I looked up with bleary eyes at a younger Greg. He had to have been 13 years old, tops. His smooth skin and young eyes gave him a boyish charm that made me want to hurl. He was surrounded by friends around the same young age, and they were all encircling me.

" Why can’t you just accept what you are and get over it ?” Greg yells,” You aren’t normal, you’re barely even human!”

" Shut up, shut up!” I yell,” I don’t care what you think, I’m human!”

" No, you aren’t. Stop deluding yourself, it’s unhealthy.” He says,” Your wolf is suffering and your mate is suffering too.”

" I don’t have a mate or a wolf, Greg!” I yell.

He just remains silent for a moment before his lips part,” How can you be so cruel ?”

" I can be cruel to something I don’t have, I’m not a werewolf so I don’t even have one. Why should I care?” I yell.

" Stop denying it.” He growls.

" I’m not like you! I’m not a -” I slap my hands over my mouth as a sob breaks through my lips.

Suddenly Greg bends down and grabs my chin up to bring himself into my line of vision,” What were you about to say ?”

I press my lips into a thin line and shake my head.

" You aren’t addressing a friend right now, you are addressing an enemy pack’s alpha, show some respect and finish your sentences!”

I squeeze my eyes shut as I whisper the sentence.

" I’m sorry, what was that ?” He asks with a sharp edge in his tone.

" I’m not,” I choke back a sob,” I’m not a monster.”

Greg suddenly lets go of my and begins to laugh,” Oh, that’s funny!” He wipes a pretend tear from his cheek,” Joke of the year, honestly.”

" That wasn’t a joke! I’m not like you, I'm not a wild animal!"

" Oh, so that’s what you think of us ?” He growls,” That we are animals ?” He crouches down again.

I remain silent.

" Fine, you want to do this the hard way ?” His eyes begin to glow,” I command you to shift.” His eyes flashed red. An eye color that only his father and him had when they used their power.

" Dude, you aren’t alpha yet, are you sure you should be commanding people ?” One of the teenagers asked him quietly, but it was too late.

I feel a migraine coming in as a bone in my hand breaks,” No!” I scream.

The migraine begins to disappear, and no other bones break and I crawl away from Greg.

" I said shift!” He growls.

Nothing happens, and my sobs are the only thing that are heard.

" Greg, she’s been through enough man, why don’t you just let her -”

" Shut up! Olivier, I command you to shift!”

I shoot up in my bed, waking up in a cold sweat.

Oh thank god. It was just a dream.

" Olivier, are you okay ?” Varian asks.

I stare at him in confusion for a couple of moments before remembering that was my real name. Lucy Wild was nothing but a fake identity I made up on a whim.

" Should he call you Lucy, that’s what everyone’s been calling you, right ?”

" No.” I wave my hand,” It’s fine.”

" Where’d you get that name from ?” Varian asks.

" All father let me do as a child was read these crappy Sunday comics, and I happened to remember the Peanuts comic strip." I sighed as I recalled the girl who bullied Charlie Brown and got away with it because he so was in love with her," There was a character named Lucy in the comics.”

" If you’ve based yourself off of her, I get why you’re so crabby now.” Varian says.

I glance around the room,” What happened to Nathan ?” I hiss.

" We told him you were leaving to go study abroad and you were breaking it off.” Evan says.

" Why didn’t you wake me up ?” I growl.

" You wouldn’t have broken up with him.” Varian says,” You don’t like watching people cry, especially humans.”

" I would have.” I say,” I just didn’t want to hurt him.”

" Come on, don’t pout.” Evan says.

" I’m not.” I huff,” Anyways, did you guys finish packing my stuff ?”

" Yeah, just before you woke up.” Varian says.

" Then I guess it’s time.”

I grabbed the luggage that Varian had packed for me last night and throw it over my shoulder.

" Are you sure leaving now is the best thing to do ?” Evan asks.

I glance at my apartment,” At first I wanted to stay to finish this semester’s classes, but that would just make it harder to leave.” I sigh.

Varian opened the door,” We can pick up the rest of your stuff later or have it shipped.”

" Oh goody.” I mutter," I can't wait to find out what important thing I forgot at my apartment when we get there."

As I walked out of the apartment, Varian put his hand on my shoulder lightly,” You’re doing the right thing here, Ollie.”

" The right thing for who ?” I ask as I shrug his hand off my shoulder and walk down the corridor, passing by the neighbors who usually make a lot of noise, only to have their room dead silent. I chuckle as I continue walking to the elevator.

Evan runs up next to me,” Look at the bright side, you’ll get a bigger room.”

" Shut up.” I say as I press my thumb into my temple to massage it,” Look, I’m not in a good mood. I’d rather not have to look at how chipper you seem to be and want to bully you into feeling just as bad as I do right now.”

" Give her some space Evan.” Varian says as the elevator dings and we all step into it.

" It’s kind of hard to when we’re all shoved into these human coffins. I’m serious, if this breaks and falls, we’re all dead.” Evan mumbles.

" I called father last night and had him prepare everything for when you returned.” Varian says.

" Unless that included someone assassinating the bitch, they didn’t do it right.” I say.

" About your language, you may want to practice not saying that around her.” Varian says as the elevator opens on the ground floor and we step out and continue to walk out of the apartment building’s lobby.

" What do you mean ?” I ask.

" Perhaps, for starters, I don’t know . . . maybe stop referring to Celia as the bitch and start calling her step mother or something else half decent.” Varian mumbles.

" I’d rather press my boob into a cactus.” I smile.

" And maybe you could also tone down the crude language.” He whispers.

" I don’t know what you're talking about.” I feign innocence.

" Never mind.” Varian says as he pulls out the keys to his car as we enter the parking lot adjacent to the apartment building.

" Fine.” I say.

" I think your language is impeccable.” Evan says with a smile.

" Your face makes me want to punch you, Evan, and it has ever since we were kids. Stop tempting me to act on that desire.” I growl.

" But you’ve already acted on it.” He says,” Multiple times.”

" Ever think that maybe all that trauma is what caused you to turn out like this.” I say as I open Varian’s passenger seat car door and slide in.

Evan jumps into the back and Varian sits back into the driver’s seat as he closes his door and starts the car.

" It’s a long way back.” Varian says.

" I can’t say I miss the cold weather much.” I mumble.

" Or the fact that there’s nothing there.” Evan sighs.

" It’s just Maine, it’s not that bad.” Varian grumbles,” Anyway, I think we’ll make it home around six o’clock, so you may want to get some sleep in before you get there. Something tells me you won’t get much after today.”

" Home . . . ” I whisper as the foreign word bites my tongue.

" What was that ?” Varian asked.

" Nothing.” I say,” I’m gonna take a nap.” I rest my head against the car window,” Wake me up when we get there.”

I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off into much needed sleep.

1442 words

 

Just a side note, you pronounce her name (Olivier) as O-live-i-aye, like Olivia, but with an 'Ay' at the end instead of 'ia'.

- Zolot