Gabriel [Alpha of Wolves]

CHAPTER FIVE |LEARNING|

☀

For once I didn't dream. 

Not a single haunting vision of something I couldn't explain, of the angry green-eyed alpha, or the haunting black wolf - it was pure bliss. 

I opened my eyes, the glow of morning light streaming in through the window. The smell of bacon had drifted into my room, awakening an intense hunger I'd never felt before. I guess it came along with being an unnat- a werewolf. Today I am a werewolf, I told myself forcefully. I could no longer use the term that the people who had raised me used. I rubbed my weary eyes, leaning up on my elbow. Even after a full nights rest I still felt sore, tired. Perhaps the shift would take more than a day to recover from. I frowned, annoyed with this, and reached down to scratch my leg when I felt something cold brushing up against me. I reached down finding the necklace I had found in the lake. The ring that hung from the gold chain catching the light. The embellishments resembled three things; a daisy, the sun, and tiny glitterings of stars. I titled the ring noticing there was something written on the inside. Andromeda.  I ran my finger over it, expecting to feel something, anything - but I didn't. 

Weird. 

I placed the ring in the drawer beside my bed, willing myself to forget about it. 

Slipping out of bed, I headed to the bathroom, undeniably anxious. I turn on the light and meet the strange girl in the mirror again and I wonder if I'm ever going to get used to my reflection. I wanted to know why my skin glowed as if I had been dipped in gold. I wanted to know why my hazel eyes were suddenly flecked with blue. I wanted to know how another piece of me existed, a wolf and had her own name. I wanted to know who I was. How had I changed so drastically? 

"Phoenix?" a voice called from the other room. I turned to see Summer standing in the doorway, smiling tentatively. There was something about her, a glow, a soft warm hue. I had never really had a friend before. Most of the girls at the compound had hated me and I had learned from a young age that I was different and I had no time for friends. But now? 

 "Uh, morning," I croaked. 

"I made breakfast. Are you hungry?" 

Nodding, I followed close behind her to the kitchen, taking in the beautiful art on that lined her walls. The sunflower painted walls of Summer's kitchen made the room all that more - homey. It was kind of cluttered with plants lined on every surface, herbs, strange looking flowers. I sat down at a small white wooden table, chewing on my bottom lip nervously. I was terrified - terrified of small talk. I was never the most interesting person in the room, I never had anything more to say than simple facts. It had never really mattered to me if someone thought I was enjoyable company. I was a fighter and that didn't require many words.