from the car was blowing her hair around and felt like soft cool fingers running across her scalp and down her neck. She sighed contentedly. At least there were some perks to this supposed werewolf business.

Her parents were already in bed when she got home so she was able to creep down to her room after grabbing a snack. She had eaten more in the past week than she had in her entire life. Though she had no weight gain to show for it so oh well. She peeled off her clothes and hopped into the nice warm shower sighing happily again. She decided that she probably should try to find Connor. She was still pissed off at him for forcing this on her but she could deal with that later. Right now she needed answers and he was the one with them. She would also have to set him straight on this whole 'mate' thing.

Feeling confident in her plan she sank into her bed and gradually nodded off to sleep. She woke up five hours later feeling perfectly refreshed. She sighed again and looked at her alarm clock which told her it was five in the morning. Way too early in other words. School didn't start for another three hours and her family wouldn't be up for another one at least. She got up and paced around trying to think of something to do. It was too early to clean or really make breakfast but nothing would be open either. She didn't want to sit around as she had too much energy. The idea hit her and she frowned at herself. The whole fitness craze had been totally lost on her but if she was up this early anyway why not go for a run? She shrugged and changed into the appropriate clothing. She could test the limits of her new increased stamina while she was at it. She snagged her iPod on the way out the door.

When she arrived back at her house an hour and a half later she was covered in sweat and breathing hard. She felt so good though. Her muscles were stretched out and feeling well used. She'd also made it out of the little town and back. Speed wasn't really so much her thing as endurance. She could sprint well enough but she never seemed to get tired. Her appearance startled her mother who was in the kitchen making breakfast. "Oh, I didn't realize you were up this early."

"I woke up early and decided to go for a run so I wouldn't wake anybody up." Her mother turned and eyed her suspiciously.

"You've never done that before. Olivia you're acting very strangely lately." Olivia shrugged.

"I don't really know what to tell you mom, but the run felt great. I think I might start doing it more often." Her mother watched her down a glass of water and then reach for another.

"Make sure to bring some water with you next time. It's important to hydrate when you exercise."

"Okay." Olivia drank the second glass and then sat down at the table. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Scrambled eggs and ham. Now don't start I'll make some without ham." Olivia's stomach rumbled just at the mention of food.

"No that's cool, ham's fine." Her mother turned and came towards her putting a hand on her forehead. "Uh what are you doing?"

"You're just so different all of the sudden. I think maybe I should take you to the doctor."

"Mom I'm feeling fine. Better than fine really and now you want me to get checked out?"

"It just doesn't seem right."

"What doesn't seem right?" Her dad asked sleepily as he yawned. He kissed the top of her head and shuffled his feet to the coffee pot. This was new for her. She hadn't seen her parents stumble about their morning routine in, well, ever.

"Olivia. All of the sudden she's eating more food, running in the morning, and she has more energy all the time."

"Don't pester the girl Jane. She's just in a good mood there is no reason to worry." Her dad had always been the calm one. She smiled at him and handed him the paper she had picked up from the lawn on her way back in. Her mother sighed audibly but went back to fixing breakfast. When she set a heaping plate down in front of Olivia it was a supreme effort not to tear into it like an animal. She was starving and the smell from the ham was driving her insane. She made quick work of the meal and was getting up for seconds when she noticed her dad just blinking at her from across the table. "You should probably eat about a half an hour before you run to avoid using up all of your energy like that." He scolded her.

"Okay thanks for the tip." She said with a smile and hopped up to get more. She figured two helpings were probably as much as she could get away with but she could've eaten more. After she had cleaned her plate and fork and set them both to dry she bounded down the stairs to get ready for school. She heard her mother whisper to her father that she suspected Olivia was on drugs. Olivia snickered into her hand and shook her head. The response was eerily similar to that of her father's though he left out the snicker. She packed some extra snack food into her backpack so she wouldn't starve before lunch and then made a show of walking at a slower pace toward the front door. Her siblings were up by then and eating their own breakfasts. They waved a sleepy goodbye to her as she left and her parents both blew kisses. She got all the way outside before she rolled her eyes.

School loomed before her only moments later as she parked her car in the student lot. Even though it was early there was still a crowd in the courtyard. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the task at hand. Sitting inside all day with so many people was going to be a new test of will for her. She got out and walked towards her usual table smiling at people she knew and nearly laughing when they blinked in surprise. Kitty was already waiting for her thankfully and nearly toppled her over in a hug once she saw her. "Oh my god you are never going to believe this."

"Believe what?" Olivia asked her. Kitty was worse than an old woman the way she gossiped.

"We have a new student!" She gushed. Olivia sat down and turned wide eyes towards her.

"Seriously? Who would want to move to Stepfordville?" Kitty snickered at the joke but kept on going. Clearly her excitement would not be derailed.

"I don't know why he's here but I know he is gorgeous. I mean seriously Liv you have got to see this kid. Molly is already salivating over him."

"Oh so it's a him then?" Kitty nodded furiously. "Is he already dating Molly?" Kitty shook her head.

"Nope. But he was talking to her earlier so I don't know, they might be by now. You know how she is." Yeah, incapable of keeping her knees together is what she was. Olivia and Molly had never been friends and ever since the boyfriend stealing incident in the tenth grade they were now considered enemies. Not that Olivia usually dropped down to her level but occasionally she got too riled up. Molly was blonde, blue eyed, perfect athletic body, and the captain of the girl's lacrosse team. Every guy wanted her and most of them had already had her, not like that fact kept the next wave from trying anyway.

"Well good riddance. If he's swayed by her charms then we don't need to worry about him, no matter how cute is."

"You'll be singing a different tune when you see him." She said with a superior expression on her face. Olivia was about to retort when Kitty's eyes widened into saucers and a generous blush spread across her cheeks. She quickly looked to Olivia. "Oh my god he's coming over here."

"Breathe Kitty, jeez. It's just a guy…"

"There you are." She froze, instantly recognizing the voice but hoping against hope that she was wrong. She turned slowly and sure enough it was exactly who she thought it was.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Connor smirked down at her.

"I was worried you weren't going to make it, your friend here said you had been sick recently." His grey eyes danced with amusement.

"Answer my question Connor." He didn't. Just stood there all silent and devastatingly handsome while others looked on curiously. She felt her temper starting to rise and was about to yell at him when she heard Kitty's stammering voice finally manage to get out a sentence.

"You already know each other?" Oh yeah. This was just wonderful.