I Daire You [On-Hold]

Chapter 2: Excuse me? I do not volunteer as tribute.

  “This isn’t because of..” Drake hesitated in saying, his bright eyes suddenly concerned and sympathetic.

  “No, bro,” I answered with a shake of my head, “My bitterness for SMA or TWEP has nothing to do with the fact that I haven’t hit my transformation yet. It’s good really. No shifting means zilch chances of me being selected for the darn programme.”

  Every wolf was supposed to hit their transformation stage at the age of 14. So yes, call me a freak or retard for not even shifting into my wolf once, even though I was 17 next year?

  People told me it was probably a late period, but after my 14th birthday, I figured it was stupid to raise my hopes up again and just live with the fact that I was one of those poor, dysfunctional wolves that could never transform.

  Drake, even though he was older than me by only 1½ minutes, had shifted for the first time during the night he striked 14. 

  I suppose you expected me to fill some sort of jealousy towards my brother, but I guess when you’ve been living with the fact for practically 3 years; your fury just tends to wear off.

  “I’m sure you’ll shift soon, sis,” Drake was saying with a comforting smile. Despite how he could annoy me with a passion, being the awesome sister I am, I loved my silly bro anyway.

  “I honestly doubt that, but thanks,” I said, returning his grin with an identical one of my own. We were entering the school hall, where 50% of our wolf student body were already gathered.

  “Daire! Drake! Over here!”

  Drake and I both turned in unison to find Leah, one of our closest friends, waving at us frantically. We made our way through the crowd and saw our friends already settled at the corner of the hall.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so nervous!” Sophia, a slim blonde who happened to be my best friend after Drake, squealed. I rolled my eyes while Drake laughed as we took our seats beside our small group of friends.

  “I know how you feel,” Adam agreed with a sigh as he ran a hand through his cropped, bleached hair. Leah put a gentle arm on Adam’s tensed hand. He instantly loosened and smiled adoringly down at his sweetheart. It didn’t take a werewolf version of Sherlock Holmes to figure out that they were mates.

  “You guys are overreacting,” I stated flatly as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and sank down in my seat.

  “Don’t mind her, she’s been sulking ever since we woke up,” Drake whispered-yelled to the others. I scowled and landed a slap on his shoulder, which to him probably hurt as much as being attacked by Captain Plastic Bag.

  Damn me and my lack of wolf strength.

  “It’s okay; we know of her optimism and completely love her anyway,” Sophia teased. I was about to throw at her a sarcastic retort when a loud, piercing squeak of a mike echoed through the room.

  “Ughhhhh,” Practically the entire auditorium chorused and I stifled a chuckle. To my ‘human’ ear even that was ear-splitting, imagine what my wolf buddies with the enhanced hearing had to go through.

  “Sorry, sorry,” Principal Anderson’s embarrassed voice entered my ears. She was a sweet middle-aged lady, who happened to be the mate of my packs 4th-in-command.

  “Now,” She started, clearing her voice as she started gesturing for silence. Of course, even though we were wolves, this was a teenage sanctuary nonetheless. If anything, the roar of the chatting just got louder.

  “Silence!”

  Judging from the way my friends coward back into their seats and how the entire room fell into a heavy, respectful silence, I watched as my father walked onto the stage.