I had gotten a lot of homework done but a guilty feeling along with that longing, that tug at my heart weighed me down. The next morning when I sat down next to Flame and Griffin for homeroom they looked worried even though Flame did smile when he saw me he still looked worried. 

There was something very wrong. Griffin wasn't in his usual high spirits.

"What's wrong?" I asked Flame, my voice soft with concern.

He shook his head, "Nothing you need to worry about Victoria."

"Alright," I said not believing him. Something was wrong and I needed to find out what it was. But for now there wasn't much I could do. Under the table Flame held my hand, I looked at him and blushed. So did he. It was our little secret, together.

"Seriously what is going on with you guys?" Griffin asked with an inpatient tone.

"Nothing," Flame growled.

I kind of felt sorry for Flame having to put up with Griffin all the time. Griffin can be very annoying and nosy. I wish he didn't always ask such probing questions over and over. Flame looked over at me and I must have had an angry look on my face because he squeezed my hand and whispered, "calm down Victoria."

I smiled at him.

***

I walked out of the classroom tired after a hard lesson of maths with Mr Pan he seemed to want to distract me from this bizarre nature with stupidly difficult equations. My mind was still reeling when Griffin ran up to me and hugged me from behind. 

I let out a small shriek and dropped all of my books on the ground. Griffin started laughing.

"Griffin!" I shouted, "Don't scare me like that!"

He let me go, "sorry I was just having a little fun," he laughed.

"That is not fun," I told him as I turned around to glare at him. He gave me a huge grin and I rolled my eyes. 

"You're an idiot," I growled. He just smiled back and started picking up my books. I snatched my books out of his hands and marched down the hallway to Flame's locker. Griffin trailling behind me, likely still with that big grin on his face. 

Flame punched Griffin on the head after I told him what Griffin had done to me. "You idiot!" he yelled at Griffin.

I was a little taken aback by Griffin's punishment but his goofy smile returned almost instantly.

"I'm sorry Flame," Griffin said rubbing his head.

"Don't apologise to me apologise to Victoria," Flame growled.

"Sorry Victoria," Griffin told me.

"It's ok," I replied still feeling kind of bad that Griffin got punched because of me. Though I supposed that could be normal for werewolves. I still had a lot to learn about them.

"And I don't want to hear of you ever touching Victoria like that again," Flame growled.

"Over-protective much?" Griffin mumbled.

Red flashed in Flame's eyes and he grabbed Griffin collar and slammed him into the lockers making a big dent, "Don't you ever touch her again, got it!"

Now I was scared was Flame really going to attack Griffin just because he startled me? But I was frozen I couldn't do anything but watch to my horror.

"Ok, ok I won't touch her just put me down!" Griffin yelled while struggling against Flame's strength. Flame let Griffin's collar go and he dropped to the floor rubbing his throat uncomfortably. I looked at him horrified.

 "Victoria," Flame said softly when he saw my scared face. 

"Please don't hurt Griffin," I cried, I could feel tears welling up in the corners of my eyes.

"Don't worry I'm not really that hurt," Griffin said as he stood up and he smiled at me to make sure I believed him but I didn't. I had seen what Flame could do. What he had done to Frank so easily. Though I had never felt bad for Frank because he deserved what he got for making my life unbearable for so long but Griffin was different. Sure he was annoying but he was also kind and treated me with respect, most of the time. I felt so bad for telling Flame what happened but how was I to know it would turn out this way. 

One of those tears made their way down my face.

Flame hugged me and before I could say anything he whispered to me, "I'm sorry I scared you Victoria I just don't want anything to happen to you."

Slowly I started to calm down and the fear left me as his warmth flooded into me. I whispered back, "Please don't hurt Griffin he was just trying to have a little fun."

"You're only human we've got to be more careful with you, you know I don't want anything to happen to you or anyone messing with you," he told me then let me go. I saw Griffin, he was staring at us.

"Oh I get it now you two are dating," he exclaimed. 

I blushed and Flame sighed, "you're a bit slow."

***

Now that Griffin knew that Flame and I were together he gave us a little more space. Honestly I don't know why we didn't tell him earlier. Maybe Flame thought he would be really annoying about it be he seemed to be really respectful.

I was stuffing my bag full of books when Flame and Griffin came up behind me.

"We've got to go home quickly alpha's orders," Griffin said.

 I turned around and smiled at them, "Ok bye then, I'll see you tomorrow."

Flame hugged me then kissed me on the cheek, "sure we will."

I smiled at him and he let go. Griffin was staring at us with a massive grin on his face, "You two are actually pretty cute together."

I blushed and so did Flame. It was still so new to think of us together, but it felt right. 

"Ok let's go," Flame said as he walked off with Griffin still blushing, trying to hide his face.

I watched them walk out of the building and sighed wishing for school days to be longer. I pulled my heavy bag out of my locker and slung it onto my back. I felt like I was going to collapse under it's weight. Flame is lucky with his super wolf strength. I walked down the hall way and was about to open the door when it opened itself and Mr Pan walked through it. I always seemed to bump into him without Flame. One of the reasons I couldn't really ask the werewolves what they thought of him. 

"Hello Victoria," he smiled.

"Hello Mr Pan," I said politely, not wanting to hear his cryptic messages.

He walked past me seeming to understand my body langauage but not quite because he softly whispered, "your world's about to change."

I turned around to ask what he was talking about but he was gone. 

Someone so slow had just turned into thin air. 

There was something very off about him and if his ramblings meant anything maybe I would find out soon. It scared me a little but I was also relieved that he might finally stop with the stalking and the whispering. Though I doubted Mr Pan meant me any harm even if he did I had Flame to protect me.

***

When I woke the next day I was excited. Butterflies filled my stomach and I was full of energy as soon as I opened my eyes. Just the thought of seeing Flame gave me so much energy. I was smiling as I walked around the house getting ready, my mum saw me smiling as I was eating breakfast.

"Happy to go to school are we Victoria?" she asked, smiling at me.

I nodded and blushed. "You're so cute my little flower," she laughed and walked off.

 I quickly finished my breakfast and hurried up stairs to my room. Today I felt like dressing up a little prettier for Flame. I pulled out a pink dress with lacy black hems. Perfect. I put it on but I was a little cold. I might need a little jacket or something. In my draw I found a cute little lacy black cardigan with three-quarter selves. I put it on and looked in the mirror, I looked so cute and feminine. My purple eyes didn't even look that bad today, they almost complimented the pastel pink. I smiled, I hope Flame likes this look.

***

I walked into home room feeling good about myself but the seats that Griffin and Flame would usually be sitting in were empty. I knew they rarely came to school early but still I could feel my heart yearning for Flame, where were they?

I sat down in my seat I noticed a lot of people pointing to me and whispering. I ignored them and looked out the window into the hallway waiting to see Flame's orange hair. They could say whatever they liked, this wasn't for them.

The bell went and it was time to move to first period but Flame and Griffin still hadn't come yet. They were very late today and I started to worry, where were they?

I gathered my books and left the classroom. I had maths first with Mr Pan I sighed and looked down the hall for a glimpse of Flame's orange hair but I could find none. Someone bouncing a basketball was the only orange in the sea of gloomy winter clothes.

My heart falling walked to my maths classroom and sat down in my usual seat. I sighed and hoped that at least Mr Pan would throw me another round of complicated equations, that would distract me from missing Flame.

As I sat through the lesson I came to realise how reliant I had become on seeing Flame in the morning for homeroom. How much joy it had given me. Everything seemed so gloomy without him and I dreaded encountering Frank.

After the lesson as I was gathering my book Mr Pan walked over to me, "Hello Victoria you look very nice today."

"Hello Mr Pan," I replied glumly.

He was the last person I wanted to see on a day without Flame. But of course in Flame's absence he could thrive. His usual smiled faded as he saw my unhappy state.

 "Oh you must be sad about your wolf boyfriend, but don't worry he will be there when you need him," Mr Pan told me and walked off.

And as always I was left confused.

The video is of the song I was listening to when I was writing it it's a pretty beautiful song.

Published - 23/3/2014

Edit 1 - 7/9/2015

Edit 2 - 21/8/2020