72: Memories

**Lucien**

Tristan was not a morning person. Anyone who knew her knew this. Yet, after spending the night wrapped up in sheets with her, I had the sadistic idea of waking her up early, all in the hopes of taking her out to breakfast.

“Rise and shine my Love!” I yelled as I opened up the curtains, allowing light to flood into the room. Tristan did not move an inch. I let out a huff and then smirked.

“Tristan! Wakey wakey!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Still, no movement. So, I decided to run towards the bed and then pounce on top of her. The response I was met with was a low growl and a hard slap to the face which sent me flying off of the bed.

“The fuck is wrong with you!” She yelled out angrily. But all of her anger disappeared the moment she saw me sprawled out on the floor.

“Lucien!” She exclaimed before running towards me and placing a hand against the cheek she’d hit. It stung and so I winced slightly which only deepened that look of concern on her face even more.

“Sorry Lucien… it’s a reflex.” She whispered before closing her eyes and dragging her fingers down my face. Immediately, the pain faded away and was replaced by a gentle warmth. I was blushing.

“Fuck… I think I’m still a little weak. I’m trying to heal you up, but your cheek is still so bright red. I-I hope I didn’t hurt you too much Lucien.”

I’d stayed silent the entire time, too afraid to disturb this moment until now. “I’m not hurt,” I said before reaching for her hand and holding it tightly against my skin. Soon her own cheeks had turned a shade of red and she smiled deeply which made me smile too.

“You’re so adorable…” She said softly before leaning in and kissing me. I moaned and kissed her back, slowly and gently allowing my lips to press against the softness of hers. She playfully tugged at my lower lip with her teeth, and I let out a low growl which allowed her tongue to invade my mouth. I moaned again and pulled her naked body closer to mine, savouring the feeling of her nakedness against me. I loved the way it felt when my skin was on hers, but at the same time knew the dangers of it all. If we continued on like this, I’d be tempted to keep her here in this room for the entire day instead of doing what I had planned for us. So, I gently pulled away and chuckled.

“As much as I’d love to spend my day completely devouring you, you and I have other things to do for the day.” I said.

“We do?” She asked curiously before pecking my lips playfully with hers and giggling. I chuckled and kissed at her nose then her lips and then I nodded. “Breakfast, then you’ve got the option of a nice walk through the forest around here or a trip to the beach.”

Her brows furrowed as she weighed her options and once she’d made up her mind, she said, “A walk through the forest. I think it’s time I saw you in your wolf form since you’ve seen me in mine.”

“Great, and then afterward…”

“…afterward?” She mimicked.

I smirked before kissing her and whispering against her lips, “Maybe I can live out that fantasy of keeping you in this room, naked and all to myself.”

She bit her lip and then nodded enthusiastically before smiling brightly at me.

“So… how about a nice, steamy shower?” I asked suggestively.

“You lead the way.” Once she’d said this, I tossed her over my shoulder, making her laugh loudly. Once I’d gotten us to the shower, I placed her gently on her feet and then turned the water on. Most of our time spent in the shower was occupied by teasing touches and making out and I doubted my lips had ever left hers throughout.

Tristan got dressed into one of the spare pants she’d left here when we were still working on refurbishing the house and then she borrowed one of my blue sweatshirts and I wore its matching black one.

“I must say, your clothes look better on me than they do on you.” She said as she staired into the mirror.

I chuckled before ruffling her hair up and saying, “You wish! I practically invented sexy casual.”

She rolled her eyes and then pouted playfully. “You’re supposed to agree with me and tell me that I look sexy in your clothes.”

I noticed that the real Tristan, the one she’d been before my father had twisted her up into something else, was quite playful. It reminded me of what her sister had said about her being quite “explosive”. But I wasn’t complaining, I loved every moment of her playfulness and her teasing and her bright smile. She was so new to emotion that she seemed to be feeling everything at a level I could only fathom and it all shined through her bright and lively green eyes.

“Fine,” I said, conceding to the cute face she was making, “you do wear my clothes better. You’re so sexy in them.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Now… tell me you love me.”

Did she even have to ask?

“I love you so so much!” With that, I grabbed her into my arms and practically attacked her face with kisses. There was absolutely no way in hell I’d be able to keep my hands off of her at all.

***Since Tristan had opted to walk through the forest at home after our breakfast trip, I decided to take her to a restaurant near the ocean.***

***“I take it you’re a beach guy?” She yelled, competing with the loudness of the wind as we exited the car and made our way down to the restaurant.***

***I nodded. “I am. We used to go to the beach often with Rose when we were younger. Some of my fondest and most terrifying memories were made at this very beach.”***

***“Terrifying?” She asked. But by then we’d made it to the entrance of the quaint restaurant overlooking the waves which crashed onto the soft sands of the seashore. And so, I waited until we were seated before delving into the memories which had begun to resurface in my mind.***

***“Although Rose was a gentle soul, more likely to give into our childish requests than not, she had quite a strict sugar rule. We were only allowed to eat a limited amount of sugary snacks throughout the day. Whenever we’d come here, she’d be extremely reluctant to buy us ice cream… until London almost drowned. You’d expect an experience like that to traumatise three little kids, but it did the opposite. The three of us then hatched up a plan. We’d take turns drowning. It worked the first few times, until I actually almost lost myself to the ocean. After that, the three of us stopped our sea-trickery. But we never stopped trying to trick Rose into giving us sugar. Looking back at it, we were a handful, even more so when we were scheming together. We once set fire to an entire peach orchard that belonged to an aunt of ours. Ironically, our intention wasn’t to actually burn the place down. I suggested we build a small fire to alarm the adults and send them out of the room with all of the snacks in, so that we could sneak inside and steal some. Somewhere along the line Damon and London lost themselves to their inner arsonists and the next thing we knew, Aunt Charlotte’s orchard had become the biggest bonfire in the world. Needless to say, my father was ready to disown us right then and there.” I said thinking back on the memory in amusement.***

***“You three are definitely Ambrose’s kids.” Tristan said light-heartedly. But I could see that the topic of my father was still a fresh wound of hers, and so I decided to change the topic.***

***“See anything you like on the menu? By the way, I don’t really know what your favourite food is.”***

***She smiled and then gave a soft sigh. “Well… it’s dumb.”***

***“Oh, come on, I just confessed to drowning myself for candy when I was younger. It can’t be that bad.”***

***“Well… it’s not on the menu but I really like margarine smothered on two slices of warm bread.” She said shyly.***

***I let out a chuckle before saying, “Oh there must be a memory associated with that one.”***

***“There is!” As she said this, she shifted into her seat and then leaned forward. Her eyes brightened up and a bright smile appeared on her face as she recalled the memory. “When I was younger, I never really ate much throughout the day. I was always too busy playing with Jasmine or running around and busying myself with whatever I found exciting outside. So, in the evening, right before bed I’d always be hungry. So, my mom would always give me two warm slices of bread and she’d smother them in margarine and give me a glass of apple juice to wash it down with. I have no idea why, but ever since then it has always been a favourite of mine, though I haven’t treated myself to a meal as nostalgic as that in years.”***

***“I’d have liked to have met your mother. She sounds kind and warm, just like Rose. I’m sure the two of them would have gotten along well.” For a moment, just a moment, I let myself imagine a world in which Rose and Selene still existed. A world in which Ambrose didn’t.***

***“I’m sure my mom would have adored you and your siblings… but I’m sure you’d have been her favourite. She always took a liking to unruly children. I suppose they reminded her a lot of herself when she was younger. From what she’d tell me and Jasmine, she was a handful herself.” She smiled fondly and that was when the waiter came to our table to take our orders. I ordered a nice stack of sweet waffles and Tristan ordered herself some French toast and fruit and yoghurt. However just before the waiter left, I whispered another order to him and once he’d gone, Tristan eyed me curiously.***

***“What did you tell him?” She asked.***

***“Oh, to bring extra syrup.” I lied. But of course, Tristan had become too smart for me and although she knew I hadn’t told the truth, she decided to ignore it and carry on with our conversation.***

***“You and your siblings seemed to have been close when you were younger.”***

***I shrugged and then said, “I suppose we were, much closer than we are now. But I’m sure in time things will change and we’ll learn to live a little better with each other. I love both of my siblings dearly, but I tend to tolerate them more than I get along with them. You and your sister, however, seem closer than we are and you two have only just found each other again. I assume that you two grew up much closer than we did.”***

***She nodded and then said, “We only had each other so we grew to rely on and trust one another. Jasmine always protected me when I was younger, and she always looked out for me. Speaking of my sister… I…” She then shook her head and gazed at me with uncertain eyes.***

***“Ask, don’t be afraid.” I said reassuringly.***

***“Why did you start the Vixen Organisation?”***

***I wasn’t quite expecting this question from her and admittedly, it did a good job of catching me off guard to the point where I only gaped at her for a moment or so. Once I’d recovered, I cleared my throat and nervously scratched at the back of my neck.***

***“When I first met Jasmine, she was… much different than she is now. She’d lived a life of nothing but survival, and that had affected her very badly. She was constantly afraid and uncertain of herself and the people around her. When I looked at her, I always felt as though she saw herself as someone weak and powerless. For a while I had no idea how to help her and it was frustrating because all I wanted to do was fix all of the problems and worries she had. But one day, I realised that perhaps I should get a little more creative. So, I introduced her to my world, and she took a liking to it almost immediately. That’s when I started the Vixen organisation so that there could be other people Jasmine could rely on, more people who were learning, just like she was. However, although I started it with good intentions, all it ended up doing was hurting her to the point where she became afraid of me. I don’t blame her though, I was fucked up in the head back then so everything I did, even the things I did with good intentions, turned into something ugly and painful. But I’ve changed throughout the years, and I suppose that’s why I’ve taken a more absent role in the Vixen Organisation. In fact, my right-hand man, George, runs most things. I’m only called in when they have problems, like that one rogue attack.”***

***“Sorry about that… I didn’t know they’d try to attack one of your Vixens. It was a stupid move on Markus’ part.” She said softly.***

***I gently took her hand from across the table and rubbed my thumb against it. “It’s alright. Everything worked out eventually.”***

***She then wore a conflicted expression on her face as she asked, “So, does that mean that you and Jasmine have… had sex?”***

***I almost choked on my saliva and started coughing violently for a moment at the absurdity of her question. Once I’d recovered, I shook my head. “Of course not! It’s no secret that I’ve had my fair share of sex partners, but fortunately Jasmine has never been one of them. Perhaps subconsciously I already knew then that she wasn’t the right person for me.”***

***“Then who is?” Tristan asked as she tried to hide her smirk.***

***“The beautiful Blue-Eyed Alpha sitting right in front of me. You’re perfect for me. And I’m happy to say that I’m not obsessed with the idea of loving you… I just love you. In fact, if I may be so bold, I think you’ve fallen hopelessly in love with me.”***

***Confusion flashed on her face for a moment before she said, “I think you mean you, Lucien Michaels, have fallen hopelessly in love with me.”***

***“Exactly, but it sounds so much better coming from your lips.” I said with a wink. She frowned and softly flicked my forehead.***

By the time our food had arrived, Tristan and I had found ourselves lost in a conversation about more of my childhood escapades. She was absolutely enthralled by my recollections, and I was more than happy to lose myself to the nostalgia of my younger self. I’d also never heard Tristan laugh as much as she did. It was practically music to my ears.

When she laid her eyes on the plate containing her margarine sandwich and the glass of apple juice, she struggled to contain her excitement.

“So, this is what you whispered to the waiter earlier on!” She said once he’d left. I nodded and then watched as she devoured her meal. She looked so happy and the more I stared at her cheerful, bread-crumbed covered face, the more of an idea I got of how she must have been when she was younger. I imagined that she and I would have been great friends, the kind that hated and yet loved each other dearly at the same time. Then I started to wonder how on Earth it had taken me so long to fall for her. Or perhaps I had the moment I’d laid eyes on her, only I hadn’t known it then.

“What are you staring at?” She asked after wiping her mouth with a serviette.

“You. I’m just thinking about you… and me and about what a dumbass I was being this entire time.”

“Well, you are a dumbass… but can I get a little context?”

I sighed and then smirked. “I was just impatient waiting for you for so long. And then, when I finally found you, I was too blinded by a childish obsession to take note of *you*. I feel stupid.”

But instead of teasing me like I expected her to, Tristan reached out and touched at my cheek gently before offering me a smile. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. One day we’ll have too many memories together for you to even remember a time when you didn’t love me.”

I turned my head and kissed the inside of her palm, then said, “I look forward to that, my Love.”