The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

-Jaden-
The next morning, while we were driving to school – on time for once – I told Arch and Tilly about what Ryder told me last night. They weren't as convinced as our Beta was about the old worlds.
"Why would anyone come here?" Tilly asked in disbelief. "The population in here is like two hundred!"
"Plus two werewolf packs," Arch added.
"And if the stories are true, you'd think we would've already noticed if some ancient dude was strolling around town," Tilly continued.
"That's what Ryder said," I shrugged. "I'm more worried about Oliver. Maybe he is crazy..."
"That's more probable," Tilly sighed. "I have no personal experience about the bonds, but it makes better sense that he's just crazy and seeing things and you can feel it through your bond."
"Great," I sighed as well. "My mate is a crazy human boy."
"It could've been a warning," Arch said.
"What?" both Tilly and I asked, and I turned back to look at him.
"It's not just a werewolf thing. Humans can be diviners as well. Maybe he's one, and he can sense he's in danger," Arch spoke.
"I like that explanation better," Tilly said, and I agreed.
We were silent for a while, right until Tilly let out a short giggle.
"What are you laughing about?" I grunted.
"You said you're worried about Oliver," she smirked.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" I breathed out in frustration. "I thought we all agreed we don't want any mates!"
"That was when I thought you'd have a prissy little girl from another pack as your mate," Tilly said. "That would've ruined everything. But this – this I can approve."
"Yeah, I was worried about the same thing. A human mate may be more complicated as an idea, but he's harmless from what I can tell," Arch continued.
"More complicated?" I repeated. "Just a little complicated you say? You guys never stopped to think I'm required to have kids? Did you forget humans are not welcome in our territory, and I am not allowed to move out of it? Then there's that little rule that forbids us from turning humans. Oh, and let's not forget he already thinks he's crazy! What do you think happens when he finds out werewolves exist?"
"You're just making up excuses," Tilly said.
"Why isn't anyone listening to what I have to say?" I groaned. "I don't want him!"
"You're the one who's not listening!" Tilly suddenly snapped at me. "The Moon Goddess isn't forcing you into anything! She's simply trying to tell you that Oliver is suitable for you and you probably would fall for him without her help anyway! She's just trying to make sure you won't miss this chance!"
"And the human accepted you," Arch added. "He definitely thinks you could be a possible partner. Not everyone can have that. There's plenty of werewolves who know who their mate could be, but that person doesn't feel the same about them, so things could be worse."
"Besides, since he accepted you, he now feels whatever you're feeling. He is drawn to you, like you are drawn to him," Tilly said. "If you keep acting like you don't care, he's only getting more hurt."
"I'm not drawn to him," I muttered.
"Yeah, right. You just happen to go out for a run every night?" Tilly asked sharply.
I scoffed at her, and didn't reply.
"Be that way then," Tilly said just before we arrived at school. "But I think you should know that Arch and I don't mind if you accept him."
"You would accept a weak human as my mate?" I scoffed at her.
"I don't have to, because I don't think you would accept a weak human as your mate," she said. "Well, the person you really are wouldn't. I don't know about this sniveling little runt you've suddenly become."
"Ouch..." Arch chuckled quietly from the backseat. I glared at both of them, but neither showed any remorse. Then, I sighed and turned to look at the school building.
Oliver was there, somewhere.
I didn't want to think about what Tilly said earlier about mates and our Goddess. Her words still dropped by every now and then throughout the day. When we weren't tailing Oliver, we tried to guess what kind of old world would want to come in our town, and especially why. There was nothing here.
I wondered what Ryder meant when he said I may have pointed him in the right direction, and I practically tortured myself trying to guess what the promise he mentioned was. I never told Arch and Tilly about it, so I couldn't ask for their opinion. If my parents had made a promise to someone, it wasn't my place to tell anyone about it.
But I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with the orphanage. I literally pointed in that direction when I was talking with Ryder. That made absolutely zero sense, but it was the only clue I got. I just didn't know if I should try to find out what it was, or just leave it. Ryder said it would be my promise to keep one day, so it sounded like a deal or a pact, and I wasn't too interested in any of those right now.
But it had something to do with Oliver...
I stopped to look around. I was standing in the middle of the main hallway on the second floor, trying to catch Oliver's scent. I could feel him close by, but I didn't see him at first. Arch and Tilly were right behind me as always, waiting for me to make a move. I waited for a moment, until I could smell him somewhere behind a corner farther down the hallway.
I moved closer to the corner, and carefully peered around it. There he was, sitting on the floor away from other students, looking just as lonely as ever. He was watching a couple of guys fooling around at the other end of the hallway, and I could feel a hint of jealousy – his feelings, not mine.
"He wants friends," Tilly said quietly.
I retreated back behind the corner, so Oliver wouldn't spot me if he turned to look in my direction.
"There's nothing I can do about it," I said just as quietly, leaning against the wall.
I knew she wanted to say something, but this time she stayed quiet. She had always been more empathetic than the rest of us, and she got easily caught up in other people's emotions. I was sure that even now she could feel Oliver's loneliness in a different way than I did.
"Do you feel anything?" Arch asked me.
"No," I sighed. "He's alone."
"Not quite," Tilly said with a dark voice after peering around the corner.
I hurried to look at what she was seeing, and sure enough, I spotted that douchebag, Nick, at the other end of the hallway. He wasn't anywhere near Oliver, but he definitely had his eyes on him. Not in a good way. I watched as he exchanged a few words with his buddies, before he turned to look at Oliver again. I was getting ready to rip the guy to shreds, but suddenly, Oliver stood up and hurried in my direction.
"Shit," I muttered and retreated away from the corner, so he wouldn't see me. But just before he vanished from my sight, I saw Nick going after him. I wanted to hide from Oliver, but I had to protect him.
So I stopped and waited for a couple of seconds. Oliver emerged around the corner and ran straight into me. For a short second, I had time to be surprised about how tiny he really was. The top of his head barely reached my chin, and I wasn't remarkably tall either. Then, without looking up, he muttered his sorry and continued his way around us. I forced myself not to look after him, because only a few more seconds later, Nick ran into us as well.
"Sor–" Nick tried to speak. Not easy with my hand tightly around his throat.
"Hi," I said with a smile. His expression dropped all the way to Hell. "What's the hurry?"
He was gurgling something, his eyes jumping from me to my friends and back to me again. He was turning pale and blue at the same time. I had to be careful with my words, because I didn't want to draw any attention towards Oliver, since the poor guy had it rough enough as it was without people knowing he had something to do with us.
So, I just threw the guy across the hallway. It felt good hearing him hitting the wall with such a pleasant smack.
I tried to look as intimidating as possible, when I glared down at him. "This better be the last time I –" Nick got up on his knees and dashed to his friends as fast as he could without letting me finish.
"How rude can you be!" Tilly yelled after him.
I just rolled my eyes and turned to look behind us. I couldn't see or smell Oliver, but I knew he was still inside the school. The bell started ringing at that moment, so I turned to look at my friends. "Go to class so you won't get in trouble with Ryder," I told them quietly.
"Are you sure?" Tilly asked, and I nodded.
"Just go," I said again, before I started walking after Oliver.
It took me a while to find him. By the time I reached the first floor, the hallways were already empty. It was easier to find Oliver's scent, and soon I found him close to one of the exits. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees. He was hiding his face. He was scared and sad and just as miserable as always. I felt so sorry for him...
I wished I could've changed into a wolf, so I could go comfort him. But since I couldn't, I sat down on the floor behind the corner, so he wouldn't see me. Maybe it was enough if I was close to him.
I wished it was enough.