Part Wolf - Chapter 116 Chapter 115

“Stop it. You look more suspicious like that.” Agatha pleaded.

“Fine,” Elize said grudgingly.

“I heard that Runebreaker’s class would be taken by headmaster Lang Fu Shen today.” The witch said, hoping to distract her friend.

“Great.” Elize scoffed. “As if getting stared at all day was not enough.”

Although Headmaster Fu Shen had not done anything to her, the fact that he was Zack’s uncle made her uncomfortable around that man. According to her observation, there was not a single sane person in his family, except maybe for Zack himself.

“I don’t think that it is what you think it is,” Agatha said, suddenly slowing down.

“What else could it be?” Elize said, rolling her eyes. Lowering her voice, she continued, “I’m sure the news would have spread by now. Can’t you see the hatred in their eyes?”

Elize pointed towards the animous stares that she was getting from the students in the corridor, trying to prove her point.

“No, Elize. Look,” The witch said, turning her towards the crowd in front of the school notice board.

Elize’s eyes widened in shock as her eyes landed on the massive poster that took up the entire space of the board. On top of it was written, “Elize turns eighteen!” in big, bold letters. It was an invitation to a birthday party organized by none other than a certain prince. The idiot had the audacity to announce an event in her name before consulting with her about it first- she thought to herself as her hands clenched into fists. A set of invites wrapped in silk ribbon, and what looked like chocolate bars, were placed on a decorated table in front of the board.

“What the-” Elize swore under her breath. She turned to Agatha with an accusatory look. “Was it you who told him?” She asked with narrowed eyes.

Agatha quickly shook her head, denying the accusation. “Swear on my magic -I did no such thing.” She said, taking a wary step backward.

“No wonder they all are looking at me like this! This is worse than murder.” She said, quickly turning around. She couldn’t help but panic. “What if they think that we have something going on between us? I don’t want to die in the hands of jealous girls, Agatha.”

Agatha gave her an awkward smile. “What are you going to do about this?” She asked warily.

She knew that Agatha was expecting her to storm into the Vice Principal’s office and demand an explanation. Of course, it only meant that even Lloyd would be expecting the same of her. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting a response from her. She could just ignore it, she thought to herself smugly.

“Nothing. Let’s just go to class.” Elize said with a smirk.

By the time that they had reached the class, headmaster Fu Shen had already started teaching. The girls sneaked inside the room, tiptoeing across the walkway, and slid into their seats, hoping that the teacher hadn’t noticed. At least his eyes were on the blackboard as he wrote something down.

“Where were you guys?” Legolas asked with a pout.

Elize shook her head. Leaning close to him, she explained, “It was hard, escaping from those crazy girls. You won’t believe what I-”

“Ahhh, the birthday invitation.” Legolas interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Oh, you saw it,” Elize said awkwardly, suddenly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re so cruel, Elize.” Legolas whined, “You call me your best friend, and yet you didn’t tell me that it’s your birthday today.”

“That’s because I am her best friend, and you’re not.” Agatha interrupted with a smirk, “I knew it. I even wished her when she woke up today.” She said proudly.

“No, you’re not. I am.” Legolas protested, glaring at the blonde witch.

“No, I am,” Agatha said, shaking her head.

Elize giggled, seeing her friends squabble. But as usual, when the three were together, they forgot their surroundings.

“You three at the back. Please stay quiet.” Fu Shen’s warning suddenly echoed in the room.

The group instantly quieted down, smiling awkwardly at the rest of the class who now had their eyes on them.

“Sorry, sir,” Agatha replied awkwardly.

Elize sat straight, keeping her eyes on the podium. She definitely didn’t want any more trouble today, she thought to herself. She cocked her to the side curiously as she read what was written on the blackboard behind the headmaster.

“Now, back to what I was saying.” Fu Shen said, resuming his class, “The behavior of wolves can change from a person to another. Most people experience their wolves as a second entity living within them while a few might not experience this at all. This is nothing but a power play between two sides of a werewolf’s personality.” He paused as his gaze once again turned towards her.

Elize looked around in panic. She sighed in relief as she realized that he was looking at someone behind her. One of her classmates from her wolf training session had raised her hand.

“Yes, you in the back.” Fu Shen said, acknowledging the girl.

“Are you saying that the wolf within us and the human side of us are not two, but a single person?” The girl asked, curiously.

Elize turned back to the headmaster. A good question indeed. She had been wondering about that for quite some time now. Although she remembered her wolf only took control of her tongue once and never spoke to her before her transformation, she was curious as to why she couldn’t hear her wolf after her shift. Although she didn’t know how the relationship between a person and their wolf worked, she was quite sure that it was not normal for her not to hear anything at all.

“Exactly.” Fu Shen said, nodding. “Werewolves, like all other supernatural creatures, are not human- not even partially. So although you might look human for most of the time, you’re essentially a wolf who can take on a human appearance rather than the other way around. Usually, because one’s animal instincts overweigh the learned aspects of their human behavior, these instincts can take on the form of a second personality during extreme circumstances. Can anyone think of such an extreme circumstance?” He asked, looking around the class expectantly.

“Meeting one’s mate!” Someone shouted excitedly from the front row.

The whole class broke out laughing at the enthusiasm in the answer. Elize couldn’t help but smile at it. She blushed as she remembered how her wolf had pleaded Zack’s wolf to bite her on the night she got her mark.

“A good example.” The headmaster replied with a smile. “Wolves are possessive of their mates. So when somebody resists that pull, the wolf instinct within the person will forcibly overpower their learned behaviors. One would even feel like the wolf within them is talking to you, or even talking for you. This is an instance of internal split personality that is quite normal among wolves. Although it usually is harmless as it is, sometimes such tendencies can drive people to the edge of insanity too.”

Elize was shocked, taking in all of the information. That was the first time that someone had explained it in such a way. Now that she thought about it, it kind of made sense. But she never knew that it was this dangerous. For once, she was glad that she couldn’t hear her wolf. She was quite sure that the two sides of her would have quarreled with each other so much that it probably would have driven her insane too. For the most part, she wasn’t fond of the memories of her other side, trying to claw itself to the surface of her body. She was quite happy the way it was, she just had to learn to control her wolf tendencies now.

“Is there no way to stop it?” The girl from her class asked again, looking concerned.

“Of course. Possession of certain magical objects or even certain potions can help silence the split personality inside you. Thereafter, your control over your wolf will depend on the level of your training and experience.” Fu Shen replied with a reassuring smile.

Possession of magical objects huh? Was her wolf silent because of her incident with the Dam Sehlah? Or was it because she agreed on a deal with the Tohar Sehlah? Elize thought, unable to find an answer to it.

“Are there any more questions? If not, you can all disperse for lunch.” The headmaster said, putting his materials into a folder.

“Psst,” Legolas called, making the girls turn towards him. “Where do you guys want to eat from today? I made pasta today.”

Elize was going to reply when there was a knock on the door behind the podium. The whole class turned towards the direction, curious as to who it was. The headmaster quickly walked up to the door and opened it. Murmurs arose as one by one, the students spotted a bunch of tiny brownies standing outside the door, carrying a huge red box on their head.

“What is it?” Fu Shen asked, scrunching his brows in scrutiny.

“Delivery for one Miss Elize Gurg from Prince Irving.” One of the brownies announced, its high pitched sound echoing through the large hall.

Elize’s mouth dropped in shock simultaneously as Fu Shen turned towards her with a disappointed expression.

“Go on.” The headmaster said, ushering the little creatures in, while hastily getting out of the class.

“What now?” Elize complained, with a defeated sigh.

She cried internally as the whole class turned their hostile attention onto her. The brownies hopped uniformly from step to step until they reached her seat.

“I’m so jealous right now.”

“Why does he shower her with so much attention?”

“I wish I was her!”

She heard the murmurs grow around her, as everyone leaned in to get a glance at what was being delivered. The brownies placed the box next to her feet and stepped back.

“Here you go, miss.” One of the brownies said sweetly.

“Thank you, everyone.” She replied to the little creatures, putting on an awkward smile.

She quickly picked up the box and opened it. A pale blue card with golden flowers embossed on it lay on top of something which was covered in layers of soft tissue paper. She picked up the card and read its neatly written contents.

Dearest little wolf,

Happy eighteen. I guess you have seen the notice by now. Since I haven’t received any reaction yet from you, I was getting a little nervous. I hope you won’t skip your own birthday party. You’re the precious little pet of this humble dragon after all. Here’s a little something from me that will come in handy for tonight. I know you’ll look absolutely gorgeous in it.

Forever your favorite,

Lloyd Irving.

Elize couldn’t help but smile at the obvious effort at coaxing. The man was good at it, she had to give him at least that much, she thought to herself.

“Woah!” Agatha exclaimed as she took out a delicate ivory dress from the box.

There were gasps of surprise as the whole class got a glimpse of the fine stone and embroidery work on the dress.

Elize chuckled, shaking her head. “He’s so cliche.” She said, looking at the beautiful piece of work in front of her.