FERAL DESIRES: PART 1 (A Werewolf Romance)

Hazel Solari lay sprawled on her bed when she heard the commotion in the corridor. She tried to ignore it, her eyes focusing on the letters written across the page. Trying again, she couldn’t focus enough to make out the words on the page. The noise was far too loud for her to handle.

With a huff, she set her romance book down, stood up, slipped her feet into her slippers, and walked down the carpeted floor. Wrenching the door open and stepping through, she almost collided with an overly excited student as she flew past her, as did everyone else coming out of their dorm rooms.

“What’s going on?” She asked no one in particular, and no one answered. They continued to squeal down the hallway until everyone disappeared, and she was the only one left standing there. She stood there torn, battling indecision about whether to return to her dorm room and finish her novel or follow the other students. Deciding against it, she walked down the hallway, following the sounds of the other students.

What has everyone excited? She thought as she navigated her way through the university. She wasn’t the only one walking around uninterested in the commotion that shook the campus. Apart from their studies, not enough happened around the place to excite her. Still, she followed the hundreds of students, which took her out of the dorms and down the small path that led to the academic buildings.

“What’s going on?” She asked Remi Elara, her best friend, when they bumped into each other.

“What’s going on?!” she squeaked with excitement, though her voice carried an undertone of irritation, as if she couldn’t believe how clueless Hazel was. “Don’t tell me you were reading again.”

“I adore it,” Hazel said in a small voice.

“You’re so boring,” her friend teased, grabbing her hand and leading her forward. It was then that she realised how late it was. The stars were out in full force, twinkling in the night sky with the moon, casting an ethereal pale glow onto the world. The white walls of the university seemed to reflect the light from the moon, giving the place a magical feel. The towers of the university kissed the starry sky; the grounds trimmed to perfection.

“Just tell me,” Hazel pleaded, but Remi kept walking. She grabbed her hand and tugged her forward so they could walk faster.

Together, they passed through the wide-open double doors of the dining hall. Chatter and surprised cries drifted through the air, accompanied by the smell of different delicacies. Hazel’s eyes took in the scene, her eyes following to where the others were pointing. To the left, at one of the immense tables, stood a bunch of students, blocking her view. They conversed with each other, awe filling their voices, which made Hazel wonder what could have possibly warranted such a reaction.

“Come on!” Remi prompted, taking Hazel’s hand, which she had dropped as they walked through the door. Reluctantly, Hazel followed. The others didn’t allow them to pass; they had to fight their way to the front. Once they got there, Remi jumped in excitement, pointing towards the two men who sat on the other side of the table, eating their dinner.

Hazel wondered what everyone else was seeing. All she saw were two men eating—two very gorgeous men.

“He’s here!” Remi screamed, continuing her little jumps. Hazel grabbed her hand, stopping her at once.

“Don’t you think that’s a little over the top?”

“Nothing is over the top for them!” She licked her lips, her eyes tracing every inch of the men, and Hazel almost gagged.

“Stop it,” she chastised.

“Fine,” Remi conceded with a grumble. Still, they remained standing there, watching the men eat. Hazel looked closely at them. They really were beautiful, unnaturally so, which was a characteristic attributed to high-born werewolves, not someone like her—An omega.

The men ate with precision. Their hands and mouths moved so sensually that she could see why everyone was acting strange. Yet it didn’t tell her why everyone was so excited. No matter how gorgeous they looked, it creeped her out.

“Come on, we ought to go.”

“Go! Go where?! I assure you, nothing exciting will happen tonight or this semester other than these two.” Hazel looked at the men again, at the crowd of girls that had gathered behind them. One of them being the school’s self-appointed queen—Artemis Nightingale. The daughter of Dain and Pearl Nightingale. The owners of the university on which they stood. Artemis grinned and licked her lips, her eyes on the white-haired man before her.

“Oh, please, they’re just men.”

“Just men?” Remi sounded offended. “Look closer and lower your voice before anyone hears you,” she cautioned, her voice carrying an air of fear as she looked around to see if anyone had overheard.

Despite her better judgment, Hazel looked closer. At the one whom Artemis couldn’t keep her eyes off. He wore an obsidian t-shirt and pants; his face was sculpted in a way that brought the word ‘unnatural’ to the front of Hazel’s mind once again. His platinum blond hair was messy as if he had run his hands through it multiple times. His skin was an almost translucent shade.

The surrounding air, she realised, seemed to bend to his will. Power oozed from him in waves; it made her wonder what it would feel like if she were the only one in the room with him. She had a feeling it would bring her to her knees.

Hazel kept staring, her eyes taking in every inch of him. From his perfect face to his broad shoulders, veiny hands, and what she deduced were powerful thighs beneath the table.

Now that she had allowed herself to look closely, she could see why everyone was enamoured. The guy carried power, and in their world, power meant everything, and that’s when it clicked.

The realisation of who he was hit her harder than she expected, and then he looked up. Even with hundreds of students around them, she could feel his focus on her alone. His piercing blue eyes landed on her at once. Even in a room full of people, she felt as if she were alone with him.

Heat followed the path his eyes traced, and she watched as the blue turned black with each passing second. As he looked at her, something shifted inside her. Hazel wanted to move closer, to jump over the table and land in his lap. She wanted to feel his hands tracing every inch of her body. Oddly enough, her usually silent wolf stirred inside her, encouraging her desires.

She looked up again to find him still staring, and she decided at once.

“We need to go,” she said to Remi. A protest died down on her friend’s tongue as she grabbed her hand and led her away from the table, and away from the prince.

Deep down, she knew she was escaping, but she didn’t care.

Being an omega in a world where power meant everything to people was bad enough. Having the prince’s attention was worse.

Hazel let go of Remi, a distance away from the table. She pulled in a huge amount of air, trying to calm herself.

It meant nothing; she assured herself, but fear crept into her veins. Fear strong enough to shake her to the bone.

“What’s wrong with you?” Remi asked, concerned.

“Nothing,” she replied, and realised even the distance she had created between herself and the prince meant nothing. The heat from his stare remained, creating a foreign buzz in her blood.