VANESSA

"She looks like she swallowed a whale," someone said, and loud laughter erupted around me. I was already on the ground, legs crumpled like a piece of wood from how hard I had been pushed. A crowd had gathered, laughing loudly.

"Why not stand on your feet and fight back," another student said, mocking. "She needs food for that." Another round of laughter. The sides of my eyes tingled with the hot sting of forming tears.

This was the worst humiliation of my life. My first day, and the worst one. I looked up, blinking rapidly, trying to save myself from the tears that were coming.

"No signs of weakness, Vanessa," I mumbled under wet eyes. I planted my hands into the ground, finding an anchor, then my legs moved next, then my waist, pulling myself up.

"Look, the whale is trying to get to her feet. Let's give her some encouragement." They clapped and cheered loudly as I took one step after the other, trying to find my balance. "You can do this, fatso," someone mocked.

Now that I had gained my balance, I sniffled, holding it all back. I picked up my backpack and walked away, with my head between my shoulders.

My shoulder slugged from being heavily stuffed with food, packed snacks, a can of soda, some sandwiches, and a packed lunch.

I took a short break, hands pressed to my chest, taking in deep breaths like my life depended on it. I wiped off a pool of sweat on my forehead. And kept moving.

When I applied for admission into college, I never expected I'd be caught in a dilemma like this. Stormville University has always been my dream school. Whenever the ad for it came on screen, my face would light up in excitement.

Then, a week ago, I secured a scholarship into this university of my dreams. My hands were literally trembling when I got the email.

But today being my first day I noticed that things were better from the outside than they were on the inside. I discovered that Stormville was a werewolf-only university when I witnessed a student shift into a black wolf right at the back of class.

My blood ran cold. When I tried to escape being seen, they caught up to me and demanded to know why I had spied on them.

They forced me to shift shape too, and when they discovered I couldn't, they called me feral. Another called me cursed. Defective. But the truth was, I was human, and I had just discovered a secret that could kill me.

I walked across the quad, avoiding lurking eyes, taking off twigs, grasses that had stuck to my hair, eyes gawking at me. Snarls and growls came like mockery, but I kept moving, head down, staring at my shoes.

"Fatso," a female student called out. I later learned her name was Brenda. She was tall, thin, flat-stomached, with a face card I could never have. From a small crowd of students sitting under an umbrella tree along the east wing of the quad, loud laughter erupted.

I simply rolled my eyes and walked away. I could never let anyone find out about my secret. So I took it all. The insults, the abuse, all of it.

"Just a few more steps to the office, Vanessa. You can do this," I said between struggling breaths. Just as I reached the pavement, I held onto a pillar, pulling my knees upward to climb onto it. When you're plus-sized, a mile always feels like a hundred.

The hallway was quiet and empty, like someone had sounded an alarm to clear it out. I kept moving, the ground quaking beneath my steps.

As I reached the office floor, I searched the doors for name plates. One held the name Dr. Abeight. Another read Professor Willtooth. I kept searching.

Then I noticed a man stepping out of an office ahead. I couldn't see his face because he was walking away with hurried steps, but I noticed his shoulder-length blond hair, his broad shoulders, his fit, powerful frame. His stride was ethereal, almost like royalty. He was so tall I half expected his head to brush the doorframe.

I quickened my pace, trying to get a better look at him, but his steps outpaced mine. "Hello?" I called out, hurrying to catch up.

"Hello... ethereal being?"

No response.

His frame grew smaller and disappeared from sight.

I'd lost him.

I was halfway down the hallway, so I turned back, breathing hard from the little effort it had taken. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, knees weak.

Then my eyes caught a worn office door bearing the name I'd been searching for. The nameplate read Professor Tom Lawrence. The same office the ethereal stranger had stepped out of.

I snapped my fingers. Perfect.

I adjusted my shirt and went for it.

Knock knock knock.

No response. I knocked more than seven times, and still nothing. So I turned the knob slowly and pushed the door open. It creaked, the sound echoing through the space.

"Hello, Professor Tom... mind if I come in?" I called, eyes raised.

"My name is Vanessa Dodge, a new student, and I really need to speak with you."

Still silent.

So I pushed the door open further.

"Ahhhh!" I yelled, hands flying to my mouth in shock. My backpack slipped off my shoulder without resistance, my heart pounding at what lay before me.

A man in his mid-sixties, salt-and-pepper hair, was dangling from the ceiling, feet and legs stiff with rigor mortis.

Blood pooled beneath him. I could hear my own heartbeat, loud and shaking in my ribs. My hands trembled. "Oh my god," I yelled, my voice cracking. I didn't realize I was backing away until I bumped into something and fell hard, face hitting the floor.

"Helllllppppp!"

VANESSA

I felt a hand pull me up off the ground and help me sit comfortably outside the office. Footsteps approached loudly against the floor. A team that looked like police officers swarmed in hastily and put up a barricade and yellow tape that read "Do Not Cross."

A small crowd had begun to form now: a couple of lecturers, a white-haired man I later learned was the dean of the university, and other students. All of them stood on the other side of the barricade.

My eyes were soaked in tears I hadn't realized had pooled over my face. My gaze stayed fixed in one direction, and yet I still couldn't process what I was seeing. My bones were in shock, my legs too heavy to move.

"Are you okay, miss?" a voice called to me. My head tilted slowly, eyes steady like a dummy's. "Are you alright?" he repeated. It was a police officer, fully dressed, holding his gun and a flashlight in the side pocket of his uniform. "We need help here," he yelled, snapping his fingers in a direction.

"Young lady, teenager, seems to be in shock. Send help," he said, then his radio clicked.

Soon a number of people approached me, helping me to my feet. They tried to lift me, but I didn't move at all. Then they helped me walk slowly toward a van. They pulled a blanket over me, like I'd seen in those crime scene movies.

They gave me a bottle of water. After a few minutes, someone walked up to me with a notebook and a pen. "I'm so sorry you had to witness that, love. I'll need you to answer some questions," a female voice said. An officer, tall and stern.

She asked a couple of questions, repeating each one twice. I answered none of them, eyes clouded. "It's fine if you don't want to say anything," she finally said, with a heavy exhale.

She snapped her fingers toward the distance, and another officer ran up to her. They talked. Just then, before my eyes, I caught a glimpse of a man walking closer in the distance. His frame matched exactly that of the ethereal stranger. My breath caught, my chest suddenly tightening.

His eyes were blue like the sea, his blond hair dangling over his shoulders, just as ethereal as I had suspected. But something about him seemed off. Eerie.

He walked up with two other men flanking him. They passed straight through the barricade freely, no one stopping them. The officers only bowed slightly as he walked past. I squinted. Who was he?

He spoke with the dean, his hands resting on his hips as he talked. Someone pointed at me while they spoke, and his eyes shifted to me. Now he was walking toward my direction.

I froze, my jaw tight. He said a few words to the officers near me, and they let him pass, with a bow.

I felt a pressing warning press against my bladder. "Oh my god," I mumbled.. He towered over me, arms folded across his chest.

"I heard you are the only witness to the crime," he said. His voice was loud, a baritone that rippled across my teeth. I said nothing. His eyes darted to my hands. They were shaking.

"You," I said, pointing at him with a slow movement of my hand. "I saw you," I mumbled. His eyes widened. He scanned the surroundings for watching eyes, then pressed close to me, covering my mouth fully with his hand, while the other two men formed a wall, shielding us from view.

"Say not a word about this to anyone, or it'll be your last." My breath was a mere mumble. My entire body trembled.

But I caught his scent, thick and earthy, like the smell of wood. He leaned into my neck, pressing his face closer, then a sniffle. My eyes widened. He released my mouth.

"Why can't I get a scent from you?" he demanded, eyes darkening. "Who are you," he said, watching me for a reaction.

Just then an officer approached us. "Got anything, Alpha Dariel?" she asked with a smile. He shook his head. No.

"Alpha?" I mumbled. He was an Alpha? And why had the officer said it so casually, like it was normal?

Wait. They were all werewolves? My bones stiffened. I scanned the entire space; it was full of werewolves. And I was the only human in their midst. My lips trembled.

Just then a student approached from a distance, gesturing to the officer at the barricade that he needed to speak to Alpha Dariel. They let him through. He leaned in and whispered to Dariel. Dariel's eyes widened. He clenched his jaw tightly, scanning the small crowd.

"There is a human among us," he hollered. The silence that followed was dead. All movement stopped, eyes searching, snarls rising. Some in the crowd were shifters, some weren't. The shifters flashed their fangs, claws poking out.

"Reveal yourself now, or let us drag you out," he yelled, walking in a slow circle, reading each face. "Either way, you're not leaving here alive."

My stomach dropped.

VANESSA

I was taken to the school clinic for a proper assessment. Before the psychiatrist was called in, they read my blood pressure at 110/80mmHg. The nurse announced it was okay. So was my pulse rate, at 84 beats per minute. But deep down inside, I knew I wasn't okay.

I met with the psychiatrist, and after a series of questions, he said I was fit to go home, just needed rest and close monitoring. I'd be discharged the next morning.

I hadn't shut my eyes once since the incident. Lecturers and student union leaders trooped in one after another, checking on me, until I let the nurse know I wanted to be left alone. When the crowd stopped coming, I realized she'd passed my message along.

While I tried to get some sleep, my head wouldn't rest, flashbacks of what had happened running on a loop. Seeing Professor Tom hanging from the ceiling gave me chills. I'd gotten an anonymous message saying he was human too, right after the bully attack.

I hadn't thought it through. I could have been running into a trap, but I didn't stop to consider that. I ran to his office to confirm it, even though the source swore it was a secret. Whoever sent it also knew my secret.

The only way I'd escaped getting caught earlier was by feigning a faint. Who knows what would have happened if Dariel had discovered my secret.

Knock knock!

A faint knock sounded on the door. I shut my eyes, faking a loud snore. The door creaked open, and I heard footsteps approaching. Then suddenly I didn't hear them anymore. I opened my eyes slowly to take a peek.

Fuck!

I exclaimed, scrambling back in shock. I'd found a face inches from mine, so close I could feel his breath. It was the same guy from earlier. The Alpha. Same height, same ethereal look, and facial features.

But now his hair was chopped short, and a scar lined under his eye, an old one, nothing recent. His eyes were deep brown and he smelt like cedar, an intoxicating cologne that seemed too heavy. My heart pounded loudly.

"Hey, relax," he said, throwing his hands up. "I'm not here to hurt you." He showed me his palms and turned in a slow circle to prove it. He looked different, and acted differently, but he still moved like Alpha Dariel.

"Please get away from me. I won't say anything," I yelled, folding my legs up to my chest. He tilted his head like he was studying me.

"What do you mean?" He stepped closer, hands still raised. "Did someone threaten you?"

I said nothing. I was trembling.

The door opened and the nurse walked in with a tray of IV fluid and some other medicine, probably sedatives. Her eyes caught him and she bowed. "Alpha Damon," she said as she bowed, then turned to face me.

My forehead crinkled in confusion. He noticed, then explained. "I'm sorry we met under different circumstances. I'm Damon." He watched me, rubbing the nape of his neck, then continued.

"You must have met my twin brother, Dariel. I'm sure you did, given your reaction." My jaw dropped. He promised to come visit me another time, then left.

As he walked out, I watched him. His steps were different, more of a limp than a stride, not as sharp and fit as his brother. He seemed somehow diminished.

*****

Luckily, I woke up the next morning to news that I'd been discharged and was free to go home. They gave me a bag of medicine and a prescription I knew I'd throw in the trash the moment I got home..

The officers came along too, not for further questions, but to help me get home. They handed my school backpack and phone over to me. I hadn't even realized I'd lost them.

While they dropped me off at my dorm, they promised to check in when I felt better. They also hinted that the case had been closed as a suicide, and that they'd invite me soon to give my statement once I recovered. I nodded in agreement, but I knew better.

"Call me if you need anything. This is my personal number," one of the officers said, and left me a piece of paper with his name, Rex, and his phone number.

I stood at the entrance of my dorm, my heart suddenly pounding. What if I walked in and an assassin was waiting to kill me? My hands were sweaty now. I shut my eyes, finding the strength to walk in. I pulled my keys from my bag, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside, eyes scanning the room with caution. Everything was as I'd left it, neat and arranged. Unlike most students, I hadn't taken long to get a room assigned to me, since I was on a scholarship.

The room was spacious, with only two beds, so I could only have one roommate. There was plenty of space. A simple couch sat in the front corner beside a center table, and a reading table stood to the left. It smelled like my cologne, floral and feminine.

I took a deep sniff, arms spread wide. "Home sweet home." Just then I heard clanking from the kitchen. I clenched my fist, as if that would do anything if the need arose. I walked slowly toward the kitchen door, picking up my slipper as a weapon.

I crept closer and closer until someone walked out, flipping an apron off into the air. It flew straight into my face.

"Ouch!" I yelled, grabbing my eye. She yelled too, in shock. We stood side by side, watching each other in fear, chests heaving in sync. She was a young woman about my age, full-figured on top, with hazel eyes, dark olive hair, and a perfect waist and figure. She looked like a cheerleader.

"Who are you?" I screamed in panic, one hand nursing my eye. "I should be asking who you are. This is my dorm room."

I straightened, standing taller. "Your dorm room? I think you'll find my stuff here already."

She hesitated, like she was trying to place me. "Wait, you're the one who was here?" Her face twisted into a look of disgust.

"You're fat," she yelled, then burst into laughter. "How could I possibly share a room with you?" She laughed even louder. I clenched my fist at my side.

Watching her laugh, I felt the urge to slap her hard across the face, to make an example of her so the others would understand I wasn't one to be played with. But I didn't. It was no use.

Bang bang bang.

A loud noise came from the door. Our heads snapped toward it in sync, then back at each other. She adjusted her clothes and went to answer it. When it flung open, standing there was Alpha Dariel, his eyes finding me immediately.

My roommate screamed, hands flying to her mouth in shock. He didn't look at her. His eyes stayed steady on me, like he was about to devour me.

"Come here," he said, with a flick of his index finger.