Gael has always been an outcast and a weirdo - but when he moves to the small town of Imperium, he finds himself in the middle of a supernatural community, he didn't know he needed, or existed. It only becomes more interesting when the local hot vam...
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I held onto Abel's hand as we entered the gym. The committee had rented out the whole thing for the night for us to meet. The supernatural community.
It was a little freaky to be the only wolf there, but once Creek's family saw me, they immediately ushered me over to their seats, demanding I sat with them. So, I sat between Creek and Abel. It felt like I had my own little tribe where I belonged.
Everyone was seated in groups, and it was obvious. Cal and Fred were sitting were Fred's family in front of the Creek clan. They didn't take up nearly as many seats. I figured one of the older women there was Fred's mum. Fred took after her a lot. Same hair, skin and eye colour, same nose, same high cheek bones, same petite frame. They shared that airy prettiness too. Like they didn't actually touch the earth when they walked but hovered above it. The way they moved was fluid like dancers.
Creek's sister Liza turned around in her seat and smiled at me. "Good to see yous two here."
"Creek made us come," Abel said and then grimaced. "I mean, we also wanted to come but he like... Convinced us to come."
"Abel's saying, that Creek assured us it'd be good if we came," I said, patting Abel's leg.
He eased up a little and half-smiled.
"It's good you've got a translator now, Abel," Liza said with a chuckle and turned back around.
"I'm not getting in as much trouble now anyways," Abel murmured and kissed my cheek.
"Honestly, just tell me to shut up if it becomes a bother."
"You could never become a bother." He said it so softly, as if I'd break if he put even a slight edge in his voice. My hand had been resting on his knee, and he gently threaded his fingers in between mine.
The meeting started with an older woman introducing the issue and why we were gathered. Basically, it was a run-down of the rules everyone should follow when it came to the media, and it could be boiled down to; don't talk to the media. I was a bit bored and zoned out until a voice I recognised cut right through.
"... But there are wolves here and all those victims look to have been mauled by beasts."
I snapped out of it and saw Liam standing, wearing his dumbass cap and staring right at me. He even sported a smirk. A smirk. While talking about murder victims.
"Oh, that's bullshit!" Abel exclaimed. "This is just a bigoted rant from a bigot."
"No murders before that wolf of yours moved in, were there?" Liam countered.
"Settle down, the both of yous," the woman by the stand loudly said into the microphone. "Now, since there's been claims of it being wolves, let's have the representative for the wolves come with a defence." She looked right at me.
A huge knot formed in my stomach, and I rose to my feet, the whole gym turning almost violently silent.
"I'm... I'm Gael. I'm twenty-one years old and I go to uni. I study painting and printmaking. I've got a dog named Dave. My boyfriend is Abel. I've got friends here. We watch telly, eat junk food, and go on hikes. We like to drink beers in Fred and Cal's back garden." I took a deep breath and looked down at my wringing hands. "I turn into a wolf two days a month. In the forest away from people. I hunt rabbits." I looked back up at the speaker. "I'm a regular-ass kid and I'm the only one getting these questions. And I'm the only wolf here. I hate public speaking. I hate violence and blood and... And..." I looked around the crowd. The people who knew me weren't afraid of meeting my gaze with love, small nods and small encouraging smiles. The rest though? It was hard to say what they saw when they looked at me.
