Scarier, superior species

His low voice and menacing growl resonates within me, eliciting a new level of excitement that I am not used to. Trying to slow down and give me a moment to think, I push him back lightly and give him a glare.

"I don't have any enemies. That's ridiculous," I tell him assuredly, confident in at least this much.

My eyes watch his lips move into an amused grin before my gaze shifts to see how it softens his fierce features and highlights his savage beauty. His bestial and archaic presence bewilders me for a moment as I wonder about him. His wild nature is uninhibited, and even in human form, he is so wolf-like that it is like they are one being, rather than a human who shifts into a wolf.

In fact, his wolf seems so close to the surface that it calls to my own, even through the tenuous connection I have with it at the moment. In his presence, I easily become captive by instincts, ones I am a stranger to, adding to my disorientation in this new world I find myself in.

I hope I can get some answers, some guidance in having a deeper understanding of being a werewolf, beyond just the physical capabilities that I will be expected to hone during my training.

"What is a sigil?" I ask him.

"It's a symbol, a mark left behind from a powerful wielder of magic. In this case, the sigil is blocking you from accessing your wolf, oppressing your abilities and forcing you to remain utterly human." He makes it sound like being human is a bad thing. Maybe it's just because the transformation was recent or that I still feel human, but I don't see humans as being weaker. Without that experience, would I view humans differently? The only reason I can think of that would make him have this opinion is if he didn't experience being a human and was born a werewolf. Sometimes we look down on things we do not fully understand.

Besides, there are so many species of supernatural creatures out there - many of which I am still learning about. We are all unique, and arguments could be made that werewolves are weaker than any of these species. I'm not prideful or naive enough to think otherwise.

"Do you recall being in proximity of any Sages recently?"

"A few," I grumble, still lost in thought about if someone could be targeting me, intentionally weakening me.

He grunts in response. "I would ask if any seemed suspicious, but since they can alter memories, your recollection may not be reliable." That..that is alarming. My eyes are wide as I think about the implications. Forget the idea of werewolves being superior, with magic like that, Sage's are a much scarier, superior species. I could be completely at their mercy and never remember what had happened. I could forget my thoughts, events or even people.

Our memories and experiences shape who we are, and with missing memories… it would be like missing a piece of yourself. And that would be a terrifying thing, one you might not even know had happened to you.

I remember reading an article about missing memories. It had said that people with amnesia about a certain, specific event can be driven mad trying to remember what they had forgotten. A gap in memory records can happen when there is damage to your limbic system. But even then, some memories are in your subconscious so you might have a feeling about a person but can't remember why. Brains can keep strong emotional memories even if there is amnesia. Although with magic, this may not be the case.

There was a study that tested the belief that every time you remember something, it gets rewritten. Therefore, there is a way to erase a memory. In the study, they blocked the chemical process in rats that is needed to recall a learned behavior, seemingly erasing their memory. If science is nearly advanced enough to alter our memories, what could magic do?

That persisting storm of emotions inside of me that had been quiet, is now in turmoil again in line with the churning of my thoughts.

"Give me a moment to try something.." he says in a low, quiet voice while reaching towards my head. He places his hands on each side of my face and closes his face in concentration. Other than pressure in my head, I don't notice any change. He stands there motionless, in deep thought a few inches from me.

After a couple of silent, uneventful minutes, he opens his eyes and drops his hand from my face.

"What were you doing?" I ask him.

"Sorting through your memories to see if anything stood out," My face flames at the invasion of privacy, and I push him back aggressively and stand hopping off the table and planting my feet on the ground in front of him.

"Not that I condone you rooting through my memories without permission," I tell him with a glare. "But did you find anything helpful?"

"The ones with me were my particular favorite," he adds, easily causing my face to turn an even deeper shade of red than before.

"Y-you…"

"Yes?" Mockery and amusement lacing his alluring voice.

"T-that...that's not…" His dark eyes pull me in, disrupting any defense I try to come up with. He really is attractive and I know I have had more than a few shameless thoughts about this man. I spend effort calming down my racing pulse and my furious blush.

The cave is chilly, but his warmth is such a contrast that I shiver as his heat seeps into my bones. Ever the watchful predator, he notes my movements with a satisfied smile - one that I realize doesn't reach his eyes.

I clear my throat to relieve the tension building between us and glance at the cave around me. At the time, I had only seen the table appear unexpectedly, but now I can see a lantern, a mug, pillow and a sleeping mat rolled up on the ground.

"Do you live here?" I look back at him and ask, changing the topic in hopes of relieving myself of any further embarrassment.

"Students live in the dormitories." That's true, so I shake the thought from my head. Although the cave is a little more primitive, it might just be his place to escape and hideaway, like the treehouse is for Ryker.

He walks towards me and I step backwards to keep space between us. When my back hits the table behind me, he quickly bends and lifts me to sit on the surface. Sometimes he can move quicker than my eyes can even track.

"Now, sit still," he adds. He raises his hands to hover over the area at my chest he had been studying earlier, and when he shifts his fingers in the air, a gasp is pulled from my lips when I feel a tug on my chest. My breathing becomes more labored and I grunt when the tugging sensation becomes harder.

My fingers tighten on the table below me so I can try to sit still like he asked, afraid of interfering with what he's doing to me. "Almost," he mutters, and the sensations increase to where it feels like his fingers are inside of me, poking and prodding my heart and ribcage. I'm panting through the pain and discomfort, and right before I think I can't take it anymore, the pressure peaks before ending abruptly.

My head flies backwards and I take a large, desperate breath of air. My lungs expand to their fullest for the first time in awhile and my heartbeat picks up speed, pumping life into my senses that are more alert than before. In my mind, I can see my wolf open its eyes to the world around us.

My head comes back down and I look at the man in front of me who has a smug expression on his face. In the reflection of his eyes I can see that my eyes are glowing yellow for a moment before going back to their normal green color.

"Ah, there she is," he says.

"I feel better," I say. "Although not quite whole."

He nods as though he expected as much. "Even though I removed the sigil and unlocked your wolf, you still have wolfsbane in your system, so you will still be weaker than you should be." I inhale through my nose, smelling something appealing that reminds me of a pine forest and morning dew. It smells of things that are wild and free, enticing and taunting my inner wolf to come out and play.

My nose twitches as I follow the scent, not realizing that I am leaning towards him - the source of the scent. Before I know it, I am standing and running my nose along his neck, inhaling him deeply. At the moment my nose reaches the edge of his lips, I break out of the haze and flinch my head back away from his face. His eyes flash with understanding, but I frown when I see he is giving me that hollow smirk once more.

He draws me in physically, but I can almost feel the solid wall separating us emotionally. He has a block up that could take eons to break through. In fact, I get the suspicion that it took him eons to build, once again making me think that he feels much older than he looks.

He lifts his hand and uses his finger to draw a shape over the same spot he found the sigil. When he finishes his movements, my heightened senses dull all at once, like a figurative door has slammed closed, separating me from my wolf once more. I hear her give a sorrowful whine before the door closes all the way.

"For us to know who is targeting you, we need to keep everything as normal. The person who placed this sigil on you will notice if it is missing. So, for now, we will keep the sigil active while you are at the academy," he tells me.

"But how can I work on becoming a stronger werewolf without having access to my wolf?" I ask him, confusion present in my face. I plan on spending nearly all of my free time training, but all of that time will be pointless if the sigil is interfering with my abilities.

"You will just have to spend more time with me, sweet one. I can deactivate it so you can let your wolf out while we are alone."

When my wolf is out, I lose myself to instincts. Around him, I am going to be constantly testing my control.

I don't know how he knows these things, and I still don't understand how he has magic..in fact, I really don't know much about him at all. He gives me more questions than answers. But clearly, he is powerful. I let out a sigh, knowing that even though it won��t be easy, what he is offering is better than nothing. It is the best offer I have had for help so far, actually.

"When?" I ask.

"After astronomy class," he answers immediately, clearly having no doubt about me accepting his offer. "It will be our little secret," he adds with a wink.

"Fine," I relent, agreeing with his sentiment. Without knowing who may have been responsible for placing the sigil on me, it is best to keep this secret close to him. Besides my fast-forming relationship with Ryker, I don't know anyone else well enough to rule them out.

The amount of things I need to do and time I will be training is starting to get overwhelming. If we are meeting after astronomy, that's twice a week I will exercise my wolf, so to speak. Maybe I can get out of a couple of training sessions a week to balance my schedule better.

"Good," he places a hand on my shoulder and a frenzy of excitement, madness and mirth passes through his eyes. "Time to go."

I blink, and suddenly we are outside of a classroom that has students exiting through a nearby door. "What the…" I glance towards the line of students and see Javier walking alongside another male werewolf.

"What are you doing?" I ask with panic, looking back to him with my eyes wide since Javier has noticed me and is quickly making my way over to me. "Take me back, right now." I growl at him, clutching to his forearm as though that will rewind time and prevent this shit-storm I see happening before my eyes.

"You needed an excuse for being gone for so long," he says, stepping away from me. My hand drops from where I was holding his forearm, and I unsuccessfully reach for him again.

"Don't you dare!" I show him my teeth, ready to pounce on him if needed. But before I make my move, he disappears from sight, leaving me with the lingering fear that I am so angry that I am now delusional. How the hell can he just disappear like that?

"You motherf-" I shout at the sky above me, freezing when I realize something. "Wait, what the hell is your name?!"

Now I do think I am going crazy, because I can hear him chuckling at me even though he is no longer there.