Chapter 5 : A New Friend

Eleonore’s POV

Once? Happenstance. I could live with that. Survived worse, was paranoid from less. Twice? Time to PANIC.

The moment the werewolf in front of me faltered and got distracted, I booked it out of there like killing me in the library was his modus operandi.

Not that he would’ve, looking back on it, seeing as a murder like that would’ve been as easy to figure out as a game of Clue, but still. The panic was in charge after that.

Not one werewolf but two seemed interested in me, from an accident. It felt so unfair that a moment of distraction could wreck my campus life but here we were.

I wondered if I would have to look over my shoulder now, looking out for gold eyes and anything else that was supernatural that I wasn’t supposed to be involved in.

That was the RULE. The lines I had to stay in to have what I wanted, and they were severely messing up the scant few opportunities I DID have under my father’s rule.

I had managed to get back to my dorm after escaping with no one the wiser to what had just happened, and hopefully, it’d stay that way.

But I holed up in my dorm and was trying to convince myself that what happened was just a fluke and that I’d be fine with…no results, sadly.

The werewolf population wasn’t that big, there shouldn’t be that many on campus, but it was just my luck that I ran into two. Two who were related and who were apparently holding a grudge for the perceived slight.

Maybe this was why my father didn’t want me involved with the supernatural, the stress just wasn’t worth it…

Haha! Yeah, right, like he cared that much. No, it was something else, but my father wasn’t the problem at the moment, they were.

Two werewolves, suddenly interested in me for no apparent reason at all, and I couldn’t even begin to parse out why.

…but I knew someone who might.

I was rather reluctant to call for the sole reason that I knew they were busy. Far too busy for something that felt so minor in comparison to the juggling act they had to do, but they’d want to know and I… there was no one else I could talk to about this.

I pulled out my phone, staring at it for some time before giving in and shooting a text.

Ellie: Hey, Thomas, can I ask you a question about werewolves?

Moments after I sent the text my phone started to ring. I—should’ve expected that, really, and quickly picked up so I didn’t keep him waiting.

“Hi, Thomas.”

“Ellie, really, the first thing you text me is to ask about werewolves? You know it wouldn’t be a bother to text and talk about non serious matters.” Despite the words, his tone was soft.

It was so good to hear his voice that I almost cried. I missed him, I really did, but Father had been working him to the bone ever since it was agreed upon that I’d go to university.

“It’s… not too serious.”

“Come now, you wouldn’t have asked me if it wasn’t. Now, what happened?”

“I bumped into someone.”

“Mhm, and?”

“They were a werewolf.”

“Yes, continue?”

“I ran away as fast as I could to avoid trouble.”

“Yes, a valid response with what Father’s threatened.”

“Then his brother cornered me in a library to ask what I did to him, and both their eyes flashed gold and I think they have a grudge?”

“…Hold on.”

“Yes?”

“You bumped into him by accident once, and apologized, so his brother corners you in the library to accuse you of something you’ve never done?”

“Yes, I fear I’ve caught the wrong sort of attention despite my efforts.”

“Eleonore, you bumped into someone and think they hold a grudge against you—for what, not apologizing enough?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid,” I almost pouted. “But his brother came after me, so surely this doesn’t really feel like something that’s been swept under the rug.”

“And you said their eyes flashed gold?”

“Yeah, after they touched me.”

“They WHAT?”

“Innocently, not like that. When I was falling—and when I was in the library.” I decided I would not tell Thomas about Mr. Werewolf’s brother grabbing my chin and making me feel faint, that wasn’t relevant to the story.

“Strange, usually when their eyes glow like that it’s either for displays of aggression, intimidation, a lack of control, or…”

“Or what?”

“They’ve met their mate.”

…Alright, maybe it was sort of potentially relevant.

“I—no—that’s not possible. I mean, I’m not the expert on the supernatural but they’d be a bit less confrontational if I was their mate, don’t you think?!”

“I agree with you, but interest like that without reason, only really has one reason.”

“I can’t be their mate—his mate—urgh, whatever, I can’t be their mate, to either of them, I didn’t feel anything.”

Fated mates felt something. A connection of some kind, a sudden shift, I knew that much. I read enough books and ones written by supernatural figures to have an idea of what it was like and what it meant.

Partially. Sort of… kind of. I knew SOME things at least! And I hadn’t felt the spark… even if the two had been very handsome.

Thomas hummed, he was thinking about something but didn’t hint at what it was.

“I’ll look into it.”

“You don’t have to…”

“No, no, I will. This is your safety we’re talking about and if you’re being bothered by werewolves, I want to make sure it’s not going to be a reoccurring thing. Just… do your best to stay away from them. They shouldn’t want any trouble either, and as long as you’re in a populated area, they won’t try anything.”

“Yeah—I—okay. I’ll do that.” There wasn’t really much else I could do in this situation but persevere.

If I said something, I knew Thomas would come all the way here to figure something out, that he’d send out his people to protect me but Father would know, and then he’d be mad at Thomas and I was NOT setting him on Thomas just because I was a little insecure and confused about what was going on.

I’d be fine, as long as I was careful, nothing would go wrong, the werewolves would leave me alone, and I’d still be attending university and not wasting Thomas’s efforts.

“Thank you, Thomas, and I’m sorry for giving you more work.”

“It’s fine, Ellie, besides, I could use the break. I still have a bit of time before my next meeting, why don’t you tell me how your classes have been going?”

“Well… in architecture, they gave us stencils to use to practice writing letters.”

“Really? Huh, didn’t know they did that.”

“Yeah, and despite that, mine still look nothing like Mother’s!”

“Haha! She had a few good years on you, Ellie, with a bit of practice, you’ll get to where she was in no time.”

“I hope so, it’s—amazing to be here.”

We talked for only twenty minutes before Thomas had to go, but I felt lighter and more secure after talking to him.

Thomas was right, I was probably overthinking the situation and worrying too much about it. Public spaces and distance, I reminded myself. That would be enough to keep the problem from getting any bigger.

And it worked. The next few days, as I attended my courses and ate meals in the caf, the two werewolves didn’t appear again.

I saw them from time to time in the corner of my vision, but they were off doing their own thing, and it loosened some of the tension I’d been carrying around.

It had just been a misunderstanding. Mr. Werewolf’s brother was just protective and had been worried, that had to be it. With everything cleared up, and me staying out of the way, my university life was back on track.

“Oh, hey, is that the coursework for Introductions to Architecture and Design? I was thinking about taking that next semester. What’s the class like?”

I looked up from my work, I had taken a seat at one of the tables in the library, a fairly public area. Despite what happened with Mr. Werewolf’s brother, it was a good place to study and as long as I didn’t go in the off hours, it’d be hard to corner me again.

The person who had spoken was a guy with golden blond curls cut close to his ears and bright blue eyes. He had a cheerful, curious smile on his face.

“Hello, it’s a bit different from what I imagined. We’re doing less hands-on work than I expected, but the basics are fascinating as well. We’ll be working on blueprints a bit later in the semester and building dioramas near the end.”

“Ahaha! Sorry, got a bit ahead of myself there. I’m Gael.”

“Eleonore.”

“That looks like a lot of coursework for the first week though.”

“Maybe a little bit, but I don’t mind. It’s fascinating to me. I think some of my classmates didn’t know what they were signing up for and weren’t expecting the amount of work we have.”

“I’m starting to think I don’t know what I might be signing up for. If you have some time, can I ask a few more questions about the coursework?”

Well… it wasn’t as if I had anywhere I needed to be. I had already finished all my classes and most of my homework was finished, I was just studying.

“Sure, I don’t mind.” I hadn’t managed to talk to my classmates that much, they were busy with their other courses, and we hadn’t had any partner projects just yet, so it’d be… nice to talk to someone who seemed interested. “What would you like to know?”

Gael was… bright. I wasn’t quite sure how else to describe it. Handsome and charming, he kept the conversation going so easily and told jokes that had me laughing so much I feared the librarians would come to scold us.

He… he reminded me of what I was like before my mother passed, before it was just me and Thomas trapped with our father.

I used to love people and was so exuberant about things that it felt like nothing in the world could bring me down but then I—things changed.

To me, Gael was melancholic in a way, familiar. Maybe that’s why it felt so easy to get along with him.

“Oh, wow, it is late.” Gael realized, checking his phone, and I peered over his shoulder, surprised. It was late in the evening and the caf was going to close soon. I hadn’t realized we’d been talking for so long. If I didn’t hurry over I was going to miss out on a hot meal and be stuck with nothing but water and a granola bar for dinner.

“If I don’t hurry back, my roommates are going to eat everything and I don’t think I want to start the college diet of microwave meals and beer snacks just yet.”

“Haha! No, I don’t think anyone needs that,” I said, amused.

“Hey, do you want to exchange numbers? It’s been fun talking to you and I feel like we’ve really bonded over Greek columns, not everyone has the taste to enjoy the simplicity of an ionic column” he said almost teasingly, and I couldn’t help but laugh and in no time at all I was agreeing.

Having a friend or two while I was here wouldn’t hurt…right?

“Here’s my phone, add in your number.”

I took his phone, our fingers brushing and added in my number, sending a text to my own phone and feeling strangely giddy. It had been a while since I had a friend and while it hadn’t been a big weight on my shoulders, I had believed there was a possibility I wouldn’t make any friends, but I was glad to be proven wrong.

“Text me later, okay?”

“Alright,” I agreed, watching Gael rush out. I supposed it was getting late, and I was starting to get hungry too, so I packed up my bags and headed to the caf, debating on what my first text should be to my new friend.