CHAPTER 35
Royal blood means being part of the royal family. A princess, queen, or king. Hell no! My parents adopted me but I don’t believe I’m a princess of a hidden kingdom in this country. And there’s even no kingdom in here. Gelo must be wrong about what he was thinking.
I looked for more articles on the web. Suddenly, I have this obsession with searching about the royal family, which were mostly in Europe. Some rules are deadly. For an instance, no one was allowed to touch a princess from this country or they’ll die. It is indeed scary to get myself involved with a person with royal blood but it’s crazier to think that I have royal blood.
I clicked on my twelfth article for the day about the princes of this particular country. Why do princes in books be so handsome and hot while in real life, they're far from handsome? They don’t even look good. Why do ladies want to marry them?
Maybe it’s because of the wealth and the power and not love. I only read these kinds of books for the sole pleasure of reading about handsome guys. Not for thinking that I could marry a prince someday. I don’t like to see people dying just because they touched me. That was absurd and inhumane in a way that there’s no fairness in that country.
My door clanked open. Jay smiled when she saw me seriously looking at my laptop. I instantly shut it close because I don’t want him to know that I was searching for royal families. And the current article that opened is full of different princes from different countries. Oh, god. What if he thinks that I’m searching for handsome guys on the internet.
“What are you up to?” he asked.
“Just browsing and doing some reading on our literature class,” I lied. I hate lying to my family. They were too nice for me to lie to them. But everyone, including good girls, does lie. It’s the nature of humanity to lie.
“I made some avocado smoothie. Try it now.”
I placed my laptop on my table and I followed Jay downstairs. I pour myself a glass of avocado smoothie and I sat on the couch. The thought of asking Gelo about what we talked about yesterday struck me. I should ask him more. I should seek the truth, right. Now that I had transformed into a wolf. Even if I did the last time, I don’t have any idea how can I do it again.
…
“How are you?” I asked Gelo when I visited him again. He’s doing better since he wasn’t in his room by now. He’s sitting beside Mila on their couch watching a sitcom. They even laughed when the guy farted on the beautiful woman’s face. I don’t think it’s funny at all.
“Good. Let’s attend our classes together. My classmates are going to miss me.”
I arched my brow. “Don’t tell me you’re the only one who has someone who will miss you. Aki and Gwen, they’re my only friends. They might be worried about me as well.”
His forehead creased. “You didn’t attend classes for the past few days?”
“I wasn’t feeling well too. I sleep a lot these past few days. Jay even took a few days to leave his job to take care of me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’re also resting.”
I sat beside him. He cuddled me sweetly. Mila’s stares were knives trying to dart at us. Is there a problem with us cuddling together? Even friends could cuddle sweetly. Hugging the opposite sex doesn’t mean we’re in a relationship. It could be something small such as friendship.
“Teens nowadays only care about love,” Mila stood up. She threw the pillow she was holding on her lap earlier at us.
“What is her problem?” I faced Gelo.
Gelo shrugged. “Sometimes old women do that. They’re bitter of teenagers liking each other.”
“So you do like each other?” I almost fell from the sofa when Mila suddenly appeared between us. Gelo likes me. I like Gelo as well. We like each other but it doesn’t mean it’s something sensual.
“It’s not what you think,” I countered. “We’re friends. We’re attracted to each other but we don’t…” I don’t know if I should say that word or if it’s too much to even mutter it. “Kiss.”
I still remember the time when we were cleaning my room. Jay saw us in a position he thought we were doing foreplay. I had read about sex and making love in books but I’ve never done that. I don’t plan on doing that unless I’m sure that the guy I could give my virginity to is the right one. This is the most sacred thing for women. I don’t want to give it easily.
“Oh, there’s no problem with that. Not all couples kiss. And let me tell the two of you that you must be sure when you fully commit to each other. Sometimes, love can cheat on you. Love can destroy you. Don’t let love control you.”
Her advice was simple, like those mothers telling their daughters about love in books when they were already divorced from their husbands. But it struck me. Love can control me. Love can make a fool. But with Gelo, I don’t think so. It’s a smart kind of love.
…
Even though it was Friday, we still attended our classes. I missed a lot of quizzes and assignments. I have to catch up. Maybe a half-day of deep focus might comply with my need for time in doing those outputs.
What’s weirder in this school is that everyone was looking at me again. What have I done? Do they know about what happened inside Mila’s hut? Do they know that I killed four werewolves?
In this town death is something that everyone is used to. Gelo said I killed four persons. But no police came to my house to question me about the incident. No investigation occurred. Maybe in a wolf’s way, death is unyielding. A part of everyday life.
“Cath!” Gwen ran towards me. I didn’t show myself to them. Earlier, I sat on the gazebo where no one usually sits. They thought it was too hot and distracting since it’s in front of the library where the librarian inside will shoo you away if you make any noises. Gelo and I decided we’ll see each other in this place after his class. But Gwen and Aki were the first ones who saw me.
“We miss you!” Aki hugged me from my bag. He had a thin but hard-built body, crunching mine inside him.
“They said you’re a killer, a dangerous person. But I don’t believe them. You’re our friend and we’re going to believe in whatever you’re going to tell us. So, what exactly happened at Mila’s place?”
Gwen and Aki are beside me on two opposite sides. “I might disappoint you. But they’re right. I killed four persons inside Mila’s place.”
I thought they were going to run away from me. I thought Gwen will slap me and scream at me that I’m a monster. They don’t. They stayed by my side.
“What?” Gwen sighed. She tried to calm herself down. “That must be the truth but there’s an explanation.”
I told them the first part of the story, the barebones of it. I didn’t tell them what Mila and I was up to, but I told them that I needed something from Mila that’s why I presented myself there. “Then the wolves attacked us, almost killing Gelo and Mila. I was so angry, mad as if I’m ready to kill. Then I transformed into a white wolf. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“My parents told me if you shapeshift when you’re not ready, your emotions are going to be the ones to control your body and not the other way around. Maybe that happened to you that’s why you don’t remember what happened after that.”
Gwen pinched my cheeks. “You almost scared me. I thought you were a killer. But you’re the one who’s almost killed and you saved yourself. I do believe that I don’t have a friend who will kill just like that.”
“Why does no one investigate me? No police came to our place. They must question me about what happened.”
“Cath,” Gwen’s cold hand touched my face. “In this town, when you’re killed in a wolf’s form or during the night, you can’t attain justice. This small town was led by no politician but by the alpha. There’s only one rule in this place.”
“What is it?”
Gwen and Aki gazed at each other. Then they both eerily whispered to my ears, “Survive.”