Zeus

• XXXIV •

FINALLY! AN UPDATE! I've had this chapter on my lap top for a week, but school and volleyball has been killing me. But I finished my first week of school without dying so. . . success? There's a gif, if you hadn't noticed, of Hayden Panettiere as Aurora. Enjoy the chapter! -May

Time spent with my parents used to be taken for granted. But now, while I eat take-out breakfast from IHOP, I take a good look at my parents so their faces will be etched in my brain because I don't know when I'll see them again.

With Scar Guy—the man who followed and attacked me in the woods and did some weird ass black magic on me—being a potential threat, I don't want to risk having something happen to my parents. The guilt would kill me.

The pancakes are cold and the maple syrup is flavorless on my tongue. The bacon doesn't make my stomach growl, nor does the scrambled eggs with shredded cheese look appetizing. 

After breakfast, Zeus and I will need to collect our bags and head back to the pack house.

The weekend flew by. Dad slowly started to warm up to Zeus (but hasn't invited Zeus snowboarding) and Mom took Zeus under her wing by babying him and fixing him whatever he wanted. It got annoying, but Zeus found it all amusing.

Baby and childhood photos of me and Caitlyn were shown and home videos were played in the living room. Seeing all the photos and all the clips was an embarrassing experience. I mean, I wasn't the most attractive person in my class; and compared to Caitlyn, I didn't shine like she did.

"So when is the next visit?" asks Mom as see throws away the scraps of our breakfast.

I glance at Zeus from the corner of my eye, but he doesn't even look my way, making it my part to answer them. I squirm in my seat and look at my folded hands.

"I don't know; it would depend on everything that's going on." I admit, which is the actual truth.

Mom smiles a half smile and shoves the last of the IHOP boxes into the trash can. "Well, I wouldn't mind a call here-and-there to know how you to are doing out in the mountains. Right, honey?" Dad nods his head and says, "It would relieve some of our worries, knowing how you're doing."

A flood of guilt hits me because I don't know if I'll be able to call my parents. My relationship with Zeus isn't as stressful and tense like it was when we first met, but now we're more comfortable with each other. We argue but talk about our arguments now. I know what's going on around me. I'm not so clueless anymore.

"Will do, sir," Zeus interrupts my thoughts. I'm surprised. "I can tell Aurora misses you guys." Zeus reaches for my hand underneath the table and gives it a gentle squeeze. I barely feel my hand being squeezed, but I feel more of my heart. My heart is clenched in a hold that scares the hell out of me.

My heart is being held by two hands with ten fingers. The skin tone of the hands is a faded tan from the winter and the fingers have calluses from the work they're put through. The strength of the hold is a strong one, but at the same time the strong hold is gentle, caring.

Zeus is holding my heart; I'm falling in love.

But as Zeus and I talk with my parents for the last few minutes until we have to leave, I wonder if he feels the same way about me, as I do for him. For his entire life, he knew he had a mate in his future. He's had years upon years to imagine a woman that would be perfect for him. Am I the mate he's always imagined?

I'm opinionated, hard-headed. I hate being wrong; I hate having to follow rules I don't agree with.

Maybe it's best to keep things locked up encase the worst could happen, I think.