**********
The next day.
"Escape at last!"
"Come on Xand, school isn't that bad," Willow said.
"Yeah, and this is coming from the girl with all the teachers wrapped around her finger. Right, F?"
"Hafta agree with X, Red. You do seem to have all the oldies eating out of your hand," Faith remarked with a smirk.
"I do not! Oz, I don't, do I?"
I let out a bark of laughter, then act like I'm holding an announcer's mike. "Now let's see how the boyfriend deals with the pressure. Will he fold? Or choose to escape? Or will he go for the truth? And if he does, how much grovelling will he have to do to cover his error? Let's see."
My work earns a laugh from Faith, a glare from Willow, and a... nothing from Oz. Figures. The guy doesn't have an expressive bone in his body. But, seeing that he is basically my only guy friend I decide to help him out and hope he'll do the same for me another time.
"Oh, look.. African exhibits. Come on."
***
"You dragged us here to see Zebras mating," Faith commented with a risen brow.
"Actually... no. I really wanted to see the carnivore's section. You know: Lions, cheetahs, and such."
"Carnivore? Oh, big words Xand. Giles would be proud," Faith replied with a smirk. "I'm gonna head back to the timber wolves we passed by. Anyone else?"
"Nah, I'm good," I answered.
"No, I'll keep Xander company," Willow replied.
Oz looked over the list of animals at the exhibit and turned to Faith. "I'll join you."
"Cool. Catch you two later then," Faith tossed off before walking away.
I couldn't help but watch her walk. She reminds me so much of HER in the way she holds herself. That and the eyes. Both of them had eyes that were...
"Hello? Xander? You ok?" Willow looked at me worriedly.
"Hmm? No, I'm fine. Let's get moving, shall we?"
Willow stepped in front of me. "Where do you go when you do that? It doesn't happen that often any more, but I know it isn't just because you like Faith. Though, that probably has something to do with it. You know you can tell us about anything, right?"
I sighed and dropped my head. "I know Wills. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet, ok. When I am I'll be sure to tell you guys. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Then let's... watch some morons pick on that kid. What is it with those guys?"
"They're obnoxious. Professionally."
"School bullies?"
"Yeah."
"Figures, every school has 'em. So, you start a new school. You get your desks, some blackboards, and some mean kids."
We start moving closer to intervene, when one of the 'toughs' grabs the student's notepad and takes off with the rest of his cronies, and the kid, trailing behind.
"Alright, that's it. Wills, you hang back. I'll get his pad back to him," I said before taking off in pursuit of the bullies. It didn't take me long to catch up to them, but they ran into one of the closed exhibits just before I got to them. I followed them in to help reclaim the pad and found them cornering the kid, Lawrance or Lance I think his name was. The biggest one was holding the notebook flipping through it, while the others shoved him around.
"So what can I expect in return for this? I mean, it looks like all your notes for Bio are in here. Gotta be worth somethin'," the bully prodded.
"How 'bout you just hand it back to him and we'll call it even," I said from behind them.
They turned as a group, leaving Lance alone to 'deal' with me. "Harris? What do you mean even? As far as I can tell I haven't gotten a payment for this," the big one, Kyle I think, snorted.
"Yes, even. You owe him the book and since I'm in a good mood I'll forget what you owe me for bothering to come over here."
"You wish, Harris. I think maybe you should get out of here before I toss you out. Lance here will be out when he pays up for this."
Lance had evidently mustered enough courage to move closer and when Kyle held out the notepad, he grabbed it and ran for the exit. Kyle and the others looked lost for a moment so I went to block the exit and give Lance a good head start on them. Of course that left me alone with the goon squad, but after facing vampires, monsters, and other assorted demons, high school bullies just weren't as terrifying as they used to be. Go fig.
The other guy of the group pushed me to the center of the room and the others surrounded me. No prob, I wanted to go there anyway. More room to kick their butts. There was only one problem with that plan: the instant everyone entered the center of the room, all their eyes began to glow yellow. I would have been worried if not for the fact that I felt different about them.
Connected to them.
And I liked it.
How could I not? I felt stronger than before. Faster. My senses went on overdrive. Taste, smell, sight, hearing. Everything was heightened. It was like I had been going through life in black and white then suddenly everything was in high definition color. It is the only way I can describe it. My senses filled in gaps that I didn't know had been there before. I could detect scents from everyone who had passed through here recently and could tell exactly who was who. I could hear people talking hundreds of feet away. The low level lighting of the room was suddenly day.
I was exstatic.
I felt like laughing, and so I did.
And My pack joined in. Our high pitched laughs echoing through the room.
***
"What's up Xand? You alright?" Willow asks as we head out of the exhibit. I send the rest of them on ahead. Time to deal with the mouse. Ugh, the weak should be culled from the herd and you don't get much weaker than her.
"I'm fine. Let's go find Faith," I said trying to keep from sneering at her.
"They didn't try anything?"
"You might say that we... reached an agreement," I replied with a smirk.
***
The trip home was irritating. Willow was pestering me with questions and Faith sat further up on the bus. Oz, at least, wasn't bothering me. I ignored Willow and concentrated on more important matters: the Pack.
My pack was clustered near the back of the bus, and I could feel their presence at the back of my mind. If I concentrated, I could almost hear their thoughts. I figured with a little practice I could block or read them whenever I chose. I also noticed they could hear mine. A simple thought and all their eyes were on me, waiting for instructions.
Kyle was the only one trying to resist my will. But that's ok. Toss him around a few times and he'll learn.
If not... well I can deal with him in other ways too.
After all, there can only be one alpha in a pack.
***