BLACK

Back home

The TV was blaring loudly as soon as I entered my home. Mom turned her glance towards the door, the same way she would whenever I would come home from school on her days off. There's a certain stiffness in her body, the way her neck snapped and her shoulder tensed.

I knew she's angry and probably been angry for a little while. Her sharp gaze pricked me like needles before diverting her attention to Jake. Her gaze sharpened at him and I knew I should have waited before letting him in.

"What's he doing here?" She hissed.

"He's with me, mom." I gave her a look that begged for civility.

"That boy is the reason why all of these is happening to you!"

Hardly, everything is happening to be because it was fate.

"Stop mom, Jake has nothing to do with it!"

I could feel Jake stiffening behind me, he probably wasn't anticipating this. And to be honest, I wasn't anticipating this either. I know mom had been irritated having to come and go to the community deeming it an inconvienience but she also understood it was for my safety.

"We should have never moved here." She said.

I could barely recall how many times we moved in the last few years. "Why not? This place had been more of a home to me than anywhere else." At that, I turned over my shoulder meeting Jake's eye contact.

Mother fumed at our closeness.

We walked deeper into the house. I noticed the kitchen is clean and so is the living room, mom had been busying herself cleaning. This is what she does when she's stressed, she cleans until there's nothing else left to clean and then move on to throwing away old things, knick knacks, clothes, small furniture and applicances that serves no purpose but take up space.

"They found another dead body, did you know that?" She began loudly, turning the volume to the TV down. "This is the second this month."

My chest caved, this was news to me as well. I turned to Jake for confirmation, everyone was too tired this morning to even talk about what happened last night, why they were sent on a hunt.

"There's always body being found, Mrs. Lopez." Jake replied. "There are bears and wild animals all over northern California."

Mom snorted. "I could tell a work of a monster from an animal."

"Stop!" I snarled at her. Calling Jake and his people a monster. She must have forgotten my dad is a werewolf and I am also one. "Calling Jake and his pack a monster is also calling me a monster!"

Her eyes lost its ferocity, mom caught herself and forced herself to calm down. "You wouldn't have been in this mess, Grace. I tried to raise you away from it. Your father was killed for being a werewolf, you are going to get killed being a werewolf."

My suspicion over my father's death became clear. I was told he'd been murdered when I was little but too young to comprehend what happened.

"Their rival pack attacked your dad and killed everyone who belongs in it." Her fury ignited again. "And for what? A chance to have control of a territory?"

My eyes dropped. I don't know why she's bringing all these up.

"You're upsetting your daughter, Mrs. Lopez." Jake, though upset, spoke to her gently. He put his arms around me.

"I just wanted her to be safe." Mom looked away, unable to watch Jake's show of affection. "I searched this place. I was sure no pack claimed this place."

"We have been a peaceful pack for a very long time." Continued Jake.

"Apparently or else I would have picked up on it."

"Mrs. Lopez." Jake stood in front of me, facing my mother bravely. "It's really important for Grace's safety to stay at the community."

Mom rages at this, she's so mad that she rose from the sofa, her chest rising furiously. "No! I have had about enough of your kind telling me what I could and could not do with my own daughter!"

"But Mrs. Lopez. We just wanted to protect her."

"How? By making her shift?"

"She's a werewolf, she's bound to shift sooner or later, that's what she is."

"She wouldn't have if she hadn't met you."

Jake bit his lips, biting the anger and resentment coming up from his chest. His jaws tightened and I could see the way his fists clutched tightening on itself. "We are fated mate. We would have found our way to each other one way or another whether you like it or not."

Mom looked disheartened when she put her palms to her face and lowered herself back to the sofa. She didn't want to hear what Jake has to say, but that was the reality. Jake was right, we were bound by fate and there's nothing she could do about it. 

"She stays home from now on." Mom said muffled through her palms. "That's all I want. I don't care if you prowl around the yard day and night like a dog, she's not going back to that place."

Mom's mind was made up.

"Alpha Alfonso is not going to like this." Murmured Jake to me. 

*****

There was no other choice but to pack up my stuff and move back home. Lucas was kind enough to give us a ride back and and forth. 

We are all huddled in my temporary room at Lucas' house. Jake, Lucas, Caitlyn and Lou that the space felt too cramped and hard to move around. They accompanied us during this time trying to calm our nerves. Jake and I were both upset but this is what mom wanted. 

"Someone needs to be with Grace all the time." All eyes were on Jake but he already knew he has a responsibility to me, to protect me. "We'll help you out, Jake. We'll do shifts at night after school on top of the shifts we already have here."

It all sounded too exhausting. I don't know how everyone is going to manage.

"No, guys. It's okay. I'm a werewolf too, I could take care of myself." I said.

"No." Countered Caitlyn right away. "We are a pack, a werewolf should never be alone."

"I know but it's all too much."

Our small gathering was soon interrupted with Luna Ruth. She walked in on our conversation. She'd been informed by Lucas as soon as we arrived about the situation. Despite all our worries, Luna Ruth doesn't seemed to be too concerned with me moving back to my house.

She leaned on the frame of the door, her arms crossed to her chest. She wore a casual sleeveless shirt and shorts, her greying hair pulled back into a pony tail. She looked at me and the clothes I'm packing and sighed. "We'll send wolves to check on you from time to time."

I nodded at her. 

"We can't promise continuous surveillance but we'll try to keep you safe." 

There was some noises at the front door and based on the gait, it sounded like alpha Alfonso made it home. He soon entered the house, his large body and his large presence made itself known. He called for his luna. "Ruth where are you?"

Luna Ruth turned her chin over her shoulder and answered. "Me and the kids are over here."

Alpha Alfonso made his way over to us, and we all heed our attention to him. There's a certain stiffness in his muscled jaws, alpha Alfonso carried large eyebags beneath his eyes, he looked like he hasn't had any sleep at all. "Hi pups."