Quoth the Raven - Chapter 1

Rating: PG to eventual mature/explicit content, ABO, Alpha Enid, Omega Wednesday.


Description: Enid Sinclair has learned to deal with a lot of new challenges since befriending Wednesday Addams at Nevermore University.
Unfortunately none of those challenges prepared her for how she would present or the problems that her new alpha status would bring with it.


Tags: Aged-up characters, College AU, Comedy, Romance, late bloomer Enid, Presenting as an alpha, Omega Wednesday, dark humor in line with canon. My brain spat this out quickly and I wanted to share. Let me know if you like it.





Enid Sinclair disliked Wednesdays and the dragging middle of the week. She hated drab colors, the macabre, and any mystery investigation that wasn’t confined to the pages of a book. Once all of those factors came into play, it made no sense that she couldn’t stop thinking about her best friend, who was named Wednesday and loved all of those things.


In the heat of summer when she could have been wolfing around with her brothers, catching trout from the river, and stretching her legs in the countryside, she found herself inside waiting for the mail to come. Wednesday promised to write to her, not through text or email, but the old-fashioned way – on ink and parchment.

Enid smelled the oddly musty scent from afar and dashed down the stairs to intercept the postman.


“Letter for Enid Sinclair? That’s me,” Enid blurted and tore the letter straight from the man’s hand.

“You have a few more here, all from the same person. A Miss Wednesday Addams.” The postman passed the thick stack over, then backed off like he sensed her bizarre canine habits. “Have a nice day.”

Enid tended to be optimistic about most situations, but she was worried about the state of Nevermore and whether she would ever be able to return to her beloved school. She wasn’t sure when she would see Wednesday again if they didn’t have Nevermore in common.

In the evenings, she could already hear her parents whispering about Lupus Romulus, an academy for werewolves. She didn’t know if she could survive in an environment like that. As a kid, she hadn’t fit in with the members of her own species, and wolfing-out wasn’t going to change that any time soon. She had instincts. They just weren’t matching with anyone’s expectations – and more specifically, her mother’s expectations.

Enid gathered all of Wednesday’s letters against her chest and breathed in a delicate scent of decaying roses that lifted from the pages. She carried her bounty up to her room and curled up in her book-nook.

Excitement got the better of her, and she accidentally ripped through one of the envelopes to read the first message:

Dear Enid,

You insisted I keep in touch, so consider this my fulfillment of your request. This summer has been particularly dreadful so far. We are visiting distant cousins in South Carolina, and the swamps here are black and filled with snakes, alligators, and lizards. It would be an ideal spot to hide a body. I love it here. The main drawback is the locals, who have more rotten teeth than my Uncle Fester. One of them has the habit of calling me kiddo. I retaliated by re-arranging the letters on his store front from Rusty’s Bait and Tackle to Crusty Man Baby. I had to borrow a few extra letters from other stores, but I figured most people would consider it a public service. How has your summer been so far? I hope you haven’t choked on a fur ball yet.

Yours,

Wednesday

The next letter was about the sad affair of Nevermore, and the ongoing search for a new head mistress or headmaster. It seemed that Matilda Thorn would be taking over in the fall – who, as a werewolf and former student, knew the ins-and-outs of the campus, and accepted the full and weighty responsibility of the post.

None of Wednesday’s notes were too personal or touchy-feely, but Enid still squealed and clutched the parchment to her chest afterwards. She kept the letters close to her throughout her summer vacation and penned a lot of notes in response.

Months later, Enid absently tucked Wednesday’s letters into her trunk and didn’t think about them again until they all flew out on the steps of Nevermore. They fluttered in the breeze along with the autumn leaves, and Bianca laughed at her as she scurried to retrieve them all. Her claws extended and retracted, and she self-consciously lowered them to her sides when a classic car pulled up.

Wednesday exited the vehicle with her eyes trained on the tall school building. She looked at Enid at a delay – unsmiling but still with an intensity that still had an effect on her.

Enid rushed at her best friend and latched on with the full strength of her inner wolf.

“Enid,” Wednesday emphasized dully. “Enid, you’re stepping on my toes.”

“Oh no.” Enid stepped back awkwardly to observe their feet and blushed. “I just missed you this summer and I’m glad we’re together again. Come on, I’ll help you with your luggage.”

She lifted both of their trunks and carried them to their dormer without needing to stop to catch her breath. Over the months of wolfing out, she developed a bit more muscle. Every so often Wednesday snuck a peculiar glance in her direction.

“So, I think we’re in all of the same classes this year,” Enid rambled, taking the steps fast and grinning from ear to ear. “We’re both taking Telemetry, Enchantments, and Contramaledictum. Oh! And Werewolf History. I didn’t think you had an interest in werewolves.”

Wednesday stared up at her from underneath her dark bangs. “I guess I thought it would be useful in case you turn on me during the full moon. Knowing you, though, I’m sure I could tame you with a treat and some belly rubs.”

Enid smiled at the disdainful tone that Wednesday used with her. “Hey, I like the burgers from The Spotted Cow in town. Maybe you could keep one of those on hand for me, or we could just go there later and grab lunch.”

It would be typical for Wednesday to turn her down, but instead she lifted a shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. “What’s that smell?”

“What smell?” Enid asked, tipping her head and sniffing for a scent she hadn’t noticed.

“You smell odd,” Wednesday stated, her pupils dilating as she held her usual unblinking stare. “It’s not your usual overpowering mix of vanilla and floral.”

“Oh god, I hope it’s not wet dog scent. It rained earlier.” Enid stuck her nose against her sleeve and inhaled, but she didn’t pick up on any new fragrance.

Wednesday stepped nearer to sniff in Enid’s general vicinity, and it set off anxiety in the pit of her stomach. “It’s more like spice.”

Enid gulped as her friend assessed her and they stood toe-to-toe in silence. “Maybe it’s some kind of werewolf thing.”

In her heart, she knew that she had pheromones and that all of her kind could detect them. She never expected her human roommate to also have the scent – and because that embarrassed her, she planned to keep it all shrouded in mystery. Wednesday liked figuring out puzzles, and if she managed to work it out her own, Enid would feel less awkward.

Little did she know that the topic of ruts and heats would come up during their first day of classes in Werewolf History. Wednesday sat right next to her and clasped her hands on top of the desk. At the front of the room, their teacher Bill Gruff was explaining the origin of werewolves and the earliest forms of culture among the packs.

Enid shrank behind her stack of books and tried to block out the lecture about the First Alpha.

“The First Alpha was a hunter and lived more than 1 million years ago. She populated Eurasia, and her descendants migrated to North America around 750,000 years ago. Sometimes archaeologists mistake werewolf skeletons for dire wolves.”

Mr. Gruff’s crazy white hair moved with his dramatic movements as he jotted notes on the board. He tended to growl over his words and stroke his facial hair whenever he was thinking.

“Until the migration took place, Alphas mated with Betas. The First Omega was born in North America, and the Omegas eventually developed more breeding potential.”

Enid nearly passed out over the very mundane and clinical use of the word breeding. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Wednesday to see if she was just as scandalized. Not even the slightest blush showed itself on Wednesday’s pale features.

“Gosh, I don’t think I like this class,” Enid confided on their way out into the hall. “I didn’t know it would be all about mating.”

“I thought it was a fascinating lecture,” Wednesday reported and moved along in-pace with Enid. “What kind are you, anyway? A beta?”

“Your first guess is that I’m a beta?” Enid shrilly asked, then grabbed Wednesday by the shoulder and pulled her back harder than she intended. She shoved her shorter roommate into the alcove near Poe’s statue and towered over her. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I haven’t presented yet. It’s kind of weird because I don’t know a single other person in my situation. I know I wolfed out, but being an alpha, beta or omega is determined by what you’re like in human form. It’s an aspect of our humanoid biology, not wolf form. It’s expected that you’ll present whenever you transform for the first time, but that didn’t happen for me.”

“So, you’re a late bloomer twice over.” Wednesday summed it up without judgment and pursed her lips together.

“No, no, it’s not like that,” Enid protested, despite knowing it was exactly like that. “It will happen eventually. I just haven’t met the right person yet.”

Wednesday came to an abrupt stop and peered at Enid in a way she always found unsettling. “You think this important very aspect of who you are will be determined by someone else?”

Enid shrugged and chewed at her lips with the hope that Wednesday had some sage advice to go with her disapproving tone.

“You’re going to be whoever you were meant to be, Enid,” Wednesday declared with a moody glare and a jut of her sharp chin. “Besides, I didn’t think you were so narrowly focused on dating other werewolves.”

“Oh, no—no, I’m not. It’s hard to explain, but my biology might adapt to suit my mate.” Enid chuckled breathlessly and hugged her books to her chest. She forced her smile wider, showing all of her teeth like a true wolf did. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. Honestly, I feel lucky. I don’t have to worry about things like attraction and serious dating.”

“You and me both.” Wednesday’s normal deadpan flickered and her lashes threatened to drop for just a second. “It could be a real problem if you were to spend all day drooling over a mate.”

“I do not drool. That happened one time!” Enid threw her hands up in exasperation. She hurried along behind Wednesday to reach the staircase that led up to their room.

“You salivated all over me,” Wednesday darkly reminded her and opened the door to their spacious dorm. “I still have a dry cleaning bill. My favorite black dress will never be the same.”

Enid ignored the complaints and pulled a thick leatherbound volume from her bag. “Guess what! Poe Society finally printed our keepsake book from last year. I bet there are some great photos of us.”

Wednesday drew close to the bed and glared with scrutiny at a glossy black-and-white of herself. “This will do for my author photo. Or my mugshot.”

More than one of the group pictures featured Wednesday in the background, separate and yet still attention-grabbing.

Enid continued to flip through all of the shiny pages with a dopey smile on her face. Eventually she would realize that her self awareness was seriously lacking – but for the time being, she enjoyed searching for Wednesday in the keepsake book like it was a game of Where’s Waldo?

It had nothing to do with the flutters of excitement in her chest that weirdly coincided with the moments she was thinking about Wednesday. She just liked pointing out the photos and seeing Wednesday’s moody reaction to the tradition of capturing memories.

“Ah, yes, here’s one that will fuel my nightmares,” Wednesday whispered in genuine delight as she stared at a picture of Enid looking crazed and blood-covered after her run-in with the monster.

Thing hopped across the desk and onto the bed to help with flipping through all of the pages. He offered his silent compliments and crawled away after Enid came to the end of the book.

The first few weeks back at Nevermore were unusually hectic — and in between classes, practices with the soccer team, and all of her other activities, Enid didn’t have time to dwell on the strange feelings she was developing for her roommate.

But she did put in an effort to embrace wolf-culture after learning that Wednesday was reading up on the history of her people. Enid found herself spending more time with her wolfy friends, especially Lila Wolfram, who presented as an alpha the year before. Fitting in with others like herself was always a challenge, but Lila was a little bit clumsy like her and never held back her thoughts.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Lila went into rut three days into the semester and had to chew suppressors like candy. Her complaints were an ominous tiding of things to come.

“This is horrible, Enid!” Lila sighed, unable to control how her hormones pulled her in the direction of every single person on campus.  “Wolfing out was exhilarating, but going into rut is torture. The worst part is I can’t even get a date.”

Enid knew that her friend liked Davina Bradcliffe, who was majoring in Aquatic Divination and happened to be a siren. But she also noticed Lila’s eyes wandering more often to Wednesday, and Enid didn’t like that.

Compared to most other werewolves, Enid wasn’t as aggressive, but she surprised herself one afternoon when she pushed Lila out of the way in the middle of soccer practice.

Wednesday had come out to watch. She brooded at the edge of the field with Thing, who was clearly the instigator that dragged her outside to support Enid.

“This is just a glorified game of fetch,” Wednesday sulked, pushing her chin out like she hated it – but her dark eyes lingered on Enid’s jersey.

“Come on, you know you love watching me score goals.” Enid attempted to square her shoulders to make herself look even taller.

Before she had the chance to brag about her winning streak, Lila jogged over and polluted the air with a strong alpha pheromone. It bowled Wednesday over, and she covered her nose with an embroidered handkerchief that looked like it was stained in blood.

“Family heirloom,” Wednesday explained without prompting and coughed into the linen. “Belonged to one of my Grand Mama’s ancestors who died of consumption.”

Lila laughed as if she thought that was a joke, though Enid knew her roommate was dead serious.

“Did you need something, Lila?” Enid asked, feeling her lip pull back over her teeth with an unintentional hint of a snarl.

“I was just going to ask Wednesday if she wants to accompany me into town later to grab a bite—” Lila’s voice wavered and she glanced with obvious longing at Wednesday’s neck. “I mean—dinner.”

On a normal basis, whenever anyone tried to put the moves on Wednesday, she shut them down. Enid smiled as she waited for that to happen, anticipating the disappointment on Lila’s face. She did a double-take as Wednesday’s steely eyes narrowed and she didn’t decline the invitation.

“Sure.” Wednesday flicked her lashes duly in Enid’s direction. “What time?”

Enid stomped her cleats into the grass in a quiet tantrum of sorts.

“How about 6:30?” Lila grinned wolfishly, her human teeth rather fang-like. “I’ll buy you flowers. What’s your favorite kind?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as you remove all the petals.” Wednesday blinked once and swung around towards the dorms without saying so much as a goodbye to Enid.

Nothing was capable of getting to Enid more than that. She kicked the nearest soccer ball out of her way and rushed after her best friend with all kinds of wild ideas in her head.

“You know Lila has a single dorm,” Enid spat out, catching up with just a light jog. “I wouldn’t go back to her room. She likes to brag to all of the wolves because she thinks it’ll boost her reputation.”

Wednesday didn’t react to that piece of advice and carried on walking. “Lila’s in rut, isn’t she?”

“How did you know that?” Enid blurted in concern and sniffed the air in case her own pheromones smelled like jealousy. She didn’t know how much could be detected by non-werewolves.

“I’m learning a lot in Werewolf History.” Wednesday paused by an old and chipping fountain and perched on the edge of it.

Enid glanced down at the grass stains on her white uniform. She wondered what kind of scene she would make if she confessed her feelings looking like that. Rather than put herself under the extra stress, she decided to offer up some unsolicited advice.

“One thing they don’t teach you is that Alphas in rut can be more aggressive than any other monster. They can be super defensive of their mates.”

As per usual, Wednesday didn’t appear fazed by the possible threat. “I thought Alphas in rut can’t transform because they’re supposed to lie with Omegas.”

“They can’t—they—”

Enid lost her train of thought to a flash fantasy of Wednesday on her back with her legs spread. The lewd image was too much for her brain to entirely process.

“Can’t,” Enid repeated dryly and tried to overcome her quiet anxieties about the topic of conversation. “Heh.”

“I’ll see you later tonight, Enid.” Wednesday glared out from under her dark bangs and lifted herself from the fountain’s edge to marching back to the dorms.

Enid didn’t even have the time to call out to her, and she realized she needed to shower as a bunch of omegas walked by and made faces at her.


By the time she went through her normal pre-dinner routine and headed back to their room, Wednesday was already gone and there was a vase of headless roses sitting near the typewriter on her desk.