When they arrived at school after the weekend Indianna spotted Tai parked next to them, climbing off of her bike. She ran her fingers through her windswept hair and adjusted her leather jacket.
Indianna watched Ace as he got out of the car, his eyes discreetly watching Tai. "Go talk to her," Indianna urged.
Ace swallowed and made his way over to the dark haired girl. Her back was to him, but she froze when he neared her. It was as if she could feel his presence.
"Go away, Ace," Tai said and willed herself to not turn around.
"Tai," Ace said gently. His voice was smooth, soft, kind. Tai couldn't help but turn on her heel to face him. She swallowed at his close proximity, but she was trapped by her bike behind her.
"Ace-"
"The Christmas fair," Ace said. "It's next week, and I'd very much like for you to go with me."
"I told you to stay away from me," Tai said.
"I know," Ace nodded. "But I really do not want to."
Tai sighed and bit her lip. "18 is too young to be tied down. I'm sorry. Whatever... this is, it isn't happening."
"It already is," Ace said. He looked deep into Tai's eyes. "I know you feel it."
Tai swallowed. She did.
"How about you give me a chance before deciding this isn't for you," Ace said with a charming smile. "If you truly believe you're too young to be tied down then this," Ace gestured between the two of them, "surely won't work out. Not if you're not interested. However, you may realise that you don't mind meeting me at 18 years old. Give it a chance?"
"I- no. Ace, you don't want to be with me-"
"Tai," Ace said firmly. He took a step closer to her. Her back was pressed up against the bike and Ace's thigh brushed against hers. "You are aware of what's happening in this town, it's all messed up. We've all done and seen things we regret. Whatever has happened to you won't changed my view on you. Whatever you've done."
Tai looked down at the floor. Ace's presence was suffocating, but in the best way possible. "Ace," she whispered. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Then help me to understand," Ace pleaded. "Or get to know me, and see that you can trust me. I promise you won't regret it."
Tai opened her mouth to refuse. She didn't want anyone to be close to her, no matter how much she was drawn to Ace. No matter how much she wanted to say yes to everything he said.
No words came from Tai. She stared at Ace for a few more minutes before nodding her head ever so slightly.
Ace smiled. "It's next Friday. I'll pick you up at 7pm."
Tai looked at Ace and then pushed past him. "Sure. Whatever," she mumbled and hurried away.
Ace couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her retreating figure. He was making progress.
*
Indianna had spent most of the day with Stacy, like most days, and it was driving her crazy. She was sick of hearing about Jason.
Indianna had tried to talk to Brooke over the past week, but they never managed to get close enough. Indianna could tell by Brooke's urgent glances that she had something to tell her.
It was the changeover between lessons when Indianna crashed into someone as she turned a corner. "Indie!" Brooke gasped and Indianna felt arms come round her and crush her. "How are you? How's Harry? I've not seen him at school in ages. Is he okay? Please say he's not done anything stupid-"
"I'm fine and he's fine," Indianna reassured a panicking Brooke. "He's not at school to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. You know he won't be able to control himself."
Brooke nodded. "I haven't got long, Alec is in the toilet and I need to tell you something."
"What?" Indianna said and scratched her collar bone.
"Alice is Alec's mate," Brooke rushed out.
Indianna's eyes widened. "What?" She whispered. "Are you sure?"
"100% super freaking sure!" Brooke nodded and she suddenly gasped. "Indie, your mark-" Brooke glanced over her shoulder as the men's toilet door opened and she quickly hurried away from Indianna.
Indianna watched after Brooke in confusion and made her way to the girls toilets. She sighed and went over to the sink, splashing her face with cold water. She had been running a fever over the past few days and it was giving her a headache. Indianna assumed it was the pregnancy.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and her eyes went to her collarbone that was covered by her T-shirt. She didn't like to leave it bare, she didn't like her faded mark on show. Indianna frowned and pulled down her top, gasping at what she saw. Her mark was no longer faded, it was as fresh as the day she got it. The area around it was red and Indianna had realised that she had been itching it a lot.
"What?" She whispered. It didn't make sense. What could cause her mark to come back?
The bell sounded throughout the school and Indianna tore her eyes away from her mark and made her way to her next class, but her head was all over the place. She barely paid enough attention to reply to Stacy's conversations and she couldn't wait until school was over.
Indianna went straight Doc when she returned home. He smiled when he saw her. "Ah, Luna, good news, we can do the X-Ray today-"
"Can you explain this?" Indianna asked and pulled down her top to reveal her mark. "It faded when Greyson... went. And now it's very much not faded."
Doc frowned. "I..." he examined her mark. "How strange."
"Do you know why this would happen?" Indianna wondered.
"How are you feeling in yourself?" Doc asked.
Indianna frowned. "Not too great actually. I'm quite hot and flustered and I've had a bad headache."
Doc was silent and he thought for a few minutes. "I have a theory, but I will need to look into it and get back to you. For now, let's get this X-Ray done to check if there's anything wrong with your neck. How has it been?"
"It's been fine," Indianna said. "No pain at all."
"Can I have a look?" Doc asked and Indianna turned around, moving her hair from her neck. "It looks like it's healed nicely. You've still got a scar there, but it's flat and not swollen or red at all. I'm 90% sure the X-ray will reveal nothing out of the ordinary. Take a seat, we'll get this xray sorted once and for all."
Half an hour later Doc revealed that Indianna's neck was completely healed. She thanked him and left him so he could research about his possible theory about Indianna's mark.
Indianna rubbed her eyes and yawned. She made her way to the kitchen and found Mark talking to Mac.
"Hey, Indie," Mac smiled.
Mark greeted Indianna with a squeeze on the arm. The two men were both deeply engrossed with a letter.
"Hey," Indianna said and peered at the letter. "What's this?"
"Remember when I visited the Elders before it all went down with Rogue. I asked for their help, and sadly they couldn't be of assistance. I sent them a letter a few weeks ago, seeing if they knew of any way to help us again to take down Rogue. He's slowly gaining control of more packs and he's only going to get more powerful," Mark said.
"This is their response?" Indianna said. "Can they help?"
"No," Mac sighed. "They're cutting ties with all packs linked to Rogue."
"What?" Indianna gasped. "They can't do that! They're meant to help! Not just leave us to fend for ourselves!"
"Actually, it makes sense," Mac said sadly. "The Elders are the oldest werewolves alive. They need to remain protected and protect other packs that aren't under Rogue's influence. By helping us and other packs that Rogue has control of there's a risk of something going wrong and Rogue being able to get to them. Obviously they are going to see if they can help take Rogue down, it's just that they are going to do it without being in touch with any of the packs affected. If Rogue manages to get control over the Elder's then the whole werewolf community is screwed. With the Elders safe then there's hope."
"Gosh," Indianna sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "How can one person cause all of this?"
Neither Mac or Mark said anything.
After a few moments Mark put the letter away and turned to Indianna. "You look exhausted, dear," he said. "You should get some rest."
Indianna yawned and nodded. "I'm just going to have some food and then shower and head to bed."
"I'll cook you something, you go and get sorted and I'll bring it up to you," Mark said kindly.
"Oh no, honestly, I can do it," Indianna protested.
"Let us take care of you, Indie," Mark said. "You may be the Luna, but you need to let others look after you, and my grandchildren." Mark smiled warmly and looked at Indianna's stomach.
"If you insist," Indianna said and left Mac and Indianna in the kitchen and made her way upstairs.