The Warrior Princess

Chapter Two - The Goodbye

As I ate breakfast, I noticed Chaz was watching me a bit oddly. I glanced out of the corner of my eye every few minutes, but he never seemed to look away. Finally I asked him about it. He got kind of awkward about it.

"Oh, you noticed, huh? Guess I wasn't very subtle... I'm just kinda worried about you kiddo... You haven't been sleeping well... are you having the nightmares again? 'Cuz if you are, you should - "

"Could you at least use proper grammar?" I cut him off. It gets quite annoying sometimes talking to people who speak as if they just learned English. Call me crazy, but I'm a bit of a stickler for grammar. It grinds my gears, so to speak, when he talks like that. "And... yeah. I've been having the nightmares again. I have been all year. Since the night of my 17th birthday. Has it been that obvious? I thought I was doing pretty well, remaining neutral." I looked down at my plate and tried to run through the last year in my head, trying to remember if I had let it show.

"Nah, I just know my sister, and I can tell when you are upset. So, come on, tell me. What's got your knickers in such a twist?" I rolled my eyes and chuckled at his attempts to lighten the mood, and look back at my plate again. I just kinda stared at it for a while and stayed silent. "Is it about your coming of age in a couple weeks?"

"What? A couple weeks? Is it that close already?" I jumped up and ran to the calendar on the wall. Sure enough, it was April 10th, the day before the full moon before my birthday. 17 days before my birthday. I about fainted. I couldn't believe it was so close. How could I have missed the time flying by like that? I glanced back at Chaz, and noticed that he was staring at me, with a concerned look on his face. He slowly got up and hesitantly walked towards me.

"Are you okay?" He stopped a few feet from me and continues. "You're acting weird. Was it something I said? Is it the nightmares? You don't have to talk about them if you don't want to. Just... come back to the table and finish eating, okay?" He tentatively took my arm and walked me back to the table. I sat back down and frantically ran through my plan in my head for what felt like the fiftieth time. Now that I knew what the date was, it was even more imperative that I leave tonight. If I stayed any longer, I may not be able to make it out. I looked at Chaz and debated what I should do with him. What I should say to him. If he were to suspect anything was wrong, he may decide he needs to keep an eye on me. And when he "keeps an eye on me", it basically means keeping me within sight at all times. Which would mean, we'd be sleeping in the living room, and he'd be up all night watching me like a hawk. I sighed.

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired from the nightmares. I guess I'm just nervous. Only come of age once, right?" I chuckled nervously. He eyed me up and down for a minute and I could swear my heart was beating so loud he must have heard it. After what felt like forever, he nodded and agreed. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. He had bought it. I was in the clear.

"Just one thing" He got up and rinsed off his dishes and turned to face me. I tensed up, fearing the worst. "If you're tired and nervous, it's not a very good combination. I'm going out on patrol at ten tonight. I want you in bed by the time I leave. Deal?" I relaxed and agreed. That would give me the perfect opportunity to execute my plan. It was kind of funny, really. The way he was playing right into my hands like this. It was almost too good to be true. I finished eating and rinsed off my dishes as well. I told him to go relax, and that I would do the dishes today. He nodded and started heading towards the basement to do his morning lifting.

"Wait. There's... one more thing." He turned around and looked at me questioningly. I walked over to him and looked up at his face. He looked back at me, still with that confused look on his face. I hugged him tightly. "Thank you. For everything. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here to take care of me and take over the pack. You're a great brother. The best big brother any wolf could ask for. I love you."

He hugged me back, chuckling slightly. When he pulled away he said "I love you too sis. And it's no problem. Besides. Somebody's gotta keep your tail out of trouble." He laughed and went downstairs. I chuckled and rolled my eyes and turned back to the sink to do the dishes. He really was the best brother any wolf could ask for. I wiped away the tear that had started rolling down my cheek. And I did love him. I wiped away another, but by now it was pointless. It hurt to say goodbye. I just hope that he can forgive me...