The following day, in spite of the horrible situation they had experienced the previous afternoon, the two friends returned to the class routine. They had no choice. Exams were just around the corner and they had to study hard if they wanted to pass. Because of what happened with Lola and her cat, they hadn't been able to do as much as they would have liked. About fifteen minutes after finding Kissy, which was about the time it took Dave to regain his human form and get dressed, the two girls met up with him and took the cat to the vet.
After a thorough examination, the vet determined that Kissy only had a minor injury on her throat caused by the wire which, fortunately, had closed on the collar and not directly on her neck. She was sent home with anti-inflammatory pills and with a tearful Lola who was very relieved that her cat was okay. Dave and Sofia, that was a different story as they were both pretty pissed off with Rodrigo and his obsession, especially the boy, who had to walk out of the clinic when he found himself unable to keep control of his appearance.
That morning, when they saw Rodrigo enter the classroom, they both couldn't help but glare at him, and Sofia would have eagerly growled if she had been able to. Had it not been for the trouble she would have gotten herself into, the girl was sure she would have punched him in the face right then and there.
That recess was going to be a little longer than usual because one of the teachers had not been able to come for whatever reason the students didn’t really care about. Instead of the twenty-five minutes they usually had, they ended having almost an hour and a half, so Sofia, Dave and Sara went to their quiet place to study. By now everyone knew about it. Their classmates, thinking they were looking for a secluded place to make out, had tried to catch them a few times, and in each one of them they ended learning something more about physics or community law. Eventually they gave up, although every now and then a student would join them to review, so that place had become known as the Physics Corner.
Spring had brought a lovely weather, with pleasant temperatures that were a far cry from the sweltering heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter. The three friends were sitting on large, rectangular boulders that served as makeshift benches, just under a tree whose leaves were beginning to sprout. Dave had his physics notebook on his lap and Sofia, who was right next to him, was leaning over it, fully focused on the explanation.
“We add this here, and then divide it by this and this should be the result. Get it?”
“Yes, when you explain it to me I understand it. The problem is that in the exam I get nervous.” Dave looked away a bit and licked his lips.
“Hey...” Sofia grabbed his hand. “Don't worry, you're doing fine. The Stuck-up's exams are hard, but you can handle them.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”
Dave twisted his lips into a weak smile and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He then huffed and tried to solve the problem on his own.
“Be careful here. Remember that you have to divide by the value of this variable, not this one,” said Sofia as she gestured to a point in the notebook.
“Yes, this way?” asked Dave as he wrote some numbers on the paper in his neat handwriting.
“Yes, that's right.”
Smiling, they exchanged a brief glance. They were so close to each other that Sofia could smell his scent, that familiar masculine musk mixed with the aroma of wild pines. However, they were just friends, and this meant nothing. It meant nothing, yet every time he smiled, she became someone else. She was no longer the ex-huntress of supernatural beings, but simply Sofia, a girl who had just turned eighteen, who was studying to become a civil guard and who had two great friends to rely on.
“I'm going to try to do this one on my own,” said Dave, returning his attention to his notebook.
“Okay, how are you doing, Sara?” Sofia approached her friend to take a look at her exercises, and what she found was a chaotic, scribbled sheet of paper.
“Do you know if there are any monasteries nearby where saints show up? Preferably a saint who doesn't want to burn witches, of course. I'm thinking of making a pilgrimage to beg him to help me pass this fucking exam,” said the girl, laughing heartily.
“Do you need help?”
“Nah, you help David, he needs it more than I do. I'm a hopeless case.” Sara made a hand gesture to downplay the issue.
“Don't be silly. You're smarter than you think.” Sofia kneeled down beside her so she could glance at her notebook.
“Mate, you know my future is to use these big muscles to earn a living carrying boxes or bricks or something, right?” said the girl, flexing her arm.
“You've got it right, but be careful on this step. I can see from the scratches that you're not very sure how it is done, and it’s like this.” Sofia grabbed her pen and wrote down the correct way to solve the equation.
“They should pay you for teaching the class.” Sara tapped her shoulder so hard that the affectionate pat stung.
As the girl returned to her exercises, Sofia looked up at her other friend. Dave was hunched over the notebook on his lap with an expression of concentration on his face. While he studied, he nibbled absentmindedly on the cap of his pen. He was also twitching his leg a little nervously, a stereotypy that he only had when he remained still for too long during a specific time of the month. The boy let out a small huff and put his hands to his head. He then stretched his back and rubbed his lumbar region, which was probably already feeling the strain of sitting on that hard rock for so long. Again he returned to his exercises, without even noticing the girl who was looking at him with interest.
It was the full moon, she knew that by now. Sofia had spent the last two years fleeing into the woods before the moon rose fearing she would change. However, ever since she discovered the secret her friend was hiding, she had been looking forward to those nights. A soft warmth, very much matching the smile that had appeared on her lips, spread across her belly. He had shown her his world, shown her another side of his nature and the worst part was that she loved it. She loved following tracks with him, running through the forest, playing among the trees and howling together. It had been so long since she had felt so happy.
“Out of all the boys at school, I had to fall for the weredog. And all I wanted was a normal life...” Sofia twisted her lips in a small smile and shook her head.
“Tell him,” said a voice so unexpected that it snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Huh?” Sofia turned towards Sara and stared at her in horror. She didn't think she'd spoken loud enough for her to hear.
“Stop looking at him so much and tell him. You like him, don't you? Then grow some balls and tell him,” she said, and winked.
“No fucking way! And don't you dare tell him anything.” She gave her a withering look of warning that surely was quite comical given the blush on her cheeks.
“You’re such a wimp! What's the worst that can happen? That he'd say no?”
“Precisely,” she said as she stood up to return to Dave’s side. “How's it going? Do you have any question?” she asked him as she reached his side. When she leaned over him to glance at the notebook, his pleasant scent flooded her nose.
“I think I'm getting the hang of this, but about these other problems I'm not so sure.” The boy pointed at the equations with the pen, apparently oblivious to the conversation Sofia and Sara had just had. ‘It's better this way’.
“Let me see.” Sofia sat back down next to him and eyed the exercises. “Okay, it's this. Look, it's not that hard. What you have to do...”
“Hi! I thought you'd be here. I brought you some refreshments from the cafeteria. It occurred to me that with this heat and so much studying you could use something cool,” said Lola as she arrived with some cans of Coca-Cola which she distributed among the three friends.
Sofia and Lola exchanged a quick glance as she handed her the can of soda, and the girl offered a reassuring smile. She knew her secret and would keep it, it was the least she could do considering it was exposed when Sofia gave her cat the kiss of life to save her. Sofia doubted they would ever be friends, and she would probably never stop thinking she was a brat, but discovering that they felt the same affection for their pets had made her develop a certain sympathy towards her.
“Thank you, Lola. How's Kissy?” asked Dave when the girl handed him his can of soda he accepted graciously.
“Much better, thanks for your help. If we hadn't found her in time...” Lola clicked her tongue and shook her head, though her whole body seemed to shake with a shiver that came from within.
“I didn't do anything. I just walked around my side of the forest without seeing any tracks. Sofia was the one who actually found Kissy.” Dave shrugged and exchanged a knowing glance with Sofia.
“I had plenty of help, you know it. If the dog hadn't led me to the cat, I would never have found her.” Sofia gave him a playful nudge with her arm.
“But you saved her life. Kissy might not have survived if it weren't for what you did, and you know I’m right,” he insisted.
“Don't they see it?” Lola asked Sara.
“Oh, yes, of course they do. The problem is that they are both stubborn as hell,” answered Sara, shrugging.
“See what?” Dave looked at them puzzled and tilted his head to one side.
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“Well, he doesn’t see it” added Sara with a shrug.
Sofia didn't need to be told what they meant. Blushing, she glanced sideways at Dave, who had his head tilted to one side in a genuine expression of confusion. It was true that Sofia had admitted that she liked him, but she really wished they would stop playing matchmaker with them. Dave had become a very good friend, he treated her well and he was someone she could trust, but he didn’t feel the same way about her. Sofia didn't mind but she wasn’t going to deny that it was a bit painful. That's why Sofia didn't want to tell him. Not only would the more than obvious rejection hurt her, but it would also jeopardize their friendship and she didn't want to lose the good vibes they had. She would rather have him as a friend than not have him at all.
“Rodrigo, leave me the fuck alone already! You're obsessed, dammit!” Luis' voice exclaimed from behind the hedge wall.
“You have to come with me tonight. I swear that creature is a werewolf. He broke free from a foothold trap all by himself, and yesterday he dismantled a snare. What normal animal does that?” said Rodrigo, who was chasing his friend because, from the looks of it, he wanted them to stop being friends.
Sofia couldn't take it anymore. Maybe it was the incipient full moon, which was already beginning to tug at her energy and kept her awake at night. Maybe it was the fact of seeing Lola getting pissed off while her eyes filled with tears. Maybe it was because her fine hearing picked up the muffled growl that rumbled in the throat of the boy sitting next to her. Maybe she was simply fed up with this ridiculous persecution of a cinanthrope who had only eaten a damn lamb months ago.
The reasons didn’t matter. The only important thing was what she did when she heard those words. To everyone’s surprise, Sofia stood up and jumped over the hedges to face Rodrigo. Lola, the always demure Lola, joined her with identical rage.
“Sofia?” Dave threw his notebook to the ground and both him and Sara went after their friend.
“You're a real asshole, Rodrigo! The only thing that fell into your fucking trap was Lola's cat, and she almost died because of you!” Sofia walked towards him with such a fiery rage that the boy was taken completely by surprise.
The energy in her chest churned, fueled by her own emotions. The barrier that contained it held it in place, but she felt the pressure inside her increase as it refused to yield to a wave that wanted to break free and flow through her body. That the moon would be full that very night was not helping.
“Lola's cat? What was Lola's cat doing in the woods?”
“What the fuck do you care? This has gone too far. Stop-fucking-filling-the-forest-with-shit,” she roared, fighting with all her might to control the urge to growl, to show her fangs, to behave like the pissed-off she-wolf that she really was.
“What are you going to do if I don't? Are you going to report me?” said the boy, puffing out his chest which only fueled Sofia’s rage.
“I'm going to break your face, you clown!” Sofia closed her fist and pulled her arm back.
“I think that's enough.”
Before Sofia could unload her fist on Rodrigo's face, Dave came up from behind her and restrained her. One of his arms went around her waist while his other hand closed around her wrist. Although she was furious, as she felt the warmth of his chest against her back, another kind of fire replaced that of rage and Sofia blushed. It wasn't just because of the feel of his body against hers, but because she instinctively knew that there was only one situation in which a male cinanthrope's chest would be on a female's back. They were both in human form and so it didn't apply, let alone upright on two legs, but her nature was being powerfully evocative, and all because it was him.
“Let go of me...” Sofia struggled against the embrace, though not too vigorously.
“Not until you calm down. You're of legal age. If you fight with him and end up in the police station, you could end up with a police record, and then forget about joining the Civil Guard,” he said against her neck. His warm breath tickled her skin and sent a shiver down her spine, which was just what she needed.
It did help her to cool down a little, though, just enough to loosen her fist and look away. The rage was still there, but so was the body of the boy she liked leaning against her back. Worse, she could feel his chest heaving as he breathed, and it wasn't a relaxed breath.
“More relaxed?” Dave asked against her ear.
Sofia nodded, and when he released her, she stepped away from him as if he burned. Considering how hot her skin felt in the places where he had touched her, she wasn’t that far off from the truth. When she glanced sideways at him she saw that his cheeks had also turned pink and he was avoiding looking directly at her. It was obvious, he was a cinanthrope too so his own instinctive nature had to have been just as evocative. That thought made her blush even more, and the rage that fueled the energy in her chest subsided completely.
“I'm not going to be a cop or anything.” Lola approached Rodrigo to slap him across the face with a resounding smack. “This one's for Kissy!” She slapped him again on the other cheek, “And this one is for me and for the hard time you gave me yesterday!”
Rodrigo was so surprised by the girl's attitude that all he could do was touch his sore cheek while he looked at Lola as if she was a specter. As he overcame the initial shock, he turned white with rage, clenched his fists and glared at the girl. Tension increased so much that Sara, Sofia and Dave all got ready in case they had to intervene.
“I'm going to hunt that werewolf and I'm going to show it to all of you. Then you're going to go down on your knees and apologize!” He shook a trembling finger at the four friends.
Then he turned and stormed away with wide strides. Luis turned to Lola, clasped both hands together and made a sort of bow.
“I'm so sorry about your cat. Rodri has been obsessed with that dog for months and I can't get him to listen to reason. I promise you that if I see snares when I go hunting, I will remove them myself,” said Luis before he went after his friend.
When they had left, the four of them allowed themselves to breathe. If Sofia was honest with herself, she didn't feel like fighting or arguing with anyone anymore. She was still flushed, her cheeks reddened and a pleasant warmth welling up in her belly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Dave was as flushed as she was. The skin on his face was so red that the blush had reached his ears, and he kept sniffing the air to his right less discreetly than he should. ‘Idiot... How could you even think of doing that when we are what we are?’.
“There's something he said that... What's the matter with you two now?” asked Lola as she turned to the three friends.
“Nothing...” they both mumbled at the same time, looking away and blushing even harder.
It was then that Sofia realized that Sara had covered her mouth with her hand, and seemed to be trying not to breathe, but the way her shoulders were shaking gave her away. She was laughing at them.
“Well, whatever. I mean, listen to me, this kid is not right in the head but something he said is true. When we found Kissy someone had removed the wire from her, but the only one who knew where she was was that white dog. Don't you think it's strange?”
Sofia bit her lip and glanced sideways at her friend. Their gazes met for a second, but Dave licked his lips and turned his head to sniff the air to his right. She noticed that his breathing was more erratic, more nervous, and he had one hand resting on his chest. The slight tremor she could see on it worried her a bit, though so far he had always kept the change more or less under control. Apparently, he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to because he clenched his jaw to hold back a moan and darted away.
“Dave!”
“What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?” Lola commented.
“No, don't worry. You stay here, I'll go check up on him,” said Sofia as she ran after him.
She caught up with him at the back of the building. He was leaning against the red brick wall, breathing heavily. The hand that was resting on his chest was shaking even more than before, and there was a pained expression on his face. Sofia reached over and caressed his bare arm. Through the skin she could feel the muscle throbbing. The effort he was making to maintain his human appearance was brutal.
“It's my fault. I've been laying false trails near the road so Rodrigo wouldn't go deeper into the forest. That's why he set the traps so close to where Lola walks her cat. God!” He gritted his teeth and shrank in on himself as a twinge of pain jolted him. His fangs were visibly larger.
“It's not your fault. It's that wretch, who has become obsessed with you. It's not your fault he followed you deeper into the woods and won't leave you alone,” Sofia said.
“Now that he knows what I am, it's going to be worse. He won't stop until he kills me.” Dave curled his lip and let out a deep growl.
“We'll figure out a way to—”
“No,” he cut her off, his voice deep due to the growl that seeped into it. “This has gone far enough. He wants a werewolf, he's going to get a werewolf.”
“What are you going to do?” Sofia asked with a marked tremor in her voice.
“What I should have done a long time ago; chase him out of the forest once and for all. Tonight the moon will be full, he'll come looking for me, and I'll show him who owns that territory,” he said, standing as tall as he was.
“Have you gone mad?” Sofia stared at him in horror.
“What choice do you think I have? He almost killed you and I fell into one of his traps, besides also having the pleasure of feeling the impact of his rifle on my leg. This time it was Lola's cat but it could have been anyone. He's a psychopath and a gunman who shoots without looking, and if I don't do something, he's going to end up killing someone. I've got to chase him out of the woods,” he said with his eyes locked on hers in a look of determination
“I'm not going to let you do that!” Sofia exclaimed, holding his gaze. “If you show yourself to a human, if you hurt him or do anything at all, if there's the slightest suspicion that you're a potential danger, you'll be a prime target. The least of your problems will be a gunman like Rodrigo.”
"God! For once stay out of my territory. This is something I've got to take care of myself.”
“I'm not going to let them kill you! Don't you understand?”
Driven by her own instincts, Sofia raised her shoulders, stared into his eyes and bared her little fangs. A growl, more insecure than actually hostile, rumbled in her throat. In response, the boy held her gaze, tensed his body and bared his own fangs, much larger and more imposing than the little pointed teeth she was showing. The growl he let out sounded deep and hoarse, a real warning growl that showed not a hint of insecurity.
Sofia found it hard to hold those intense, steady eyes, because what was before her was no pup, it was an adult male who was more experienced than she was. However, she drew the necessary integrity out of the fear she had of losing him. It wasn't a show of strength, it was a matter of protecting him, and not just from idiots like Rodrigo, but also from monsters like her mother.
“You're not a cinanthrope, you've never changed. For all intents and purposes, you're human.” Dave turned away from her to walk towards the fence that separated the car park from the courtyard.
“What? That's not fair!” Sofia exclaimed, feeling hurt.
“Stop stupidly endangering yourself for something you don't even understand,” he said, not even deigning to look her in the face.
In one swift leap, the boy jumped over the fence and ran to his motorcycle. Sofia, her blood burning with rage, peered through the red-painted iron bars and glared at her friend. Dave had already put on his helmet and was astride his motorcycle. The vehicle's engine started with a roar.
“You're a bastard, you hear me?” she shouted, trying to make her voice louder than the clamor of the motorcycle.
He heard her. She knew because she saw him duck his head slightly, and she also noticed the effort he was making not to turn towards her, but that was not enough to stop him. He tightened his fist around the throttle and the motorcycle hurtled forward out of the school grounds. Its sound faded into the distance.
“Shit!” Sofia hit the fence and hurt herself, but the wounds on her hand closed almost immediately. “I don't care what you say, I'm not going to let you get killed for being an idiot.”
She knew what she had to do, and the very thought of it sickened her but she didn't have a choice. Either she did that, or her best friend was going to do something stupid and her own mother would hunt him down.