Mateo dropped him off at home late that night.
Humming a familiar song, Ezra cheerfully entered his pack house. Running in his wolf form had given him such a freeing feeling. He loved it more than he wanted to admit. There was something about the wind rushing through his fur and the forest passing beneath his paws that made all the frustration of the day disappear, even if only for a little while.
Everyone had already headed off to sleep. Not wanting to disturb them, Ezra didn't make much noise or switch on the lights.
His sister's room was quite close to the doorway, so even the light from the hallway would probably disturb her.
He quietly walked over to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Because that wretched Rio had almost died, he had completely lost his appetite earlier. He hadn't eaten lunch or dinner, and now his stomach was growling so loudly that he was surprised no one else had woken up.
The small amount of curly fries Mateo had given him definitely wasn't enough.
He scavenged through the fridge and finally found a frozen pizza.
"Daddy's having pizza for dinner~"
He happily popped it into the oven and did a small victory dance while waiting.
"I know his weakness. Yeah, I know his weakness. Oh, and I have his ugly photo… If he bullies me, I will post it all over school~~~"
He twirled around, only to find a dark figure standing right behind him.
"Eeep!!!!"
Ezra swiftly grabbed the empty pizza box and tossed it at the person.
Suddenly, the lights came on, giving Ezra a good view of the intruder.
It was his sister.
She still had the pizza box hanging from her face.
"Pfft… hahahahahah!"
She tossed it back at him, which he skillfully caught.
"You… You test my patience, Ez."
"Ohh, aren't all siblings supposed to do this?" He blinked cutely at her.
Without a word, she walked into the kitchen and stood by the counter.
"You seem awfully cheery. Liked picking trash?"
"No, I just saved a piece of trash." He paused. "But I regret it. Maybe I should have let him roll around like Mateo said. Sigh, I can't change the past."
He mumbled the last part while checking on his pizza.
"What are you mumbling about, silly?"
"Nothing."
He pulled out the pizza and cut it into six pieces.
His sister immediately swooped in and picked out the biggest piece, which was covered in a ton of pepperoni.
"Hey!"
He swatted at her hand, but she still managed to steal his pizza slice.
Growling loudly, Ezra chowed down on the rest of his pizza.
"So, how did it go? Did you find a new girlfriend in the park?"
Ezra stuffed his face with pizza in order not to answer her.
Today had been weird.
He had felt so many different emotions in just one day that it was becoming overwhelming. Especially the feeling he had experienced when he saw Rio lying on the ground, unable to breathe.
His chest had hurt so badly at that time.
Ezra touched his heart.
"Does our family have a preexisting heart condition?"
"Huh? Are you cursing our parents?"
She slapped the top of his head.
"Ow! I'm just asking, okay?"
That crossed out a heart attack.
'I must have just been so anxious at that time. Even if that dying person had not been Rio, I would have felt the same. Hmmm, that must be it.'
He convinced himself.
"So, you're still a single dog?"
She sneakily stole the last slice of pizza while her brother was in a dazed state.
When Ezra came around, he looked at the empty plate and then at his sister.
She gave him a wide grin as she ate the last piece.
He had been saving the best piece for last.
But she…
She stole it!
"Revenge must be served!!!"
In fact, it was already brewing inside his body. His lactose intolerance made him terribly gassy. He just had to wait a little while before an attack was ready to serve.
Suddenly, she looked up at him, her eyes widening.
"Oh no… you… didn't take your pill…"
Ezra jumped up and farted right beside her.
"Take that, pizza stealer!"
"Ew, Ezra!!!!!! Fuck, you ruined pizza for me!"
She gagged and ran back to her room.
Giggling, Ezra walked back to his own room in a cheerful mood. He jumped onto his messy bed and cuddled into the warm blankets.
"Hmmm, what a nice day…"
A blaring alarm woke him up the next morning.
Dazedly, Ezra wiped his mouth.
"What time…"
He pulled the clock closer and took a look.
It was seven AM.
"Too early."
He tossed the clock to the side and snuggled deeper into his sheets.
Sweet, sweet sleep invited him back into its arms. With a soft smile, Ezra laid down again.
"Honk!!!! Honk!!!!!"
Just as he was about to fall asleep, a loud honking outside his house jolted him awake.
"Mateo… Ughhh, why is he so early…"
Grumbling, he opened the window and looked down.
His friend was waving at him vigorously from below.
"Why are you here this early, man?! I'm going to sleep!"
"Dude! The coach will kill you! Did you forget? From today, we will be training for our tryouts!"
Ezra grimaced.
That had completely slipped out of his mind. He had been too focused on Rio to notice this major event.
'Fuck, the tryouts. I need to train well to get selected.'
He ran back inside and threw on his training outfit. He didn't have much time to eat breakfast. The tryout training started at 7:30.
Only by speeding would they be able to make it on time.
He hopped into Mateo's car and shook his shoulders.
"Go! Go! Go!"
"Stop shaking me first!"
Dizzily, Mateo shook his head.
"Dude, you sometimes forget that you have werewolf strength, don't you? I think you shook my brain out of place."
"Don't waste time, Mateo! Just go!"
He anxiously glanced at the time on his phone.
"Fine, fine…"
Mateo started the car, and they sped toward the school.
Just after parking, Ezra noticed all the weird gazes he was getting. Some looked at him with flirtatious expressions, while others looked at him as if they were genuinely confused.
"What did I miss?"
"Dunno. I'm just as ignorant as you on this."
Mateo looked around. Some of the hot chicks were even winking at him and waving.
"Ohh, but I'm liking this change. Buddy, this is my time to find a wifey. Bye~"
"W-wait, hey! What about training?!"
Before Ezra could grab him, Mateo slipped away to flirt with the group of cheerleaders.
Sighing, Ezra walked in alone.
The gazes focused on him felt annoying. It was almost like spiders crawling over his skin.
'What is happening?'
Some punk-rock chick he had seen in his lab winked at him and cat-called him.
'Am I being treated like a… woman?'
Just thinking about that possibility made him cringe.
But soon, he realized why everyone was looking at him that way.
One random girl ran up to him and stopped in his path, giggling.
"Heard you saved Rio last night. Ohhh, you are so sweet. You even saved your greatest enemy. Everyone is talking about it…"
She twirled her hair with a cute smile.
"Ezra… are you fre…"
Ezra walked past her with a scowl.
'So that was why everyone was treating me like this. It was because I saved their football king! Fuck it! I hate this attention more than I thought!!'
He walked over to his locker, only to see that annoying fuck face kissing a random girl.
The girl this maggot had stolen from him had long since become nothing more than a ghost from his past.
But seeing Rio with another girl still pissed him off even more.
He pushed Rio out of the way and shoved his things into the locker.
"Hey, Ezra."
Rio's new fling softly smiled at him.
"Thank you so much for saving him. Without him, our school would have become a dark dungeon without light. Oh, how much we would have suffered."
"Eh? You crazy lady? Dark dungeon my ass. He's the dark lord of evil."
He shoved Rio out of the way again and rushed toward his practice.
An annoying pair of footsteps followed after him.
"I was thankful you saved me, so I let everyone in school know what a wonderful person you are for saving an angel like me."
Ezra just looked him up and down.
"Self-obsessed psycho. Go die in a ditch."
"But darling, how can I dare to let this poor life you saved go to waste? I will live so well just for you~"
Ezra paused, giving him his full attention.
'This guy is changing his tune? What gives? Did his father tell him to act all friendly toward me? Is it a ploy?… Oh… it's because I know his weakness. This guy is scared that I will pass it on to others.'
"What is it?" Rio kindly smiled at him.
Ezra got the shivers just looking at that smile.
"Ew. Don't ever smile at me. And I'm not that low to spread your weakness, so you don't have to cater to me. Just… just stay out of my life. That's all I ask for."
Rio smiled at him.
"What? Do you regret it, Ez?"
He reached out and touched Ezra's cheek.
Ezra slapped his hand away.
At that moment, he lost it.
All the pent-up frustration about his past girlfriends came rushing out the moment he saw that content smile.
'How dare he be happy? He made my life miserable.'
That was the only thought in his mind.
"Yes! I regret saving you! You are fucking low life. It's better if you were dead!!"
Suddenly, he noticed Rio's cheerful expression change into one he was familiar with.
"Is that so? Hmmmm… I'll do what I want. I will NOT stay out of your life. What will you do, Ezra? What can you do? Are you just bitter? Oh, is it because you can't satisfy your girlfriends?"
'Oh, that does it!'
Ezra threw a punch at him, but at the last moment, before it could land on his face, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
It was just a light force.
The person holding him back was human. In order not to hurt that person, Ezra immediately backed away, growling at Rio.
"Chill, man."
Mateo hugged him tightly from behind.
Rio growled loudly.
"Fuck, I will tear your mouth off, you fucking ass bitch. Don't ever come near me or I will show you what my real fist tastes like!"