The Liability (2023 - COMPLETE)

XVI - Margot

 Juno could fit her entire life into a single bookbag. It was pitiful.

She knew that there wasn't a lot to her name, especially things that she wanted to take to New York. She had sorted through her clothes, finding the few pieces that she could be proud to wear. She pulled the few items of sentimental value, stuffing them into the bag.

It was Saturday morning and as excited as she was to finally get the chance to leave, she was incredibly nervous. She had less than an hour before Margot was meant to arrive and she couldn't help but worry that somehow things would go wrong. What if this was all a cruel joke? What if Margot was mean to her? What if Margot never arrived?

She knew that her line of thinking didn't make all that much sense. If Luna Elizabeth could trust them, Juno could trust them. She simply wanted things to go smoothly.

Juno took one last look around her little cabin, knowing that she would never be returning to it. By the end of the night, she would never have to see the town of Baring ever again. She had bigger and better things for her on the other side of the country. She wouldn't be stuck freezing in this little box. She wouldn't have to wonder the next time she would have to wake up in a hospital bed. She wouldn't have to decipher her mate's actions.

The walk from the cabin to Luna Elizabeth's home was familiar and welcoming. Juno knew that the only thing she would miss when she left would be Luna. She had been the only positive in her life for the past few years. She had only been able to survive this place's cruelty because of Luna Elizabeth's unrelenting kindness.

Per usual, Juno was welcomed into her home with open arms. There were scones still cooking, preparing to be added to the impressive brunch spread. The two of them waited for Margot's arrival much like they would spend any other time with one another. The conversation went smoothly and kept the discussion away from her upcoming departure. Luna Elizabeth was glad to have a chance to talk about her son, and how there was so much to do in the next three months to prepare for his birth. How in the new year, Alpha Alexander was meant to be home more often during the final trimester and for the first couple of months after the baby's birth. It was kind of sweet how much she cared for baby Theodore.

There was a knock on the door not long after 12:30. Luna Elizabeth was quick to go to the door to welcome whoever it was on the other side. Figuring that it must be Margot, Juno slowly peaked around the kitchen's archway to look towards the front door. Standing there was a woman who stood just an inch or two taller than Luna Elizabeth.

The woman had jet-black hair down to her waist, and a little bit of dark makeup smudged around her eyes. There was no denying that she was incredibly pretty in a sort of intimidating way, but something about her seemed particularly familiar. When Margot took off her coat, she revealed greyscale tattoos that snaked all the way up both her arms.

Even before Juno could hear the two women's conversation, it was clear to her that there was a familiarity between them. Juno brought up the courage to leave the kitchen and come to meet Margot. She was always hesitant with new people, but if Imogen and Elizabeth trusted her, maybe Juno could too.

Up close, Margot didn't look any less intimidating. It was clear she was somewhere between Juno and Luna Elizabeth's age, but she looked so different than anyone else she had known. Where Luna Elizabeth was a standard pretty blonde woman who kept up with fashion cycles and presented as the perfect woman seen in the catalogs. Margot didn't have any of that, sure she looked picturesque and well put together, but with the tattoos and much darker wardrobe, she didn't immediately give off the welcoming persona that Luna did.

"Oh, Juno there you are!" Luna Elizabeth exclaimed, seeing her uncertainty. Luna Elizabeth had always known how timid she had been, and that she had good reason to be apprehensive of others. "This is Mag...Margot,"