Moana Smiling to myself with closed eyes, I nuzzled deeper into the warm embrace of my bedmate, inhaling the smell of his chest. Wait… My eyes shot open, as did his at the same time. We stared at one another in disbelief for several long seconds before I felt my face get hot. There was no denying the chemistry in the air between us as we gazed at each other beneath the warmth of the sheets, but I knew deep down that this was wrong. Edrick was my boss, and I had signed a contract to not get romantically involved! Blushing, I quickly pulled away and climbed out of the bed. I noticed that the cardigan I had worn to bed the night before now lay on the floor, so I picked it up and quickly put it on to cover myself while Edrick sat up slowly in bed. “I’m sorry,” I said, my back turned to him as I buttoned my cardigan. “Maybe this isn’t the best idea.” “Perhaps,” he replied. His voice was low and gravelly from sleep, and it admittedly made me feel even more attracted to him. “But I have
Moana“Follow me,” the director of the orphanage, Sophia, said. Her sad expression when I mentioned my identity gave me cause for concern, and as I followed her blonde head of hair up the narrow wooden stairs to her office, I felt my heart start to beat faster than it had been before.Sophia led me into her office and gestured for me to sit as she closed the door behind us. I sat on the edge of the straight-backed wooden chair across from her desk, clutching my purse nervously in my lap.“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your heritage sooner,” Sophia said as she walked over to one of the tall metal filing cabinets at the back of the room that contained records of current and past children at the orphanage. “It’s our policy to not bring it up, for the sake of the children’s mental health. I hope you understand.”“Of course,” I replied. I watched as Sophia pulled open one of the drawers and began thumbing through the rows of manila folders. Sophia had been here since I was a child; at
MoanaI felt my heart sink into the pit of my stomach at the attendant’s words.“She left quite a while ago. Did you not pick her up?”“Hold on,” I replied, walking away briskly and trying to stay calm as I dialed the penthouse phone number into my cell phone and asked the concierge to direct me to Edrick’s suite. This had to be some misunderstanding. Surely Ella was safely home. Maybe Amy or Lily got confused with the schedule and picked her up without letting me know.“Hello?” Selina’s voice said on the other line after a few rings.“Selina,” I said, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible, “did Amy or Lily pick up Ella from her training?”Selina was silent for a few moments before responding. “No. That’s your job.” Her voice sounded stern and cold, but I could sense a hint of fear behind it as she seemed to put two and two together. I knew that Selina cared for Ella just as much as I did, and the last thing she would ever want would be for something bad to happen to Ella.
MoanaDespite everything that happened that day, Edrick still requested that I spend the night with him. I made sure to put more distance between us this time, hoping that we wouldn’t wake up in each other’s arms again in the morning.When I woke up, my cardigan was still on and Edrick’s side of the bed was empty. I heard the shower running in the bathroom, so I let out a sigh of relief and took it as my chance to get up and leave the room before I would have to talk to him. Not only was it still awkward to look him in the eye with our new arrangement, but I was admittedly still a little upset with him for yelling at me publicly the day before.I quickly got up and made the bed, opening the curtains out of habit to let some sunlight into the room before I put my slippers on and headed out.“Moana?” Ella’s little voice said, the second I walked out of the room. It made me jump a bit. I wasn’t expecting her to be standing right outside the door.“Good morning, Miss Ella,” I said, managi
Moana“I’ll pay.”Ella and I were both shocked when we turned around to see Edrick standing there, credit card in hand, his face covered by sunglasses and a surgical mask.“Daddy!” Ella exclaimed.Edrick handed the ice cream salesman his credit card and ruffled Ella’s hair. “Eat your ice cream before it melts,” he said, guiding us away from the stand and the people behind us who were getting quickly annoyed at us for holding up the line to get ice cream.“I thought you had to work,” Ella said.“I decided to come home early so I could spend your birthday with you after all,” Edrick replied. “But you weren’t home. Selina told me that you went on an outing…” I couldn’t see his eyes through his sunglasses, but the way his head slowly turned toward me told me everything I needed to know.I felt my shoulders droop and looked embarrassingly down at my rapidly-melting ice cream. We approached a bench and Edrick instructed Ella to sit while she finished her ice cream, then he stood next to me
EdrickMoana and I both shot each other a somewhat annoyed glance as Ella decided, against our wills, to volunteer us to participate in the game as her parents. I didn’t know how to explain to the staff member standing in front of us that Moana was just Ella’s au pair, not her mother -- and we were certainly not married, nor would we ever be.The teenage staff member looked back and forth between Moana and I with a somewhat disbelieving expression on her face. I knew she could tell that Moana was human and I was a werewolf, but thankfully she didn’t say anything.“Right this way,” the girl said, stepping out of the way and gesturing toward the center of the park where a group of parents and children had gathered in front of a gazebo with a small stage.Moana and I followed reluctantly, Ella tugging on our hands with even more excitement than she had all day, if that was even possible. As we approached the crowd, we started to get some strange looks from other parents.I was still wear
EdrickI lifted my blindfold, as did she. The sweet scent that I smelled was definitely Moana…Or so I thought. It faded so quickly that I was no longer sure if it was her who I smelled, or someone else. It couldn’t be her, anyway; she was a human. She had no scent.“It looks like we have our first winners!” the announcer called over the microphone.As Ella squealed with delight on the platform above, I realized that I was holding Moana’s hand. I saw her blushing and I quickly dropped her hand. When we re-emerged from the maze, Ella was standing at the entrance with one of the staff members -- the same girl from before.The staff member gave Moana and I a strange look, but still said nothing and instead handed Ella the grand prize; the rare doll that Ella had so desperately wanted.As we walked back to the car, Ella couldn’t stop chattering about how much she loved her doll, how amazing it was that she was able to make me find Moana so quickly, and how this was the best birthday she h
MoanaWhen I woke up the morning after Ella’s birthday, I was shocked to discover that it was already eleven o’clock; three hours past my usual time to wake up in the morning. If it hadn’t been for my phone buzzing on the bedside table, I likely would have slept in for even longer.As I awoke, squinting against the bright sunlight coming in through the large window, I also discovered something else: Edrick and I were cuddling again.Feeling my face flush hot, I quickly climbed out of bed, taking care not to wake Edrick, and picked up my phone to see Selina’s name on my screen.“Selina?” I said quietly, walking away from the bed so as not to wake the still-sleeping Edrick.“Where on earth are you?” she asked angrily, her voice quivering with rage. “You should’ve been up hours ago, and you haven’t answered even though I’ve been knocking on your door all morning.”I gulped, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me. “I’m so sorry,” I stammered, trying to come up with an excuse as the