City of Blood

26

Callum and I have been at the beach for about a week and a half now. We canceled our trip to Mount Hood and decided to prolong our trip here since no one besides Helen knows where we are and we have some space to catch our breath and just focus on each other.

It's been almost a break from reality. Every day we wake up together, make breakfast or go to one of the local restaurants, and walk on the beach if it's not raining. It's peaceful and it just makes it more clear to me how much we're meant for each other.

Every silence is comfortable, every conversation is entertaining, and I'm so deeply in love with Callum. I can't believe the chaos back at home has forced me to miss out on this experience; it's infuriating and makes me wish I didn't have to go home, but we can't stay here forever. Just until the end of December and then we have to go home.

Helen came by to see us and check on us since we left so abruptly and we told her everything. She promised to keep it quiet for now since she's insistent that I need to be one to reveal what I know to Maurice and Charity. She's also been keeping tabs on Joseph and Dad, since Ramsay and Raina haven't been home since the big blow up.

Joseph is alive, but he's really injured and can't leave the house very easily right now.

I can't find it in me to feel that guilty.

Helen also dropped by to bring us more clothes and blood bags for Callum so we can get through the full three weeks without needing to buy clothes or try to source blood bags. The coast seems to be more shifter and werewolf oriented, so I'm not sure where Callum would get them anyway.

All Callum and I have to worry about is getting groceries and trying to take our minds off of everything. Sex has been a huge part of that, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. That being said, there's still the unease knowing that we'll have to face a lot of chaos when we go home.

Gods, I don't want to go back. If I didn't have the moral compass that I do, I'd try to convince Callum to move clear across the country and never return to Portland, but I feel like Maurice and Charity deserve to know.

I'm sure they'll want to get to know me and I'd like to have the illusion of a family that loves me, but it makes me sick to think about it. Even if they want to get to know me, I know that they'll never truly feel like my family because they didn't raise me and I'm not accustomed to pack life. The pack itself will probably see me as an outsider even if I'm biologically related.

"Look what I found!" Callum exclaims, walking through the front door to the house we rented.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "What the fuck is that?"

Callum is proudly holding a small, three foot Christmas tree, but it looks like they ran out of green ones because this one is pastel pink with silver tinsel on it. He looks super happy with himself, but I'm more confused with where he managed to find the tiny tree.

"It's a Christmas tree!" he says, setting it on the coffee table in the living room.

"Well, yeah... I'm a little confused by the color choice."

"We're, like, two days from Christmas, Lennox. I didn't have a lot of choices, and the pastel pink is cuter than the weird green-blue they had." Callum flips a switch on the tree and it lights up, and it does look pretty cute and whimsical. "Now we can put empty mac n' cheese and cookie boxes under it!"

I smile. "Sounds perfect," I say, touching the bristles of the tree and relishing in the generosity and thoughtfulness of my boyfriend. "I hope you know that this thing is coming with us and we're using it as our Christmas tree every year."

Callum gives me a thumbs up before he heads into the kitchen and turns on the kettle to make himself tea. I'm just glad they have a tea kettle here or else Callum would drag me to some kitchen supply store and debate for hours over the best kind of kettle. Curse him and his addiction to English Breakfast tea with his almond milk.