Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Alexia’s POV

I shook off the dark feeling, hoping it would leave me alone so I could at least have some time with Derek. When we stepped inside the restaurant I met with a friendly, smiling set of bright green eyes.

“Hi Derek!” I waved. It felt like forever since the last time we met and it was nice to a warm smiling face. His electric green eyes sparked with happiness as he stood up and greeted us all.

“Little wolf,” Derek smiled, hugging me. “It’s certainly been a while.”

“Yup. I’m glad you’re doing good,” I smiled and we let go.

“Glad you’re doing well,” Lucas said correcting me and gave a manly hug to Derek. Uncle Amos smirked at Derek, hugging him as well but I swore it looked more like bromance.

“So shall we eat?” Uncle Amos asked, ushering everyone to their seat.

“Derek, I thought you didn’t eat food,” I commented, when the food came. He was eating a rare steak like a civil person. I thought vampire couldn’t exactly control their bloodlust.

“Although the food doesn’t digest or satisfy us, we can still choose to eat it. On the other hand, ruthless vampires who live like monsters will never eat food,” Derek explained with a little distaste at the end.

“So vampires are civil?” I mused, though Derek was the most civil supernatural being I ever met.

“Not all. But yes, we can be civil,” Derek said.

“Derek, you weren’t very civil when I first met you,” Uncle Amos smirked at some fond memory. How long have they been friends?

“I had my own reason Amos Awbrey,” Derek rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help smiling. “Ah, our stupid days.”

“Derek Hainsworth, stupid?” Lucas chuckled, unbelieving.

“You better believe it,” Uncle Amos grinned, receiving a narrowing look from Derek. “Well, I mean he was a fine gentlemen but he was still immature.”

“Hey, I think you were the immature one trying to pick fights with me.” They both gave each other looks and Lucas and I sat eating and enjoy listening as they talked for ages.

[You like the food?] The voice came out of nowhere in my head. I thought it was the darkness at first but it was Lucas. I sighed in relief.

[Yeah, it’s delicious. Wow, I never knew they had so much history together.]

[I don’t know much about it personally but they’ve known each other about eighteen years.]

[And how would you know? I smirked but hid it by shoving food in my mouth.]

[Well, you forgot me and Amos are still cousins despite our huge age gap.]

[It’s ‘Amos and I’ I corrected and I heard Lucas laugh through our bond.]

[How exactly apart are you guys? You guys look about the same age.] I received a scoff from him.

[Are you kidding, Alexia? Do I really look that old? We’re sixteen years apart. He’s thirty-six and I’m twenty. Come on, really?] He gave me a sad look but I knew he was laughing good-naturedly inside.

[Stop being a puss,] I teased but I was shocked. All this time I thought Amos was just a little older than Lucas. Time had lots of favor on him.

“Hey, you two. Let’s keep the conversations on the table, not in our heads,” Derek said, catching my eye.

“Well, you guys are reminiscing about the past like your one hundred years old living with cats,” I laughed.

“Actually, I’m older than one hundred and I don’t own any cat,” Derek said, not getting my joke.

“You’re so old school,” Uncle Amos laughed, stealing what I was going to say.

“Why don’t you guys keep reminiscing about the past through some tea and scones?” Lucas joked. I smiled at how happy and carefree Lucas looked. I remembered when I first met him he looked like the most boring, dull man I’ve ever seen. He came over for dinner at my house but only talked business with my dad.

“Mind if I join?” a pretty voice came out of nowhere.

I looked up to see who it was and I was met with a woman with bright blue eyes like Amos. She had beautiful brown waves that cascaded down to her waist and had a man following behind her. He was muscular and built with serious grey eyes that looked similar to Lucas at a first glance. He looked withdrawn and seemed to observe everything around him but that’s not what Lucas turned out to be.

Uncle Amos and Derek seemed to freeze, alarmed by their surprise guest but it was Derek who spoke first.

“Gracie,” he whispered.

Zane’s POV

We found a booth and waited for this werewolf girl that Travis pointed out gently. Hint the sarcasm. I got all of us coffee and we sat there waiting for her.

“So tell me exactly how you know her,” I asked, drumming my fingers on the table. I made sure to make eye contact with him at all times. Something I learned from the Elders. They never backed down with their eye contact when they talked.

“Well, she was actually a friend of mine before I moved and learned about werewolves. She was an old childhood friend of mine so it wasn’t like I could hate her or anything so she was the only werewolf I actually liked before knowing you guys. She also has an outspoken personality but you’ll grow on her if you know her more.” He smiled and I could see Jessabelle shifting uncomfortably, staring at her coffee.

Suddenly a stranger with jean shorts, boots, black hoodie, and black hat that covered the face slid across the booth from me.

“Is that you, Reagan?” Travis asked, pulling her hoodie off but she slapped his hand. I glimpsed a small golden mask fixated on her face underneath the hoodie and hat. How weird…

“Don’t say my name so loud in public,” she hissed. What the hell? She was an odd one indeed.

“What’s the mask for, if I may ask?” I asked, trying to use formalities.

“So I won’t get noticed, of course,” she as if that was the most obvious answer. I was taken aback by her snappiness and let Travis do all the talking. Jessabelle shared my confused feeling and surprised face.

“She’s the Alpha’s only daughter so she’s well protected,” Travis explained to us. “It’s a big risk for her to be out here to meet us.” That was basically a translation for, ‘you better thank me later.’

“How is that a problem?” I asked. I always went out when my dad was the Alpha. Many werewolves in town recognized me and showed respect but it wasn’t to the extent that I couldn’t see daylight.

“Well, you wouldn’t know anything,” she scoffed, fixing her mask. It was my turn to scoff at her.

“I used to be the Alpha’s child you know,” I snapped. It angered me how she thought so little of me.

“Wait, you’re a werewolf?” she asked, taking a closer look at me. I could see her warm almond shaped brown eyes behind the mask and I saw the curiosity in them. “Travis you never told me there was another werewolf involved.”

“Well, I guess I left that part out,” Travis laughed. “You know how terrible my memory is.”

“Yes, I do know unfortunately,” Reagan laughed. “When he first moved here, he forgot his address so we ended up hanging around at the park until midnight when the police finally found him. He got in so much trouble.” They both shared a laugh and I chuckled with them but I immediately felt Jessabelle’s unease. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be included in the conversation or not.

“Excuse me, I think I’ll go get one of those blueberry muffins,” she said politely and left.

“I think I’ll go get one too,” I said and left the two friends to catch up. “Hey, you OK?” I asked when I caught up with Jessabelle in line.

“Is it that obvious?” she asked, sagging her shoulders.

“Anyone in your position would feel the same way you are,” I said, carefully choosing my words. I wasn’t the best with advice but I tried my best. “Hey, Travis really likes you. Trust me, so don’t get bothered by him reminiscing memories with a childhood friend.”

“Does he really like me?” she asked, surprised that it even came out of her mouth. She blushed and looked down and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You guys are really stubborn aren’t you? Neither of you have enough guts to confess.” I pushed her playfully with my elbow. “He really likes you but Travis is shy. Maybe you should take action first,” I winked.

“My heart just kind of jumps like crazy whenever we have those…’moments,’” she said blushing deeper. “But hopefully I’ll be able to have enough courage to tell him.” She smiled at me, her hazel eyes filled with new life and courage.

We bought our muffin and carried it to our booth where Travis and Reagan were still talking. “Thanks Zane,” Jessabelle smiled before we sat down.

“So what do you need?” Reagan asked me when I started on my muffin. I could see her smile when she caught me off guard with her direct question. I wiped my mouth and took a sip of my coffee before taking out the prophecy that I wrote down on the way there. “Sorry if you can’t really read my handwriting,” I apologized. I slid it across the table and she took it.

“No, it’s fine. You write like a girl,” she snickered and I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes. I never knew a girl who was this snappy and quick with comebacks. Most girls were pretty nice and tried to get in my pants but Reagan was definitely different. She always made me smirk with her little comebacks.

“So can you crack this?” I challenged.

“Yeah, but I need to research on this one.” She looked closely at the prophecy but she still didn’t understand its meaning. “Come to the masquerade party tonight at six. I’ll have your answer by then. Humans are invited to. My dad thinks that it’s important for humans and werewolf to interact with one another,” she smiled, showing a set of straight white teeth.

“We’ll be there,” Travis nodded, smiling back. “How formal is this thing?”

“Very formal. You need a mask to gain entrance,” Reagan explained. She looked around the coffee shop once more for any danger and sighed. “Aw, crap. I see the Beta. Gotta fly,” she whispered before heading out the back exit without anyone noticing her. She left so fast that it was hard to process my judgment of her.

“Well, that was the strangest girl I’ve ever met,” I concluded, trying to put everything into my own thoughts. OK, all we had to do was attend the party for her to have enough time to crack the prophecy. That was it. Simple.

“Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you that she was outspoken,” Travis grinned and shrugged. “It’s just her personality.”

“Well, we should get ready for tonight. Maybe we’ll find some hunters among them,” Jessabelle said hopefully and we left the coffee shop in search for our attire.

We searched just about every shop and it was already late afternoon. Travis and I had found a simple black suit and tie but Jessabelle was stuck with finding a dress. How women are able to shop this long is a mystery I will never be able to crack.

We found a dress store that conveniently sold masquerade masks so while Jessabelle was choosing a dress, Travis and I were looking at the selections. There were so many masks that fit different personalities. A jokester mask with a friendly grin and laughing eye holes made me immediately think of Derek and his outgoing, friendly side.

Next matched like something Lucas would wear. It was a sleek black mask with its mouth slightly pointed downwards in a small frown, looking serious. Travis and I laughed when we pointed it out but I stopped when I came across a golden mask with a cheerful, carefree smile that oddly reminded me of Alexia. The immediate thought of her made me guilty for leaving her. I was here choosing masks for a party while she was still dealing with the darkness.

“Hey, this one looks like it would fit you,” Travis said, calling me over to the end of the counter. I picked up a silver mask that would probably only cover down to my cheeks but I still tried it on. Looking at the mirror, I saw that how at one point it was jutted out in a unique angle that brought out my sharp angled jaw.

“Hmm,” I said, slowly, examining it. It felt perfectly sculpted for me. I laughed at such thought.

“Looks like a great pick,” Travis grinned and patted me on the shoulder.

“Hey guys, can you critique me on this?” Jessabelle’s asked behind us. We turned around and found her in a white party dress that contrasted her well with her tanned skin. From the corner of my eye, I saw Travis’ jaw slightly drop. I grinned at Jessabelle as she caught me staring at Travis’ reaction. “Well, how is it?” she asked again.

“I-It looks amazing, Jesse. You should definitely get that,” he grinned. She smiled in appreciation and left to change back.

“Nice move, Travis,” I laughed when he recovered.

“Damn,” Travis muttered.

“Here, this one looks good on you and that one fits Jessabelle,” I said handing him two masks. It was a couple mask that matched each other and I purposely picked them out.

“Thanks man. It’s perfect,” he grinned wider.

After our shopping fiasco, we all dressed up and were on our way to the party. We didn’t know the exact address but following the other cars and the huge helpful signs, we were able to find our way to their house, or should I say mansion. It was as big as Lucas’ old house and had a Victorian charm to it.

We were ushered in with the rest of the crowd to a ballroom the size of a football field. How could you even fit this in a house? I wondered. After I got Travis and Jessabelle to dance, I walked around, observing people with my mask on.

There were a surprising number of humans at the party and they interacted well with the werewolves. It was the first time I’ve seen such good relationships among the two races. Back home when my dad used to be Alpha, he didn’t usually take time to get to know the humans but it seemed that Reagan’s dad was big on peacemaking.

“Hi, would you like to dance?” a girl winked. I noticed she was a werewolf. She was a couple inches shorter than me and had a short topless red dress that screamed ‘attention whore.’ I couldn’t tell how old she was through the mask but she definitely didn’t look the age to be wearing those clothes.

Onlookers eyed me curiously as if to wonder what I would do. I wasn’t the type to flat out reject girls so I agreed and took her out to the dance floor. She tried to get me to dance dirty and attempted to rub her hips against me that I was so disgusted. I always had girls all over me back home but they still kept a respectable distance.

“Mark me,” she said seductively in my ear, leaving her bare neck close to my mouth. I wasn’t going to bite and mark her. That was wrong.

“Are you drunk?” I asked, trying to get her to detach off of me.

“Come on. Don’t you want to get some of this?” she smiled wickedly and snaked her way into my arms again. I sighed, completely annoyed with her presence.

“Don’t you have some other man you can bully to get in bed with you?” a voice sliced through. The voice belonged to a girl in a silky black dress that flared at a respectable place length unlike all the other girls who had their dress plastered onto them. Her mask was gold with a few expensive looking feathers on the top giving her a regal look. She carried herself with great authority but the other girl scoffed.

“What are you doing here to tell me that?” The other girl was still clinging onto me.

“I think you should leave Dakota before I have to call your parents. You’re underage you know,” the girl in the gold mask said, crossing her arm with a winning smirk on her face.

“Bullshit. Go to hell,” she spat and winked over at me. “You can come find me anytime you’re bored.” With that she finally left, leaving me with my golden masked savior.

“Thanks for that,” I said gratefully.

“No problem. She’s always like that,” the golden mask girl said sighing. A surge of happiness filled me as I kept observing her. It was hard not to stare at her. Although she wasn’t strutting off her body like the rest of the girls, she still looked very beautiful. She seemed to radiate sunlight, the air dancing excitedly around her.

“I think I owe you a dance,” I said bowing with one hand out. She laughed at my exaggerated politeness but took it without any complaint.

The moment our hands touched, a huge electrical shock wave surged through both of us, making us gasp in surprise. We both looked at each other; our eyes finally open for the first time.

“You’re my mate.”