The Broken Luna and Her Playboy Mate

CHAPTER 7 - MYTHOLOGY - ETAMINA'S POV

''Well, that was fun.'' Tiane said sarcastically.

''Remind me again why I chose such a boring course.'' I said.

''I’ll remind you when you remind me.''

Tiane was still laughing when we walked into our first mythology lecture. I don’t think she noticed I wasn’t laughing with her, I could only fake a smile.

The room wasn’t full, it was obviously not a popular course. I noticed the two blonde girls from the parking lot sitting with Noah and three other boys, who clearly looked as if they were taking this class to help fill their required courses rather than having any interest in this particular field.

Noah's scent hit me like a brick wall and I found myself taking a deep breath, filling my lungs. Somehow I felt comforted, but I shook my head and looked away from him.

Two more girls sat up the front, deep in conversation. A skinny boy sat on his own to the left of the girls while another boy sat one row behind the twins. He kept throwing one of them quick glances as if he was making sure she was still there.

The skinny boy that was sitting on his own, suddenly looked up at me with fear in his eyes. I sniffed and realized he wasn’t human. He was a werewolf, a less pure Lycan. He paled and bowed his head, making me glare angrily.

Mom had mentioned that this would happen when I crossed others from our secret world, especially in our territory.

''Did he just bow to you?'' Tiane whispered in amusement as she looked at where I was staring.

''Weird.'' I shrugged and pretended not to care.

The boy paled again and turned towards the front of the room, slightly shaking.

Noah looked up at Tiane and smiled when he heard her voice, and it made me feel uneasy. Does he like her?

''T,'' He said pleasantly.

''Hey,'' Tiane smiled at him, ''This is-''

''How’s it going, Mina?'' He said with a smile before Tina could introduce us.

I frowned at him and nodded. ''Fine, thank you.'' I said in an uninterested tone.

One of Noah’s friends, the tall one that I'd seen this morning talking to one of the twins, nudged Noah in the arm playfully. The other boys laughed, and Noah blushed slightly but looked at ease as he leaned in my direction.

''I’m sorry if I upset you this morning.'' He said with a smirk, ''I wasn’t trying to insult you.''

''Don’t stress.'' I said, trying to brush it off and seem casual. This was the last place I wanted a conversation about my name to start up again.

''Just forget about it, I have. You said your name was Nole right?'' I added nastily to wipe the smug look off his face.

''It's Noah actually.'' He frowned at me, he seemed insulted, as if no one had ever forgotten his name before, especially a girl. He stared at me for a moment and I couldn’t help but get lost in his gorgeous green eyes.

Before I could snap out of it, one of the blonde girls laughed and spoke to him in an amused tone.

''You’ll never change.'' She said sadly and turned to look at me. ''His mouth never waits for his brain, especially when he’s talking to the opposite s*x, my brother is terrible sometimes, I hope he didn’t say anything too insulting.''

Triplets? I couldn’t believe it, the girls looked nothing like Noah.

''No, he’s fine.'' I told her, I wanted to get off the subject.

''What did he say to you?'' The other blonde asked though she didn’t look up from her book.

''Nothing,'' I said quickly, and Noah frowned at me.

Luckily, Tiane’s father walked into the room. I stared at him. He was a lot taller than he had seemed sitting down and was thick set. His dark brown hair was pulled into tight ringlets down the back of his head, he had the same green eyes as Tiane. His style was much like that of the male students, casual but all brand-name clothes that suited him. I could see why mom had dated him. He was actually pretty cute.

''Good afternoon class.'' He said in a pleasant happy voice like Tiane’s. ''And welcome to mythology one oh one, My name's Ethan Archer, but you can call me Ethan. I thought for our first class we’d do something fun and go over a few local legends before I get you all to write out the class objectives.''

My eyes widened in fright. He couldn’t mean my family’s history.

''Werewolves.'' He went on, and I noticed the skinny boy turn to look at me, but I glared at him again, and he quickly looked to the front again.

''Oh great, not again.'' Tiane sighed quietly, ''He’s convinced they’re real.'' She whispered to me. ''That’s why my great, great-grandparents moved her in the first place.''

I looked around at the other students, some of them looked excited but the others simply looked bored as though they’d heard these legends for years.

I could feel my wolf's temper raising, and I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Again Noah’s scent made me relax and I frowned at him… What are you?

''MINE!'' My wolf answered my unspoken question

''What?'' I found myself asking it, ''What’s mine?''

''BOY!'' The wolf growled at me angrily, ''MINE!''

''Shut up!'' I snapped at the wolf, ''Nothing is yours, you f*cking murder!''

What an i***t. It can’t just claim some random boy is hers, just because he smells nice. I pushed my wolf to the back of my mind angrily, I’ll find a way to kill this monster in my head, I promised myself.

''Does anyone know the local legend?'' Ethan asked. No one answered, but he didn’t seem discouraged. ''Surely the local kids know it? Or how about you Etamina?''

My wolf growled angrily again as I looked at Ethan. I froze in place and stared at him in shock as the other students in front of her turned around to stare at me.

Calm, stay calm. I could feel my temper rising once more and my body was shaking slightly. I had to get out of here.

''The legend is about your family after all.'' Ethan said as he sat on top of his desk.

I couldn’t speak, I just stared at him holding my breath and focused on not shifting, I hated being the center of attention. How dare he put me on the spot, how dare he so casually ask me about something I wanted to forget forever.

''I know it.'' Noah said. He turned back to the front.

I exhaled but didn’t relax. Was he saving me from answering on purpose?

''Well then Noah.'' Ethan said, ''Please enlighten us.''

Noah told everyone about my ancestor Etamina, not knowing how real the story was. Once he stopped speaking, Ethan clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly.

''Yes, yes, that’s the very legend I was referring to.'' Ethan sang, he sat up straighter, ''So does anyone know any other werewolf origin stories?''

A girl in the front row raised her hand nervously.

''Yes, Miss?''

''Seara Lawson.'' The girl said proudly.

''Very good, you have an answer, Miss Lawson?''

''Well, sort of.'' She admitted, ''I mean it’s just that there are a lot of legends about werewolves come from.''

''Quite right,'' Ethan agreed, ''But can you tell me one?''

''Um there’s the one about Zeus." She said thoughtfully, ''About how he came down to earth and a King tried feed him human flesh, but Zeus realized and turned the king into a werewolf.''

Ethan laughed and Seara stopped speaking. ''Yes, I love that story, but here is no evidence to prove such a tale. Does anyone know any cases that have been recorded?''

''Miss Riley.'' He said, looking at me again. I was beginning to get irritated with this man. Why was he picking on me?

''Your mother used to tell me a thrilling tale about a man called Stubbe. Do you know it?'

The class turned to stare at me again.

''Yes,'' I admitted, my hand clenched into a fist under the book on my lap, I was cursing my mother.

''Well, let’s hear it.'' He prompted after it became obvious, I wasn’t going to tell it.

''Apparently in Germany years and years ago, women started being killed when they went down to the water hole or out into the field alone.'' I said quickly, wanting this over and everyone's eyes to be off me. ''A group of men set up a trap when one woman said it was a werewolf, they found it killing a woman but when they stabbed it, the werewolf turned into a human man.''

''They held a trial and the man confessed that he started using black magic when he was a child, and he sold his soul to the devil for power.'' I went on, trying desperately to ignore everyone looking at me. ''He was given the power to turn into a wolf. It’s said that he confessed to killing all the women, and his newborn child. I think he said he took the child down to the river, smashed he’s head open and ate his brains. The man was sentenced to death. I can’t remember how he was killed, I think they cut him into pieces and buried the body parts in separate places for fear that he could regenerate.''

The girls in the class looked disgusted and nauseated.

''Well, it doesn’t make for fun dinner talk.'' Ethan said.

I rolled my eyes. Mom had told me that story over dinner when I was thirteen.

''But it is in fact one of the earliest recorded accounts of the existence of werewolves.'' Ethan told them.

''So you really believe there are werewolves, professor?'' The boy next to Noah asked, while a few of the local kids looked over at me. I saw one of Noah's sisters elbow him in the ribs.

''I do Domonic,'' Ethan said, ''There is no doubt in my mind, when I was twenty, I saw a werewolf in the woods just outside town.''

Tiane shook her head and sunk lower in her chair.

''Really?'' The other girl up the front shouted, ''I’m Megan Thompson.'' She added.

''Yes, really.'' Mr Archer continued, ''Though at the time my fellow classmates said it was meally a normal wolf and that, because I’d been drinking, I’d imagined it.''

The boys in the class laughed, but I frowned at Ethan. Had he seen one of my family members?

''Where were you when you saw the werewolf?'' Megan asked.

''Oh, here we go.'' Tiane whispered to me, but I was still staring at Ethan. Surely mum had not shown him her wolf form.

''We were camping one weekend down past the big lake. There’s a waterfall in the mountains on Miss Riley’s property.'' He added and Noah looked at me again. ''We all used to swim out there. It was on your mother’s birthday, Mina, but your grandmother had insisted on her remaining at home, so we went out to celebrate for her. It was about twenty past twelve, and we were swimming when I saw it. It was standing at the top of the cliff, then there was a shocking howl from behind it, and it ran off.''

''Wow!'' Megan said, she was sitting on the edge of her seat.

''But enough reminiscing.'' Ethan jumped off his desk and headed for the black board. The rest of the hour passed quickly as they all took notes.

Now and then, I noticed both Ethan and Noah staring at me before quickly looking away again.