BANG!! BANG!!
A loud banging on my door had awoken me up from my deep sleep. I sat and studied my surroundings.
“RIANNE!” I heard followed with another banging on my door. “It’s time to wake up!” I heard my brother, Drew called me out.
I got up and yelled, “I’m up” and went to my bathroom to take a shower.
I looked at myself up on the mirror I have inside my bathroom. I am not ugly but I am not also gorgeous like some girls of my age. I have long, wavy, light brown hair and a light brown skin and a set of green eyes. I am also tall and slim.
By the way, I’m Rianne Paine but friends usually call me Ri. I am 17 years old, though in a few days from now, I will be 18.
I have four brothers- the twins, Drew and Drey, who are celebrating their 21st birthday today; Red, the second child, 20; and Rochie, 19, the fourth and the closest to me.
You guessed it! I am the youngest of the Paine siblings. We live with our parents despite our age because my mom, RoseAnn wanted to see us and be with us ALWAYS.
Speaking of parents– Dad, his name’s Drake, is an American while Mom is a Filipina (That’s why she didn’t let us live in a separate house.) Dad was a former Alpha while my mom is an Alpha’s only daughter. My parents met in an international conference for Alpha’s and Beta’s. My mom went with my grandfather and his beta here in America where fortunately, she met Dad and instantly, they fell in love. They got married a month after.
Six years ago, our pack and the other packs near us were threatened by rogues that’s why my father decided to step down as alpha and merged our pack with a neighboring pack. We need their numbers, and they need our skills. So with that, we became ordinary wolves who lived in our old home in between both the pack’s territories. However, our new pack is not that welcoming since there has been a time when both these packs are not in agreement with each other.
“RIANNE!” I heard another shout and this time, it came from Drey.
“YEAH!” I called back and changed into my clothes fast. I brushed my hair, applied a little make-up and stepped into my flat shoes.
I ran down the stairs and to the kitchen where my mom is. She cooks food for us, takes care of us, do some chores (we do the half of it), and still managed to teach in the pack’s kindergarten for the young wolves.
“Morning, Mom!” I gave her a kiss before grabbing the pancakes. “Don’t you have duty today, Mom?”
I asked her for she was only wearing jeans and a tee.
“No, babe. Remember what day today is?” I remembered the twins’ birthday and I shook my head. “No wonder they are so excited.” Then it hit me. “Gee,” I said, excitement is in my voice “they’re gonna meet their mates today!” I told them and looked at my mom. She smiled at me and then looked at the list she held in her hands. Yeah! Mom personally prepares food on special occasions.
“Mates.” I told myself in a sigh. It hard to find your mate. It would be luck if they are just in the same pack with you.
Anyway, our family is kind of different.
Usually, werewolves will know their mate as soon as they become 18 but us, we know them at the age of 21.
You know what makes me more different? I can’t shift, Most wolves shift at the age of 16 like my brothers do. But me, I can’t. I don’t know why? Although I am sure I have my wolf. I even talked to her a few times. Her name is Cassandra.
“Beep! Beep!” I jumped at a fright when I heard the car. I swallowed down my remaining pancakes, kissed my mom and then ran towards the door grabbing my book bag on the way.
“HAPPY HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, KUYAs!” I greeted my big brothers as I stepped into our car. I each gave them a hug which they returned with glee.
(A/N: KUYA is a Filipino word used to call an elder brother or an older man. It is a sign of respect to the elder brother.)
“Thanks Sis!”
“So are you excited to find your mates?” I asked with a grin.
“Yes!” “No!” They both answered at the same time.
“Why is it a “NO”, Kuya Drey?”
“I dunno! Scared, I guess.” He frowned. “What if she’ll reject me because of me being a freak.” he said soflty.
The car suddenly stopped, I almost bumped my face at the back of the front seat. “What?!” We all shouted at him.
“Kuya,” Red said calmly. “You are not a freak! If that is the case, then we all are. Yes, we have our powers but that doesn’t mean we are freak!”
“Kuya,” Rochie spoke in a serious tone. “Our power is a gift. I don’t know why it runs in the family when it is rare to find a talented werewolf but then, we don’t use it to hurt others or even to have leverage on others.”
We stared at Rochie after his speech. We can’t seem to believe he is capable of saying those words. Come on, he is the family clown!
As Kuya Drey smiled, we also smiled back at him and at the same time, we looked at Rochie again and at one another, then laughter broke out in the car.
Kuya Drew restarted the car as silence exchanged the laughter.
One of the reasons we are “unusual” is because of our power. We have this ability to control the wind as if it’s part of our body. Usually, it is very rare to find a talented werewolf but we all are, even Mom, except for our Dad. Mom said it’s because of our origin but she won’t explain further, saying that everything will be explained the right time by the right person. As of now, she told us not to show nor tell others even with the alpha.
We finally arrived at the school in time and Rochie and I climbed down the car after we bid them goodbye and a litany of do’s and don’ts.
You might be asking why Rochie is still in high school when he’s already nineteen? Well, he got really sick when he was younger which caused him not to go to school on his 7th grade.
I noticed that there were still plenty of people in the parking lot. The populars, were in the right side of the parking area. They were all wolves under our recent pack, Silver Gibbous Pack.
We then walked towards the group of people to the left. They were wolves, too, who were former pack members of the Midnight Serenity, formerly led by our father. They were our friends. There were only seven of us Serene’s (short for our former pack name), Rochie and I, mates Jenna and Lance, Taylor and Arvin and Bethany who is mated to a Gibbous, Jam who hangs out with us. Most of our former members already graduated.
As Rochie and I walked towards them, we passed by the original Gibbous. (See the discrimination?)
“Ohh! Look who’s here? The skipped-gene wolf!” Tyler, one of the players in the school, half-shouted at me, once again, calling me the name they decided to call me.
“Found that werewolf gene now, freak?” Allison, one of the cheerleaders asked. Everyone in the parking lot laughed.
I ignored them and focused on my brother who was about to snap.
“Chill down.” I whispered to him. “It’s not worth it.” He calmed down and continued walking towards our group but not before giving them a sharp death glare.