The Awakening of the Crowned Wolf

Chapter Two – The Redwood Wolves

I headed downstairs to grab some toast my mom made with eggs. I grab the buttered toast and orange juice as my mom protests about me not eating my breakfast. As I kiss her on the cheek and say, "really mom, I've got to go", I grab my keys to the car.

After leaving the house, I took off. Stephanie needs me to pick her up today. It's so fun to hang out with her. Soccer, volleyball, and track are all things we do together. Today we're playing a team from another state, so that's cool.

For our soccer team, we won the state championship. Now our team is competing against teams from other states. Would it be cheating if I was fast because I'm a werewolf? Hey, everyone's got a gift, and this is mine."

When I drive up to Stephanie's place and honk the horn, I'm so excited. We wave at her mom, who's trimming hedges. While she's talking on her phone, Stephanie runs outside. There's a reason she's blushing, she's talking to her new crush. She and I never had a steady relationship with a boy. The one we're looking for will hopefully be found after graduation.

Taking advantage of the open window, Stephanie jumps in. The car I drive is a red convertible Mustang. As a result of my parents, I got a job and bought a car. It's not new and shiny. OK, she could use some paint, but she's my baby. Stephanie and I wave goodbye as I leave the driveway. "Kick their butts, girls!" Her mom yells. "We'll run them over!" She yells back. You shouldn't be too confident, says my wolf.

In my head, I replied, "Hey, we have you and me on the team. No one can outrun us! We're more agile, have better vision, senses, strength, and speed. We're winning!"

It's like she harrumphs in my head. "We'll see Alexi today. It might be different."

As Kiki is always warning me, I chuckle to myself. You shouldn't kiss that boy. Don't be too confident. I think she's worse than my parents.

While trying to kiss Jeremy (my ex), my claws protruded and tore through his shirt. That was the most humiliating experience of my life. "What's your problem?" he asked.

That's right, I shredded his shirt. So yeah, no kissing humans.

As we arrive at school, kids are parking and finding their cliques. There are Emu kids, druggies, rockers, country people (they wear cowboy hats and stuff), and geeks.

Stephanie and I all have blonde friends, but that wasn't our plan. We're called the Barbie gang by our friends at school. The first thing. We're not a gang. The second. There's no way we'll ever look like Barbie. We've got blonde hair and athletic bodies.

We pull into our parking spot and our friends Rachel and Bethany run up to us. There's nothing more exciting than Rachel's latest gossip. Rachel asks, "Did you know Jessica and Jeremy were kissing over there?"? Nothing to worry about, girls. There's no way I can stand Jeremy anymore.

My attention is caught by his smirk, but I ignore it.

Stephanie and I are in honors classes. This year, our classes are pretty easy. By the time we were seniors, we had completed most of our major classes.

In our first class, we're going to learn art. There's nothing I love more than art. Nature, waterfalls, and woods are my favorite things to draw. My current project is a portrait of Kiki with her white and gold fur. Despite being a nag, she's gorgeous and I love her. The painting is going great, and Kiki keeps telling me where I need to fix her fur coloring. It makes me giggle, because she thinks I'm conceited. (I'm sarcastically thinking)

Stephanie is bored because she's not really into art. The only reason she took the class with me was because I begged her to. Maybe she'll draw a cat. Let's call that modern art, okay?

Outside, there's a lot of commotion. Here's the soccer team, "The Redwood Wolves". To see what it's like at another school, they'll attend some of our classes before our game.

Our window was a good place to watch them get off the bus. Our class is awestruck by the team. The Redwood Wolves look like athletic gods getting off the bus. It was hard to keep myself from staring at them.

It wasn't until this gorgeous hot guy caught my attention that I started paying attention. I couldn't stop looking at him as our eyes locked. It was like time had stopped. Shaking my head, I got out of my trance and started painting my wolf again.

Oh, ahem! Ms. Greens says something to the class. Currently, we have some new students.

Upon seeing the incoming students, Ms. Greens tells them to take any stool and canvas they can find. Then she (Ms. Greens) asks the Redwood Wolf kids to introduce themselves.

Right behind me was the guy with the dark hair I had seen earlier. As he whispers in my ear, he asks me what pack I'm from.

Whoa! That's the silliest question ever. I replied, "What pack am I from?". When Ms. Green asked him to introduce himself. He didn't get a chance to respond.

Standing up, he looked over the class. A big, bright smile spread across his face. My name is Nicholas Wood, and I'm the captain of our soccer team. We're Redwood High School kids. In the game, we're here to kick your butts. A laugh escaped him.

As I stood up and turned around, I pointed my finger to his chest and said "Whatever! We will totally annihilate your team." I then turned around to the rest of the class. I stick my fisted hand in the air and yell, "Go, Falcons!" The entire class cheers.

We had some new visitors, so Ms. Greens ask me to sit down and welcome them. Huffing, I slammed my behind down on my stool. 'Welcome to our school,' I murmured in a faint voice.

Grind my teeth, I look at Mr. Tall, dark hair, and Gorgeous one last time before turning around to continue my painting. Nicholas looks at my painting over my shoulder. I can feel his eyes just staring at me. As he whispers in my ear, "Is that your wolf?" I turn in shock! When I reply, "Why would I own a wolf?"

Kiki starts laughing really hard at the back of my head. Then I told Kiki, "Really? You're laughing at me?" I can't tell anyone I'm a wolf." Kiki chuckles back. "So is he!"

"He is a human wolf from their team. That is the name of their team!! DUH!!" I replied.

I'm snapped out of my conversation when Nicholas whispers, "I can tell you're talking to your wolf." "If that's her you are painting, she's gorgeous" Kiki starts preening in the back of my head, "I like this boy." Honestly, I don't know what to say, so I don't reply. I just stare at him like he's crazy.

As soon as the bell rings, I rush out of class before Nicholas tries to talk to me more or worse, yet follows me. Those pompous, overconfident idiots would annoy me to no end.

I made it to my next class with Nicolas right behind me. "Really?" I was wondering how he followed me. With my wolf speed, I can usually keep anyone off my trail. There's no way he could have followed me.

I'm getting so angry that my face turns red. My inner voice tells me to calm down. My wolf needs to calm down, so I don't tear apart the next person who walks by. My lungs fill with air as I exhale. Looking at Nicholas again, I pointed at his chest. How are you following me? There's this superpower I have. I can ditch anyone."

Laughing, Nicolas replied, "I followed your scent."

It makes me wonder if I smell bad.

My girls raise their eyebrows as I talk to Nicholas in class. Glaring at them, I tell them it's not what they think. Nicholas was about to talk to me, but I didn't want to.

Walking over to my girls, I sat down. My eyes roll when Stephanie asks, "Who is this hottie?"

The girls laughed. "Don't you remember Steph? Do you remember him introducing himself to our art class? It's that arrogant Redwood Wolf captain who thinks he can kick our butts. Whatever!" I snorted. "I know, I know. He's just like me!" I knew my friends well enough to read their minds.

I wonder why he stalks me. It is seriously creepy!