Bow Down Alpha

Chapter 2 - Enough

My mind flies into a state of absolute panic as the realisation hits home.

My first thought... Shit!

My second... also shit!

But then I begin to think through the panic, reason breaking through terror, the answer swimming through the sea of anxiety to the forefront of my mind. I open the glove compartment and begin digging through, searching for the spare syringe of wolfsbane that Christian keeps in his car for situations like this. Rifling through the pack files and books my brother has stashed in the compartment, my searching becomes more frantic as I continue searching without any sight of the syringe.

A large, warm hand suddenly grabs me, causing my head to snap up to face the owner. Christian's eyes are wide, amusement fighting for dominance over concern, all swimming in a sea of confusion. "I forgot my wolfsbane!" I cry, wrenching my hand out of his in order to continue my search. The rustling of papers once again fills the car, with a colourful string of curses, a sort of song of panic, if you will.

A realisation suddenly hits like a frisbee to the face.

"SHIT!"

The word is out before I can stop it. Christian breaks off his own panicked muttering to stare at me. "What?!" he questions, his worry clear in his voice. I gulp in a large breathe of air, trying to calm myself enough to speak. "Do you remember when we were attacked by that rogue last week?" I begin, watching as the realisation slowly spreads across his face. "We used the wolfsbane, didn't we?" he hesitantly asks, his voice telling me that he is not going to like my answer. I open my mouth, but I can't bring myself to say the words, so I just nod my head slowly.

And the curse train rolled out of Christian station once again.

"We can't go home now, we'll be late. And, also, Mother will kill me. Violently!" I mutter urgently. The truth of my words hits me. My mother will say that it was irresponsible of me to forget my wolfsbane, followed by a long lecture about how my reckless actions could endanger us all by attracting attention. As if I didn't already know that.

I sucked a long, deep breath into my lungs, slowly breaking through the panicked fog clouding my brain. The answer that I had been seeking was simple really. Simple, yet daunting.

"I'll just go without."

Christian looks at me as I just told him that I was going jump off a cliff into an ocean full of sharks. Like I've completely lost my mind.

"Have you completely lost your mind?!" he exclaims (See, I know my brothers facial expressions). I turn to him, exasperated, "Well, do you have any other bright ideas? Because if you do, I'm open to alternatives. I don't want to do this either, but right now it doesn't seem like we have any choice."

He furrows his brow as he frantically searches for an answer, his eyes suddenly lighting up with an idea. He opens his mouth to speak, but I already know what's coming. "No, I'm not ditching." He quirks an eyebrow in questioning. "Because," I explain slowly, like I'm talking to a 2-year-old, "If I'm not there, the school will call Mother, asking questions. Mother will find out that we ditched and eventually she'll put two and two together. And that, my dear brother, will be very, VERY bad. Do you really want to listen to Mother rant for an hour? Do you really?" Christian cringes at the thought, before reluctantly agreeing.

I once more suck a deep breath of oxygen in before opening the car door and climbing out shakily. I attempt to slow my pulse, trying my hardest to ignore the power thrumming through my veins, unknown yet familiar, unwanted yet welcome. I feel it fighting to break through, begging for release from its internal prison. I understand it, in a way. Imagine being trapped within yourself for 17 years, and then suddenly seeing an exit. Control would be the last thing on your mind.