The Stargazer's Alpha

Ch. 23: In the Heat of the Moment

I came out of the forest, wiping sweat and spider webs from my face. Today sure felt like the last hot breath of the gone summer.

It reminded me that if I stopped obsessing over Blake, I could start school a year from now, since my job at The Olympian and the free accommodations was doing wonders for my bank account. But if I stopped obsessing over Blake, my heart would die.

"Did you meet your wolf, Celeste?" Monica shouted from the lonely gazebo at the edge of the Olympian grounds. She stood between the lattice-work and waved to make sure I didn't miss her.

Wonderful. Another encounter with the girl in lilac, a.k.a Monica and her cronies, was all I needed right now. At least Scarlett wasn't with her, just some other girls.

I saw no point in lying. "No."

"No wolf? But it's October already!" Monica cried with a fake concern. The months that passed since the Solstice Ball changed nothing in her hatred of me. It was pathological; I swear. But to come out to the gazebo in the middle of the day? Didn't they have jobs?

Then again, Monica and her obnoxious friends ambushed me all the time, so why not the gazebo?

I scarfed down my lunch here, changed and fixed up the damage left by tears before returning to the office every damn day. It was my safe, secret place, so even if these bitches...sorry, she-wolves. Even if these she-wolves didn't steal my lunch and piled my office clothes with other foods they brought in, it would feel like a violation.

Which was, of course, the whole point.

And it worked.

Hungry and disappointed, I clenched and unclenched my fists, staring at Monica, my upturned lunchbox and half-eaten salami sandwich, the only thing left from its contents. They glared at me, pink with anticipation of my melt-down. Why they didn't bring popcorn, was beyond me.

"I know what month it is," I said, trying to keep tremors out of my voice, and failing at it.

"Is something wrong with you, Celeste?" Monica's eyes opened large, but her lips pinched together. "Do you need help with it, sweetie? Maybe a picture of a wolf? A girl like you, from Seattle, you probably don't know one from a dog."

I should have run away like I always did, but her saccharine tone acted like acid on my nerves.

"No."

I brushed past Monica, grabbed my jacket and skirt from the floor, yanked and flapped it in the air. Hard. Their damn sushi, salads and plastic forks flew everywhere, hitting my tormentors.

A plastic container with sticky dipping sauce landed on Monica's flowy white skirt, making an ugly brown splotch in a very conspicuous place. She gasped, pulling at her skirt...and showing it off to everyone. Yes, it looked like she soiled herself. Her mouth fell to prepare for an outraged scream.

For a second there, the world froze, like in a movie.

Blood pounded in my ears. Run, run, run, while they're stunned.

I cradled my clothes to my chest and took off down a gravel pathway toward the service entrances. The she-wolves could choke on my ransacked lunch box...I could change in a bathroom and still show up before Mie blew her gasket.

"Get the Stray, ladies!" Monica yelled.

Yapping and howls answered her.

Before I realized what that meant, the wall of fur and solid muscle encircled me, flashing teeth and black claws.