Chapter 1: Tingles

CLAN

“Hello, Mister Wolf!” bati ng babaeng may mala-porselanang kutis. I, an alpha of my pack was tall but this girl is also tall for a girl. A human girl. I wasn’t surprised that she recognized me as a wolf despite being in my human wolf, however, my companions were surprised.

“Alpha, siya yata ang sinasabing apprentice ng mangkukulam,” narinig kong sabi ni Zach sa isipan ko. He communicated with me in our own wolfish way. Zach is my beta, my second in command and he lends me a hand in running my pack.

I turned to the girl without blinking. Her hair was in a ponytail and I bet if it was down, it will probably reach her waist. Her chest was considerably a handful, I presume. May nakasukbit sa kanyang likuran, from a distance I thought it was a bow but taking a closer look, it’s an axe. A huge axe.

“I’d appreciate it if you focus on my face and not on my chest Mister Wolf,” wika niya. And she spits fire through her words. Other girls would be shy to point such and she wolf wouldn’t point it out, instead they will be showing more.

This girl is so... so different.

“I apologize. You’re calling me Mister Wolf, how could you be sure about that?” tanong ko. I and my companions weren’t naked, not even half-naked or barefooted. We were dressed casually, after all we blended with the modern trends as we sought-after education and way of civilization like humans.

Her red lips tilted upward. Small dimples showing on the side. “I can smell your ticks and fleas.”

Zach and Daniel growled pero pinigilan ko sila sa akmang pasugod sa pamamagitan ng kamay ko. The girl just wanted to test our patience and these two are giving her satisfaction. Of course, she would love to provoke us so that she has a reason to fight back.

I can smell danger in her.

“Only packless wolves smell like fleas,” sagot ko.

“Oh, really? Still you smell like dogs,” sagot niya na mas lalong nagpainis sa mga kasama ko. I communicated with them telling them to leave it to me.

Tumingin ako sa suot kong relo. “I wish we could have much time to chat but unfortunately I have to get down to my business. Get out of our way, kailangan naming makausap si Aurora.”

Aurora is a known witch, a sorcerer. She’s known to create poisons and toxins that will harm witches, vampires, werewolves or even human. Sa madaling salita, Aurora is a pain in the neck to all. She meet random people and exchange anything for a poison.

“Kahit busy ako sa pag-aaral ng witchcraft at kaalaman ng tao, I would love to spare some time to chat with you Mister Wolf. Over a cup of coffee then?” she asked with a smile.

No, she’s likely to poison me.

But that smile in her face is tempting. I can feel my own heat build up inside me.

No way.

“Maybe next time,” I replied.

Her smile turned into a frown. “It’s my first time to be rejected.”

I don’t mind rejecting her again. “Sorry about that.”

“You’re sorry?” tanong niya. I nodded slowly. “So coffee?” she asked again.

“No,” tanggi ko ulit. I can also reject her thrice-- as much as she wants.

“Then in that case, I can’t let you see Aurora,” sagot niya.

“Bakit?” tanong ni Zach sa kanya. He’s ready to fight just in case the girl will still be hard.

She turned to Zach and snorted. “Because that dog,” she pointed at me. “Rejected me. Twice.”

Sa pagkakataong ito ay si Daniel naman ang sumabat. “Si Aurora ang kailangan naming makausap, hindi ikaw.”

“No one comes to Aurora, without passing through me,” she said with her head high, determined enough. “My grandma’s old and you, big bad wolves will surely eat her up. You all hate her, even witches hate her.”

“Don’t worry Little Red Riding Hood, we will only ask some potions from her,” wika ko. I’m unsure of my comparison. She’s far from little red riding hood. That kid in that silly fairy tale is so dumb to walk in the woods with a basket in her arm alone. Even dumber not to spot that the grandma she’s talking to is a wolf. Damn, who would question, big eyes, big ears, big nose and teeth like that?

Only that dumb Little Red Riding Hood.

And she’s definitely not little, she’s not in red and definitely far from dumb. I ignored the heat in me that’s sending me chills over my spine. This sign... No, I can be mistaken.

She suddenly withdraw the axe hanging from her back and swooshed it in front of us. Daniel and my beta, Zach took a step forward. And again, it satisfied her knowing they were surprised by that. I remained on my spot, didn’t even blink as the axe moved swiftly in circles on the air. She gripped the handle tight and smirked at me.

“Ah, so you must be the Alpha,” sabi niya. “Maybe that explains the annoying shivers that I feel in me as you talk.”

No dearie, the shivers? I feel it too but I don’t want to believe it yet.

“At correction,” isinandal niya sa balikat niya ang palakol, the blade on the back. “I’m not Red Riding Hood, I’m the woodcutter in that silly fairy tale. You certainly know what the woodcutter did Mister Wolf. The woodcutter cut the wolf’s head. I can do the same to the three of you.”

“Alpha--”

Pinutol ko ang sasabihin ni Zach. “Hindi kami nandito para patayin si Aurora. We should have done it a long time ago when she hexed on the cubs causing deaths of many.”

Hindi ko iyon makakalimutan. I was beyond angry. The cubs grew fleas that bored holes on their bodies. Wala kaming ibang ginawa kundi ang patayin na lamang ang dalawang cubs kaysa sa patagalin pa ang paghihirap nila. My pack mourned with the pup’s family for losing members of my pack.

“Really?” she asked with a hint of surprise. “I didn’t know that though. Was it recently? I just returned from earning my degree in medicine so I don’t know what Aurora is up to.”

I ignored the feels in my tummy at sumenyas sa mga kasama ko. “Tara na.”

Lalagpasan na sana namin ang babae ngunit iniharang niya ang kanyang palakol. “That’s rude Mister Wolf, hindi pa ako tapos makipag-usap sa’yo.”

Her eyes were fiery, she’s upset.

“I told you I have no time to chatter right now--” I thought she will be hard headed but she removed her axe on the way and moved on the side.

“Okay,” sagot niya. “And Mister Wolf, just in case hindi ninyo alam, the door and the windows are made of silver. The walls are coated with the deadliest toxins. If dogs like you touched the doors, you know what will silver brings you.” She winked a little. “And the toxins? Uulitin ko lamang, deadliest. Deadliest toxins.”

Napatingin sa akin sina Zach at Daniel. From this distance, I can smell the toxin. Zach communicated in my mind.

“Alpha, naamoy ko nga,” wika niya. Not surprising, he’s my beta. His skills and abilities, although far from mine, he’s greater than the rest of the pack. Huminga ako nang malalim bago muling bumaling sa babae.

“So, maari mo bang sabihin sa amin kung paano namin makakausap si Aurora?” tanong ko sa kanya.

Her joy becomes evident in her face. She’s happy that we were threatened by the coated toxins around Aurora's cabin. “Sinabi ko na sa inyo, you have to pass through me.”

I walked a step closer but she took a step backward. Her hands touched my chest, stopping me from taking another step. I like her fingers, they're white and slender. The long and pretty fingernails are nice.

“Don’t get too close Mister Wolf,” she said. “I don’t want to brush ticks off my skin if you’re this close.”

“Liar,” I said with a smirk. “It’s not the imaginary ticks that you’re afraid of. It’s the tingles.”

Her mouth gaped open... for a while. Then she grinned devilishly. “And that too.”

I sighed.

We both feel it, damn it.

Bumaling ako kay Zach at Daniel. “Kailangan na nating umalis.” Tumalikod ako ngunit nakakaisang hakbang pa lamang ako ay nagsalita ang babae.

“Mister wolf?”

I turned to look at her.

She smirked, gripping tightly on the axe. “I hate your smile.”

Liar again! She loves it. She surely loves it.

“I supposed it’s my asset,” sagot ko.

Umiling siya at napalabi. “Nah, I don’t think so. I’ll ask you again, so coffee?”

I guess I have to reject her again. “No.”

Humakbang na ako palayo, kasunod sina Zach at Daniel nang muli niya akong tinawag. “You rejected me thrice Stupid dog, is that how you’re supposed to treat your mate?” her lips tilted up.

I’m doomed. She knows what those tingles are. She’s just toying me a while ago.

Nagulat sina Zach at Daniel kaya sabay silang napatingin sa akin. “A-alpha...”

I raised an arm. “I will handle this,” I assured them before taking a step closer to her. She smiled and stared back without blinking.

“You’re so mean to your mate,” sabi niya.

“You know what those shivers mean.” A statement, not a question. The answer is quite obvious.

“Of course Mister Wolf, I studied medicine-- human medicine for eight years. I studied wolf, vampire and witchery medicine for my whole life. The shivers are signs,” she said with a laugh. “Unlucky right? Unlucky for me to be a mate of a mutt like you.”

The two others on my back growled. They didn’t like what they heard. The girl just insulted me by calling me a mutt. I am an alpha wolf, far from what she calls me.

I smiled seductively. “I don't think it's unlucky. I know I can make you purr in so many ways.”

She winced with my words, siguro ay hindi niya iyon nagustuhan. Mas lumapit pa ako sa kanya. She’s definitely not a she wolf. An alpha like me deserves the best mate, a strong she wolf that can be a potential female alpha wife.

On my case, she’s a human.

It’s a rare case.

Wolves rarely have human as their mate.

“I’ll purr if I will cut your heads off using my axe. You and your pack,” sagot niya at bahagyang ginalaw ang dalang palakol.

I just smiled at my mate. My mate is that fiery. And she likes cutting of wolves’ heads.

“Ano ang pangalan mo?” tanong ko sa kanya.

She played with her axe, spinning it again in circles. “Cattaleya.”

“Cattaleya, like flowers?” I blinked.

Tumango siya. “Cattaleya like flowers.”

I nodded before turning on my back. “Goodbye Cattaleya.”

“Mister Wolf?”

I turn around without saying a word again.

She stopped spinning her axe. That looks so deadly, but she’s so hot in doing so. “Ikaw? Anong pangalan mo?”

“Clan,” sagot ko. “Call me Clan.”

She frowned. “You don’t get the right to tell me what will I call you. Mister Wolf, I’ll call you dog. That’s it.”

I silently growled but I have to admit her fiery attitude turned me on. The shivers becoming evident, she’s certainly my mate. Tumalikod siya at naglakad patungo sa direksyon ng cabin ng mangkukulam.

“Goodbye Alpha Dog. Goodbye also to the other dogs with you,” she said and gracefully walked away with her axe on her shoulder.

#

Made some revisions and other stuff. Also, I have to go back from the beginning so the plot will connect 😅

ShinichiLaaaabs