Shades of Purple

When Ruby awoke to the streaks of sun dancing across her face, she felt the absence of a body that once laid next to her. Brad’s spot lay cold and empty, only a few short hairs shown he had been there to begin with.

Brushing out her hair with her hands, Ruby got up from the bed, taking her clothes from Brad’s dresser. She showered and dressed.

She left the bedroom and was instantly greeted by Lilac who had arrived with a tray filled with food.

“Good morning.” Ruby fluffed the back of her damp hair, approaching the kitchen table. “Did Brad send this up?”

Lilac nodded, not saying much. The girl looked around, sometimes in Ruby’s general direction before looking elsewhere.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Ruby sat down, grabbing a few orange slices and popped them into her mouth.

“I’ll eat on the way to school. We have a delay due to ice.” Lilac sat across from her, keeping her hands in her lap and her eyes downcast.

“Oh. Why don’t you eat with me? I eat like a bird so there’s plenty to share.” She pushed the tray towards the young girl.

“I don’t want to get into trouble or anything.”

“You won’t. Plus, this is probably a better breakfast for you to have.” Ruby nudged the tray closer until Lilac finally took a biscuit for herself.

Ruby smiled at the girl, picking a few more fruits for herself. She left the stack of pancakes untouched, wondering how to split them. Finally, she grabbed an extra plate Brad had in his kitchenette and warmed them up.

She divided it evenly between them and poured herself some syrup. Lilac followed suit, gladly taking the food offered to her.

“Hey, Lilac!” A loud knock sounded on the door. By the sound and tone of the voice, a teenage girl must be driving, probably a fellow student and pack member, Lilac to school.

“I’m coming!” Lilac stood, smiling in thanks to Ruby.

She followed the girl to the door, seeing that indeed a teenage girl was on the other side.

“We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry it up.”

“I just need-”

“Now, Lilac.”

“I’ll drive her.” Ruby approached, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, smiling to the very stressed girl.

“Oh, Miss Ruby, you don’t have to do that.” The girl ran a quick hand through her frazzled hair.

“It's no biggie. Just get yourself to school. I’ll take her to school. No worries.” The other girl gave a bright grin, thanking her and rushing down the hall.

“Can you drive?” Lilac looked up at her, suspicious.

“Uh, yeah, of course. Just… where do I get a car?” Ruby shut the door behind her, leaving behind the leftover food to clean later. Lilac grabbed her belongings, pulled her hair into a tight bun and hid it under her hat.

“I can show you the garage. I’m sure Brad will let you take his.” Lilac showed Ruby the garage filled with several different cars. “Most of them are his, everyone else who lives here will keep their cars in a separate garage. I hear he even has a bunch in storage, mainly older antiques from his grandparents.”

She flipped on the lights, grabbed a key from the cabinet and led Ruby to a Ford truck. Lilac hesitantly handed over the keys before jumping into the passenger seat. Ruby followed suit, turning on the car.

After figuring out all the controls and opening the garage door, Ruby made a quick exit out into the neighborhood. Lilac gave directions to her school, barely making it in time.

“Sorry, I held you up.” Ruby watched as she climbed out of the car, dragging her backpack along behind her.

“It's okay. Thank you for breakfast.” Lilac gave her a true smile, as small as it was.

“Have fun at school. If you don't want to ride with that girl, just call. I can drive.” Lilac laughed at that, knowing fully well Ruby could drive perfectly fine.

“She’s cool, just a little crazy. Thanks, though.” Lilac waved goodbye before slamming the door shut. Ruby waited until she had safely entered the school entrance before pulling out and back onto the road.

It took her a while to get back, getting lost a few times. She had no phone for a map, a GPS, or even an actual map in the car. Getting antsy, Ruby continued to take wrong turns, meet dead ends, and have to turn around repeatedly.

“This is such bull…” For the fifth time, Ruby pulled the truck to the side, getting ready to turn around after meeting a dead end on the wrong road.

Gunning the engine, she headed back to the main road, following after several cars. Instead of trying the next road, she passed it, driving onward until she saw a sign directing to a private neighborhood.

Finally, she made it back. It took her almost an hour to return when she had only taken twenty minutes to drop Lilac off. Ruby typed in the code at the gates, something Lilac had thankfully shared with her.

The main road was silent, no more teenagers and little kids being buckled into their vehicles and driving or being driven off to school. Most of the adults had gone to work and those who stayed home were most likely inside, away from the cold.

When the big house came into view, just around a wooden bend, several people came out to greet her on her return. They waved and smiled but continued down, away from the house back towards where the neighborhood sat.

A control button for the garage sat on the dashboard and with one click of a button, Ruby was pack inside. Only, she wasn’t alone. Brad, Luke, and Dr. Smith all sat within the garage, waiting on her.

Exiting the car, Luke was the first to speak up.

“So, do you drive like a mad woman?”

“Uh, no. Lilac said I drove just fine.” She scoffed at his words. Apparently, Lilac wasn’t the only one to doubt her abilities.

“You don’t even have a driver’s license on you. What if you got pulled over?” Brad’s eyes narrowed onto her where she stood safely by the car door, still ajar in case of a means to escape.

“I guess it's a good thing that I did the speed limit and followed all traffic laws to keep myself, as a driver, those sharing the road with me, and my passenger safe at all times.” Ruby pursed her lips in the hope the issue would be dropped.

“Is that from a commercial? I swear I-” Brad’s growl cut off Luke’s half attempt at humor.

“Thank you for driving Lilac to school, though she does hitch a ride with others.” Dr. Smith intervened before Brad could say anymore or Luke try to say something funny.

“Oh, I know. It's just, I ate breakfast with her and ended up making her late so instead of worrying the others she rode with, I took her myself. Kind of did it without thinking… I didn’t think anyone would mind me taking the truck, either…” She looked towards Brad for her last sentence, catching the anger in his eyes as he watched her.

“Thank you, Miss Ruby, for that.” Dr. Smith gave her a quick half-hug, before departing with Luke hot on his heels.

As soon as they closed the door, Brad jumped from his spot and had her in his arms so fast, she squealed in surprise.

“You aren’t mad?” His worried actions contradicted the anger that had been clearly written on his face moments ago.

“Dammit, Ruby!” She jumped in his arms by his sudden curse in her ear. Brad pulled away to cup her face and look directly in her eyes, making the scene a bit too close for her liking. “You scared me half to death! I thought you might have gone out again, thinking you were dreaming until Luke informed me of you driving my truck with Lilac inside.”

“I’m sorry. I had meant to be back way sooner but I got lost-” Her words were cut off as he pulled her back into a bone-crushing hug.

“I nearly canceled my lunch meeting with the alphas, ya know. All your hard work would have gone down the drain if Luke hadn’t informed me when he had.”

“You better not cancel.” Ruby squirmed her hand up to his ribs and gave him a hard pinch through the fabric of his shirt. Giving a wolfish yelp, Brad released her and let the truck stand in between them for protection as he covered his wounded side.

“Evil woman. I sit here worrying-”

“For no reason. I was perfectly okay, and if you truly thought I was in life-threatening danger you would have already canceled the meeting and set out to find me. But, here I am, whole and healthy.” She came to his side, kissing his cheek to comfort his insane worry.

“Let's keep you that way.” Throwing an arm around her shoulder, Brad led her back inside where it was much warmer than the garage.

He left her in the living room to do as she pleased while he got ready for his lunch meeting. Luke had passed by them, winking her way but before he could make a joke, Brad shut him up with a low, warning growl.

Ruby sat on the couch, a blanket covering her lap as she watched television. She settled for a Hallmark movie, a typical, romantic, angst plot.

Brad gave her a quick kiss goodbye before he left with Luke for the meeting. Lindsey popped in with popcorn, unable to sit through the entire movie due to classes.

It had only been an hour of peace and quiet when Ruby felt suddenly unhappy and… lonely. She had been practically smothered since the day she arrived but now, in the rare peace that found her in the house, Ruby felt lonely. She craved some kind of company, preferably Brad’s, but the crave felt selfish and egocentric.

“Why do I feel this way…?” Squirming in her seat, a habit she began when uncomfortable as a young child, Ruby covered herself with the blanket and laid down.

“Feel what way, dear?” Jolting from her spot, Ruby noticed an older woman, no more than 40, standing in the doorway.

“Excuse me?” She righted herself up as the woman stepped further into the room and closed the door.

“You were wondering why you felt a certain way. If you feel strange or uncomfortable, I’m sure Dr. Smith can help you.” The woman sat on the arm of the chair, comfortably close but far away enough to make it awkward.

“Oh… I doubt the doctor could help with this.”

“Ah, I see. Perhaps you are just missing home. You are far away from home, right?” The woman smiled kindly, a few wrinkles appearing around her eyes.

“I never really had a home, ma’am… Well, I did… Or perhaps I didn’t. I’m not sure anymore.” Ruby pulled her knees to her chest, more and more confused.

“Define a home for yourself, dear. Perhaps, once you find your own definition, you can find it. Even if that is not here, I’m quite certain you can find it.” Her warm hand gently touched Ruby’s shoulder, offering a kind squeeze before letting go.

She didn’t say a word and Ruby refused to break the silence as the woman swished herself out, her heavy skirt following behind.

“Define home…” Yet, Ruby had no idea how to define the term ‘home’ for herself. The internet could not help and no one else could give her the definition. She was stuck.

Ruby left her blanket on the couch, folded neatly. She turned off the television and headed up to the room she had been given. Clicking the lock behind her, she bolted the entrance and opened the balcony doors.

Cool air filtered in, not feeling as cold as it had that morning. With the sun shining brightly, a lot of the snow had melted away, the ice being a bit more stubborn to do so.

Down below was absolute quiet, nothing stirred. Back inside her room, she could hear an occasional shout from those in the game room below but she shut the doors to block their noise.

Ruby sat herself down in a chair, wiping away the melting snow to sit without getting her bottom wet. The forest sat in front of her, staring back at her, moaning almost in frustration. They mirrored her own feelings.

Leaning forward to rest her elbows on the stone railing, Ruby whispered her questions aloud, hearing a small bristle of the pines and branches in response. None of the answers made much sense to her, but she listened anyway.

It felt like forever before she finally noticed her fingers felt numb and her skin had gone whiter than paper. Feeling the cold more strongly than before, Ruby headed back inside, the questions in her mind circulating.

Peeking out, none were currently in the hall but if the wet footprints, that gleamed under the light on the hardwood floors, said anything, lots of people had stampeded through here.

Following them, they led off to multiple different rooms she passed by as she headed to Brad’s. Two wolf prints led to his own and laughter could be heard inside.

Slowly creaking it open, Ruby poked her head in to find Brad and Luke, dressed in gym shorts, toasting.

“The meeting went well, then?” At the sound of her voice, Brad spun around, his grin growing impossibly wider.

“It did!” Luke threw his beer bottle into the air with a loud ‘whoop’.

Brad set his aside, opening his arms wide to embrace her in a heated hug. For Ruby, it felt like hugging a fire.

With a frown, he pulled back, checking her over.

“What's wrong?” Ruby’s brows furrowed, her lower lip jutting out in her confusion. “Your very pale,” he elaborated.

“Oh! I just came in.” Shaking his head at her response, Brad grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Silly girl, you need to keep warm.” Brad wrapped his arms around her, pulling her taut against his chest as he retook his beer.

Luke laughed, clinking his longneck against Brad’s as they excitedly chattered. As they talked Ruby squirmed out of his arms, already warm enough, and headed to the bedroom to lay down.

“You okay, babe?” Brad called out to her just as she reached the door.

“Yeah, I’m just tired.”

“Must have been all that crazy driving earlier. Really takes it out of ya, eh?” Luke chuckled from his perch on the counter.

“Hardie har, har, har.” Ruby just rolled eyes, smiling at his teasing. She left them to chatter more about the meeting and the future of the pack as she laid down under the covers.

I can never legitimately have a driver’s license…

Luke’s booming laugh shocked her senses, making her sit up just a bit as the two men continued to talk about things she didn’t understand. It got quiet very suddenly as the door opened and Smith walked in, introduced by a loud hello from his nephew.

I can never go back to school and finish med school, become an orthopedic surgeon… Pay off all those college bills...

He made a quick exit with the slamming of a door and another loud goodbye, proudly presented by his drunken nephew.

I don’t even have a home, anymore...