Wereball Serie - Along Came A Mate
Chapter 24

Walking or running over the endless sea of roofs, a forest of chimneys of different sizes and heights, has always been a liberating activity for me. As a werewolf, I enjoyed darting through verdant forests with real trees all around, in the middle of pristine nature with fresh air whipping my fur. As a medical student, I often didn’t have the time for it.

Death never rested, so neither did I.

Because of my busy schedule, I had replaced the typical run in the woods with a more urban version while creating something familiar to hold on to. A forest of chimneys and pipes that stretched for ‘hectares’ on the roofs of the endless university buildings.

AN / I was inspired by the scene of Mary Poppins, when the chimneysweep danced and sang on the rooftops of London!)

As I darted through the maze of bricks, soot and concrete, jumping to avoid protruding pieces of iron, I meditated on recent events. Better yet, recent discoveries.

Could a were-being like me experience extremely contrasting emotions all at once?

Could a single heart be happy, moody, hyperactive and nervous all at the same time?

At that point, I didn’t even know if I had a stomach left as the ravenous butterflies had probably devoured it all given how nervous I had been since that same afternoon. Since crossing paths with my own mate.

Logan, known by most as ‘The Terminator’ and future Alpha of Dark Diamond, was my mate. The other piece of my heart. Funny how the person most hated by my pack was also the one who supposedly had to love me. He was probably the best Were-ball player out there, renowned as a cheater, a player and the guy who always won, no matter what it took. He was also a terribly angry and an occasionally violent mate, evident by what I’d witnessed today at the Were-ball Event.

For a microsecond, my mind contemplated why people called him ‘Thor’. Sure, he was blond, gigantic and had some resemblance to the superhero with the hammer. Surely, the hole he had left in the wall could be comparable to what Thor’s hammer would have done...

I ran out of adjectives to describe his levels of beauty.

But Thor was a good hero; compassionate, tolerant, with strong moral codes and who fought against evil and injustice.

Instead, my mate looked more like a fallen angel, or rather an angel who had been cast out of the celestial worlds. It was thought he’d been sent to Earth to pierce hearts and bring poor mortals to their knees either through punching them in the face or his inhuman beauty.

‘Thor’ was probably a Were-ball nickname invented by the members of his pack. Like ‘Alpha Mel’ for my twin.

Speaking of twins, that was another werewolf with a certain temper!

After Lachlan had dragged me away from the Dark Diamond gang, accompanied by several epitopes who fought against my mate and his pack, we found Amaia. All of that just because Lachlan wanted to avoid a penalty against his team since fights and physical contact were forbidden during the Were-ball Event.

Lachlan had then called a team meeting to discuss the future match against Dark Diamond which was approaching like a death sentence. Deadly, scary and inevitable.

That afternoon, my heart and brain had become two separate frontiers, hating each other and fighting an internal Were-ball match. One wanted to follow my mate, to mark that muscular neck, while the other wanted to sit down and write a list of pros and cons.

So, I opted for a middle ground. A run in the rooftop forest to calm down, a phone call to Rudolph to replace out my mate’s phone number since they were in the same pack and then ... Well, that I would decide later.

After an hour of running and calming some of the butterflies in my stomach, I sat on a ledge of the Veterinary Faculty’s roof with my legs in the air. I fished my phone out of my pocket and called Rudolph.

After a revitalizing shower, I grabbed some books and my laptop from my quiet apartment (even Plutos was absent) and headed for the library. Strolling through the labyrinth of desks, I noticed a perfect, semi-dark spot in between two shelves full of tomes about stomach infections and decided to sit there.

Amaia and Tiziano had gone to study in a coffee shop, examining some materials together, while Makena was out with her crazy gang, including Ludmilla.

After sitting down, before pulling out the books that weighed more than bricks, I peeked at the phone.

And there was a message from ‘the reindeer’.

R: ‘Sorry. Busy.’

I reread the text more times than I was proud of, as if there was a hidden meaning behind those two words or the phone-number of my mate. I had tried calling him again on my way to the library but, again, he had blocked the call, causing a deep frown that dug my face. A face that, by now, was similar to those Shar Pei dogs due to how many times I frowned.

AN/ Shar Pei dog below :D

#####

After a few hours of studying, I pulled out a second book from my bag, tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear. Lucien was avoiding me for some reason.

Pff, he and his schizoid moods.

A small vibration indicating two messages killed my previous thoughts.

R: ‘Can’t speak, only text. I have a late class.’

R: ‘How are you, bunny doc? Missed me already?’

I didn’t even realize that a small smile appeared on my lips. Rudy was like a modern pen pal. And a very handy one I should add, as it came from Dark Diamond ... the same pack as my infamous newly discovered mate.

With the same grin, I texted back.

Y: ‘Then shouldn’t you pay attention? I had a feeling you were a bad student.’

I chewed my lips, reflecting. Was it appropriate to text another guy after replaceing your mate? Even though ‘another guy’ had his own mate. So, I figured it was appropriate if she didn’t mind. Apparently.

R: ′I can text and listen perfectly well at the same time. Don’t say, the genius bunny can’t do it?! ;)′

Y: ’You wouldn’t be able either if you attended ‘Advanced Neurology 104 . That course has literally burned a quarter of my neurons! And to think that we should learn to understand and fix the brain! But how can we, when the class is so brain consuming?!’

After hitting “send”, I shrivelled at how sad my joke was. It was too late to un-send the text, but Rudy still seemed to enjoy my “lameness”, because soon enough a message with smiley faces came through, closely followed by two others.

R: ′I’m sure you have enough gray mass that you can allow yourself to burn some of it for the benefit of knowledge.′

R: ‘What are you doing now? Studying? Or are you planning to go on another date?’

My books lay forgotten and intact on the desk, my laptop still in the bottom of my bag. I almost didn’t recognize myself! Here at the library and not studying.

Y: ‘Who has time for a date at this time of day?! I’m in the library, trying to study!’

R: ‘Why trying? Did something distract Smarty Bunny? That guy you dated? Does he text you often?’

I was wondering why he was suddenly so interested in my dating life. Plus, I had completely forgotten about Alex, who I had left at the event today without uttering another word. Maybe because a tall blond boy had occupied my mind and heart ever since.

Y: ‘I’ve gone out with that guy twice and no, we don’t text much. Also, guess what?!’

My patience was running out. I wanted to tell him about my mate.

R: ‘Why only twice? Was the boy too stupid? Or did he do something wrong?’

Again, another question on the subject.

I typed a reply, noting that Rudolph was also writing something.

Y: ‘Nooo, he didn’t do anything wrong! He’s super nice, like a gentleman, but he’s just not my type. Anyway, guess what?!’

R: ‘And what’s your type? I would say the typical nerd skinny doctor with pimples, that spends all his time in his room’

Why doesn’t he reply ‘what?’ at my ‘guess what’?!

I snorted too hard, getting a scowl from the girl sitting a few feet away on another desk. I used to be that kind of girl, the one who glared at people making noise in the library. But I had turned to the dark side all because of Moon Goddess choices.

Y: ‘Pimples develop when sebaceous glands, or oil glands, become clogged and infected, leading to swollen, red lesions filled with pus. There’s nothing to laugh at or bully anyone about, Rudy. Plus, it’s very likely to occur around puberty, so my potential nerdy doctor won’t have any anymore.’

R: ’Interesting fact, doc bunny 😉 But surely your fantasy doctor will be wearing glasses thicker than his own prick. I’ll make sure no one makes fun of him about that terrible condition, dont worry.′

I decided to ignore that comment and changed the subject a little.

Y: ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for surgeons like Mark Solan, but who wouldn’t?!’

My plan to ask questions about my mate or gather information went out the window when Lucien no longer answered. With a frustrated sigh, I set the phone down on the desk, very close to the edge of the book, and resumed reading where I left off yesterday.

“Memory is a complex process that includes three phases: encoding (deciding what information is important), storing, and recalling. Different areas of the brain are involved in different types of memory (Fig. 6). Your brain has to pay attention and rehearse in order for an event to move from short-term to long-term memory – called encoding. Long-term memory is processed in the hippocampus of the temporal lobe and is activated when you want to memorize something for a longer time. This memory has unlimited content and duration capacity. It contains personal memories as well as facts and figures.”

The moment I met my mate seemed so vivid in my mind. I bet it would have been engraved forever in my hippocampus. I could replay the scene in my mind like a movie. An Oscar-winning film. His various expressions, the way his eyebrows arched, his sinful lips curling, the way his fringe caressed his forehead, the way his muscles rippled with each micro-movement. I shook my head, scolding myself.

You have to focus, Yvaine and get this damn medical degree!

I resumed my reading:

“On the other hand, short-term memory, also called working memory, occurs in the prefrontal cortex. It stores information for about one minute and its capacity is limited to about 7 items. For example, it enables you to dial a phone number someone just told you. It also intervenes during reading, to memorize the sentence you have just read, so that the next one makes sense...”

That particular reading was forgotten altogether once my phone screen lit up again.

TO BE CONTINUED

~~~

AN/ Read the book on Patreon, or wait until next Wednesday for chapter 25!

Link for the book on my Patreon’s profile:

https://www.patreon.com/ladytrex