Chapter 51

Matt

“Dude, you don’t get it,” Jack said. “Celeste should know better. But to hell with it; if she wants to scrub floors, she can do that. I won’t be giving her money anymore.”

Without another word, Jack walked into the living room and sank down on the couch. I watched in horror as he casually picked up his video game controller and began to play. Following him, I stood in front of the TV, my arms folded tightly across my chest.

“Why don’t you give a shit that another student is bullying your little sister?” I asked.

Jack merely scoffed. “Why should I?” he replied, pausing his game and glaring up at me. “She’s a moron. If she didn’t always do such moronic things, then she wouldn’t get bullied. It’s as simple as that.”

The disdain in Jack’s voice cut through the tension of the room, making my stomach churn. I couldn't fathom how he could talk to his sister that way. A vivid image of my little sister, Patricia, filled my mind, and I could never imagine speaking to her with such coldness.

“Why do you seem to hate her so much, Jack?” I challenged, my voice rising. “She’s your sister!”

Jack’s icy eyes bore into mine. “Mind your business, Matt.”

“Maybe if you treated her with some respect, I wouldn’t have to,” I shot back, fists clenching. “It feels like I care about your little sister more than you do sometimes.”

Jack laughed, a bitter and cold sound. “You’re just mad because you’re in love with her and you can’t have her.”

My head snapped toward him, eyes blazing. “I’m not in love with Celeste. And honestly, why are you so obsessed with her love life? It’s weird.”

Jack’s face reddened with fury. “Get out of my house.”

I held his gaze for a moment longer before turning on my heel, my exit punctuated by the slam of the front door. As I walked away from that imposing house, a movement caught my eye.

There she was, Celeste, peering down from an upstairs window. The soft light illuminated her features, and even from this distance, the vulnerability in her eyes was palpable.

It struck me then, how truly beautiful she was, not just in looks but in spirit.

Shaking my head, I made a decision. I couldn’t just let Sabrina get away with treating Celeste like this. So, I made my way to her apartment. The booming bass of music led me straight to a raucous party. Pushing my way through the swarm of drunken students, I finally spotted Sabrina, the queen bee in her hive, surrounded by her loyal subjects.

“Sabrina,” I called out, drawing the attention of many party-goers.

She turned, a smirk playing on her lips. “Matt! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We need to talk,” I stated, trying to keep my voice even.

Her eyes flicked over to the crowd watching us before settling back on me. “Oh? About what?” she purred, sauntering up to me. She was wearing a skimpy, tight dress that was practically a shirt. “Did you rethink your earlier decision? Want to go to the bedroom?”

I shook my head, taking a step back. “I’m not here to have sex with you, Sabrina,” I growled. “This is about that girl, Celeste. You need to stop this. It’s gone too far.”

Her smirk widened. “Or what? You'll come to her rescue? How noble.”

“I just want to know why you’re bullying a fellow freshman.”

Sabrina leaned closer, her voice dripping with venom. “If you ever show your face here again, I’ll tell everyone you assaulted me. It’ll be too easy for a gruff hockey player like you to get expelled over assaulting a poor, innocent little freshman girl like me.”

Then, raising her voice in mock fear, she began to tremble, fake tears shining in her eyes. “I’m telling you, dean! He pushed me down and took advantage of me! I was helpless!”

I growled again, a guttural sound deep in the back of my throat. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She chuckled, relishing the power she held. “Try me. Be a good boy and mind your business now, you hear?”

Cursing under my breath, I retreated from the apartment, leaving behind the jeers and mocking laughter of Sabrina’s entourage. Celeste didn’t deserve any of this, and it infuriated me that I was powerless to help.

Distracted by my turbulent thoughts, I almost didn’t notice the call coming in. Glancing at the screen, I recognized the rogue alert symbol flashing. Another one? What was going on?

“I got the alert,” Enzo’s voice sounded in my ear, as I picked up the call. “Near the west entrance?”

“Yeah,” I replied, already sprinting in that direction. “Where’s Nina?”

“Already on it,” Nina’s voice chimed in. “But this one’s strong. We need to move fast.”

The three of us met up at the west entrance of the campus. Up ahead, perched between the trees, was the rogue. I could tell just from its rank scent and the glow in its eyes that it was indeed a rogue, an unwilling human turned into a werewolf.

Jumping into our well-practiced rhythm, we shifted into our wolf forms. The rogue, seeing us coming, took off into the woods, but we were faster and more agile. Rogues were senseless, hardly more than oversized dogs. However, with a master, they were deadly—that was something we discovered when the Crescents flooded our beloved town with the beasts during the war.

However, this one clearly didn’t have a master. It was alone, helpless, and utterly stupid. We cornered it easily amongst a thick grove of trees, and Nina shifted back, injecting it with her antidote while Enzo and I circled it.

Once it changed back into its original form—a normal student, nothing more—we shifted back and joined Nina as she looked down at the poor girl.

Panting, Enzo turned to me, his face grim. “This is the third one this week. Something’s up.”

Nina nodded, wiping sweat from her brow. “We should keep an eye out for Crescents,” she said. “Although, I haven’t heard anything from our scouts, and these rogues are clearly without masters. Something is different here, but I can’t put my finger on what.”

As I looked down at the rogue, my thoughts drifted back to the war on the Crescents. Ever since we won the battles, they had dispersed and none of us had seen hide nor hair of them. But Nina was right: this did feel different.

“Let’s get a patrol going again,” Enzo said, sighing exasperatedly. “Matt, can you tell the rest of the pack to work that out amongst themselves?”

I nodded solemnly, pulling out my phone. The pack wouldn’t be happy about having to deal with this recent influx in rogues, and I didn’t blame them. But the safety of our town, as well as the sanctity of our secret, was at risk.

After the last big battle, the humans in the area had their memories wiped by a powerful witch. Once again, the knowledge of werewolves had diminished to nothing amongst the humans, and we wanted to keep it that way.

But it seemed as though something fishy was going on here.