Three

Darla's white skin turned a shade of pink. For Dormon it was a beautiful sight. It was like touching a Touch-me-not plant. She had shied away at a single touch, denying to look up at his face. "Ha! Caught in the act!" A boy with ash colored hair came at Darla from behind and nearly crushed her in the act. Another boy and two girls joined him. All of them like Darla were dressed in T-shirt and jeans. Now that they were seated close to Darla, it was five school kids against Dormon.

"So, you have found your mate, I see!" One of the girls spoke this time. She had light brown, curly hair. Eyes bigger than any doll Dormon had ever seen, kept fleeting between both of them. Although she had a baby face – round and filled with baby fat, the skin visible on her neck and hands showed visible wound scars. Dormon could not help but look at them.

"Don't worry mate! She is Emora Crystalcreek, the best fighter we have in our class, that's why she goes around flaunting her scars as her trophy. By the way I am Brian Truthtide." This guy had a calm and cool attitude. He lounged casually on the grass while talking. The color of his eyes matched his hair, the color of sand. He was the largest among all of them, bulky in his muscles. Beside him Emily was sticking out her tongue at Brian which he tactfully kept ignoring.

"And I am Gilly Dusksprint." Gilly held her hand out and Dormon shook it with a smile. She had black, closely curled hair, that were sticking out at all places. Her skin was dark brown like chocolate. She looked older than the others and the spectacles placed on her blunt, large nose helped her more in that. "Do you actually need those? I have heard wolves have excellent vision." There was loud laughter from the guy who had nearly crushed Darla, "She is trying to style herself. Arion got her those when he went to the city. Gilly had asked him to bring something for her. So, he said with the amount of reading she does, wolf or no wolf she is going to need that one day."

Gilly threw the hard cover book in her hand at him, "Nobody in here, as useless as you, Romell Voidanne." Romell feigned his hurt by placing his hand over his heart but successfully ducked to avoid the book attack. Although Dormon had been to school once, he never had been able to find friends of his own. He had wondered at the kids playing with groups of their own. Old feelings surfaced at the sight of the five kids before him. "So, all of you are of same age?"

"Gilly is 18, I am 17, Emora and Romell are 16, Darla's you know." As Brain replied to Dormon, all the others wiggled their eyebrows at Darla who kept fiddling with the grass underneath, suddenly finding them more interesting. Mischievous smiles were playing on everyone's lips except Gilly who kept frowning at Dormon.

"Am I missing out on something?" Dormon asked, not able to control his curiosity.

"In our pack all members are connected by their minds. So, like everyone can basically know what others are thinking. It mostly comes useful when they are going for a hunt or war or any sort of emergency. But since we are still training we are not able to join. Arion tells who is ready to join the pack. But Darla here, being the genius as she is, has learned to connect minds and communicate through that. In school she connects five us together and we train entire day like that. So, since the connection is there, we heard what was going on in her head when you kissed–" Emora who was busy in explaining the dynamics of their pack, never got to complete her sentence. Darla had jumped at her and covered her mouth to prevent her from speaking further. Romell started pulling Darla away from Emora, "Don't dare to hurt Emora". Romell continued his theatrics. As the three of them were groveling on the grass in a mess, Brian looked up at the bright sun above and Gilly sat beside him, getting lost in her book.

As Dormon enjoyed the banter before him, somebody roared out Dormon's name like a thunder. Dormon turned back and saw seven huge guys approaching him. All of them were huge but the one leading them was particularly a giant. Before Dormon could think of anything, he leapt on him and straddling him at his waist, the giant started punching him. His dark skin glistened with sweat under the sun and he drew blood from Dormon's face. Dormon had been warned by Melie before they left for school, to keep his calm no matter what. After years of his reputation, he was capable of killing a young wolf at the snap of his hand and there he was getting beaten up by one. The other six guys were cheering up on his assaulter. Darla's five stood with their hands fisted while Darla kept calling out for Arion, but he was nowhere to be found.

Dormon was able to hear Emora's angry voice, "Please Darla, Let me tackle this scumbag, believe me I can. By the time Arion is back, Dormon will be dead at his hands because of your silly principles." Darla seemed torn between her principles and the scene in front of her that needed immediate action. Dormon's face was purple and gradually turning lifeless. Anger gripped Darla and before anyone could know anything, the giant was sent flying to a nearby tree trunk. "Fuck off Marmon!" Darla roared.

Marmon got up like nothing had happened and ran fast in Darla's direction. He grabbed Darla by her neck, and she hissed. His fangs were visible now and he whispered near her face, "You are mine! Wait till I tell your brothers about this scumbag. I am very much capable of killing him now, in front of your eyes. But it will be more fun when they do the killing. What do you think sweetheart?" There was disgust on Darla's face. "Go ahead Marmon! You go to my brothers, and I will tell my father, you and your tiny-weeny dogs transition every night to go to human settlement and hunt. I hope you know the punishment for underage hunting, right?"

Dormon continued to lay on the grass and watched the verbal exchange. Darla's golden hair shone in the golden sunrays. Her eyes were like molten gold and bore wilderness like he had never seen before. She was a handful in front of Marmon, yet she never backed out. It was Marmon who gave away and left. His dogs, like Darla had said, tagging along after him.