Moonlit Bonds: Alpha's Embrace

Chapter 3

Fleur awoke the following day, oblivious of what had transpired close by at the Alpha's house last night. Fleur had always been an early riser and this morning was no exception as she stretched out on her bed before grabbing her book from the nightstand. She still had thirty minutes before she had to start getting ready for school, and last night, she had to stop reading right before things got interesting. The girl felt giddy as she picked up her book and flopped on her belly to start reading. In the back of the library Fleur had found a book on local Mycology. Fleur was fascinated how anything was able to grow here. Maybe over the weekend she could go into the forest and try to find some of the local mushrooms too study them more.

Way too quickly, the familiar ringing of her alarm could be heard from her bedside table, and with a sigh, Fleur turned it off. A gentle knock was heard from her bedroom door.

"Good Morning, my love! Sleep well?" Her mother mused affectionately when looking down at her daughter, whose hair was still a disheveled mess, as she looked up through her glasses with tired eyes.

"Good Morning, Mom. Yea, I slept all right, but I wouldn't mind staying in bed a bit longer" Fleur's eyes were beaming now as she started up at her mother; this trick had worked sometimes in the past. But Sabine had learned, she knew Fleur would sometimes get out of social situations by faking tiredness.

"Up you get, darling; Andrew is driving you to school!" Sabine clapped her hand with finality as she turned, a groan leaving her daughter's mouth as she heaved herself from her bed.

Fleur trudged over to the bathroom, showering and getting ready at a speedy pace. She had stayed in Bed longer than she thought. She slipped into a pair of oversized black slacks that had once belonged to her dad, which she tied around her waist with a thick leather belt before pulling on a white turtleneck and a dark blue crew neck on top. Fleur wasn't too fussed with clothes. She just wanted them to be comfortable and not to form fitting. She also tended to gravitate more towards dark colors, which would allow her to blend in more.

As she made her way downstairs, she could hear her mother humming in the kitchen and Andrew speaking in his deep voice. Both of them stopped in their tracks when their daughter entered the room. Andrew, sitting at the small kitchen table, pulled out a chair and asked her to take a seat by his side. Fleur complied and thanked her mom quietly when breakfast was placed in front of her.

"Morning, Pup" Andrew took in his stepdaughter lovingly and reached out to squeeze her hand. His wolf had grown attached to the little girl beside him, and he saw Fleur as his own child. She shot him a shy smile before turning back to her breakfast. Even though he had known her for two years, Fleur remained a mystery to Andrew. As soon as he thought he could read her, she would retrieve it back into herself, drawing up another wall for him to break down. Andrew knew he would never give up on his relationship with Fleur and that it was important to do it at her own pace. His wolf agreed, so slowly and gradually, they were fighting for a space in Fleur's heart.

"Are you ready for school? - Don't you have photography class today?" Andrew tried to make conversation with Fleur, who still was looking down at her breakfast while slowly nodding.

"Yea, Uhm, I'm excited we get to start our term projects today," Fleur's tone was soft as she replied, still not meeting his eyes. Even two years later, it was a mystery for Andrew how someone like Fleur was real. She was this shining light of love, but in her own eyes, saw herself as nothing but a flicker.

About fifteen minutes later Fleur heaved herself into Andrew's truck already annoyed at the cold. Sure it got cold in the human settlement but she couldn't ever remember it snowing so much especially not in November. The heavy door on the driver's side was thrown open and Andrew lifted himself into the truck.