Waking Up

Chapter Five

Will took me home in the car from earlier, which I learned was a gift from Elijah.

"Listen, what I am about to say to your father isn't true, but I have to say it, okay?" He said as he parked the car. I nodded, knowing that I would not like what was about to happen. We walked up to the house and Will knocked on the door. My father answered and looked at me in surprise. Oh, right, he did not even know that I left.

"Yes?" He asked, looking directly at Will.

"You don't know how to keep track of your pups, do you?" Will snapped, and I flinched. This was not going to go well.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"This girl was in an area forbidden for werewolves. You should consider yourself lucky that King Elijah is being so graceful. He could have her head for this." Will looked like a completely different person, and that reminded me how quickly vampires could change who they were.

"I am very sorry, I will punish her." My father was livid, his whole body was tense.

"No, the King has required for her to have a guard, since this is not her first offense." Will grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to my dad. My dad read it over and when he finished, he looked even more angry.

"You'll stay here?!" He screamed. Wait, Will was going to stay here? What exactly was Elijah planning?

"We have been informed that your son, Joshua, has moved out so we know that you have a room available for me." Joshua just moved out, so they were really on top of us.

"And you have to stay here?"

"Yes, sir. King Elijah sent me because I am more hospitable than his other associates."I could almost hear my father scoff, even though he knew better than to scoff.

"For how long?"

"That has not been defined at the moment."

"When will you move in?" My father asked, grinding his teeth.

"Today. My things will be brought over and set up in your son's old room."

"And if I deny you permission to stay in my house?"

"Your daughter will be thrown into the castle prison and most likely remain there for the rest of her life. King Elijah believes that your daughter has been very disrespectful, but because she is your daughter, he is trying to be agreeable."

"I understand...I give you permission to stay in my house. Can I speak to my daughter in private?"

"I am sorry, Alpha, but I can not allow that." I was thankful for Will saying that, because I did not know what my father would do to me.

"And why the hell not?"

"The King does not trust her. I must be with her at all times." My father glared at me, I could practically hear him kicking me out of the pack.

"You can come in..."

"My name is William."

"You may come in, William." Once my father gave him access, I immediately made my way to my room, with Will close on my heels.

"You stay in the attic?" He asked, looking around my room.

"We didn't have room for me, so they made the attic my room." I felt slightly embarrassed, since Will was one of few that had ever been in my room that wasn't family.

"You have a lot of books." He observed, sitting down on my bed.

"I love to read. My glasses are broken so I can't read, which I hate."

"Elijah loves to read." I shrugged, ensure of what he wanted me to say. "Why are you so okay with him rejecting you?"

"Because he is not the first. He's not the first person to reject me and I'm not the first person who has been rejected by her mate. The world isn't going to end...yeah it sucks but we wouldn't have worked out any ways. He's a vampire and I am a werewolf." I said, sitting next to him.

"When did it start?" He asked, continuing to look around my room.

"When did what start?" I asked, confused.

"People rejecting you, when did it start?"

"Well, I have always been made fun of because I never really did fit in with my family. But I think I was thirteen when it started getting bad. Before then I had been going to public school, but when I changed my parents took me out and transferred me to the private werewolf school, but that only lasted a short time. See, werewolves are huge, they can be as large as horses sometimes, but I'm puny. They thought maybe since I was short, my wolf would grow when I grew, but I never got any taller. I think I was fourteen or fifteen when they realized that I wasn't going to change. They took me out of school, home schooled me and then hid me from the pack. I stopped turning in front of me, I rarely left the house...everyone knows I exist, they just never see me..."

"Do...do you have...do you spend time with anyone?" He asked carefully.

"You mean do I have friends?" He nodded. "Yeah, I have friends, well a friend. He is off at college right now, but he will be back soon." I was excited to see Silas, although I wasn't excited to hear him rant about how dumb Elijah was to reject me.

"Do you have any girl friends?"

"No...I don't really fit in with girls...enough about me. How do you feel as a vampire living among werewolves?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

He shrugged. "It's not the first time." I was going to ask him about it, but he seemed like he didn't want to talk about it. "Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure."

"Can I see your wolf? I want to see what she looks like."

"I guess...but I don't want to change in the house."

"Why not, it should be big enough."

"I suppose...just make sure no one sees me." He nodded and I jumped off my bed. I took a deep breath and allowed the change to take over me. I remember when change hurt, but now it felt like I was cracking my back, like I was releasing the pressure built up inside of me.

I shook off my body and the looked at Will, who was standing up. I came to about his hips. He ran his fingers through my fur. I was a very light grey wolf, with dark grey markings on my face.He was right about the room being large enough, I only took up the space of maybe a large dog.

"You're soft." He said, surprised.

I transformed back, not thinking. I was used to being alone in the woods, not with someone with me. When I turned human, Will was staring at me with his eyes wide and that was when I realized that I was completely naked.

"Stop staring!" I yelled, grabbing the first thing I could find, which was a towel. I covered my body. "Leave so I can get dressed!' I yelled at him. I dressed in a random pair of clothes and then opened my door to see Will waiting patiently.

"I'm sorry." He said, his eyes looking around.

"I should have realized...I just didn't think about it." I finished lamely.

"Neither did I..." An awkward air hung between us.

"It's all good...don't let this make us awkward." I laughed. "So...what do we do know? I have like...a few hours before I usually go to bed."

"Do you have any school work?"

"Oh." I laughed. "No, I finished high school last year. Benefits to being home schooled."

"Well, do you want to work on your powers?"

"Yeah!" I practically jumped up and down. "But we can't do it here; I won't let my parents know about this."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I know the perfect place; let me change into some different clothes. Go outside, but don't let my parents see you." He nodded and then disappeared through my door. I dug into my closet and pulled out the work out clothes my parents had gotten for me. I pulled on the spandex like pants and tank top. I pulled on boots and tied my hair up in a pony tail. I jumped out of my window and took off into the woods. I ran until I almost ran into Will.

"Where are we going?" He asked, following me as I walked through the woods.

"Follow me." I ran deeper into the woods, to a brook. I slipped my boots and socks off. "If you want to keep your shoes dry, I would do the same as me."

"Why are we going through so much effort?" He asked, pulling his shoes off.

"This is...this is my secret place, where no one else can go, well except you. I don't want anyone else to follow." I said. I had been going here since my transformation, since it was the only place that I felt safe to be myself.

"Ok, then." I stepped into the brook and Will followed suit. "So, you come here to get away?"

"Yeah, this is where I run as a wolf."

"Werewolves seem very judgmental."

"Only if you're on the outside." I said, enjoying the cold feeling of the water against my feet. "When I was part of the group, I felt as if werewolves were the most loving creatures in the world. The pack is close, because everyone can peer into each other's minds, so there really are no secrets between wolves."

"So, wouldn't they know where your hiding spot is?"

"No, they can't read minds like that. Plus, I can't use the mind like. I can't communicate through my thoughts like the other wolves can. Just another thing that sets me apart."

A silence fell over us, but it was a very pleasant one. I loved being in my safe place, where nature was free and I was free.

The brook veered off to the left, but I continued forward. After walking on the grass for a while, drying off my feet, I slipped my shoes back on. I came into a clearing and I stopped walking.

"Here." I said, turning around to look at Will but he was gone.

"Will?" I called, looking around. I felt fingers on the back of my neck, but when I turned around, there was nothing. "Will, this isn't funny!" I kept feeling his fingers, brush against my skin but I couldn't find him.

"Did you really think this through?" His voice called. "You led me, a vampire, out in the middle of nowhere."

"So?" I asked. "You won't hurt me."

"Who said? Maybe that's exactly what the King told me to do. Maybe he wanted you out of his hair, to be killed in private." His voice echoed through the woods. Fear coursed through my veins. What did I just do? I put my trust into a vampire, which I had just met. I was so naive, what was wrong with me?

I started running, but he appeared in front of me. I whipped around, to get away but he quickly blocked my way. He tackled me to the ground. He pinned me down, his hand holding my wrists above my head. He was so much faster, and stronger than I was.

"Although, I would mind having some fun before I ended you."He leered.

"No!" I yelled, and wiggled beneath him.

"Don't tell me what to do." His lips coming close to me.

"No!" I screamed and he was flung from me. I heard creaking and snapping. I stood up, and focused on the power coursing through my veins. I moved the boulder next to me with my mind. I forced the power to stay out, until my nose began to bleed. I looked around and all the trees around me were either bent away from me or snapped in half.

Arms wrapped around my waist and I screamed.

"No, shhh." Will whispered, holding me.

"No, don't touch me." He let go of my waist and cupped my face in his hands.

"I didn't mean it, Krista. I was saying it so you could harness your powers. I would never, ever harm you. Did it hurt when I tackled you?" He asked and when I thought about it I noticed that it hadn't. I shook my head. "I wouldn't hurt you."

I looked at his multi-colored eyes and realized that he was telling the truth. Why had I doubted him?

"Your nose!"

I wiped away the blood. "Yeah, I may have over done it, but watch!" I mentally pushed a tree that was near us and I ripped it from its roots and it snapped. "I can use it now!" I smiled, and then I fell against him.

"Shhh, you're fine." I closed my eyes and then when I opened them I was being laid down by Will in my bed. "Do you want pajamas?"

"Mhm." He chuckled and then handed me a silky top and shorts. "Turn around." I ordered. I changed quickly and then threw my clothes across the room, not caring where they landed. Will sat down on my bed and I moved towards him. "Thank you." I mumbled.

"Anything for you." He smiled, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Lay down." I patted the spot next to me. "Relax."

"Are you sure?" He nodded and he lay down next to me. I leaned on to his shoulder and then fell asleep.