Lauren woke suddenly to the loud snores of someone else in the cabin. She groaned and turned, but her movements were restricted by the sleeping bag she was in. The sleeping bag itself was in near tatters, long tears running up and down the body. She rubbed her eyes and rolled out of the sleeping bag. The corners of her vision was blood-red and blurry, like her memories of the previous night. She turned around, looking for the other werewolf, and found him lying on the other end of the cabin, half out of his sleeping bag and snoring thoroughly, his arms flinged every which way.
She groaned again and shuffled to the door, opened it and went outside. The morning was full of floating mist and the croaks of frogs, the trees whispering as the soft breeze went through their branches. She breathed in and closed her eyes, letting the breeze caress her, washing away the lingering soreness from the full moon.
“You didn’t come out for the Hunt last night. Is it because of the boy I can literally smell from here?”
Lauren’s eyes flew open and her eyes located the voice a few meters from the front of the cabin. She sighed in relief and walked forward to meet the female werewolf. The latter turned out to be a pretty Asian girl, about Lauren’s age or older. Her choppy black hair was barely shoulder-length, and looked like it was cut with a blunt knife. She had a braid to the left of her face, twisted with blue thread, and her face was nearly the exact shape of a heart. She had a small, curvy body, round hips jutting out from a smaller waist. She was dressed in cargo pants and a T-shirt that was way too big for her. She smiled genially as Lauren reached her.
“Good morning, Lim.” Lauren said “How was your night?”
Lim shrugged “Same as every month’s. Only less destructive this time. I did take down a roe deer, though. Alpha Jacob Boris was so proud of me.”
“I can only imagine how proud he must have been.” Lauren said. “What’s the biggest animal you’ve ever killed again? A rabbit, I think?” She laughed as Lim glowered and pushed her lightly.
“He mentioned something about Beth calling him to ask if there’s any of his pack members that went missing, the Alpha.” Lim looked up at Lauren. “I think it has to do with the wolf that was captured in the woods. Beth sounded worried.”
“Yeah.” Lauren muttered “I’m sure she did. I helped him escape.”
Lim stared at her, then sniggered “You–you helped the werewolf escape? How did you manage that? Is he the one in there snoring like a steam engine?”
“Shh.” Lauren shushed her. “Yes, I did. And I probably botched my relationship with Beth too, because of him.”
Lim folded her arms “Don’t you think it’s dangerous? Letting a total stranger spend the night in your cabin?”
“I know.” Lauren mused “But weirdly, I trust him. I–I don’t know. Sometimes, when he talks, I feel like we’ve met before.”
“Maybe you have.” Lim said “But still-”
“Look, Lim. I think I’ve had enough of people telling me I made a mistake by helping him.” Lauren cut in. “I saw a werewolf in distress and helped him escape. If I hadn’t done that, they might have butchered him to death or sent him to some lab to prick and poke at him till they find out the reason behind his green eyes or his enormous size. How is my helping him a bad thing?”
“I didn’t say that, Lauren. What I meant to say was, you should be more careful around him. Don’t give out any information until you know who he is and why he’s here.” Lim rubbed her friend’s shoulder.
Lauren sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Yes, I guess you’re right. But now,” she said, glancing at the rising sun “I have school this morning. And a very angry Beth to face first.”
☆
Lauren arrived at the little house that she lived with Beth, in human form, and opened the back door slowly. She tiptoed into the kitchen and closed the door with a tiny click, then let out her bated breath. She turned around and stopped short at the sight of Beth sitting at the kitchen table, a plate of breakfast before her.
“Good morning, Beth.” She said nervously “I just came by to change for school.” Beth did not reply. She watched as Lauren walked past her towards the staircase. Halfway up the staircase, Lauren turned abruptly and walked back to face Beth.
“Beth, I wanted to apologize for how I reacted yesterday. It was stupid and impulsive, but I want you to know I really appreciate all that you have done for me since my father died.” She said.
“I understand.” Beth said. “And there’s nothing to forgive. But never, ever skip school like that again.”
Lauren exhaled in relief “Thank you, I-”
“And you must take your new friend to see Alpha Jacob. If he isn’t from any pack, he might as well join in.”
Lauren nodded. “Yes, of course. I will do that today.”
“Eric stopped by to see you last night. I think he had plans with you.” Lauren groaned and slapped her forehead. “Yes. We were supposed to binge-watch Twilight together at his place.”
“I told him you were sick, though.” Beth continued “So you might wanna keep that story straight.”
“Yes, thank you, Beth.” Lauren muttered “Seems I have a lot of apologizing to do.”
☆
“I know what you’re about to say–” Lauren started as Eric glowered at her.
“You stood me up yesterday. Beth said you were sick but strangely, I don’t believe that story.” He said as they walked towards their next class.
“I wasn’t sick, okay? I had… plans.” She answered.
“Plans more important than binge-watching Twilight at my place? We do this every month. It’s our thing. I even ordered takeout and everything.”
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? We can do this some other time.”
“How about this evening? They’ll be showing a recap on TV.”
“I-can’t.”
Eric groaned and threw his deadlocked head back “At this rate we’ll never get to do anything together!”
Lauren dug her elbow into his side and smiled but said nothing.
“Don’t worry.” She reassured him as they continued walking. “I’m not growing up anytime soon”
“Sometimes,” he muttered, eyeing her “I feel like you are.”
“What?” They stopped at the door to their next class. Lauren held out her arm to stop him from following the throng of students into the room. “What?”
He avoided her eyes “You’ve been really distant lately. You’ve been cancelling plans we make together. Last month you pretended to forget we were supposed to go to that book reading together. Sometimes I feel like you’re hiding stuff from me. We’re supposed to be best friends, remember?”
She stared into his eager brown eyes and groaned. How she wished she could tell him the truth. But Beth had repeatedly grilled into her the cons of telling anyone what she was. “I know. And I’m not hiding anything from you. You have to trust me on this one, okay? I just have other-stuff I’m into now.”
Eric hugged his books tighter and shifted his feet “Stuff you can’t tell me?”
“Sadly, yes.” Lauren said.
He looked behind her and frowned “Is he the stuff you’re into now?”
“What?” She turned to find Aidan’s tall frame standing at the end of the hallway, staring at them. No, at her.
“Who’s that? And why is he looking at you?”
Lauren groaned and tapped her foot impatiently. “Hold this for me” she slapped her books into Eric’s chest and walked to meet the boy.
“Are you the only tall girl in this school? Every girl who has walked by me seemed hilariously tiny.” Aidan said as she approached him.
“What,” she said through gritted teeth “Are you doing here?”
“You weren’t in the cabin when I woke up. Naturally I decided to look for my saviour, see if she needed any saving herself. And where else to look for her first than the school she skipped to come save me?” He answered with raised eyebrows, his green eyes dilating as he looked at her. She could feel her anger dissolve under his gaze. Focus, Lauren! She chided herself.
“Perhaps you need saving from this school? We could skip together, spend the day in the woods.” He murmured.
“No.” Lauren snapped. “I have had enough problems because of you in one night. I’m not about to have more.” She glanced back and saw that Eric had left for class with her books.
“So what do you plan on doing with me?” He asked.
“I will take you to see my Alpha today. If you’re truly stranded, you need to be in a pack.”
“Yay.” Aidan said “Who is he?”
“Jacob Boris.” Lauren replied “You need to go back to the cabin now. And please, stop checking on me in school. It’s really giving off stalker vibes.”