Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Forty-One 🌑

I went to take her hands in mine and Kate watched us with some concern, mostly for Accalia, I could imagine. 

"Life is going to get better, Alia! I swear. I'm here, now. I'm not going anywhere," I told her brightly, as I managed to smile, though I felt myself shaking.

Accalia was shaking. 

I wanted to calm her nerves, more than anything.  

I was surprised by my ability to smile after hearing everything that Accalia had told me, but I was glad that I could. I wanted to lift her spirits, one way or another. 

This was what mattered the most to me, and that was why I was convinced wholeheartedly that Accalia was my soulmate. She was the most important thing to me, now. I wanted to make her happy. 

"Life can be fun and full of wonderful things, if you look for them," I said to her, with a sincerity in my voice that I only hoped she could trust in. "And you're so important to other people, too. You're my muse. Thanks to you, my art has increased tenfold," I told her. I meant every word. 

I turned to Kate, then, to see if she could back me up here. I found that her eyes were glossed with tears. 

"She's right, Accalia. You are so cared for," Kate said, with a friendly smile. "And sure, I might not have expected to have a wolf friend any time soon, but I'm adaptable. Besides, it doesn't matter whether you're a wolf or not- it doesn't change the main matter, here. You are Accalia, wolf or not, and so many people admire and want to be you, want to be friends with you, just for you being who you are. Trust me. Ophelia and I are here for you. Whatever you need, we've got your back."

I turned to meet Accalia's gaze and nodded in agreement.  

"We should just spend some time together tomorrow, we have a day off until we're expected back at school. It might help take your mind off everything," I said. It was the first idea that came into my head. 

"People always rely on me, whenever there's a crisis. For so long I didn't even know who I could rely on...but you've changed that for me. Both of you have. And yes, Ophelia, spending time together again tomorrow sounds great," she said and her voice cracked a little. 

I squeezed her hands to steady her. 

She had been there for me so many times- I wanted to be there for her. 

I then smoothed her hair down and moved forward to kiss her forehead- an act of reassurance. 

When I backed up a little, Accalia's eyes fluttered to look at me and she smiled. It was a more genuine expression, this time around. 

"Okay...the door was barged in and there's hair everywhere. What the hell happened?" a familiar voice spoke, and the three of us turned to find that we had been joined by Uma. 

As soon as she caught a glimpse of Kate, her eyes narrowed. 

"You didn't," she said, as she locked eyes with me. 

"Wait," Kate said then, "Someone want to fill me in?" 

"Uma's one of us," Accalia spoke up first, which took both Uma and I by surprise.  

Uma's eyes widened with what appeared to be more than mild irritation. 

"Accalia! God, I'm tired. I've taken a break from running for too long. Anyway, what actually happened? Did you get the bad guy?" she asked, with a slightly playful tone to her voice that told me that she wasn't actually that mad about Kate knowing. I supposed that she trusted her, too. "I'm not leaving until I get answers," she added, as she folded her arms in front of her chest. 

"Yeah, Ophelia scared them off," Accalia said, as she winked at me. 

I was about to argue with her, but she gave a small shake of her head. 

"Well, I never..." Uma started to say, but then stopped herself. She looked dumbfounded. "Anyway...you guys walked out and left me and I was heavily relying on you two to be there so my interactions with Fenn and his friends weren't entirely lame. Teenage boys scare me," she said. 

Accalia chuckled. 

"Well, you're certainly not alone in that," she said, as she offered Uma a pleasant smile. "Regardless, everything is going to be alright, now," she continued, with some optimism that warmed my heart. "They're gone...we just need to figure out how we're going to get rid of this virus." 

"There's a virus? Like a computer one?" Kate asked. 

Uma turned to her with a look of definite irritation. 

"No, like one that is completely killing off our kind," she said. 

"Uma, stop being so abrasive," Accalia told her. 

Uma sunk back towards the wall. 

"Whatever," she said, as she inspected her nails. 

"I've been reading up on it, and I might have some ideas for how we can stop it," Accalia said. 

Uma looked up then, with an expression of pleasant surprise. 

"I suppose we should have counted on the introverted nerd to come up with an idea to save the day," she said. 

"Uma," I spoke this time around, with a tone of warning behind my voice. 

Accalia reached out to gently hold my forearm in her hand. 

"It's okay, Ophelia. She says these things in jest," she informed me. 

I certainly hoped so, because Uma was sort of beginning to get on my nerves. I wasn't sure if she hated me or not, but it occasionally felt that way. 

I backed down from my annoyance and went to stand beside Kate, just to ensure that she was alright again. 

She seemed to be fine. 

"I'm the alpha female of the tribe, so I need to be the one to make these important decisions. Fenn and I will research the forests tomorrow and see if we can find any ingredients that we can research further, to see if they have any affect on the sickness," Accalia said decisively.