A THREAT IS LOOMING

  “Art is not something you can find in others; it is something that resides within your heart. In the rush of pursuing art, we often forget to look inside ourselves.”

  The professor shared these thoughts with the entire class. Liam, Margaret, Lily, and their classmates listened attentively. While everyone else’s eyes were on the professor, Lily was focused on Sam in the fifth row. It was easy for her to avoid being noticed by the students sitting at the back, thanks to the stepped design of the classroom. The bell rang, signaling the end of the class.

  “This is it for today. We will resume again in next class”

  The professor took his book and walked out of the classroom. Everyone stood up and began to gather their belongings. Some had already started to leave. Liam stood up, gathered his copy, and placed it inside his bag as well. Soon, Liam realized that Lily was staring at him because of his strong sense. He tried to hurry and exit the room immediately. Lily kept looking at Liam, so engrossed that she didn’t even notice Margaret standing just behind her.

  “Seriously Lily. There is like hundred of boys and you are crushing one him”

  Margaret teased Lily while holding her bag between her arms.

  “With great beauties like you around, I won’t even stand a chance,”

  Margaret shot back at Lily.

  “I definitely don’t have any interest in him. He’s just not my type.”

  “And he is just my type.”

  They both laughed heartily while walking out of the class.

  Sam stood alone in front of the building, observing the students around him. He smiled to himself as if he was happy to be there even though he didn’t have any friends. Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder from behind

  “Are you enjoying school?”

  “Yes, seeing all the happy faces around makes me happy.”

  Liam smiled as he replied.

  “Who knows? There might be a depressed person or two just pretending to smile.”

  “At least they are free.”

  Liam shook his head in response as Barney removed his hand from Liam’s shoulder to adjust the bag on his back.

  “Everyone is free, my friend. We just need to stop letting others take hold of our lives.”

  Liam smiled and nodded. Barney raised his hand for a shake.

  “By the way, I’m Barney. Friends call me Barn. You can too.”

  Liam took Barn’s hand in an inclined manner.

  “I am Liam. Thanks for having my back the other day.”

  Barn smiled and patted Liam’s shoulder.

  “No need to say thanks. Are you up for a soccer game, Liam?”

  “For playing, no. For watching, yes.”

  “Unfortunately, today it’s only for watching: Mapple Red vs. Mapple Blue.”

  "Well, I don’t have anything to do either. Let’s watch a game."

  "Then let’s head to the soccer ground."

  Liam and Barn made their way to the soccer ground.

  The hotel room appeared quite dated. The girl sat on a chair with a face pack on her face, dressed only in a nightgown. The boy lay on the bed in a night suit, reading a book. He closed the book and asked the girl,

  "So that thing goes to Maple High, Loren?"

  "You’re asking me that now, Bial?"

  Loren replied without opening her eyes, seeming to enjoy her face mask.

  “What I meant was, are you sure the guy you sent can handle that thing?”

  Loren didn’t open her eyes either.

  “I asked them not to engage in any inconvenience. They will just track that thing’s movement.”

  Bial sat up slightly.

  “What if it senses them and attacks first?”

  Loren opened her eyes, annoyance creeping in.

  “Can you please let me enjoy this in peace?”

  “I don’t know. I just have this ominous feeling inside my heart today.”

  Loren stood up from her chair, anger on her face.

  “You always have this ominous feeling but nothing happens. Now stop ruining my mood.”

  Bial looked up at the ceiling.

  “This time, it’s different, Lor! I feel like everything is about to fall apart.”

  “Ughhhhhh!”

  Loren walked into bathroom with an angry face without saying anything.

  Back on the soccer field, Liam and Barn watched the game unfold. Tyler and Eddie were in red jersey along with all of their teammate and the opposite team was wearing blue jersey. Back on the soccer field, Liam and Barn watched the game unfold. Tyler and Eddie donned red jerseys, along with their teammates, while the opposing team sported blue jerseys. The blue team's attack was led by a player with red hair, as Tyler and Eddie tried to take the ball from him. Their efforts proved unsuccessful, the player with red hair sprinted furiously toward the goal post.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “He is fast. Even that dog’s brute strength no way of it”

  Liam said as he eyes were tracking the ball.

  “He already played for the state. His name is Jeremy.”

  “He is fast. That dog’s brute strength is no match for him,"

  Liam said as his eyes tracked the ball.

  “He already played for the state. His name is Jeremy."

  “Fair enough. With his skills, he clearly deserves it."”

  Two men in their late thirties were approaching the school. They were wearing black jackets, black pants, and black shoes. One of them had grey hair, while the other had black hair. They were about to reach the school entrance. One of them was holding a phone. The combination of black clothes made them look like assassins.

  Meanwhile, Margaret, Lily, and the other two girls were watching the soccer game as well. While Margaret’s attention was on the game, Lily was focused on Sam and Barn.

  “They haven’t even taken their eyes off the game. Do they not know that there are four beautiful girls watching as well?”

  Lily remarked, glancing towards the girl with black hair, who was also focused on the game.

  “If you want to talk to him, this is your best chance. Don’t bore us with those two,”

  Margaret said, still fixated on the match.

  “Well, he’s not alone, and I feel so awkward going over to talk to him,” Lily confessed.

  “You’ll do just fine. It’s a do or die situation. Either you seize the moment, or you risk losing out to almost twenty other girls watching the game as well. Right, Bell?”

  The girl with black hair encouraged Lily while casting a quick look at Bell, who had curly black hair.

  “Yes, Riya is right. Someone else might grab the chance.”

  Bell and Riya exchanged encouraging glances towards Lily, providing her with synchronized support.

  As the game intensified on the field, Lily started to think.

  Tyler collided with Jeremy, the guy with red hair, causing him to fall to the ground. A player from the blue team approached to protest, but Eddie delivered a kick to his thigh, making him tumble as well.

  Liam and Barn were keeping their eyes on the game.

  "They couldn’t outrun him as they bumped into him,"

  Liam said to Barn as Barn stood up from his seat. On the field, both teams were gathered around the brawl, and things started to heat up. Jeremy stood up and looked at Tyler furiously. Tyler pushed Jeremy with both hands. Jeremy fell to the ground again but quickly stood up.

  “Well, if I don’t go there to stop the fight, our state will lose another player,"

  Barn said as he prepared to intervene.

  "You should hurry. It won’t take long for Tyler to break his leg,"

  Liam urged to Barn.

  As he stood up once more, Tyler pushed him back down. Barn turned to Sam.

  "Aren’t you coming with me to stop them?"

  He asked Liam, raising his head.

  Liam leaned back. "No, my grandpa said no fighting. Besides, I know you can handle it easily."

  Barn didn’t pressure Liam afterward. He turned toward the field.

  “Fair enough. You don’t need to get involved in this mess again. This isn’t your fight, anyway.”

  Barn rushed from the gallery to the ground to intervene. Liam glanced around and noticed Lily watching him. He turned away to avoid her gaze.

  The two men entered the school grounds and began searching for someone. One of them checked his phone, trying to locate someone among the students. They compared faces with the photo on his mobile.

  Back on the ground, Barn stood up amid the fight and attempted to reason with Tyler, urging him not to continue. In response, Tyler ceased his aggression.

  “Oh my god, he just looked!” Lily exclaimed.

  Bell's excitement was palpable.

  “This is your chance, Lily. Grab it, or you’ll regret it forever,”

  Riya encouraged, glancing at Bell.

  “Just go and introduce yourself,” Margaret advised without looking their way.

  Lily smiled, feeling a mix of embarrassment and anticipation.

  "Okay, okay. If you all insist. But let me just adjust my uniform.”

  Lily unbuttoned a button on her shirt at the chest. Her cleavage was visible, and the button looked like it might rip open at any moment. She adjusted her breasts to make them appear slightly larger than usual, and then tidied her hair before beginning to walk in Liam's direction. Liam was focused on the ground where Barn was trying to stop the fight.

  “Trouble is coming this way. I don’t think I can avoid it any longer,”

  Liam said to himself, as Lily stood in front of him. She smiled, and Liam returned the gesture. After a few seconds of awakened silence, Lily finally broke silence.

  “hey”

  “hey”

  Liam nodded with a smile

  “I,I,I am Lily”

  Liam replied without making an eye contact

  “I am Liam, Nice to meet you”

  Lily relaxed a bit after saying a few words, but a few seconds of awkward silence followed.

  "aa,"

  Liam said, remaining silent otherwise and just making a sound.

  "Actually, we have art and history class together. I just thought..."

  Lily stopped mid sentence with an awkward smile, subtly flashing her cleavage. Since she was standing one step lower than Liam, her cleavage was clearly visible, but Liam tried to avert his gaze from her chest.

  "We are?! I didn’t notice. But thanks for the introduction!"

  Lily's expression turned sad at Liam's words. Liam had already sensed the presence of everyone around him due to his Wolf senses, but he lied. He couldn’t risk exposing his abilities as a wolf.

  "I was thinking... if you don’t have any plans tomorrow, we could have lunch together."

  Lily gathered her courage to propose this, standing there with embarrassment as she awaited a response. Her eyes locked onto Liam's lips, anticipating his answer.

  Suddenly, Liam took a deep breath, and his expression shifted. Lily froze, eager to hear what he would say. As Liam prepared to speak, Lily never broke her gaze. He took another deep breath.

  "I am sorry, Miss Lily."

  Lily didn't realize it at first, but she did a bit later.

  "What?"

  Lily said with a “don’t understand” look.

  "I am sorry, Lily. I have to go."

  Lily's eyes changed, filling with tears. It felt as if the sky had fallen on her. She looked down, trying to hold back her tears.

  Liam stood up and tried to catch a scent in the air. As Lily stood there with tears on her face, Liam ran toward the boundary of the ground. The men started approaching the ground. Liam started running toward the main entrance of the building while attempting to catch a scent

  “Two, Two wolves not to far”

  "As the two people began their walk toward the ground"

  Liam was running towards them from the other side of the ground

  “Fuck, I’m going to be late. Someone here is their prey. I should have run through the ground.”

  As the two men were about to enter the ground, they heard someone running, then stopping and breathing heavily. They looked back, only to see Liam taking deep breaths.

  “Hello, gentlemen. Or perhaps I should say, Gentle Wolves,” Liam smiled as the two men transformed their hands into claws.

  Dear Readers,

  Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for an action packed chapter. The next chapter will be released the day after tomorrow.

  -Thank you

  kuldip