16 Goodbye to Old Friends

"Brooke! Brooke!" A distant voice called, "Brooke, come on. Wake up."

I blinked awake and squinted in the light. I could barely make out the blurry figure of Duma. I instantly relaxed.

"What happened?" He asked as I sat up. I looked around me and saw that I was in the upstairs living room. Last I could recall I'd been on the basement stairs. My hands went to my arms and I immediately got up and searched for my robe.

"What is it?" He asked as I walked as fast as I could manage to the basement.

'Wait.' I paused, 'My robe had had a spider in it.' I shivered at the memory and turned on my heel to run, walk, upstairs to my room

"Where are you going?" Duma asked as I walked past him. I felt naked without my arms covered.

I sighed in relief when I rested my sweater securely on my shoulders.

When I walked back through the library I spotted that James wasn't there anymore. I shook my head, then I could spend the day with Duma in peace.

Landing on the bottom step I noticed that there were suitcases resting against the wall. I started to think of why they could possibly be there when I saw Duma come into my line of sight. A backpack slung over his shoulder.

I put up my mask and watched him emotionlessly. He bowed his head apologetically, "I'm sorry, Brooke, but the Alpha asked me to move out, well Thomas actually asked me but-" He stopped and sighed, "I'm moving in with Nathan, we'll be in the same house as before and you can feel free to visit. The Alpha says I'm not allowed to visit." He mumbled.

I nodded and waited, I could see that he had more to say.

"Uh, Parker's stuff is in the basement but I can bring them up if that's easier." He walked up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "It'll be alright, with you and James. You're the strongest person I've ever met, it'll be alright."

I simply nodded and he gave me an adorable smile, stretching his freckled cheeks.

I sat upstairs in my room when Nathan came to pick him up. I didn't think I could handle seeing him or talking to him.

Instead of reading my book my thoughts inevitably drifted away from it; back to that day on that mountain, snow and Elves, Shapeshifters and trees. The never-ending screams and loss.

"Hey." A soft voice said and I jolted in my seat.

Thomas was at the door, a box in his hands. I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed, "They're just brownies."

I looked back out the window and he came and sat down on one of the chairs, the gold embroidery popping on the black fabric.

"So you chose this room, huh?" He asked looking around, "This was practically a storage room before," He pointed to the windows, "I never really liked those."

I looked wistfully out of them, my eyes resting on the snowy trees. They held a sense of comfort, even if it was small.

"But I'm glad you like it." I looked back and saw his gold eyes watching me sadly.

He got up and placed the brownies on the arm of the couch that I was sitting on.

"Oh!" He exclaimed on his way out, "Before I forget, Malcolm wants to see you tomorrow, sometime in the morning would work fine." Slapping the doorframe he called, "Bye, Brooke!"

I sighed and opened the brownies, 'Might as well eat them.' After eating five I decided that I'd had enough and walked down to put them in the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen I found James standing over the stove. I walked behind him and set the brownies in a cupboard.

I walked back upstairs with ease and sat down where I'd been before. And the same as before instead of reading I sat reliving the past.

~~~~~~~~~

Return to the previous night

~~~~~~~~~

James's eyes snapped open upon hearing a distant scream. The human he supposed. He groaned and rolled out of his bed, trudging down the hall.

But… Gloria or Malcolm had said that it was better for her to finish the nightmare than to interrupt it.

He waved his hand and stalked back to his room. He had just opened his door when he heard her scream Beta's name. The urgency and franticness of it made him almost worried but he pushed it away.

He tossed and turned, listening to her whimpering and sobs. He sat up on his bed covering his ears, trying desperately to block out her wails. But it didn't work. His damn gift just made the pain worse.

He shifted partly by accident and partly because his wolf had worse hearing. He went to the library and found some respite, the books muffled the sound somewhat.

By some miracle he drifted to sleep only to be woken in the early morning by another scream. He rolled his eyes, hard, and got up. Could this human be any more annoying and draining?

He stomped to his room and put on some clothes, then he stomped down the stairs where her scent was emanating from.

He came across the Shapeshifter carrying a passed out human. He frowned, "What happened?"

The Shapeshifter didn't reply and instead set the human down carefully on the yellow couch in the living room. Having done that he turned to face him, "She fainted. She was downstairs, don't know why." He shrugged.

James raised his chin in suspicion but didn't feel like questioning him on that. But a little voice in the back of his mind nagged at him and he asked a question that he'd never been able to find an answer to, "How did Beta ever allow a Shapeshifter near his mate?"

The young shifter seemed taken aback because he looked at him with surprise and pain, "He took me in. He-he let me stay in his home because he trusted me, and Brooke trusts me. As does the Alpha and Thomas."

He took a few steps forward which James thought was brave, considering the fact that he would rather slit the Shapeshifter's throat than let him stay in his house.

"And you don't need to worry about me anymore. The Alpha has asked me to leave, I'll be staying with a friend." He stopped and looked as though he would leave when he suddenly said, "And I hope you look after her. I know that it's hard and not easy to look after her, but you gotta understand she's lost everything. Her mate, her happiness. She told me once that she saw too much death. I can only assume what that meant. Just… promise me you'll be there for her."

James was stunned that the Shapeshifter was able to show such heart for someone other than himself. He hid his surprise and merely grunted at the shifter's request. He turned in his heel to leave the house, he needed a drink.

"You know…" The Shapeshifter started and James waited for him to speak, "She would've looked after you if you'd gone through what she's gone through. She would've cared. I don't understand how you can't even care a little."

James closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, a breath trembling from anger left his nostrils as he resisted the urge to kill the Shapeshifter right then and there.

But he didn't and instead stormed out the front door, shifting and running to his parents house. He was allowed to drink there.