Heavenly Poison

Damien Gray

Art had been- awkward.

There was no other way to describe the situation. Sebastian kept giving Emilia knowing smiles. I was afraid her face would permanently remain red with how much she kept blushing.

By the time the bell rang, both Emilia and I were ready to get the hell out of the room. She waited for me to leave the room though, which didn’t take me long- considering I’d been aching to leave since class started.

I could see the disappointment in Emilia’s face when she realized we didn’t have third period together.

“I have Math right now,” she told me.

We were outside of my history class. The bell was about to ring and she was still standing in front of me.

“Okay,” I said, as I leaned my back on the wall.

“Do you think I can meet you at the end of this hall before lunch? It’ll be on my way to the cafeteria.”

I looked at her, cocking an eyebrow.

“I’m eating with Sebastian,” I reminded her.

I noticed some looks on us, but I ignored it. Humans weren’t the only ones focused on petty things. Werewolves were just the same.

When I looked down at Emilia, I caught her lightly blushing.

“I’ll still wait for you at the end of the hall,” she said.

I wasn’t sure what to do after our plans for lunch were decided. Emilia just stood in front of me, standing really close.

It was her who finally moved away. I used that time to walk into class.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” she waved at me, with a smile on her face.

I nodded at her, before entering class.

I had just taken a seat in the back when the bell rang. I was sure she had been late to class. I was trying not to feel bad. After all, she was the one who kept following me around.

A part of me was enjoying her attention- my human side. The Legen part of me knew it was wrong to enjoy Emilia’s company too much.

“Hey!” A girl excitedly greeted. She took the seat beside me.

“Do you remember me? We have first period together. I went to talk to you but that girl interrupted our conversation.”

I hadn’t remembered her, until she brought up Emilia.

“Right,” I said, and continued looking at the board.

The teacher was sitting on her desk, with students surrounding it. Even though the bell had rung, the class looked unorganized. So far, I had been having an easy day. I was sure this class wouldn’t be any different.

“So you’re Damien?” The girl asked again. It shouldn’t have, but her cheery attitude was irritating me. I didn’t want to talk, so when someone tapped my shoulder- I used that as a distraction.

“Hey dude,” the guy on my other side said.

“Hey,” I nodded- which made him offer his hand for me to shake.

“I’m Will,” he introduced himself.

“Damien.”

“So you just moved here?” He asked me.

“Yeah, last week.”

“I saw your brother around also,” he said. I assumed he was talking about Sebastian.

“Hey Damien, if you want- we can have lunch,” the girl asked.

“I have plans,” I told her, and turned back to Will.

I wasn’t really interested in talking to him, but it beat hearing the girl on my other side.

It looked like she was about to say more, when the teacher called for everyone’s attention.

The rest of the period went by smoothly. I was only annoyed with the free time the teacher gave us toward the end. The same girl was insistent on making conversation.

Will was somewhat a distraction. He was asking question after question, which kept me busy for a while.

Five minutes before the bell, I was called up to the office.

I wasn’t too surprise when I saw Sebastian on the way.

“Any idea on what they want?” I asked him. We were a few steps away from reaching the office.

“Not really, but I’m betting it has something to do with our parents.” He emphasized the words parents, as he usually did. Neither of us was comfortable when people asked about them.

“I called you in because I need a few signatures from both your parents,” the principal said as soon as we stepped into his office.

“Oh, of course. Damien’s parents will be signing all my papers. They’re my legal guardians,” Sebastian reminded the principal.

I was sitting down on one of the chairs with my arms crossed, while Principal Davis gathered the documents our parents needed to sign.

“I remember, and that’s fine. We only really need the signatures,” he said, as he handed us the papers.

The bell had rung while we were waiting to receive the papers from the principal.

The halls were empty by the time Sebastian and I left the office. We headed toward the cafeteria right after.

“I have new information, but we’ll talk about that at home,” Sebastian told me.

“I assumed.”

“Great, because some of it involves her.”

“Won’t it always be involving her?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Lately, Sebastian’s favorite topic to discuss was Emilia and me being her mate.

“Not necessarily, but I am interested in what you are to her,” he said.

A few people turned to stare at us, which was when Sebastian switched the conversation onto lighter topics.

“So far, I don’t have any homework. That’s probably a good thing. I have a busy afternoon today,” he told me, like if that was what we’d been discussing.

“Yeah, me too,” I added to his conversation, more for the benefit of others than for myself.

It wasn’t like we could say much about ourselves, or the creatures that roamed the school. Werewolves had enhanced hearing as well. Our conversations could be spied on, just like we spied theirs.

I was almost certain that Sebastian gathered his information by listening in to both humans and Wolves.

Humans didn’t know any better. But Wolves, they assumed there was no one else out there intruding in their private lives.

Some girls that Sebastian had for class let us cut in front of the lunch line. What could have taken the entire period, only took us about two minutes.

If was almost funny to have the girls offer Sebastian to pay for his lunch, when he claimed to have forgotten his wallet.

He was doing it for the attention and probably to see how much he could make the poor girls do for him.

I hadn’t seen Emilia around the cafeteria. Her scent was easy for me to catch, but it wasn’t anywhere around.

“Let’s go eat outside,” Sebastian proposed, with an excited smile on his face.

It was enough to have the girls swarm around us and agree with him.

The school we attended before was heavier with rules. I assumed it had to do with it being a big city. Most of the time, we weren’t allowed to have lunch outdoors.

“So, when did you guys move here? We haven’t seen you before?” Girl A asked.

“Duh, it’s because they just moved. I heard you guys are living in the new apartments,” Girl B replied before either of us could answer.

“Really? They are really nice. My dad helped build them. I fell in love with them the day he was showing us around,” Girl C added.

I sat there, staring at my food and trying to tune them out. When Sebastian added his input, I knew he was doing it bother me.

“Yes, we just moved. I’ve been settling in pretty well. Damien here is the one who’s struggling with the adjustments to a small town. He’s been looking for someone to show him around,” he said.

Right after his comment, I started getting offers for tours, and girls who were more than willing to show me around.

There was no need for me to turn any of them down. In that moment, Emilia got there and basically did it for me.

“I was looking for you,” she said. I was surprised to find her cheeks lightly tinted in pink and her voice out of breath.

“I got called to the office,” I told her.

“Oh, what for?” She asked.

It was in that moment that I realized the whole table was staring at Emilia and me, and that included Sebastian.

If I knew him, and I really did- I knew he was interested because I was Emilia’s mate.

I wasn’t really sure why the other girls decided to shut up and stare at us. I was appreciative about it though. It was nice to finally get some silence from them.

“Our paperwork wasn’t complete,” Sebastian replied for me.

“Well, come sit at my table,” Emilia said, looking behind her at a table filled with shifters. I noticed her two friends from the diner were there.

“I’m fine here,” I told her.

Sebastian raised his eyebrow at me. He looked amused, and I was glad for that. I was thinking he might’ve wanted me to go and sit with the shifters, just to get any kind of information.

“Why?” Emilia asked, looking suspiciously at the six girls in the table.

“Why not? We have good company,” Sebastian replied for me, as he winked at the girl in front of him. The girls began giggling, like they’d been doing whenever Sebastian spoke.

It was annoying to watch him ask for something, have the girls giggle, and then have them complain about the school not being caring enough to put said thing in each table.

‘Who seriously has thoughts like those,’ was all I kept asking myself.

“But,” Emilia said, looking at me with pleading eyes.

I was about to break. For some reason, something inside of me was begging me to do what she was wanted. It took me a minute to realize that that something inside of me was really just me.

“You don’t have to sit here,” I told her.

I took a drink of my coke, and pretended to pay attention to the conversation Sebastian had started with Girl B and Girl C.

Emilia didn’t move from where she was. She simply continued to stare at me.

She looked torn between sitting in the table and going back to her friends. If knowing a few Wolves in the past told me anything- the reason she didn’t want to sit down was because it was a table filled with humans.

Wolves and humans didn’t mix. I wasn’t sure what the background of that story was, since I never really got around to asking a Wolf. But I heard them talking, and their conversations about humans weren’t so colorful.

“I guess I could sit here,” Emilia finally said.

She had her book bag with her, but she didn’t have any lunch. The moment she took a seat beside me, the table went silent once again.

“Why are you sitting here?” Girl D bluntly asked.

Something about the way she rudely asked that- bothered me. Sebastian turned to give me a sharp look- probably thinking I would snap at the girl.

“Em is our friend, so I hope you girls don’t mind. If you do, we could just go sit over there,” he said, pointing at an empty table on the other side of the quad.

“What? No, it’s just weird to see Emilia talking to people who aren’t in her- group. She can sit here if she wants,” Girl A said, as she laced her arm with Sebastian’s.

If that was her way of keeping him in place- it was stupid. If he really wanted to leave, he would just get up and go.

“Great!” He cheerfully replied.

Emilia wasn’t saying anything, but she looked uncomfortable. I was ignoring all the conversations going on in front of me- mainly because they held no interest to me.

“Are you going to eat?” I asked her. She had seemed lost in her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Are you hungry?” I rephrased the question.

She turned to look at the lunch line. Even though we were outside, the clear windows showed that the lunch line hadn’t gotten any smaller.

I pushed my plate toward her. I’d gotten a few slices of pizza- courtesy of Sebastian who had flirted his way into a free lunch for both him and me.

Emilia grabbed a slice from the plate. My coke was half way finished, but I also put it in front of her. I wasn’t sure if she would take it, since I’d been drinking from it.

She didn’t seem to mind, because she took a few bites from the pizza- before finishing off the coke in one drink.

Before lunch ended, Emilia made me show her my schedule so that we could compare it- whatever that meant.

We didn’t have next period together. But, we did have the same two classes after that one.

By the time I left my fourth period Math class, there were already rumors about me.

The humans gossiped about me being unavailable- because I was part of them. They didn’t know that whenever they said “them” or “that group”, they were really only talking about shifters- who had basically made a “no humans” rule.

The Wolves knew that I was Emilia’s mate, which basically made me unavailable as well. Some of the male Wolves weren’t happy with the attention Sebastian and I were receiving, from both humans and She-Wolves.

My fifth period PE was another I had with both Sebastian and Emilia. I noticed that the coach was a Werewolf. It seemed fitting, given that I’d seen plenty of staff that wasn’t human.

“Another class with you, I think it’s my lucky day,” Sebastian said, right after sitting down with us.

He’d been with a group of people, but he came over as soon as he spotted me in the gym.

“Don’t start again,” I warned him.

He only grinned, but at least he kept the conversation away from anything relating Emilia and I being mates.

“I was wondering something,” Sebastian began.

Emilia and I were sitting on the top bleacher, right next to each other. Sebastian was sitting on the bleacher below, directly in front of me.

“Why are some people saying you think you’re high and mighty?” he asked, looking at Emilia.

Emilia seemed taken aback by his question. She looked at me, almost like she was asking me permission to reply. I shrugged, which I noticed I had been doing often whenever Sebastian asked her something.

Some humans around the gym were staring at us. They were mainly Sebastian’s new acquaintances who wanted to come and say hi.

They didn’t though and I was thankful for that. I didn’t want a repeat of the lunch hour.

“My friends and I usually keep to our own circle of friends,” she answered.

“That’s a little harsh,” Sebastian pressed.

I wasn’t sure what he wanted to get out of that conversation.

“I don’t think it is. Everyone keeps to their friends as they please. I think we have the right to do the same.” I was surprised with how harsh her reply sounded.

“You’re right. It just sounds like your clique is really exclusive.”

We didn’t do anything for the rest of the period. Sebastian kept asking Emilia questions, which she answered after looking at me.

I was intrigued with why she felt the need for my approval, but it didn’t feel right to ask her. I hardly knew anything about mates. One of the few things I did know was that they usually ended up together.

I wasn’t exactly ready for Emilia to confess anything to me, or tell me about her true nature.

By the end of the last period, everyone in the school thought that Emilia and I were going out. They were all wondering how she quickly managed to “snatch me up”, as one of the humans had put it.

To be fair with them, I did walk around with Emilia the entire day. Out of my six classes, I had four of them with her. Whenever we were in the same room, or the same area- Emilia would make her way toward me and stand by my side.

I had never been in a relationship before, but I had been with girls. Most of them were clingy, which was something that bothered me.

There was no reason for them to be like that because I never made promises. There were occasions when I’d been blunt enough to state that all I wanted was sex. Why there was confusion about what I wanted or where I stood with them- after the dirty deed was done- was beyond me.

Today, I had Emilia hanging around me the entire day. As much as I tried to argue with it or lie to myself- I couldn’t. It felt good to have her there.

She had spent the entire day walking me from class to class. A part of me felt emasculated by that, but my lazy side was enjoying it.

By the end of the day, I felt it was fitting for me to walk her to her car instead.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asked. I nodded as a reply.

My simple nod made a huge smile form on her lips. I chuckled, liking the way her blue eyes lit up without any effort from my part.

It was like if just a small action from me made her so… happy?

“Okay, well, just call me if you need anything. I have the afternoon free, so if you call- I can come over.”

“I will,” I told her, holding open the car door for her to get in.

“Alright, until then,” she said.

I wasn’t surprised when I got to the car and Sebastian was saying his goodbyes to the girls from lunch- plus a few other friends.

“I’m ready,” I told him, before getting on.

“You’re going to date her,” Sebastian said, right after leaving the school’s parking lot.

“Didn’t you hear? Apparently, we are already together,” I told Sebastian, thinking back to the rumors going around school.

“That’s perfect. I found out she’s the Alpha’s daughter.”

My head snapped so quickly in his direction after his last statement.

“I’m not joking. I heard plenty of interesting things today. That was one of them. So you, my dear cousin, will be the new Alpha of Mountain Peak,” he stated, with a grin on his face.

I was quiet for the rest of the ride.

“Did you know Anthony, Emilia’s dad, wants to meet you? A She-Wolf was saying that everyone has strict orders to be careful around you, and me, because I’m your cousin. It’s like they’re giving us free reign in their entire land.”

“I’m not interested in becoming Alpha. By the way, I don’t think that’s even possible. Can a human even be an Alpha?”

Sebastian laughed- loudly.

“Damy, we’re not human,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Yes, but they don’t know that,” I reminded him.

He was thoughtful after that. There was no doubt I’d gotten him curious about something.

“I guess she’ll be the Alpha, but I doubt their pack would allow that. They’ll want a male.”

“It sounds like something a pack would do,” I agreed with him.

“The Alphas are always male- because male Wolves are a lot stronger than females. But, we both know you are a lot stronger than any other Wolf. An Alpha title would be perfect.”

Though Sebastian’s statement was true, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear- especially not the last part of it.

I wasn’t dating Emilia, but I knew it was what she wanted. There was no way I would be able to manage a pack. I barely even took care of myself.

Whenever I had a problem, I always ran to Sebastian and he usually took care of it.

I wanted to go fly. Sebastian had told me I could only go if he came along. Earlier, I had gone up to my room. I wasn’t sure when I’d fallen asleep- but when I woke up, Sebastian was gone.

When I called his phone, he told me he was busy taking care of some business.

We still hadn’t make plans on our flying schedule. Areas hadn’t been marked, so I didn’t know where it was safe to fly.

I settled for second best, and went for a run.

The woods were closer to the apartment than the park was, so I made my way there. My iPod was as loud as it could go, and I was letting my thoughts drift away.

I’d been running for about half hour, so I decided to turn back home. It would give me an hour long work out. My thoughts were already settling, which was the main reason I’d gone out to run.

I had just rounded a tree to return- when something up ahead caught my attention.

Two Wolves were brutally fighting. The smaller one, a brown Wolf, was under the much larger black Wolf.

I should have turned away and gone back to where I came from. My iPod was still full blast, so I turned it down. Even when it was playing loudly, I had been able to hear the growls from both Wolves. The size of the brown Wolf told me she was a girl.

There didn’t seem to be a reason for them to be fighting. After breathing a in some air- I sensed it. The small brown Wolf was a Rogue. Her wild behavior made much more sense right after.

I took a few steps closer, thinking of how to stop the ongoing fight. The black Wolf was basically tearing the other one to pieces, while managing to keep her alive.

I hadn’t made a noise, yet the black Wolf somehow caught on to my presence. He looked up from the She-Wolf under him, and snarled at me.

I wasn’t scared- but I knew I was in deep shit. Sebastian would never let me hear the end of this.