Learning to live... Again

Chapter two. It's a shorter one as I haven't had the time or the will to actually edit this one.

Shaking off the memories Dante sighed and got out of bed walking silently across the floor and into the bathroom, grabbing a random assortment of clothes as he went. He closed the door behind him and turned on the water as hot as it could go, waiting for the room to fill with steam. He ran a hand over his head ruffling his damp black hair, sighing as he stepped into the shower. He leaned against the back of the shower, biting off a frustrated groan. Several minutes passed, and Dante had almost successfully managed to doze off when he heard a pounding from outside on the bathroom door. “Dante! Hurry your a*s up you aren’t the only one who has to get ready!”

Dante contemplated ignoring the voice, but decided against it knowing that it would only cause an even more annoying altercation later. He stepped into the shower throwing on his jeans and tossing his towel over his shoulder. He opened the door and nearly got hit as an irritated fist prepared to pound on the door again. He stepped back to avoid the blow, nearly slipping on the wet floor, catching himself on the edge of the sink. Glaring at the small figure of his aggressor Dante crossed his arms, regarding the figure. Tiny at only a hair over five feet, with shoulder length blonde hair and a graceful gymnast’s body Laura was by far the most intimidating person Dante ever met who was smaller than he. “Well it’s about damn time,” She growled. “You take way too long with your showers.”

            “Patience is a virtue, Laura.” Dante said quietly.

She laughed and hurried him out, pausing before she closed the door. “So how do you like our school Dante?” She asked winking before closing the door.

Dante made a noise of disparagement. “What a b***h.” He said toweling off his well muscled chest and pulling on his shirt as he made his way back to his room.

            He walked in and closed the door behind him, smelling someone else in the room with him almost immediately. He turned with an eye roll and saw Grayson lying on his bed grinning at him, flipping through one of Dante’s textbooks. “What’s up buddy?” Gray asked cheerfully.

            Dante stared at Gray, annoyed and not in the least bit glad to see him. “What do you want, Grayson?”

Dante thought he saw sadness flash behind Gray’s eyes but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. Dante folded his arms and took a moment to study the change in Gray’s person. Gray had always been extremely lanky, almost birdlike, with very little muscle on his body. Looking at him now Dante couldn’t believe how different he was… Well he could it actually made perfect since, but he still was coping with the sudden change, both in his life and the things around him. Grayson was ‘absolutely shredded’ as he like to put it whenever he brought it up in conversation, as he so often did. Not only that but his personality had changed as well: he was no longer the jokester he had been. He now was much more of a jerk, belittling anyone he saw as inferior, which went well with his new super-huge ego. Dante no longer considered Grayson anything but a severe pain in his a*s, the new change in his former best friend had caused their companionship to dissolve.

Grayson smiled at Dante nastily. “Well, I heard from the school grapevine that you aren’t being very nice to anyone at school. Thought I would come see what’s wrong with my best buddy.”

“You mean besides the fact that I hate you?”

“Yeah. Besides that.”

“Screw off.”

Dante grabbed a pair of socks and exited the room, grabbing his backpack as he left not bothering to grab the book from Grayson. He grabbed his sneakers and was headed out the door when he felt someone grab his shoulder. He slowly turned around and saw the leader of the pack and the reason for his suffering, Mira, standing before him, a scowl on her usually smiling face. Dante raised an eyebrow at her and her scowl deepened and she placed a hand on her hip. She had pulled her long white hair back into a pony tail that day, and was wearing jean shorts and a simple yellow T-shirt. The two locked eyes, and Dante returned Mira’s glare though he knew he had somehow gotten into trouble again. Unfortunately for Dante, his attitude towards his teachers and his classmates was not conducive to a very positive time in school. She walked away beckoning for him to follow her with one finger, and as much as Dante hated being summoned he knew it would be a very poor choice for him to ignore Mira’s wishes. He followed her through the room passing Laura who shot him a questioning look, which he ignored. Since that night he had gotten very good at ignoring things. She gestured him inside her room, and once he had walked inside she closed the door after the both of them and locked it. Dante sat down in a cushiony chair in a corner, throwing a shirt that had been left there on to the floor. Mira laid down onto her bed and rested her chin onto her hands as she regarded the troubled member of her pack.

“Tell me Dante, what has been bothering you?” She asked, getting right to the point. “Your pack mates have been telling me that you have been adjusting… poorly… to your new life.”

He raised an eyebrow, a dark chuckle escaping him. “Is that what they’ve been telling you?” She didn’t reply but waited for him to continue. “We’ve gone through this before Mira, I was happy in my old life. I didn’t want to be a…” He choked on the word.

She sighed, exasperated. “Dante, I’ve told you before that what you are now… it’s a gift. Why can’t you see that? Have you even changed yet? Or are you still fighting your nature?”

Dante clenched his fist, barely containing his mounting frustration. “What do you care?”

“You are a member of my pack. Of course I care.” She answered coolly.

“Well, don’t.” He said flatly. He crossed his arms and scowled at her. “I don’t want anyone here to care about me. I’m fine by myself.”

            Dante got up and made his way to the door, not bothering to wait to be dismissed, when he heard Mira ask from behind him: “Dante… Do you even know what you are now?”

            He paused with his hand on the door handle, and answered over his shoulder: “A werewolf.” As always, when he said the truth of what he had become something inside him seemed to growl in pleasure. Dante hated the feeling.

Author's Note

As always, your support is loved! So is your hate!.... That came out wrong.