Waving Through A Window

Lya

I dragged myself out of the training ground. Three more hours of grueling work for the second day in a row had been tough. Yeah, I was pretty athletic, but this was a whole different ball game than kickboxing a couple times a week.

“You’re better than I had thought,” Cody said with a pat on the back. “Whatever your cousins taught you was pretty good.”

I smiled sheepishly. “I haven’t seen them in a few years at this point. Maybe if I ever see them again, I can kick their asses instead of them pulverizing me.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Whose side of your family were they on”

“My dad’s,” I answered, a little confused by the question. “They made sure to stay in touch even after he hightailed it.”

Cody nodded slowly, but made no attempts to loop me in on whatever he was thinking about. “Tomorrow, wolf form.”

I looked up at him a little shocked. “I-I’m not sure how reliably I can shift…” I stuttered.

He just shrugged. “Gotta figure it out sometime, kid.” He turned, walking back toward the training grounds. I just ever so slowly started the long walk back toward the packhouse.

A little red Corolla pulled up next to me, rolling down the window. “Need a ride?” Rose laughed with a sly grin.

I pulled open the door and flopped in the passenger seat with a groan. I had been starting to look forward to a run with Oliver, but at this point, I was absolutely dreading it. I was absolutely beat - figuratively and literally.

“Are you feeling okay?” Rose gave me a concerned look. “Do you need to go get checked out? You could still be healing-”

“No!” I quickly snapped, cutting her off.

“Then what’s going on? You were exhausted when we worked on shifting, too.”

I glanced over at her. “Can you keep a secret?”

Rose chewed on her lip. “Oliver isn’t usually one to give commands like that, so probably.”

I rolled my eyes. I had read about the alpha command. It seemed like a thing that could easily be abused. “As Luna, can I ask that you keep this secret?”

Rose’s eyes lit up. “I like the way you think!”

I wasn’t sure how well this tactic would hold up. From what I’d read, I wouldn’t get the power to command until I was officially Luna, so I just hoped Oliver was a good enough guy to not pull out a dick move like the alpha command on his own pack members.

“I started training with Cody yesterday,” I said hesitantly. “We figured with whatever is coming, I need to be as prepared as possible.”

Rose lifted her eyebrows. “Behind Oliver’s back?” I nodded in confirmation. “You guys are going to get in a lot of trouble when he finds out.”

“It’s just another few days he needs to not find out,” I sighed. “I think we can keep it under wraps for just five more days.”

Rose pulled up to the packhouse. “Your secret is safe with me, but I am warning you - be careful.”

“I’ll do my best,” I sighed, getting out of the car.

I trudged up the steps to the packhouse, Rose close behind, desperate to find food. I must have not been paying much attention, because just as I was pulling the door open, I ran into someone. I looked up, a little shocked, ready to apologize. I knew I was new here and I was a far cry from knowing everyone, but I recognized everyone that seemed to frequent the packhouse. This person was decidedly not a packhouse regular.

“Hi!” the girl said excitedly. “You must be Lya! Do you want to join us for lunch?”

I looked at her quizzically. She was quite a bit taller than me, but that wasn’t hard. She was the spitting image of Allyssa with the same dark brunette hair and hazel green eyes. “Are you Anna?” I asked cautiously.

The girl smiled broadly. “I just got back last night! My dad told me we had a visitor at the house - this is so exciting! What pack are you from?”

My head reeled at the bombardment of questions. This girl was way too perky and cheerful. I didn’t know how long I could stand it. “I uh, I actually didn’t grow up in a pack,” I mumbled.

Anna hooked her arm through mine and dragged me back down the porch steps. “Well, it’s good you came for a visit. I’m so happy Ollie finally found his mate! You know, I used to dream about being his mate. I can guarantee I’m not the only girl in this pack who cried on their eighteenth birthday when we figured out we weren’t the Alpha’s mate.”

“I was going to meet Oliver for a run,” I told her, trying to pull away.

“He’s in a meeting with the gamma from Wyoming. It hasn’t been going great, so I’m sure he won’t mind if I steal you for a bit,” she giggled.

I just nodded, and allowed myself to be pulled toward her car. I didn’t say much during the car ride, letting her and Rose catch up. It would seem they were old friends. We pulled into a parking spot in front of Lucy’s, and made our way inside.

Rose leaned in toward us, keeping her voice low. “Do we want to go somewhere else?” she asked, nodding her head toward Lucy behind the counter.

“Nonsense!” Anna insisted. “They’re marked! Lucy’s shit out of luck, and I have missed the food here.”

Rose looked at me, wide eyed. “You two marked each other? That’s so great!”

I just shook my head slowly. To be honest, I was planning on having a panic attack about this with Rose around to talk me down, but I didn’t know this Anna character. I didn’t want to divulge my secrets to her.

Rose furrowed her brows, studying me for a moment. “How does he have a mark and you don’t?” she finally asked, reading into what I wasn’t saying.

“I didn’t really realize I did it,” I grumbled.

Anna’s lighthearted giggle tinkled across the restaurant. “Heat of the moment, right? I wonder how he was able to hold it together and not mark you.”

I tried not to let it show how much her offhand comment bothered me. But, it just lended credence to my thought that maybe he didn’t care about me. I mean, wouldn’t I have a mark if he did? I did my best to shove the thought from my head, participating in the lunch conversation as much as I could. Luckily, the conversation quickly drifted away from whatever it was that Oliver and I were or were not.

Lucy stopped by the table a couple times to check on how we were doing - something she notably didn’t do with other tables - and asked Anna a couple pointed questions about how “Ollie” was doing, causing Tala and I to bristle. The two were quick to deflect her comments, assuring her that he would not be free that night and no he was not starting to look for a chosen mate.

I was all too ready to leave when Anna and Rose finally decided they had finished their lunch. They were old friends, and I felt like I was third wheeling. I gladly took the back seat and tried to fade into the background on the drive back to the packhouse. I quickly scrambled out of the car, dismissing myself for a nap, and leaving the girls to continue doing whatever lifelong girlfriends do. Given my hour or so of experience, I had realized it wasn’t great enough to supersede my introverted ways.

I flopped down face first on my bed, feeling more exhausted now than right after training with Cody. Groups of friends were not a thing I was vastly familiar with. My previous life, sure there were people I’d grab a drink with every once in a while, but never close. Getting close to me used to be dangerous. It was going to take a while to get used to the fact that that was not the case anymore.

I was just about to drift off to sleep when the door creaked open. I smiled into the pillow as his familiar scent wafted around me like a warm hug. I laughed to myself at the thought of a rainstorm being akin to a warm hug, but to me, it was. The bed dipped under his weight and I felt an arm around my waist pulling me against his hard chest.

“I heard you got to meet Anna today,” Oliver said, his breath tickling the nape of my neck.

I just nodded, still trying to pull myself out of my brushes with sleep.

His chuckle rumbled against my back. “I am sorry, you don’t strike me as the sort that handles constant sunshine and daisies very well. But Trevor should be back in a couple days, and they’ll be distracted enough by each other.”

And in that moment, it struck me just how little I knew about Oliver. How little he had told me, anyway. Sure, I had heard some stories here and there, but he hadn’t told me any of the important, monumental tidbits. Part of me had to wonder how much those really mattered in learning who someone was. Maybe the little things, how they were day to day, what they decided was worth remembering and repeating, were more important.

All I really did know is somehow, in the past couple weeks, this guy had seen all sides of me. He had held me while I cried, broke down my walls and made me laugh, given me a home and community and friends, and convinced me I was worthy of feeling things I had previously always thought I was undeserving of. He made me happy, and I did a piss poor job of showing him that he did that.

All I really did know was that I trusted him with my life.

And I loved him.

Even if he didn’t love me.

“Hey Oliver,” I whispered, my voice hazy with sleep.

“Yes, love?”

I tried not to let the term of endearment distract me. That’s all it was really, right? Just a term of endearment, not a confession.

“What was it like growing up here?”