Forbidden Love

Chapter Three

Skylar

As soon as the sun is up, I lurch to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I needed to get out into the forest and find my bracelet.

"Where are you going?" Dad asks as I open the door.

"Just outside," I say vaguely. I know that if I told him that I may have lost my bracelet with my name on it, he would go ballistic.

"Okay. Make sure you come back by lunch, we have something to give you."

I nod, giving him a small smile. But, instead of that making me happy, it made me feel guilty.

How can I gain something by losing something?

I hear a crunch behind me, and I whirl around, only to find Muriel, Cairo's mom standing there.

"Hi, Mrs. Smith," I greet, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Muriel," she says, rolling her eyes.

She was a very funny, light-spirited, sarcastic woman. Despite our current situation, she was the one you would go to if you wanted to laugh and live a little.

"Sorry, Muriel. How are you? I heard you were sick," I say, looking on the ground for a certain purple bracelet.

"Oh, I'm fine, but now Harry wants to make sure that I'm not sick anymore," she replies, laughing softly.

I grin. Mr. Smith was just like my Dad. Over protective, usually serious, but a lighthearted man.

"That sucks," I say.

"Are you looking for something?" Muriel asks, cocking her head to the side.

"Uh, no . . . I was just looking at this worm," I say, bending to pick it up.

I show it to Muriel, putting it close to her face.

"Gross. Get that thing out of my face," she laughs, trying to slap my hand out of her face.

Sadly, her hand misses and hits the worm. It flies away and she sneers in disgust, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Have a nice day, Skylar. Maybe we'll come over for dinner."

I wave bye, and walk around a little, looking for the purple bracelet.

After a few minutes of searching, I find something that was not my bracelet.

"No," I whisper.

There were footprints that stopped a few inches behind a small circle..

The spot where my bracelet once lay.

I follow the trail of footprints with my eyes. They were followed by many others. It seems as though the person stopped once they saw my bracelet. I guess that's kind of good. If they had kept walking they would've found my house.

But that means that the pack here now knows that I'm alive.

And if they know I'm alive, they know I have family.

********

"You look pretty, Cairo," I compliment, staring at her dress. It fit her shape perfectly, but didn't show too much.  

It was a black and white striped dress her parents had gotten her for her birthday last month. She'd worn it that day, and now today.

"Thanks, you too."