Dark Shadows

Arriving at school in the morning was basically a tradition for me. I was always the last of my friends to arrive, and they were always waiting for me out the front. Aria, Ella, Wyatt, Miles, Landon and Adam. All of them, sitting against the brick sides of the stairs as they were waiting for me. 

The sight of them standing there every morning made me smile. I couldn’t help it. 

And as soon as I walked up to them, they all greeted me the same way. Everyday. With a hug or a fist pump or anything of that nature. 

They really were the best friends that I could ever ask for. 

And when we went into school, it was almost like we ran in our own little pack. And I guess we did. It was rare that we would let anyone else in our little friend group, but that doesn’t mean that we were bullies to everyone else. 

I was the opposite. I hated bullies and I tried to be friendly to everyone. At least, everyone that deserved it. 

“Hey Meadow. Are we still on for that party this weekend? At the abandoned mines?” Adam asked.

“Yeah. As long as you stop talking about it out in the open so my father doesn’t find out.” I said. 

“What would happen if your dad does find out?” Aria asked. 

“He’s the Alpha. I’m pretty sure he will lock all of us, including me, in the dungeons for the weekend just to teach us a lesson. So stop talking about it.” I said. 

“I just wanted to make sure that it was still on.” Adam said. 

I heard some raised voices down the hall from where my locker was and I moved Ella and Wyatt out of my way so I could see what was going on and there were two big guy standing there picking on a much younger, smaller and weaker wolf. 

I scowled at the sight of them throwing him up against the locker and trying to take his lunch money and just being complete jerks. 

So I slammed my locker door as loud as possible, which got everyone’s attention. Including the bullies. And when they saw me standing there, with my arm leaning against the locker, staring at them, they let the poor kid go and he scurried off. 

I still stood there staring straight at them with an all too serious look on my face until they decided that it was best that they left as well. 

“I love how you do that.” Ella said. 

“It’s a gift.” I said. 

“It’s the Alpha blood in you.” She corrected me. 

“Well, whatever it is. It works.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

We headed towards our first class, laughing and carrying on like we always did. I guess we all met in the first grade and just became fast friends. Before we even really realized that I was the next Alpha, and before titles meant anything to us. We liked each other for who we were, and that’s why I’ve cherished their friendship. Because they liked me even before they knew that I was next in line to take over this pack when my father decides to retire. 

As soon as we got to our first class ‘werewolf history’ we headed to the back of the classroom to our usual seats. 

I was sitting at my desk while the guys were sitting on their desk, facing back talking to us when I noticed that there were a few empty seats across the side of the classroom. 

I knew who usually sat there. They weren’t too popular by the bullies standards, but they were friends with each other. Which had me wondering what was going on. 

The teacher got to the classroom before I could start to ask questions and he got straight into the lesson. 

With werewolf history, the Moon Goddess Seline was always mentioned because she was the one that created werewolves. And I always found this subject so interesting. 

And I was the future Alpha, so I needed to know all of this stuff and make sure that I aced this class. This was the most important one that I needed to ace. 

When class was over we started filing out of the classroom when my phone started buzzing. 

I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the text message. 

“You guys go on ahead. I’ll catch up.” I said. 

“Is everything alright?” Landon asked. 

“Yeah. It’s alright. I’ll just catch up. I have to go and see someone.” I said. 

So they just accepted that answer and they walked off to the next class while I walked in the opposite direction. 

When I got to the gym I saw a group of people sitting on the stands. Some of them were the ones that weren’t in my class just now. The ones that I noticed were missing. 

The crowd parted and I saw one girl sitting there with blood all over her clothes and a fat lip, swollen and black eyes and cuts all over her face and arms. 

“What happened?” I asked. 

“They jumped her.” One of the others said. 

“When? They look fresh. We heal fast and they haven’t healed at all.” I said. 

“It happened just before our first class.” The girl said. 

“Who?” I asked. 

“You know who.” She said. 

“Yeah. I’ll take care of it.” I said, turning on my heels and I walked out of the gym. 

I met up with my friends at our next class but I wouldn’t tell them what was going on. They didn’t need to know. 

And by lunch I went to my locker and I put all of my books in it and I waited for a while until I was sure that everyone would be in the cafeteria. 

As soon as I walked into the cafeteria, I stopped at the door and I scanned the room. 

I saw those same jock assholes that I stared down this morning sitting at a table with the rest of their friends and all the girls that loved hanging off of them like pathetic groupies. 

The leader of the group had his back to me so I walked across the room and without warning to anyone, I grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head into the table, hearing several bones break as I did so.