Lasagna and chef's salad.
This school's lunch never gets old, Eric grumbled in thought. He picked up his tray and walked to an empty, lonely table at the back of the cafeteria.
The previous year, the school management had thought it was better if all the classes mixed up in the cafeteria. So, they'd put an end to the division of all the grades and everyone was free to sit wherever they wanted. Students could eat with friends in other grades.
To Eric, it meant more nuisance. Thanks to the honour rolls, everyone knew him as that "weird genius". More girls found him to be within reach. Those in sophomore year who'd always claimed to admire his intelligence, now vied for his attention. Can high school get any worse? he wondered as he picked at his meal. With his fork, he separated meat from the rest of the parts.
As he put the first forkful of meat into his mouth, he felt tingling in his ears. He slammed down his fork and nearly growled.
"What now, Logan?"
"I think we have a problem."
His senses went high on alert. "Where?"
"Within a twenty-mile radius. There's another wolf in the perimeter."
"That's your problem, not mine." He picked up his fork again.
"Actually, I think it might be yours. It's a Talgan and not one of my pack."
That got Eric back in his alerted mood. What now? he asked himself. "Fine. Where are you?"
"Near the woods. His scent comes from there strongly."
"I'll meet you in ten."
"Make it five."
"Ten," he snapped back. He took a few more bites, dropped his fork and walked out of the cafeteria.
When Eric got to where Logan was eight minutes later, he understood why the boy was agitated. The scent made it clear. This Talgan was an old rogue and very domineering.
"Smells more powerful than an alpha," Logan murmured when he was beside him.
"I can tell." He closed his eyes and took a very deep breath. "He's closer." He opened his eyes and glanced at him. "How long have you been sensing him?"
"Before I told you? Ten minutes. I was in the woods. Thought I should get out and tell you first."
Eric snorted. "Or you were scared."
Logan glared at him. "Uh-huh? The high and mighty Eric Ashers who's not scared of anything."
He ignored him and started into the woods. "If he's coming, we have to meet him head-on. Before he steps out into the open and risks exposure."
His partner gave a curt nod and followed him into the foliage.
After walking a good mile off, they took off their clothes and shifted. Their wolves continued stealthily into the woods, following the scent of the intruder. It stopped at the lake. They met the large brown wolf there as it lapped water. Eric knew it had sensed them already so he walked slowly to its side and stopped.
What brings you to this territory? Logan began.
I'm here for the hybrid, the wolf snarled turning its head to Eric.
How did you find me here? Eric questioned.
Don't think you're too smart for an old Talgan. I could sense you easily.
From fifty miles away? Humour me, he said drily.
The Talgan glared at him. Alpha Ben orders your presence at once.
Well, that's too bad. I answer to no alpha and he can't order me to come. If he wants to see me, he has to come himself.
The wolf growled in anger. Logan's wolf stepped closer but Eric's gave it a stalling look. No one defies the supreme alpha's orders. You and Connor have already killed some of our own and that alone is enough to give you the punishment of treason. You think your stunt on the Silence Pack has--
What happened to the Silence Pack is nobody's business, Eric cut him off with a growl. He took a menacing step closer to the old wolf. It's between Adrian and I. He pulled me into their territory and what happened to the wolves was a consequence. I think an apology is long overdue. He turned on his hind paws and started to walk away.
Logan, who'd been thrown to the sidelines, saw his partner leaving and got up from his sitting position. He jumped down from the boulder he'd been on, and trotted over to Eric.
What're you gonna do?
Eric's wolf grunted and gave him a side glance. I should ask you that. This is your territory.
Yeah, but he's not here for one of my own.
Well, report to Stefan about your intruder.
Uh-huh? His tone said 'Are you kidding me?' Stefan would be forced to hand you over.
By the way, does he know I've been here for two years?
He rolled his wolf eyes. Are you seriously asking that? It's his territory.
I'm yet to meet him.
I can arrange that.
Sure do.
Frederick.
Eric turned to see the old wolf still there. He narrowed his eyes at him. Our conversation's over, ollie.
He bared his teeth at him. It's Dane, and we're not done. You have forty-eight hours to turn yourself in. Adrian has already met with the council.
Eric's wolf smirked. So, he has now.
The council has settled things with him.
Out of curiosity, he asked, if you're a rogue, what's your role in pack business? Ben is not your alpha.
The other wolf charged at him with a thunderous growl. Eric went into a defensive stance. You will call the supreme alpha's name with respect.
Eric's fore paws pushed down the wolf the moment it got to him. Why defensive? He's not your alpha. Unless you work for him outside a pack.
Dane paused in his attack.
I'm right, then. Good. I have a message for you. He brought his face very close to Dane's, their snots an inch apart. Tell Benedict Fisherman that I said...
"What now?" Logan asked his partner fifteen minutes later. They were dressed in human form and heading towards the classroom block.
Eric sighed. "I think that's like the fourth time this afternoon this question's been asked." He glanced at him. "Funny enough, Logan," he paused to take a deep breath, "I don't know. Whatever Dane expects is not gonna happen."
He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and stared ahead. "I think you should leave town."
A soft snort was his reply.
"You should. Alpha Ben is not someone you mess with."
"What I don't understand is why someone has to be up in my case."
"I don't know what happened to the Silence Pack, but that's enough to make it his business. That's why he's the supreme alpha."
Another sigh. "My parents think differently. It was all Adrian's doing. He's lucky he's got fifteen months to live."
Logan gave him a questioning glance.
"I promised not to kill him before his seventieth birthday."
"Is he actually seventy? I thought he'd been around since the nineteenth century."
"Seventeenth century actually. He's three hundred and four human years."
"Then, what makes him seventy?"
"Calabrian age. He's been going in and out of the Harem. I don't know how he does it frequently, considering the strict rules for werewolves' passage."
Logan shrugged. "He must have resources."
"Well, he's been banned recently from using the Gates, and that means he's been roaming the human world."
They were near the library now. "That new human in your class, she's something." He smirked as he added, "Her scent says a lot."
"Psychic," Eric muttered.
"I could tell, but there's more."
"Yeah, and she hides herself very well. Besides the fact that she's an overconfident bîtch, there's nothing more about her that I can tell."
They walked on in thoughtful silence as they passed by the library. A number of students were leaving the building - some chattering, others quietly musing over what they'd read. A couple of giggling girls saw the two boys and waved shyly at them. They got cold glares in response.
After they'd gone past the crowd and listening ears, Logan turned to Eric with a full blown smirk. His partner frowned, knowing whatever he was about to say wouldn't be good to his ears.
"What?" he snapped irritatedly.
"Well, since we can't get anything from Miss Mysterious, you should use your vampire mojo on her."
Eric shot him a bristling glare, but Logan was still smirking and standing. "That's too risky. I'll try reading her mind."
"After you couldn't get much off her scent?"
"I have Trincula blood, and no human mind is too powerful for that."
He shrugged. "Okay. Should I wish you luck?"
"Don't," he grunted.
He chuckled, taking a right turn to his own class. "Let me know what you get, dude."
Eric rolled his eyes and headed off to physics class.
*****
"You have your first test for the semester next week." Mr Porcupine got whines and grunts in response. "Study the first two chapters of your textbook very thoroughly if you want to want to make the average score." He grinned widely as he scanned the class. His eyes fell on Eric and his grin grew impossibly wider. "I expect more from you, Mr Ashers."
Eric rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
To his left, Doudall spoke. "Something tells me he'll give you special questions."
Eric glanced at him and cocked a brow.
"Those words say a lot."
"I see." He shut his sketchbook and put it into his small backpack. This was his fourth one this year. Most of his time in classes was spent filling up blank pages with sketches.
His ears perked up when he heard her voice.
"Tell me Food Tech's not as terrible as the rest of the classes," Jess grumbled.
Doudall laughed. "I don't know. I've got Human Geography next."
She grumbled again. "I've had a bad first day."
"Uh-huh? Tell me about it." He picked up his backpack and got to his feet. "I think Karen shares the next class with you."
Jess frowned in thought. "You know her schedule?"
He smiled a little. "We've been kind of friends since sophomore year."
"Oh," she murmured.
Eric tried to read her mind. His vampire psychic reached out to the edges of her mental gates. But he couldn't go beyond there. She shut him out. She was shutting everyone out.
Suddenly, she tensed and her eyes grew wide. Doudall caught her stance and frowned slightly.
"Anything wrong?"
She blinked, then shook her head, offering him a small smile. "I'm fine."
He brushed past her. "Gotta go before Mr Green has my head on a silver platter."
Jess' mind was partially on his words. Her eyes scanned the classroom in search of whoever had tried to prod into her mind. But she couldn't trace the source.
Just then, her eyes locked with a pair of deep blue pools. He rose slowly to his feet, still looking at her. From where she stood, Jess suddenly felt endangered. Though they were not alone in the classroom, she didn't feel safe anymore. There was nothing definite about him to accuse of how she felt, but she knew there was something.
Eric slung the strap of his backpack over his left shoulder. He watched the emotions flash through Jess' eyes. One of them was fear. But there was also defiance. Behind them all, he could read curiosity.
This girl was definitely more. He couldn't even read her mind. She was well guarded. The only other person who'd been like that was Karen, though he'd found out she was a witch even if she didn't know that herself.
For all he knew, this particular human wasn't like Karen. Or Craig. Or any other different kind of human.
Jessica Snowden was something else. And he was going to find out.
*****
"So... what do you say about your first day in class?"
Jess glanced at the girl walking - or rather pushing - beside her. The hallway crowd was worse during the last minutes of school hours.
"How many students are in junior year?"
Karen pushed a girl aside to move a step forward and got a glare. "I don't know. Maybe thirty-four."
"Why do we have a hurricane here?"
"Sophomores. We share the same hallway."
Jess shoved her way between two boys. She ignored the "Hey!"s they shouted at her. "These sophomores must be a multitude."
"You have no idea," she murmured.
When they finally got to their lockers, they let out sighs of relief.
"You didn't answer my question."
Jess raised a brow at her.
"How's your first day in Einstein's?"
"Hmm." She opened her locker and carelessly shoved books inside. "Besides the occasional creepy glares, this place..." She let out an audible sigh. "I can't tell yet. Food Tech was okay. Algebra was terrible. I managed Biotech. As for physics," she paused, remembering her stare-down with Eric, and suppressed a shudder, "it was kind of cool." When she turned to Karen, she frowned. "What?"
"I see nothing pleases you easily."
"You should know that by now." She slammed the door and got more glares for the day.
Karen chuckled beside her. "Your enemy list is getting longer."
Jess shrugged. "Don't care."
"Hey, Jess." They turned to see Doudall bouncing towards them.
Karen clucked her tongue. "I see you got friends, too."
"Maybe, not friends."
"Frenemies?"
She faced Doudall with a smile, ignoring Karen. "Hi. How was Mr Green?"
"Mr Green was totally green." Then, he laughed at his own dumb joke. After quieting down, he smirked. "We got a test next week."
"And it pleases you because?" They started out of the building.
Instead, Karen replied. "He'll knock 'em out."
He grinned in agreement.
"Ashers is not in your class, I see."
"Uh-huh? I have no clue what his schedule is like, anyway."
"Well, I do. I've shared three out of my four classes with him today."
Doudall winced, Karen grimaced. "That's too bad," he murmured.
"Wish I was you," the other one sighed.
Jess rolled her eyes. "Of course, you do."
"You still mooning over him?" Doudall asked his friend with raised brows.
Karen's cheeks pinked a little. "I still can't forget his sixteenth birthday."
"Ah. The day Eric Ashers defied logic."
"What did he do?" Jess enquired.
"He... uh..."
"He kissed her," Doudall finished. Karen glared at him but he ignored her.
Jess' eyebrows rose inches high. "That's unbelievable, with the way he carries himself."
"Yeah. Which is what would make one wonder why he did it in the first place."
"Something tells me he was made to do it."
"A Truth-or-Dare game."
"I see." She nodded thoughtfully.
"It's all thanks to Eva and Chloe," Karen grumbled but there was an excited undertone to her voice. "They thought it'd be fun watching me blush in front of him."
"No," Doudall cut in. "They thought it'd be fun watching you act on your crush."
The blonde blushed further.
Jess heaved a sigh. "I still don't understand what even makes him special." Besides the fact he gives me the heebie-jeebies. "He's just an àsshole genius." She paused with a frown. "Is he even a genius?"
Doudall gave her a flat look. "Is that even a question? His intelligence is scary. Take him to the Olympiads and you've got a champion."
Her lips curled in a scowl. "That'd make him cocky. Someone should show him his place."
"Well, Jess," he sighed as they strode into the parking lot, "he's already in his place."
"That's his bike."
Jess' eyes grudgingly followed Karen's pointer to a sleek Ecosse Titanium Series. One dark elegant brow arched. "You know what he rides?"
Karen blushed slightly again.
"I shouldn't have asked," she murmured. "Of course, you do."
"Your stalker tactics are scary, Karen," Doudall spoke behind them.
She shot him another glare. "I'm not stalking him. I saw him ride it in this morning. I didn't even peg him to be the biker type."
"I never pegged him to be anything," Jess mumbled to herself.
"He rode a bike back in ninth grade. Suzuki Hayabusa." He eyed Eric's bike for a few seconds. "Like every other bad boy, he loves expensive things."
"Can we stop talking about him?" Jess whined. "I'm starting to feel sick." The other two gave her amused looks.
They stopped at Karen's car. It was the latest BMW model. Jess ran her fingers over the hood and smirked. "Nice car."
"Thanks." She unlocked the doors and opened the driver's side. "Got it for my seventeenth birthday this summer."
"Oh."
"I gotta go. I'm hitching a ride with Craig." Doudall gave the girls a wave, then walked away.
On his way, he bumped into Eric. "Sorry, dude."
"Whatever," Eric grumbled back. He brushed past him and went over to his bike.
Jess looked away from them to Karen, whose gaze was still on Eric. "Doesn't Doudall own a car?"
It took two seconds for her to snap out of it. "Uh... no. He doesn't. He's been afraid of driving since his brother died in a car crash last year." Her eyes widened and her body jerked as if she suddenly realised what she'd just done. "Please, don't tell anyone. I shouldn't have blurted that out. It's something only me and the rest of his friends know. I don't know what came over me. Momentary lapse of reasoning, I think."
Jess snorted. "Why not? Half your brain is centered on the jerk who's been sitting on his bike for the past five minutes."
At that moment, Eric looked up from the screen of his iPhone towards the girls. Karen, who was facing his direction, noticed and caught his eye. He saw the pink colour creep up her cheeks, and released a soft snort.
Then, he saw Jess turn slightly. Even her stance screamed confidence and pride. She looked him up and down with condescension. He narrowed his eyes at her. Hers widened, before she quickly looked away, managing to do it with enough arrogant grace.
With a sigh, he placed his feet on the pedals, started the engine and zoomed off.
"What was that all about?"
Jess gave her a questioning look.
"He was looking at you like you stole his favourite pen or smashed his cookies."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I have no idea. Humour me. He's the jerk of Einstein High, right?"
Karen narrowed her eyes at her.
"You're imitating his looks, too?"
She heaved a sigh. "I'm not. If I were you, I'd be careful. It's just your first day and you've added another name to your haters list."
"That's cool." Her classmate gave her a wide-eyed look of 'Are you crazy?' "Not everybody gets noticed on their first day."
"You are one weird child." She hopped into the car. "Get in, let's go."
"Nah. Got my own ride."
She poked her head out and gave her one of her signature hazel-eyed glares. "And you didn't care to show me?"
"Actually, it's on its way." She took out her iPhone and went to her contact list. "Let me make a call." She hit a number. The person picked on the third ring.
"Miss Snowden."
"Guy, I need a ride home."
"Sure thing. From where?"
She frowned. "School. Didn't Mike mention anything to you?"
"He kinda did," the man on the other line trailed off.
"You have ten minutes, Guy. Fifteen minutes tops. I hate to wait." She ended the call immediately.
"Was that your driver?"
"Yeah. We just moved in, so he's new."
She nodded thoughtfully. "I see. So, see you around then."
"Tomorrow." She turned on her heels and strode off to the front of the lot to wait for her ride.
*****
Calabrian age: When supernatural beings move to the Harem, their human bodies do not age. They return to the human world looking the same way they did, in human form, before changing dimensions. The total number of years spent by a supernatural in the human dimension is their Calabrian age.