One Foot in the Grave

“So, are you still coming with me tonight?” Rafael asked. We were walking down the street towards one of the small cafes in this part of town. He was still holding my hand, I didn’t mind, it was oddly comforting to hold his hand. When I glanced over at him I noticed his eyes linger on our intertwined fingers before drifting up to my eyes.

“As long as I’m not intruding...” I trailed off, glancing away from his gaze.

“Hey,” he said, waiting for me to look at him again. When I did he flicked my nose and grinned, “you’ve been around us for two years now, you’re pretty much part of the pack.”

I smacked his hand away and frowned at him, his grin widened and I couldn’t help but laugh. I pulled my hand from his and gave him a light shove, a grin still curling my lips. He barely stumbled, just came right back to me and slung an arm over my shoulders.

“But seriously, I asked John and Dominic and they both said its alright,” he said in a more somber tone. Dominic was the alpha of the wolf pack here, and a very nice man but also very loyal. He always came into Full Moon on the weekends to get a drink and talk to John.

“Well, I guess I’ve run out of excuses then,” I said with a mock sigh.

“You’re so full of it Sig,” Rafael said with a small smile. “How’s this place sound, ‘Sunshine Café’?” he said, inclining his head towards a café with walls of bright yellow that had a few table set up outside, it wasn’t very busy inside and the aroma of freshly baked bread filled my nostrils as a woman left the café.

“Looks perfect.”

Rafael grinned and opened the door for me, we walked in and sat ourselves down after the woman working behind the counter gestured for us to do so. “Be there in a second,” she called out in a warm voice.

After we had ordered and the food came Rafael was already filling me in on what usually went on at these celebrations. “It’s pretty much a big party to celebrate the coming of the full moon, the night when all lycanthrope shed their skins to revel in the sweet moonlight,” Rafael said, his voice growing over dramatic as he spoke.

“You’re such a drama queen, so its just dancing?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at his simple explanation. The woman who had taken our orders set our plates of food down in front of us, “here ya go, just call me over if you need anything,” she said with a bright smile. Rafael said a polite thank you and she hurried off with another bright smile.

Rafael took a bite of his breakfast sandwich before answering me, “its not just that, Dominic tells us of the legends of our kinds, how we came to be, and we’re able to reunite with the whole pack, nowadays that doesn’t happen much,” Rafael shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.

I paused as I was about to bring my fork full of eggs to my mouth, “why doesn’t your pack get together often?” I asked.

“Lots of pack members have to keep their genetics a secret to keep their jobs, so many of our pack seem like they don’t have time to worry about pack tradition. Its kind of disappointing really, I’m going to be alpha soon and I can’t help but wonder if there will even be a need for an alpha when my time comes.” The thought seemed to sadden Rafael.

I reached out my hand to grasp his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “From what you’ve told me about being in a pack, about the feeling of family and trust, I’m sure there will always be a need for an alpha.”

Rafael gave me one of his lopsided smiles and finished eating his sandwich. “I never pictured you to be the sensitive, girly type,” he murmured, giving me a quick glance.

I frowned at him and let go of his hand, “see if I try to be nice to you again,” I said with a raised eyebrow. Rafael opened his mouth to probably voice a snappy comeback but I was already on my way out of the café. Rafael rushed to pull some bills out of his wallet and leave them on the table before running to catch up with me, he cut me off on the side walk using his quick speed and fell in step beside me.

“Ah Sig, you know I love a chase and you always provide me with one,” he said with a smirk, never one to be phased by any of my rebukes.

“You are such a dog,” I muttered, realizing too late how well my words fits him.

“Correction, I’m a wolf.”

“John calls you a pup,” I said with a grin. This seemed to make Rafael stumble over his words, if there was one place that effectively hit home with Rafael it was with pack standings. And the best part was he respected both John and his alpha to ever speak ill about them.

“His opinions are his own,” Rafael said after a moment of composing himself.

I watched him for a few moments, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration and a frown set on his face. “Stop being such a worry wart, he only means it in an endearing way,” I said, giving him and light punch on the shoulder. This seemed to relax him a little bit, what his alpha and beta thought about him really mattered to Rafael.

“I wasn’t worrying,” he muttered, grinning as he gave me a light shove then pulled me back to his side and messed up my hair quite effectively with his hand.

“Oh yeah? You still have creases from all of those worry lines you had going on on your forehead,” I remarked, flicking his nose.

“You need to get your eyes check Sig.”

“When you get your ego checked I will.”

“And the mean comebacks just keep on coming,” he announced, letting go of me to throw his hands up in mock exasperation.

“Quit being such a sissy,” I said and stretched my arms up in the arm, when I lowered them Rafael had already snaked an arm around my waist and held me loosely to his side in a comfortable embrace. “Lets go find something to do,” I suggested, leaning my head against his shoulder. Rafael was the perfect height for me, since I was pretty tall most guys were either my height or shorter. I was only half a foot shorter than Rafael and I seemed to fit just right with him.

“I have an idea,” he said softly but eagerly. Before I could ask what it was Rafael had taken me by the hand and was leading me to the part of downtown that was pretty much just old warehouses and stores due for a renovation.

I knew we had gotten to our destination when Rafael stopped in front of a tall fence and checked his surroundings for any police or other security officials. When the coast was clear he crouched down and jumped straight up into the air and vaulted over the fence. Playing human sucked, I stood waiting for him to help me over even though I didn’t need any help at all if I could just be myself. His face popped back up over the top of the fence and he leaned over so that he was bent over the fence at his hips and reach a had down towards me, “need some help?” he asked. I bite back my true answer and just grinned and took his hand. Even though I weighed a good 130 pounds he lifted me easily. I helped myself onto the top of the fence and swung my feet over to the other side and held on while Rafael let go of the fence and landed on the ground. He reached his hands up towards me, “jump, I’ll catch you.”

I slid off the fence and a second later I felt his hands wrap around my waist and pull me securely to his body. “Having fun yet?” He asked with a wry grin.

“Jumping obnoxiously high fences is all I do for fun,” I said sarcastically.

“I was talking about being held against my obnoxiously good looking body.”

I rolled my eyes and slipped out of his grasp, “how can so many girls like you?” I questioned to no one in particular.

Rafael snuck up behind me and brought his lips close to my ear, “Its because I’m mysterious and dangerous,” he whispered in a husky growl that sent shivers of an excited sort of fear run down my spine. I knew he had smelled the fear on me when a soft chuckle left his lips.
“So what is this place?” I asked after clearing my throat. Rafael took my hand and began leading me to the entrance of the rundown apartment building in front of us. A majority of the windows were gone or smashed out and the brick covering the outside of it was old looking and dirty. The front doors had a chain wrapped through the handles that was secured with a padlock, “its kind of my sanctuary in a way,” he answered as he took a bobby from his back pocket. “You girls really underutilize these things by the way,” he remarked, referring to the bobby pin. I just rolled my eyes and watched as he expertly poked the pin around until the lock clicked open.

“You couldn’t have just broken the lock?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Dominic isn’t too keen on vandalism,” he said with a shrug as he opened the doors. Once we were both inside he closed the doors again. It was eerie inside the building, the sun was the only source of light and it covered everything it could reach in a golden hue that only came from the sun in the afternoon. You could still make out where the front desk had been and, if you had a good imagination, you could envision the grand staircase in the middle of the room with all of its steps in working condition and both railings .

“It could use a little bit of sprucing up,” I suggested, giving the room a mock appreciative look.

Rafael just chuckled softly and led me further into the room, “follow me.” I followed him until we stopped at a metal door tucked inside a hallway, it had the words ‘service stairwell’. This door opened without a problem.

I looked up and noticed the large amount of stairs, “how many floors is that?”

Rafael looked up as well, “I don’t know, need me to carry you?” he asked mockingly while looking back at me with a cocked eyebrow.

I snorted and rolled my eyes, “with those twigs for arms? I’m surprised you can carry your on school books.” That was a flat out lie, his arms were very well toned and with the added strength of a lycanthrope he could easily carry me up these stairs without even breaking a sweat.

A wild look light up his eyes, and he went back down the stairs until he was on the step just ahead of the one I stood on. I was held frozen by the look in his eyes, in a flash of speed I just barely followed, even with my heightened sight, he picked me up bridal style and we were suddenly speeding up the stairs. I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him tightly as a startled, yet excited, laugh bubbled from my lips and I looked up at Rafael. His eyes focused on where he was running, but it was like he could sense me looking at him. He glanced over at me and flashed me a quick smile before looking ahead of him once more.

I didn’t notice that he had opened another door and we were on the roof until he slowed down and I looked away from him. The sun was starting to disappear behind the tall buildings that were scattered through the city. I looked back up at Rafael when he didn’t let me down, “I think I can make it from here Raf.”

He looked down at me and smiled softly, “what if I don’t want to let you go?”
“Then I’ll make you,” I joked.

I felt a chuckle rumble through his chest and he let go of my legs so that I was standing with his arm around my shoulder. “I wouldn’t dare test the wrath of the great Sigrid,” he said with a wink.

“Wise decision.”