Spirit Tales (The Millennium Wolves AU)
Chapter Ten

“No.”

Maria’s gaze was tormented. “I’m sorry, Angela,” she said, “but there’s nothing I can do about it. When Fred comes back from his tour with Apollo and Strider you could ask him to - “

“I’m not ready to do something like that just because His Majesty the Alpha said so!” I snapped, Tempest growling in agreement inside me. I’d only woken up a few minutes ago, and already I was pissed off - all of it because the Alpha sent Maria to give me this dire news. “In case he hasn’t noticed - and he mustn’t have since he’s a fucking arrogant werewolf and the Alpha of the stupid Millennium - I’m a girl! Not one of his freaking male friends!” It made me flinch when I thought about it. He probably didn’t see me as anything but a human who had some stupid Spirit inside her. I wasn’t a girl, or a woman, or even a female in his eyes. Just some human, to be tossed away like all the rest.

Maria lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry you have to go through all of this,” she said sincerely, “I know how you feel, Angela, and not in theory, for I also feel it with my healing powers. I know what you’re going through isn’t easy.” She sighed heavily. “But, unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it - only Fred can.”

I curled my hands into fists and instead of answering simply stared at the blanket still covering me. When Maria woke me up, I didn’t think something this drastic would take place, that the Alpha would tell her I was going back to college - which was the only good thing about this - but not to the same dorm room I’d been living at since the beginning of the year, but rather that I was going to live with him, and Apollo and Strider, too.

So yes, I was going back to college, back to my normal life only with a supernatural being inside of me, and a room shared by three werewolves, three male werewolves, who thought I was fat, ugly redhead.

Tempest growled, and I knew that if she had a face, they were probably set in a scowl.

“I can hear her,” Maria said quietly, “I know she’s not happy, much like you, but there’s nothing I can do.”

I nodded stiffly. I knew Maria wasn’t responsible for this - the Alpha was, and it was him I had to deal with. Because there was not a chance in the world I was going to sleep in the same room as these three bastards. Not only they were werewolves - besides Apollo, but honestly, his behavior was totally werewolf-like to consider him as one - and no only they detested humans, but they were men. I just… couldn’t.

Maria brought me clothes to change into, clothes that belonged to one of the she-wolves in the mansion and told me to change and come to breakfast, where I would meet the Alpha and his minions. When I saw that the clothes were really airy, I was deeply hurt. I wasn’t that fat. But nobody cared, it seemed.

I took a bath and put on the clothes. The sweatpants were a couple of sizes too big, and the tee made me look figureless. I put on my worn-out sneaker, pulled my hair into its usual tight bun, and when I looked at the mirror, I immediately looked away. I couldn’t bear watching myself on a regular basis, but with these clothes, it was worse.

When I arrived at the dining hall, the only ones in presence were Samantha, Greg, Apollo, Strider, and the Alpha. I wondered where were the rest of the wolves. I sat at my assigned seat - at the edge of the table, almost all by myself. Everyone stared at me, and I felt that same tension that I’d felt since the first moment werewolves paid attention to me, the lowly human girl. I forced myself not to bend under the pressure they eyes put on me and started eating, maintaining a calm and indifferent air as much as I could.

The chatter had died when I entered the room, and after a few moments of terse silence, someone cleared their throat. I glanced sideways and saw Apollo grinning smugly and full of confidence. That grin made me feel a little fear, for whatever reason.

Pushing the fear aside, I studied him. He seemed no older than twenty-three or so, and while I knew he was in his 1700s or something like, he was much less serious than I would’ve expected. Maybe when his body stopped growing, so did his brain.

The thought made an evil smile spread over my face. Apollo noticed and arched an eyebrow, still grinning. I decided to vocalize my thought. “I was just thinking that your body wasn’t the only thing that stopped growing when immortality settled in.”

My smile deepened when I saw understanding dawning on him, making the amused flicker in his eyes die out. His grin remained, though, but turned a little bitter. “And I was thinking you were less fat after all,” he said mockingly, “but now look at you. Ginger garbage with a big mouth - and not just for food.”

The insult made my temper rise and Tempest snarl. “You’re really funny,” I said emotionlessly, staring at my food, “you think I’m going to sleep with you in the same room. Even breathing the same air as you is disgusting as it is, so sleep? Ha!” I snorted. “The day I’ll live with you in the same room will be the day I died.”

“It’s not open for discussion, Angela,” the Alpha said quietly, and when I glanced at him, his red eyes threatened to swallow me whole. I shivered, the reaction the same as every time he looked at me in the past few days, and I knew enough about myself to recognize it as a silly and illogical case of lust. I wanted him - or, more accurately, my body wanted him. My head refused to want someone like him. Sure, he was hot, hotter than even Apollo and Strider in my opinion, and he had this quiet, dangerous, dominant presence that surpassed everyone else, and while all of it called out to my rusty feminine instincts, I knew better than that.

Sure, I wasn’t an expert in lust - not only was I a virgin, but I also hadn’t been kissed - but I knew that it was lust nonetheless. Even if I’d never experienced it before.

“It’s open to discussion as long as I’m a part of it,” I said, curling my hands into fists. “I don’t intend to be with you in the same room. I’m a woman, not your pet. I want to be with my friends.” I folded my arms, case closed.

“Believe me, we don’t want it any more than you do,” Strider said, staring at me with disdain. “But Apollo knows what he’s doing.”

“It was your idea?!” I snapped, gazing at Apollo venomously.

He shrugged innocently. “I’m an expert in this field,” he said matter-of-factly, “I know what kind of training is required for newly born Spirits like you - although each case is unique. In my case, my Spirit was awake from the moment I was born. In yours, it needed a push to wake up. I don’t know how exactly it will affect your powers, but we will find out soon enough when we start training.” He grinned. “Make no mistakes; if it was up to Fred, he would’ve gotten a room for himself and made sure you were stuck with Strider and me only. But we need to protect the world from you until you completely control your Spirit, and the best way to do it is for you to stay with. More effective this way, really.”

“I support everything Apollo has just said,” the Alpha said, his voice quiet, face inscrutable. “He knows better than all of us what is required to handle a Spirit that has just awoken - as we understood when you lost control. In order for you to not create chaos and disaster everywhere, you need to let Apollo do his job to the best of his abilities.”

“I’m not a pet!” I snapped, rising at once to my feet, slapping my hands again the table so hard, the table squeaked, cracked, and broke, the tableware and food falling to the floor. But I didn’t about it at the moment. Inside me, Tempest roared, and I found myself letting this roar out. The floor shook harder than ever before, so much so that everyone went to stand under the doorframe, some even shifting into a wolf - but all I saw was the calamity I wanted to bring forth, and I didn’t care about anyone who stood in my way.

“I won’t bend to your whims!” my voice wasn’t mine, and I wondered if it was Tempest talking through my throat. “I won’t listen to anything you have to say. I said I didn’t want to be with you in the same room, so I. Won’t. Be!”

The ceiling caved in. The marbles cracked and broke. I paid none of it attention, though. I was too busy being engulfed in rage. I heard people screaming, noise from the quakes, too, and I laughed a mad, evil laughter, that was mine and not mine at the same time, feeling elated that everyone was caged in my chaos -

Something hard clashed with me, snapping me out of my trance in a blink of a second. Tempest retreated, her laughter gone, and instead was shockingly quiet. My head cleared, and my thoughts became mine, not Tempest’s, and I realized a pair of toned arms were wrapped around me, one around my waist, and another around my head. The clash had been so strong, we flew back - until we hit the window, which shattered under our weight, and we were in the cold morning air, almost floating, until we started to fall.

Horror took hold of me, and instinctively I wrapped my hands around the neck of the man who held me, burying my head in his shoulders. A shiver went down my spine when cold, stormy wind unleashed my hair from its bun, making it blow in the air wildly. The wind grew stronger, freezing me, and I had a strange feeling, as though we were flying upward, elevating into the air instead of fallin…

“It’s all right, Angela,” a familiar voice whispered in my ear, making me shiver again, “you’re safe now. Nothing happened.”

Against all odds, his low, raspy voice calmed me down. I opened my eyes and found myself staring into the Alpha’s deep red eyes, his brown hair blowing around him. His arms were like iron around me, making me feel safer than I’d ever felt. Hazily, my eyes studied his nose, his slightly uplifted eyes, his high cheekbones, his tanned skin…

Then I realized there was no ground beneath us. My heart lurched in my chest when I looked down, seeing the city spread underneath us. I gasped in fear, raising my eyes to stare at the Alpha with disbelief, and noticing something I hadn’t before.

A pair of huge black wings with streaks of bright orange, like dragon’s wings in fantasy books, came out of his back. I gasped again and said, “Alpha… Wings....”

“Shh,” he tightened my head again to his shoulder. “Relax, little angel. I’ll explain everything soon, I promise. Right now, trust me. Believe that what we’re doing is for your own good, even if it seemed to be otherwise. Can you believe in me?”

I shivered. “Alpha - “

“Call me Fred, Angel,” he petted my hair, as though trying to calm down an anxious animal, “trust me.”

“Fred…” I closed my eyes, body limp in his arms.

“It’s all right, Angel,” he murmured, “I’m here. You’re safe.”

I nodded weakly, relaxing entirely in the Alpha’s - Fred’s - arms as he embraced me, caressed me, whispering relaxingly with his deep voice, making me want to stay in his arms forever.

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