003 |A Night Out

Today was a chill day-- well, more breezy than cold.

School was as it normally was, and I took a city bus straight from there to the destination behind my mental note from Monday: wolf den. Today was the most convenient time to make the trip since I didn't have anything to do today besides that evening with Xander which gave me anxiety just thinking about it.

I got on the city bus and sat at the very back of it then pulled out my phone just as someone texted.

It was Xander.

Will u text me ur address? Was his text.

Hrmm... no.

I try very hard to see that no one knows where I live. If they aren't a big part of a reoccurring factor, I like to keep my abode as confidential as possible.

So, I replied,

Um, how bout I meet u at ur house? Gimme ur address and I'll meet u.

And after I hit send, I put my phone away and slouched in my seat. I gazed out to the busy road as I let my mind wander; amongst other things, I thought about my reason for being on the bus. I was on my way to where I used to spend a lot of my childhood years... Well from 7 to 12. Grey, the authority head of the place, took me in at 7, and I and his 2 sons soon turned as thick as thieves. They're like my brother's and them knowing my secret and the things I've been through at the expense of that secret made them very overprotective brothers. So, when I moved out at 12, Grey as well as his sons implemented in their schedule to watch over me. Literally. I felt like I was paranoid more than usual and then I knew why when I started running into Ashton almost every day.

They came clean when I confronted them and after continuous pleading for them to stop, we had reached a mutual deal. I was in a dark place around that time; it started happy like any time and it was that happy event that made me move out of their house at 12, but just before I turned 17, tragedy hit, and their glowing eyes lingered.

At the mention of my tragedy, my head filled with its every detailed and the longer I thought on it, the more I felt Sabella coil just beneath the surface.

When the bus reached its last stop, which was my stop, I slipped out the back door and crossed the street to the patch of trees. I probably looked alarming disappearing into the woods at 5:30 in the afternoon but the further I got, I filled with happiness at the realization of going to my best friend's house. I miss them a lot of the time. Twigs snapping ang leaves catching into my hair was very humbling; it took me out of my head and out of the thoughts of my tragedy and I breathed in the tree sap air the further I got. I should be coming onto their home any minute, so I kept walking and hugged my arms to myself as time went by and it got colder. It looks like I'll have to wear something warm for tonight.

I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket, but I ignored it and swept some hair behind my ears as I ducked under a fallen tree and walked over a tree stump. I heard a nearby lake and so I followed the silence opposite of it until I reached my destination.

"Hello beautiful."

I turn around to the voice behind me and my smile mirrored that of Ashton's when our eyes met. I took two steps forward with my arms open and he hopped down from another tree stump and swept me into his arms in a strong embrace.

"Hey Ashton." I mumbled over his shoulder.

"When one of the guys says a raven just crossed our borders, I wondered why that was important to report. Until it clicked that he was talking about you but even then, I couldn't be sure since you never come here."

We separated and he led me in a direction.

"You guys still call me that?" I groaned and rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand as we walked down a slippery slope.

"Ravens are amazing."

"They're known as very dangerous creatures because they can outsmart their opponents."

"Precisely. And where in that description does that not represent you? Especially with your 'dark as night' hair?"

I shook my head in disapproval but didn't respond.

"What brings you here anyway?" Ashton asks and gently squeezed my hand as he glanced my way.

"I need to talk about the blood donations. It tasted different. Was it different, or am I just over thinking it?" I looked down to see if the mud made to much of a mess but when Ash didn't respond, I looked at him and squeezed his hand to regain his attention.

He seemed hesitant to say, "Yeah they were different. It's my blood this time."

". . . Oh. What happened to Luke? Is he okay?" He was my original donor.

"Yeah, he's fine... You'll have to ask him about this, babe."

That has me worried. Right on que, we entered the open patch in the middle of the forest where their main population and cabin resided. The few guys that were outside greeted me and I did the same, remembering familiar faces and pretty used to each and every one of them having not even a single shirt on their chests.

"I'm surprised you're wearing a shirt." I decide to say to Ashton.

To which he smirked and replied, "I didn’t want you to faint after not seeing your vibrant gaze for so long."

We both laughed as we walked up the steps and into the cabin; more wood filling my vision, this time without their bark and leaves, polished and aligned in rows to build the tall walls and ceiling.

"Where's Grey?" I say to fill the air, looking around with my hand still in Ashton's.

"Is that my favorite girl?" He comes around a corner with a dirty rag in his hand and a blonde following behind him.

I smile a toothy grin, run into his arms and he lifts me off the ground to spin me around.

"It appears so! Hey little raven." He sets me on my feet, but I still don't let go before giving one last squeeze before I stepped back and looked up at him.

"You've grown."

"She has not," interrupted Ashton "She's still small as ever."

He walked up from behind me, lowering to whisper in my ear, "Puberty has done you well, though."

I scoffed and pushed him before looking back at Grey as he turned behind him.

"Luke are you going to come say hi to Isabelle?"

Me and Ashton looked behind Grey to the name of the person and sure enough Luke was behind him in casual attire. It suddenly dampened my feelings at him not being happy to see me or even polite enough to even acknowledge I entered the room. I tried my best to hide it though as Grey stepped out of the way, so Luke had a clear path to me, but he never moved. Him and Grey shared a silent gaze that did seem like there was something there; like Luke was saying something through his and Grey the same. There wasn't any speaking for a minute before I cleared my throat and shook off the hurt.

"Um, I came here to talk about the blood deliveries..."

"Why? Did it not come?" Grey asked immediately, concerned.

I shook my head. "No, I got it. It was something else. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Yeah, we can talk in my lab." He ushers us into the room he just came out of.

"Luke join us." He added last minute and the 3 of them let me enter the room first.

I did a quick look over of the tubes and jars on the shelves before facing the men in the room and sliding my hands in my back pockets.

"I picked up the package as planned but this batch tasted different and I just wanted to come over to see if everything was alright."

"Oh, yes, everything's alright. Ashton donated vials of his blood this time, that's why it tastes different."

I furrowed my eyebrows and glanced at Luke for a moment. "We've had this deal for nearly 2 years... and everything was fine with Luke's vials. Did something happen?"

Grey then looked at Luke while Ashton stood silent through the conversation.

Grey cleared his throat and set down the rag. "Um, Luke didn't want to give his blood anymore. He gave up the role to, um, draw any more blood so Ashton volunteered."

"And I will continue to be as long as it keeps you safe." Ashton added in but I couldn't hide the sadness as I looked at Luke.

"But why?"

Luke looked up from the ground at the tone of my voice and with his hands in his pockets he still didn't respond.

I don't understand what's wrong. Me and Luke were just as close as me and Ashton. And the 3 of us were inseparable whenever we were together. And that was like that no less than 3 weeks ago so what changed? I understand it must not be fun to draw your blood to ship to someone else, but this deal was his idea too.

"Luke? I--" I stopped at him turning away, heading for the door and Grey tried to stop him too but he still left the laboratory and my heart clench in my chest as my shoulders slumped.

Grey went after him as while Ashton took slow steps towards me.

"What happened with him?"

"I couldn't say. He," he replied "He went on some trip with Grey on his 20th b-day and he came back with that declaration."

". . Did they talk about me?" Grey seemed happy to see me "He didn't even look happy to see me, Ash."

"I know and trust me; he's going to get an ear full of me on it. . . I'm sorry Izzy." He ended and brought me into a hug that I couldn't return due to my mind thinking of all the possibilities that ended my friendships with one of the important people in my life.

~~

I left the den maybe an hour or 2 later and headed straight home to get ready for my date with Xander. I ended and sorted things out with Jason, over the phone admittedly, but he got offense before I reached the termination part of our relationship. I brought it up to him at school then on the phone and the whole situation ended with me ending our relationship over text. Which sucks. I hate to break up texts, but I tried; Jason isn't the easiest guy sometimes.

Any who, I checked my phone a while back and that message I got at Ash's place was Xander sending his address and a hint of where we're going which he did by saying for me to wear casual. He makes me really giddy inside that I found myself smiling the entire time I fished through my closets.

He has that grin that tells you he knows how attractive he is and him being just that and the outgoing, confident vibe attached with it... makes my heart race. Because of his effect, I couldn't wear the kind of casual I wear at school and decided on a fancy casual. Since it was chilly on my way back, I picked out a mid-thigh fitted dress with jean printed leggings and thigh high black boots. I washed and moisturized my face before doing my hair in a neat ponytail. I wore a leather jacket and added a touch of glitter lipstick before I considered myself finished and fished out my phone from my duvet blankets.

I looked for the text and placed his address in my Maps app and while it was loading, I walked out and locked the door to my home. I stepped off the porch before looking back down at my phone and my eyebrows shot up at the convenience. He lives two to three blocks from me. I picked up my pace when I started the walk and I mainly spent much of that, in my phone reaching out to Luke.

I sent him a few texts and tried to call him when I left their house, but I haven’t gotten a response yet. I really don't understand what this is. The deal was, in order to get their entire pack from following me from point A to B, was that I always have werewolf blood in my system. Despite what I do have, I don’t have the capability to heal while I am in human form. For me to heal, I'd have to transform at least slightly, and I try to refrain from doing that at all times. I try to keep Sabella out of the spotlight no matter what. And with werewolf blood in my system, it enables me to heal when I get so much as a paper cut and so they made this condition so that when they weren't around, I would still be safe. And when I do get hurt and their blood heals me, the wolf that the blood came from feels the effects of it working so it also tells them when something's up. I never had any instance when something terrible has happened, but it was a deal I agreed to. When I did, Luke presumed the role to take the blood from his veins and he never let anyone else donate the blood since. He'd text whenever it was used and depending on the injury of mine, it weakens him so I'd continue texting him for the rest of the day and he would do the same to make sure we both were okay.

But how he was today... was completely out of character. We are rarely ever at odds with each other and it feels terrible that we are now, and I have no idea what to do to fix it. And then after what Ashton said, what exactly happened on that hiking trip Luke went on and is that the source of why he's so cold towards me? I try not to think about it at this point as to not let it spoil whatever this night has in store for me. Surprisingly, I haven't heard from Jason since I sent that break up text. I mean, it’s been eerily silent on his end, almost out of character. I'm actually really nervous for tonight; I'm a homebody and very abroad for obvious reasons and so my hands start to sweat as I walked up the steps to Xander's house.

On his porch, I lift my hand out of my pocket and knock firmly before I do a quick look over my outfit again for any flaws. I heard rumbling on the other side, and it sounded like more than one voice so when the door swung open, my breathing stopped in its tracks when I saw green eyes.

We both didn't speak, and I was surprised he was the one to answer the door. He was frozen too with one hand still on the doorknob and he looked surprised and confused to see me. He looked at my outfit as intently I did before the door was taken from him and it opened further to reveal Xander.

Why are these guys so attractive? My heart skipped a beat looking into Xander's vibrant brown eyes and the shiny hair strand dangling between the two. A plain white shirt, jeans, and a jacket similar to mine comprised his look before that grin was the cherry on top when he saw me.

"You look gorgeous."

He stepped out of the house with keys in his hand.

"Oh, um, thank you."

"You're still not nervous around me, are you?" He moved so close our breaths mixed and I could tell it was intentional.

I look away from him and shake my head, clearly lying, before he said something else. Just not to me.

"Don't wait up for me."

We both look at green eyes for the last time and even now he never speaks a word to me, only glancing at both me and Xander before closing the door.

"Can I take your hand?"

My attention turns to my date and his cologne only now fills my sense of smell as I look up in his eyes. It was dangerously endearing. I look at his outstretched hand, hesitate and then gently place mine on his palm and he led us both to his car.

"Does he live with you?" I ask when we drove down the road and my seatbelt was securely on.

"Who?"

"The one with green eyes." I replied.

"Haylor? Yes. We all live together."

So that's his name. And all? "Huh?"

He laughed. "Me and the guys all live in that house. Did you see how big it was?"

It was a big house.

"We all share and live under that one roof together. We've been close like that since we were kids, honestly." Xander added as he looked in his side mirror and made a left turn.

That sounds very supportive. "That sounds nice."

It's especially appealing since I've lived alone for practically majority of my life. Living with a sound board like that sounds so comforting and structured.

"So, are you going to tell me about yourself? It is my main reason behind having you to myself tonight."

I subconsciously felt my walls reinforce themselves tenfold at the sound of 'tell me about yourself' and my shoulders tensed in my seat.

But I tried to hide it. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything. I noticed you never told us anything whenever we were at lunch. You distinctly kept anything about you in a 'material' sense of things."

Meaning nothing of value or significance to who I actually am.

I lightly sighed, "Well, I've lived in Brokewood for the past 11 years--"

"Wow. Where did you live before this place?"

I shrugged. "I moved around so different places."

'Moving around' was a great understatement but it wasn't lie and just kept everything important, undetected.

"--I live alone, I have--"

"Wait, you live alone??"

"How am I supposed to tell you if you keep cutting me off?" I laughed and looked at him.

"I'm sorry but you live by yourself. And did you walk to my house?"

"'Yes, to both questions. I don’t have a car or truck or anything like that," I shake my head "And you know the story of my parents."

"Do you miss them?"

"Of course," I look his way again.

He was silent for a second. "You said it happen at a young age; how old were you?"

I sighed heavily this time. "I was a baby. Maybe 2 or 3."

"Wow. Who raised you afterward? I mean, who told you what happened when you grew up since you weren’t at an age to remember?"

"Um, it was kind of major news. It was everywhere, it was hard not to hear about it for a while." I avoided the first question and hopefully he won't catch that.

"I'm so sorry Isabelle--"

"It was 17 years ago. It doesn't hurt as much anymore. When talk about it though it--"

"Okay, understood, we will not talk of it no further. But know I am here to talk about anything." He stopped driving to make eye contact with me and offer me a smile.

I smiled genuinely, feeling warm inside for his offer then he said:

"We're here."

~~

"If I had to lose to any girl, I would have it not likely to be you." Xander said as we both come out the building with big smiles and fits of laughter.

We went to Dave and Busters and so my outfit was just right. It was incredibly fun and by the time we stepped outside to leave I was more than comfortable around Xander. I was happy and nothing that bothers me on a daily basis was on my mind right now. We played games-- a bunch of them --ate at the bar and we're leaving 4 hours after to get dessert at an ice cream parlor he wanted to take me to.

"And why is that?" I laughed and slipped my arms back in my sleeves.

"Because you’re my future girlfriend."

I froze momentarily and looked up from the ground to him and though he noticed, he just continued to smile. "And because of that, that can't happen."

Butterflies could fly out of my throat by how crazy they were going right now. I didn't know how to respond to him at first and I didn't want my normal nervousness to settle back in. “... Well, you can't rewrite the past and I'm pretty sure my tally marks just out counted yours."

I started walking towards the parking lot where he parked the car before he grabbed my hand.

"Where are you going? We're going to walk to the parlor."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, it’s not far." He spoke.

I scoffed. "I walk everywhere on a daily basis; the distance doesn't matter to me."

"Speaking of that; how do you not have a car? You never got one or bought one?"

"I never even searched to buy a car. I never wanted a car. I don't mind walking to where I need to go." I shrugged.

It would come in handy to have a vehicle for transportation given the kind of life I have. A quick way to run and get out of town, for instance.

"Hm. So, tell me: how many boyfriends have you had? Just so I know what I'm running against." Xander asks next as his hand snakes into mine, lacing our fingers.

I laughed lightly and squeezed his hand. "Just 2."

"Really? And I met Jason-- settle guy he is, by the way."

He was being sarcastic. He shrugged next.

"I can understand his compulsion to mention you every second, though. And his need to place claim on you to every guy he walks by."

I groaned and tilted my head back. "I hated whenever he did that."

"You have to see it from his perspective though," He came to Jason's defense "I see you turn every guy's head your way, every single time you laughed at that place."

"That's because I was loud." I mumbled and brushed away some strands that left my scrunchy.

"No, it's because your laugh is so therapeutic it could heal wounds. And your eyes practically glowed in the dim light of that entire place. You're so beautiful you can start wildfires."

I turned my head to look at him as his words settles and I couldn't help my eyebrows furrowing. That was the first time someone said something that... passionate about aspects of me. Any other time I heard something like, it was in a sick environment and it came from sick people with sick intentions. My heart skipped a beat the longer I looked at him and when he returned my gaze, I suddenly felt safe and impossibly more at ease with him.

"You have high-definition beauty Isabelle. I wonder if you are on the inside."

What does he mean by that? I opened my lips to ask but he said, "We're here."

And he opened the door for me as we both stepped in the cool, lit up parlor.

"We’re getting it to-go."

"Why?" I glanced at him before I started my way to the options on the wall.

"I want the last of our date to be just us. I still want you all to myself."

I found myself smiling at the response whilst still shaking my head at his diligence of getting his way in that.

I grabbed the biggest cup and started at the pineapple ice cream. I lined the bottom of the cup with it then went to blue raspberry and topped it till I saw no yellow when I suddenly stopped.

"Wait, what's the budget of how high you want to spend?" I asked the same at Dave and Busters.

"You and this question," he grabbed his own cup and walked around me to the dessert dispenser “... My future girlfriend gets whatever she wants." He whispered the last part in my ear from behind as he reached in front and used the blue raspberry dispense machine for himself.

After I finished getting pina colada and then repeated a visit to all 3, mixing it into a makeshift swirl, he paid at the register. We left and I slowed down to taste my masterpiece.

"Let's walk back to the car, by time we get there, our ice cream should be done."

And he wasn’t wrong, by time we saw the city lights and yellow reflectors in the parking lot, we were scraping the bottom of our cups and threw out the paper cups in a nearby trash when we passed one. I put my now cold hands in my jacket pocket as we walked to his jeep. Our walking slowed the closer we got, and I leaned on the car when we got there.

"What did you mean when you said, 'I wonder if you are on the inside'??" I asked as he stopped in front of me.

He didn't answer right away. He watched me silently, gazes darting across my face, before a wolfish grin popped by. "I mean, I know the things were told weren't true."

"I--"

"I mean, they were true, but they weren't what I asked. You particularly told me the most generic things about yourself when I asked on our way here."

Oh.

He took a step forward. "You still kept the secrets of who you really are, to yourself." He shrugged "You did a good job hiding it as though you were actually telling me something of substance about yourself but... you can't lie to me. I can tell when you do."

His voice was a lower tone the closer he got, and I didn't know how to respond to his accusation. He was right. I told him the things that didn’t amount much to me; that didn't really require me to open up. I did that the entire night. And his proclamation that I can't lie to him was interesting to hear. I wondered if he was right. He did know I was lying now. I feel bad.

Being as close as he was, he read my eyes and put a hand on the car window behind me. "It's okay. I forgive you for lying to me. But you should know that I knew you were lying as soon as I looked at you after you said it."

"And how did you do that?"

He smiled. "You can't lie to me, that's all that matters."

His eyes flickered to my lips before back to my eyes. "Tell me; am I right?"

Great. Well, I can't lie to him about this. So, I nodded my head and his grin widened. He didn't say anything after that and with him this close, I couldn't help my gaze lingering on his lips that sported that great smile.

"I'm sorry." I said softly.

"Did you have fun tonight?"

". . . Yes, I did. I had a great time. One of best in a very long time. Thank you."

That wasn't much space between us. It was cold out since it was midnight and although his cologne was fading a bit, it made me a little lightheaded to look in his brown eyes this close while inhaling it and his long hair was nearly enticing me to rest my fingers in it. My body was against the car so there wasn't anywhere for me to go and when he dipped his head and kissed me with a feather-like touch, I admittedly didn't want to go anywhere.

I stopped breathing at first. My eyes had closed and a second passes before I kissed him back and the moment I did, my skin felt like it wanted to sew into his. My hand touched his face, and I removed the remaining distance from us by stepping into him. I stopped the kiss from feeling feathery because the instant effect this kiss had on my body was almost exhilarating. His tongue grazed my lip before slipping past them and mine's did the same; my right hand moving from his jaw to the back of his hair as I felt his right on my hip, holding me flush against him.

With every mouth movement, my heartbeat sped up and I could hear our breathing in my ears. After a minute, he broke the kiss, and crisp air replaced where his head used to be. The coldness nipped at my cheeks as I slowly opened my eyes. I could see his eyes on me, but my mind was in a daze; caught up on the emotions the kiss created, and they still lingered in my head. Since he stopped, I removed my hand from his neck and my nail grazed his jaw when my hand suddenly stopped.

That alluring feeling still tingled wherever our bodies touched and mixed with the exhilarating feeling going away, I felt a numbing feeling take its place. It was like this cold pit carving into my chest and spread a disease that killed whatever emotion that I felt and replaced it with emptiness. So, with every logical thought in my head, I step back on my tippy toes and pull his lips back onto mine, balling the strands at the nape of my neck in my hand and turning our kiss back to a level 10. Xander didn't stop me and moved as fast as did when he pushed my body to the door of the car. The voices in my head were right because, with this kiss, the numbness dulled away, and slowly, kissing him, began to feel intoxicating.

With every mouth movement, my mind shut off and my body wanted to be closer to him. For our first kiss to be a PDA make out session wasn't something I saw coming. We both stepped away from the car and with one hand leaving my waist, he had opened the car door and we stepped back and blindly fell into the back seat. Feeling our tongues slide so greatly against each other made my heart burst in my chest and feeling his persona take advantage of being on top of mine made my breathing stop and fire lick up my veins. I couldn't tell how long we were like this or why I couldn't stop. I followed his lead and he guided mine until he did stop us yet again; slower than the last time and we both shared the silence while I thought about how strong all of this felt. I still wanted to be kissing him.

Our foreheads resting together, it felt like we stopped 45 seconds after we started but it wasn't nearly that short of time.

"I've been wanting to do something like that all night." It was fast as well and definitely nothing I did before.

I looked up at the confession of his words and my other hand retreated to lace in his hair as my face blushed pink and he smiled softly, lifting my neck up to indulge in a kiss just like the one we just shared.

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