Beta Knows Best

Ouch?

Things went just about as you'd imagine when I got back into the house after leaving Maverick. My parents were waiting at the kitchen table, my siblings somewhere else doing who-knows-what. 

"What were you thinking, going into the woods alone?" My dad says, his voice disturbingly calm. This makes me even more nervous; the fact that he's going to explode at any second.

"I was-" Wait, alone? I glance at my mother, and she shakes her head the slightest bit. She's probably right- he'd be way more mad if I were with someone. Especially a boy I barely know. "Just blowing off some steam, that's all. I found some pretty cool stuff, too." 

My dad lets out a sigh, closing his eyes. "I don't care what you found, Kennedy. Do you know how dangerous that was?" He says, then looks at me. "We heard a wolf howling shortly after you left. What if it had attacked you?"

I snort internally. If only he knew. But they can't know, right? There are three possibilites that could happen if I told them I was a lycan. A) They claim I am the spawn of the devil and cast me away. B) They accept it and decide to keep me as the family pet. C) They send me to a nut house. 

"I can handle myself." I say with a shrug. "I didn't spend all those years in girl-guides for nothing." I say jokingly and he glares at me. 

"You don't get it, do you? Why can't you just listen for once, Kennedy? Why do you always have to defy me?" He says, his voice low and growing louder by the second. I'm sick of this; of being talked down to like I don't know what I'm doing.

"Because you can't control my life, dad." I say before walking past him and running up the stairs to my room before he can yell at me. I let out a deep sigh and flop down onto my bed, covering my eyes.

The next day at school. things are the same. Kadence acts a bit more closeted than before but now that I understand why, I don't mind. I know that she could get in some serious shit for even talking to me, but that still doesn't stop her. We talk during all of our spare time, occasionally getting shunned by the teachers. I learn that Kadence isn't from here either, her family moving to the town when she was five.

Gabe sits with us in biology, but he isn't as enthusiastic with Kadence as he is when it's just us. I figure he's intimidated by her standing on the staircase of popularity. Not gonna lie, I also am in a way. I don't mention anything to her about Maverick, or the fact that we're both werewolves. As a matter of fact: I don't even know for sure if she is.

"So are you going to sit with us today, Ken?" Kadence asks as the lunch bell rings, smiling brightly. "You don't have to be scared of them, their bark is worse than their bite." She say with a wink and I smile, shaking my head. 

"I'd love to really, but my sister is making me drive her to the cafe where you work to get lunch." I say, and she shrugs, waving her hand. 

"That's alright. Have fun, I'll see you soon!" She says cheerily before leaving me alone to find Julia. I know I can't avoid the pack for ever, but at least I have a valid excuse.

Computer Sciences is on my mind all through the lunch break. 

Gabe and I sit in the same seats as the previous day. "So you're telling me you've never played Call of Duty?" I say, astonished. Gabe clears his throat slightly, shaking his head.

"My mother is extremely against violent video games." He says. "She's worried they'll taint my innocence." He says, rolling his eyes as I laugh a bit.

"What can you play then? Tetris?" I ask, and he groans.

"Not even. Mother says eliminating rows of blocks is too much like killing people." 

I laugh again, and Gabe laughs with me. I feel Maverick enter the room, and I turn to him with a smile. I don't receive what I expected- I'm met by a neutral, expressionless look. I frown slightly, making eye contact as he walks by.