"So tell me more about the werewolves," she spoke quietly as he started playing a quiet melody on the guitar. "Jason told me a little… but I'm still ready to explode with questions."
"Any question you want an answer to, just ask me," Lupo smiled.
"Is werewolves the only name you have? Are you immortal? What types of things besides silver can't you touch? What-"
"One question at a time, please," he frowned. "I'm sorry it's just that I'm not good at remembering too much at once."
"Sorry," she ducked her head as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"Werewolf is only a name given to us by the humans after centuries of studying our kind," he explained. "Our true name is lycanthrope, or lycan."
"And you look a lot like the ones from Underworld instead of Twilight."
"Correct," he nodded. "Though I honestly have to say it's a bit of both. We can run on two legs or four, our choice. I love my tail the most." He looked like a happy puppy at the thought of seeing his own tail. "And we're not as ugly as the ones from Underworld. As for your other questions; no, we're not immortal. We are just as mortal as you, only our bodies heal rapidly to keep us alive longer. We age just like any other person, which is why the headmaster is so old," he added in a whisper with a sneaky smile. Raven giggled.
"Have lycans always been so friendly?" she dared to ask, honestly preferring their real name. "I mean, besides Boulder, the refuges are all so nice…"
"It's because we're refuges," he grimaced. "We are nice because we are required to do so to keep the school safe. Werewolves in the wild are still killing machines. At each full moon we have no choice but to change our form and our minds become half-clouded from bloodlust. In many countries, humans are terrorized by my kind but no one believes their stories to be true, only mere myths or cries for attention. Despite the myths, my kind is very real all over the world, and there are very few lycanthropes that are like the refuges here at the school."
Raven nodded and Lupo never stopped playing the guitar, his long fingers stroking the strings ever so gently and playing just the right notes to make the blonde more intrigued by his words. "What about your weaknesses? I know you can't touch silver but I've heard so many other stories. There was one that I heard which werewolves couldn't go onto holy ground, but I've seen them in the church, so that theory can't be true…"
Lupo let out a laugh that sounded like a laughing dog from a children's television show. "There are many theories about my kind that make people believe we're weak against everything. Of course we can't touch silver, but we are also driven away by the scent of mistletoe."
"Like the perfume Elaise always wears," Raven muttered half to herself, understanding why Jake was always complaining about it. "Why is it bad? I never knew it had a smell to it."
"It very much does," he raised his eyebrows. "And it's a repellant, like garlic to vampires. There's also rye grain, mountain ash and wolfsbane."
"What's that?"
"It's a flower," the boy replied. "Though a deadly one. To werewolves, it gives off a horrid scent and makes them incredibly ill. My kind would never attack someone that carried wolfsbane with them. The flower is very rare these days however," he added, noticing Raven pondering the idea.
"That's a shame," she frowned. "If the headmaster made the humans carry the flower around then Boulder would never go near them."
"Yes, but then the refuges would all get sick from the smell and the humans would know something was up," he pointed out and reached his hand out, lightly tapping her on the nose with his finger before returning to his guitar melody.
"Okay," she nodded and rubbed her nose after warm tingles spread through her. "What about the… claiming process. One of the vampires explained it to me but I still barely understand."
At first it was as though he didn't hear her, but he let out a soft grunt to show he was simply giving thought how to put it in words she would understand. "Lycanthropes make their claims by the first kiss. Did your vampire friend tell you that?" Raven nodded. "During that time, a werewolf can drop their claim or keep it. If they choose to drop their claim, they will move onto another. If they keep the claim, they seal it through…"
"Sex," Raven said, adding the word that Lupo seemed unwilling to say.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "Also, a werewolf will never cheat; after their claim is sealed, they are bound until their partner dies. Even then they rarely find another mate. In the wild, breeding is like any other animal; mate, give offspring, raise them a little and leave. Domestic lycans, like the refuges, are fiercely protective of their mates and would never dream of leaving them for anything. Even if their mate hated them, if they made their claim, they would never leave. It is very rare for a wild werewolf to maintain this behavior. But even after breeding, another werewolf can throw off the original claim to make their own; like Kyle tried to do to Jason," he spoke very softly and Raven felt a cold shiver run up her spine from the terrifying memory. "Does this make sense to you?"
Raven nodded quickly. "It makes total sense. So, it's like wolves and dogs?"
"No," he shook his head. "Wolves are just like the refuges; they live in packs, choose a mate and stays with them, producing offspring and the entire pack helps to raise them like a giant family. Think of it more like… tigers and domestic cats. A male tiger will mate with the female and stick around for maybe a year or less to help raise the cubs until he left. Some take their leave early and if the female is still in season and another male tiger comes along, he would kill her cubs so he could mate with her."
"That's horrible," Raven frowned.
"I know," he shrugged. "As for domestic cats, they are somewhat the opposite and produce many offspring with their mate."
"Yes, but a male cat would also mate with his sister or even his mother," the blonde recoiled at the thought.
"Minus that," Lupo laughed at the face she pulled.
Raven let it register in her mind. "I don't know why you're explaining about felines when wolves are canines."
"I had no other examples," he admitted. "Was the age thing explained to you? About the puppy stage and the adult stage?"
Raven smiled. "Jason told me about that one. So pretty much, you're all still puppies."
"Yep," he grinned and his gray eyes seemed to sparkle.
"What about the vampires?" she mumbled. "What are their weaknesses and all?"
"Well as your Christian friend figured out, they can't speak of God, and quoting the Bible means they can't touch you," he smiled. "Also, they can't go out in sunlight or they burn and die, which you saw happen when Eliza was having fun. Crosses will burn them, as well as holy water. Due to their OCD, if you spill salt they will stop and count every single grain before chasing you again, giving you a chance to escape."
"Really?" Raven chewed her lip. "Not even Elaise knew that. Maybe I should tell her."
Lupo chuckled. "You can also stab them with a wooden stake."
"Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Raven smiled. "Elaise told me about it. She said I couldn't watch it because of…" she trailed off and paid attention to the boy's musical talents.
"I understand," he offered a sympathetic smile. "Another weakness is they can't go onto holy ground. If you scatter poppy seeds, it will have the same effect as salt and if you shoot them with a bullet blessed by a priest it will kill them. There's another one but you would never do it."
"What?" she asked.
"The best way to kill a vampire is to sever its head and bury it apart from its body," he told her and she shivered.
"You're right," she nodded quickly. An idea suddenly popped into her head. "If a silver bullet blessed by a priest works, why haven't you werewolves acquired an armory of guns?"
"Because the headmaster doesn't want us to fight the vampires," Lupo grumbled. "He doesn't want to risk our lives like we've already done to get here and call ourselves refuges."
"So you want to fight," the blonde guessed.
He nodded. "In the beginnin
g we detested the thought of going up against the vamps, but then Jason showed up and despite Storm's hate for him, Jason has a point. He's been trying to inspire us ever since he pulled his tail out from between his legs to rise up the ranks to alpha," Raven giggled at his comment. "Slowly it's been working, and we've all seen him fighting in his Martial Arts class. We want to fight, but the headmaster still doesn't want us to. I don't understand it; even he is sick of the vampires stealing humans, but he's not doing anything about it."
Raven hadn't even noticed he stopped playing the guitar and he looked at the ground. She took a deep breath and reached a hand over to lightly touch his arm. "Things will work out in your favor in the end," she offered. "If I may ask, how did you become a refuge?"
"My mother was a human and my father was a werewolf. They both knew I was like Dad when I was born and they were both drug dealers. They sold me to the Black Market when I was six and I grew up as a slave at a mining camp, pulling carts in my lycan form. I was treated like shit by the humans and I wanted to rip them apart, but they had a silver muzzle on me. The straps around my head were leather, but if I opened my mouth, my jaws would touch the silver," he frowned. "One night when they caged me in the silver box, floor made of wood, I watched as the humans slept and I felt the desire to kill them. Did you know a werewolf can dig a hole twenty feet deep in under ten minutes?"
"No," Raven shook her head slowly. "Is that how you got out?"
He nodded. "I broke through the bottom of the cage and dug my way out. I debated with myself and chose to leave the humans be. If I woke them up after my first kill then they would catch me again. I fled and soon found this place. I was warmly welcomed and I was able to fit in almost instantly."
Raven was impressed. Each werewolf really did have a story to explain their presence at White Grass. She was about to say something but the teacher opened the door to the music room and called for her. She quickly got up and smiled at Lupo. "Thanks for the story. I'll talk to you later, pup."
He laughed as she patted his head on her way passed. "Woof," he said mockingly and Raven dashed over to join her teacher.
She enjoyed the rest of her afternoon and didn't get angry at anyone. Her cooking class lifted her spirits even higher and she spent the hour making French crepes with Jason. As usual he made a mess of it but Raven helped him get it right. As soon as the entire class had finished their similar dishes, they all got to taste it.
Jason cut a small piece of the first crepe with a fork and held it up to Raven's mouth. She grumbled but he smiled. "You fed me the other day so open your mouth," he poked his tongue out and Raven gave in. She opened her mouth and bit down on the food he fed her. She was taken by surprise from the flavors and she smiled, snatching the fork from Jason and cutting off another piece, feeding it to him. She laughed when he bit down on the fork, purposely, and refused to let it go like a stubborn puppy. She tried to pull it from his mouth but his teeth had a good grip and were still too strong for her. She gave up and he grinned sheepishly before pulling it out of his mouth and eating the food in his mouth. She glared up at him but he sneaked a kiss and hugged her tightly around the waist.
One or the Other
It was after class by the time Jason and Raven made their way down towards Jake's dorm room. When Jason knocked on the door, Eliza answered it and let them in. Jake, Lupo, Cheveyo, Der, Lyall, Gwen, Faith, Autumn, Elena, Eliza and Elaise were already there.
"Took you's long enough!" Jake laughed, seated beside Elaise with his eyes red-rimmed.
"Are you high again?" Raven dared to ask as Der pulled Elaise onto his lap.
"Yes," he smiled and Jason scowled at him playfully.
"So you said you think you know what's been going on with Raven," Jason got straight to the point and gently took the blonde's hand as they stood in front of everyone seated on the couch. Raven dumped her bag on the ground with Jason's and chewed her lip, wondering why her temper had been acting up. Did Jake really know what the problem was?
Jake bowed his head. "Just don't take it personally okay?" Jason and Raven exchanged glances before turning back the brunette boy. "I'm taking Raven back from you."
"What?" Jason snarled and Elaise visibly flinched away. The green-eyed boy's hand tightened over Raven's and she felt her heart racing. "Don't you dare try!"
"And after I do that," Jake grinned, looking at Raven. "You, my dear, are going to be a very special present for Boulder."
Fury built up in Raven's gut as she registered his words. She took a quick step closer to Jason and growled. "If you try it I'll cram my silver necklace down your fucking throat!" She knew she didn't have it with her because she didn't want to wear it around the werewolves in case she accidentally hurt them.
Jason let go of Raven's hand and immediately shifted into werewolf-mode, his fur standing on end with his tail lashing from side to side. He crouched low and looked ready to take a bite out of Jake with his powerful jaws but Eliza jumped up and put herself between them. Raven calmed down quickly and stepped forward, putting her hand on Jason's shoulder.
"Easy, pup," Eliza said to him despite his growl. "Jake isn't being serious. He was joking."
He growled again and Raven reached forward, scratching him behind the ears. He slowly let out a soft whine and tilted his head into the scratch. Eliza stepped back and Jake seemed shocked.
"The reaction I was expecting was not as bad as this," he chuckled. "Sorry about that."
Jason sat down and Raven was suddenly taken by the waist, pulling down to the ground to sit on his lap and his human arms wrapped around her. He buried his face at the crook of her neck where it met her shoulders and she sighed, raising her hand and gently brushing her fingers through his hair to keep him calm.
"He better have been joking," Jason pouted and Raven heard a quit "humph" from him as his arms tightened around her.
"It's okay," Jake assured him. "I'm not going to do that. You don't have to be such a possessive puppy over it." Jason pouted again. "At least now I'm positive about the problem."
Jason turned his head to look at him and Raven rested her chin on the top of his head as his ear was pressed against her chest over her heart. She continued to brush his hair with her fingers and she caught Elaise's eye, seeing the look in her blue gaze that screamed "awww!"
"So what is it?" Raven grumbled to Jake. "What's wrong with me?"
"Only if you promise not to shove your necklace down my throat," Jake's hands instinctively went to his neck as if Raven had already done it. She growled at him and he sighed. "Okay, okay. It's because of Jason's blood."
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"I get it," Der nodded and Raven was confused. "It was when Miss Clarence put Jason's blood in you, Rich." She was still confused.
"What does that have to do with her temper?" Jason snorted, not understanding either.
"She has the same temper as you, dumbass," Jake scoffed. "It's because of your blood that's making her this way."
"So how do we fix that?" Jason asked.
"She has to wait it out," Faith spoke up. "Raven, when's your next menstrual cycle?"
Raven's breath caught in her throat as all eyes turned to her. "Um… I don't feel very comfortable telling you all that…"
"We'll smell it anyway," Jake waved his hand in dismissal. "Elaise's on hers."
"Thanks for sharing," Elaise hissed sarcastically and would have hit him if Der wasn't holding her in place.
"So?" Gwen looked at Raven.
"Fine," the blonde frowned. "In a few days…"
"Then I guess we have to wait and see if her temper calms down after that," Cheveyo said.
"But aren't girls more moody at that time?" Lyall pointed out and looked at Elaise.
The brunette glared at him. "Do you really want an answer?" he shook his head slowly.
"Does that mean when… that time of the month… is over, Raven will be okay again?" Jason asked, looking at everyone and waiting for an answer.
"We're hoping so," Eliza nodded. "If not then we're not sure what else could work."
"What if we asked Miss Clarence?" Elaise suggested, cuddling up to Der. "She might know what to do."
"I'll talk to her," Cheveyo offered and Jason nodded to him. "But first we need to see if her temper will stop after her menstrual cycle."
Raven felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment as they all spoke openly about a female's 'time of the month'. Werewolves could smell it and she felt awkward about it. Jason seemed to sense her feelings and he nuzzled her, cradling her within his strong arms.
"Let's just see how it goes," Autumn smiled. "We just have to try and keep Raven from losing her temper."
Silent World Page 34
