Werewolf High School: The Human Alpha

The Park

Sparrow knew that her father wouldn't be home for a while, he always runs late on Tuesdays. Sparrow's hands trembled with adrenaline as she reached for the doorknob and threw open the door.

Cold air hit her face as she stepped into the confines of her house. Sparrow shivered and quickly shut the door behind her. The house was comfortingly dark and quiet. By now, her anger and frustration had simmered. Sparrow knew that it would be best to work out her aggression before the pack.

She had a feeling that James wouldn't back down, and if she was going to take him down, she would need a plan. Sparrow walked stiffly into the kitchen, her mind already running through possible ways to get the dog tags back. 

She grimaced as a feeling of uneasiness settled in her stomach. She felt like a little kid going into a liquor store. She was in way over her head. She let out a breath. She would just have to play by Xavier's rules. Win the competition.

 Sparrow kicked off her shoes and walked quietly through the house, leaving a note on the kitchen table for her father. 

She also snuck a couple of small cookies from a jar before heading out, her head down as she thought about what she would do when she found Xavier. Plus, she really, really wanted to eat those cookies.

She opened the front door and slipped on her shoes, grabbing her backpack and shutting the door quietly behind her. She started walking down the sidewalk, taking a shortcut through the trees. She had been running through this scenario over and over in her head since second class. It should go as planned.

 She was getting closer and closer to the park. Her heart beat faster and faster with each nervous step. She just had to stick with the plan. 

But what if some of them didn't show up? Would they even be there? She was half-hoping, half-dreading that they would be. She exhaled a shaky breath and trudged on, breaking the line of trees. She was in the park. Her pack should be here. 

She looked around. The park was mostly empty. There were just a few humans chattering away on the playground to the far south. To the north of her was the lake. She could barely make it out through the thin line of trees.

 Most of the park was hills and fields, but there was a concrete path winding through the whole area, it made for a nice jogging exercise. 

 Sparrow could distinctly hear the thump, thump, thump of a basketball in a nearby court. Her heart hitched in her chest as she looked around for the rest of FrozenPack.

 She slowed her pace to a stop. She looked around anxiously, feeling out of place. Aha! Sparrow spotted Lily. She was standing a little ways away from the playground.Her dreads were pulled up into a high ponytail. 

Sparrow smiled, her anxiousness melting away, and jogged towards her. As she got closer, she recognized the faces of Arwin, Katie, Baz, Josh, and Zhou. Her whole pack ws there. THey were standing in a loose circle, Idly chatting. Sparrow slowed as she neared.

 Sparrow raised a hand to wave, "Hey guys." 

The group turned to face her. 

 Lily walked up and gave Sparrow a hug, "You made it." 

Zhou waddled up next to Lily and waved. Sparrow smiled at him. Sparrow shrugged off her backpack.

 "Let's all sit in a circle around the field, we should talk a bit before I assign pack roles to everyone." 

Sparrow's pack followed her silently as she walked over to the middle of the clearing, between the playground and the lake. She plopped down cross legged on the dry grass. Everyone followed suit. Lily sat down next to her, with arwen next to Lily. Katie sat on Sparrow's other side, her brown tail wagging like mad. 

Next to her sat Josh and Zhou. Baz was the last to sit, his oversized hoodie swaying in the wind as he sat across from Sparrow. Sparrow took a deep breath. She could do this. She could do this. She couldn't do this. The sun just barely dipped down, painting the clouds in oranges and pinks. Sparrow rubbed her sweaty hands together.

 "Okay, I thought we could go around introducing ourselves a bit more. I'm going to do the most stereotypical first day teacher thing, we'll say our names - even though I know we all know each other's names - and tell us your favorite food and the last place you got trapped. Does that sound good to everyone?" 

Exchanging of glances, then various nods and yeses. 

"Okay then.. I'm Sparrow, I've got to say my favorite food is brownies. And the last place I got stuck in was a holly bush. It hurt. Lily had to pull me out."

 "I remember that!" Lily exclaimed, laughing

. "Go on then," I said, nudging Lily. She responded after she stopped laughing, "Ok, ok, my favorite food is popcorn, the last place I got stuck in was a fridge - that's a long story - and my name is Lily."