*Kennedy*I didn't know why I thought I could walk into work, and I'd have an average day. My bosses were a part of the Mafia. I paced in circles around the water fountain of the driveway, waiting for Lucas and Titus to return, with Samson and Linguine trailing behind me. It took hours cleaning up all the glass. Grace insisted that she would hire a cleaning crew, but I needed the distraction. I knew something had gone wrong when they didn't come back right away, the hours ticked by and they never showed, nor did Grace and I hear any news. It was now dark and still nothing, the worry ate away at me. Grace had left hours ago, but I couldn't force myself to leave without knowing that they were okay. Headlights headed down the driveway, my anxiety kicked up a notch, hoping it was them. An old ford truck pulled to a stop in front of me and Lucas stepped out. Half of me exhaled in relief, but when Titus didn't come out of the other side of the door, dread filled."Thanks, Will, and make
*Kennedy*Grace was chattering on about something, when I spotted a familiar purple envelope on the kitchen island. "What's that?" I said to Grace, pointing at it."I don't know. You want to open it?" Was I allowed to open someone else's mail without their knowledge? Grace seemed to think so because she took it from the counter and handed it to me.I didn't need to open it to know what was inside, the writing on the front was mine. It was a thank you letter I had written to the charity that donated the money to pay for Hannah's medical bills. I stared down at the envelope, Lucas was the charity. How was this possible, how did he even know about Hannah's bills, or the fact that we applied for money every year? At first, I was angry that he did this behind my back, but then logic set in and I was grateful. The weight that had been lifted from not having the burden of those bills was immense, for both Hannah and I.I had tried my best to ignore him for weeks. After that night with Ti
*Kennedy*I watched the time on my phone tick by, Lucas hadn't returned back from his meeting. Time had felt like it slowed but in actuality it had only been two hours, which wasn't that long. I brought my laptop out to the living room and made myself comfortable on the big couch, trying my best to focus on work. Grace and Chef Chris had left, and the dogs were sleeping. Samson in his usual spot next to me, the house was eerily quiet for this time of day. In the far distance I heard someone faintly yell, at first it sounded like a wild animal, but after it repeated several times, I recognized the sound as my name. I became hypervigilant, not sure if whoever was calling me was friend or foe. Inching to the front door, I peered out one of the side windows, a large body was sprawled on the landing to the door, when I looked closer Titus came into focus. Blood was dripping from both ears, little glass pieces had embedded into his flesh. There wasn't any other major damage I could see. Hi
*Lucas*Light filtered into my left eye, it was dull light but burned bright in the blackness of my vision. The right side of my face felt like it was split in two, and I couldn't see out of my right eye. My head was pulsating so hard that I thought it was going to explode. The room smelled like death and mildew. It took me a moment to orientate myself, vomit filled the back of my throat, the hit to my head making me sick. I pushed all the pain down, my priority was to figure out where I was and get out. Dampness clung to the air, green moss covered stone from floor to ceiling, and water rhythmically dripped in the back corner that I couldn't see. I was chained to a chair, neck to feet, the chains were tight against my flesh. Whoever tied me up, made sure I'd stayed chained if I shifted. I flexed my arms, trying to break the chains apart, but my strength was too weak, and my head was still too foggy to concentrate. "I'd honestly be impressed if you broke yourself free." A voice spok
*Kennedy*The wolf slowly and deliberately crawled to me. I saw Lucas change into this creature, but my brain was not believing it. He raised his head, cuts, bruises, and swelling marred his right side. Eyes that I knew undoubtedly belonged to Lucas stared at me. I loved those eyes, they always transported me to a future that held a life full of love and belonging. Besides blood coating half of his fur, he was just as beautiful in wolf form than human, with white a snow hair.Another wolf appeared behind him, forcing me to cower. Lucas whipped his head around, he huffed and snorted at a wolf that had black and white peppered fur, almost like he was graying. Whatever the communication that was going on between them, it looked like the wolf understood. Before I could even blink the wolf transformed into Tony. Every emotion that I had ever experienced in my life bubbled over, and my body's only reaction was to throw up. My stomach heaved up bile, I tried to hide the obvious action by
*Lucas*My fingers tapped off the receptionist desk at the hospital, the woman eyed me up and down before coming to my assistance. I smiled politely at her, trying to be patient, but in a rush to see Kennedy. My dad explained everything that happened last night, and how she single-handedly saved my life."Hi Mr. Massi, how can I help you?" The woman with cropped red hair asked.It was always weird to me that people knew my name before I introduced myself. "I am here to pick up Kennedy James. She was brought in last night."The woman gawked, not making a move to find out what room Kennedy was in. My face had mostly healed, there was only a small cut above my eye where the rock made the most direct contact. The knife wound was going to take several days to heal. I should've been resting, so the healing would move along quicker but I wasn't able to truly relax until Kennedy was curled into my side. I cleared my throat, wanting to make the lady get to work. She shook her head and typ
*Kennedy*Hannah and I sat stunned in the living room of the Massi house. I stared down at the photo of my dad at my high school graduation. Thankfully Hannah thought to grab our fireproof box, that held all of the important information and most precious possessions. We both had a fear that the faulty wiring in the apartment was eventually going to catch fire. We thought ahead and prepared our box a year after we moved in. The only possessions I owned that I thought were worth keeping were a handful of pictures of my dad. I didn't know if it was a coincidence that I had visited his grave this morning, having a long conversation with him, and now I was staring at his face, but seeing him again brought back a lot of sadness."Now what do we do?" Hannah asked, digging through her possessions, which were as sparse as mine.I didn't know, and I was too tired to think. I had been up for almost two days straight, there was a lot going on in my head. I still hadn't processed the Lucas situa
*Kennedy*I woke up feeling satiated, my body raw and sore in all the best ways. We had gotten short bursts of sleep last night. Lucas had an appetite for me, he had woken me up three more times and made me scream his name more times than I could count. He finally slept for good somewhere in the early hours of the morning. I couldn't believe he said he loved me, and I selfishly didn't say it back because I was too wrapped up in the way he was making my body feel. I had no doubt that I was in love with him too. After I came to terms that our home burned down and all I could think about was making a new life with him, and how excited it made me feel, I knew that I loved him. There were some very complicated parts to his life that I still didn't know how to navigate.I quietly slipped out of bed, letting Lucas sleep a little longer. Even though I had only slept a total of four hours in a few days, I felt energized. My leg did not feel any better, I hated relying on pain medication to