"Time for some training kid!"
I stared at Juan in confusion as I was laying in my bed, "What are you talking about?"
Juan grinned at me as he had his hands behind his back, "Wes told me that you don't know how to use your abilities, and since I am still here, I thought, why not help him out."
I was filled with excitement and jumped out of bed, "You can really teach me?!"
He nodded and brought his hands forward. In his right hand, he held a tennis ball.
"What's the ball for?"
"You see, I never had a chance to train a dog before and you being a werewolf shouldn't be too different."
Did he just say what I think he said?!
It struck a nerve, "I'm not a damn dog!"
"But you do use the same senses as one. Come on, it will be fun and if you do good, I will even give you a doggie treat."
"Wipe that damn grin off your face! You're not funny!" He was right, they do use the same senses.
Juan makes his way to my bookshelf, "I will borrow this cologne for now. When you are ready, come and see me in the living room."
"Ready?! Let's do this now!"
"If you say so. All right, we will start with something called the sense of smell."
Sense of smell?
"The Sense of Smell is a powerful tool in dogs and just as in wolves. Just imagine by simply inhaling a scent and being able to tell who passed by, how long ago, that person's sex, health, where they have been, eaten, and mood that they are in. You being a wolf, can navigate through this whole city or any place around the world with your Sense of Smell with ease. A wolf's nose also tells them when danger is around, prey, and female wolves that are in heat."
I don't think I needed to know that last one.
"That's incredible! Can I really do that?!"
Juan nods his head up and down, "Every living thing, including humans, has an individually unique smell. They say a wolf can pick up on a scent two miles away and you of course being a werewolf should be able to do even better than that. In your human form as you are, your senses are not as strong as they would have been if you shapeshifted, but for now, we will only practice while you are in human form since I don't know how you would react in wolf form; I want to play it safe. I was also thinking that it would be better to practice indoors since the outside has more scents and smells, but inside the house, it will be more controlled."
That does make sense.
He started to drench the tennis ball with the cologne he got from my room.
"All right. That should do it. This is the same way they train a dog's sense of smell."
There he goes again with that dog crap.
"Here, catch!" He tossed the ball to me, "Take a good whiff of it and toss it back."
I don't get it. I know how my cologne smells, but whatever, I gave it back to him.
"Let's see… how about you turn around for a second, if you don't mind?"
"Ok…"
I did as I was told and turned my back.
As I was standing there, I could hear him running around the living room and moving stuff around.
"Ok! You can turn around now!"
"What have you done?! Wes is going to kill us! Why did you make a mess and throw everything everywhere?!"
"Relax! It's all part of your training. Think of it this way, this mess is all just a distraction. Now then, find the ball. Take a deep breath."
I closed my eyes and I inhaled. Sense smell… sense the smell.
Holy crap! I can smell it! It's as if I can tell from what direction it is coming from by breathing. I kept my eyes closed and decided to walk and let the scent guide me to the ball. With every step I took, the scent got stronger and stronger until I bumped into a shelf that Wes had in the corner of the living room.
I opened my eyes and stared in front of me, "The smell isn't coming from this shelf." I looked down into the space between the wall and the shelf, "Here it is!"
"Perfect! Who's a good boy?"
I glared at him, "I'm not a dog! And stop patting my head!" I shouted, "By the way, how did I do that? It's as if I knew from which direction the smell was coming from."
"There is a reason for that. As a wolf, each nostril moves independently, allowing you to determine from which direction the scent is coming from. Want to try again, but with the fan on this time?"
"Hell yeah!" I said eagerly. Wait… why did I get so excited when he said that? Damn it!!
Once again, I had my back turned, but this time, I could hear everything individually. Every sound, step, movement, and smell. I even knew how far away the ball was.
"You can come to find it now."
Without turning or moving a muscle I said, "It's behind the TV."
"You are a fast learner little bro. Not bad at all."
I turned to face him, and, on the floor, I could see what appeared to be vapors of fumes of some sort that led to the back of the TV. I followed it and the fumes led to the ball.
Can I see smell?! It has a faint white to pure color to it.
I picked up the ball and handed it to Juan, "Is it possible to see scents?"
He raised his eyebrow while looking at me, "That's a new one. I never heard of anyone able to do that, but then again, you are a werewolf and the only one of your kind so naturally, there will be things that only you can do, and that might be one of them."
Juan's face changed expression, "I got an idea."
I do not like the grin that he is giving me.
"How about a little wager?"
"What's it about?" I said with distrust in my voice.
"We go outside, and I throw this ball somewhere, anywhere and you have to go find it. If you give up, you have to buy me drinks."
"Say what?! You drink just as much as Wes does! What's in it for me?"
"I'll show you one more ability. What do you think? Want to try?"
I could not believe that he knew of another ability! I didn't need to think about it twice and without any hesitation, I said, "I'm in!" There was no way I could lose!
My excitement came to an end as soon as I heard heavy breathing and a low growl coming from behind me with rage approaching.
"What the hell happened to my living room?!"
I quickly turned around to see an angry Wes getting ready to beat us.
So, I did what anyone would do in my shoes, I threw Juan under the bus in a heartbeat, "Juan did it." I blurted out.
Juan looked at me with eyes and mouth wide open.
"You dick…" he said with worry in his voice.
I wavered the cross-hand signal and took a few steps back.
Wes clinched his hands and stomped towards Juan, "I just cleaned this place, and you made a damn mess!"
Juan put his hands out in front of him letting Wes know that he doesn't want any problems and with worry in his voice, he said, "Wes, buddy, you know I was only doing this to teach Paul how to use his abilities, right? Right?! Hey, wait… what are you doin- aaahhh, stopp itt! That hurts!!!" Juan screamed as Wes repeatedly beat him.
I am just glad that it was not me this time at the receiving end of Wes's fists.
"Ok. As payment for teaching you, I am keeping this."
In his right hand, he was holding a familiar bottle.
"What the hell man?! No way! That's my favorite cologne! I just bought that bottle!" I growled, "You meant to do that from the beginning didn't you?!"
"Well too bad! I trained you not only in sensing smell but also seeing smell!"
"The fuck?! You didn't teach me how to see smell! You didn't even know it was a thing!"
"And I took the beating from Wes!"
I paused to think for a moment, "Okay, fair enough." That's when I remembered that Juan still knows how to unlock my other abilities. I don't mind if he takes my collection of cologne on my shelf because I will come out winning and learning how to use my powers. So, if I think about it, this bet isn't a bad trade at all, and I won't totally feel like I was the one who lost.
I finally felt for the first time since I had been cursed that I am getting closer to becoming a true werewolf by learning these abilities.
So far, I learned the Sense of Smell from him and Seeing Scent on my own.
I just wonder what else he can possibly teach me. The curiosity was killing me! "Do you still want to make that wager?"
"No, it's okay. I don't feel like doing anything anymore now that I'm hurt."
OH NO! Wes beat him too hard!
"Maybe later today we can continue where we left off. I just want to relax for now."
I can't say I blame him, after all, it was my fault he got his ass whooped.