Chapter 4: Who Are You?

Luci’s POV:

Part of me wanted to jump out of the seat and see the person who had been on my mind from the moment I came across his scent.

The other part of me was still holding onto the core concepts of behavior and rationalities of the human world.

The first reaction wouldn’t have been nearly as strange among wolves as it would’ve been among humans.

Though to be fair, it would have probably confused anyone if I darted across the room and inspected the stranger that had turned my morning into even more of a fiasco than it already had been.

The last thing I wanted to be was a walking red flag to the rest of my classmates.

It was as if the sickly sweet scent caused static to build in the air of the room. The longer the static sensation built up coupled with the fluorescent lights in the room, the more on edge I became.

When I had been outside I could still smell the rest of the world around me. The everyday scents of normal college life: the students, the food trucks, the flowers from the gardens.

Other odors still had the chance to exist. Everything mingled together as a lower layer of odor that was still present even if the sweet combination still overpowered it.

Now the scent was in a confined space, and it was engulfing everything else in the room.

The coffee and half-finished bagels that I knew were only a few feet away were now gone as far as my nose could tell.

This must have been what it felt like to be doused by a bottle of perfume.

I wanted to shake the smell out of my head. It’s exactly what I’d do in my wolf form, which meant it was exactly what I should avoid given my surroundings.

All I needed to do was keep a low profile and get through this class.

How in the h*ll would I be able to do that with this scent hanging around the room the entire quarter?

Was it too late to switch classes?

Maybe the professor could move my material online and I could just deal with being at home more.

It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It was the option I would have picked for the class if it was available when I signed up.

Would it be weird to hang around and ask after class on the first day or should I email the professor after I can think of a legitimate reason?

I didn’t even know what excuse I could use to make that a reality. I’d never had this professor before, so I couldn’t even gauge their reaction ahead of time.

Was it worth the trouble of asking?

I didn’t want to come across as difficult or needy. The quarter would be even more awkward between the professor and me.

I could feel my body start to quake from holding the last of the unscented air in my lungs.

I took another breath and felt the room spin around me. There was no way I could do this twice a week.

Why was I reacting this way to a smell? This couldn’t possibly be normal, even by wolf standards.

“Who is that?” I heard the girl with new followers whisper to her friends.

Her voice was so low, but it was the first thing I even noticed from the rest of the world as I tried not to drown in the sweet smell that wrapped itself around me.

“Not sure,” the third said, “I didn’t see him last night at the welcome back party.”

“Looks a little weird,” the first said. “He gives me emo vibes. Reminds me of my older brother.”

A few other whispers sounded from the class, all wondering who the new student was that walked in.

Could they smell the vanilla and almond that emanated from this guy?

I did my best to listen in as people spoke in very hushed voices, but none of them mentioned a smell.

“Well, I’m gonna ask him to sit next to me,” the second girl said. “Maybe he will be lucky number six for me today.”

“You sure about that? I mean, if he ends up being weird, then he will sit next to you the rest of the quarter.”

I heard the second girl pout for a split second before she shifted in her seat again.

“Doesn’t matter. May as well try. I’m not even considering anyone who isn’t a grad student anyway.”

“I’m sure he will sit by you, you’re the cutest girl in class,” the third friend chimed in.

She hadn’t been as quiet as the other girls, and I could hear the first girl smack her arm as a result.

I heard the shuffle of boots stepping on the floor and felt the sweet smell become closer and closer to where I was sitting.

My eyes closed as I focused on breathing through my mouth and not my nose. Even then, the smell still filled my lungs but it wasn’t as strong.

There was no way I was going to be able to breathe like this once class finally started.

How was I going to focus on anything now with this guy in here?

I needed to reset my brain, so I started to count by threes hoping that would give me a chance to get my thoughts together.

It didn’t matter how badly I wanted to figure out why this guy smelled so incredibly sweet.

There had to be a reason this was happening though right?

I couldn’t let something random like this throw me off.

Each step of his synched up with the numbers in my head.

I got to thirty-nine as his pace stopped and the sound of a chair being pulled out made my heart sink.

For a moment I assumed the mystery guy pulled the chair out, but then I heard the clack of acrylic pat the hard seat.

“This seat’s open still,” the second girls voice came out expectantly.

Her tone carried the weight that she was sure he’d sit with her.

I waited for his response as I did my best to breathe through my mouth.

I fully expected to hear the sounds of her friends giggling as he took a seat next to the girl in the back row.

Why did I even care?

It wasn’t any of my business what anyone else did.

Why was I so invested in his choice?

I took another deep breath and silently scolded myself. Normally, I wasn’t one to listen in or get involved with others, especially humans for their sake as much as my own.

My fingers jumbled around my bag and grasped my phone.

I hoped to see a message brighten up my screen even if it was from my father.

Something else around me needed to pull my focus since I couldn’t manage to do it on my own.

I turned on a random jigsaw puzzle app and just let my fingers move the pieces around until something stuck.

“No thanks,” a deep voice said from behind me. Even though it was low, the words were soft and felt like a silk cloth had been draped over me.

The thud of boots continued but this time they moved a hair faster than before.

I heard a scoff behind me as the trio began to tap on their phones in what must have been their group chat.

A fresh waft of vanilla and almond swirled around me as the mystery person pulled out the open chair next to me and took a seat.

He didn’t ask, not that he needed to.

I could hear him get settled in his chair as I fought the urge to look over.

Now that he was next to me I felt the scent seep into my skin as it swirled in the air.

I had forgotten to breathe from my mouth, and when I finally did, it was as if a wave had crashed into me and swallowed me up.

Now that the source was so close, it felt like I was drowning in the odor that emanated from him.

I didn’t mind though.

When the sweet mixture completely filled my lungs, a calm took over my body that I’d never felt before.

It was like I had been lifted on a cloud with the classroom far below me.

Nothing else mattered.

It was like being in a dream I didn’t want to wake up from. If the gods of wolves had let me, I would have asked to stay like this forever.

A shuffle from beside me brought me crashing back down to the classroom with a thud that echoed in my heart.

I glanced over to see a faded black backpack on the table in front of the mystery guy. Buttons and patches from bands and video games littered the fabric.

I only recognized a few of them, but only from Carlos showing me more of the human world than my Father ever intended.

Father saw entertainment from the human world as a distraction and did his best to keep me from everything.

The urge came over me to ask the guy about his decorated bag, but when I shifted my gaze to look at him, I felt myself freeze in place.

As I looked at him, I almost let out a whimper that I managed to stifle. I internally chastised myself for almost slipping with my wolf tendencies yet again.

Now that I was sitting next to him, I could finally take in the guy who had driven me up a wall for the bulk of my morning.

His features were mostly obscured by his long jet-black bangs that covered his eyes and draped down almost to the tip of his nose.

The rest of his hair hung down and brushed the top of his shoulders.

When he looked down into his backpack, I could see dark sunglasses underneath his hair.

How could he even see where he was going?

The edges of his jawline revealed a slender face that was toned.

Something in me wanted to reach a hand out and brush his bangs away so I could see more of him.

I shoved the intrusive thought down, but it couldn’t help but bubble back to the surface.

That’s when I noticed his clothes and how they didn’t suit the weather at all.

It wasn’t scorching outside, but by the end of the day, just the effort of walking around would leave someone sweaty and uncomfortable.

His long sleeved shirt looked thin, but with the white and black horizontal stripes, it must have still attracted the heat.

My eyes glanced down at his dark jeans and thick-soled black combat boots.

I could see why the girl behind us said she reminded him of her brother.

This guy defiantly had a vibe, but I just couldn’t discern what he was going for.

I heard a slight hum next to me that was so low it wouldn’t be picked up by human ears.

That’s when I noticed that his face was pointed toward my own.

Even behind his sunglasses and bangs, I could feel his eyes bore into mine.

He caught me.