Unordinary Wolves

Chapter One

Devil’s Deal

Dreadful. I’ve never imagined one day I’d be the one to reveal my darkest secret.

Being the top honors student at the Hopsforth Arcane Academy, I have managed to become a member of the student council and the president of my class. It was my dream to get accepted into this Institution for “outstanding individuals only”. There wasn’t anything unusual about me. I was a successful, accomplished, and popular high school student. My life was perfect, that is until Miss Ava Demetrius, the daughter of the most powerful alpha in New York, deliberately ruined it. Because of her, I lost my reputation, my friends, and everything I worked hard for. I became my worst nightmare, a useless nobody. And she… she became my idol.

***

Lucas

September first, students are barely back from their summer break. No one was ready for this new school year. Even though it was our last year. For me, I didn’t have any break. Being a member of the student council, at the most prestigious academy meant to work all day and night. I didn’t mind it, I wanted to be at the top of my game.

“Here’s our class president! How are you man?” Asked Andrew while holding his arms out to hug me. Andrew looked a little tanned, perhaps from traveling.

“Just been busy with school, and you?”

“Summer was fun! I spent a couple of weeks in Hawaii with my mother, and then traveled to Nevada to see my father. And you know, check on Las Vegas!”

That’s right, last year Andrew told me about his parents' situation. I didn’t think they’d divorce that quickly. “Is everything alright with you?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s for the best I think. They were never meant to be.” He said as he looked out the window. I’ve never seen Andrew so serious in all my years. He's always cheerful, bright, and enthusiastic. He exhaled loudly and turned back to look at me. “The good thing is, I get double my allowance” he cheered.

“Yes!” I exclaimed to cheer him up.

“How’s Alex? Did you two meet during the break?”

“No, I knew he was going through a breakup. I just wanted him to have time for himself” I said.

“Yeah, I’ve always thought Alex and April were a perfect couple. Like you and I.” He bursted.

“Shut up!” I laughed as I punched him in the chest.

“Ouch man! That really hurt-” before he could finish, Mr. Williams walked into our class and began commanding.

“Good morning class! Please take your seats, I have an important announcement to make” Mr. Williams interrupted. Everyone rushed to their assigned seats. I scanned the room to look for Alex. He must be late, I thought to myself. I took my seat next to the window. I was lucky this year to get such a pleasant view of the garden. “Listen everyone, we have a new student that will be joining us this year. Please help me welcome Ava!” He announced as he pointed to the new student walking through the door. Who’s this? She looked nothing like an “outstanding individual”. How on earth was she accepted into this academy?

I’ve never seen our school uniform this bizarre. Her skirt wasn’t ironed nor her jacket. And her hair… she probably never heard of a brush before. Her thick curly dark hair fell to her shoulders. Her bangs were so long I could barely see her eyes. Does she even have a mirror to look at? She’s either a fool, or too rich to care. I couldn’t believe it, there’s no way this nobody is going to be in our honors class. “Miss Ava, please introduce yourself.” Mr. Williams requested. She sighed, as if we were supposed to already know who she is. “I’m Ava” she said, “Ava Demetrius.” There it was, the cherry on top of this lovely year. Everyone in the classroom gasped. They were all silent for a long moment. “Demetrius?” One student asked. “Yes, Ava Demetrius is the daughter of the alpha in New York. I expect all of you to treat her well” Mr. Williams demanded.

A werewolf, great. Just what I needed. A daily reminder of my disappointing past. I closed my eyes to help myself remain calm. “It’s okay, it’s alright, nothing will change.” I said to calm myself as I knew this would be a hell of a year. When I opened my eyes I saw her standing right in front of my desk. She bent down so her face met mine. Too close. She’s too close! Has she ever heard of personal space before? She stared at me for five seconds and then asked “Are you-”

“I’m Lucas! Lucas Hades” I interrupted her before she went too far.

“You can sit there Ms. Demetrius.” Mr. Williams said as he pointed to the desk in front of me. “Lucas is the classroom president, if you have any questions or concerns he’ll be sure to help you.” She nodded and sat down in her chair. This is unbearable. I’ll be stuck here with her for a whole year! After an hour the lecture ended, and we had a fifteen minute break before our next class. Andrew walked up to my desk to resume his conversation. Behind him walked Hanna and Emma, also heading towards me. “Hello Lucas!” They both said.

“Hey girls!”

“Lucas, where is Alex?”

“I’m not sure, Hanna. He may be late today.”

“Actually he just texted me. He won’t be coming today. Lucas, do you want to go visit him tonight?”

“Yes, that would be great, Andrew.”

“Ugh!” Emma objected. “What is that smell?” She asked Hanna. “Our classroom just became a playground for dogs!” They both laughed even though it was a cheap comment.

“Stop being mean, girls.” Andrew proposed.

“Come on, Andy! We’re just having fun!” Emma said. “Besides, she doesn’t mind it. Do you Ava?” Emma turned to Ava for an answer. Even though I couldn’t see her face, Ava must’ve given Emma a deadly glare. The kind that a werewolf gives before attacking a prey. Emma backed up immediately, and held Hanna’s hand. “Let’s go grab coffee, Hanna.” They left in a hurry to avoid any trouble.

Andrew leaned on my desk and took a second to examine Ava who was right in front of him. Then he leaned down to whisper in my ear “Are you going to be okay?” He asked me. I nodded.

Having a werewolf in our classroom was a big deal. In New York, there are less than a dozen werewolves who were accepted into this academy. Most humans here don’t welcome werewolves into their homes, schools, hospitals, etc. The werewolves of course have their own places to go to, which also never welcomed humans. The Demetrius family own more than 40% of New York’s land and fortunes. I’ve heard they have a high school academy which is as great as Hopsforth, if not even better. But that wouldn’t make any sense, why would the alpha’s daughter join the humans academy and neglect her pack? It must be just a rumor then.

The bell rang for the next lecture period. History was next. I never understood why STEM students were required to take history anyway. This day can’t get worse… right? Wrong. Mr. Edward was our history teacher, he’s well known for his passion and admiration for werewolves and books. For some reason, he thinks that werewolves are the strongest and most powerful creatures in history. What would he do if he learned that his new student is in fact a werewolf. Mr. Edward rushed through the door, almost tripped when he got to his desk. Everyone in the class knew exactly why he was in such a hurry, except maybe Ava. She had no clue.

“Where is she?” He asked. Almost everyone in the class, except me, pointed to Ava. “You must be Ava!” He said as he approached her desk.

“Yes, I’m Ava.”

“Are you a werewolf?”

“I am.”

“Are you seriously the alpha’s daughter?”

“I am.”

“Can you shift?”

“I can.”

“Have you seen our library?

“I haven’t.”

“We have millions of books from various genres, you must see it today!” He blurted.

“I don’t know where that is.”

Mr. Edwards slammed my desk to get my attention. “President, you must show her where the library is!” He exclaimed.

“I- I can do that after school.” I said.

“Nonsense, take her now to the library. You’ll be exempt from today’s lecture. Now go!” He shouted from excitement. What was wrong with him? It’s not like he has never seen a werewolf before. Or is it because she’s a Demetrius? Either way I knew there was no escape from this. I got up and turned to Ava. “Let’s go” I sighed.

As we walked together, I tried my best to avoid her completely. It was dead silence. Only the sound of our footsteps were heard. We exited out of the STEM building and entered into the library, which was even bigger than the STEM building. I didn’t understand why our academy needed such an imposing library, it was magnificent. People from all around the world would come to visit this library, which is only open to tourists in summer. In my opinion, this should be the symbol of New York.

I turned to look at Ava who was walking behind me. “This is the library.” I said with a smile, trying my best to communicate with her. “Yea no shit.” She replied. Wonderful, not only she dressed out of style, but she was also pompous and arrogant.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“What do you want from me?”

“Show me where the horror fiction books are.”

Horror. Yes of course, it’s not like she would ask for romance or fairy tale books. “Follow me.” I sighed. I walked her over to the horror section of the library, as expected, not one soul was there. Who would read these books? And why would the academy even have them? She immediately ran towards the dark fantasy subcategory section. I watched as she looked around the shelves searching for a book, like a child trying to find their new toy. I sighed again. Mr. Edward, why does he hate me that much? I would rather sit through the most boring history lecture than to be here with this odd creature. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard girls screaming and running out of the dark fantasy corner. I ran to see what was wrong. Nothing. It was just the odd creature that was sitting on the floor, in the middle of the section, reading a horror book. Not knowing that the way she was sitting with her undone hair covering her face and her oversized uniform, was the definition of horror.

“What?” She asked as she looked up to see me.

“Why are you sitting here? Like this?”

“I sit wherever and however I want.”

“This is the human side of New York, not wherever you came from. We do things differently here.”

“We? Are you counting yourself a human?”

“You know?”

“That you’re a punk? Or that you’re a werewolf?”

That’s it. This was what I hated the most. My past freaking interfering with my present. “You better not tell anyone!”

“Your friends don’t know?”

“No, and I want to keep it that way forever. You hear me?”

“That you’re deceptive? Yes I hear you loud and clear.”

“I’m serious, Ava! Don’t you dare tell anyone!”

“You’re not seriously commanding the daughter of the alpha to listen to a low werewolf like you?”

“I don’t care who you are! And who I am is none of your business.”

She looked back down at her scary book, ignoring what I just told her. Damn she pissed me off. She sighed and looked back up “Fine, why don’t we make a deal?” She said,

“What deal?!”

“I don’t have any friends here, and it looks like it will take me a while to make one. So, I want you to be my friend. Be my friend, and I’ll keep your secret.”

How pathetic, I thought. It won’t take a while, it will take a lifetime for this creature to have any friends. I knew that I was getting myself into trouble with her. “No thank you, I would rather die.” I said.

“How unfortunate… I guess revealing your secret after you’re dead won’t be fun. I better go tell everyone now…”

Damn it! I just wanted her to keep her mouth shut. I didn’t go through all of this pain of building my new character, only to have a freak like her ruin it for me. “Fine, I’ll be your friend!” I shouted.

“Then help me get up, friend.”

Ugh. I have never been this angry with anyone, but Ava Demetrius, man I hated her.