Chapter Four: The Gift of the Lack of a Designated Driver
LUNA WILLOW
A couple days had passed and things were going pretty well. Since the incident with Kira and I and her being caught by Alpha Nicholas she had been stirring clear of me. Whenever I walked into a room, she walked out, and if there was something that needed to be done by me she ordered Caden to tell me. I had no problem with this, in fact, I liked this whole routine of us not talking directly.
Yesterday Caden had come to me to tell me that I had been assigned a training partner that I would train with. Instead of training on Saturdays with everyone else we would train on Tuesdays and Thursday for two hours.
I met her after work in the backyard. "Hi, I'm Vera, nice to meet you. The Alpha assigned me to work with you." She said overly excited.
I hadn't been around anyone this happy since my days back in Yellow Stone Pack and it sort of made me uncomfortable. She was a medium height slim Filipino girl with dark brown hair and big brown eyes.
"Willow, nice to meet you as well. And did you say the Alpha?"
"Yes, he takes training very serious." She said as she bent down to stretch her limbs.
"Oh, okay." I copied her movements.
I thought it was quite weird that he would personally assign me a trainer but I wasn't complaining it was better than training with Kira. "So." She clapped. "Where gonna start off with some running, in human form." I nodded.
Together we ran a couple of miles. During that time, I had gotten to know Vera. She was only nineteen but had worked as an accountant in the pack, she helped distribute and manage all of the packs funds. She was quirky and didn't seem to take life to serious which is something that I enjoyed about her. Unlike me, she had an easy going life, two parents that love each other and no tragic story behind it all. It helped me understand her overly happy attitude but it also made me a little bit jealous of her life.
"Hey, so tonight a bunch of us are meeting up for drinks. You should come." She offered.
"Um, I don't know." I took a swig of my water in an attempt to buy me time to stall. "I have work in the morning and my daughter has school."
"Come on, it will be so much fun and you can meet some people in the pack and even have a few drinks." She handed me a towel and I used it to wipe off my sweat.
"Sounds fun but I can't go anyways, I wouldn't have anyone to watch Riley."
"Oh okay. Maybe next time then." She said sadly.
"Yea, next time." I agreed.
We said our goodbyes and I retreated back upstairs to my room. I showered and changed into some black tights and a sweatshirt before making my way down the short path to the bus stop where the other parents were also waiting.
"Hey, Willow," Lesley said as she walked up to me. It turns out that Riley's new friend Sara was Lesley's daughter. This past week they've done a lot of playing together after school which Riley seem to enjoy a lot. I was pleased on how well this transition had been for her.
"Oh hey. How are you?" I greeted her.
"Great. How was training? I saw Vera had you out there running."
"It went fine, I'm a bit tired though and sore." I stretched to relieve some of the pain in my body.
My day had been long enough. From waking up and taking Riley to the bus stop, going to work and straight after that having to train before picking Riley up. I was beyond tired and couldn't wait to climb into bed and sleep.