Innocent humans watched as our college professor continued to lecture about Accounting and Finance. I looked to my left; beside me was a girl. Her blonde hair was draped over her brown eyes as she continued to scribble insignificant pictures on her notebook. What amazed me the most was how unaware she was of the nonhuman creature seated only inches away from her.
She sighed. My useful heightened senses allowed me to listen to her heartbeat and breathing that would accelerate every time the professor searched for a student to answer a simple question. Her heart rate would regulate once the professor called someone else. She slouched in her chair, her eyes occasionally wandering off from her work to a boy sitting in the far corner of the room.
“Amira? Are you paying attention?” I looked to my right, finding the eyes of my friend, Eric.
Eric and I have been friends since we were thirteen. Six years later, we were still going strong. We had a lot of classes together over the years, so our friendship continued to grow. However, despite us being friends, I could never find it in myself to tell him who I really was. Or should I say, what I was.
“Yeah…no,” I admitted before we both shared a low snicker.
“Eric, you know I got all of this stuff already,” I reassured him, slouching down in my chair.
I was known to be very intelligent in school. Unlike most, it was very easy for me to remember and comprehend any given task. This skill has been very helpful to me.
“Well, then, if it’s so damn easy for you, you can teach it all to me because I’m lost as hell.” Eric sighed. His eyes narrowed in on the textbook in front of him as I chuckled at him.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, class dismissed,” the teacher announced as she wrapped up her lecture. I stood from my desk. Students began gathering their things before everyone scrambled out of the door.
“So, lunch on me today?” Eric offered.
“No, sorry. I have to help my mom prepare for this dinner we are having tomorrow. Just a few out-of-town guests.” I sighed heavily.
“Okay, cool. Well, I’ll text you tonight?”
“Sure.”
***
The appetizing smell of food danced its way around me, clouding my nasal passages with the mouth-watering aroma of my mother’s home-cooked meal.
I walked into the kitchen to see my mother running back and forth. She was cutting vegetables, stirring food in the pots, and measuring the temperature of whatever she was roasting in the oven.
“Mom, is it this serious?” She was acting as if the president was stopping by for dinner.
“Yes, sweetie. This is when you’ll see your new alpha for the first time.” My mother was more cheerful than the rest of us were.
It was amusing how my mother cared about the alpha’s arrival more than the actual werewolves that lived here. I expected her to feel uncaring about his presence as if he was just another regular visitor, her being a human and all.
I guess being married to and being the mother of a werewolf really had her interested in the supernatural world. Unlike her, I couldn’t care less about the werewolf society. I found human life to be much better. Accepting. I enjoyed not living under the command and authority of some male who was determined to show his dominance over everyone because of a title.
That was why I loved living in the city. Majority of our pack, including the alpha and beta, lived far out in the country somewhere.
Honestly, that’s how I liked it. I loved being away from the group who allowed their title to get to their overgrown skull.
I preferred the distance. However, my father seemed to not feel the same way I do. Recently, he had invited the previous alpha and luna, and their son—the new alpha—over for dinner. Only my father could ruin such a beautiful thing.
“But Mom, they aren’t coming until tomorrow,” I reminded her again.
“I know, I know, but I prefer to get things done now.”
I sighed. Looking over everything, I could see how she had handled things.
“You seem to have everything done.” The chicken was roasting in the oven; the vegetables were boiling in the pots; and she seemed to be starting on dessert. “Call me if you need anything then.”
I snatched up my bag from the kitchen counter. Reaching into the cupboard, I pulled a granola bar from the box before I left the kitchen.
I silently cursed my mother and father again. I don’t even know why I have to be here. If I could, I would disappear before the guests even made it to town. Sadly, my father requested that I should be present for the attendees.
Why did I seem so against the presence of the new alpha? I would say our past was just a tiny piece of the reason that I wanted to disappear. Even though my mother said it’s the first time meeting the new alpha, it’s actually not. We had already met before he had taken over the title, alpha.
When I was about eight years old, my father and I would visit the main pack house for some business. Since my father was one of the strongest warriors of our pack, the previous alpha would need him by his side during decision-making.
That’s when I had first met eleven-year-old Xavier, the soon-to-be alpha.
My father said—to keep us busy and out of their hair while he helped the alpha—Xavier and I should go play, and we did. Honestly, I thought Xavier was cute. I was actually very fond of him. Stupidly, I asked him if he felt
