I didn\u2019t tell Gabriel where we were going. After school, we skipped the buses, cut through a few side streets, and took the long road out of town toward the coast. The late-afternoon light was sharp and gold, filtering through the pines until the trees opened up into a stretch of rocky shoreline far from the public beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No people. No noise but the crash of waves and the low call of gulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is\u2026 remote,\u201d Gabriel said, glancing around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the point,\u201d I replied, stepping over a driftwood log and motioning for him to follow. \u201cOut here, nobody\u2019s going to see what happens if you lose control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His brow furrowed. \u201cLose control of what, exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stopped on a flat stretch of sand scattered with dark stones. I faced him, studying his posture, his breathing, the way his eyes darted around like he could sense something coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRemember how you felt the other day,\u201d I said, \u201cwhen you stared that guy down at the door and just knew he was going to move?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was your wolf starting to stir. We\u2019re going to wake it up a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mouth opened like he wanted to argue, but I stepped in close, resting a hand against the center of his chest. \u201cI want you to stop thinking about being human for a second. Think about power. Strength. Survival. The part of you that knows<\/em> what you are, even if your mind\u2019s been ignoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He swallowed hard. \u201cAnd then what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen,\u201d I said, letting a thread of my own wolf energy bleed into the air between us, \u201cyou let it take you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It started slow \u2014 the change in his breathing, the way his pupils widened, the subtle shifting of his stance like his body was aligning to something primal. His hands curled into fists. I could smell the adrenaline starting to spike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then it hit him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His shoulders rolled back as the muscles along his arms thickened under the fabric of his hoodie. His jaw tightened, teeth bared in something between a snarl and a gasp. I caught the flicker of dark claws starting to edge from his fingertips before sliding back, like the wolf was testing the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHoly\u2026\u201d His voice trailed off as his head tilted back slightly, eyes half-lidded. \u201cGod, this feels\u2014\u201d He cut himself off with a sharp inhale, chest rising like every breath was a hit of pure electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I could see it in his face \u2014 the rush, the intoxication of raw strength and sharpened senses. His stance was looser now, confident, like the idea of anything hurting him was laughable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t fight it,\u201d I said. \u201cJust feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His gaze snapped to mine, and for a moment there was no hesitation in him \u2014 just a raw, hungry thrill. \u201cI feel like I could tear down the world right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat,\u201d I said, \u201cis your wolf talking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It lasted maybe a minute before I eased my hand back and the energy between us thinned. His breathing slowed, his stance softened, but the look on his face was somewhere between dazed and exhilarated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was\u2026\u201d He shook his head, grinning despite himself. \u201cIncredible. Like\u2026 better than anything.\u201d His voice dipped, almost embarrassed. \u201cAnd I mean anything<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah,\u201d I said with a faint smirk. \u201cThat\u2019s the hook. Now you know why control matters \u2014 because that high can own you if you\u2019re not ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded, still catching his breath. \u201cWhen do we do it again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSoon,\u201d I promised. \u201cBut next time, we push it further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And from the way he looked at me then, I knew he wasn\u2019t just ready \u2014 he was hungry<\/em> for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I didn\u2019t tell Gabriel where we were going. After school, we skipped the buses, cut through a few side streets, and took the long road out of town toward the coast. The late-afternoon light was sharp and gold, filtering through the pines until the trees opened up into a stretch of rocky shoreline far from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}