Spirit Tales (The Millennium Wolves AU)
Chapter Thirteen

Sheer power spread through my veins, my blood. Tempest let out a low laugh, and I found myself beginning to walk toward their table, my gaze focused on Apollo. I didn’t hear anything. I was too busy listening to the power and energy inside me rising to the surface, swallowing my whole.

Before I even knew what I was doing, my hand shot forward and grabbed the collar of Apollo’s shirt, pulling him toward me. “You will not call me nothing,” my voice was quiet, chorusing, because it was also Tempest who was talking. “And you won’t dare call me anything else.”

Apollo’s face still wore that smug, twisted smirk, and I felt myself growing colder. At once, the power I felt in my body burst out of me so strongly, I almost fell down to my knees.

Terribly wind blowed in the hall, rising and growing stronger, thickening into a hurricane in the middle of the building. Everything was shaking. People screamed, trying to replace shelter or escape, but the entrance doors were slammed shut and locked. The windows shattered, and from outside entered a downpour while thunders and lightnings shook the sky and earth.

And even though Apollo kept on smirking, his eyes showed what he truly thought, and a satisfied smile spread upon my face. Because for one, he seemed distressed.

He deserves it, Tempest roared in glee. He deserves it! He deserves it! Ruin everything! Chaos and Calamity, come! Make them feel the disasters I can make!

A splinter of thought went through my head, telling me to stop, that even though it was oh-so-satisfying, it wasn’t right, but Tempest’s rage and my own fury made that thought disperse, and instead kept on bringing storms.

A big, warm hand grabbed the nape of my neck. Tempest growled angrily, and to my surprise a voice entered my thoughts, slicing through everything. Stop it, Angel, the low, raspy voice said. Don’t let her influence you like this. Let me handle everything.

And at once, the noise, the earthshakes, the storms - everything - stopped. My eyes, which up until this moment were locked on Apollo’s stressed face, glanced aside, while my hand left Apollo’s shirt and let him put a safe distance between us. The mess and chaos I saw around me was great; the tables were sprawled all over, cracks showed in the walls, the ceiling and the floor, the glass shards of the windows were splattered everywhere, and everything was wet…

At that moment I realized, more than ever before, that I did it. That I was the cause of it. And all with a single thought, joined by my letting go of my emotions and giving the will power to Tempest.

The hand on the nape of my neck pulled me backward to a strong, hard chest. A shiver went through me when the hand squeezed my skin, making my head fall back and my eyes to see the Alpha of the Millennium behind me, staring down at me from his great height with his bright red eyes. My heart skipped a beat when I saw again how beautiful he was, with his slightly slanted eyes, his straight nose, his lush lips, his high cheekbones…

He looked away from me, raising his head, and gave a complete Alpha stare to the rest of the wolves in the hall. “If any of you ever picks on Angela Wayne again, I’ll make sure they suffer severe consequences,” he said in a lethally quiet voice that echoed in the silence room. “I will not tolerate such behavior, not on my watch. Am I clear?”

The wolves murmured, but the Alpha wasn’t satisfied. “Am I clear?” he repeated, his voice stronger and harsher.

“Yes, Alpha,” everyone chorused.

Fred nodded and took his hand off me. The absence of his touch was too powerful, and I tried not to fall over as I ignored the longing I felt for his hand to be back on my skin.

Then I cursed myself for the lack of control I showed tonight.

It’s not your fault, Tempest snarled. It’s theirs. They should be ashamed of themselves. A bunch of stupid, disgusting people. All of them.

But the Alpha -

Fred understood it was their fault! Tempest cut me over. So don’t even think for for a moment that any of this is your fault!

I chose to leave it at that, and turned around to say something to Fred - anything, really - when I saw him already at the doors, now unlocked, and making his way outside. Meanwhile, the wolves started cleaning up the room with grim faces, glancing at me with hatred. I ignored them and left the room.

When I got back to my new room, I quickly got ready for sleep and went to bed before any of the guys arrived. But only two did; Strider and Apollo.

Fred didn’t return the whole night.

The next day, I went back to school.

To be honest, what was left of my excitement to go back to my normal routine dissipated entirely when I saw everyone was staring at me. Again. Only this time it was worse; when I went through the hallways, all conversations died down, and everyone turned to look at me, as though I was some alien. I tried to ignored it as much as possible, but it was hard. Never in my life it’d been like this - werewolves actually looking at me, and not through me - and I prayed for them to stop.

I reached my Biology class early and sat in my usual seat at Charlotte and my table, even though I didn’t want to, but changing my seat was beyond me now. I need normalcy, even if it meant sitting next to Charlotte after what she’d said to me last night. Thankfully, the class was still empty, and it gave me some peace. I took out my Biology notebook with a pencil and started doodling. I wasn’t an artist, but the act helped calm me down and think clearly.

The only artistic thing I’d ever actually liked was dancing, but because the werewolves back at the orphanage I grew up in were so much better than me, my self-consciousness prevented me from continue dancing.

When the bell went off, the class started filling up. People glanced at me, but I pretended to be busy with my doodling and ignored them. When Charlotte entered the class, though, I turned to look at her with a sliver of hope that she would still sit next to me even after last night, but to my dismay I saw she took a seat on the other end of the classroom, as far away from me as she could. The wolf who always sat there by himself stared at her with disgust. Even though I didn’t blame him, I still felt a little irritated - so what if Charlotte wasn’t beautiful? So what if she was only human? She was still a living, breathing person.

But my irritation was replaced by sadness when Charlotte didn’t even look my way. She really erased me from her life, then. That thought made me lower my gaze and resume my doodling.

When gasps filled the room I raised my head and saw Strider entering the class. I didn’t see him this morning when I left the room because he’d already left for his morning training as part of him being a Guard in the Millennium Force - if this was his current title, because after I saw him with the Alpha, I was beginning to doubt it - but now, when I saw him, he seemed as fresh as if he’d just woken up. His blonde hair was still wet from the shower he had just taken, his blue eyes were bright, his tall, muscular body was in jeans and a blue tee that showed each and every square of his abs. From the corner of my eye I saw Charlotte staring at him with such a desperate yielding, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her and for the fact God hadn’t blessed her with beauty.

Strider greeted everyone with his usual smile and laughter and then looked at me. I immediately glanced away, but I could see him walking toward me. I tensed, Tempest growling as though preparing for war, and to my - and the entire class’s - shock, he took the seat next to me, plopping his bag beneath the table. “Don’t take it personal,” he murmured so only I could hear, “I need to sit next to you. If it was up to me, I would’ve sat next to my friends.”

I let it sink, and then murmured back, “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to study Physics and Electricity or something?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Keeping tabs on me?” he smirked. “I had no idea you also have a crush on me, Wayne. How long have you been feeling this unrequited love? A week? A month?”

I glanced at him unimpressed. “I would’ve slapped you, but I don’t want to be contaminated.”

Strider’s smile widened. “Aw, that’s just evil, Wayne,” he drawled, “but it’s all right. I understand. You also can’t handle my charm, and this is why you’re being all fussy. You should know, it worked for some girls, and they’re now on my to-do list.”

Don’t you dare blushing! Tempest cried out in desperation as I felt my cheeks tingling. “Go fuck yourself, Luxford,” I bit out and turned to look back at my notebook, quite shocked. Since when I could stand my ground? Where was little Angela Wayne, who hid her short temper?

Well, she existed no more, not now that Tempest was inside me. “Why are you even here?” I asked as the teacher entered the class.

He shrugged. “To keep an eye on you, what else?” he said slowly, as though I was stupid.

I sent him a venomous look. “I was just asking. Why do you have to be such an bastard?”

His eyes lost their warmth then. “Don’t you ever call me like that,” he said warningly. His expression was no longer warm and happy; instead he was a different Strider. Cold. Distant. Angry. “Not even as a joke.”

I found myself staring at him in some kind of wonder. Strider returned my stare, his sea-blue eyes locked on mine. After a few moments, he looked away and to the teacher, smiling freshly as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

And I realized something at that moment. There was more than one facade to Strider Luxford than meets the eye, and maybe - just maybe - he wasn’t the condescending, arrogant asshole he showed the world he was.