Teethmarks and Wolf Pelts

"Shh, it'll be alright," my mother coos as she strokes my hair. She had barely gotten the door open before I had rushed into her arms. She brought me inside, to the couch, leaving my stuff on the porch and the door wide open. I'm not really sure, but I think the boys took that as their cue to leave and drove off to report to Lewis.

"I forgive you," I whisper into her hair. She tightens her arms around me, bringing me so much closer. She smells of apples, but I can feel how worried she's been for me. I guess it never really struck me, but I had missed her in the three days I'd been gone. My words are true, though I'm not even sure how I came to the conclusion in the first place.

"You do?"

"I understand why you wanted to keep this world a secret from me," I whimper, "So much secrets and brutality and... death."

"Connor is at peace now, and his death was avenged. May his spirit reside with the Mother," she smiles, though I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about. Perhaps I'll ask Felix next chance I get. For now, I bury my head deeper into my mom's shoulder and let even more tears pour out.

"The funeral is in four days," I sigh and finally let go of my mom. I wipe my tears with the back of my hand. We'd taken almost a whole day getting back home. The flight had gone fast but we'd stopped once again for lunch, but we'd spent a little to much time there just sitting and staring at our food. When we finally arrived at my house, it had been two in the morning. "A girl might be staying with us while that goes on. A girl Connor knew."

"That's fine," mom says, though I can see she's a little skeptical about it. I quietly stand and quickly grab my things and close the front door. I set them at the bottom of the steps and go back to my mom. I'm ready to give her a hug and kiss goodnight but her words stop me dead in my tracks. "I'm sort of glad you became two natured. Even when you only just found out, I could tell you were becoming stronger and I mean that in terms of willpower and spirit. You seemed to be more confident. You seemed to trust people more, let in more people than just Connor."

"Oh, Mom-"

"I liked seeing it. For the first time in a year or two, you and I actually sat down at a restaurant and talked. No matter what you think, especially if you think you're not human... That animal inside you has made you more human in two weeks than anything before."

"I," I feel more tears coming on- tears of joy, maybe? I rush over to her and wrap my arms around her. I place my lips forcefully against her forehead. I feel her smile and it warms my hear. "I love you."

"I love you too, Priss," she chuckles. "Now, get some sleep."



I am very grateful that my mother let me sleep in as long as she did -eleven o'clock- even though I should be getting back to school. But, due to the recent events in my life, she's decided that taking this week off might not be a bad thing. However, she is the bearer of bad news when she marches up to my bedroom and speaks.

"That boy, Lewis, called just now. He wants to meet with you after he's done with school."

"Oh," I sigh, knowing that it can't be good. Even if his news is good, I know that I have to tell him that I have to break my promise to him. He's a sweet guy, but not only did he hurt me psychically, I'm pretty sure I only liked the idea of being with him. There's no guarantee that I'm even going to chase after Felix after I break this off. A boy-free few weeks might be what I need right now. "Thanks, Mom."

"I don't like him," Mom throws in. "He came off as rude and snarky. I don't think you should go."

"He's Alpha, Mom. I have to go whether I want too or not."

She frowns but nods in agreement. She informs me that she wishes she could stay home with me, but regretfully has work to do. When she leaves, I just spend the next hour or so in my bedroom, staring at the ceiling. I've begun to remember every time Connor had been in here with me, both of us laughing our asses off. I remember the first time he snuck over to hang out with me in sixth grade all the way up to the night he ran away. I sigh and look over at the clock. Seeing as school will be let out soon, I quickly get myself ready. I throw on some jeans and nice floral patterned blouse that fits my curves perfectly. I brush out my long brown hair and put on mascara to make my green eyes really stand out.

When it's time to go, I don't even bother getting into my car and driving to Lewis's. Instead, I run. It's refreshing. There isn't very much wind today and for being early October now, it's surprisingly warm. I reach his house in ten minutes or so and as my feet land on his front porch, his truck pulls into the driveway. He hurries out and barely gives me enough time to draw him in before he takes me in his arms and lifts me up. I laugh a little and he sets me down. "I'm so happy you're safe."

"Uh, thanks," I say, playing this cautiously.

"I was so worried. I kept worrying about you Priscilla," he says quickly, almost unintelligibly. His blue eyes glint and sparkle but this time I don't find it beautiful at all. "You were all I could think about. I couldn't sleep, Priss."

"Lewis, you're scaring me," I tell him firmly and it is the God's honest truth. Lewis's eyes seem to flash for a moment but it passes. He barely acknowledges that I even spoke in the first place.

"I think I love you."

"Lewis, this needs to stop," I spit out. He looks up at me, surprised. His eyes are wide but he keeps his mouth shut. "You don't love me. You know nothing about me. In fact, the main reason I even came over here is because I wanted to tell you that I don't think I can keep my promise to you!"

His jaw drops softly but he closes his mouth slowly and stares straight ahead. He blinks hard and nods. "Sorry. That was unprofessional of me."

"No, Lewis," I try and search for the right words. "I snapped, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't be sorry. I was in over my head. Heh, maybe in the future?"

I smile a little, though my answer is completely false. "Maybe."

"Anyway, I had you come over here for a little business. I need you to actually do something for me. I'd ask Elijah but since this is fairly simple, I figured you'd need some experience on working for the pack."

"Seems reasonable," I shrug. He nods and pulls a piece of paper and pen from his truck and scribbles down an address for me. He gives it to me.

"It's in Bakerson," he explains. "One of theirs died while you were gone- aconite bullet to the heart. Tragic," he looks at me, making sure I'm okay. "I was thinking that maybe if you go over there, explain what happened to Connor -if you're comfortable with that- and try to talk them into an alliance with us?"

"Can do, sir," I laugh and after a moment he joins me too. I turn to leave, to take a quick run back to the house but he still has more to say.

"I'm sorry for being so weird," he smiles half-heartedly. "Call it heat of the moment, I guess."

"Apology accepted, Lewis," I smile and start my return to my house, Ember and I both thinking the same exact thought. Well, that went surprisingly better than I thought.