James' brow furrowed, but it wasn't like Eric did anything wrong. Still, James stared at him with his emerald green eyes like he was a puzzle and James accidently kicked a few of his pieces under the couch.

He grabbed the piping bag (which didn't get sacrificed to the bowl) and he drew a crescent moon on top of the pan, drawing straight lines straight through the middle and through the moon's sides. He either doodled poorly drawn pictures or runes along the sides, Eric wouldn't know, but James didn't hesitate to draw them.

James closed his eyes and raised his hand, rolling his shoulders. He tilted his head and a smile puled one side of his mouth. Eric wouldn't know what he was thinking, but it must have been nice. Light shined from underneath his skin, orbs traveling down his arms into his finger-tips. He sat his hands flat on either side of the pan.

The piped icing glowed suddenly, so bright it made the rest of the room darker. James opened his eyes and stepped away. All the color in his face drained, a look of horror slapped across his face. The light intensified and as the bowl began to quiver, James reached for something behind him. It rattled the pan underneath. The noise consumed the room like a nasty round of thunder.

"What is it-" Eric could only begin to ask, when James hid behind a skillet for protection.

Flour burst from underneath the bowl, exploding in one giant puff of smoke. Suddenly, Eric was surrounded by clouds of white mist and the kitchen disappeared. Eric heaved, coughing what he could out of his lungs. He keeled forward, using his knees to keep him steady as the pain ripped through his chest and clawed up his throat.

The flour finally faded. The bowl was by Eric's feet, empty and oddly clean. He peered up with tears in his eyes and what he saw, burned the back of his neck. Sitting perfectly on the pan was a three tear white wedding cake. Shiny white pearls were pressed against the cake like dots while white chocolate roses sat all over the tears as if James tripped and the roses landed that way without purpose. They looked authentic.

James peaked from under his skillet, completely unharmed and clean.

Eric however was covered head to toe in flour.

"I uh," James hunched lower, "I might have put in a little too much flour."

The sound of Eric's patience snapping could be heard throughout the world. Rage simmered deep inside his belly, bubbling and making his skin hot and unbearable. He clenched his fists and he wished he could rewound the clock, farther than running into James, but all the way back just before his conception so he could slap his parents.

Of all the things that could happen-

He told Izzy that he didn't want-

This could have been avoided!

Eric yanked his blazer from the counter, creating a secondary explosion of smoky flour. His growing nails tore holes in his jacket as his ears pinched to a point. The veins in his arms pounded to the beat of his racing heart.

"Thank you," he grunted. "Please give that to my sister. I need to adjourn to my room and clean up, excuse me."

"Um, I’m sorry," he said, but Eric was already halfway out of the kitchen with all the widened eyes on him. He slammed the door open, smacking it against the next wall. Eric heard the window in the door splinter into cracks, but he didn't look back.

He focused on what was in front of him.

He counted to ten.

He thought about the woods and the soft earth under his bare feet. He thought about summer and soaking the sun into his brown coat of fur. He thought about being back home with the pack, under the trees laughing and talking, just being a family.

Eric took a good deep breath and retracted his claws. The wolf inside him simmered down and he felt a little cool again. Hopefully, he'd never have to see James again. He would clean himself up, stay out of sight until he needed to break away and be a part of the Rose Coven's meeting. He didn't even need to be there, but Eric had always liked a good business meeting.