Quoth the Raven - Chapter 2

Chapter 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/quoth-raven-1-81198698




Enid sank onto the edge of her bed in devastation. Her skin began to prickle along her spine, her heckles rising even out of wolf form. She flared her nostrils in protest as the faintest tears sprang to her eyes. It made little sense to get so emotional over Wednesday going on one date – but she just assumed they had an unspoken pact not to show interest in anyone else. They had their studies to focus on, and that was way more important than romance.

She glanced towards her pile of neglected reading and the books she had yet to crack open. With the restless desire to put her energies into something productive, she shot off the bed and grabbed the tome for Werewolf History. She scanned a few lines before tossing the book aside and snatching up her coat.

She owed it to Wednesday to provide back-up just in case the date didn’t go as planned. On the way downstairs, Enid told herself that it was totally necessary because she couldn’t trust Lila’s intentions. For all she knew, Lila would try to convince Wednesday to hang out in her room afterwards. The thought of that turned Enid’s stomach as she flew down the hall and out into the chilly air.

There was a high likelihood that Lila had taken Wednesday into town, but Enid’s overpowering wolf senses took her along the forest trail. Her keen nose picked up on pheromones. It took wandering in circles for her to realize the scent was coming from her.

Alpha scents.

The stench freaked her out for a bunch of different reasons.

She didn’t want to deal with this drastic personal change at the same time that she was supposed to be protecting Wednesday. In fact, she had planned ahead for several years to fake sick for weeks after she presented.

She checked the time on her watch and stumbled down the pebbly path towards town. Her body ached all over and she had territorial urges that she would have never entertained before. It unsettled her how fast she succumbed to the hormones.

From the trees, she heard a soft growl and recognized Lila’s voice. Between the towering oaks and ash, Wednesday looked small but menacing. Lila had her pinned by the shoulder and forced a kiss on her.

“Hey, stop it,” Enid shouted and cut through the forest at a speed too fast for an average human. She ripped Lila off Wednesday and looked at her roomie’s bruised lower lip.

“You’re being a literal dog right now,” Enid accused, catching Lila’s hand and snarling as peculiar emotions took hold and translated to aggression.

“What is the matter with you?” Lila spat and shoved her back by the tops of her shoulders. “We’re on a date. Is this because of your massive crush on Wednesday?”

Enid panicked from the airing out of her secrets and swung her eyes towards Wednesday’s unreadable face. “What? N-no, I don’t have a crush.”

She did, and it took Lila swinging at her face for her to realize she wasn’t just out looking for Wednesday due to friendly feelings of obligation. Deep down, she had an attachment and a bond that meant more to her than any friendship.

By the worst coincidence known to wolf, Lila’s attempt to out her secret also came at the exact same time that her alpha pheromones kicked up a notch.

Lila breathed the scent in and laughed, determined to compete for Wednesday’s attention.

“I see what this is now,” Lila remarked and strutted around Enid like she was picking the right vantage point for attack. “You’re just trying to assert yourself. You’ve finally presented. I can smell those pheromones, but I never would have pegged you for an alpha. You have the strength of a beta and the denning habits of the most submissive omega.”

Enid could feel the hairs rise on her back and her teeth elongating before she could get control of herself.

“Enid, don’t listen to Lila,” Wednesday commanded like she had any say in Enid’s biological reactions. “She’s just trying to get in your head. Words aren’t effective at that if you don’t let them in.  In my family, ice picks are the preferred method.”


As much as she appreciated Wednesday’s counsel, Enid wasn’t in the right mindset to respond. Lila was circling in on her in preparation to attack, and her teeth and fangs came out.

“Come on, you think you can take me?” Lila taunted with a growl on her lips. “You’re weak.”

Two young alphas sparring could lead to a death-match, and there were strict rules on the campus of Nevermore that could get them both expelled.


Enid didn’t care in that instance of heightened emotion. She dodged the first swipe of Lila’s claws and met the next head-on.

Lila fought with scrappy movements and a lot of jaw snapping, which Enid couldn’t match in a state of partial transformation. She had to undergo a complete shift to defend herself, and that was when their combat became more heated.

Lila rushed her and tried to bite the scruff of her neck, and Enid used the nearest tree branch to batter her in the face. They both rolled through the wood chips, scratching each other and trying to win the upper hand.

Enid managed to sink her claws into Lila’s neck, and she received two sharp wounds across the cheek in retaliation.

During a few seconds distraction where Enid tried to look around for Wednesday, Lila shoved her face-first into the dirt.

Losing focus was a terrible mistake, and not just because Lila put one heavy foot on her back and pressed the wind out of her.

While she was down and her vision momentarily blurred, Lila stalked off in Wednesday’s direction with her fangs out.

From where she was laying, and from the sharp pheromones in the air, Enid figured out Lila’s plan. An alpha didn’t just approach anyone like that or use their stench to bowl them over.

Lila wanted to mark Wednesday’s neck — without the permanency of a claim, but still a mark in the third-degree that would last at least several months.

Enid blindly raised herself up from the dirt and launched herself towards Lila. In the desperate scuffle, she acted on the only logical idea to enter her very hormone-afflicted brain.

She sank her teeth into Wednesday’s throat, giving her the wolf’s mark, and blacked out as Lila hit her over the head with a heavy fallen tree branch.

Much later, she woke up on a cot in the college infirmary. She hadn’t been unconscious that whole time, but her flight-or-fight response had definitely decided in favor of flight.

Her head ached when she sat up and glanced towards the window, where Wednesday was seated in a chair with her hand on her neck.

“You’re awake,” Wednesday noted, her eyelashes lifting subtly as she peered over at the bed. “You were growling in your sleep again. How is your head?”

Enid sat forward on the end of the cot and traced her fingertips against the stinging injury on her forehead. “Does that really matter when I lost my cool and bit you? I just — I thought Lila was going to do it first. I know that’s not a good excuse—”

“It’s not,” Wednesday agreed, cutting off her apologies by standing up. “You know, for someone who is so touchy-feely all of the time, you’re bad at expressing your emotions. Do you have anything else to say to me or are you just going to apologize profusely?”

“Shouldn’t I be apologizing?” Enid whispered as panic squeezed around her ribcage. She could feel the ire wafting off Wednesday in ways she never had before even in the middle of their most heated conflicts.

“Just for your complete and utter lack of common sense,” Wednesday announced and slipped her arms across her chest. “If you won’t speak up, I’ll be heading back to our room now.”

Enid winced as she got to her feet - more from her head injury than Wednesday’s gibe. “Wait, wait, what exactly did you expect me to say?”

Her pheromones were getting to her in the confinement of the room, and she realized too late that she wasn’t sorry for putting her mark on Wednesday’s neck. She liked seeing it there, pinkish-red and no doubt on its way to turning purple. All of the werewolves would know what it meant and steer clear of Wednesday, and Enid was temporarily proud of herself.

She straightened her back with a weird confidence that she suddenly had in spades, compliments of her new hormones.

Wednesday exhaled through her nose in irritation and stalked off before Enid recovered from her brief ego-high.

She messed up, that much she knew – but she didn’t get to reflect on how because her body hurt all over. It wasn’t just the fight that was bothering her. Presenting as an alpha was an overwhelming process, and she whimpered as she sat back on the infirmary cot. Her skin tingled in places it never had before, and she was grateful she was wearing a chunky cable knit sweater. It helped to hide the front of her pants, which were more restricting.

“I’m an alpha,” Enid mouthed silently to herself. “Me.”

No one would believe it, not even her family or close friends, not until they were in the same vicinity as her.

It took her about twenty minutes to get medical clearance to check herself out of the infirmary and she returned to her dorm by sneaking.

She didn’t want to bump into anyone and feel their scrutiny on her when she was still getting acquainted with her changed biology.

Wednesday was already asleep in bed, still as a corpse and just as pale under her black comforter.

Enid watched her for a few moments before slinking into the bathroom to change. She pulled back the waistband of her pants and glanced down at the most obvious evidence of her alpha-status.

Gulping at the sight of it, she sped up with shedding her shirt and hurried into her striped pajamas. On the way to her bed, she grabbed three extra blankets that she used to build a barrier around herself and hunkered down for the night.

The next morning, she woke feeling groggy and with an unpleasant stiffness between her thighs. Even from her own bed, she caught the scent of a fragrance that affected her.

Wednesday.

Her roommate smelled like an omega, and she wandered over the less colorful side of the room to breathe in the sensational pheromones.

Wednesday’s eyes blinked open and Enid fell back for fear of getting caught. “Only killers and romantics watch other people sleep. We all know which one I’d rather you be.”

It took moments for Wednesday to register the differences in her scent, and her intense stare wavered as she glanced down at herself.

“My bite, it must have done something to you,” Enid croaked in distress. “Your scent is different now. You’re like an omega, but not.”

Wednesday’s luminous dark eyes flashed with shock as she tossed off her blankets. “We actually have some werewolves in the family line. That’s why my cousin It is covered in hair.”

“Wow, I had no idea,” Enid remarked, mind-blown as she considered all of the implications that could make them an even more favorable match. “I can’t believe you never told me that.”

“Why?” Wednesday challenged with a small jut of her chin. “You’re not exactly forthcoming when it comes to personal matters, so why should I be?”

Enid could detect a bit of animosity in her friend’s tone and it put her on the defensive. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means?” Wednesday asked impatiently and shot her a look that could have turned her to stone if she had been a medusa.

“Can you please not be this cryptic first thing in the morning?” Enid complained and picked up one of the giant stuffed narwhals she won at a recent fair to block the front of her pajama bottoms. “A lot happened over night and I’m still adjusting.”

“Adjusting?” Wednesday echoed as she glanced at the carefully-placed stuffed narwhal in front of Enid’s person.

The narwhal was an apt shield, considering its long horn was sticking straight out at Wednesday like some other things that Enid didn’t want to think about for too long.

“You know, the fact that I presented,” Enid admitted, screwing up her eyes from the tension of having to discuss the subject with the one who was responsible for bringing about the change. “Surprise, I’m an alpha! It’s weird, but I think I’ve always known. I’m just not very aggressive. Maybe it’s why I take an interest in all of the things that omegas seem to like. Alphas are usually so competitive.”

Wednesday seemed to contemplate that and scoffed at her. “Do you remember the canoe race from last year or did that slip your mind? You’re the most competitive person I know.”

“Yeah, but I’m not competitive the way most alphas tend to be,” Enid reasoned. “They do things like fight over mates, and they’re extra territorial—”

She cut herself off as she glanced at the huge bruise on Wednesday’s neck. She wasn’t doing herself any favors by coming up with examples, and she realized she ticked all of the boxes for behaviors she used to criticize in alphas.

“I feel different, too,” Wednesday expressed flatly without breaking eye contact. “It’s like you infected me with your bite. If I start decorating my side of the room in rainbows and unicorns, get in contact with my Uncle Fester. He knows the best techniques for performing a lobotomy.”

In the past, Enid would have taken offense to Wednesday’s way of putting things, but she saw through those defenses of dark wit.

Wednesday liked to make comments to cover up any personal discomfort. She touched the side of her neck, and Enid breathed in the light fragrance of sensuality that clung to her frightfully pale skin.

“You smell so good,” Enid commented in a daze of animal magnetism. “Did you buy a new perfume?”

She knew that the saccharine scents on Wednesday had nothing to do with any recent purchases.

Her own bite was responsible for the aromas that were like cinnamon and spice. Enid could taste it as she drifted closer, and her pupils dilated as she took in the sight of Wednesday’s exposed throat.

She imagined finding the courage to press her lips to Wednesday’s mouth and make-out with her on one of their beds. All she had to do was take one step closer and cup Wednesday’s cheek.


Her daydream came to an abrupt end as a knock sounded at their door and Lila let herself inside.

“I’m so sorry about last night!” Lila blurted, more frantic than arrogant as she intruded on their conversation. “I made a huge mistake and went off my suppressors. Your brothers actually screwed with my head and said that real alphas don’t need them. Not that I’m putting the blame on anyone but myself. I shouldn’t have ever listened to that pack.”

Enid glanced over to where Thing entered the room through a hole in the wall. She could tell they had the same idea based on how he stretched out his fingers. They both would have loved to slap Lila senseless for treating Wednesday badly.

“At least you recognized the error of your ways,” Wednesday acknowledged in a lulled voice. “Never trust someone who licks themselves.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to forgive her for starting a huge fight with me and trying to put a claim bite on your throat?” Enid didn’t mean to sound so outraged or use her alpha pheromones to pull rank.

She had a loosening handle on her emotions and just barely stopped herself from snarling and chasing Lila from their dorm room. It went deeper than mere jealousy to a feeling of protectiveness inside her that she couldn’t contain. Luckily Lila drew back and exited the room before Enid flipped out. Thing hopped up to lock the door and made his own fast escape to avoid the escalating tensions.

“When are you going to realize that there’s a reason for everything I do?” Wednesday asked, jutting her chin in anger, even though she refused to shout.

“Well, are you ever going to clue me in?” Enid fumed, unable to cope with any of the possible reasons that her best friend would want to associate with someone like Lila.

Inwardly she hoped for a romantic resolution to their argument. If all the flirtation with Lila was just a method of making her jealous, Enid could live with it.


But the grand reveal was much more anticlimactic than expected. Wednesday whipped out a sleek black smart phone and stuck it right under Enid’s nose.

“I thought you don’t believe in using phones or computers,” Enid complained and narrowed her eyes at the weird emojis on the screen. “That was why you asked me to write you letters.”

“Xavier bought me this phone,” Wednesday reported dully and flicked through a couple of texts. “Some creep has been sending me messages. The obvious suspect would be Xavier himself, but he’s not that stupid. Just close to it.”

Enid stared at the phone and several clear images that threatened murder.

Of all the things to bring out the alpha in her, Enid didn’t expect it would be that. The dorm already smelled of her pheromones and she was breaking out in a sweat of possessive instinct.

“You should have told me sooner,” Enid complained, ignoring the vivid red heat that was climbing up her neck like a vine. “Like immediately. I’ve already proven I can keep you safe from anyone who would try to harm you.”

Wednesday peered up at her in calm curiosity and followed the slow spread of Enid’s rash with her eyes. “We have other things to discuss right now. The bite on my throat is tingling and I think you might be going into rut.”

Enid detected the shift in herself, too, but she laughed as she shook her head to deny it. “No, that can’t be. I just presented.”

She gulped at her own biology’s attempts to make things awkward for her. Somehow going into protective mode also made her extremely territorial over Wednesday. Part of her body was stiffening to a painful degree and she moved back as she tried to process it.

It was bad timing all over again. The absolute worst.