I look out the plane window at all the clouds. My sunglasses hide bright amber eyes. I’m not like others of my kind, I can’t completely hide my appearance. My eyes are always amber, plainly showing the wolf in me. Other Guardians have normal eye colors and only get amber when they shift. No matter where I go I stand out and never fully fit in. That’s why I stayed a loner until Crystal came along. She’s the closest thing to family I have. And now she is high alpha to all the Guardian packs in the U.S. The humans believe they set the state boundaries but that is not true.
Each state is a pack territory and is named after the first Alpha. We let the humans believe what they want though, they don’t know we exist. We’re gonna keep it that way for as long as we can. I chew on my lip. What none of the packs know is that Crystal was not the first, I was. I had been alive for a millennium before Crystal was born. It was quite the shock to me when I found her. I had never had kids so I thought I was the only one of my kind. I am a lone wolf at heart though so I taught Crystal what I could then let her be Alpha. At her request I stayed as her Beta.
She has sent me to Idaho to check in on the pack. We just started a new thing where some of our older cubs go to human high schools. They still have to come home and learn basic Guardian stuff as well. I’ll be what the humans call “undercover”. The pack doesn’t know I will be there. They’ll think I’m just another human. Unless a situation pops up where I must reveal myself. Our job is to protect the humans and I am not going to neglect that job.
The plane lands and the doors are opened. I grab my carry on bag and follow the crowd out. I get many strange looks because of my appearance. My raven black hair falls to my butt and my sunglasses cover my eyes. My full lips are naturally blood red and my skin a pale ivory color, free of any blemishes. My black corset and ripped black skinny jeans hug my hourglass figure. Then with my black combat boots that lace up to my knees and fully pierced ears, left eyebrow, and a snake bite in the right corner of my mouth I draw a lot of attention. I step out into the frigid Idaho air but do not feel the cold. I don’t bother with the baggage claim, all my stuff has been sent ahead.
Instead I walk straight to the parking lot where my truck waits for me. It’s a solid black 1976 ford highboy. Oh man do I love her. I unlock the door, throw my bag on the seat, and climb in. I put the key in the ignition and with a flick of my wrist she roars to life. I nearly moan I love the sound so much. Grinning, I pull out of the parking lot and drive to my apartment. As far as anybody knows I’m an emancipated teen. I already have the key to my apartment so when I get there I just go right in.
All of my stuff has already been set up which I’m grateful for but also kinda irritated about. Not that it’s set up wrong or anything, I just wouldn’t have minded having something to do. Oh well, I can’t change it now. I throw my bag on the couch and call Crystal. “Ti?” Her clear, melodic voice answers on the third ring.
“Who else would it be Cryssie?” I laugh using the nickname I gave her. She laughs as well.
“You made it okay then?” In my mind I can see her nearly colorless blue eyes light up.
“Yeah I just got to the apartment.” I check my watch and see that it is 11. “I’m gonna unpack my last bag then head over to the school to check everything out.”
“Okay good. The cubs will have been there for a couple weeks.” She sighs. “Hopefully they’ve settled in by now. Sorry you have to wear the contacts Ti.” I flinch at the mention of it. They bug the crap out of my eyes but the cubs would take one look at my amber eyes and know I wasn’t human. Which would in turn make them suspicious of me and they wouldn’t behave normally.
“Whatever I have to do.” I reply. “I’ll call you back tonight but for now I have school. Jeez, never thought I’d be saying that.” She laughs and we hang up. I put my phone in my back pocket, grab my bag, and head upstairs to my room. I throw the bag on the bed and go through my dresser for a school appropriate shirt. I settle on a dark red tank top underneath a black Tshirt with rips in the side and a picture of a werewolf with a bloody muzzle on the front. It may look gruesome to others but I find it hilarious. The whole werewolf legend came about because of me and I promise, I look nothing like that.
Then I go into the adjoining bathroom and pull out my contacts. They are the darkest brown I could find. When I wear them they turn my eyes to a medium brown. I put them in, blinking back the tears. Damn these things are annoying. Sighing I sling my school backpack over one shoulder and walk back out to my truck. Then I drive to Hillcrest High School, the only school we have right now that we are doing the experiment with. You could say they’re the guinea pigs. I park in a visitors spot then head inside. A blast of warm air and a torrent of different scents hit me. I am momentarily stunned as all my senses are overwhelmed but soon get everything under control. Once I am composed I walk into the office.
The receptionist looks up at me and her eyes narrow, “No sunglasses in the building.” I take them off and put them in my backpack. She glares up and down my body in disgust but doesn’t comment on it. Instead she asks, “What can I do for you?” I hand her my transfer papers.
“My name is Tiamat Archer, I’m supposed to be starting school today.” Her look of disgust deepens.
“School starts at 8:45.” She accuses.
“I am aware.” I reply, “but my plane only just got in.” She scoffs but hands me my schedule.
“We are in second hour on B-day. There’s only half an hour left but feel free to go there anyways.” She snarks. B****, I growl mentally. Physically I smile, take the paper, and leave. In the hall I look down at my schedule. Communications with Mr. O’Connel. Great, I follow the map to his classroom. The door is open when I get there so I just walk in. The room goes dead silent and everybody turns to stare at me. There are three cubs in here, luckily I have glamoured myself from them well. They will have no idea I’m not just another human. I glare back at the class defiantly and approach the teacher. He is a short, fat man with wispy brown hair and glasses. He takes my note then turns to the class.
“Alright class it seems we have a new student.” He turns to me. “Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself?”
“My name is Tiamat Archer but I go by Ti. I’m seventeen and I just moved here from Pennsylvania. I’ve been tutored my whole life so this is my first time going to a public school.”
“Anybody have any questions?” Mr. O’Connel asks. The first to raise their hand is one of the cubs. From the way he is carrying himself I’d guess his parents are higher in rank, not alphas, but maybe betas. He has bright blue eyes and purposely messed up sandy blonde hair. He’s wearing a football jersey that hugs his muscular frame. I’m sure half the teenagers here have a crush on him. I refrain from rolling my eyes and nod at him.
“Why’d you move to Idaho? Did your parents get new jobs here?” He asks with his arms folded across his chest.
“My parents died when I was young. I’m emancipated and I like snow so I came here.” I reply. It wasn’t a lie, they don’t have to know how long ago it was. The cub snorts.
“That explains the bad clothing. Can’t afford to buy anything else sweetheart?” I have to bite back a growl. Arrogant fool, has no idea who he’s talking to. If it was a normal situation I would waste no time putting him in his place but I have to stay hidden. I take a deep breath and glare at the kid.
“It would be wise of you to watch what you say.” I address him barely concealing my anger. “You might insult somebody otherwise.” I keep my voice level and calm. I may have to hide my identity but I don’t have to stand here and be pushed around either. Not breaking the glare I have trained on the cub I claim an empty chair. As I sit I remember to slouch and act human. The cub doesn’t say anything else, just scoffs at me and turns to face the board. I refrain from rolling my eyes at the back of his head. Stupid cub.
I made it through the rest of class but I had a massive headache by the time the bell rang for lunch. A group of girls had decided to try out some new perfume in the middle of class. I nearly choked and the cubs were pulled into a fit of barely concealed coughs. The moment the bell rang I made a beeline for the door. From there I went to the cafeteria and sat at an empty table. I checked my phone for messages and sipped at my water. I don’t eat human food, it makes me sick. All the others can, even Crystal, but my body is more wolf than human.
It’s not for lack of trying. I tried several times and several different ways to get my body to adjust to human food but it just didn’t work. I just got sicker and sicker until I finally had to stop. I start texting the alphas and checking in on how the packs are doing. I do this daily, even for the alpha here in Idaho. Luckily my number is blocked so they can’t trace or track me. We simply have codes that Crystal setup to identify each other. Somebody sets their tray down and I look up to see a guy I haven’t met sitting next to me. He’s human with bright red hair and green eyes.
I raise one eyebrow at him, “Can I help you?” I growl, glaring at him. What the hell? My body language is literally screaming stay away from me and this kid, this HUMAN kid, just walks right up to me. To my continued amazement he holds out his hand to me.
“I’m Quinton.” He says easily. I admit it, I’m a b****.
“And I care why?” I snarl. The group of cubs walks by just then. The cub from earlier snorts.
“Easy there Quint, she’s hostile.” I turn on the cub and use my mind powers to figure out his name, Skyler.
I stand up so fast the legs on my chair screeched against the ground. I shove him. “How many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth you stupid…!” I snap my jaw shut just in time to hide my fangs and close my eyes. I bow my head and clench my hands into fists. I take a deep breath and look back up at him just as my phone rings. Growling I answer it, “What!?” I snarl.
“Whoa that bad huh?” I cringe, it’s Crystal. I rub my hand down my cheek and grab my backpack. I give Skyler one last, venomous glare and stalk off.
“They need major f***ing attitude adjustments.” I grouch. “If I didn’t have to stay hidden I’d put them in their place right now. Stupid cubs.”
“Try not to lose your temper Ti,” She attempts to soothe me. “You just need to keep an eye on them.” I growl in response, gritting my teeth. My fangs won’t retract so I have to be careful. I wrap my lips around them and barely feel their sharp tips cut into the inside of my lip.
“Oh I’m keeping an eye on them,” I fantasize for a second about how their whimpers would sound. “You can trust me on that.” I hang up before she can respond and walk quickly to the bathroom. Thankfully it’s empty. I let my backpack fall to the ground and drop my phone on top of it. I lean against the sink and rock back and forth. My hands tighten on the edge of the sink as I look up at my reflection. The amber is starting to show through my contacts and I can still feel my fangs. I close my eyes and force myself to take slow, deep breaths. I’ve been alive for over a millennia yet I still haven’t learned how to reign in my temper. At this point I’ve decided that it’s just a wolf thing. And since I am more wolf than any of the others my temper is much worse.
Each of us has a different percentage of wolf in us, now that doesn’t make us any less Guardian, but anyways we all can feel how much wolf we have in us. It comes into play with dominance and our instincts. Crystal for example is 56%. I am 98% wolf, nobody will ever be more than I am. That’s my inheritance, barely human at all. I have flashbacks sometimes, to when I was born. And to when I was turned into a Guardian. Old magic runs in my veins and is laced into my very core. Tok, he was father to me. I remember him more than anything else. My true parents were very abusive to me. Until the day they abandoned me and left me to the predators at 7 years old.
Against the odds I survived on my own for three years. Then Tok found me. It took him five years to fully gain my trust. In that time I told him of my childhood. Tok lived with nine other men, they were all very powerful magic men. When I turned eighteen they told me that they were going to recreate me. Give me powers that would help me take care of the Earth. Basically they gave their lives to make me into Earth’s Guardian. I shake my head, now is not the time to think about it.
I look back into the mirror and am relieved to see that my wolf attributes have faded. My fangs have retracted and you can no longer see the amber through my contacts. Taking one last deep breath I grab my bag and exit the bathroom. As I weave my way through the crowded hallway I think about bringing a knife to school from now on. I’m very good at hiding weapons under my clothes and I’d feel a lot better with a blade. Two human guys are arguing in the middle of the hallway. One, a jock, shoves the other making him fall into me. I don’t think, I just act. I catch the kid before he can fall, push him behind me, and get in the jock’s face. “That’s enough!” Not even a human could miss the overwhelming authority in my voice.
The jock flinches and pales while everyone else gapes at me. S***, I quickly scan for the cubs and am relieved when I don’t see them. Get it together Ti, I berate myself, that’s two times you’ve slipped up and it’s your first day. I stalk away and as I do I feel eyes following me. When I look I end up meeting Quin’s suspicious gaze. I decide right then that I have to watch out for him. He acts like he knows something, but he can’t know about us, he’s human. All the changes must be making me paranoid. The bell rings and we all head to our classes.