A Lead

Jules' pov

I had been half asleep when I accepted the call but after what Andrian said settled in my mind, I was snapping awake at once, eyes wide as I gripped the phone tightly.

"W- what?" I whispered in shock, mind reeling. Andrian let out a hooting sound, like he was proud of himself right now.

"You heard me." He drawled out and I found myself sitting up even more.

"What does that mean?" I asked after a few seconds.

"You know I said I wasn't gonna rest until the people behind your family's murder are brought to justice. My team and I had been working non stop. We had no idea this particular lead we picked up could ever lead to something like this." He breathed out and I felt my heart clenching hard at the thought of Andrian actually working on this particular issue like he had promised to, when I had initially thought that the entire thing was gonna be on my shoulders.

I felt my eyes start to sting but I hurried to blink the moisture away at once.

"T- that's great news then. Did you say his son goes to this school?" I asked and Andrian responded almost immediately.

"Yup. We made our research properly on this particular topic. Imagine how shocked we were when we realized that the suspect's son goes to your new school!"

I let out a long sigh and laid down in the bed once again.

"So, what's gonna happen next? You gonna turn him to the police so they'd clear my name then I'd finally have to leave this school?" I asked, mind filled with so much hope, but a snort from Andrian squashed that hope almost immediately.

"Honey, things like this don't work like that. Surely you should know that the police are under the bad guys' payroll." He explained and I felt myself deflect a little.

"What are we gonna do then?"

"You, Labyrinth… is gonna be making a new friend!"

~~~

I stared at my reflection in the bathroom, and then I splashed water over my face. I looked worn out, like I hadn't gotten enough rest yet. On peering closer, I realize that my skin wasn't as flawless as it once used to be when I still had access to my magic, and that made my mouth thin a little as I reached for my contact lens.

Josh and Taylor had arrived minutes ago, which made me end the call with Andrian, promising to call back later tonight. Because I took out the contact lens before falling asleep, it wasn't in when they had arrived so while Nick let them in, I hurried to get them in right here in the restroom.

My bright blue eyes stared at me a moment longer before I slipped in the brown lens, blinking a couple of times to get it into place. My eyes sometimes felt sensitive and I knew it was because of when I almost got drowned in the pool two days ago and the time I cried today in the school's restroom with the contact lens in.

When I stepped out of the restroom, I slippped my hand into the pockets of the large hoodie as I got to the sitting room and foppped unto one of the couches. I hadn't really spent much time right here because I preferred to stay cocooned in my bedroom which reminded me of my bedroom back at home.

Taylor wasn't with the gaming controllers like I had assumed him to, and neither was Josh in front of the flat screen television while fiddling with the remote control. That made me tense up a little because the air felt serious.

"What's up guys?" I breathed out. "No games yet?" I asked as I stood up to grab some drinks from the fridge for them. They accepted it before Taylor slowly shook his head.

"Perhaps, later, but not for now." He explained and I blinked as I sank into a spot on the large couch.

"So… did something happen? Is anything wrong?" I asked around a small laugh after a little while. Josh was sipping from his drink but Taylor was just fiddling with his.

"Nothing happened." Taylor started. "We just want to talk more about what happened with you at school, in the restroom." As he spoke, I felt my breath stutter to a stop, hands growing cold.

I let out a slow sigh. "Oh, that." I forced out. "I'm fine now, it's all in the past now." As I spoke, I knew I was lying about being fine. I was the complete opposite of fine, I was fucking terrified.

Taylor sat up this time. "It's not in the past though." He started, exchanging a glance with Josh. I blinked once, unsure of what he meant.

"It's not?" I mumbled and he nodded.

"It's far from being in the past… not when he–" Taylor trailed off and glanced at Josh once again.

"When he what?" I demanded, already tired of this suspense.

"Not when he marked you, Jules. It can't be thrown in the past because this shit is more serious than that." He explained and my eyes widened in shock while my heartbeat tripled.

"What?" I whispered. Taylor nodded at me. "That spot he breathed against, the side of your throat, how's it now?" He asked and I grew still before tentatively reaching out and trailing my hand over that spot. Since I woke up, I had kind of forgotten about that. As soon as my fingers grazed that spot, a gasp tore past my throat because it felt like something sizzled through that spot.

"It- it…" I tried to gather my words together in panic but Taylor and Josh understood what I was struggling to put together.

"What does this mean?" I whispered, hand reaching for the side of my throat once again.

Taylor and Josh exchanged a long glance before Taylor cleared his throat.

"Well, technically whenever an alpha marks someone with his scent, it means he's claiming the person." He explained in a whisper and it felt like I got dunked into a pool of ice water.

"W- what?"

Taylor sighed and that was when I noticed how stressed out he currently was.

"Alphas stake their claims on omegas they want… but your wolf is dormant, so the scent marking wasn't supposed to catch. But since it was Blaze, I guess that's why it fully formed, seeing as Blaze isn't a regular werewolf, after all."

As he spoke, all I could feel in my mind was dread and panic and fear as I wrapped my arms around my middle to prevent myself from bursting into frightened tears right now.

"W- what does all of this means for me?"

Taylor bit on his bottom lip, eyes wide.

"We genuinely do not have the slightest clue, and that's why we're literally frightened on your behalf right now."

Oh fuck. I'm so fucked.