~YULIA
I felt him before I saw him.
His scent assailed my nose and my wolf ears perked up in excitement. Every day, I felt new things whenever I laid my eyes on him. Sometimes, I saw clearer, other times, I smelled things much better. With him, a myriad of experiences always happened to me. He was leaning against his black Porsche as the wind blew his long hair in waves.
“Issa,” Jamal said, breaking the effect.
“Detective,” Issa replied curtly.
I still did not get why they did not like each other.
“Were you able to trace the phone call?” Jamal asked.
I frowned, confused.
“What phone call?” I asked.
“He took a phone off one of the burnt men, yesterday,” Jamal replied.
Issa reached into his jacket and brought out the phone. He tossed it at Jamal. “You do it, you’re the detective, it should be easier,” Issa said.
“How did you get the identities of those bikers?” Jamal asked.
“I have my ways,” Issa said with a shrug. “Let us go home.” He said to me and opened up the car to the passenger side.
I waved to Jamal and entered the car. I watched with a lot of interest as Issa walked to the driver’s side and entered.
“So, learn anything new in school today?” He asked as he started the car.
“I just got higher in the social ladder,” I told him. “It turns out Leia was the queen bee until I kicked her ass.”
“Oh, that. It is a normal thing in this school,” he said. “You may get invited to parties and new cliques now.”
I scoffed. “That means nothing to me,” I said.
“You will get challenged easily then,” he replied.
“But I do not even want the title,” I protested.
He reversed the car out of the parking spot and turned to the road.
“Do you want to know a secret?” He asked as he drove us home.
“Yeah?”
“There are powers in title and status. See, Canis academy is very different from other schools. Whatever you achieve both in marks, points and roles makes you more powerful,” he said.
“Wait, you mean like real powers?” I asked in disbelief.
“Did you notice anybody messing with Leia when you first got admitted?” He asked.
I squeezed my face up deep in thought. “Now that you mentioned it, even the lecturers and professors sometimes let her do whatever she wanted in class,” I recalled.
“And how did the students behave around her?” Issa asked.
“They…feared her and sometimes gave her a wide berth. It was almost as if they did not want to offend her,” I said.
“She defeated another student to get the position,” Issa said.
“By fighting?” I asked.
“There are many ways to climb up the social ladder, it does not necessarily have to be through fighting alone. It could be through a game of chess, poker, or who has the highest mark in the subject.”
“But I did not challenge her,” I said.
Issa shrugged. “You did, just not verbally,” he replied.
“Jamal planned this!” I yelled in realization. The question was why.
“Why do you think so?” He asked.
I could not think of an answer. “Why do you hate Jamal, anyway?” I asked.
Issa frowned. “He used to be a pack member,” He answered. I widened my eyes at the news.
“A Blue River wolf pack member?” I asked.
“Yes, then he left to join the Nocturnal Corp,” Issa said.
“What is the Nocturnal Corp anyway? I do not really understand how they work.”
“The Nocturnal Corp is a private military organization consisting of werewolves and witches and other night creatures. They come together to maintain law and order in the supernatural community. They assign Detectives to each werewolf territory to investigate crime and protect the integrity of the territory they are assigned to protect,” Issa explained.
“What of the Alphas? Or you for example, are you not capable of doing that yourself?” I inquired.
“I could but it would take time, Blue River is a large piece of land and it will waste tremendous resources and energy for me to cover everywhere even with my pack members,” He answered.
“So, Jamal works for you, then,” I said.
“If only it were that simple. He reports to the Corp, that is why I hate his guts.” He answered. “I do not want anyone in my territory giving me orders on how to be a Lycan, it is insulting.”
“That is why you do not want to tell him anything,” I said as the puzzle in my head fit in place.
“I do not trust him, I never have and I never will,” Issa answered.
The car sped up all of a sudden and I gasped in fear. “What are you doing?” I asked, alarmed as my heart began to pound.
“Several cars are following us,” Issa said as he locked eyes on the rearview mirror.
A loud ringing exploded in my mind and I winced at the effect. It left me trembling. It was a very horrible experience and I shot a glare at Issa. “What the hell is that?”
“Sorry, about that, I sent a mental alert to all werewolves nearby,” Issa said as he gripped the steering wheel and focused intensely on the road.
He was swerving dangerously in and out of lanes, missing cars by close calls, throwing me around crazily. I was suddenly grateful to whomever it was that invented seatbelts.
“Are you trying to lose them?” I asked.
“No, I am leading them to a place where no one will interrupt us when I begin to rip out their throats,” Issa growled.
His fearlessness astounded me.
Issa turned to a road that led to a harbour filled with boats. I looked back and saw that the vehicles were chasing us. They were four in number. He was speeding up a wooden bridge now. “Why are you taking us close to the water!” I panicked as I hung on for my dear life.
“In case there are too many of them, we may have to swim for it.”