Chapter Two

"I had this conversation with my mom and we got to talk about Julian. I don't know how long we can keep up with whatever life that Carlos is providing us with. My mom is excited that I am turning eighteen very soon. How do I tell her that I have transformed since I was fourteen? There is nothing to transforming. How do I tell my own mother that I have control over how and when I transform? How do I tell her that I am different?" He asked his friend.

"You don't. Transform when you turn eighteen. Transform at the first full moon and no, do not jump into your wolf form they way you do when we are about to race. That would give her questions. Transform the regular way. Act like you are in pain until you are a full wolf. I still think that there is something that your parents are not telling you. I don't think it is safe or wise even to keep any of this to yourself any longer. You have to talk to your mom about it at some point" Bennie said to him.

"How do you want me to tell her that my friend and I were messing with dark magic and I was affected by it?" Alexander asked him.

"I don't think it is black magic. If you were affected, why wasn't I affected too? I was doing some reading and..."

"And here you go again. What crazy theory did you come up with this time?" Alexander asked him.

"It is not crazy and maybe if you just listened, you might actually get to find out what the hell is wrong with you!" Bennie said to him

"Alright.You have fifteen minutes before coach gets here. Enlighten me on what is wrong  with me" he said with a smile.

"As I was saying, I did some reading and I came across something called the burning flame pack in one of the books in the library. I decided to read some more on that and I abandoned the moon curse for..."

"You abandoned our group project that is due in three days?" Alexander said with surprise.

"Hold on, scold me later. This is more important than whatever school presentation we can possibly have. The burning flame pack are the rarest and strongest set of wolves to ever walk the surface of the earth. They were unique. The bright red eyes, the early transformation, the super speed. They are all qualities of a burning wolf. The only thing is you have not majestically walked out of a burning flame after transformation" Bennie said to him.

"And that is because I am not one of them. I don't even have super speed. Yes, I am fast but I don't have super speed and everybody knows that the Burning flame wolf is a myth. They might have existed before but not anymore. I think the black magic might have affected you in a different way" Alexander said to him.

"What way?" Bennie asked him.

"You are crazy. I mean, you are going bonkers. The magic made you lose your sanity and the moon knows what else you lost that day" Alexander said, giggling.

"I am serious. What the hell is wrong with you?" Bennie asked him.

"I know that you are looking out for me but I don't believe in fairy tales. I just want to get this over with and move on from it. No more fairy tale talk. We have a presentation that is due in a couple of days and I really need you to focus on that and let me handle this myself" Alexander said to him.

Bennie sighed because he knew that Alexander wasn't listening to him. Their coach came and they got down to practice. After the practice, Alex headed home immediately. He didn't want his mom to worry about him and he had a presentation to prepare for. He got in, had a quick shower and got down to his books. When he was done reading, he decided to take a nap. A nap was something he wouldn't take because of the visions that came with it. He closed his eyes and he was in another world entirely. He stood outside and in front of him stood a house that kept burning. He could hear screams from inside of the house but he was glued to where he was standing. He wanted to help but he couldn't. He tried to scream for help but he was on a lonely road and from what he could tell, there was nobody on the road. He looked around and saw a woman waking down the road. She stopped when she got to him.

"There are people in the house. Help them" Alexander said to her.

All the woman did was stare at him. He wondered if she was deaf because she showed no sign to respond to what he was saying. He looked at her and repeated what he said earlier but she still stared at him. Alexander looked at her in the eyes and saw that her eyes held no life but for some reasons, he felt like he knew her. She turned around to continue her journey when Alexander held her hand in anger.

"I said that there is somebody in that house that is on fire and I can't move so you either help me move so I can help them out or you help them out yourself" Alexander said to her.

She looked at him and her eyes were bright red. He let her go immediately but she didn't move an inch from where she was. For some reasons, he felt connected to her. A strong wind blew past and Alexander closed his eyes to protect them from the sand that blew with the wind. When it stopped, the woman was gone and the house had stopped burning. All that was left of the house was were just ashes. His feet moved and he walked towards the house. He found a small hole in the flooring of the house. The house was burned to ashes but the floor was made of wood. Why wasn't it consumed by the fire? He touched the hole and the floor creaked. He knew that it wasn't just a normal floor. He opened it and saw a basket there. He could hear the heartbeat of a baby. He was going to open the basket when he heard footsteps. He jumped into his wolf form and ran off. he kept running until he got lost and that was when he woke up. He found himself naked with pieces of shredded clothes littered all over his bed. A knock came on the door.

"Don't come in!" he screamed.

"Okay. Mom asked me to call you down for dinner" she said.

He sighed. That was his sister, Arielle.

"I would be down in five minutes, thanks" he said as he rubbed his forehead.

He looked at his clothes, what was left of it. His dreams were starting to affect him in the physical world. That means he must have transformed in the physical world when he transformed in his dreams. He pulled out his phone from his bag and dropped a text for Bennie.

"We need to talk. How soon can you get here?" He texted.

"It is almost time for bed. I don't even think you should be on your phone right now" Bennie replied immediately.

"It is important and you don't even sleep until midnight so what the hell are you talking about?" Alexander texted back.

"I can't see you tonight but I will, tomorrow or Monday. Whatever it is, I am sure that it can wait" Bennie texted back.

"Alexander!!!" he heard his mom call from the living room.

"I would see you on Monday" Alexander said out of frustration.

He got up from his bed and got dressed before heading down to the dining room. He got there and he saw the frown on his mom's face. He apologized and sat down. Dinner was unusually silent and he didn't know why. He looked at his mom from time to time and he could tell that she had a lot on her mind. If Bennie was right then he would have lost of questions. He looked at her again and she looked at him. If he was a burning flame wolf then she was obviously not his biological mother. He had seen her in her wolf form thousands of times and she was an ordinary wolf, so was his father. If they were not his parents, who were his biological parents? Something was not adding up. He sighed and he rubbed his forehead.

"Are you okay?" his mom asked him.

"Yeah, I am. I just have a lot on my mind. I have a presentation on Tuesday and I am not ready for it. I would probably have to stay up all night to read for it but it is nothing I can't handle" he said to his mom.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Yeah, totally" he said to her.

He hated lying to his mom but how was he going to tell her that he had listened to Bennie and he thinks  that he is from the burning flame pack? They weren't even a pack. They were a family of wolves that were supposed to be a myth so why was he one of them? If he was from that family, who were these people that he stayed with? Who were his real family? Who was his mom? All these questions ran through his mind but he had one question that stood out in his head. Who was the woman in his dream? Why was she walking past that lonely road? why did he feel like he knew her from somewhere? Why did he feel a connection to her? Why did her eyes glow like his did when he was upset? Alexander could tell that he had made her upset and that was why she had reacted that way. That was why she had stared at him with her eyes glowing.

"Alex?" his sister called.

“Yeah?” he said as she looked at him.

“Mom has been talking to you” she said to him.

He looked at his mom and she looked back at him. He could see the fear and worry in her eyes. Why was she so scared? Did she know about it? Was she aware that he wasn’t her child? He didn’t know what to say to her. He knew that his mom wasn’t going to lie to him, not now, not ever. He sighed and he looked at her.

“I am sorry, mom. I just have a lot on my mind. I would be fine after the presentation is over. What were you saying?” he asked her.

“I was saying that your father wouldn’t be home until next week. He would be back before your birthday, hopefully. He called to apologize this evening after you left for training. Are you sure that you are good? You keep zoning out on me” she said to him.

“I am fine, mom! I just need need some time to process things. I would give dad a call before I sleep or tomorrow morning” he said to his mom.

“Alright, if you say so. You know that you can talk to me if anything is bothering you, right?” she said to him

“I know mom and I would let you know if anything becomes to heavy for me to handle but I think you should focus on Arielle for now. She is just eleven and she has access to the internet. You should really monitor what she watches because she already started cussing and she is just eleven! I don’t even think she should have a phone” Alexander said as he turned to look at his sister who already has a frown on her face.