Survival - Howl in the Night 2

Chapter 1e - School sucks

Mari was growling at Dan for forcing her to go back to school. She did understand the need but how the hell was she going to connect with the kids in this damn place. Mari glared at the school as they pulled up in one of Dan's beasts, or so she thought of them. It was one of the 'light' armored SUV's for general use unlike the one they had taken to kill that bastard. That thing had been a tank minus the cannon and machine guns. Somehow she didn't have a problem believing Dan had one stashed somewhere that at least had a machine gun on it.

"Do I really need to do this Dan? How the hell am I supposed to survive in school with kids who have no idea of what reality is?" For a very brief moment her face tensed up and a maelstrom of emotions showed in her eyes, "How the hell am I supposed to act or react? I am a werewolf, could toss the largest jock across the gym, and god only knows that my wolf tends to be a bit over protective. I really don't want to take a chance on her breaking lose if she even begins to think I am threatened." She chewed on one knuckle as she was thinking.

Once Dan parked he turned to her and lightly stroked her hair with one hand, "Mari over the last four or five months you have done incredibly well. I know that you are still recovering and will for a long time but you are a very strong young woman in your own rights. I wouldn't be allowing this if I thought you might lose control." He pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss on her forehead, "You need to do this for yourself Mari. I will not allow any wolf in my pack to let fear stop them if I can help it. I expect you to do this for at least a month and then we will talk if you simply can't handle it. We will talk each evening about how your day went also if needed. Don't forget that Angie believes in you as well."

Mari leaned into his hand and felt a slight surge of comfort from him. As her Alpha he could calm her down with a simple touch. It was one reason she had spent so much time in his bed at night. He helped keep the nightmares at bay and kept her wolf from taking control. She still had nightmares but was slowly learning to sleep in her own bed again. The therapist Dan and convinced her to go to was helping though it was going to take time. She knew that if it got to bad at night she could go and crawl in with him and he would curl around her and she would feel safe.

"I know Dan but I am scared. I know I don't have physical scars from what happened but I feel like they can see what I went through. I don't want to have to face the looks of derision and disgust if they do find out." This was one of the first times she had admitted to her fears about why she didn't want to go to school. It terrified her more than she could admit though Mari had a feeling Dan did understand.

Dan sighed, "I do understand Mari but you have to learn to start living again. You have had some terrible things happen to you. That is a fact that can't be changed. What can change is you. You getting up and moving forward. In the process you will be flipping those who hurt you off and sticking it to them. Those being the ones who caused the horror of the last few years." Just for good measure he stroked her cheek, "I have faith in you my Little Wolf. Hold your chin up look them in the eyes and don't let them knock you down. You might be a submissive wolf but there isn't any problem with that. Be proud of who you are and the young woman you will be."

She sighed as she climbed out of the SUV and slung the heavy backpack over her shoulder. The fact that the damn thing had all her books and stuff didn't even make her blink. Mari was still getting used to her increased strength. She had packed on a significant amount of weight considering all the food she had eaten in the last few months. Her ribs no longer showed, her limbs had filled out and even better her breasts had filled in as well. She no longer looked maybe an older thirteen but a young fifteen because of how petite she was. That wasn't even mentioning the training she had been going through at Dan's company. Learning self-defense was helping her come to terms with what had happened and gave her strength to keep going.