Spirit Tales (The Millennium Wolves AU)

At the end of the school day, I found out a few things. The first and most important was that Fred wasn’t coming back. At least not the next month. Samantha was sent to tell me about how he was busy with many Alpha matters that required his full attention. She of course had to add that a little girl like me couldn’t possibly understand what Fred’s title even meant - and I wanted to scream at her that at least I wasn’t desperate for someone’s attention, but bit my tongue, much to Tempest’s disapproval.

The second thing I found out was that Strider was now attending all of my classes with me, completely transferring to my courses and leaving his behind. He was always there next to me, his presence felt to the extreme. I got so much death glares from girls all over who were jealous about the fact he was stuck with me, and I wanted to tell them I didn’t ask for that, and they were welcome to have him, but I couldn’t.

The third and last thing I found out was that Apollo now was a teacher for a selectable course - there were a few like this in college - and that the subject he was teaching was Greek Mythology. To my horror, I was put in this class at the end of the day - and of course Strider was there with me too - and most of it consisted of girls who obviously took this class so they could ogle Apollo freely.

At the end of the day, Apollo took me to the college’s gym without speaking to me at all, and there he gave me training clothes and shoes. He barked at me to listen to the instructions of some bodybuilder who worked as a trainer there with the name Harley. Harley, who was a wolf in his late thirties and seemed extremely threatening, told me what to do in every training machine, and I was exhausted and unable to move even a finger by the time it was over. I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost four pounds from this training session alone.

When I got back to my room, luckily none of the men were there, and I took a shower. I almost fell asleep standing under the streaming water, but Tempest kept me awake with her off-key singing of Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid.

After I put on my flowery pajama, I got out of the bathroom and saw Strider and Apollo were in training pants and ready to sleep. They turned to look at me when I left the bathroom, and I scrunched my nose when I saw they were annoyed. “What did I do this time?” I asked, irritated.

They exchanged glances, not saying a word, and I decided I had no strength to deal with them. I went to bed and without even getting under the covers I fell asleep.

In that manner, a week passed. Every day I was in physical training morning and and evening, ate healthy food, and sat with my humans during meals because I couldn’t sit with anyone else. I still got stared at, but the intrigue was gradually dying down, thank God. Strider was still glued to my ass, his presence silent but felt, and Apollo’s lessons were actually pretty interesting, even if the teacher was an asshole.

On Friday, after a particularly exhausting training, Harley ordered me to check how much weight I lost. We were both surprised - and horrified - to see I lost six pounds. In one week.

“It’s not healthy,” I muttered, my lips dry.

“You’re right,” Harley said, “I need to talk to Apollo about this.”

And when I went back to my room, took a shower, and put on clean clothes, I realized they were a tad bit more loose than before. I was furious, and Tempest’s temper rose as well. We were both cursing inside my head. Because no matter how much Apollo wanted me to lose weight, this was not the way.

Deep down, I didn’t want to lose weight. Being fat was a part of who I was. Being thin wasn’t me.

In addition to this unpleasant surprise, Apollo and Strider didn’t talk to me at all. They seemed more irritated as time passed by, as though the hours they were spending with me were wasted, when they could’ve done much more fun things. Strider in particular started to lose his patience - I could see his mournful looks when he glanced at his friends sitting together in classes. I knew he would’ve preferred being with his friends - obviously, I would’ve chosen so too, if Charlotte was still my friend - and so I didn’t blame him.

Spending so much time with Strider was fascinating in some way, though. Most of the time he was the Strider everyone grew to know; laughing, flirting, condescending, happy. Other times he was a different Strider, with serious face, no laughter or carefree-ness in him. In truth, it was a bit confusing trying to figure out who he was every time he was doing or saying something. At one point I stopped trying, because why bother? I had enough things on my mind.

Throughout the week, I found myself missing Fred. It took me four days to realize that, and then it hit me like a block to the head that I was quite possibly crushing on him. But how could I crush on someone like him, who was one time hot, another - cold? How could I crush on someone who only sometimes really saw me, when others he pretended I didn’t exist? And how could I allow myself to crush on a werewolf, on top of everything?

But maybe the fact he caused me such confusion was the reason I had a stupid, unrealistic and illogical crush on him. Not only he was a wolf, but he was the Alpha of the Millennium. He also had that Sally, who was his lover - even if there weren’t any emotions involved.

I couldn’t help but think over and over again, I wish the Alpha had never come here in the first place. Maybe then everything was still normal.

But then you wouldn’t have known me, was what Tempest responded again and again, and even though she was impulsive and annoying at times, I felt some sort of affection toward her. After all, we were sharing the same body, maybe even the same soul. So if there was one good thing that came out of all this, it was Tempest. Even if it wasn’t worth everything that followed.

In the middle of the second week ever since Fred disappeared, I found a free hour to be on my own - a very rare occasion. To my relief, Harley had had words with Apollo, and Apollo agreed to take half an hour of my evening training session. I then went to the library and finished up my homework, even the ones I missed while I was absent. I was really proud of myself - and so were Tempest - and I felt like there was at least one ray of light in the middle of these dark times.

I rented a book I’d been wanting to read for a while which was called, “Back in time Volume 1: The Tales of England and Magnus in the Ancient World”. I went back to my room, which was thankfully empty, and settled in my bed. After I put on my glasses I started reading, and was into the book in no time, a thing that rarely happened to me. England - or, more accurately, Maxwell England - was a cunning British man who was born in the 19th century, and the plot was told mainly from his point of view. Magnus Odin, his friend and partner in crime, was a rich, handsome Scott who loved a good adventure more than anything. The two met in a dark alley in London, where Magnus saved Maxwell’s life from a bunch of criminals, and the two were inseparable ever since. Maxwell had the power to travel time, and Magnus himself was very strong himself.

This was one of the best and most beautiful fiction novels I’d ever read. It told about England and Magnus’s shenanigans in a world before humanity and werewolves even came to be, a world where greater powers prevailed. The fantasy elements were on point, and the quirky and light tone this book was written in was extremely enjoyable.

I was in the middle of the book when Apollo and Strider entered the room. The two chatted and laughed with each other, and I tried to ignore them and keep reading, but I couldn’t. Apollo’s annoying laughter made me want to hit him.

When Strider took off his shirt I hurriedly planted my eyes on the book, but it was hard. From what I could see, Strider had a chest so chiseled, with a perfect six-pack and tanned skin, he looked like a masterpiece, like a Greek God coming to life, like the actual Apollo from the Myth, and honestly, I could totally get what girls wanted him so badly. But again - he was too pretty, to perfect for me to feel any kind of attraction toward him. Because even though he was seriously gorgeous, he wasn’t Fred.

It was a mystery why my body was fixated on Fred, and Fred only. He was quiet, serious, and more dominant than anyone else, true. He was also no less appealing than Strider and Apollo, with his serious, more mature looks.

I shook my head and closed the book, unable to read any further with these distractions. I rose from my bed, went to the closet, and searched for clothes for dinner. I heard one of them snickering - probably Apollo - and then Strider said, “You know, if you want to stare at us and drool, we’re cool with it. We won’t blame you.”

I chose to ignore them and picked a set of clothes. I changed in the bathroom and went back out to see Apollo studying the book I’d just read, which was now on my nightstand. “You got a problem?” I asked defensively, folding my arms.

He shrugged. “I was just wondering about the choice. Why this book about Max and Magnus?”

I arched a brow. “You mean England and Magnus,” I stated. “No one England either Maxwell or Max.” It was one thing England was very adamant about in the book.

For some reason, it made him smirk. “I know it much better than you think,” he raised his eyes to me, “I knew Max and Magnus.”

That made me laugh. “It’s a fiction, Apollo,” I informed, “even if these people existed, they’re long dead - this book is about the 19th century, you know.”

Apollo wasn’t smiling, his face serious. “Max and Magnus are like us, Angela,” he said quietly.

I didn’t understand. “Like us?’

“They host Spirits inside them,” he said in a very grave tone. “And they, like us, are immortal.”

I froze. “What?”

Apollo shook his head and headed to the toilet. “I guess it’s not the time to tell you yet,” he muttered. “So meanwhile, my advice for you is to read all Volumes of The Tales of England and Magnus. This way, you’ll understand thing far better than you can imagine.”

And with this enigmatic statement, he left me confused and a little stunned.