33. Hanging With a New Buddy

Lilith

Roxie looked so uncomfortable, but I had no idea why. “Roxie it is not that bad for you to show some skin. Besides I couldn’t take you seriously with what you were wearing, now I can.” She looked so nervous. “Don’t worry I will help you again in the future. Eric said we need to do some shopping and he suggested we go together. Maybe I should introduce you to my other friend. Her name is Juliet. She is a human, but she dresses a little more conservative than me, but less than you. She would be a good in-between. Though since we will have to get formal wear maybe we will have to come up with a reason for it.”

I didn’t know why I was babbling. I never do this. Roxie had not said much about the time I had been here, but I already felt a kind of kinship. Finally, she spoke. “You have a friend who is human?” I nodded. I didn’t understand how that was so abnormal. The guys at Rob’s gym had human friends, I guess it was since we didn’t grow up in a pack with other shifters. “Yes, she is awesome I think you will like her. When we do go out, we should bring her with us.” Roxie looked so out of her comfort zone.

We moved back to the living room. “Okay so tell me about yourself. Like how you became a hacker?” Roxie looked at me and said “Well, I don't really know. I have just always liked tech stuff, so I started figuring out how everything worked, and I just learned. It kind of all just makes since to me, you know? It is like I can see it all and know how to bypass things.” I understood that. “That is like me with science, I guess. I like to understand how things work and just read all the time and it just clicks. I am not like the cheerleads I cheer with. They know boys, makeup, fashion. That seems to be their passion whereas mine is science, and yours seems to be tech.”

Roxie smiled and said “How did you learn to train the way you do? I mean I have never seen any shifter who can run and workout like you do.” I shrugged and said “I don’t know. Rob, who is like a surrogate father, taught me everything. I think my training was more than the other shifters at the gym because of Kali, my wolf. We need more physical work. It is why I do so many sports. My wolf needs it.” She shook her head and laughed. “I still can’t believe you fought Mia. That girl is crazy.” I snorted. “That bitch is shit.” Roxie looked at me again with curiosity and nervousness. “How can you talk like that?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Talk like what?” She paused and said “You swear so much. Now and at training. I have never really been around it. Some of the male shifter's curse but it is not as often as you and you do it so naturally like there is nothing wrong with it.” Wow, this pack was so basic. It was like they had a prim and proper police. “Roxie, I say whatever I fucking want. I don’t give a rat's ass. Besides everyone in the city, at least where I grew up, talks like this. Some of the people at my school, may consider it trashy, none of them are from my side of the city so they probably don’t get it. But they too cuss more than anyone I have heard here. Even Eric doesn’t do it as often as the most conservative of people in my school. Though Noel I think talks the closest way to the way I know real people talk.”

Roxie asked “Beta and Alpha curse?” I nodded. “Okay you got to tell me why you guys were raised this way. Are all packs like this, or is it just Grey Crest?” Roxie pause but then said. “Well other packs can be more liberal with their morals, but for the most part they too are conservative. I mean you heard Mia; Eric has slept with other shifters which is a huge taboo in our community. Most shifters wait for their mate. So, what he did was Taboo, but he never slept with anyone in this pack, but I think even those shifters were most likely ostracized for that behavior. But some of the other packs don’t have the females so ridged as you call it with their appearance. But I have seen at some events other shifters from other packs were more risqué things. Nothing, no offense, like you do but more skin showing then us in this pack.”

She continued “As for why are raised this way, I don’t know why. It just has been the social norm. So, I can’t really explain it. I know you were not raised like us.” I snorted. “Roxie I was not raised at all. The closest thing I have to a parent is Rob. Who runs a gym and a criminal enterprise.” she looked sad. “What is wrong?” I asked her. “That is just kind of sad, you don’t have parents.” I rolled my eyes. “I have parents. Missy, my mother, she is a cunt. Then there is Jim, he is my stepdad, a total perv. Then I have my bio dad. He was a Draco wolf, that is why I am one.” She bit her bottom lip.

“It still sucks, I can’t even imagine not being raised in a pack. How does that even work when you have no one to teach you how to be a shifter, or what it means to be able to be a shifter.” I laughed. “I have Rob, he is a shifter, he walked me through everything. He was there for my first shift. Really, he is a good guy. He takes in others that are alone in the city. I think he considers it a makeshift pack. We have a giant wheel to run on as we didn’t have the luxury of being away in the woods.” Roxie again was biting her lip. “You can ask whatever you want. I am not offended.” I told her.

I was sure she had a lot of questions. My childhood was so foreign to the shifters at Grey Crest Pack. “Are there a lot of shifters without packs in the city?” I thought for a second before I responded. “I don’t know if you would say a lot. The ones I know all go to Robs. We were in foster care, and he took us in. If we shifted, he helped us get through it and helps us with what we need to be doing to make us strong I guess.” Roxie immediately said, “You were in foster care?” I nodded. “For a time at least then I got returned to my fucking cunts of parents.”

“No wonder you are so hard?” I laughed. “I am hard? Is that the general consciences of the pack?” She blushed and nodded, I snorted. What a bunch of pussies. “I am not that hard, I swear. I just don’t get all the pussy footing.” Roxie let out a strangled laugh. “I am going to have to get used to the cussing, aren’t I?”

I smiled. “Yes, if you plan to be my friend.” I added. “Which I think I would like.” Her face broke out in a massive smile. “I would love to be your friend.” It felt like such a kindergarten conversation. Like please be my friend, of course I will be your friend and then the two kids are instantly inseparable. “Fucking great, now you got to say something, like fuck, or shit.” Roxie instantly paled. “Come on just try it. I think you will like it.” Kali was laughing in my head. “We are so corrupting this pack and I am so here for it.” I snorted at her remark. Roxie then whispered “Ass.” I burst out laughing. Her face was all red. “We will work up to it. You will get the hang of it. Trust me, it is freeing just letting words fly with no real remorse.”

“So, you met Alpha Eric when he went to a fight in the city?” She asked. “Yeah.” Roxie responded "A lot of the guys like to go see those fights in the city, I don’t get it through. It seems to be like a common way to stay entertained.” I didn’t really care about that. Plenty of humans liked to watch fighting. Maybe the shifters wanted to reassure themselves that they were stronger than the humans, though the way this pack had been trained I doubted that. It made me think of something. “Is Eric good at fighting? I mean no offense to you but this pack sucks at training, so I am curious if Eric is like the rest of the pack.”

Roxie shook her head. “Oh no, Alpha is a freaking beast; he could keep up with you. Beta Noel is right behind him. The alphas are much stronger than the average shifter, they are born that way. Beta Noel has alpha blood, so he too is extremely fit. I think the alpha is probably the only shifter in our pack to be able to fully keep up with you. But he was born that way, whereas you worked at it.” She paused. “You don’t know who your biological father is right?” I nodded at her question. “Maybe you have alpha blood then, I don’t know obviously, but if you did it would explain why you could do what you do with ease.”

I shrugged and responded. “Maybe, but I did have to work to be this good. It wasn’t like the day after I shifted, I could do everything I can do now.” She understood. “But I wouldn’t rule it out Luna. I mean you are really good.” I smiled “Thanks.” We counited to talk and I found that I did like her. I had to admit, I planned to corrupt her just a bit, but she was sweet, and I liked it. I was never going to be like that, but it was refreshing to be around someone like her. Roxie went vacant and then said. “Alpha asked if we could both come to the packhouse for lunch.” I nodded and she paused looking at her clothes. “Come on Roxie, be a badass for once.” She bit her lip but decided to follow my lead and we left her apartment to go get lunch.