Exiting the school property, I pointed East, in the general direction of where I lived.
"You lead, I'll follow." he said to me. Then a moment later, he asked "So, how exactly do you know I am a werewolf?"
I tried to think of a way to tell the truth, but not let him know what I was. After a few seconds of silence, I told him, "It all has has to do with the smell."
"The smell?" he seemed very confused.
"Yes," I said hurriedly, "humans each have a unique scent, and no two humans smell alike. While werewolves have a woodsy, canine scent that marks their species and a second scent that adds to the first that is individual to them."
"Hmm." He said sounding deep in thought, "So, all you can tell by our smell is our species and unique scent? Not any pheromones?"
"Pheromones?" I asked confusedly.
"Yeah," he confirmed, "they're the scent chemicals that are different for each class of wolf society. So, in answer to your question; the easy way to tell the difference between Alphas and Betas are the smell, as well. The Alpha and Beta pheromones smell different from each other."
"So that's how you knew that idiot in the hallway was a Beta; was from his scent?"
He chuckled. "Yep." That's right.
"For the record," I stated, "If we are going to be friends, I want to let you know that I am glad you didn't get hurt today. But, how do you know he isn't going to try to get you back another time? "
"You don't have to worry about that!" he said with a laugh.
"No, seriously," I said, "aren't you concerned at all? That guy had shoulders like a line backer, he's huge and scary..." I let my words trail off. He was annoyingly not taking me seriously and was still laughing. "What is so amusing?"
"The thought of a certain pompous, self- absorbed Beta; Betas don't usually pick fights with Alphas. Those kinds of fights don't have a good track record of ending in wins for the Beta."
It took a minute for me to process that information. "Hmm," I said, "You would make a good peacekeeper or Canadian Mountie."
"I'll take that as a complement." he laughed.
We walked for the next few minutes in silence until he asked me if he could ask me a question.
"It depends," I said honestly, "on if I know the answer and if I want to share the answer."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then carefully said, "I got the feeling when we talked earlier in the woods that you, or your family, are in some sort of trouble or danger." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "Are you honestly in danger from someone?" Kyle asked.
"If you are asking if there are people out there who would like to harm or kill me, if they had the chance," I said without looking at him, "then the answer is 'yes'."
We spent the next few minutes walking in silence, each in our separate thoughts.
"Since we are friends, and will be seeing a lot more of each other, why don't we walk to school together tomorrow morning? If we go a bit earlier, I could introduce you to my friend, Serena. Although, I warn you she can be a bit of a firecracker!"
"Hmm?" I pondered aloud, "That sounds ok. But you are not going out of your way to walk with me, are you?" I asked. "You live on this side of town?"
"Yes," he said with a smile. "No need to worry about that."
For the next fifteen minutes, as we walked, I asked him more information about the school; what teams and clubs there were, how many books you could have checked out of the school library at once, where to find the student counselors' office and if they had a math help group.
"You know," Kyle said with a wry smile, "I am pretty good at math. If you decided not to go to the lunch period math help group, you could spend time with me, and I would help you with the math problems."
"Thank you, " I replied, "I will keep that option in mind." I stopped walking. I stood at the end of a driveway leading up to a 50's style bungalow.
Kyle, who realized I had stopped, stopped walking as well, and turned back to face me. "Are you coming?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Nah," I said, "I'm going inside." I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the front door.
He grinned lopsidedly, and said, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," and he turned to continue walking down the street.
"Wait!" I called after him. He paused.
"What time do I meet you tomorrow? Where?"
"Oh, right!" Kyle exclaimed. "Here." he said, handing me his cell phone. "Put your number in. I can send you a text when I am almost here." He gestured to the end of my driveway.
"Ok," I said. After saving the number, I handed him back the phone, and hurried to the front porch, where I waved 'good bye' before heading inside.