"t'sfficial."

It's official.

Yup, it is.

If you thought that I'm talking about my relationship with Seneca, then you're most definitely wrong.

Well, you might be partly right. The part about Seneca.

And guess what?

She's ignoring me.

Yeah, you heard me right.

She's ignoring me.

And I don't know why.

Let me give you a brief summary of the past 48 hours.

❀ ❀ ❀

I'd gone to Seneca's room later that night, my hands full with two plates of dinner. I'd been slightly hesitant, but a raised brow and a mocking shake of his head from Beta Ezra had given me enough fuel to brave a visit to my Mate's Hospital room.

I'd contemplated knocking with my foot, but then I'd decided, 'Hell, we're past all that formalities,' and had pushed the door open with my shoulder slowly.

Inside, Seneca had been lying on the same position since I'd last seen her, her dark eyes staring aimlessly at the plain white wall in front of her. I double-check to see if there's anything on the wall that might be so interesting that it'd got her hooked.

Nope. Nothing.

"Uhm." I'd cleared my throat, announcing my presence, even though I knew that she would've had definitely heard me opening the door. Her eyes had slid to me, and she'd held my gaze for a second, before looking away.

"I brought dinner." I'd said, and she'd nodded in response.

"Leave it here," She'd tilted her head to the side, gesturing to the white table on the side.

"But—" I'd started when she'd turned to me with an intense look in her eyes. I'd had no choice but to obediently shut my mouth and comply. I am growing better at talking my mind to her, but I'm not that strong to talk against her when she looks at me like that.

I'd placed her plate on the table, and then had wondered what to do with the other one in my hand; which was mine.

"Uh." I'd sighed and looked up helplessly at Seneca.

"I'm tired. I need to rest." She'd replied without life in her voice and her eyes had darted away from mine once again.

Translation: Get the hell out.

Ouch. Why is it hurting so much?

'Because we were injured in the attack,' I'd tried to convince myself but failed miserably.

"Alright." I'd said, trying to keep the rejected feeling out of my voice as much as possible. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the last conversation we'd had. If you could even call it that.

❀ ❀ ❀

The following two days, Dr. Rosaline had ordered me and Seneca to be in complete rest and refrain from going to 'places'; which included School. It's funny because all I had was a few claw marks across my chest—and those were shallow—and I had to rest 2 days and Seneca had almost a part of her neck and shoulder bitten off and she had to rest two days as well.

When I'd asked this to Dr. Rosaline, her wrinkled face had pulled into a small smile.

"She's powerful enough to heal in two days, Aleph."

Again, Translation: You're weak. She's not.

I'd nodded in response and escaped to the confines of my luxurious room, feeling extremely down.

On Tuesday morning's training session—first time I'd ever skipped school—Beta Ezra had smiled in satisfaction when we'd wrapped up for the day. And, oh, If you're wondering, yes, Beta Ezra had sneaked out of his Hospital room to train me. He'd said and I quote, "I'd die of boredom if I stay in there one more minute. And if I die, who'll torment my Alpha?"

I'd just smiled back with a shake of my head.

"What are you smiling for, Beta?" I'd asked, my eyebrows shooting up.

"You're getting strong and we'd barely had half a week of training." He'd informed me and it's safe to say that had been the only good part of my day.

"Really?" I'd asked, dubious.

"Are you kidding, Aleph boy?" Beta Ezra had vociferated, "Did you forget that growl?"

"Growl?" I'd repeated, not getting where he was going with this.

"Yes! The one that made all of us submit!" He'd spread his hands, exclaiming.

"What...? I—" Then it had struck me, "That's why all of you were bowing down?!" I'd exclaimed back, completely stupefied.

"Why else?" Beta Ezra'd grinned, placing his hands on his hips. Was he telling what I'm thinking he's telling?

"Y-you mean, that it was because of me?!" I'd cried out and his answering grin had told me that he was 100% serious.

He hadn't been lying...

"Thanks to me. I know, I'm the best teacher." He'd grinned salaciously and had thrown me a wink before he'd grabbed his discarded shirt and had left me hanging.

After that, I'd attempted to visit Seneca twice, taking the short five minute walk from The Mansion to the Pack Hospital—I wasn't compelled to stay in the Hospital since my injuries weren't lethal—and the both times had been a disappointment, because the nurses had told me that the Alpha had ordered them to not let anyone in—including her Mate.

Hurtful, I know.

So, yeah. That's what happened.

Two days later, On Thursday morning, here I am, dressed up and ready to go back to school.

And Seneca is yet to say something to me.

I feel a strong sense of déjà vu as I sit on the breakfast table, staring at the bowl of cereal placed before me.

I didn't have enough enthusiasm to scoff down some delicious food.

Just like before, Beta Ezra skips into the dining hall—damn, I don't know where he gets all that energy—only this time, he's not dragging Seneca, she's here on her own.

Seneca's bronze hair is down like the few times I've seen her wear it that way, falling over her shoulder and covering the small plaster around her neck. The cast she was wearing the last time I'd seen her is missing. Her attire—which consists of a dark blue shirt rolled up to the sleeves and a dark jean, with her signature black boots—is a little loose fitting, but she pulls it off effortlessly.

I keep my eyes fixed on her, waiting to see if she'd look at me. Much to my sadness and anger, she doesn't, looking steadily at the table as she stalks towards it, and takes her place.

I want to so badly yell at her for her sudden strangeness in behavior, but I couldn't. I couldn't muster up the courage.

'But why? You were fine the other day, boldly kissing our Mate,' My Wolf complains.

'That's my problem. I'm afraid she's behaving like this because I kissed her. I'm afraid she didn't like it and realized that she didn't want us anymore as her Mate.' I reply, admitting to myself for the first time, the insecurity that I'd slowly started to succumb to, from that night.

It's eating me from the inside and the only person who could put my desperate mind to rest is sitting right in front of me. I can ask her, and know the answer to my question, but fearing the unknown is better than knowing the truth; which has a very high possibility of being bitter.

'Impossible. She blushed! I saw it!' My Wolf proclaims, but I shut him out, knowing he'd try to support Seneca and get my hopes up.

Beta Ezra sits on his usual seat with a nod in my direction and starts to pile up food on his plate, blissfully oblivious of the tension sizzling in the room. Few minutes pass by, with all of us silently chewing and Beta Ezra cracks the silence like he always does.

"You two in a fight or something?" He asks, looking at me.

I shrug, moving my eyes in the direction of Seneca.

"No." She replies making I breathe out a breath I hadn't realize I'd been holding. Her voice, even if it's a single word, washes over me like cold water on the hottest day, feeding my greedy senses which were deprived of it.

"I don't know what's wrong, but you guys need to get over whatever it is, because this silence is annoying," Beta Ezra grunts, shoving another mouthful of bacon in his mouth; with a fork.

"I don't know why she isn't talking," I say insouciantly, and go back to eating my cereal.

I never realized how tasty cereal is. It's so yummy, slightly crispy and the golden brown color is so—

"Who told you I'm not talking with you?" Seneca's voice interrupts my analyzation of cereal and I look up in surprise.

"You are?"

"Are what?"

"I mean, you are talking with me?" I explain, raising my brow.

"Yes." She asserts, not meeting my eyes.

"Well, I didn't know. Next time you decide to talk to me in your imagination please let me know." I snap, dropping my spoon back into the bowl with a 'clang'. Seneca's eyes darken at my abrasive behavior, and she follows my every movement as I glare at her and push the chair back roughly, standing up. I storm out of the room, feeling her eyes burn through my back.

She can look at me all she wants, I won't cave.

I pick my book bag off the cream couch on my way out, swinging it over my shoulder in dramatic fashion.

Beta Ezra's over dramatic behavior is growing on you, Micajah.

That makes me smile.

What can I say? My anger does not last longer than 5 minutes. I'm just too kind-hearted.

Just kidding.

But, seriously . . .

Never mind.

I go out the huge front door, and see that the butler or whoever it is—I'm yet to meet this mysterious person who takes care of the vehicles—has brought the cars out as usual, and the two expensive cars are standing flashily beside the antique marble fountain, the sunlight glinting off their shiny coats of paint.

I look between the black Audi and the blue Nissan, contemplating whether to flush my pride down the toilet and go and wait in Seneca's car. I then decide that it's not worth it, because she is the one ignoring me, for no apparent reason—except for one possible one—and not the other way around.

I walk to the second car, and surprisingly the Beta's passenger door opens when I try the handle.

Amazing.

I wait for 5 minutes, when Seneca storms out with a frustrated Beta Ezra in tow. He's calling something after her, his expression and demeanor showing his irritation. Everything is mute to me since I'm inside the car, and I make no move to slide down the window and eavesdrop. Seneca walks swiftly, her steps sharp and calculated as she makes her way to her car. I observe her carefully and feel smug when I see her nonchalant mask drop for a second when she realizes that I'm not waiting inside as she'd presumed.

Take that, my Mate.

She clenches her jaw and stills for a second, before huffing and getting into her car. She slams it shut and the next second, the car roars loudly, the tires screeching in what we call a 'wheel-spin', the rear-tires grating against the floor, raising smoke, before hightailing and disappearing from sight.

Beta Ezra opens his door and stops for a second when he sees me sitting inside. He looks up skyward helplessly and lets out a loaded sigh before sitting inside and locking it.

It's going to be a long day.

❀ ❀ ❀

"What's wrong, Aleph?"

I shoot her a 'look' and she shakes her head in exasperation.

"Okay, what's wrong, Micajah?" Nicole repeats, and I nod in appreciation.

"Nothing," I reply, gesturing to the seat beside me with a wave of my hand. At my signal, Nicole sits down, and only then do I realize that she'd been waiting for my cue all along.

"What's wrong with you? You were fine calling me 'Micajah' the other day, and I thought we were had crossed Awkwardville and moved to friendville?" I ask, confused and irked.

"Um, It's nothing." She shakes her head and averts her eyes, pulling her text book from her bag. She opens it and starts flipping through the pages, ignoring me completely.

I reach forward and slam it close. When she looks at me flabbergasted, I shrug with raised brows.

She sighs.

"News has it that you made eleven Wolves submit with a single roar."

Uh-oh.

I open my mouth to put in my two cents, when she silences me by holding up a single finger.

"Even though our Alpha has enough power to silence an entire Pack, She never uses it, because people simply bow or comply wherever she goes. So no one has ever felt it first hand to be forced into submission. They said it felt . . . weird."

"Weird how?"

"Like being caged in your own body,"

"Really?" I ask, surprised by her analogy. She nods, slowly pulling away the textbook from my grip.

"Who told you this?" I query, curious.

"Oh. My sister, Skye. She's the Second-in-command of Warriors."

"Cool," I nod, not knowing what else to say.

Okay, Micajah. Don't freak out. You just caged 11 Wolves in their own bodies. Not a big deal. Nope, Not at all.

Fuck, who am I kidding? I am freaking out! Why didn't Beta Ezra tell me all this? I'd just thought I'd silenced them. Not to this extent!

"Are you alright? You look kinda pale..." Nicole observes, placing the back of her hand on my forehead, checking my temperature.

"So you decided to call me Aleph because I'm powerful?" I rasp weakly.

"Yeah . . . '

"Good going, Nicole. Good going."

❀ ❀ ❀

I push past throngs of people, rushing to make my way to 2nd period, AP Biology, as there's only one minute left for the bell.

Let's just say, it had taken me a few extra minutes to . . . compose myself.

Suddenly, someone catches me by the wrist and I turn around to see the last person I expected to see.

"Nora?"

Her big green eyes dart from side to side, and she tightens her shaking grip on my wrist. I notice there are dark circles under her eyes, and her cheeks seemed to have sunken a little bit. She looks so frail.

"M-Mike, I've gotta te—" She stutters when suddenly her eyes widen at something behind. I turn to see but she yanks me back to face her. "Fùck!" She curses under breath. Then she turns back to me, but this time her eyes burn with rage, and she looks murderous.

What the . . .

"Stop it, Micajah! How many times should I tell you? Don't speak to me again! Just leave me alone!" She yells and turns around, getting lost in the rush of students.

Did I just dream all of that?

❀ ❀ ❀