Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘Yup, I know. It’s like the Moon Goddess wants to punish me. I do not know why, though.’
‘Well, I feel for you Boo-boo. It would be a curse to spend time with that freak. I will come over tomorrow after school then,’
I shuttered when she called me Boo-boo and felt anger build up inside when she referred 10 Nina as a freak. I shouldn’t care.
Why do I care? It made me angry when May had called her a freak earlier in the cafeteria as well.
Claire caresses her fingers across my lower arm as we listen to Mrs. Lofts discussing our upcoming essay assignment. Claire’s caresses are making me cringe. She may as well run her nails across the chalkboard, as it would give me the same effect. I take her, hand and hold it, so she stops touching my arm. She grins and looks over at May, who is mentally throwing daggers at me.
Her skin isn’t as smooth and lacks the warmth I felt with Nina’s. In fact, her hands are quite clammy.
‘Now open your textbooks to page 139 and answer the questions in your notebooks.’
I’ve never been so happy with Mrs. Lofts giving me work to do. Happily releasing Claire’s hand, I grab my pen and write my answers, I purposely answer them slowly until the bell rings as an excuse to not have to hold her hand again.
The bell goes, I’m happy to run home and get away from everyone, especially May and Claire. Then I remember I have dreaded detention
Returning to my locker, 1 pack my books away on the shelf and take my school bag Josie runs up to me with her backpack.
“Ready to go home, brother?’ she smiles.
Nope, I have detention, with Nina,’
Magnus! This is your chance!’ she squeals.
‘Chance for what?
‘Um, to get on your knees and beg the hottie for forgiveness for being such a dumbass all these years.
Josie! Not going to happen’
But why not? I never understood why you would cut your best friend off like that. You two were so close and did everything together
“You wouldn’t understand Josie, you’re not the one who is going to be an Alpha one day. I need to be respected, not laughed at I’m your little sister, daughter of an Alpha which means my mate will probably be an Alpha from a different pack, so yeah I get you to need to be respected just as i do as a potential Luna but I do not know what that has to do with Nina?’
Just forget it, okay, I’m going to be late for detention. I’ll see you at home for dinner’
Flint walks up to us as I’m about to walk away Josie wraps her arms around Flint and sobs into his chest Just great After everything else going on, now Josie is upset at me.
Without greeting Mr. Thomson, I enter the science room and place my bag on a table and sit in silence, avoiding eye contact with Mr. Thompson and Nina.
‘Late again, Magnus,’ he huffs with his hands-on hip.
I shrug my shoulders and look away. Nina is sitting four tables away. It’s obvious she also isn’t happy to be here.
Well, if you two think you are both going to sit here in silence, then you have another thing coming,’
Nina and I turn our attention back to Mr. Thomson.
‘I have borrowed some tools and a spare tabletop from the woodwork room. You will both spend detention fixing the table you broke,
‘What! But I never broke it,’ Nina protests.
“Do not care, Nina, now come and take this hammer,’ he growls.
I abruptly step down from my chair and march up to the teacher’s desk, muttering and mumbling in dissatisfaction. Nina takes the nails and hammer and I carry the tabletop. Nina kneels next to the broken table and assesses it closely. I kneel opposite her and place the tabletop down.
Mr. Thomson walks towards the class doorway. ‘I will be back in thirty minutes. I expect the table to be fixed.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ I say, waving him off.
Nina clears her throat. ‘Take the legs off the broken table, then we can nail them into the new tabletop.’
Without saying a word, I take hold of the legs and go to pull it off, but Nina interrupts me, tapping me on the shoulder with a screwdriver
‘Just unscrew them like a normal person. Otherwise, you will either bend the legs or break them like you did the table,’
Ignoring her suggestion, I pull the leg, ripping it off, but the leg is bent and crooked as she foretold would happen…
‘Great one, Magnus, a broken table and a bent leg, just great,’ she huffs.
‘Well, if you think you can do a better job, then you fix it.’
‘If you didn’t break it in the first place, Magnus, I wouldn’t have to fix it.’
Our hands are on our hips as we glare at each other, grizzling in silence.
‘Unbelievable,’ she says and kneels by the other leg and unscrews the good leg with the screwdriver, as I should have done.
As she unscrews the last nail, the metal leg falls towards her. I grab it just before it hits her head. She looks up in shock, but I’m not sure if it’s because she was about to be hit across the head or if it’s because I caught the leg before it knocked her out. I take the leg over to the new tabletop and hold it in place. She is siill silent; her mind plays over what just happened.
‘Well, are you going to come 10 screw this in while I hold it or not?}I growl.
She shakes her head at her thoughts and kneels right beside me. Qur legs touch and I want to smile, but I don’t. Her dainty hands twirl the screwdriver in circles until the four screws are in. I lean across her lap to grab the bent leg, our faces so close for a moment that I smell her sweet breath reminding me of candy. Her lips have a clear coat of lip-gloss, I guess the strawberry flavour. Try to bend the leg back in place, but ] seem to make it worse. Nina lets out a giggle, then quickly places her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. Something flutters inside my stomach at the thought that I just made her laugh like that. H’s a pleasant feeling, unlike the one I have had for years that carries a sense of doom.
She finishes screwing the bent leg in and we stand back to look at the table that is on a slant. I place a book on it and we watch as it slides off and burst into laughter,
“What do you think Mr. Thompsons is going to say?’ Nina sniggers
“Eh, who cares? It was fun making it, but then again I don’t want another detention,’ I say, picking up the fallen book and placing under the foot of the bent leg. The table is now leveled out.
We burst into laughter again and the fluttering I feel inside grows. Mr. Thomson walks into the classroom. I hope the table is…
finished,’ he trails off, looking at the bent leg propped up on a bodk.
‘Magnus and Nina, detention again next Wednesday.’
“But we both try to argue with him.
I told you both to fix it, not mangle it more! Now go home before decide to call your parents,’ he yells.
Nina and I both gulp and run out the door together. Seeing as we both live at the Packhouse, we both walked towards home together in silence, but it was a nice silence though.
Walking along the grass, she sees a baby bird chirping near a tree and rushes over to it. I follow her and watch as she scoops it up.
The poor thing has fallen from its nest,’ she says as she stares up at the extremely tall tree. I’m going to put it back in its nest.” You can’t climb up there Nina, this tree is even taller than what I would even climb,’ the bird chirps in her hands. It’s quite cute to look at. I gently scratch its little head to reassure it. It relaxes and snuggles further into Nina’s hand. I can feel our bodies radiating warmth and realise how close I’m standing to Nina. I take a step back, giving her space.