Dirty Secret

Chapter 8

Clarity's Pov
I woke up the next day with a strange feeling in my gut. It was an uneasy wave of movements that made me wonder if I was becoming physically sick. As I showered and proceeded with my regular routine of getting ready for school, I could hear that someone downstairs had the television on and was watching the news. Of course my thoughts were still occupied with the strange events from the day before. Brett had really driven me home after catching me in the rain, he had really witnessed the trauma that is my adoptive parents? I forced myself to shake it out of my head. It was inevitable, if Brett decided to open his big mouth at school and make my last days more of a scorching hell then it already was then so be it. I shall raise my head high and die with the honor of knowing that although my rogue blood was dirty, that I was still a more decent person then all of them combined-

My attention was suddenly averted to what I could hear from the downstairs television. I was midst shrugging on the strap of my school purse when I paused at the news reporter's voice that announced," the man was killed in what was believed to be a wolf attack. He was nowhere near the woods, in fact this happened right outside of his home Fresh Lakes."

I ran as quickly as I could out of my room and down the creaky stairs. It was Thomas that was hosteling the rocking chair, beer in hand, half passed out as the news reporter went on. The screen displayed a picture of a middle aged mortal man that I did not recognize.

"As of right now, there is no information or footage on the wolf , local police will continue to work with Wildlife and Animal control to get this thing captured."

A wolf attack here, under Serenity Pack's territory. I could not imagine how this could have happened, there were only two possibilities. The attacker was one of their own, most likely a newly shifted werewolf that could not control itself or a fully shifted rogue that had stumbled into town.

The stroll to school did not seem very long, mainly because five minutes into the walk, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
What if the Serenity Pack's leaders think that I did it? What if they think that I somehow survived the shift and decided to begin attacking mortals that live here amongst us? What if I somehow convince them that it was not me and that I haven't completely shifted, will they still think that I must have ties with whoever did this if it was not one of their own?

When I got to school, there was an obvious tension in the air. Both the mortals and the werewolves of the Serenity Pack hosteled an invisible baggage of fear and skepticism. I could tell within the first few seconds that everyone had heard the news. Our town was not so big, nestled between a few hills in California, there was no doubt that the tragedy had reached every ear in and out of sight. As I walked down the hallway towards my locker, the posse from the Serenity Pack was missing a few members including the one that stood out to me the most, Brett. He was nowhere in sight and I could not help but wonder if he was stuck with meetings all day trying to figure out who to pin this one. He knew that I hadn't shifted yet so he must tell them, I thought with naive hope, there was no way that I could have killed that man.
I wondered how many fingers were pointed at me during their pack meetings but did not have to wonder for long because as soon as I reached my locker, I heard a screeching voice," it was you wasn't it?"

I whipped around to discover Stass. Behind her like a pack of hungry hyenas was Jessica and a few of the boys.

"What are you talking about," I pretended to be oblivious.

"The human man that was killed last night, it was you-"

"Sh, there are humans," Jessica hissed in her ears. Stass let out a huff of rage and rolled her eyes," the pack leaders know, they are having a meeting about it as we speak. You will pay for this, my father will make sure to vote to have you murdered!"

"I didn't do it," I snapped," I haven't even shifted yet-"

"It was a rogue who did it, the territory security was able to sniff that much out so it obviously wasn't one of us-"

"And you're the only rogue in town or for miles!" Jessica barked.

"Your pack security sucks to have missed a rogue coming into their territory," I mumbled.

I suddenly recalled something. There was another rogue that they may not have found out about. The new kid.

"We are all on to you, you murderer!"

"I told you, I haven't shifted yet. How would it even be possible-" I turned back to my locker.

"You're either lying or you know more than you're telling. Maybe it was one of your little rogue friends-"

"Why would I kill some random man-"

"Because you're a dirty rogue, you can't help yourself, you're a bloodthirsty demon-"

I rolled my eyes. I snapped the door for my locker shut with enough force to shake it. The entire hallway was looking at me now. I turned to face Stass and the rest of the hyenas.

"I should have killed you and her instead," I cocked my chin towards Jessica," but I couldn't find you. Probably hiding up Brett's ass."

There was a gasp from multiple people. I simply ignored them and walked away, knowing that I very much just dug my own early grave.

***
Thank you for reading. Don't forget to comment and vote!
Read the entire book now on my Patreon!

https://patreon.com/Bynadine