The Title ceremony was over and Jax was now officially Alpha of the Shadow Pack. The next several days went by in a daze with many things returning to normal and the town preparing for the next big event.
Fall decorations were being put aside to make room for the Christmas festivities that would soon commence. In Wild Cliff Christmas was somewhat of a religiously celebrated holiday- it started on November 20th and continued until the new year. November 20th had been a celebration marker for as long as they could remember. It began hundreds of years ago when the first settlers put up the tree in the center of town by the roundabout to celebrate the prosperous future they had on this new land. It was said that witches hexed the properties to make the land healthy and the homes unshakeable- how much of it that is truth is unknown but the residents of Wild Cliff do love to tell the stories.
Lola was in town and helped the university with removing pumpkins, candles, lights, and ornaments that had been put up for the Harvest Moon Festival.
The caramelized apples were still widely popular all through winter and would continue being sold in the bakeries but anything else that was fall-related had to go.
She laughed and crammed the string lights into a box.
"Would you knock it off!" Lola squealed when Melissa continued to harass her with the pumpkin guts that had been plowed up on the side of the street.
"I'm gonna puke," Melissa gagged when she lifted the guts with a shovel.
Lola bent over, her stomach clenched and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Get it away- now!" She gagged when the smell of old pumpkin burnt in her nose.
"Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes," Ed said when he walked around the wooden tables that stood lined against the school bus. The high school students were helping out as well but they were too busy planning the secret pre-winter party to be bothered with the cleanup; a tradition that the seniors of Wild Cliff High School had kept alive for many years.
A lightbulb fell from up high and luckily landed on the hay-covered barrel next to Lola. She looked up and saw the apologetic face of Justin O'hare, Lola's classmate, and Wild Cliff's very own clown.
"Sorry, Lola," he said as he climbed down the ladder and picked up the lightbulb.
Lola smiled and gently took it from his hand. "I think I better take that," she mused.
Justin's family owned a cabin off the high road in the woods where university students often partied. Anyone could rent the cabin from them, families would often throw birthday parties and companies would hire it for employee getaways. The most noticeable feature in the cabin was a big speaker that stood hidden in the wall behind a few loose panels and Justin had brought the speaker to the cleanup.
"Tell you what, why don't you choose the first song," he said- hoping it would make up for almost dropping glass on her head.
Lola shook her head and Melissa was quick to take her place and was about to call out a song when Justin plugged it into the cord they had pulled from the Cafe and connected his phone. Everyone covered their ears and gritted their teeth when the music blasted from the speaker and the base made the boxes shake on top of the tables.
"Justin!" Mr. Adams moved towards him with his elbows pressed over his ears to protect his eardrums. Justin was bent over with his eyes squeezed shut, Mr. Adams grabbed the phone from Justin's hand and pulled the cord. The speaker fell silent and everyone was frozen in their positions for a hot minute before they made sure the music wouldn't turn back on again.
Justin winced from everyone's narrowed glares and Mr. Adams gave back the phone under the condition that Justin never again turn that speaker on.
He strained a smile and gratefully accepted.
"It's like I'm back in high school with you kids," Mr. Adams huffed and ran a hand through his curly brown hair.
Lola tapped her chest and leaned against the bench.
"Are my ears bleeding?" Melissa asked and tapped below her ear to make sure that nothing had exploded.
"Na you're good," Lola said and felt her heart nearly erupting in her chest but she pulled away from the bench and tried to calm herself before she had a heart attack.
"How are things between you and Jax?" Melissa asked when they continued packing the fall into boxes.
"You'll have to ask Lavina, she's the one seeing him the most," Lola said bitterly and raised a brow.
"Who's Lavina?" Ed asked. He had entangled himself in long orange ribbons and was trying to wiggle himself free.
Melissa laughed whilst helping him out, she placed a peck on his lips and stared lovingly into his eyes as she gathered the ribbons and put them away.
"Lavina is Jax's ex, we hate her," she said.
Lola laughed and rolled her eyes before explaining, "We don't hate her, she's nice and sweet so we like her. The one we don't like right now is Jax."
Ed nodded his head and made a mental note.
"Gotcha," he said and carried the box to a truck that would drive it to storage.
Melissa tilted her head and pouted, "I thought you guys had a great time after the...celebration. what happened?" She asked and glanced at Ed to make sure she hadn't raised questions about that night, she wanted him to forget he was ever there.
Lola had told her about Jax's apology and then how they'd had sex in the coat closet but that was also the last she saw of him.
The days following had been filled with pack business, and CEO responsibilities and he didn't come back at night so Lola started sleeping in the guest room again.
"I don't know what to tell you, we haven't talked since." Lola sighed and turned away. She hoped to end the conversation.
Mr. Adams walked with two other teachers over to the polished car that drove up in the parking lot. The head piece on the hood was an eagle in silver with its wings spread out.
"Mr. Mayor," Mr. Adams cooed. The mayor laughed and greeted the teachers with a rough handshake.
"Henry," the mayor said and pulled Mr. Adams in for a hug.
"Jack, how nice of you to join us little people here on the ground," Mr. Adams said and faked a bow.
The teachers laughed and piled into the mayor's car one by one.
"Where are they going?" Asked Melissa.
"No clue but it's not the first time they ask us to help with cleanup and then leave, expecting us to take care of it." Lola groaned.
They turned and watched Ed loading boxes into the truck, he stopped for a moment and seemed to be talking to someone around the corner but the girls couldn't see who it was. Lola stepped to the side to get a better look, she saw the luscious hair and the perfect symmetry and turned around to see Melissa shooting arrows through her eyes at Lavina.
The way that Lavina stroked her pink manicured nails over the box that Ed held and the way that she flicked her hair over her coat and her chest was made visible was causing Melissa to stir.
Ed turned his head and pointed to the girls with a big smile. Lavina saw them and looked taken aback before waving her hand gleefully.
She walked over to the girls alone while Ed continued helping with the pinned-up string lights in the trees.
"Hi," she said and placed the bag strap over her head and put her phone down into the small bag.
"What are you doing here?" Lola asked. She tried her best not to sound suspicious or judgmental but perhaps it didn't quite come across as to well.
"I heard that they needed help cleaning up in town so I figured why not. Especially with Jax and the family working on the New York proposal," she said.
"The what?" Lola asked.
Lavina furrowed her brows and tilted her head an inch to the side.
"You know he's leaving for New York tomorrow, right?" She said and looked quizzically between Lola and Melissa.
"I didn't," Lola said.
Lavina pinched her lips together and wrinkled her nose.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure he'll tell you tonight when you see him," Lavina cooed.
Lola looked around. She watched everyone pack the fall down and move the boxes out of the way. Melissa had Ed here and Lavina for some reason wanted to help as well. Lola contemplated waiting until tonight before she saw him but she couldn't. The pit in her stomach only grew with each unanswered question she had about Jax. He had had changed lately, it was obvious but she couldn't put her finger on why it was.
"I have to go," She said and dropped the string lights to the ground.
Lavina stepped aside and grabbed her arm gently before warning, "I wouldn't talk to him right now. He's under a lot of pressure and just took over the pack so the workload is massive and he'll be stressed out,"
Lola glared at her hand and then side glanced at Melissa.
"You know for someone whose boyfriend just died you seem hella comfortable horning in on her territory," Melissa stepped closer, "werewolf or not, you shouldn't put your snout where it doesn't belong."
She let go of Lola's arm and stepped back with a shaky smile and nervous jitters.
"I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries," she defended nervously.
"Oh, but you did, big time," Melissa said and raised her head.
She looked at Lola, her eyes brimming with anger and she flicked her head.
"Go, call me when you've talked to him," she said.
Lola smiled, grabbed her bag, and walked off- casting a glare over Lavina that had her lowering her head an inch.