“Hey,” the blonde-haired boy said one more time from the other side, and like the last numerous times, she ignored him once more. “Hey,” he said again, this time throwing a pebble at her. It hit her directly on the forehead.
She let out an exasperated breath and finally looked up from the book she was reading. She’d stolen it from her father’s study. It was something about the first generation of werewolves and how they'd come to be.
It wasn't a book she was meant to be reading but she found it interesting nonetheless, and it was the best she could get from her father’s study, everything else was utterly boring. Being able to string words together faster than any of her sisters, she found a strong pull to read any and everything she could lay her hands on these days, but there were just some things she shouldn't be caught reading which was why while everyone else was occupied with something else, she had escaped from the watchful eyes of their keeper and stolen to the woods for its complete silence, what she didn't sign up for was the blonde-haired boy being here.
He was the oldest of the two boys from the Dark Wood Pack and from what Edith had said, the future Alpha but right now, he was acting like the biggest baby she’d ever come across and everyone thought Marilyn was childish.“Would you leave me be?” she snapped, finally looking up at him.
He watched her with a cool expression that a boy his age shouldn't have. “Well, what's your name?”
“It’s none of your business and stop bothering me!”
With that, she returned her eyes to the book on her thighs when a pebble landed on her once more, she shut her eyes and let out an exasperated breath.
“What’s your name?” he asked again.
“Sophia,” she said before flinging the pebble that laid on her book aside.
“How come I’ve never seen you?“
She shut the book angrily and glared at him. “Why should I care? And that isn't any of your business either so would you please let me be?”
He grinned at her showing off his teeth she found to be perfect for a boy his age. He walked up to her and in front of her, he reached out a hand. “I’m Everett.”
She stared down at his outstretched hand with her nose crinkled. “Your hands are dirty,”
He paused for a while before letting out a laugh she thought to be once more too beautiful.
“And you laugh like a girl,” she added.
Somehow, he found it even funnier so his laugh increased. She stared at him like he was stupid. How could he be the future Alpha when he spoke to just anyone? Her sister, Sephora, only spoke to the people she needed to, and other than the rest of her siblings, she was friends with only people she’d known for most of her life and didn't mingle with anyone. At least, Sephora wouldn't be caught in the woods with sullied hands speaking to a stranger.
“You’re funny. What's that?” He nodded at the book on her thighs with a thick black hardcover. “And don't say it's none of my business.”
She eyed him momentarily before struggling, her slender shoulders lifting. “Something about our species and evolution over the years.”
Fascination swam in his eyes. “And what have you learned so far?”
“Ah well, you see, there seem to be species who share some similarities with us and we only came to be because one of them had gotten angry and used their magical powers. Lycaon was turned into a wolf by a powerful god when he and his sons tried and failed to play a cruel trick on the god and so were thrown out of his community to run wild in the woods.”His forehead furrowed. “Well, that can't be true.”
“What part?”
“The gods and other species, I doubt they are and if so, there's not been any recorded sighting of species similar to us.”
Sophia puckered her lips and said stubbornly. “Well, I think they are because this book said so.“
“Anyone could write a book of lies.”
She released a gasp, hugging the book in her chest protectively as though preventing it from hearing the harshness of Everett’s words. “My sisters think your brother is a better-behaved boy and much more handsome!” she snapped once more. It was her fault for indulging him in the start and although her last words were a lie — it was the other way around actually — she didn't care. He deserved it.
Alexander, the younger boy, was every bit weird. He seemed arrogant and she’d heard him yell at his keeper and called the poor woman names that had almost had her intervening but Edith had been explicit in telling them to stay away from trouble and especially in association with both boys.
Everett wasn't fazed. “You didn't seem like a liar to me, maybe I was wrong.”
“That should explain why I'm reading a book of lies, shouldn’t it?”
“Are you mad about that? It’s just a book and" —he shrugged— “sometimes books speak distorted truths.”
“Not this time and you aren't as smart as you claim.”
He smiled. “I never claimed to be smart.”
“You can have the woods to yourself, Everett. Thank you for ruining my reading time.” She made to walk away and paused when he began walking next to her. “What are you doing?”
“Heading back with you.”
Sophia glanced around. “You can't do that.” Edith had especially warned them to steer clear of Everett but that hadn’t been hard because he was a quiet boy and even though he’d been thought fascinating by her sisters, they all never spoke to him.
She couldn't possibly be caught coming out of the woods with him; she shouldn't even be caught in the woods with a stolen book and with the future Alpha of the Dark Wood Pack.“You can't do that. I need as little attention on myself as possible.”
He glanced from her and to the book she held tightly to her chest. “You shouldn’t be here, should you?”
“No,”
“And you shouldn't be reading that either?”He was too smart for his own good.
“Since you have that figured out, stay back,” she warned, pointing a finger at him.
He took a step back, his hands folded behind his back. He really was an Alpha. “Only if you promise to show me around, it gets boring sitting in that old house all day and seeing as we’re friends now.”
“I’m not your friend, and that old house is my home and if you get so bored then maybe you should return to your pack!”
He began to smile again just as they heard a rustle in the bushes surrounding them. Sophia snapped her head towards the noise, panic swelling in her throat.She needed to be out of here as fast as possible. Everett looked around him, an indistinguishable look on his face. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her behind him, his eyes darting around.
“Let go,” she said, struggling from his hold. The fear of being caught in the woods and with this book sending her stomach into a tumult of emotions.Her fight immediately died down when three men appeared from the canopy of the wildernesses that surrounded them.
Sophia had never seen the men before, but something in the way their eyes raked over Everett told her of the impending danger.
“Run!” she whispered in a voice shaken by fear before taking to her heels, pulling him along.