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CLAIRE

Curiosity. I suppose that's what brought me here to sit with this girl. Apparently, Ella didn't have any other friends. All of hers had moved away and she'd always been too shy to approach anyone until now, "I don't know why…" she began thoughtfully taking a bite of her sandwich, "But you seem kinda cool."
I didn't really know how to respond to that. No one had ever called me "cool" before, I'd always been so-and-so's new friend or the third wheel. It was a lot to take in, "Thanks," I said eventually; taking a bite out of a slice of damp pizza.
"How are you finding Beacon Hills so far?" she asked me. Crap, I felt like saying. Something about Ella made me feel like it was okay to speak my mind, something I couldn't place. She made me feel safe, which was crazy because I'd only met her just under an hour ago.
"It's okay," she finally prompted, examining me with inquisitive, cat-like eyes. "You don't have to lie. This place…well, it's not exactly luxury living."
"It's…nice." I said with a non-committal shrug. I cast my glance around the room at the gathered faces. Most had got over my presence by now but a few were still staring at me and Ella like we just walked off a spaceship. My eyes scanned over them, never lingering too long on a single person until my eyes came to rest on a table tucked away in the corner of the room, "Who are they?" I asked, my eyes widening. I had a feeling I already knew the answer, I could smell them from here.
"They're the runaways," Ella said. There was nothing in her voice, no wariness or fear or resentment. She didn't sound like she was trying to be nasty about them, just stating a fact. "Erica, Boyd and Isaac. A while back they were all loners. I don't know – they just…changed. Isaac was in trouble for a while. He was a suspect in a murder," A shiver ran through her. "His father. But I knew I couldn't have been true. He was just so nice. Used to open doors for me a lot and help me carry books to my lessons. Now he's a bit of a douche. He's still an outcast, but he doesn't get shoved into lockers anymore. People respect him. As for Erica and Boyd – I don't know much about them really. They kept to themselves. I once ate lunch with them but I kinda felt like the third wheel so I stopped."
Our eyes met from across the room. I realized I had been staring. I don't know what I expected to see – venomous, accusational looks? Burning hate? All I saw was looks of reluctance and strangely enough, amity. It made me feel a little more positive about them. I had had experience with wolf packs – more than I'd like to remember – but they seemed incredibly different from the ones I'd encountered.
I shook my head and turned back to her. She was giving me a look. I wasn't really paying attention. I could see them muttering to themselves in my peripheral vision, bellow human hearing level but I still couldn't hear them over the chaos of the cafeteria. "Most people here are close," she explained, taking another bite of her pizza. "Everyone knows each other. People here don't like different," she leaned in closer so I could hear her better, "I think they're scared of it. I mean… scared enough to-" her face became hard and she had a pained look on her face.
I didn't want to press her. I recognized that look, grief-ridden and agonizing, but I couldn't seem to help myself. "What happened?"
She looked away and closed her eyes. I gave her all the time she needed, as she breathed in and out. Obviously whatever she was about to tell me was still raw. "About three years ago. I went out of town with my dad – my parents were divorced - it was only supposed to be for a week but we went a bit over. Anyway, when we came back, we found the house had been broken into…"
I stayed silent, just listening and Ella seemed grateful. I was a good listener now; years of people not letting me express my opinion had made me so. "We went upstairs. We went into the house, but we couldn't find her. I found signs of a struggle in her bedroom and followed the mess into the bathroom. And I found her there – lying in a pool of her own blood." Tears welled up in her eyes and she wiped them away quickly before they steamed up her glasses. "You probably think I'm some kind of freak."
"No, no," I shook my head firmly. Of course I found it a bit strange she would divulge such a painful memory to me after just an hour in my company, "My dad died when I was little."
What the hell was I doing? When I had been around twelve I had promised myself never to be one of those people that told their tragic past to every stranger on the bus. But somehow I felt it didn't matter with Ella. That she would let me open up to her without judging her unlike me. I felt ashamed and hung my head. "I'm s-sorry," Ella stammered, "I was being insensitive. Sorry, I'm such a jerk-"
"You're not," I replied. I was starting to see that Ella apologized for a lot of things that weren't her fault. "And it's okay. It was a long time ago."

After lunch, I had Math. I was in the same class as Ella so I sat behind her. I was also in the same class as two other boys I had seen speaking to Isaac earlier. I cast furtive glances in their direction. The first was a guy with bronze skin and round, chocolate eyes. Not hazel like Ella's but almost black in the luminous of the room. His hair was unruly and he seemed to radiate a certain boyish charm that made him almost likable. Maybe if Isaac was like that, people would warm to him.

And why did I care?

The second boy was less athletic looking and more geeky. He had a buzzcut and pale skin that made him look kind of sickly. He had brown eyes too, but much light, closer to the color of chocolate. They leaned back in their seats, eyes pointedly fixed on me. I knew why, I could smell the werewolf from here so obviously, whichever one was giving off that scent could probably smell me, too. I tried to appear casual but I couldn't seem to keep the pretense up. I mumbled an excuse about being ill to the teacher and they let me go early. I took a detour on my way to the nurse's office and instead shoved into the girls' bathroom.

I locked the door behind me so I was finally alone. I let the heavy weight of my bag slip off my shoulders and onto the ground with a clink. I paced the room, fisting my hair, thinking I was about to go insane from the stress. I was so furious, at everything. I'd just got here and already I felt like I had to get out – I didn't deserve to settle down like anyone else.

I opened my mouth, and was thinking a scream was going to escape my lips but instead a howl tore through me. Great. So now every werewolf in the tri-state area would know where I was. I needed to calm down or I was going to do something I really regretted.

I placed a hand on the sink to steady myself as my feet swayed beneath me. I couldn't blackout. If I lost consciousness and the wolf took over, I didn't know what I'd do – what kind of devastation I'd cause. I made my shaking fingers turn the faucet and slapped my face repeatedly with frozen water. I looked up at my reflection in the cold glass. My grey eyes had fizzed yellow like molten gold. "No," I whispered. The other wolves could probably sense my frustration but I refused to call for help. I had been doing this on my own for nine years. I could handle myself. "No," I repeated, harder this time, "You're an omega. You're better than them."

Okay. I could do this. I'd done it a thousand times before. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, just my breathing. In, out. In, out. It seemed to take forever, but I finally relaxed and the beating of my heart grew fainter.
I'd done it. I'd pushed the wolf back down.

There was a knock at the bathroom door, startling me from my minor victory. I glanced at my reflection once more and shook myself, taking a few more shaky breaths and saddling my satchel. The knock came again and in the cheeriest voice I could muster, I replied, "I'll be out in a second!"
I took one last long look at my reflection. I didn't know what I was hoping to see, but all I saw were empty eyes staring back at me. I tried for a smile, but it didn't reach my eyes. I sighed and emptied the sink.

ISAAC

The final lesson of the day was probably the most hated: Econ. Or at least, it was for me. I had been forced into taking it by my dad. I guess I could opt out now that he was gone but…it didn't feel right. Like I was betraying him somehow. Yes, I'm fully aware my dad had been a dick and that I should hate his guts but that doesn't change the fact he was my father.

The two idiots shuffled in and abruptly dropped their voices when they saw me, "Got something to say?" I growled as they slunk into the seats. "Tell you later." Scott replied. I had a pretty good feeling what they were whispering about. After all, I'm sure if omega girl hadn't been operating under human hearing level, the entire school would have heard her distress howl. I had almost mistook her for one of my pack members and gone to help her but then I realized I didn't recognized it.
Despite her annoying tendencies, I hoped she was okay. I would have felt like an ass if I found out she was hurt and I'd been able to stop it.

She did show up to Econ, though. I could decide whether I felt relieved or agitated. The pack gave her the death glare on the way in and because there were no other seats in the class, she was forced to sit next to me. Throughout the entire lesson, I had to focus on not ripping her head off for being such an idiot right then and there. I even had to resort to digging my nails into my own chair to prevent myself from flying at her. Across the room I chanced a glance at my pack mates. Erica's jaw was set and she was giving Claire such a venomous look I was half-expecting the silver-eyed girl to spontaneously combust at any moment. Boyd – the calmest of us – only looked mildly annoyed. Pulling faces at me and rolling his eyes at Erica. Claire was attempting to look casual but her body language was defensive and she was tense, like a coil of wire. Our fourth member – Max – rarely came to school anymore but I doubted he hadn't heard her howling. To be honest, he'd probably be cool with Claire. Max was pretty laid back guy. A great werewolf, determinedly ruthless but when the moon wasn't full he tended to be a reasonable guy.

Mrs. Stoll droned on about something to do with the Fourth Amendment but I was only half listening. I could see Stiles shooting us all weird looks, trying to work out what was going on. When class finally ended, everyone filled out and I shuffled over to Erica and Isaac. Before the she-wolf could open her mouth to yell at me for not telling her, I held both hands up in silent protest, "Just – let me talk to her, okay? If you both fly in and go all bad-cop-and-angry-pissed off-werewolf-cop she's most likely going to take off."
"And what are you gunna say, exactly?" the blonde girl demanded, "We should tell Derek. Hell – he probably already knows. The stupid bitch-"
"Erica," Boyd warned, "You're mean girl is showing," he turned back to me, "Dude, what exactly are you going to say?"
I shrugged. I hadn't really thought of anything. "Unbelievable," Erica muttered under her breath, "Someone's a love-sick puppy." I growled at her and it came out way more savage then I expected. She dropped her gaze to the floor.
"I need something to tell Derek," Boyd prompted, "What are you going to say?"
I sighed, "I'll get her to submit," I finally responded, "Then she'll have no choice but to become part of the pack."

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