Faze

Chapter 19: White Wolf

Chapter Nineteen

Mackie rolls over on his bed, facing the door where he can see two silhouettes from under where the light seeps through. He waits for the knock but Elijah slowly opens the door, Courtney following him. "Hey," He said, setting a bowl of hot soup on his bedside table and Courtney brought him a mug of tea. "I know you've been sick for a while. I was thinking we should talk about it."

Mackie doesn't sit up. Instead, he sinks further into his mattress when Elijah goes to sit on the end of his bed. "I don't need a doctor," Mackie said but his nerves don't ease when his older brother offers him a soft smile, a smile of knowing.

"I know you don't need a doctor," Elijah sighs like it's a sensitive topic. And maybe it was. Maybe he knew that Mackie was in some kind of danger where if he didn't get help fast, it could be too late. "I have seen something like this before."

"It's just a cold," Mackie rolled his eyes, immediately giving him a headache. He takes a sip of the tea and instantly, it relieves it, but he doesn't think about it twice.

Courtney sat next to Elijah, carefully, like she didn't know if she should be there or not. "It's not just a cold, Mackie, you know this, I know this. I have seen this before, in myself."

Mackie stared blankly at his older brother, trying to figure out what he meant but his brain was already a fog and it was too much to think about. Mackie knew this wasn't just a cold. "You're sick too?" He asked.

"No," Elijah shook his head, that comforting smile now gone. "When I saw that white wolf in the woods, I got sick. I was sick for weeks until I saw her again but this time, I saw a different version of her. She was human, well mostly. She told me everything and with a single piece of acceptance, I wasn't sick anymore."

Mackie turned to Courtney and suddenly he looked at her differently. She was that wolf in the woods, the one that made his brother tell him stories about the woods, the one that made him fear it. "Courtney you... you're one of them?"

She nodded and didn't say anything else. There was nothing to say. Mackie knew what this all meant, why they came into his room, to begin with. "If you're here to tell me to reverse the rejection then you can get out."

"Mackie–"

"No, I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do all of the time. So what if I don't want to be a part of whatever it is they are a part of and so what if I get so sick I can't even get out of bed!" He cut Elijah off and buried his face in his blankets. "I don't even know what's going on anymore."

"What about Fawn?" Courtney said suddenly and Mackie had a poor attempt at holding his breath, he came out from his blankets gasping for air.

"What about her?"

"She's half of what I am, you know," She said. "And you love her right? You've loved her from the moment you found out I was pregnant so what makes now any difference that you know who she is? Mackie, it doesn't make any difference. You still love her and she is still a part of your life so I think you can move past this. What is their name?"

Mackie sighed and stared at her. He didn't see Courtney as a different person either. She was still his brother's girlfriend, still his older sister, she was still Courtney and the wolf inside of her didn't change that. "His name is Zephan," Mackie said. "Don't rush me into changing anything, okay?"

Elijah nodded and Courtney was too busy smiling with herself to do the same. "Things might be a little awkward when that time comes. We are from different packs. You know about them, right?"

Mackie groaned but it wasn't entirely agitation. "I can't escape it, can I?"

They stayed up late talking. Courtney explained to Mackie everything he needed to know, despite his sour attitude towards it. She explained that them being in different packs doesn't change anything, they can still live together, and still be called a family. But Mackie still wasn't sure where he stood. Courtney made it seem so easy but his emotions were big and while Courtney continued to talk about werewolves, Mackie was only thinking about one thing. And that thing was Zephan.

Courtney and Elijah left to go to bed and Mackie was left alone with his pounding heart. The tea had helped with other things, yet even his hands shook when he reached for his phone to type in a number Sunny had given him before. Then, his phone rang and with every impatient ring, his heartbeat mimicked the sound, like it was going to beat out of his chest.

The ringing came to a stop and for the second time that night, Mackie was holding his breath only this time, he didn't start gasping for air when Zephan spoke on the other end. "Hello, who is this?"

Mackie didn't answer right away. He couldn't. His mind had frozen into replaying Zephan's voice like it was a special sound he had never heard before. His heart slowed its beats into a calmer rhythm.

"Hello?"

"Zephan," Mackie said, immediately feeling stupid for saying anything other than a greeting in return, or at least telling Zephan who was calling at the horrible hour of midnight, but Zephan seemed to already know. He had stopped talking too. Mackie could hear his breathing on the other side and it was enough, he didn't need to hear him say anything, his breathing was enough. Yet he had to say something. "I heard you're sick."

Zephan still paused but it didn't take him long to think of something to say. "Yeah, I'm doing a bit better though. Don't worry. You got some tea, right?"

"What?" Mackie asked but he looked on his bedside table where Courtney left the mug, the tear now cold. "Oh. Yeah, I do."

"Good, it will help you feel better," Zephan sighed and took another pause. "Goodnight, Mackie."

"Wait!" Mackie lunged forward in his bed like he was physically stopping Zephan from hanging up, yet he didn't need to. Zephan hummed and let him stay. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Mackie."

Mackie waited for him to say something else but he didn't. He half wanted him to say his name again, half wanted him to yell at him for being so stubborn. But he sighed against his pillow instead and nodded like Zephan could see. "Okay. Goodnight, Zephan."

"Goodnight."