Chapter 5: Hidden signs

Time skip to the end of class~

"Lars wake up! We can go home now." I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to shake me to wake up. I yawned and opened my eyes. Slowly lifting my head from my arm, I saw Maria and Katie stood in front of me.

"When did I fall asleep?" I asked them and they both looked at each other.

"I'm not sure, I was too busy writing notes." Maria spoke up and Katie then nodded her head in agreement,

"Same here, anyway how was it? You know being sat here? If you want we can swap back." She said but I shook my head and picked up my bag from the floor. I then walked out of the room, the girls followed behind me.

"What about you, Katie?" I asked as we were walking down the hall, she quickly replied in a cheerful voice.

"I can concentrate better now, thank you. It's strange to think I would still be having to put up with them if didn't attend this college." I glanced back at her and smiled but then Maria chipped in,

"I want to thank you too, for this morning." She spoke also in a cheerful tone.

"It's fine, what they were doing was wrong anyway, I know I can't change who they are but at least I can prevent you two from getting picked on." I gave them a small smile. Soon we got to the lockers, since Katie's and Maria's lockers were close to each other, we parted ways for a while.

Although I had a locker, I hadn't really checked it out yet but when I found the number 99, I instantly regretted looking for it. The reason being is that the 4 bullies were making their way over in my direction too. I thought they would have gone home already since no one else was in the classroom when I woke up.

I clenched my hands into fists, out of habit, but flinching at the shooting pain surging through my arm. I looked down at my wrist. I think it's gotten worse.. but I can't tell the lady of the house, it may become a burden. Why did it have to be my right wrist? I do more with this hand.

"We meet again new girl, did you have a nice cat nap?" Zack was one of the first to come over as the others took their time.

"Cat?" I questioned, what kind of saying is that?! Why would you sleep like a cat? Brushing my thoughts, I answered back.

"If you're implying the sleep I had, then yes, yes I did" I said and turned around to walk away.

"You know new girl, you shouldn't mess with us. Neo's family own this land so he can kick you and your family out of this town if you start to cause us trouble. If you need proof he's the only one with a licence to hunt down the wolves here. Ever seen a red wolf around here? Well, he shot one, I'm sure he will show you if you ask nicely. But if I were you, I would stay away from us. And don't you dare lay a finger on any one of us again. What you did in the cafeteria was out of line." Lucy said frustratedly.

I turned around to face them,

"Oh yeah? Well, I would like to see that so-called red wolf then. Just because you have money doesn't mean you can do what you want." I crossed my arms.

"Okay Willa, calm down." Jay mumbled in a slightly patronising tone. Zack followed on by saying,

"We saw the wolf a couple of weeks ago, it was injured but it could have still attacked us. Luckily, Neo had a rifle and shot it. He couldn't bring the body back because it was howling for its pack, we even heard it."

I cocked an eyebrow, wow he's good at telling stories that's for sure.

"You scared yet?" Lucy scoffed making sure she to be heard again. Though it was all quite childish. I felt like a pup again arguing with my brothers.

"Oh yeh, I'm quaking in my boots." I spoke sarcastically, she hugged at my comment as Neo chuckled.

He had been quiet and not spoken much. I feel like he was just watching us argue for entertainment since all he did was stare. Or maybe he was still trying to figure out if I was that wolf or not.

"Hey RI!! We're being picked up since it's raining, so see you tomorrow- oh.." Katie shouted but stopped when she saw the 4 invaders with me. But I was more concerned about the name she had given me. Ri?

"Okay then, bye!" I waved gently to both of them and they both waved and shouted 'bye' back.

"What did you do to your wrist?" Neo randomly asked, probably because I was waving with it.

I turned back around to them.

"Nothing.." I said back, but instead, he grabbed hold of my arm and slightly rolled up my sleeve to have a better look.

"You sure? It seems to be pretty black and blue up to be nothing." Zack questioned as he looked over Neo's shoulder. Snatching my wrist back out of Neo's grasp, I walked away.

"Bye then." Lucy said in an offended way. I didn't say bye back though.

When I stepped out the doors the rain was coming down heavily. But I wasn't bothered, I've run through much worse. Like the time I got caught in a thunderstorm, so this was nothing. Taking a few steps out into the rain I felt a hand grab me again. Pulling me back under the shelter.

"I found you." Was whispered in my ear. Quickly pulling myself away  to have a look at the person, my hunch was right. It was Neo's voice. I looked at him with a straight face trying to not let his words phase me.

"...What do you mean?" I asked and his eyes light up, making his whole expression unreadable.

"Don't play dumb wolf, I've been watching you all day." He said as his lips curved into a smirk.

When he said "wolf" I couldn't help but stiffen up, but he didn't stop there.

"I told you, I would find you. Also what you did at lunch, was quite embarrassing for me. I guess Lucy was right I do need to teach you who is boss around here." As he finished his sentence, all I could feel was irritation running through my veins, I felt like I could rip him to part. I clenched my jaw tight.

Just then Neo's hand let go of my arm and moved it to the back of my head. Forcefully pushing my head into his shoulder, he turned us away from something. Taking me totally off guard, I could finally come back to my senses and hear the footsteps of his friends walk past us. But they didn't seem to see me.

"Bye Neo!" Zack shouted before the rest of them followed with a "bye". Neo just sent a nod to them, watching until they were no longer in sight. I looked up at him.

I narrowed my eyes trying to make sense of what happened but all I got was that he didn't want his friends to see me with him. So by moving our bodies closer his bigger structure hid mine. Neo took away his hand from my head and I moved away from me, surprisingly quite quickly. I was glad but also slightly hurt.

"You should control your anger, Wolf. It's twice you nearly let out your secret today." He spoke and moved his hands into his pockets, taking out a cigarette and a lighter.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head a tiny bit. But I had to wait until he had lit up the end of his cigarette.

"When you get angry your eyes light up, like a yellow, gold colour. Then your veins start showing up on your neck and face. It happened at lunch, when you grabbed my shirt. Your eyes quickly went back to normal though, so the others didn't notice. However, you did have a few veins on your neck, which seem to last longer." He simply stated, but to be honest I was more shocked at how much he said.

"Well, what about the other time?" I asked and he took in a deep breath from his cigarette, only to blow it in my face. I dodged the cloud of smoke so I wouldn't breathe it in.

"This morning, when I first looked at you I could see dark veins on your neck before you looked over to us." He simply said. If that was the case he knew from the start. Deep in thought, I went over how I could have prevented him from finding out so fast.

"Right let's go." He commanded quickly changing the subject.

"Go? Go where?" I asked as he started to drag me out into the rain again, walking at quite a quick pace.

"Vets." He answered. I widened my eyes at that. But soon we got to a car, his car by the looks of it. He opened the doors to the backs seats, pushing me in.

"T..the Vets..?...w...what..why." I spoke with many stutters, this was the first time I felt scared. My father told me about these kinds of places. He was once taken to one due to stepping into a bear trap. His foot would have had to been removed if he was a normal wolf.

"....Hahahaha!! Don't tell me your is scared? And use your brain, why didn't you go to a doctor's about it?" He fired the questions back at me with a smile after laughing hysterically.

I don't want to go-" I complained but he cut me off and said,

"Tough. The vet is close to the college so I suggest you change form now, don't worry the back seat windows are blacked out." I looked around feeling rushed. Noticing I could get into the boot from here, there was no way I was going to strip when he could see me through those small mirrors. So I climbed over.

"Umm, don't mind the sounds...it will just be my bones." I said feeling nervous and shy about it. Probably because I've never changed while a human was witnessing. Taking off my clothes until I was down to my underwear, I concentrated.

Remembering the feeling of freedom and running on all paws, I began to feel the tightness in my chest. Taking a deep breath in my lungs felt like they kept on expanding. I could hear my bones crack and the pounding of my heart quicken. My deep breaths soon turned into more breathy and short huffs.

Just in time, the car stopped. Neo got out and shut his door, taking his time to walk over to the boot before he opened it. I looked at him before looking down. Trying to weigh up how I was going to get down, it didn't help that I was a big wolf either. If I had both paws fully working I would be able to make it with ease. But right now it would be very painful.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't judge the safest way to get down. I repeatedly put my paws at the edge of the car's ledge and got into a jumping position, before backing off each time.

"Can you not get down?" Neo asked. He was resting his body against the side of the car, watching all my failed attempts in amusement.

"Well, I've never been in a car in my wolf form. Plus I don't want to make my paw worse." I looked up from the ground and over at him as he gave off a sigh. He moved close. Grabbing the fur roughly around my neck he pushed me to turn away from him. I was confused at what he was thinking until he put both arms under me.

"Hey!! Whoa! WHOA!!!! EXCUSE you!! But I don't like where your arms are, right now." I said and started to growl a bit.

"Get over it." He said coldly back and he quickly lifted me up and put me down. But he grabbed my fur again probably knowing I was going to make a run for it, if he didn't.

When he shut the boot, he turned back and took something out of a plastic bag.

"Hell no!" I snapped at him but he glared at me with an annoyed look,

"Yes, you have to. They won't treat a wild wolf, but if they think you're my pet then they will." He said with a smirk.

"Well, I don't want them to treat me, you ass." I growled but he had already got me in a headlock, clipping the leather collar around my neck. He put his hand in the bag again to take out a leather lead.

"Where did you get all this?" I asked starting to feel depressed.

"They belonged to someone I know, It's been in the car for a long time. Because they keep forgetting about them." He seemed a bit secretive when answering me. It felt like he was hiding something. Both the collar and lead seemed very strong and big, it wouldn't fit a normal pet dog... Unless it was made for a wolf to begin with...

I decided not to ask anymore as he straightened his back and scrunched up the plastic bag, putting it into a bin we walked past. Getting closer to the entrance, I stopped making Neo stop too. He looked back at me with a cold questionable look before tugging on the lead for me to follow. I lowered my head and tail before I continued to limp.

As we walked in it felt like everything stopped moving, I could hardly hear people breathing. Now I understood what Neo meant.