Confirmation

When I got back to the convenience store, Melissa Mondragon, my co-worker who was assigned for the morning shift, got startled upon seeing my entire body covered in soil and blood.

I still don't have a decent place to go so I used the store's stock room as my place temporarily. And the only two people who know about it are Melissa and the branch manager, Iniego.

He seldom visits the convenience store so my only concern is Melissa. Melissa Mondragon is also twenty years old and was similar to my situation. She runs away from home because her entire family chases her out.

However, the only difference between us is that she is a pure human and has her real family, a mother, father, and siblings who are living under one roof.

On top of that, she also possesses a one-of-a-kind beau similar to my fated mate, Cherry. My wolf just doesn't know if she is currently in a relationship though.

I'm a bit embarrassed to ask her that private question. Needless to say, I am still new to the field of work as a cashier and sales boy at a convenience store. But she helped me a lot recently.

"Ezekiel, what happened?" she asked me with utmost concern before I could step foot into the storage room. "Did someone hit you?" she knows that I am not from here, so she asks me that.

Then she even followed me inside the storage room. I had to hide my face from the customers to make sure they will not get terrified or think of me as an outsider when they could see me covered in soil and blood.

"It's a long story," I said back and ignored the fact that I take off my clothes in front of a woman. "But to make it short, my stepbrother and I had an argument to the point that he had to use force to shoo me away."

That is one of the things my conscience is being honest to Melissa in exchange for helping me in using the storage room. I have a stepbrother that I care about who has been studying at the school a few blocks away from the convenience store.

But the other side of me is not ready to tell her about it yet. Even if I am already a lone wolf, I still followed the universal law of being one; keeping our secrets from humans. It is my only way of survival.

I am also worried she might get terrified of me once I tell her my deepest secret. Melissa is too kind to get terrified of me. Undeniably, I need her as someone to lean on in order to survive the human world.

"Did his new family shoo you away too?" she asked without blinking her eyes while staring at my half-naked body. "But I thought your mom loves and cares for you?"

"That's the thing, she was not there when I visited the house. It was his dad and male friends who shooed me away." I uttered, but not the entire truth.

The last thing I want Melissa to hear is me, ruining, cursing, or stabbing Razel behind his back. I believe that one day, he and Melissa would meet. At least, when that happens, she will not think of my stepbrother as the bad guy.

"So, they were the ones who beat you?" she ask me a question again. Melissa, based on my quick observation, is the kind of woman who will keep bugging or intimidating you if she could not be satisfied with the answer.

Not that I hate her for meddling in my personal space and life, my wolf is not used to that kind of scenario. It is my wolf who gets intimidated by that easily. Good thing I am letting my human side take control of everything.

"Exactly. The battle is six against one." I said while glancing at my reflection in the mirror to see the cut on my lips. Luckily, it healed before I could reach the store. "Let alone his biological dad is a scary one. Anyway, thank you so much for your concern, Melissa. But, I highly suggest you have to get back to the store. Three men and a woman are now looking for the cashier. Be there in a minute once I'm done taking a bath."

Melissa simply curves the tip of her brows and draws a few long curve lines on her forehead, confused about how I know that. Before she could say or ask something, I slide into the toilet room to get cleaned up.

In the middle of taking a bath, my helpless brain could not help but think of Felise. My stepbrother was pretty convinced that his girlfriend could not make it out alive after the fall.

The thing that confused and intrigued me the most is what he did after seeing Felise falling into the cliff with his own eyes. Did he call his pack right after I disappeared? Or did he reach out to the cops to find her body?

But from the way I see it in his eyes earlier, he barely knows that Felise managed to ascend from the land of the dead. I'm not even sure if he believes me or not either. All I know is that he was bothered by the news.

The next morning right after my shift, I went to Razel's school. I convinced the security guards that I will be inquiring for the next semester so that they will allow me to get in.

Then I stayed in the parking lot and waited for whoever among them to first show up. I remembered Razel is using his dad's bike in and out of school. So I believe that he will not park the bike somewhere else apart from the school's parking lot.

An hour later, someone hops out of an expensive car, wearing sunglasses. Her scent cannot deny by my wolf even if she curled her hair and applied facial foundations. It was Felise and two of her female friends.

"Felise," I softly breathed out her name to get her attention. Unfortunately, the second she catches a glimpse of my face in the corner, worries and fears immediately consumes her expression.

She almost drops the purse in her hands while glaring at me. Our first encounter back in the convenience store didn't go well. Even though she was tough back there, I know deep inside her lies a profound worry or fear.

Worry that I might show up again in my werewolf form. That is what her swelling eyes are telling me."Can we talk for a sec?" I added in a calm tone to make sure her friends will not think I am a stalker or someone dangerous.

"Do you this guy, Felise?" one of her friends asked before she grabs Felise's hand with caution.

"I know her," I said back on Felise's behalf.

"No," Felise disagreed. "I don't know him. We better call the cops before he could hurt me again."

Again. That was what she confessed to her friends two seconds ago which her friends immediately responded by dialing someone's digits while her other friend screams for help to get everyone's attention.

Before everything gets worse, I evacuated the parking lot like thin air in a blink of an eye. But their threats did not scare and stop me from searching for Razel. I know he was also curious about my claim.

My werewolf instinct believes that he may have gone to school earlier than me to check it for himself. So I searched for his scent in all of the classrooms.

Gotcha! My instinct was precisely right. I found Razel occupying one of the rooms in the building in front of me while Felise and her friends are on their way to the same building where my stepbrother is.

Before they could reach the same classroom as Razel, my wolf also managed to hide in the toilet room nearest to their classroom with my senses heightened.

"Felise, your alive?" asks Razel, mixed with emotions. My eyes could not see them behind those walls but it was pretty obvious and convincing that he was startled, confused, and felt at ease, all at the same time. "But how? I mean, Ezra and I saw you that night falling into the cliff."

"What are you talking about, Razel?" someone asks my stepbrother, but I am pretty sure it was not Felise, but one of her female friends who joined her in the car earlier.