"Elora!"

I turn around to see my best friend running towards me. She hurriedly hands me a flyer for the school musical. It's something that I have always tried out for since my Freshman year.

"You're trying out, right?"

I'm about to nod until the thought of everything going on right now pops into my mind.

Do I really have time for a childish musical that would take up some time that could be spent for helping Maverick?

"I don't know." My answer is not what she is looking for as her face falls into a frown.

"It's our last year... we always do this together..." Her voice is small and sad, and I can already feel myself giving into her.

"I'll try out. But if it interferes with my—"

"Is this because you want to spend more time with your mate?" She smirks at me.

"Sort of. I need to help him with a few things and he also-"

I stop when she begins looking at my collarbone confusedly. "Where's your mark? I'd assume he's marked you by now."

"Um well he was going to but after my nightmare we thought it was best to wait and ..." I begin to trail off since Kaia is literally looking at me like I have grown another head.

I have been keeping her in the dark about Maverick and my problems lately.

"What? He like chickened out? What kind of Alpha is he?"

I growl at her tone towards my mate.

"Sorry sorry. That came out wrong. But seriously, El. What's going on? It looks like you haven't slept for days." She rubs my shoulder, looking at me with a worried expression.

"I'll tell you at lunch since we have five minutes before class, and it's a lot of stuff." I rummage in my locker for my trigonometry book.

"Maverick is nice to you? Right?" My head snaps to hers instantly.

I mean, Maverick himself has been nice to me...it's just that demonic wolf and curse that makes him scary. Deep down he really is sweet...I think.

"Yes...I'll tell you about it later." I rush in the other direction towards my class.

Kaia has math at this time too, but she is in the higher math course whereas I'm not.

After sitting through my math class and biology class, I head to my locker and grab my items for psychology. As I grab my book and notebook from my locker, I feel the presence of someone standing behind me.

I turn around.

Lucaya.

I stand up, closing my locker as I give him a questioning look.

"Elora ... um can I quick talk to you about something?" His voice is hoarse, sounding as though he has been crying for days. His eyes are also bloodshot.

He must've had a heck of a weekend, too.

"Um yeah of course. Want to talk at our free period?" I start walking in the direction of my psychology class, and Lucaya follows.

He grabs my arm to stop me, causing a growl to emit from my throat. I've been on edge since the whole thing with Maverick yesterday, so my wolf is more on the defense.

"Oh, sorry. I was wondering if I could talk to you now... it's urgent." His eyes dodge around the hallway, almost as though he's avoiding someone.

"Yeah sure. Missing one class won't hurt, I guess," I sigh, leading him to an empty classroom.

It's in the part of the school that is going to get either revamped or demolished, depending on how much the school budget they'll put towards it.

Once we enter the small and quite dusty classroom, I sit down at a desk, waving down for Lucaya to do the same.

"Alright. So what do you need to talk about?" I cross my arms, leaning back in the chair.

I didn't get the best sleep last night, so my tone is edgy. Lucaya must take notice as he seems more nervous now.

"Um well... you know how Celeste is and—um—well I went to go see her this weekend. I was going to take her out to the lake. She loves the lake. Anyways, I got to her house, and, you know I'm welcomed inside anytime. Most people aren't since it's the Alpha and Luna's house and-"

"Lucaya. I know. Just get on with it." I snap out, making him wince slightly. "Sorry. I just haven't been getting good sleep lately. Proceed."

He nods hesitantly. "Well, I walked in and heard noises. I heard Celeste and another guy. Instantly I thought he was attacking her, but I was wrong. She and him were—yeah. Well, she has been cheating on me with him. He's the Beta's son. You know, Trave. She explained to me how he'd make a better Alpha since he is stronger than me, and I'm only an Omega."

He then begins to cry. I haven't seen Lucaya cry since we were little kids. It was when he fell off his bike and broke his wrist. It healed within a couple days, and he was fine after that.

A broken heart though? That may take a much longer time to heal.

"Elora... what do I do? You're the only person I feel I can trust with this information."

His bellowing worsens, and I can't help but to pity him. I knew Celeste is a bitch, but I never thought she'd actually be this bad. And towards her mate, too. She even marked him, and I know he marked her as well.

I sit up more and place my hand on his arm in a reassuring manner.

"You'll just have to show her that you are capable of being a wonderful mate and future Alpha. The moon goddess wouldn't have paired you two up if she didn't believe you could do it." I stand up, walking around to his desk and hug him.

It feels nice to know that one of my childhood friends still feels led to talk to me about something like this.

"Also, once Trave finds his mate, he'll want nothing to do with her... trust me."

Deep down I know he is just as bad as Celeste and is most likely only 'with' her for the possible position of power, but I don't want to discourage Lucaya. Plus, when you do find your mate, your outlook on things does change.

Finding Maverick has changed mine.

After he sniffles a couple times he lets out a meek 'thank you' before standing up.

"We should probably get to class. Thank you, Elora. I'm sorry I haven't been a good friend lately... if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call me."

With that he leaves the room, and I contemplate whether or not I'd want to go to the last ten minutes of class or just head to the bathrooms until lunch.

I decide the latter of the two options.

Waltzing into the bathroom, I check my face in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes are prominent, along with them being extremely bloodshot. My usual light blue eyes appear to be dull and look more gray. My hair is also beginning to look ratty.

I take a couple deep breaths and just let myself space out until I hear the faint sound of a man down the hall.

The voice is low and angry, asking for... me.

I decide to hide in one of the stalls, hoping that whoever it is, doesn't notice my scent in the bathroom.

Unfortunately, they take notice, as the voice calls for my name. The sound echoing throughout the tiled bathroom.

"Elora. Come out now. Please." The desperation in his voice has my wolf whimpering.

We know it's Maverick, and I hesitate a couple seconds before making my way out of the stall. Before I can even exit the bathroom, he rushes in, taking ahold of me and enveloping me in a hug.

Hugging him back, I relish in his scent. I honestly couldn't think of a scent I love more than his. Even the hint of a metallic twinge makes me feel safe.

I pull back and study his eyes. They are full of unshed tears, yet they're so golden, moreso than when I had met him.

"Maverick. You can't be in here." My voice is but a whisper. He lifts my chin up, lowering his mouth to mine.

Before fully placing his lips on mine, he inhales sharply, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Who were you with?"

I can see his eyes flashing to yellow, yet he's somehow suppressing the urge to let his wolf go haywire.

"Just Lucaya. He was having troubles with his mate, and wanted my advice. Don't worry." His brows furrow, still not fully convinced. I roll my eyes, pulling from his hold. "You can ask him yourself if you don't believe me. He is mates to Celeste and-"

"Alpha Belrose's daughter? I've been seeing her driving around with the Beta's son quite a bit..." Slight anger resides in his tone, causing me to cringe slightly.

"That's why he came to me for help. She's been cheating on him with Trave, the Beta's son." At this, his eyes soften. Most likely pitying Lucaya.

"Oh. I see." He still holds onto my arms. "I didn't realize you two were friends?"

I shrug. We really aren't, but I guess he doesn't know who else to go to. Plus, I'm someone who wouldn't tell someone else.

Maverick is an exception as he would've gone absolutely crazy, and Lucaya wouldn't live to see another day. So, naturally, I had to tell Maverick, otherwise I would have kept it to myself only.

Sighing, I gesture for him to leave the bathroom with me. Once we exit, the bell rings, indicating class is over and lunch was beginning.

"I gotta go to lunch... I'll talk with you after school?" My eyes meet his as he nods. I've never seen him so...abiding. It's strange.

"I'll pick you up by the front doors." He kisses my forehead before heading out.

I stand there in the hallway a couple moments before shaking away my thoughts and walking towards the cafeteria.

Once I grab the school lunch, which is some weird chicken patty and tater tots, I find Kaia sitting at a table furthest from most people. Smiling, I sit directly in front of her as she munches away on some carrots.

She finishes a carrot and gives me a look.

"Okay. Spill." Kaia's light blue eyes don't leave my face as she speaks up.

I shove a couple tots in my mouth, chewing quickly before I begin to explain everything that has happened.

"So, I'm not sure how to start..."

Her eyebrows raise. "Start by telling me about those nightmares."

I nod and begin describing my very strange and extremely real-like nightmares I've been having. She listens carefully, her face twisting into horror as I explain in detail.

"So Maverick is scared to mark you because of your gruesome nightmares?" Kaia scrunches her eyebrows in confusion.

"No,well—um—my nightmares are caused by this demon that may or may not be possessing over Maverick... it basically threatened us to not mark me." With this statement, Kaia's face goes ghastly white.

"What—what!! Maverick is possessed?? How?" She asks, stuttering as she did so.

After I calm her down a bit, I briefly explain the story Joy told me and how it relates to Maverick. She nods along; her face still masked with worry.

"That's why he hasn't marked me..."

It feels good to get all that off my chest. Plus, I really hate leaving my best friend in the dark as we always tell each other everything. And I mean everything.

I'm the first person she told about Dante... even before her parents.

"Hmm... I think you guys are reading way too into that nightmare. I think at least you should mark him or just both mark each other. How has your heat been?" She quirks an eyebrow at me, and I feel my cheeks flush profusely.

"Well uh it's been ..."

"Horrible. I remember my cousin waited too long, and her heat was unbearable. No wonder you're a bit crabby." She smirks slightly, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah. I'll try to talk with Maverick after school about it." Then I remember the tryouts. "When are tryouts?"

Kaia smiles before saying, "tomorrow!"

I make a mental note to remember to stay after school tomorrow for them as I nod.

Once lunch is done, I made it through the rest of the school day. My mind isn't focused on the coursework, yet I manage to take a quiz with little effort.

Packing up my backpack, I make my way out the front doors, scanning for Maverick's car. Once I find it, I walk over and get in.

Maverick is on the phone, but quickly ends it before I can make out what it is about. It's rather strange, but I decide to just brush it off.

He turns his head towards me, smiling hesitantly.

"How was school?"

It's weird to have a formal conversation with him when literally less than twenty-four hours ago he basically attacked me.

"Alright. I'm going to be trying out for the musical tomorrow after school. I promised Kaia I would since we always do it together." His smile grows as he nods along.

"You like theatre?"

"Yeah. It's a fun hobby."

It's true. Ever since my parents put me in the local theatre's production of Peter Pan when I was younger, I have loved performing. It's a secret passion of mine.

"That's great. I can't wait to see you perform." He begins driving away from the school, heading towards our packhouse.

Just as I'm about to continue on, a creature runs in front of the car.

I scream, "LOOK OUT!" just as Maverick runs right into the strange beast with red eyes and abnormal prolonged fangs.

I glance at Maverick, who mutters a word under his breath.

Dracs.

———————————————

Hey guys!

This is bit of a filler chapter, but I wanted to have a scene where I brought back characters like Kaia and Lucaya.

I felt we haven't seen much of her at school, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so!

Plus, now we know about the musical coming up, along with some drama from Lucaya and Celeste. Keep that in mind for later 😉

Also... what do you think the Dracs are? Comment your guesses and any theories you may have! :)

Please don't forget to vote and leave a couple comments!

I'll be editing later on ;)

Much love <3
~Madelyn Joy