"Alright, everyone, listen up!" The trainer, a tall woman with furry armpits, a slight beard over her cheekbones, and gray-streaked curls, yelled over the noise of chatting and laughing throughout the large hall. The floor squeaked under the feet of energetic werewolves, sounding like overexcited rubber ducks.
"Pair up and make two lines," she continued in her deep voice, "we've got a special guest helping us today." Her tone turned solemn, like she was about to introduce the President.
Elena coupled with Rex, while Giulia stood in front of her brother. "Let's show these puppies how it's done!" Rex smirked with amused eyes, receiving in return a snort from a Black Devil wolf.
The first few weeks at Redwood High had passed smoothly - all the drama had concentrated on the very first day. A few glances were the only attention Elena and Giulia received and honestly, they had managed to become friendly with some of the Black Devil classmates. Rex totally blended in with the Redwood football team, quickly rising to become one of their star players. Black Devil students touch football - they saw it as the human equivalent of mini-golf.
And Marco, well... that was a whole different story. Whenever he showed up, whether he was coming around a corner or walking into a room, Black Devil students would stop talking and gawked at him, petrified, like he had some kind of dark cloud hovering over him everywhere he went. Sometimes they even bowed their heads a bit, like he was werewolf royalty.
Once, a young guy had accidentally bumped Marco and his books scattered all over the floor, and he was so mortified that he ended up fainting at Marco's feet.
At first, Marco didn't mind, pretending he wasn't affected. He was either ignoring them or scoffing, like a superior being. However, after some more episodes, he was totally pissed at those Devils students, at his unaware mate and, also, at Elena and Rex, who started to bow their heads ~ in a sarcastic way, to add fuel to a very pissed fire.
One afternoon, as a group of students walked towards Elena and Marco, they suddenly they veered off in the opposite direction. Marco let out a loud grunt and called his mate on the phone. His exaggerated complaints had Elena laughing so hard she had to lean on Marco's stiff shoulder to keep from falling over. She could just imagine a speechless, shocked face of a speechless, shocked Crucifero on the other end of the line, under his mate's attack. Marco's talent for overreaction could win him an Oscar.
The following day, the majority of Black Devil students were missing and Rex sarcastically said that Crucifero had put them in chains and enslaved them... Well, later on, they discovered his joke wasn't so far from the truth: they had undergone strenuous training, barely allowed to eat and rest the entire day. Marco held a satisfied grin on his face for the remainder of the day, but not because he enjoyed the suffering of his other fellow students. It was a caring gesture from his mate, even if a bit dramatic and violent.
"Is Crucifero the special trainer today?" Elena asked Marco who was fiddling with his phone.
"As if I knew what he does" He responded, rolling his eyes.
He was nibbling his nails — something he never did.
"Who could this special trainer be then?" Giulia joined in the conversation, her arm looped around her brother's.
"I heard from Crucifero that their Alpha is back. So maybe it's him?" Marco mentioned casually, checking his nails with too much interest. Elena and Giulia looked at each other and then back at Marco again. "Did Cruci actually tell you that?" Giulia questioned with a hint of suspicion. "Did he actually pronounce three words in a row?" Rex mocked from behind. Elena placed her elbow on Marco's shoulder. "Crucifero already said three words in a row, Rex! Leave Marco alone!" She said with fake seriousness that didn't go unnoticed by a grinning Rex
"HE IS MIIIINE!" Elena growled loudly, imitating Crucifero deep voice, and resulting in a flush of laughs from Rex and Giulia, a snort from Marco and some coughs from herself, since she forced her throat too much in the action of pretending to be Marco's mate. "That's karma!" Marco jeered and poked repeatedly at her sides, making Elena suffocating between more coughs and laughs.
"Sooo.." Giulia chimed in, staring at her brother with anticipation.
Elena was hopping up and down, itching to release some pent up steam. Back in her pack, they could just leave school and run around if their wolves needed it. "I swear, if we don't get moving soon, I'm gonna start doing laps around the hall."
"Pff, yeah, fine!" Marco huffed, rolling his eyes. "When I said 'I heard', I meant I overheard it."
"You mean you were eavesdropping on your mate like a sneaky little spy," Elena suggested with mock accusation.
Marco's mouth twitched into a smile. "Well, a mate's gotta do what a mate's gotta do. And I'm a professional. Not sneaky. That's your farmer lover."
"It wouldn't surprise me if you were hacking his phone too," Giulia put it out there. She raised her arms, joined her hands and bent to the left to stretch, then swung to the right, showing off flexibility that made the rest of them look stiff as sticks.
When Marco didn't deny it, bouncing a little on his heels, Rex shook his head, mouthing "Stalker". He bent down, trying to stretch his legs but only managed to reach past his knees.
"Get to the point!" Elena snorted. "You heard Crucifero talking to someone about the Black Alpha being back?"
"No! I assumed it!" Marco replied while grabbing Rex's shoulder as he caught his ankle, stretching his thigh without toppling over.. "He was repeating the name 'Mirko' and 'Alpha' in the same conversation in a way that they are the same person and in a way that the same person happened to be on the phone with Crucifero himself... probably." He said in an intentionally complicated way to confuse them.
Giulia pursed her lips while Rex clicked his tongue.
"You spied on your mate while he got a call from, 'probably', his Alpha, whose name is, 'probably', Mirko." Rex deduced from the long-winded explanation, while Marco blushed and nodded.
"And by the way he was talking, you think his Alpha is back." Giulia concluded, receiving another nod.
While her friends teased Marco, Elena was lost in her own head, reflecting on the strange shivers running down her spine.
Mirko
Just the name made her feel warm from the inside, while Titilas was purring like a radiator.
A sharp hush fell over the hall, like the expectant quiet following a loud crack of thunder.
A tall guy with hell in the eyes and a cruel smirk prowled into the gym, looking like he was ready to torture them all. His shoulders rolled as he walked, and fingers were slightly curled in, like he was prepared to pounce at any moment.
An aura of malevolent power and domination radiated from this werewolf. It was hard to peg his age—he could've been in his mid-twenties or late thirties. The lines etched in his forehead, a little obscured by a mess of rain-darkened orange hair, and his hooded eyes—a witchy mix of red and orange—didn't make Elena feel comfortable at all.
His smirking face had that unsettling quality where, if you covered his mouth, his eyes looked feral, and if you covered his eyes, his mouth looked mean. Something about him set off alarm bells in Elena's mind, making the hair on her arms stand on end.
"I heard Alpha is coming along," a sophomore mumbled from the left.
"I hope he will come to school naked!" A she-wolf giggled.
"Me too..."another joined in.
"Gamma looks happy today." If that was him being happy, Elena thought, I'd hate to see him on a bad day.
So this was the Cunning Fox. The Black Gamma.
She had seen the Black Beta and now the Gamma—both of indeterminate age—taking time to visit a school they may or may not have attended in the past, likely because they were very busy with their pack duties... or torturing rogues, or small elks, or eating them alive.
But how bad could they really be?
Elena's curiosity to see the Black Devil Alpha was nagging at her; she had been hearing about him, about his lonely time in those insane mountains that maybe turned him into the horror tale he became. Most of all, Elena craved to catch even a glimpse of his famous black wolf, Craken, fur blacker than a moonless midnight, fangs sharper than a pack of freshly honed knives, and enormous and primitive-looking, the kind of beast that could have de-throned the previous Alpha with a mere growl.
Her wolf suddenly howled, jolting Elena into scanning around for any sign of danger.
'What's happening Tits?' She asked her with concern. Her wolf was acting crazy and moody since they had started the new school. Later at home, Elena was planning on seriously understanding what was going on with her.
Elena's eyes focused on Gamma Rolando.
The tip of his pink tongue flitted out to moisture his lips. "Alright, pups, let's start with a punch and deviation exercise," he commanded with a hissing voice.
His haunted eyes paused on Marco before shifting to the other pups, as he called us, sa transition so quick that only Elena seemed to notice. Was he sizing Marco up?
Elena decided she didn't like this Gamma with madness swirling around him. His smile was a thief, stealing real smiles and replacing them with its own fake version.
"Yes, Gamma, he's the best person you'll ever know and the famous mate of your Beta Killing Machine!" Elena chuckled at her own thought, feeling a protective surge for her friend.
The paired students faced each other, obedient as a herd of sheep, and began the exercise. Gamma Rolando strolled around with a wolfish pace, muttering feedback here and there like a grumpy coach who hadn't had his morning coffee yet.
He also cut off a few spats between his low-tempered pack members. Just a glare from him was enough to squash disputes.
Elena had to admit that yes, he was terrifying, like a mad dog kept on a chain. His eyes were so mean, so feral. Elena felt almost sorry for this guy —it was like witnessing a rough and malicious soul trapped in the body of a regular young dude.
Black Devils probably assumed that Full Moons were weak, lazy, just because their work out mandatory sessions were much more human than theirs. Elena agreed with them. She realised they were nothing like them.
She heard a boy let out a vile comment, followed by the bloodcurdling crash of steel on steel.
Elena and Giulia watched in horror as Black Devil students attacked each other with a viciousness that could mean only one thing--a fight to the death. Violent. Wild. And not the only one. Their brutal style was nothing like the "civilized" practice she was used to.
Rolando calmly walked to them, slammed a foot down on each boy, his arms still behind his back, not breaking a sweat.
The two boys bowed their heads, leapt back up and resumed their positions as if nothing happened.
Their Gamma never showed a single emotion.
Until Marco was about to fight some behemoth from Black Devil. Then he got a bit twitchier, metaphorical caffeine kicking in, probably because his Beta was breathing down his neck, making sure he kept an eye on Marco. At first glance, Marco might seem like the underdog compared to the hulking Rex. Everyone should remember how appearances are deceiving, it's a way of saying for a reason after all.
With his Beta blood and street smarts, Marco was one tough cookie.
"Alright!" Gamma Rolando interrupted all the chatting after the fight sessions concluded.
"Black Devil members listen up!" He commanded. "Your Alpha will be joining soon for a short meeting about your new training schedule." He continued, shushing everyone instantaneously at the mention of their Alpha's visit.
"Full Moon and rogues, you are dismissed from this class." The Gamma didn't wait for reply as he moved to talk to the teacher, who was now agitated and sweating.
Elena bit her lips, increasingly curious than ever by their Alpha's arrival at the school. She sensed a weird pull and curiosity toward him and wanted to see what he looked like in person. With a Beta and Gamma like those two creatures, the Alpha would probably arrive at the school in his wolf form, with his dark wings and red horns.
"Don't forget about boar-eating contest tomorrow," some random voice broke into Elena's musings.
It was just Rex's.
"That'll be a riot!" An excited Giulia squealed, throwing her arms around Elena and Rex, one for each.
"Uh, are you gonna be there to cheer me on?!" Rex said, mimicking her voice with a fake girly tone, which cost him a jab from Giulia.
"Come on Rex, haven't you already chased all the boars out the pack?" Marco shot back with an eye roll. Now that he had a mate, Rex was like a lost puppy without his partner in crime.
"They are never enough for our big boy here, right Rexy?" Elena laughed and pinched Rex cheeks, the same way you would do to a baby. And, as babies normally hated it, Rex wasn't different. "You little rat!" He caught Elena and threw her on his shoulder, among the laughs of Marco and Giulia, while Elena groaned.
And then, out of nowhere, Elena was hit again.
That lip-drooling scent.
The same one she had sniffed on the first day at school and couldn't shake from her mind, or rather, her nose. The scent that threw her right into the heart of a wild, untamed forest with no way out. There it was, lingering in the air.
Her wolf whined and panted, circling around a few times, but Elena ignored her, lost in her own amazement.
Her breathing came in rapid, short pants
New sensations boomed inside her, an overwhelming feeling of magical bliss that made her head spin, every nerve in her body was singing with joy. Her eyes darted to the main entrance of the gym, and she felt the sudden urge to run and throw it open, as if there were a magnetic force pulling her toward it, urging her to reveal what, or who, was behind it.
She could almost hear the suspenseful music playing in the background of her heart.
And then, suddenly, while Elena was perched on one of Rex's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, her hair a messy nest around her heated face and her legs kicking the air (and Rex), he entered from that same door she had just been staring at, opposite of where they were heading.
The most drop-dead gorgeous creature she had ever laid eyes on.
He was tall, and huge, absolutely massive, like a mountain towering over the landscape...no, bigger, Like a planet on two legs.
Raw beauty and primitive power.
Mate!