A/N
I do not know how this happened, but I reached 100 reads! Thanks a lot! (ノ￣ω￣)ノ I'm bouncing alone around the room, haha!!
I'll try to update in a faster pace, but work is keeping me busy, not to say I have a business trip from Monday on...
Just know that I very much appreciate it and that will keep upgrading/editing the chapters little by little. For instance, I FINALLY uploaded a cover! Hope you like it ;)
See you later and enjoy the chapter!
A/N end

---- Affair: A matter that is a particular person's concern or responsibility. ----

I watched the lying body, blood still gushing from it. I turned to my brother and the closed his eyes, dropping his head in defeat.

"Did I kill him?" My voice sounded weird, not like myself.

Max stood still for a couple of seconds and looked at me in the eyes, a single tear falling from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I could not stop you..."

"Nooooooo!" I jumped out of bed, screaming. I looked around in distress, searching for something that confirmed it was, once again, a dream.

I was in my room, surrounded by piles of books that had been increasing in the past 3 years. I placed a hand on my heart, closed my eyes, and concentrated on my breathing, trying to slow down the pumping machine in my chest.

3 years since the real incident. 3 years since Max stopped me from killing the heir to another pack. 3 years since I ruined completely the alliance... Thus, 3 years since I had been banned from any activity outside the pack.

Since my uncontrolled shift, I hadn't stop researching and studying about our kind. That day was also the last one I felt completely relaxed and not afraid of myself...

I brushed the sweat off my forehead and looked at the clock on the wall. Six in the morning.

I had planned to rest a little longer, but it would be impossible to catch some sleep anymore. I loosened my French braid and headed to the bathroom. I needed a cold shower before the morning training.

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Max and I made our way through the corridor, holding hands. Other students made space for us to pass with a mix of respect and fear reflected in their eyes.

After the incident, like people in my pack liked to call it, Max's and my image changed dramatically. He becoming a respected future Alpha, and me...

The news about my first shifting, followed by me going feral and nearly killing a wolf three years older than me, spread like a fire in a dry forest. All of the assistants to the Moon festival went back to their respective packs with word of a couple of strong twins, heirs to the Cockcrow pack, that were rather dangerous. One being a looney, another being able to control the first one.

That took an obvious toll on our diplomatic relations with other packs, but we had been working hard to fix them: father and Max increased the diplomatic visits and bargained our commercial deals and me not getting out of our boundaries. Not showing up was already a big help.

I rolled my eyes thinking about my possible life-long inside-pack grounding. The life I had always wanted.

We reached my locker and Max let go of my hand to fix his attention on the opposite wall. I was about to input the code in the door, but I ended up peeking to the object of sudden attention. They had already started with the advertisements of the Halloween ball. I rolled my eyes, focusing again on the lock.

"Excited about it?" he jumped a little, surprised by my question, and I could not help but chuckle. "You know you don't have to go with me. You can invite any other girl you fancy." I checked around and saw next to every girl ogling at Max with longing eyes. "They sure are hoping for an opportunity to ask you out..."

Max turned to me with a half-smile and arching his eyebrow. I could not help but mirror his grin.

"You know well enough you are the girl I fancy most, Rie."

"Ew!" I covered my mouth, faking a gag, and lifted my other hand between us as a barrier. "Max, that was seriously creepy. Save those cheesy lines for your mate..."

Max burst into laughter and pushed my hand away, surrounding me with his free arm into a bone-cracking hug.

"Ok, ok!" I gasped for some air while laughing with him. "You win! I will have to reject aaaaall of my invitations."

Like I had or would have any.

He awarded me with a dazzling smile and released me from his grip.

"You better do." He walked a couple of steps backwards and signed me good bye touching his forehead with his index finger before turning around. "See you in class!"

I grunted as a response and went back to my locker, grinning to myself. I had to admit, not all that came after the incident had been bad. After all, Max and I went back to spend a lot of time together.

At the beginning it was him worrying I would lose control again, so he asked me to join his advanced lessons and even sneaked some time to train together. After some time, we realized it wasn't likely to happen again but we kept the close distance. Even father assumed it was best for us to stick together so I would cause less trouble for him.

As for father, I had stopped being someone of importance from the moment I did not recover nor develop my abilities but he could not continue denying I was still a werewolf. Hence, part of the family. Also, I recovered a little of status within the manor and the pack in general, making me feel less of a weirdo and more of an outcast.

Besides, knowing my wolf was somewhere inside me, even if I could not communicate with her, was a huge reassuring fact for myself. I did not know how, but I was going to fix it. At some point, I was going to recover fully and I was focusing my time and energy on it. There was not much improvement in the past three years, but I had learned quite a lot about werewolves and I had yet a lot to discover.

I took out the books I needed for the classes and closed the locker door, motivated to give my best one day more.

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Classes had finished and the corridors were filled to the brim with over excited werewolves chatting about impending Halloween Ball.

I skimmed through the crowd, trying not to hear any of their conversations.  I had enough of it during the last weeks.  Plus, it just so happened to be on my brother's and my birthday.

Fireworks!

I definitely did not feel like turning 18 during another big celebration. It brought back unpleasant memories.

I supposed that was also one of the reasons why Max was so keen to go with me.

I made my way among the students, lost in my thoughts, when a familiar view pulled me out of them. A good-looking guy was leaning against the wall with a pensive expression, his arms crossed on his muscular chest, making most of the girls crack their necks to sneak a peek of him. I smiled to myself while getting closer to the new craze of the school: an omega with which girls would not mind having something more than just a fun time with.

How was it that both of my brothers had become such heart-throbs without me noticing? I had given up ages ago on the idea of keeping up with their growth, but there was no denying both of them had done a pretty good job at leaving me behind.

I opened my mouth to call him when he turned to face me and flashed me a killer smile. Kind of an infatuating version of the cute smile I had seen so many times. I was proud to see him surpassing whatever expectations people had of him.

I smiled back, taking the last steps to meet him.

"Hey Rie!" His voice cracked a little, making him blush hard and avert his gaze to his hands for a couple of seconds.

My lips curled upwards briefly, hoping at the same time he didn't see it. His voice was in the process of changing and he was pretty conscious about it. Mental note for good big sister goals: not laughing at things he cannot control or avoid next time.

"Hi Ken," I bumped his arm lightly, signaling towards my locker. "Any plans for the weekend?"

Kenneth looked at me with an arched eyebrow and a playful smile painted on his face that faded away instants after.

"I have no plans, Rie, but you sure do have one... " I rolled my eyes and let my head fall backwards, sighing hard. "Come on! You should be looking forward to it! It is your birthday!"

I gave the last steps to my locker looking at the ceiling. Still, I could hear the smile in his voice. Not wanting to get into the topic, I opened the locker and ignored him.

"Talking about it..." Kenneth leaned against the lockers behind my open door, waiting for me to close it, but I kept busy rearranging the stuff inside. "Who did you choose to go with?"

I snorted, leaving the rearranging midways and closing the door to throw a skeptical look at him.

"Choose?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow. He was going to say something but I lifted my hand and shook my head, hanging my backpack on my right shoulder. "You know very well I am going with Max, who, incidentally, happens to be the only one who invited me." I gestured towards the exit with my head and we started heading out.

"Max is a good option!" he smirked broadly, ignoring my last piece of information. "Indeed, it is the best, based on what there is around to choose from..."

I could not help but burst into laughter. He and Max were pretty mistrustful of other people approaching me. Especially since my shifting.

After being one of the little people that saw me in my shifted shape, rather than scared, Kenneth was apologetic. He kept repeating that he forced me to shift, which turned into me going rampant. I insisted it was ridiculous, but there was no way around in his stubborn head.

Ever since, he had become my second guardian, sticking to me whenever Max wasn't around. We didn't have any more "secret" trainings, but trainings tolerated by my father and everyone in the manor and that were sometimes supervised by Gamma Josh. Most likely because it was a way to have a watchful guard around without me complaining about it.

We stepped out of the building and I saw our Gamma- waiting next to one of my family's cars. I heard Ken exhale heavily and I glanced to him with an apologetic smile. He mirrored it with a resigned expression, ruffling his golden hair.

"Can you please help me with the backpack?" I nodded and he passed me his bag, hurrying behind the corner of the building.

I turned to Josh and signed him to wait a little more.

It didn't take very long for me to hear a low growl coming from where Ken had disappeared. I approached the source and turned the corner to find a very beautiful grey wolf with brown eyes. A smile spread in my face and I bent to pat his soft fur.

"As handsome as always..." I murmured, placing his backpack on the floor and grabbing the clothes he was holding in his mouth.

He grunted a little, letting the clothes go. I introduced them in the back pack and closed it, changing the shape of the braces. When I finished adapting them, I orbited towards Kenneth, that was sitting obediently behind me. I attached the backpack on his torso and patted his head, caressing him a little longer before standing up.

"There you go!" I stated, shaking off some dust from my knees.

He growled softly, pressing his forehead against my tight, and bolted towards the woods before I could say anything else. I saw his figure disappear between the bushes and rotated on my heels to the opposite direction. Gamma Josh had waited long enough.

"Riley." Josh opened the passenger door for me and I hopped on the car, seeing how he trotted to the driver's side and got inside. We buckled up and started the engine, heading home. "Ready for the weekend?"

I gawked at him, surprised by the question.

"Not really." I said after pondering a couple of seconds. "I am just glad I already know what I am going to wear..."

A/N

Another time jump! I know it might be a little annoying, but I want to follow her so you guys can understand her decisions and actions in the future.
Just in case you are a little lost, she and Max are turning 18 during the day of the ball, that is the 31st of October! =P
That makes Kenneth 16 y.o. Anyone interested on his birthday date? Hehe! I already decided it, and will play a role pretty soon... *wink wink*

Next update will be Wednesday if everything goes well! (Yeah, in the middle of my business trip lol)

And once again, thanks for reading. To all of you that decide to stick to my story, I am eternally grateful! 

Also, I will post some more pictures soon, to keep with the growing up (๑ゝڡ◕๑)

Love XXX