Maze of Trees

First Steps

    I stood in my dorm room, 30 seconds to mars playing in the background, as I studied my reflection in the mirror we had placed on the back of our dorm room's door. Light blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun, stray strands falling to frame my face. I was too lazy to do much with my hair, and this messy bun was usually my go to daily hairstyle. Grey-blue eyes shone behind a pair of grey glasses that served absolutely no purpose except to make a fashion statement. A fashion statement that only I knew, but it was one I liked. Plus, they went well with my plain heather grey t-shirt, light denim jeans, a white and black buffalo plaid flannel tied around my waist, and black high heeled wedge ankle boots. I liked to look nice, but I didn't like to be ostentatious about it. This was my fresh start and I wanted to look as good as I felt about it! 

    My name is Amberleigh Michelle Greenwood. I'm an 18 year old rogue werewolf trying to live a normal life without all the pack politics and hullabaloo that comes with it. My parents and I had been part of The White Mountain Pack. Living in the southern shadow of Mount Rainier, in a small town called Packwood. It had been an amazing place for a growing werewolf to explore and grow in.  A human would have loved the environment as well, but werewolves had absolutely thrived.  It was near the Cowlitz River, which I had used for our escape, and there were many hiking trails, peace and quiet, and it was without a doubt the ideal place for a pack to settle and put down roots. At least it had seemed like a small slice of paradise in a world that didn't accept those of us which were not of the human race. The night that my parents had been killed was what had made this place seem so much more dreary and scary, less like that of the perfect paradise.  They had been driving home one night and a tree had fallen across the road and right on top of their car, or at least that was the story that I had been told. It was hard for me to believe that my mother, a gamma and the packs best tracker,  and my father, the packs top warrior, had been killed so easily. After their death I had been allowed to stay in my parents house within the pack borders, the alpha had tried to convince me to move into the pack house but I hadn't felt right doing that. plus to be in the pack house meant I would be constantly under scrutiny and subjected to the pity stares and pity comments that would be never ending. When I had turned 16 my wolf, Mefitis, had emerged and it was shortly after that that we had decided to leave and make our own path in this life. Make a life that I chose, not one that someone else would decide, or one that would be decided based off of who I had been born to.  The mate bond was what scared me the most, it was something that seemed to take complete control of your life, and if I ever found my fated mate then that would mean the end of my life my choice attitude that I had.  We had enrolled ourselves into home schooling via online courses, something that had not proved too difficult as I was able to just transfer the info from the school I was currently attending.  Using the skills  my mother had taught me about tracking had been a huge help in me being able to get away as fast, and as quietly, as I had.  

    After arriving in the Tacoma area, I had discovered that I really liked it here. It was a little closer to home then I may have liked, but I had yet to hear or see any of my pack members even come close to the area. So I had decided to settle down and start school. PLU (Pacific Lutheran University) had been an eye catcher almost immediately. I still had many options if I did need to escape and make a run for it. Mefitis had been very strict about us still having escape routes planned out and all the details nailed down solid. She had even had me run a drill the first few weeks we had been here. 

    "You look fantastic, but your nerves are showing!" a light airy toned voice, that belonged to none other than my roommate, commented from the door. I had closed the door most of the way, so my roommate was only able to poke her head through the door to study me from the mirror's perspective. She quickly squeezed through and settled herself on her bed with one of her national geographic magazines that she quickly flipped through to find the main article. The cover had a photo of a jaguar with a crocodile looking thing in it's mouth. 

    "no worries though, all humans are nervous on their first day too so you wont stand out any! plus, you have me! so there's no way anyone will find out about your furry behind!" She shrieked as I threw a pillow at her "My magazine! Don't you dare bend this cover!" If a human could growl she'd be growling at me right now. I shook my head laughing at her, she always knew what to say and when. 

    Clarke and I had met when I had gone to the barn where she kept her gelding, Dartanian. I had been walking around the area with my camera looking for something to photograph for my online photography class assignment. I had been taking photos of horses peacefully grazing in the field, rolling in the soft patch of dirt they had found, or standing next to one another, head to tail, to keep the flies at bay while they busily swished their tails back and forth. But then I had caught sight of a rider on a huge horse, sailing over a huge log that I had no idea why anyone would jump over it for fun. But I quickly had aimed my camera in their direction and busily snapped shots while walking towards them at the same time! It was beauty, graze, and power all packaged into one and I wanted to capture that with my lens! 

    "Alright, well then I'm off C," my nickname for her, "make sure your not late for your class!" I said with enthusiasm as I quickly grabbed my bag and cell phone, and heading towards the door. 

    "You've got this A," her nickname for me, "just be yourself, well be your human self. Let's not have a repeat of how we first met!" she smiled impishly as I headed towards the door. I just rolled my eyes. 

    We had fought like cats and dogs the first time we had met. She hadn't been what I would call a fan of me taking photos of her without her knowing who I was, and the fact I hadn't asked for permission was another major issue she had had.  The encounter had ended with both of us on our asses in sawdust, mud, and who knows what else. She had tried to take the camera away while I had tried to hold onto it. Neither of us had given up or backed down and at some point, I think, we had both realized that we had, somehow,  started a friendship that doesn't come around every day. If I had allowed Mefitis out I would have been able to beat her easily, something that Mefitis had reminded me of constantly for a short period of time after this had happened! But i had had to fight her mentally, while struggling to keep my camera from Clarke, because if I had allowed her to come forward and help it would have attracted attention, and not the good kind. My human side wasn't very strong since I had never joined in on the pack physical trainings that happened every morning since my parents death. I had kept on my cardio though in preparation for my escape and it was a habit that I had maintained even after leaving. 

    I made my way across the brick path that wound its way around the chapel and to the large lecture hall behind it. The size was impressive but once I stepped inside I realized that that was all that it had going for it. The lecture hall was a grand one but stone cold and devoid of any feelings what so ever. The professors that used this hall were not able to decorate or embellish it in any way as it was used for many different classes of many different subjects.  So instead of simple decorations that it could have used they had left the walls boring and flat, devoid of anything. Half the class had arrived already it seemed and had spread themselves out as thinly as possible. It seemed as though they may all have been trying to avoid each other.  This worked in my favor, I wouldn't be singled out as the weird kid on their first day by sitting to the very back or away from people. I would fit right in in this class. I decided to sit in one of the rows located in the middle of the hall and as far to one side as I could. This seemed ideal. I wouldn't look like, what Clarke called, a brownnoser trying to seek the teachers attention and I also wouldn't look like the student who didn't study and didn't do their work and hoped the teacher didn't call on them by sitting in the back. I could still see the board from here for any notes I needed to take down and bein gin the neutral zone the teacher was less likely to hone in on you when looking for a poor soul to answer a question. Mefitis came forward ever so slightly while I kept my eyes down so as not to give anything away. She tested the air, taking in a large whiff. She assured me there were no outer werewolves present in the class and I could be completely at ease.

    The 2-hour lecture was hard to follow, and to top it off the instructors mic was not working. Without having Mefitis come forward ever so slightly, so I could use my enhanced hearing, I would have been at a complete loss!  As he wrapped up I noticed students starting to put their things away, something that was considered very disrespectful in werewolf society. It was a sign of respect to wait until the teacher completely finished and excused himself before you started putting your things away. I made sure to ignore the actions of others and wait until he had finished talking. then quickly put my notebook and textbook in my arms, slung my bag over my shoulder and made a hasty retreat out of the classroom before I would be forced to make pleasantries with anyone. The next class I had was history, a favorite subject of mine besides photography, and I only had a short 5 minute window to go from one class to the next. 

    Luckily, the room was not far from the lecture hall and it was downstairs in what seemed to be a basement. But what the lecture hall had lacked this room more than made up for, it was incredible! The smell of old books, antiques from around the world adorning the shelves and any open space available. I stopped  at one book shelf containing those ships in a bottle and noticed there were many other ship models littered about the room. I had completely forgotten about finding a seat suitable and just plopped myself down at on to the back of the room. It gave me the best view of everything that there was in the classroom and I felt that I would never be able to see it all within the year that we had! As I continued to scan the room my eyes fell upon the teacher, a man who fit in perfectly with the room, one could say he himself was even apart of it. He had salt and pepper hair that was slightly disheveled, silver rimmed glasses that perched halfway down his nose, and a five o'clock shadow that hid what one many call handsome, chiseled, features.  He wore a button up plain shirt covered by a sweater vest and dress slacks with wing tip shoes that had definitely seen better days. There was something else about him and as our eyes met Mefitis sounded the alarm. Wolf! 

    My brain froze, we had practiced this a hundred times, of what we would do if we were ever to come across another wolf. 

    "Wait!" Mefitis said "He hasn't noticed us yet? or maybe he has but isn't showing it?" She sounded as confused as I was. I watched him stand up and start handing out the class syllabus to those of us that had made it to a seat already.  Once he was done he headed to the back of the room, almost right behind me, and stood by the door. At exactly 12:15 he shut the door and turned the lock on the handle. He was setting the tone for his class and his rules right off the bat it seemed. 

    His name is Mr. Hansen and the main things he stressed was that he was no nonsense, we'd be locked out of we were even a minute late, and that is there was even a shadow of a doubt in his mind that we weren't doing our own homework or our own thinking for our tests that it would mean immediate, and permanent, dismissal from his class. As he covered other things that would not be tolerated I caught the subtle signs that there was some enjoyment, or memory of enjoyment, as he listed off some pranks and shenanigan's that had occurred in past years and it made me think that this teacher was going to be a lot more fun than his first impression. It also made him seem more approachable to me than he had been only 10 minutes earlier. He looked up from his notes after a short while and with a twinkle of his steel blue eyes he started teaching. No easy first day here of getting familiar with each other, it was straight down to business, and I didn't mind it one bit.

    Once the class had finished I, like in the previous class, bolted the minute I could. I caught Mr. Hansen raise his brow slightly when he caught my action but he never looked up from his desk that he was seated at and studying a book intensely.  I hope he didn't take it as a rude gesture, but I need to get out of this room. I needed to talk to Clarke and bounce my concerns about one of my teachers also being a werewolf off of a not so paranoid person.