The Wolves in the Woods

Loving Somebody I Wasn't

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't.

— Marilyn Monroe

***

Lila discovers a new meaning to the concept of "friendship".

***

              "Damn..." Lila muttered to herself, perched in her spot on top of a tree while peering through the binoculars. "Remind me to never get on her bad side."

"You could say that again," Ben's voice spoke through from somewhere. Lila jumped, juggling the binoculars, until she remembered she had her phone on call for communication purposes. She scowled at the thing.

"I hate it when you do that," she grumbled. She could practically see that irritating sunshine grin on the redhead's face. Nonetheless, she held the binoculars up to her eyes again, "Got anything on your end?" She could hear the rustling of the leaves on Ben's side.

"All clear," he reported. "He'll be devastated for a bit, but watch him come right back." Just not to approach Chloé went unsaid. Hypocrite.

"Why wasn't he this persistent when it all went down..." Lila muttered out loud. "What's he even trying to do at this point?"

"My guess is to try and turn things back around," Ben replied. Lila resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I think there's an old saying about resisting fate. I think?"

Lila scoffed. "Man plans, God laughs," she supplied. "Was that the one?"

"I think so," Ben said. "Actually, now that I think of it, I think it was about control." Lila shuddered in her perch. "I don't think he realizes he's just gonna make things worse for himself if he does that."

"Yeah..." Lila muttered. "I can see that..."

Mercifully enough, Chloé's shredding of the former Golden Boy's ego left the place quite peaceful for a time. Not that anyone bothered to keep track, but they enjoyed the lack of interruption for a time. That is, until he somehow found the gall to try again. This time, approaching from the side. Lila and Ben coordinated with the nearest guard, who just so happened to be Andres. And if Lila thought Amaia was intimidating, Andres was an entirely different monster.

Yes, monster. That was the only explanation Lila could think of for how Adrien was so easily chased away. By that case, everyone who was on guard duty today was a monster in his or her own right. Herself and Ben included. When she heard about how Ben snapped Kim's wrist that one time, she didn't believe it at first. Until she saw him snap a wooden board in half with his bare hands during practice at the gym. From then on, she was forced to reevaluate her observations about the family she had found herself living with. While they did help her and her mother without asking for anything in return, Lila's self-preservation kicked into high gear being reminded of the frankly inhuman feats they were capable of.

It was actually kinda terrifying.

Sometime after Andres chased away Adrien, he tried again. Lila frowned, observing through the binoculars while he tried to talk to Kagami. The key word being "tried". She'd heard the story in passing while Kagami and Amaia discussed ways to improve their techniques. How their breakup was quite... messy, for lack of a more polite term. And how she slapped him in the face afterward. A bit violent, but this time, Lila chose to let it slide.