Chapter 13 - First Encounter

  Let me tell you, bathrooms, especially the school bathrooms, are actually the worst place anyone could ever get into a fight. They’re small, for one. There’s not really much space to move around. Stalls block half of the room, the sink and counter take up too much space, and don’t get me started on the urinals and air dryers. They’re hazards, and getting thrown or knocked into one can cause some real damage.

  And of course, I knew this intimately because that was just what happened to me. My brain was too slow to register that this wasn’t a joke at all. That this blonde jock was actually serious about killing me. So when he lifted me up effortlessly and threw me against the wall, yes, I did hit an air dryer. And while my back was still reeling from the pain of it, I also got the joy of learning what it felt like to be tossed into the jagged edges of the urinal pipework.

  I was seizing in pain and hissing through my teeth while writhing on the floor. Out of all the first day of school outcomes, this was far off my bingo sheet: getting beat up by some random dude in the bathroom and his friend who was probably getting a boner from just watching it all. But why were they doing this to me? The two of them looked at me as if I’d offended them somehow, yet I’d never noticed or bothered with the jocks in school. I’d made it being as obscure as possible quite well. I couldn’t tell what had suddenly changed.

  “Not so tough now, aren’t we, little rogue?” spat Jake. “Thinking you can wander into school like you own the place. You must be the stupidest fucking rogue ever.”

  Rogue. That word again. Benji had said it earlier. “What...what is a rogue?” I managed to choke out as I tried to crawl away and under one of the stalls. I knew it wouldn’t do much good, but it was better than just letting them have their way with me. Of course, I was quickly yanked away and closer to the douchebag.

  “Don’t play stupid. We all smell you, rogue. You can’t fool us.”

  “Smell? What the hell... are you talking about?”

  My question was rewarded with a kick to the chest. Instantly, I curled forward, the pain spreading across my torso. The strength of the kick was unreal. As if the guy had put all his effort into it to make sure a rib or two broke. I pressed down on my left side and winced, pretty sure that probably DID happen.

  It hit me then, for certain now, that he really meant to kill me.

  In school.

  Around all these mundane students.

  But why? I didn’t understand! Did we always have these psychopathic bullies in school? Were they secretly trying to hurt students and kill them? Was this just some sort of thrill for them?

  “Stop toying with him and finish him off already,” yawned Evan. “He’s clearly stupid thinking he can get into our territory unnoticed. You won’t get any answers from interrogating him.”

  I’d learned my lesson that if I opened my mouth I’d just get kicked. But if they thought I’d take the rest of this beating without using my magic to defend myself, they were fucking wrong. I may be trying to hide what I am but-

  Jake then extended an arm in front of me. My eyes widened as I saw that he no longer had a human hand. It was a gnarled paw with sharp claws. Black fur sprouted around it, visible from up his arm and hidden underneath the rest of his varsity jacket. “Damn. I wanted to play with him more. Fine. Make sure they close off this bathroom, Evan. Can’t have the mundanes coming in here and seeing the bloody mess.”

  Things now clicked in my head. The furry and clawed arm. The use of the word mundanes. And suddenly, the memory of what I heard at the banquet. That there were a number of wolf packs at school. Right under my notice. Jake and probably Evan are...

  “You’re... a werewolf...,” I uttered weakly.

  “No shit, dumbass,” snarled Jake. “And you are trespassing in Greywood territory. And all trespassers will die.”

  His arm swung at me. The strike was meant to slit my throat. Quick. Lethal. If only it hadn’t hit my shield. The crash of ringing glass echoed in my ears as Jake’s hand bounced off from the impact. He cried out in surprise as the strike point shone brightly, rippling around me.

  I gritted my teeth and slowly got up, my eyes never leaving the asshole in front of me. I had been holding back. Probably not the smartest of ideas since I’d ended up as injured as I was now. Put that on the list of things to do later: self-defense. If there was a later after all this anyway.

  But now I knew who and what these two were. I didn’t need to fully hold back. It was supernatural versus supernatural now, baby, and I wasn’t going to go down easy anymore.

  “What the fuck? He’s a mage?” Jake shouted incredulously. His eyes jumped from me to Evan as if trying to find an explanation for our situation.

  “I think the glowing eyes give that away, Jake,” Evan replied. His uninterested tone suddenly sounded more concerned in my ears.The brunette is observing everything, Ky. You need to take him out first.

  I was surprised at how much relief I felt at hearing Bleddyn’s voice in my head again. But looking at Evan, I saw that his observation was right. Evan was looking around the room. Seeing how the limited space was working not only against me but them too. If they cornered me again, there would be very little I could do.

  I had to remove this advantage of theirs. Now."Ribe!” I directed my arm toward Evan and twisted at my wrist. Instantly, the wolf-boy was flipped over, dangling in the air by one leg. He struggled and growled, trying to free himself.

  “Jake!” Evan cried out. “This one’s strong! Be careful!”

  “Fucking mage!” Jake shouted, trying to lunge at me once more.

  This time I dodged out of his way, rewarding me with more snarls. He tried the same move a few more times, but the small space didn’t give either of us much to work with. And I was very much aware that just one good slash from his claws would be enough to end this dance of ours.

  You’ll have to go on the offensive, Ky. He won’t relent.

  “I fucking know that!” I shouted out. My outburst was enough to surprise Jake, who obviously couldn’t hear Bleddyn’s voice in my head. I took advantage of this moment and shoved a palm to his chest as hard as I could. ”Cuir Dheth!”

  An echoing thunder reverberated around the room. The foggy windows shuddered violently and even the stall walls rattled from my spell. Jake was thrust away from me, his body shooting into Evan who was still dangling in the air. Their bodies collided with the door and...

  ...I must’ve put more power into that spell than I had thought. The door ripped off its hinges and both boys slammed into the lockers on the far wall. It was quite a feat, if I do say so myself. Those doors are thick, their construction strong. No way anyone would’ve been able to do what I just did in normal circumstances. I mean, yeah, having magic is kind of cheating...

  “What the hell?!”

  My heart sank. At this rate, that was all it was going to do today. I was on track to being the youngest human to have a heart attack. I rushed out the opening, glaring at the two wolf boys who were completely blacked out. I gave them a light kick to make sure they weren’t faking it. Once I was satisfied, I slowly turned to the source of the new voice.

  It was another boy. A senior. I’d seen him around a few times but never interacted with him before. His eyes were still glued on Jake and Evan but I knew I’d fucked up even more now.

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  I had a witness...

  Fuck. This day just kept getting better and better. I really couldn’t deal with this right now...

  Loud footsteps came from around the corner and I sighed in relief when I saw Benji’s face appear. “Ky!” he shouted out, running up to me and trapping me in a tight hug. “Oh god, I was so worried. I thought ... I thought...”

  “Benji,” I winced. “You’re hurting me!”

  He pulled back and gave me an apologetic look. But his face paled when he noticed both the football jocks on the ground and, if it was even possible, it got paler at seeing the senior guy. “Let’s get you to the nurse,” he suggested loudly, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.

  I coughed into my free hand and saw that there was blood. Perhaps going to the clinic was the best idea. Hell, maybe even the hospital. Especially if I’d broken a few ribs like I thought I had. And it would get us away from the two wolf douches. I did my best to not kick them one more time as we went around them, down the hall, and out of sight.

  We made our way in silence, but Benji’s heavy breathing was loud in my ears. His jaw was tight, and I could hear his teeth grinding against each other. He seemed anxious, as if something was weighing heavily on him. “Are you ok?” he finally asked after a while.

  “I’m fine. That guy, Jake, just got a few good hits on me.”

  “A few? Ky, you look like shit.”

  “I do not!” My outburst immediately made me wince. “Ok, maybe I’m not fine.”

  He hesitated before muttering, “You should’ve gone home, Ky.”

  I grimaced. “It’s not like anyone would’ve known that I was that psychopath’s target today.”

  He groaned and shoved me against a set of lockers with a strength I didn’t know he had. “I TOLD you they’d try and tear you apart! Why didn’t you just listen to me?”

  I was stunned for a moment at his accusation. I just had to deal with a near death experience and he was upset that I didn’t listen to him?! “What the fuck do you know, Benji? That guy just said he was going to kill me and his friend locked the door on us. How was I supposed to know THAT was a possibility in school. You know. A place that’s supposed to be SAFE. So excuse me for not taking your paranoia seriously.”

  I had to hold my tongue before outing the boys as werewolves in front of him. He was afraid of anything even hinting at the supernatural. If he found out it was real... The last thing he’d need to know was that the two jocks he lived by were werewolves.

  Benji glared daggers at me. A few times his mouth opened to say something but he closed it over and over. “Why are you always like this, you brat?!”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

  “Everything has to be done your way. Your choices. Your rules. You and Cayetana both. But if you would’ve just taken my advice, just this ONE TIME, all of this could’ve been avoided.”

  My breathing was heavy and my eyes returned his intense look at me. I shoved him off hard and tried to leave alone. “Fuck you, Benji.”

  He faltered a bit before groaning. “Look, I’m sorry! I’m just… really worried for you.”

  “You have an odd way of showing it.”

  “I’m trying to help you!”

  “Shove off. I’ll go to the nurse on my own.”

  I was angry, and Benji very much knew it, but he followed me anyway toward the clinic. We passed by a few random students who gave us curious glances and I was grateful it wasn’t the same death looks from before. As we walked, I was doing my best to not let the pain in my ribs get to me. But after a while I couldn’t help but grimace and groan under the strain.

  “Ky?”

  I didn’t answer him.

  He reached for my shoulder to stop me and I couldn’t hide the tears in my glare. I saw him bite his lip and shake his head, before he wrapped an arm around my shoulder to try and steady me. “Just let me help, dude.”

  I didn’t complain this time. We waddled together in continued silence through the halls. Part of me wondered if anyone else had noticed Jake and Evan down the hall. Other than that senior guy.

  Fuck. What was I going to do about that? I’d have to tell Mom. She’d then have to report it to the council or the guild and they’d have to... I don’t know. Wipe his memories? It’d just make things look even worse for us again.

  “Ky? Can I ask what happened to Jake and Evan?”

  Shit. I had no idea how to answer that one. Biting my lip, I started to craft up a lie but Benji suddenly jerked my arm back. I scowled at him but he was staring straight in front of us.

  Matching his gaze, I saw Coach O’Leary leaning against the door frame of the nurse’s office talking to someone inside. I had him as my teacher last year. He was a bit of a hard ass on everyone, making sure we did almost double the expected curriculum. I’d never wanted to see the track ever again after that class. When running the mile turns into a five mile sprint, you know that you’ve got a fitness crazed teacher.

  “Why did we stop?” I asked.

  “That’s Coach O’Leary...”

  “And?”

  “Coach O’Leary is Jake’s dad...”

  My mind this time connected the dots faster. Werewolf son means werewolf father. Shit, I needed to find somewhere else to go. I looked around, trying to see if there was another classroom or bathroom I could hide in but then decided that was the worst thing that could happen. I was just beaten up in a bathroom. The last thing I should do is go to another place with few exits.

  But I didn’t get any choice in the matter as Benji tightened his grip on my arm and pulled me out the front doors of the school building. My head turned all over, worried that someone would find us leaving campus but for some reason not seeing anyone wasn’t enough of a relief for me. Benji rushed me down the long ramp, through the parking lot, and onto the main roads that led toward my house. It was a struggle since I was having a hard time breathing and walking, but I couldn’t do much against Benji’s ridiculous strength.

  “Benji, what the fuck?” I protested.

  He finally stopped and turned around, placing both his hands on my shoulders. “Go home, Ky. And don’t come out for a while.”

  “I think I need a doctor more than bed rest here...”

  “Please Ky, you just need to trust me!”

  I knit my eyebrows together. “Trust you? Benji, you’ve been acting strange all day! How can I trust you right now?”

  His eyes glazed over for a moment and I saw his expression suddenly change from worried to determined in the span of a few seconds. “Fine. I have something to show you then.”

  Instead of dragging me toward my home, he pulled me through a few houses and past their backyards so that we ended up walking into the forest. His grip on my wrist never faltered. He was stronger than I remembered him ever being. We went deeper and deeper into the woods to the point I was wondering just where on earth he was leading me.

  “Benji, where the hell are we going? I mean, I probably am going to die of internal bleeding or something at this point.”

  “Stop being dramatic.”

  “Dude. Literally limping here...”

  We stopped after a few more minutes of trudging along. He turned back to me and I saw a nervousness in his face. His breathing was fast but he still had that determined look in his eyes. “Stay here,” he commanded before backing up a few paces.

  I raised a brow when he started kicking off his shoes, his socks, and then widened my eyes as he started unbuttoning his shirt. “Wait, Benji. What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to get you to finally listen to me.”

  “Well taking off your clothes isn’t the way to get me to listen! Stop!”

  He ignored me and threw his shirt down onto the pile he had started and began to unbuckle his pants.

  What the... no... no way Cayetana was right that Benji has a thing for me. And this was definitely not the time for him to confess to me. “Benji!”

  “This is for your own good, Ky.”

  “Stop it! You’re freaking me out!”

  Benji hesitated when he got to his underwear. He placed both hands on the elastic band and looked at me, blushing. “You shouldn’t be surprised by this at all. In fact, I have a feeling you won’t be.”

  I turned away as he pulled off his underwear. My face was hot with second-hand embarrassment and I didn’t want to make him feel like he had to do any more to get me to listen. “Fine! Fine! I’m listening! Just put your clothes back on!”

  “Just remember, Ky,” he said instead. “I’m your friend.”

  I heard the familiar sound of bones popping out of position in my ears. The surprise of it had me looking at myself first before turning back around to see that Benji’s body was now shifting into something else. I watched, eyes glued to him now, as he fell onto all fours, his arms and legs adjusting to a quadruped form. His nose jutted out into a long muzzle and gray fur sprouted all over his body. A long, bushy tail extended out and long claws curled at his paws.

  When his transformation finished, I fell onto the floor, a bed of leaves softening my fall. I stared at the amber eyes of the wolf in front of me, realizing now that all this time, my best friend had been a werewolf.