The Orphan Werewolf and Her Two Kings

7: Chosen Family

I hurry up the stairs to our apartment on the 3rd floor. At home, only Cherry is there. I praise the Moon Goddess for Cherry getting my brother and her daughter, Fiona, to school and daycare without me. She must have hidden how worried she was, and spent the day calling hospitals and police stations. I was supposed to return last night, and she hasn’t heard from me. I would have been on the edge if it was the other way around.

“I’m so, so, so sorry!” I tell her as she runs to hug me. Tears are in my eyes, but I swallow them to give her a shot version of my night. “I was attacked, but someone saved me, and when things finally calmed down enough, I didn’t have power on my phone.”

The feelings from the night before are trying to catch up to me, but I don’t let them. I don’t want to cry over this. I have too much to be sad or angry about, so it’s no use starting now. Nothing good comes out of it. I learned that a long time ago.

Cherry inspects me after hugging me, and I see how her eyes linger on the scar on my face. She reaches up to it but doesn’t touch it. There are tears in her eyes. If they are from seeing me hurt or left over from not knowing if I was alive, it doesn’t matter. I hate seeing her distraught.

“What in the world? Oh, honey!” Cherry finally exclaims. “I guess the new client was an ass?”

“Yeah, you can say that.”

“Oh, come here and sit. Let me find some tea and ice cream. Have you eaten?”

Cherry is wearing a pink sparkly pajamas, and her dirty blond hair is in a messy bun. She doesn’t wait for my answer as she sets the water to boiling and readies our pink polka dot teapot. We sit by the kitchen bar as I tell her more details about how an unknown man saved me at the last minute. I won’t even tell her who my savior really is.

“Did you talk to the police?” she asks rhetorically.

“I can’t do that! They will send Daniel back to our old pack. He’s only 16, and it’s impossible to know what they will do to him in three years.”

“But what if you get in trouble again?”

“Why would I? My attacker is dead.” I don’t want to consider it, but I understand her worry. It just isn’t worth it.

“Well, he seemed to know you are a werewolf. Maybe he wasn’t alone in this?” Her eyes wrinkle with worry, and I must accept she has a point. Still isn’t good enough.

“Well, I only saw one madman,” I sigh, hoping she won’t come with more questions.

“If you say so. I just worry. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

“Maybe you are better at finding new clients than I am?” Cherry shrugs at my statement, then touches my arm.

“You will be careful? Promise me?” Her words burn inside me. Cherry is the only person in this world besides my brother and her daughter, who would miss me if I were gone.

“I will, but I need to earn something. Can you help me find a new client? Somebody who won’t bother about the scars and still treat me right.” Cherry has a sixth sense of finding good clients. My best clients have all been from her when her clients wanted something new.

“Why don’t you take a break while you are healing?”

“I cannot afford it. Daniel’s school is really after me this year,” I sigh. I would love to take a break, but I’m always behind on something.

“Then let’s put some makeup on. Let’s try something out and see if we can hide it,” Cherry smiles, using her problem-solving voice to be her usual chipper self.

. . .

When Daniel comes home, he has picked up Fiona from her daycare. He doesn’t say hello, just kicks off his shoes and stomps to his bedroom. I roll my eyes at him. I can smell his teenage angst all over the place. He might be young but is usually too old for this behavior.

“So, anything happening?” I ask from the doorway.

Daniel knows I will not stop asking before he lets tells me what happened, but I have to repeat the question more than once before he sighs as a sign he has heard me. When he was young, he told me everything, but as he grew older, I had to drag it out of him. Having a sister as a parent isn’t easy, so I don’t blame him.

“I growled at a girl today,” he mumbles.

“Wow! That’s great!” I almost squeal, knowing it’s one of the last signs of his wolf emerging.

“No, it was totally embarrassing!”

“Why?” I ask, well aware that most of those initial wolf growls are always at the worst moments.

“She was stretching in gym class!” He practically screams at me and finally looks up, ready to burn out some frustration my way. Instead, his face twists from anger to fear as he finds my face. He jumps up from his bed and roughly pulls me into the light. His reaction is enough to prove I need to practice that makeup more.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Don’t worry about me. I fell down a staircase right into a table with silverware.” I don’t think Daniel believes my lie, but I have more important things to talk about right now. Namely, him and his wolf.

“Anyway, I have a question for you. Have you spoken to your wolf's soul?” His eyes widen at my question. He should know better about werewolf puberty. He is the only one of us who has completed basic school training and received s*x-ed. They never taught it at the pack school I went to before I had to work for our living.

“Your wolf is surfacing, Daniel. We should prepare for your first turn for the coming full moon!” We smile at each other. His angsty stink disappears momentarily, only to resurface as he realizes what it all means. The first shift can be painful.

I remember when my wolf first surfaced. I was older, over 18, and afraid I would never meet my wolf's soul. And having no wolf had been another way for the pack to torment me. So when she surfaced, I did it in hiding, not wanting anyone to find out. After my first turn, we left for the city. It was better to run away than find out what new torments they would put me through.

I miss my wolf’s counsel. I hope she will come back to me soon! It feels so, so empty without her. Besides, I want to run next to Daniel during his first shift. What if she isn’t back by then? I would have to tell him, but I’ll keep it to myself for now. He has enough to think about.