An Alpha's Instinct

Chapter 2: Shopping and Dreaming

Erin hears the rain bouncing off the roof. It's dark outside, thunder chasing lightning across the sky. He's lying-in bed on his back staring at the clock above the door in front of him, watching the little red arrows dance in a circle controlled by time.

He turns, lying on his left side. The window blinds are open, and Erin can hear the rain pelting against it in the dark. He glances at the clock again.

It's still dancing.

Erin pushes the covers aside and gets up. Barefoot, he walks to the door. His toes twitch when he steps off the fluffy white rug beside his bed and onto the cold floorboard.

He opens the door inward with his right hand, grimacing as the strong wind hits his face.

There's a forest in front of him with a lake of blood in between. Erin raises his left arm to wipe the rain off his face. He spies a creature sitting near the edge of the forest with its back to him, curled into a ball. The creature's white coat stands out like a lighthouse against the darkness of the forest.

Lighting strikes the ground. Thunder claps across the sky.

The creature turns around, facing Erin.

The clock stops dancing.

Erin gasps as he jolts up in bed, sweat making his pajamas stick to his skin. There's a hint of sunlight streaming in from between the blinds covering the window to his left, casting his room in a warm glow. He looks over to the clock on his desk next to the door in front of him. 10 a.m. Erin groans, the imprint of glowing eyes still seared into his mind.

“What the hell."

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“Wolves equal aggression," Layla reads off her phone. She's sitting across from Erin at the corner table in Café Terra, munching on some fries. Her shift ended thirty minutes ago, which was when Erin told Layla about the weird dreams he's been having for the past week.

“Shut up," Erin sighs before sticking more fries into his mouth. He wonders what has made Alex late. He doesn't live that far from campus and it's past noon, so the morning traffic should have died down by now.

“Oh, come on dude. A dream about a giant wolf with glowing gold eyes? That's so basic," Layla drops her phone onto the table, resting her cheeks on her hands to create a more dramatic pout. “When you said 'weird dreams' I thought you meant getting turned into an alien and being screwed under a waterfall or something."

Erin stares at her frozen, fries halfway to his mouth as he processes what she said. Sometimes he simply does not get what goes on in her brain. He supposes that's what makes her photography great though – capturing the weird moments in life, seeing the same image from a different perspective. It makes him very proud to be in the same degree as her.

“They weren't gold," Erin finally composes himself, continuing to eat his fries. “They were hazel, like mine, which is why it's weird."

“Erin," Layla crosses her hands together, sitting up straight like one would when speaking to a child, “Your eyes are gold."

Erin rolls said eyes, looking out the window at the bloomed wisteria trees. Truthfully, his eyes are hazel. It's just that the gold around his iris is so large that the green isn't always seen unless he's standing super close to someone.

Like Victor.

“Sorry … late."

Erin remembers how close Victor was standing next to him.

“…rin."

Or was he the one standing close to Victor?

“… wrong … dude …"

He wonders if Victor could notice the green in his eyes.

“Don't … wolf dre …"

Erin noticed Victor's eyes, the pale blue overpowering the steel grey around his iris. The complete opposite to Erin's.

“Erin!"

Erin looks up startled. Alex is here now, sitting next to Layla. They're both staring at him like he just told them he has cancer.

Erin clears his throat, pushing away the last of his fries. “Sorry, zoned out."

Alex squints at him, “Yeah no sh*t dude. You all good?" His hair is wet, making it look black like Erin's instead of light brown, and he smells like chlorine and salt. Morning swim practice, right, that's why he's late today. He did mention that.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Erin looks around the cafe. “Just haven't been sleeping well."

“Layla filled me in about the dreams." Alex leans back in his seat, arms crossing over his chest. He's silent for a moment before a smirk twists his lips, brown eyes turning dark with mischief. “Maybe you just need a good bang."

Layla bursts out laughing. Erin drops his mouth open in shock.

“I'm thinking Mr. tall, dark and handsome fits the bill. Good bod, intense eyes, looks rich, probably big di–" Erin interrupts him by throwing a handful of fries at his face. Alex leans forward, opening his mouth to catch some with a cheeky grin on his face. That just causes Layla to laugh harder. She seems to know exactly who Alex is referring to, which means he must have told her. Traitor.

Erin shakes his head; it's getting harder to keep his lips from smiling too. “Come on y'all. Let's head to the supply store before I 'bang' your heads together."

Erin tries to listen into the conversation as they walk – something about what time to schedule classes next semester and which electives to take – but the words aren't processing. He feels restless, stressed, on edge.

Like he's forgetting something but doesn't remember what.

Like he needs to go somewhere but doesn't know how.

Like someone's waiting for him but doesn't –

“Ooohh look Erin, it's a wolf notebook!" Alex quickly picks up the notebook, raising it like one would a prized pumpkin. Erin stares at the notebook. The wolf is all white, sitting down on a rock with a mountain range behind it. The eyes are black, not hazel or gold. Or blue.

“Cool." Erin nods before looking around the supply store. He doesn't normally get supplies this early. The new semester is still a good two months away, but Alex insists it's better to go now instead of trying to deal with a crowded rush of college students a week before the semester starts.

Alex and Layla share a look, a silent conversation playing out between them. Alex nods toward Erin, raising his eyebrows. Layla shrugs, shaking her head. Alex sighs, putting the notebook down. This is more serious than Layla made it out to be at the cafe.

“Seriously, dude," Alex grabs Erin's shoulders so they're face to face. “What's wrong?"

Erin looks at Alex. He sees the concern laced into his features and hears the worry in his voice. He tries to look away, but Layla is there. She's never really shown a lot of expression through her features – something that got her into a lot of trouble growing up – but her bright blue eyes have always made up for it. Most days you would hardly believe she was two years younger than him and Alex – she's always been the more mature of the three of them. Looking into her eyes now though, Erin sees just how scared she is for him.

He gives in with a sigh. “I don't know, honestly." He looks between them both one last time. “Maybe I do need to get banged …?"

They don't buy his diversion attempt. “Or …" Layla drawls sheepishly, “Maybe you just need a break, like from everything."

Erin scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. Summer break started just over a week ago.

Alex pipes in, finally letting go of Erin's shoulders. “Boys, s*x, parties, s*x, school prep, s*x. Have some quality 'you' time."

Layla swings between Alex and Erin, smiling as she grabs onto one arm each. “With us still, obviously."

Erin mulls it over as they continue shopping. They do have a point. Ever since the 'Young People Only' party, Erin's had trouble sleeping. Maybe dreaming of thunderstorms and wolves is his subconscious' way of saying he needs to spend some time with his friends without overthinking everything. Be wild and free, recharge, and release some pent-up tension left over from last semester.

And Erin knows the perfect way to do it.