CHAPTER SEVEN:
~Avery:
My first night here and while I felt safe, I was restless. I had fallen asleep earlier but had woken up a few times. Now at 4am, I wasn’t going to fight it any longer. I crept out of the sleeping bag on the floor, and picked up a pillow. Setting it on the floor next to one of the big windows I made myself a temporary chair. I looked out at the woods, pulled my legs under my arms and sighed. The sun would start rising soon. It was very cold out there, although you couldn’t tell just by looking.
A breeze came through the trees, rusting the pine needles on the trees close by. I spotted the slight movement of an owl in a tree. We stared at each other for some time. I rolled my neck and looked into the moon, searching it for strength. The moon had helped me regain control of myself when I had nearly lost it. It would maybe be too much to ask for it to help me again?
There was knocking on the door.
“Amy? Sorry! Are you up?” Beth called from behind the door.
I must have fallen asleep again by the window.
“One second!” I called back, my voice cracking.
I stretched and stood up, walking a few steps to the door. I opened it to find Beth there in footie pajamas and a robe. She was holding a tray with pancakes, scrambled eggs, strawberries, and what smelled like a cup of coffee.
“Beth! Wow - thank you,” I said, touched by her kindness.
“Well I didn’t want you to go hungry, I know you haven’t been able to go shopping yet. Here,” she passed the tray to me.
“Thank you, really,” I said again.
“Sure thing, us girls need to look out for each other,” she said grinning, “Okay I’m going to give you your privacy! No rush on getting any of that back to me. I know where you live,” she laughed.
I smiled at her child-like joke. She really radiated warmth.
I waved at her as she turned back up the path to her place and carried the tray inside, setting it on the floor by my pillow-chair.
I looked out again at the backyard and ate my first meal in this new place while watching the squirrels and blue jays get their fill of the snacks Beth put out in those feeders.
Maybe the moon would pull through for me again after all.
I spent the day out at a local second-hand furniture place. I was able to pick out a twin size bed frame, a two-seater couch, and a little dining table with two chairs. I was going to just get one chair but decided to get both. Maybe I would have Beth over one day to share a dinner with or something. In a while though. I can’t get too close. I don’t know what’s going on in her life or what could set me off again.
I hit the grocery store and got a few staples along with some chicken, ground beef, a few spices, and various vegetables. I saw some pots and pans in the kitchen already, so this should be enough to get started. I cooked a light lunch for myself and had the furniture delivered. The place was coming along. I just needed to buy a new mattress. Something to do tomorrow. I made a stir fry for dinner and ate it at my little table against a window. I watched the animals disappear for the night and thanked the moon again for a good day, asking for help for tomorrow.
A week later I was settled in and working a new job doing data entry and email correspondence for a small insurance company. I had done work like this in the past and it was easy to slip back into old skills.
“Amy?!” Beth called from outside then knocked on the door.
“Hey, Beth, what’s up?” I asked her while opening the door.
We had been friendly but distant the last few days. She had seemed to want to talk more but I was trying to put up some barriers before getting in over my head.
She looked like she had been crying. Crap.
“Oh,” she sniffled, “I’m sorry, I should have guessed you would be busy with lunch. I’m sorry.” She started to walk off.
I knew I should leave it. The objective person in my head told me so. Warned me about what could happen if she told me something that ticked me off. I closed the door and leaned against it. But I glanced at the plate and tray still on my counter that I hadn’t returned yet, and I knew I couldn’t do that. I followed her to her place to help.
We were pulling up to a bar. I always avoided these places. But Beth really had insisted she needed to get out. And I couldn’t let her go alone. She was going to drink, and I agreed to be her designated driver. She got out of the car quickly after checking her makeup. And I, well I took a deep breath and began praying furiously at the moon. Bars were very dangerous for me. I couldn’t imagine very many more dangerous places. A prison maybe? But here, there were all kinds of seedy people here looking for easy targets. Sure, there were people here like Beth. But bars were breeding grounds for shady desires and actions.
Please, moon, please let this be different, I sent out my final wish as we entered the place.
I was skeptical though. I mean, a bar called ‘Promises, Promises’?
CHAPTER EIGHT~Drake: I was getting hammered. I couldn’t seem to stop drinking. And it took a lot to get a werewolf drunk. But I was feeling it. A lot. I don’t know how Archer found this place or why it was so packed tonight, but the energy in the place was contagious. I came in here expecting to find a sad, dilapidated building and older regulars from the area. Instead it was full of singles and couples dancing, dark booths, and a large variety of drinks. It was more of a club than a bar. Archer and I were honestly having a really good time. There were plenty of attractive girls on the dancefloor and we ended up hanging around a group of girls in town for a bachelorette party. Archer wasn’t as into them as I might be. But it could be lonely as an older werewolf with no mate on the horizon. One of them in particular seemed into me and we went back and forth between dancing and picking up new drinks at the bar. I bought a round of shots for the group and we gathered at their booth.
CHAPTER NINE:~Avery: It wasn’t so bad here. And as bars go, this one seemed pretty different. I was still on guard, trying to avoid the dark corners where seedy behavior could be going on, but I was maybe starting to have fun? The place was more of a dance club that happened to be set inside an old school bar, something you would picture in this woodsy town. But the dance floor, the music, the sound system, the lighting, it was all very modern. And I couldn’t fight it for long. Music sang to me, to my blood. A small dose of what it felt like to control someone, to make them do things. It hasn't always been easy for me to distinguish the two. But thankfully I had grown from those days. The base thrummed and Beth and I twirled around with some girls who had immediately taken to us when we got here. Beth had a handsome tall, lanky guy dancing around her for some time who set my alarms off but after a few looks from me he seemed to back off. Some. After a few songs we went with the ot
CHAPTER TEN:~Drake: “Drake?” Archer said again at my side. My heart beat frantically, faster than the beat of the music thrumming through the bar. Everything felt too hot, too loud. Go to Mate, Dane ordered me. And my foot moved forward before I stepped back for a second. This couldn’t happen to me. I was too restless, too different and dark - and in too much sh*t with my Alpha. GO, Dane ordered again. He whined when I stood still. “I can’t-” I began to say, turning to Archer. “I can’t have a mate.” Archer moved to stand in front of me and grabbed hold of both of my shoulders. “Holy Goddess Above,” he said breathlessly. “She’s here? Where?” He looked around the bar. I pushed him away. “I can’t have a mate Arch. You don’t understand.” I looked at my shoes. Fighting Dane’s barking and howling in my head to go after her. “Drake, I can’t pretend to know what you’re feeling in this second. But you know that we are both - different. Put into other roles, and we’ve had to preten
CHAPTER ELEVEN:~Avery: Hurt came over the handsome man’s - Drake’s face. Oh. My. God. He’s serious. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised. I exist. Why wouldn’t other otherworldly creatures exist? I felt a need to comfort him, to take away the hurt I caused. “I’m sorry,” I reached out a hand to touch his cheek but thought better of it when it was halfway up and yanked it down to my side. Why would I touch a stranger? “I just didn’t know… I’ve never met a werewolf…” He smiled. I thought my insides would melt. My God, how could he get even more handsome? My insides felt like they were glowing. “And you are a-?” he asked me again. I almost pushed back again before I felt the need to tell him. “I don’t know,” I said in a whisper. I guess it was his turn to look confused. “I, um, I’ve never met anyone… like me,” I told him. The phone in my pocket vibrated. I looked down as I took it out, Beth was calling me. I forgot about why I had come out here, and that she had b
CHAPTER TWELVE:~Drake: My fiery mate was basically charging at me across the bar and my heart thundered as I balanced what I was seeing with all kinds of dirty thoughts. I always thought I would be the dominant one in bed, but seeing her race toward me, with some anger in her gaze, I think I would love to see her take charge of me. She can boss me around any time, Dane said in my mind, making me grin. By the time my mate came up to me I was engulfed by her scent and it was raising my blood temperature. I was still grinning, which seemed to make her angrier. “Move out of my way,” she said between clenched teeth. I then registered I was blocking the side door. I looked at her confused, “Why?” She opened her mouth and closed it then said, “What do you mean, why? I need to go out there.” “I thought your friend needed you?” I asked her, my eyes darting to the woman talking to a vampire at the edge of the bar. “You know he’s not human right?” I watched her face as she heard what I
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:~Avery: The next morning I knew I needed to re-stress the importance of keeping my distance. I let things get way out of control last night. I shouldn’t have been at that bar. I shouldn’t have killed that man (although I still thought he deserved it), and I shouldn’t have met that guy - or werewolf I guess. I began the day making an omelet for myself, and I lost my thoughts in the movements I knew so well. Chopping veggies, cracking eggs, whisking and mixing. I couldn’t get that werewolf out of my head. Drake. It had taken me hours to fall asleep after getting home and making sure Beth was settled. His voice, his eyes, his everything. Just letting my mind go there had my heart rate picking up in pace. I was so revved up after everything that I needed to finish myself off twice, imagining it was Drake doing the touching, just to feel tired. I might be in some big trouble here. I still had so many questions about werewolves and the possibility of other beings in t
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:~Drake: The next morning came, and I still didn’t know what to do about my Alpha trying to marry me off. The remnants of dreams about my newly discovered mate filled my eyes for a moment. But it was time to get up. After leading training for a few hours, I knew that I at least needed to tell my parents. Maybe they could help me figure this out. Goddess knows, Archer couldn’t give me any helpful advice. Or any advice at all. I ran over to my parent’s cottage and knocked on the door. “Drakey,” my mom opens the door with a smile. “Come in, come in.” I follow her to the kitchen table where my dad is eating breakfast. “Are you hungry? I can whip up something?” my mom asks. “No, no, I’m good, mom. Thanks,” I reassure her. I sit down with them and my dad pushes a cup of coffee at me. I thank him. “What is it?” my dad asks me after a minute. I look up to meet his gaze. He’s looking at me questioningly. “You seem - happy?” he says in a question. I widened my smil
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:~Avery: No sign of Drake for a few days now. So then why do I keep thinking about him? I’m again getting distracted when I’m supposed to be working. Instead, I’m thinking about a dreamy guy. Great. Now I’m associating him with the term ‘dreamy.’ Sighing, I close the laptop and get up. No sense in trying to do this anymore. Time for a break I guess. It’s not quite time for my usual breaks, but no matter. I put my shoes on and a jacket that hung by the door and I headed out for a walk. This time something has me going a different way. I passed a few houses, and plenty of trees. I continued on. I soak in the feeling of the sun on my face, and the warmth reminds me of the way I feel around- Ugh. There’s no escape! After about half an hour I reach town and I start walking to an ice cream shop when something gets my attention. A delicious smell - cinnamon. I almost ignore it and keep going, but something makes me stop in my tracks. It feels sad around me. There’s no o