Ariella
I bolt upright when I see mom leaning over me. I’m in the sunroom, but dad isn’t here… I can taste blood in my mouth, but it ain’t cow blood this time, it’s mom’s...
“Calm down. I gave you some of my blood to wake you. Here, eat this.” She hands me a bowl of diced steak that I snatch from her like a crazed animal. I see her smirk as I eat it as fast as I can, almost choking on a few pieces.
“My blood should’ve stopped the pain,” mom explains while I eat. “You don't have to rush.”
I just nod. God, this meat tastes so fucking good... I moan, repeatedly.
“This brings back such amazing memories,” she says quietly. “I blacked out, too, y’know, and for much longer than you did.” She gets up from beside me to sit on the love seat opposite.
“Really?” I ask after I've swallowed my last mouthful of meat. She’s smiling at me hard but suddenly looks towards the door at dad appearing.
“Yeah, and I saved her ass just like I did yours,” dad says as he comes to sit beside her.
Dad… I know he must be disappointed in me. I put the empty bowl on the coffee table and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. You were right. I was wrong.”
Mom gives me a sympathetic smile, but dad keeps his expression blank. “But have you learned your lesson now?”
I sigh. “Definitely.”
“Good.” He narrows his eyes at me. “So, what happened with your boy?”
I'm surprised he’s asked that. I thought he didn't wanna know...
“It's okay, sweetheart,” mom says reassuringly, patting dad’s thigh. “Dad isn’t mad.”
I look at dad and he nods. “Um, well, I kinda flew off the handle in English. I was rude to my tutor... Ugh...” I briefly cover my face with my hands. “I'm gonna have to apologise to her.”
“You will,” Mom says. “You can send an email. Don’t worry about that now.”
“I will.” Mom and dad are big on respect, so I’ll have to make it right with my tutor. They’re donators, too, so I need to set an example really…
“So, what happened after that?” dad pushes.
“I couldn’t control my anger so left class. Davonyé followed me...” Least my pussy doesn't hurt anymore. Mom’s blood is amazing. I remember breaking my wrist when I was eleven and she healed me straight away. She's so special, and I'm not just saying that because she's my Mom. I’m saying it because she can do so many incredible things.
“And...” Dad says slowly.
I snap out of my thoughts and look back at my parents. “We argued. I was angry over him not acknowledging me in class. He said he didn't want to ignore me. He kissed me again...” I smile at the memory of it and feel my cheeks glow.
Mom smiles but dad just gives me a look as if to say get to the point.
“Things kinda just happened from there,” I ramble. “One minute I was angry and the next I was, uh... I felt different.” I cringe.
“That sounds about right,” mom says in knowing. “I remember it well.”
“How did he treat you?” Dad asks straight out, making mom frown.
“Well, I don't think he wanted to continue after he found out I was a virgin. I kinda demanded that he carried on after he realised. He took care of me though, dad. He wasn't smug about it or anything, and I know he felt bad afterwards.” He was so sweet...
“You did it in school, though, right? So it was a quickie?” mom asks, shocking the shit out of me.
“Oh, God, mom, yeah, it kinda was.” I didn’t think it was that quick… “Can we move on now?”
“We wanna meet him. Soon. After your change,” dad decides in a way that tells me there is absolutely no room for negotiation.
I nod. “Okay.” Shit…
“He still got a girlfriend?”
Why does dad always have to ask the deepest questions? “Yeah.”
“That’s a problem, Ariella,” mom warns. “You might be accepting of the situation now, but after your change, you're gonna find that really... let's just say you won't want him being with anyone else. Your anger is only going to get more untamed.”
“I know, mom. I listened when we talked the other day. I'm not going back to school now until after training and all that. I'm here for the duration.”
“Well, we’re happy about that,” Dad says. “You manage to get ahead on your schoolwork?”
“Yes. I'm well ahead.”
“That's good,” mom sighs. “We're not mad, baby girl, but you need to take this more seriously. I know it all seems okay now, but believe me, it isn't. How are you feeling now?”
“I'm good at the moment.”
She nods her head. “Alright. Why don't you invite Harmony over?”
“Nah, we ain't really talking still, and I don't need the stress.”
“Don’t leave it too long to sort things out, baby,” Dad says. “I know she can be a lot, but that’s just what she’s like. She’s like her dad when he was younger.”
“I won’t. I’ll text her.”
“Good. Come, let’s eat.”
***
Mom goes to her room to change after we eat but dad goes with her and I know what they’re really up to. The bigger mom gets, the more she stays in her werewolf form, too. I don’t know how I feel about having sex when I’m a werewolf, but mom never hides her opinion that it’s the best thing ever.
I go to my room to lie on my bed.
I lost my virginity today.
How do I feel about that?
It was amazing, and it felt incredible after the pain subsided, but I don't have anything to compare it to. He seemed to like it and I definitely felt some kind of connection to him when it was happening.
As corny as it sounds, it felt damn right feeling him inside me and having his hands on my body. I shudder as I wonder when I’ll be able to feel them on me again. If I will.
Because the fact remains, he has a girlfriend, and a long-term one at that. I don't wanna force him to break up with her, but deep down I know Mom is right. I don't like the thought of him fucking with her when he's meant to belong to me. But even though I’ve said that, he isn’t mine, and I do feel sorry for Carisse. Especially because her and Harmony seem to be becoming close friends, too, and I could one day end up ruining her life.
I don't want to see her hurt; I don't even know the girl, but I don't wanna end up hurt and emotionally damaged either by trying to stay away from my true love. The one person who will ever truly have my heart.
Or potentially break it...
But I suppose, technically, Davonyé and I will have forever together, if we're lucky, so a little more time apart shouldn't be too hard to cope with.
Ugh. Who am I trying to kid?
My cell starts vibrating on the side table. I frown because it's not like Harmony to be the one to contact me first after we fall out. I reach for it and see ‘UNKNOWN’ on the screen. Ugh, maybe it's Misses Brown? I reluctantly answer but use my most polite voice. “Hello?”
The line clicks off. Someone dropped called me?
Not many people have this number; just my parents, aunts and uncles, my grandparents, Harmony, and a handful of others. That’s all.
I put my cell back on the side and decide to email my tutor. I open up my Chromebook and type out an email apologising for my behaviour, making up a story about having personal issues going on, but I promise it won’t happen again.
I send it and soon I'm hungry again, so I go in search of food. I look in on mom on my way past her room. I smile because she's spread out on the extra big bed in her ware form. She's huge like this, and I don't mean because she's pregnant, I mean because of her body. She's beautiful, too. Her and dad are different to other wares. Their size is definitely meant to intimidate, and it should because they're both reigning alphas of warekind.
Mom and dad will never die so they’ll forever hold that title. They're unkillable and can’t feel pain. Mom has other special talents, too, like her visions, her blood that heals, and her howl that makes other wares submit. I know our close family and friends have missed having her on call these last two months. Usually, when there’s unrest, mom and dad use their jet to go and deal with it quickly.
No one defies the alpha’s in person. And they can't anyway when mom’s around because her howl makes them literally fall to their knees in pain.
Yeah, my mom’s a badass.
But so is dad. There's no mom without dad and vice versa, because without him she wouldn't be the unstoppable force she is. They died together protecting wares and were reborn together as one. Their love is something that I don't think anyone will ever see again.
I find dad in the kitchen cutting up steak. Usually, we have a supply of moose meat here because it roams free all around where we live, but when a ware is about to change, beef, especially steak, is the most nutritional and satisfying to eat.
Dad’s banned mom from doing anything other than sleeping. She's allowed to keep up my sister’s memory garden in the yard, but apart from that, she isn't allowed to lift a finger. I know she hates it, but I also know that it makes her love him more for it. He feels tired the same as her, but when she sleeps, it helps him to feel better, too, because they feel each other's moods.
“Hungry?” he asks when I go over to him.
“Yeah.”
He nods his head and then pulls me to his side to give me a hug. “I know it's a lot, but it won't be like this for much longer.”
I hug him back. “I know.”
He releases me and then stays quiet for a while. I watch him season mom’s grits while I wash my hands, then I pick at the meat while he slices it.
“My baby girl is gonna be a ware,” he says thoughtfully. “There was a time I thought I'd never see the day that a child of mine would become a werewolf. Not to be insensitive to your anxiety about it, but I'm looking forward to training you.”
I shake my head but smile. “Are you gonna go easy on me because I'm a girl?”
He gives me a look. “Hell, no. I'm gonna go harder. Your mother would kick my ass if she knew I was goin’ easy on you.”
I laugh at that. “Good.”
“I know she can't wait to go hunting with you. I might save your first time for after your baby brother or sister is born. Let her have the honours of doing that part.”
I sigh. “It's weird because I know it's gonna happen, but it still don’t seem real, y’know?”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Can you remember your change, dad?”
He slides a bowl of cubed beef across the counter to me. “Like it was yesterday.”
“What was it like?”
He turns to face me. “I ain't gonna bullshit you, baby, it hurt like hell—but, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. You can't imagine the things you'll be able to do with your new body. How good you'll feel once you've got your full strength. The world will be so different to you afterwards and you’ll see it with new eyes.” He smiles. “It's the most exciting time, the first few weeks learning everything. But it's a lot of responsibility, too, especially for you.”
“I know,” I say quietly.
“Our kind is more settled than I’ve ever known us to be, but there are always hidden dangers to wares, and even more for us because there's always some ware thinkin’ they can challenge us.”
“I know, dad. And I know I don’t always seem the most interested when you talk business, but I do listen and take it in.”
He turns back to the pot. “I know, baby. Don’t worry about that for now, alright?”
It’s hard not to when it’s not just a werewolf I’m gonna be next week… “I won’t.”