What Has Become Of Me?

“No!” I yell as I clutch my wooden headboard with all my strength.

“Yes!” Seb yells back as he continues to pull my legs.

It is a wonder how quickly Seb became so hyperactive after eating just a small slice of cake.

“No!” I yell back refusing to go to the park with them; I want to stay in bed.

“But we have to take Chase for walkies!” Seb yells.

Chase, Jett and Brian are sitting on the floor watching me cling to my headboard as Seb heaves at my feet.

“If you have to take him walkies I’m not standing in your way” I complain as my grip starts to slip, “But I’m not getting out of bed!”

“Yes you are” Seb argues with a strong tug at my legs with each word.

I’m barely hanging on by the time he’s finished the sentence.

“Annieeee" Seb whines and I shake my head furiously.

“Yes” Seb says sharply and pulls at my feet.

My grip slips completely and I fly backwards into Seb knocking us both to the ground. I try to scramble to my feet as Seb pouts but Brian grabs me.

“Come on” he tries to insist, “We’ll take Chase for a walk then we can stay over my place for a movie night.”

There is no arguing with it so I just give in with a defeated sigh and nod.

“Get dressed” Jett says with a bored tone obviously ready to start the day as they all notice I’m in scruffy, old clothes.

“Wait” Seb yells jumping to his feet, “Let’s play dress up the Anika.”

“Isn’t that what teenage girls do?” Chase asks.

“So?” Seb responds with his lower lip out slightly and one hand on his hip.

“Just saying it seems a lame thing to do” Chase says with a shrug.

While they argue over trying to dress me up, I slip away gathering up an outfit for the day.

They are still arguing as I return from the bathroom dressed and ready with an overnight bag to stay at Brian’s but something tells me the argument has progressed.

“But I really did save Christmas for those kids!” Seb pouts.

“You threw one of them out of a window” Jett tells him.

“But… but… Sebastian is a fine superhero and all his deeds are done with good reason” Seb suddenly switches to talking in third person, “Like the time he scared off the Halloween curse.”

“You ate all of our hard earned candy” Chase exclaims as I sit down on my bed.

“Well at least you didn’t get tummy aches or rotten teeth” Seb defends.

“Are you finished yet?” Brian interjects.

“As soon as Chase and Jett admits that Sebastian is a superhero we can take Chase for his walk” Seb clarifies.

“Never” Jett says quickly.

“Not in your life” Chase declares over the top of Jett.

Seb’s lower lip juts out in a childish pout as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Then we are stuck here forever, because Jett and Chase are too bigheaded to admit that Sebastian the superhero is all knowing and could beat them if they didn’t cheat by” at this point in Seb’s speech Brian grabs him and throws the smaller man over his shoulder, but even that doesn’t make Seb pause as we follow Brian out the door, “being so tall and not being fair. They could at least say thank you for all the times he has saved them, like the night Sebastian stayed awake to defend them against the evil villain Ghost.”

Seb hasn’t stopped using third person when describing himself as a superhero and he definitely hasn’t shut up despite being slung over Brian’s shoulder as we walk out of the house.

As we are just a few paces away from the door, and Seb is still rattling on, my father appears from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand.

“Where are you all off to? And for that matter, who let you boys in?” my father asks.

We all pause mid-stride then turn to face him. Seb finally shuts up as he tries to look over Brian's shoulder to see my dad.

“We are taking Chase for a walk” Seb chirps.

“Your son let us in this morning” Brian informs my father with a complete lie.

I wonder how the guys have managed to climb in through my bedroom window without anyone noticing, not once but twice now.

“Is it okay if I stay at Brian’s place with the rest of the pack tonight, dad?” I ask.

“I suppose, keep your phone on you” my father replies then turns his attention to the boys, “No funny business tonight.”

“Of course not” Chase replies.

“I’ll protect her” Seb pipes up.

My father looks at the short man stuck on Brian’s shoulder before responding.

“Don’t you mean she’ll protect you?” Marcus says with a light-hearted tone before sipping his coffee.

Seb’s pout reappears for the third time today.

“I’m a superhero!” Seb exclaims then starts to rant about nobody appreciating his skills and noble deeds.

“Have fun kiddo” my father tells me with a quick hug before he leaves the room.

“To the park!” Seb yells mid-rant.

It’s a rather pleasant day outdoors. The park Seb has brought us to has a fair amount of people about; some with families while others walk their dogs. Chase had found a particularly stunning girl sitting with a group on the grass and is talking to them. Jett is trying to convince Seb that he doesn’t actually want to go for a swim in the fountain only a few hundred meters away while I sit with Brian at a park bench.

“Nice day” I comment trying to break the unusual silence.

I haven’t found silence since I first met these guys on September 24th.

“Sure is” Brian agrees before silence encases us again.

“That boy is insane” Jett says shaking his head as he approaches us.

We watch Seb run towards the fountain with obvious intent to jump in but he suddenly stops when he notices Chase talking to his new interest. An evil grin creeps across his features as he reaches into a small backpack strapped to his back. From the bag he pulls out what looks to be a dog’s collar and leash. Seb suddenly rushes over to Chase and I listen with my keen werewolf hearing.

“Bad boy” Seb scolds as if speaking to a pet.

Chase turns his back on Seb attempting to block him out. Before Chase can react, Seb attaches the collar around his neck.

“Got ya!” Seb exclaims, “Don’t do that to me again you naughty boy.”

The girl falls about in laughter and Chase looks about ready to murder Seb.

“Seb” Chase growls at the shorter man but is ignored.

“Thanks so much for catching him, sorry about that” Seb gushes to the girl as if he was a worried dog owner.

She just giggles as Chase is dragged off by Seb. Chase is absolutely fuming by the time Seb manages to get him over to us. The girl spares Chase a small wave before she leaves.

Chase glares murderously at Seb.

“You are so dead.” Jett chuckles to Seb.

Seb nods then tries to sprint away. Chase grabs the leash that is attached to both the collar at his neck and Seb’s wrist. With one forceful tug, Seb is brought crashing down to the ground. Before Seb can get his bearings, Chase leaps on top of him and begins the task of getting the collar from his neck to Seb’s neck.

“No!” Seb yells flailing. “Bad doggy!”

Chase jumps up to his feet again with a smile and Seb lays on the ground pouting.

“No fair” Seb whines.

The rest off us are laughing so hard we can barely stand.

“Come on” Chase calls as if speaking to a dog then he whistles.

“Go for a ride in the car?” Jett asks in a high voice.

We just laugh and Seb scrambles up to follow us as Chase tugs at his leash.

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand” Jett says pulling the car keys from his pocket.

“Get this collar off” Seb whines for the hundredth time since we got into the car.

The boys just laugh as we pull up in Brian’s driveway. As they walk to the front door I finally give in to Seb.

“Fine” I sigh and undo the clasp Seb had been unable to.

Seb cheers and wraps me in a massive hug.

“Come on!” Jett calls as Brian unlocks the front door.

Seb skips off to them and I follow.

“Welcome to che Brian” Brian says swinging the front door open.

He catches my hand and drags me inside.

“The grand tour” Brian announces, “This is the foyer thingy.”

I nod as the rest of the boys roll their eyes whilst removing their shoes.

“That’s the light” Jett tells me with a smile as he points upwards.

Brian bats him away but doesn’t release my hand.

“This is the living room, probably where we’ll be living” Brian tells me indicating to the space around us. The brown leather lounge suite is positioned before a massive television set.

“To the kitchen” Seb cheers before running off.

“Is Ghost around?” Chase asks with an evil grin.

Brian nods and I look at them confused.

“Ghost is my cat and it hates me because I am of the canine variety” Brian starts to explain before suddenly we hear a cat wailing and Seb screaming nonsense, “Luckily, she hates Seb more.”

“Get it off!” Seb screams as he runs flying past us trying to rip the cat off his face.

Ghost is a white cat with black markings around her eyes. She stays stuck firmly to Seb’s face with her claws hooked into the skin either side of his face.

“It hurts! This cat is fucking evil!” Seb yells as he runs past us again.

Before any of us can do anything, Seb runs face first into the wall but instead of Ghost being injured too, the cat has leaped from Seb to the ground just before impact. We all watch Seb fall backwards to the ground. I look for the cat but it’s already disappeared.

“Wait” I say, “where’d she go?”

“Oh, Ghost does that a lot” Chase tells me, “She’s ninja kitty.”

Seb lays panting on the ground with little traces of blood at each point the cat’s claws has caught in his skin.

“I hate that cat” Seb mutters.

“Yeah, you’ve said that before” Brian says brushing the entire ordeal off as nothing, “On with the tour.”

I’m pulled by my hand further into the house. Everyone else walks over to lay on the couch as Brian drags me down a hallway to the left.

“That’s the laundry” he says pointing to a closed door on my right, “This is the bathroom and finally my room.”

He swings open his bedroom door and his room is even tidier than mine, although my room isn’t the most orderly.

“Nice” I say slowly as my eyes scan around his room.

A simple black alarm clock is sat on a small beside-table. The bed is overed with a plain dark blue blanket. Brian grins at me. Suddenly Ghost emerges from beneath his bed. She struts past us hesitantly before disappearing down the hall. That is a strange cat but even stranger is that a werewolf owns her.

“So” Brian says dragging out the word and I’m shocked to see that he’s suddenly much closer than I remember, “I saw last night.”

His tone is low and his eyes don’t always stay locked on mine but rather they start a habit of wandering lower.

“O-kay” I stutter as I try to back up a step but instead my back hits the doorway.

Brian moves in closer so that he is basically pinning me against the doorframe.

He’s so close I can feel his warm breath fall across my skin. Nervousness overtakes everything. I’ve never been so close to a guy before. In school I am not that popular with them and to suddenly have this gorgeous man standing so close to me is nerve-racking.

“I have to say” Brian begins in that same low voice that has my wolf drooling all through my mind so that it sloshes, about to stop all rational thinking except one simple command to kiss him, “you are an extraordinary woman.”

I unintentionally gulp as my gaze accidentally settles away from those burning eyes to the soft pink lips delicately forming the words. At this moment I envy his ability to speak whereas I am struck completely speechless. The cat hasn’t got my tongue, but this wolf has. He leans in closer and my heart goes into overdrive, blocking out every other noise except his steady breathing. My first proper kiss is so close and nothing makes sense in my scrambled brain. On their own accord my eyes close as warm lips lightly brush over mine but the simple touch sends my wolf into frenzy.

“Brian!” Chase calls from down the hall snapping both of us apart just before Brian had been able to properly press his lips to mine.

My heart has almost shattered through my ribcage because of how hard it is beating. Brain groans but then smirks as he notices the condition he has left me in.

“What?” he growls back at Chase.

“You and Anika shouldn’t spend so much time in your room alone”, Chase yells back.

“You’re just jealous” Brian yells back with his confident smirk.

“Just get in here!” Jett yells.

Brian moves away to free me from my position trapped between him and the wall. Just as I think my thought process has begun to get back on track, he lightly pecks my lips before striding down the hall. The thoughts I had begun to gather up go skidding across the floor as my mind drops all ability. I stand trying to comprehend what’s just happened.

“Oh dear, you left her tied up?” Chase jokes as only Brian appears from the hallway.

I force myself to move towards their voices but I know my face must be blazing bright red. These boys will be the death of me.