My father and Zoey were in the bakery trying out the different kinds of cookies for the bake stand at the town's festival this weekend.
How mundane it all seems to me now after the things I saw. The things I now know.
I shook my head of these thoughts and continued to straighten out the blanket on the guest bed. I'd tried to make it more child friendly for Zoey's sake but it seemed the harder I tried, the more silly it looked. Like an adult trying to stay 10 years old forever.
In the end I just put her bag on the bed. She had kept the bear with her, not allowing either my father or I to take it even to wash. It was covered in dirt and something orange.
But, in truth, these were all just distractions. Making a bed a dozen times over and wanting to wash a stuffed animal had nothing to do with where my mind truly was.
The black wolf in the woods.
I was racking my brain, trying so hard to remember just where I'd seen that wolf before. Of course, it could be any of the hundred or so werewolves that I saw in the cave. Why was I so concerned about this one?
The town festival went off with a bang. Literally.
Fireworks shot from the edge of the woods to mark the beginning of the celebration. The maidens ran out of their tents to start the dance and the band perked up while I stood behind our decorated booth just 10 feet across from one that held different home made dolls and blankets.
People sat on blankets and prepared for a lunch picnic. There was going to be a movie displayed in a few hours, but sooner there will be various local bands performing. The church was holding a special sermon and on the steps sat children drawing pictures. Some people went down to the creek just in the edge of the woods to send a flower down to the river.
It's a tradition meant to show their love for eachother.
I looked around me for Zoey, but instead my eyes landed on Jazz- a popular girl from my school- heading my way. She wasn't very tall with dark, curly hair and chocolate eyes. The likely hood of her talking to me on a normal day was a solid 3 out of 10.
The same rating her boyfriend gave me last year.
"Hey, Lucy."
I rolled my eyes. My full name is Lucille, my mom started calling me Lacey when I was little and I've never gone by Lucy or Lucille. They teachers always try that they first day of school, however.
"Lacey. What do you want, Jazz?"
She looked down at our stand, grimacing every now and then before clicking her tongue and looking back at me with a horrible glint in her eyes.
"Nothing from here. They're made from rotten eggs."
I flushed. It wasn't true, but coming from her lips it might as well have been.
"Better to have rotten egg than to be one," the voice of my father said to the left of us. That set Jazz off laughing.
"Is that the best you can do, Lucy? Old pops as back up? Pathetic."
I stepped back, she laughed again.
"Absolutely pathetic."
I stepped back again, this time making me trip and fall onto the grass.
"Parlez-vous français," she asked mockingly before laughing again, this time more like a witches cackle.
My legs found the ability to stand and start walking away. More like strength to stay standing in the long run, when she started laughing louder.
Soon I found myself at the creek.
I stood on the wooden bridge that rose a few feet above the water and tried to breath as I gripped the railing. Just down the water 2 young children were releasing dandelions they had found into the stream while a few pairs of older couples smiled and gently laughed at the sight.
A stray tear came down my cheek. Jazz has been making fun of me like this for a while, almost 10 years. It only started to turn into actual bullying about 2 years ago, though. It started after I turned down her brother, Ryland, for the winter formal in 10th grade. He and I were close when we were young, but I didn't think of him that way.
The sound of the river was all that filled my mind for a few minutes.
Calm, gentle water patting at each other. The only time the world makes sense is when it's natural. That's what my mother used to say.
"The forest is the truest place," she smiled at me," you can always be yourself there."
I would have sworn I actually did see her. I would have sworn that she was smiling at me through the bright, beautiful sun and she was whispering to me through the cool wisps of clouds in the sky and she held me through the soft breeze that caressed my bared arms and pulled my hair around.
She was there.
That's probably why I didn't jump away when I felt someone touch my hand or when they kissed my forehead. Even if it wasn't her, it was.
"I'm sorry I made you leave, Lacey," Mike whispered from my side where he held me close," I shouldn't have been that way. I'm sorry."
I looked up at him, sun glistened past his dark head making me squint my eyes to see. His dark eyes followed the movement of my lips as I started to say I was sorry as well, but stopped myself when I remembered what happened the last time I said that.
He cupped my chin and pulled my face an inch or so closer. We were still far enough away, but closer. Closer.
He looked so handsome.
"I promise to try not to be a- a monster. I'm not usually like that," he closed his eyes before correcting himself," at least I don't think I am.
"The point is, I've had girlfriends before- Nova being one of them, for example. It was so easy with them, but everything's different with you. It's like- like there's more color now. You're a true artist, Lacey, because you've painted my world in all new colors and I can't make sense of it. It's so beautiful, though. I don't really know what I'm saying, to be truthful.
"Please, just," he swallowed hard and opened his eyes to look at me," Fais-moi confiance."
My eyes were on the brink of tears at his words. Maybe I'm stupid, but who really gives a shit? If I'm meant to be a Luna then I should probably take some chances anyway, especially with my Alpha.
I leaned closer and brushed my lips against his, hearing him whimper when I didn't give him a proper kiss made me do it again. Again. Again. Each time I let my breath fan his lips just long enough before pulling away. Then I did it, planted my lips fully on his perfect ones. His hand came up to hold my cheek ever so lightly.
It was relatively short, if I'm being honest, but it was truthful. It was perfect. When I pulled back I brushed my thumb on his lips and looked into his onyx-like eyes.
"I trust you, Alpha."
Hope you're all ready for Thanksgiving. Yay, food!
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