THE WITCH AND HER ALPHA

Chapter 5

The feeling of the wind in his fur made Drake feel alive as he ran. It had been a while since he had let his wolf stretch his legs but now, as his brother slept and he was not in school seemed to be the perfect time.

Although it was very unusual for him, Drake had skipped school that day for an important reason. Mason was sick and it was bad. Violet had been on her week off since Saturday night and Drake felt like a jerk calling her to come back to take care of his sick brother. He had to stay back to take care of him himself.

A week ago, Drake wouldn't have minded skipping school at all. It wasn't like he had anyone in particular to see and he was sure no one would miss him and he knew he'd be able to catch up on any school work missed, yet for some reason, a huge part of him felt sad that he'd be missing a day of school.

He knew it was because of a certain Raven haired girl who had snuck her way into his mind all the time. Since she had arrived at Westwood high, she had given him something to look forward to at school everyday and he wasn't happy that he wouldn't see her face that day.

He wished he had thought to collect her phone number so he could at least send her a text or maybe even call her. They were supposed to finish their project that day but it looked like they'd have to postpone it.

Deciding that he had spent enough time away from Mason, Drake headed back home. He enjoyed the forest behind his house as it gave him enough coverage to be himself in his wolf form. And if by any slight chance, a human spotted him, they would just assume him to be a normal wolf.

He entered his house through the back gate and shifted back to his human form. He took his pair of shorts from where he had stashed them and wore them then he headed into the house.

Jerry stopped him. “I hope your run was good sir", he said. Jerry wasn't a wolf but he knew what Drake was. He had been his parents' butler when they are alive and he had stayed with them long enough to know their family secrets.

“It was. Thank you Jerry", Drake replied.

“You have a visitor sir?"

“Oh is Joanne here? That girl really needs to stop showing up here unannounced", Drake replied, on the assumption that the visitor was Joanne, his cousin and best friend.

“No sir. It's Miss Myers. She's upstairs waiting in your room".

That definitely took Drake by surprise. What was she doing here and how did she even get here? A part of him was happy that he'd get to see her after all but he was mostly intrigued.

“I'd better not keep her waiting then. Thank you Jerry", Drake said, heading up the stairs to his room.

“Hey Raquelle, I wasn't expecting you", he said, a smile on his face. The smile dropped though when he saw the expression on her face.

“Raquelle", he called, “what's wrong?"

“You're..." she stumbled out, “you're a werewolf!!".

Drake's eyes widened.

Drake's face paled as Raquelle stood in front of him. For the first time in his life, he doubted his supernatural hearing and hoped that he had heard her wrong.

He hoped that she hadn't just said what he thought she said. “What?", he asked, holding on to the tiny string of hope that his supernatural wolf hearing had deceived him from the first time since he was born.

“I... I saw you transform back. You're a werewolf", Raquelle repeated.

Drake didn't have anything to say. She had clearly seen him and there was nothing he could do to stop that. If she didn't think he was a freak before, this was guaranteed to change her mind.

Although he hated to admit it to himself, he had already begun to get used to her presence in his life and he'd hate for her to see him as a freak and run away. She was his first friend that wasn't family or a member of his pack.

“Fine, yes, you're right", Drake said in confirmation. There was no use denying it. She saw what she saw. In all his seventeen years of life, he had never let anyone human discover his secret. They had never even gotten close enough to find out.

Drake took a seat on the bed, looking at Raquelle. She still stood there in shock and he waited to hear what she'd say.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she finally took a seat beside him on the bed.

“I can't believe it", Raquelle said, “you're a werewolf, a real life werewolf. Never in a million years would I have guessed that werewolves actually exist. I always knew there was something special about you but a werewolf? That's... that's out of this world". She looked up to meet his eyes and slowly, a small smile formed on her face.

“That's really cool", she added. Drake's face widened. That was definitely not what he was expecting her to say and he was sure most humans wouldn't say that.

“What?" he said, speechless.

“I think it's really cool that you're a werewolf", Raquelle repeated then her eyes widened in realization as if she had come to a conclusion at something. “Is that why your eyes are silver?"

Drake was surprised yet impressed. For a human, she was really really clever. He wasn't able to form coherent words yet so he settled for nodding in reply.

He had so many questions. Why was she taking this so calmly? Why wasn't she running away screaming? And why was she even at his house in the first place?

Drake never had to worry about being careful when he shifted because he never had any surprise visitors that didn't already know what he was. So he couldn't really blame himself for being careless.

He was sure she had even more questions for him. He decided to start though.

“How are you taking this so easily?" he asked.

“Would you want me to run away screaming?" she asked, chuckling.

“Well that would be a more believable reaction if I'm being honest", he said.

“I don't know many humans who would be cool staying in a room with a person that they just found out could turn into a giant wolf".

“Well then I guess I'm not like most humans".

“Oh I already knew that", Drake muttered under his breath.

“But I do have a lot of questions though? How are you a werewolf? How did you transform in broad daylight? And who else knows? Are you in a pack?.."

The rest of her questions came out muffled because Drake had placed his hand over her mouth to clamp it shut.

“Okay slow down there tiger, one question at a time", Drake said, laughing as he took his hand off her mouth.

He smiled sheepishly as he noticed the stain from her lipgloss. “Sorry", he muttered as she raised an eyebrow at him. “What question would you like an answer to first?"

“Okay, um", she said, her hand on her chin in thought, “how did you become a werewolf?"

“I was born this way", Drake answered confidently.

“That is literally the coolest thing ever", Raquelle replied in childlike wonder. “Wait! That means Mason is a werewolf too. Do you guys have a pack?"

Drake nodded, laughing at how quickly she was piecing the puzzles together. She was obviously very smart, although he knew that already from working on a project with her.

“So if you've been a wolf all your life, there's bound to be other people that know your secret", Raquelle pointed out.

“Right again. With what you've already known about him. Who do you think knows?"

Raquelle mulled that question over in her head for a while. “Jerry, obviously, the butlers always know everything and I'm guessing Violet?"

“Right for the third time. Good job Myers", Drake said, “Violet's actually a werewolf too. She's from my pack".

It was at that moment that Raquelle realized why Violet had that impossibly human beauty. She had met three werewolves who were all unbelievably gorgeous. Obviously, it was a werewolf thing.

“Okay, I think it's time for my questions now", Drake said, “first off, I need to know that you'll keep this a secret. I don't exactly go off telling all the world what I am".

Raquelle looked at him, as if offended. “Drake, what do you think I am? A child? Of course I'll keep your secret. I know how big of a deal this is and I'd be honored to keep it".

Drake gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you Raquelle", he said, taking her hands in his.

Raquelle smiled at him back, enjoying the feel of his hands on hers. They were warm and big and strong, yet incredibly soft. They felt nice on her skin and she almost felt like there was a spark on their skins but it was most likely static.

“Oh and hey", Raquelle said, “this actually makes us officially friends now, not just project partners or acquaintances. The fact that we share a secret now, makes us friends".

Drake laughed although he was happy to hear that. Being friends with her was definitely not a bad idea to him at all. “I like the sound of that".

“So as friends, that means we need each other's phone numbers, right? That way you can send me a text or call me to let me know that you won't be in school", Raquelle said, a small smile on her face.

“That is a really good idea", Drake said, happy that he wasn't the only one who had been thinking about that.

Raquelle handed him her phone and he handed her his so they could input their phone numbers.

“So speaking of which, why weren't you in school today?" Raquelle asked softly, hoping she wasn't prying too much.

“Why do you wanna know? Did you miss me?" Drake asked teasingly.

“Yes", she answered so softly that if it wasn't for his wolf hearing, he wouldn't have picked it up. Her face flushed pink and so did his, he definitely didn't expect her to say that even though it made him happy that she did miss him.

“I guess I sorta maybe kinda missed you too", he said to her. Raquelle rolled her eyes and playfully punched his arm.

“Mason's sick and Violet's on vacation so I couldn't exactly leave him alone at home", Drake said.

Raquelle's features morphed into one of genuine concern. “Oh my gosh, is he okay?"

“He has the flu but he'll be fine. His wolf genes haven't fully kicked in yet so he can still catch human sicknesses and it'll take him a while to get better but he'll be fine".

“Can I see him?" Raquelle asked.

“I wouldn't want you to catch anything. The flu is really contagious after all".

“But you're taking care of him?"

“Yeah but my wolf genes will prevent me from getting sick myself".

“The more you tell me about this stuff, the cooler it sounds".

Drake laughed at that. “I guess it is pretty cool. Maybe I'll show you what it's like sometime".

“I'd definitely like that".

They were left in comfortable silence when Drake decided to ask the question that had been on his mind since Jerry told him she was in his room.

“Not that I'm not glad that you're here but why are you here? I definitely got the shock of my life when Jerry told me that you were here".

“Well, we were supposed to meet here to finish our project and I didn't see you in school and I didn't get any texts or calls, I decided to drop by myself and see you. That is okay right?"

“It's fine. It was definitely a welcome surprise. How did you get here though? You don't have a car?"

“Oh I took the bus"

“The bus only drops you so far though. That means you had to walk the rest of the way here".

Raquelle shrugged. “It wasn't a big deal really. I don't mind walking every now and then. It's good for the heart".

“Thank you Raquelle", Drake said.

“For what?"

“For being you. You're an amazing person and I hope you know that".

Raquelle's face turned a shade of bright red at his compliment.

“Wow, thank you Drake", she replied, unable to meet his eyes, “since I'm here, we probably should get to finishing our project".

“Yeah we should", Drake said, standing up from the bed. Raquelle did the same and they went to the study together.

Hours later, at night, Raquelle was lying on her bed, the events of the day replaying in her head. It still felt so surreal to her and a part of her felt like she was going to wake up and realize it was all a dream. She hoped not though.

She couldn't get Drake out of her head and wondered if it would be weird to text him that late. She decided that it would and tried to force herself to fall asleep when her phone dinged with a text.

She smiled when she saw who it was.

Drake: Hey ?

With a smile on he face, she replied him.

Raquelle: Hey yourself ?