The Wolf that Binds us

An Atlas Scandal

CHAPTER 2

Luca paced restlessly even as the psychology lecturer was talking. His wet eyes were glued to the door of the classroom. Odessa wasn’t back yet and his heart raced as he thought of anything negative happening to her. He activated his deep senses, which were against the academy rules which read “no use of powers in school premises under any circumstances.” He needed to find her, but even with his smelling senses at its peak, he couldn’t pick her scent.

“Excuse me, ma. Please can I use the bathroom?”

He asked Mrs. Ella. She curved her eyebrows before nodding for him to go. He rushed down the hallway desperately searching for her soothing smell. With every second that he scoured for her in futility, his heart raced faster like one engaging in a duel. He stopped by the toilet on the second floor where he could hear voices. He couldn’t catch even the faintest scent which he found unsettling, even if it wasn’t Odessa’s the fact that people were inside the toilet, he should have been able to pick up their scent if someone was blocking him. It magnified his vain fright, so he crept up to the entrance. Lectures were ongoing, hence, the hallway was hushed, and his ears rested on the wall listening to the chaos happening. He heard Odessa’s voice and as soon as he picked it up, he was certain that his suspicions were right. Someone was blocking him from catching their scent. Apart from Odessa’s voice, the other one he could detect even from a weak sigh was Zoe; she was the one blocking him, probably because she wanted to engage in one of her mischievous feats. He waited till he heard Odessa’s distress call, and he sprung to action.

“Give me the phone now!”

He ordered.

“What are you doing in the ladies' room, Luca?”

Zoe cried. Odessa’s eyes fell on him like a weary puppy that was grateful its mother showed up just in time. Her heart pounced in anger even from seeing him, but she was glad he came.

“I didn’t stutter, pass me the phone, Zoe.”

He echoed again. He was being consumed with vain anger like a mother hen would shield her frail chick, but Zoe was his sister and he couldn’t do much differently.

“I’m not giving up, Brother. It’s not your call to make!”

Zoe stumped as she brushed past him. She fidgeted inside but held her head high. She was going to make a mockery out of Odessa and nothing was going to hinder it. Luca felt his hands shiver, he was pissed and with every second that the mild sobs of Odessa reached his ears, his anger was ignited. His wolf ravaging mad and with a bolt of speed, he reached back for Zoe with unmatched velocity, pinning her to the bathroom wall. The loud gasps from both Whitney and Odessa brought back his senses. Zoe struggled for breath, Luca's grip was unyielding and all Zoe’s attempts to unwrap herself were futile. His thumbs flicked the phone from Zoe’s grip, he swiftly opened it and deleted the audio and video she recorded.

“You are choking me, Luca.”

Zoe coughed.

“Let her go, Luca. You would hurt her.”

Odessa cried as her hands tugged at his shirt. His eyes caught hers and, like a man hypnotized, he yielded. He wanted to let Zoe go but after giving her an earful, he let it go mainly because he couldn’t resist Odessa’s plea.

“You need to grow up, Zoe!”

He scoffed as he let her down.

“And you need to be a better brother!”

Zoe thumped as she barged out of the toilet, boiling with rage. She wasn’t done yet.

“Thank you for coming, but we were already handling it.”

Odessa pouted.

“Handling? No one can handle it, Zoe.”

Luca responded with keen eyes. She was stubborn, and even their parents let her have her way whenever she persisted.

“Anyway, Odessa please can we talk?”

“We do not want to talk to you. Moreover, this is a ladies' convenience. It would better leave before others see you. You may never recover from that.”

Whitney chirped in as she pulled Odessa with her. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want Luca to speak to Odessa, but it was her own way of protecting her friend from a futile attempt. Zoe was one, but Vynessa was a whole legion.

***

“Did you see the video I sent to you?”

Zoe inquired, looking impatiently to be sure that Vynessa had received the sent file. It was her last hope. Vynessa hastily opened her phone and downloaded the videos. The content amazed her and her face expressed her utter bewilderment.

“How did you get this?”

Vynessa asked with a hushed voice with her stomach cringing from both excitement and anger. She knew Odessa had a soft spot for Luca and, despite his constant affirmation that they were harmless acquaintances, she never bought it.

“Doesn’t matter, what do you think we should do with this? It’s enough to bring her down and probably keep it as a receipt for blackmail or something.”

Vynessa's lips curled backwards. She nursed a sinister idea and wasn’t sure Zoe would support it.

“Yeah, you are right. Humans have a lot of guts, I must say. Luca has marked me as his mate and even if she floods Moonstone with her tears it won’t change providence.”

Vynessa expressed. A part of her felt defeated because she knew she didn’t have Luca’s whole attention. She studied how his countenance changed when Odessa received the news, but it wasn’t something that she couldn’t fix.

“Anyway, thank you for this, Zoe. I’m so grateful that you have my back. We are lovely sisters. I feel it deep in my wolf.”

“You are welcome; just don’t let her win this time.”

Zoe smirked as she walked out.

The next day saw the biggest buzz, not just at Moonstone academy, but the whole capital city. Zoe’s video had been posted on Moonstone blog at midnight and the whole city happened to be buzzing around the news. The Atlas’ and Tharros’ were one of the two greatest families in Moonstone. The hallway was lined up in several clusters all watching the video over and over again. Several edits have been made to Odessa’s voice, hence creating a trend for it. The headlines of several blogs were bleeding the Atlas and Tharros family. The Heir wants more; Rich and Needy Atlas, Desperate lover, a one-sided affair, The Wolf’s w***e, human and wolf mix, and other drowning headlines just to catch hungry readers.

Rowan pulled up in the parking lot of the academy and signaled Odessa to hop down. She was oblivious to the online buzz that had turned Moonstone upside down. The business of combing the internet had never been a hobby for her, seeing that she kept herself busy with various humanitarian duties, like planning for her donation to pets, addressing humans in Rehab, the orphanage her father founded, and also her academics. Her quiet life had been a cause of envy because it had a way of drawing people to absolute awe. Unlike other children of high estates, Odessa had no pleasure in the popular elite culture of partying and feeding the blogs with juicy gossip. It was her first time ever on the blogs about a controversial topic, and she was still oblivious to it. She stepped out and noticed the wispy stares and voices that twirled past her; the way some went as far as pointing at her as she walked through the school scanner. Elvis, the school guard, was also staring at her with what looked like pity. Odessa’s eyes were beginning to water and her body was getting cold from fright. What was happening? She could feel the hot stares at her, the hallway had one loud voice of whisper from the young grade one students to the grade 8 finalists. All had their eyes on her, and she couldn’t pick, but she could hear their loud whispers. She is the one. Oh, she looks so beautiful, I pity her, she looks so harmless… some youngsters went as far as laughing at her face.

“Odessa!”

Whitney shouted from behind. She turned to meet Whitney, running up to her breathlessly.

“Whitney, what is going on? Everyone is acting odd, even you came to school early today.”

She cried, still holding down her school skirt.

“Nothing, let’s go outside.”

Whitney insisted. Her own gaze was falling as she tried to hold back her tears. It would kill Odessa to find out that her most vulnerable moment has been publicized and mocked by the world.

“No! Not until you tell me what is going on!”

“I promise, I will tell you when we get out of here.”

Whitney urged as she escorted Odessa back outside. The crowd gathering to get a glimpse of Odessa had increased. Whitney’s cold palms held tightly to Odessa’s as she led her out. She stood by the car watching the clusters and their preying eyes on her as she opened her cell phone to also understand the buzz. Whitney was talking with Rowan about getting them back home when Odessa’s eyes caught the first blog post. She watched as the video replayed the confession of her feelings for Luca. How her hair was in a mess and her face washed with tears. Her fingers trembled even as she dared to open to the comment section. Stupid rich human, psycho b***h, he already has a mate. How desperate can you be? These humans continue to act stupid; she looks like a haggard witch. Seeing her hair, Odessa Atlas is desperate for a mate…

As her eyes continued to search for solace in the comment, her vision was getting blurry and hazy. Her lids were becoming too heavy for her to lift; she felt the ground lifted even as her head continued to bang the echoes of the comments, the noise around was becoming distant, and her body lost its balance as she hit the tarred road in an unconscious mist.

“Odessa! Odessa! Odessa!”

“Can you hear me? Open your eyes!”