Connor smelt her before he saw her. Not that she smelt bad, she smelt like most people smelt, but there was a trace of something else in her scent that made his stomach clenched.
Blood.
Fresh blood.
He felt the tips of his fingers pinched and his teeth ache along with the anger that boiled inside him when he found her. There was a bruise on her cheek and cuts on her palms, her blood mixed with dirt, like she was thrown onto the ground by someone.
He knew who that someone was. And he was about to be a dead someone.
Mey didn't see him at first, she was trying to wash her hands and the sharp tang of her blood pierce the cloud of other stenches. Her shoulders twitched and as if she felt him there, she peeked over her shoulder and saw him.
Connor didn't know how his face looked but whatever she saw in it, Mey straightened and tried a smile. "I fell."
Connor's brown eyes narrowed. "It's Daniel, isn't it? I warned him not to mess with you again."
Mey heaved a breath. "That's why he messed with me again. Just ignore him, he'll be bored with me and find some other kid to bully."
"Are you saying this is my fault?"
Mey scowled when he grabbed her hand to look at her scrapes. They annoyed her rather than pained her. "No, this is his fault, but you told him off and that only egged him on. Now he has to prove that he's the biggest badass around."
Connor scoffed. "It's not him that's for sure."
Mey's scowled grew deeper when he saw the glint in his eyes. "Connor, didn't you hear me?"
Connor blinked and turned innocent eyes at her.
"Don't give me that look. You're going to go at him again, are you? I told you to just ignore it. Ignore him."
"He hurt you."
Mey paused from trying to put on band-aids on the palm of her hands. At the calm, cold tone of his voice she aimed a sharp look at him. "Yes, he did. But I took care of it. You don't need to butt in."
Connor took her hand and helped her with the band-aid. His touch was gentle on hers, he was always gentle with her.
"Connor."
"What?"
"I took care of it."
"Fine." He turned away. Mey followed him.
"Where are you going? Connor." She grabbed him with one hand, and then grabbed him with the other. He merely pulled her along as he stomped through the crowd.
She saw Arthur from the corner of her eyes and waved at him. He blinked and then moved toward them in the deceptively slow as molasses walk that he was known for. When he reached them he had a smile on his face; Arthur liked to move and talk slow, but that didn't mean that his brain was slow.
"We're going to beat someone up, aren't we?" He asked Connor, totally ignoring the fact that Mey was clutching Connor's arm and digging her heels in. "Who is it?" Arthur's golden eyes flitted back and forth between the two friends and sniffed the air. "Let me guess, Daniel. Did he go after you again, Mey?"
Mey hissed at the sly look on his face, trying valiantly to stop Connor from moving. "Arthur, a little help here."
He grinned but instead of holding on to Connor, he moved behind her and hooked his arms along hers; lifting her from Connor. She fought his hold. "Arthur! Damn it."
Arthur clucked his tongue. "Do you kiss you mom with that mouth?"
She stomped on his toes, he winced but didn't let go. "Just wait."
"For what? For Connor to beat Daniel up?"
He jerked his chin to where Connor was standing predator-still, for someone who hasn't experienced his First Change yet, Connor was already more wolf than some-it was uncanny. Mey moved her legs to where he was standing and Arthur shuffled behind her while still holding her arms. They had really weird looks aimed at them.
Once she reached Connor's side, she saw why Connor was standing so still. Daniel was standing beside the school nurse by the driveway, possibly waiting for his parents to come and pick him up. His left eye was black, his lip was split and a nasty bitemark was on his arm near his elbow.
Connor slid a glance at Mey, noticed that Arthur was still holding her and scowled at the other boy. Arthur let her go with a smirk and stood back from them. Connor returned his eyes to Mey who sniffed and crossed her arms. "What? I told you I took care of it."
"You bit him?"
"All is fair."
Connor snorted.
Copyright © 2013 by D.F. Jules
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