SAMANTHA:
An unknown male walked up from the path behind Samantha and answered the question.
"You feel your way through it."
A jolt rattled through Samantha. She turned, wolf speed to face the man who lingered too long on the word feel, as if it had a deeper meaning. The smirk on his face and his smoldering stare exclaimed she was right in thinking his words meant more than he said. And that he had meant for her to know it.
She glared as the man continued. His words, as smoldering as his eyes, dripped with honey.
"Visualize your wolf. Feel them in your mind, body. Let the beast take control. It's easy once you get the hang of it."
"How long have you been listening to our conversation?" Samantha questioned, her words as pointed as daggers. Phiona stood a few feet back, watching the man walk up to Samantha.
He seemed to size the two girls up, and his grin grew wider. "I'm Liam, her father sent me. And I haven't been listening for long."
The man pointed towards Phiona, and recognition lit her face.
"Oh! Nice to meet you." Phiona smiled as if the man wasn't a threat. But she didn't come any closer.
"Samantha, last night after hearing your story. My father called for one of our tutors. He said he has a high reputation and can teach at a quick pace. You should be able to learn a lot in the next few weeks."
Samantha looked at the man skeptically and hesitantly held out her hand. Wishing that the man would ignore it.
"Nice to meet you."
Her words were pleasant, but her stiff body language and clenched jaw screamed she was uncomfortable.
The man looked young, barely older than her. He had to be in his mid-twenties. Hair slicked back, yet unkempt. Button-down shirt with a few top buttons undone. He wore a leather jacket and jeans with loafers, but no socks. He was buff to where you could see his muscles through his jacket and he had a smoldering gaze. Samantha had met men like this before. They typically meant no good. But, she had to at least try to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Nice to meet you."
Liam shook Samantha's hand with a much too friendly smile, lingering longer than comfortable. Samantha pulled her hand away when he didn't.
"Don't worry. I'll teach you all about your wolf tomorrow. There's a lot of basics that you will need to learn. I've arranged a list of books for you to read, but I prefer more hands-on learning. So we'll read some, but we'll mostly be learning as we go. I find people learn better that way."
"Ok." Samantha answered. She no longer looked at the man, but at the ground. She wrung her hands, trying to wipe off the feeling of his touch. Her jaw was tighter than before and her eyes seething with anger as she stared at the ground.
"I just arrived, so I'll have to check in with my Alpha. I look forward to getting to know you."
Liam smirked and swaggered away before Samantha could reply. She couldn't be sure, but he seemed to look towards Phiona and wink.
Phiona looked off into the distance after Liam as Samantha glanced at her. Phiona bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips had a slight downturn to them.
"Your dad recommended him?" Samantha arched a brow and laced her voice with a much harsher skepticism than she intended.
"I-" Phiona pulled her eyes away from the empty path and trained them on Samantha.
"I'm going to talk with my father."
Phiona's face had paled, which was all the confirmation Samantha needed to listen to her gut that Liam was bad news.
Samantha sighed, releasing the tension in her jaw and forcing herself to relax before she tilted her head in the direction Liam left.
"What's the story?"
Phiona seemed to pale more, a cold sweat forming on her forehead. Her brows practically touched and her lips pursed into a firm line as she avoided Samantha's gaze. She contemplated dropping it, but she waited.
A few minutes passed before Phiona took a deep breath, separating herself from whatever memory she had gotten lost in, swept her hair out of her face, and started walking forward, stopping next to Samantha.
"I met him once a few years ago. It took me a moment to recognize him."
Samantha sneered. "Looks like he made a great impression."
Phiona's cheeks broke out in a vibrant red as she walked past Samantha.
"You're right. It wasn't a good first impression. But that doesn't mean he's not good at his job. However, I'm not comfortable just leaving him as your instructor as is. I'll talk to my dad about it."
Phiona's answer was curt, and her stride lengthened. Samantha had to jog to catch up. She wasn't sure if Phiona even knew where she was going anymore.
"Hey!"
Samantha ran in front of her, raising her arms to stop Phiona at her shoulders. They locked eyes for a second, Phiona's red, holding back tears. Phiona turned away and Samantha released her shoulders.
"You don't have to talk about it. But it seems like an awful experience... if there is something I need to look out for. I need to know."
She stared into Phiona's crystal blue eyes, begging for information. Phiona refused to look at her, her lips pressing into a thin line.
"I saw him a few years ago. With a student. In a classroom storage closet... I don't know anything more than that."
Phiona's lips pursed again, contemplating if she should, or could, say more. She looked down as if she was ashamed.
"It looked like it was more than kissing... I am pretty sheltered and it was my first time seeing something like that..."
Phiona shuttered. Taking a step back like she could shove the memory away. But she looked at Samantha.
Samantha saw Phiona flatten her features. Erasing all the worry and appearance of sadness off of it. Phiona squared her shoulders and stared at Samantha, separating herself from whatever emotions she had just felt. It looked as if she was saying, 'You deserve to know any information I have.'
"I'm not sure how consensual the encounter was for the female with him, but I know she was just barely of age by human standards, and it definitely wasn't done out of love. He... he saw me. And he winked at me like he was inviting me to join."
Phiona said, seethingly like the words were poisonous. "I didn't see him after that, so I dropped it and didn't think about it anymore."
Samantha clenched her teeth and pulled Phiona into a hug. What a horrible, disgusting man.
"Thank you for telling me. That had to be hard. I'm so sorry I put you back in the situation to relive that."
Phiona stiffened. She wasn't expecting the hug. Samantha prepared to pull away, but Phiona wrapped her arms around her, hugging her back and keeping her in place. She thought her shirt would get stained with tears with the way Phiona clung to her, but there was just silence. And then Phiona let go.
Phiona's face was splotchy but dry, and within seconds you couldn't even tell she was upset. She curved her lips into a big smile.
"Thank you."
Samantha had lost track of time, but with the way her stomach rumbled, she could tell it was getting close to lunch.
"We should probably head back."
Phiona offered, grabbed her arm, and led the way back to the pack house. Leaving Samantha feeling whip lashed yet again.
They had left the questions for another day and instead, Phiona chatted Samantha's ear off with whimsical nothings. Like the time she caught her childhood puppy trying to run off with one of her socks.