Chapter 3 Racing with the Wolves

By the time I arrived at the gym, everyone was already doing their warmups. I made sure to stay away from the others as I did a slight warmup of my own. The boys in the class were doing stretches, but most of them were wrestling with each other.

I guess that having superior physical male genes, they don’t have a problem with physical activities. 

The moment I touched my elbows after stretching, I winced. The bruise was starting to hurt. I just hope that it won’t heal too fast that they will notice that I have fast healing abilities.

“Does it hurt?” I turned around and saw Cana, the timid girl in class, looking at my injured elbow.

She was one of the people who would occasionally approach me and try to chat with me. Cana is a timid wolf. A characteristic that wolves would normally despise. I suppose that's also why the others are shunning her. 

In a way, she’s just like me, but she’s a wolf and generally and racially belongs to the pack. 

I turned to her. “It’s nothing. It’s just a bruise and would heal on its own.”

Cana brushed her short dark hair away from her glasses and fiddled with her nails. “Would you...like to pair with me on stretches?” She said it in a whisper that I almost didn’t hear it. 

I am not a dumbass to guess that she wanted to become friends with me after all of her attempts to approach me. But I, on the other hand, am not sure whether I even want to have friends. Besides, it’s not like I am going to stay here for long. I don’t want to have any lingering attachments to this place. 

But, I do feel bad if I ignore her.

“Sure,” I said while looking in the other direction. I sat on the floor and stretched out my legs. I saw Cana smiling brightly before heading towards me. But in the process, she tripped on her untied shoelace and fell face-first on the ground.

I stared at her for a long as she wasn’t moving from her position. “Hey,” I called out to her. “Are you still alive, Cana?”

I jumped in surprise when she suddenly raised her head and gasped. “You know my name?”

I gave her an odd look and raised my brow, “Yeah? I mean, you always mention your name whenever you ask to team up with me in class.” 

She exhales a breath of relief before rising to her feet. “Thank heavens.” She cracked a grin. “I thought you didn't know because you were usually ignoring me when I tried to talk to you.” I was soon regretting my decision as the talk became strange and emotional on her part.

I knew it, I should have just ignored her as usual. It's pointless for me to become friendly if I leave the pack in a few months. Thankfully, the sound of a whistle helped me to escape this predicament.

I got up from the ground and dusted my pants. “Coach is here. We better get going.” I told her hurriedly without looking back. I felt terrible for treating her, but I pushed the thought aside and focused on the class instead.

Everyone was lining up for the drill run on the track field. The girls began to line up to the side and waited for the coach to call for our names to the line on the field. The boys are sitting in the center of the area as they wait for their turn. Girls would always run first because the boys are always so rowdy that it takes a while to settle. 

“Good morning, everyone. As you all know, we will have an interschool competition in the next two months. One of the main sports is the obstacle course, which we will need fast runners for. Four females and four males. Be sure to run with all your might if you want to represent our school!”

So the coach needs five players? That’s not fair. Alexa harassed me because she was afraid that I would be a competition for her. But with five slots, I was confident will that she would get one. 

Now, I felt a little irritated that I was bruised up for nothing. That stupid redheaded she-wolf! She should have gotten her facts straight before charging at others.

“Ladies will line up first. We’ll first go with three girls per match. I have picked at least 12 girls for today. The rest of you lot that I wouldn’t call, you can take it easy for the day. To the participants, I want you to bear in mind that this will be an elimination round. This means if you lose on your turn, there won’t be a second chance. We only want participants in their tip-top shape to be in the team.”

My eyes rolled up as it suddenly made sense. I guess if Alexa and I are paired in a round, she will have the right to be nervous. 

Alright, I’ll give her this round. 

The coach began to call the first three participants. The rest of us stood back to make way for the first runners.

As the first three began to compete, I couldn’t help but feel a glare in my way. When I turned back, I saw that I was the she-devil - I mean - she-wolf Alexa.

I pursed my lips tiredly and crossed my arms over my chest as I watched the others competing. Honestly, that girl is so worried about even thinking that we would be in the same matchup. There’s literally a ¼ probability that she and I would be pitted up against each other.

As the match progressed and the third team was called out, sweat began to form on my forehead. 

Fate. Fate is screwing with me, isn’t she? Either that, or I just jinxed myself for thinking that this scenario was impossible. 

But there’s still a chance. Although I am one of the fastest running among the girls, I am not a werewolf. There must be some sort of rule that only werewolves who can morph can join, right?

“Lunaris, Alexa, and Hailey. Take your positions and get ready.”

Fucking hell!

As I began to make my way to the starting position, I could feel Alexa's hot glare on the back of my head. I never looked beside me, even when I caught a whiff of her perfume. I noticed her encouraging me to look in her direction out of the corner of my eye, but I refused. She was literally next to me, almost breathing down my neck.

What the hell is wrong with this lady?! 

“Lunaris...Lunaris...Lunaris…” She whispered my name like it was a cursing mantra or something. If only I were a shaman, I would fucking slap her with a random branch from a random tree.

Leave me alone, for Goddess’s sake!

“You girls know the drill. The first one to do three lapses wins.” I wasn’t paying attention to our coach as she spoke. Right now, I was more worried about the demonic girl glaring daggers in my way.

Come to think of it, why would the coach even put us in the same bracket? Is she crazy, or is she just harassing me? Or is she more interested in knowing whether or not reject can outrun a wolf?

I was lost in thought that I didn’t even hear the blow of the whistle. What made me run at that moment was pure instinct.

On what grounds?

The moment that I saw the she-wolf running after me. Well, not precisely running after me, but running for the race. It was just my panther freaking out because Alexa had her eyes pinned on me as she began to run that it left the impression that we were being pursued.

I let out a frightened squeal as I ran. My hair kept on slapping my face because I was to tie it. After all, I was too complacent that I wouldn’t get picked. But surprise, surprise! Here I am running out of fear from the she-wolf.

“LUNARIS! Stop!” The growl from Alexa’s wolf intensified the adrenaline rush coming from my cougar’s instinct that I did the opposite instead of stopping.

I sped up.

“Lunaris, damn you, I said stop!”

Just because she yells at someone to stop doesn’t mean that they will. And I don't believe shouting like that with a sinister expression on her face will help either.

The crowd began to cheer the moment that Alexa and I made it to the first laps.

Except for Hailey, the other girl on the track, none of us seemed to be losing momentum. I don't suppose I'd be slowing down any time soon either.

I was sweating profusely as soon as we passed the second lapse - not from the workout but stress. It’s because I felt like I would transform at any minute with all the tension and excitement that was building up.

Don’t you dare emerge. DON’T YOU DARE EMERGE! I repeated it repeatedly in my head and hoped that my panther would hear it amidst the panic.

“I am warning you, Lunaris!” Alexa yelled behind me.

“Please, stop yelling.” I whimpered lowly because I was afraid that a snarl would emerge from the back of my throat if I spoke up. I just hope that Alexa will hear it.

And thankfully, she heard me. 

But as for how she interpreted my plea, she got the wrong idea.

“Don’t act so cocky when you’re just a few paces in front of me! I swear, when I manage to catch up to you, you’re dead! You hear me, reject? YOU’RE DEAD!”

And that does it. The moment that my panther heard her verbal threats, I began to speed up. I could feel my legs bouncing with every step, and I could feel the air blowing my untied air away from my face as I accelerated.

Alexa was already far behind me, judging from her inaudible screams. But my panther doesn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon because it kept continuing the pace even as we neared the finish line.

Hey, listen to me. Stop! Don’t cross that finish line! I yelled, but it didn’t seem like it would listen to me even if I pleaded.

I tried to stop my legs, but it felt like I had forgotten that simple action. It was useless. I no longer have control over my legs.

As I crossed the final lap, I could already see far ahead in my future. No doubt that it would end up with countless bullying and harassment sessions from Alexa after this. 

When my shoes crossed the line declaring me as the winner, the cheers combined with laughter from the others were overwhelming, and it startled me. I tripped on my feet and fell to the ground.

I guess this is one way of stopping my panther. 

‘Thanks for nothing, you stupid bloody cat.’ I thought at the same time that the coach declared me the winner.