The Lost Wolf

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alex skimmed her fingertips over the faces in the shaking picture.

Her mother, as carefree as she'd ever been, was laughing at the two girls caked with mud at her side. She could vividly remember the dare that made her fall into the muddy pond, and her sister's laugh that had Alex pulling her in with her.

Her father was somewhere in-between shaking his head in exasperation, and smiling proudly down at them. They would always call them childish for their little acts, considering their age, but she and her sister could always see the small smile that crept on their faces. The happiness.

She didn't know how she ended up with green eyes, both her parents had the warmest of brown. That extended to her sister, but Alex had taken after someone from their line. They would always tell her how beautiful they were, and her sister never stopped threatening to gauge them out so they could switch. She never told her how much more she envied hers. For the boring simplicity, as she called it, that always soothed her. Brightened her day.

It had always felt like a black line. Differentiating her from them, adding more to an already long list. She would have traded that deep green they seemed to love so much in a heartbeat if it meant being able to feel a little closer to them. In hindsight, those were juvenile troubles. Things she shouldn't even have been considering with hunters that close to their trail. But it seemed like she hadn't bothered with a lot of things back then.

She wouldn't make the same mistakes twice. She kept telling herself that, even though reality had proven it wrong time and time again.

Her finger caught on the jagged edge of the picture, a sloppily made cut that took away the face of one of the sisters — her face. It seemed ridiculous now, preposterous even; to see herself laughing with all of them so happily, carefree; like nothing was wrong with the world.

It took every ounce of her self-control to close that small box. It was all that was left of her, all that truly mattered. That, along with the ring she began swirling around her finger. An empty space had taken hold of her heart now, and as much as she tried to fill it, the wounds were too deep, too open — all the happiness just constantly drained out of her, leaving all but an empty shell behind. Gritting her teeth, Alex steeled her spine.

She barely registered the moving of her feet as she walked, straight to an old, splintered bench.

"Morning," she chirped, forcing a wide grin on her face. Val mirrored her, and for a second, it wasn't her smiling, it was her sister; happy and warm and alive. They looked so much alike... She shook her head. "Do we know today's schedule?"

"You mean besides Feinman?" Damian grumbled, and Erik chuckled, constantly tapping his fingers on the wood and moving his feet around from under him. It was a full moon; only a month until their first shift. They were jumpy; not that she'd blame them, a restless wolf in her head was not something she'd want to deal with either.

"I think he's taking us to the woods again," Sam hummed, tilting her head. "Wider space for you to bleed at, Moon." Ian showed the barest of grins and Alex smiled. He seemed a little better now — more content, somehow.

*****

Alex jumped over a small rock and grinned back at Samantha, who was grumbling and stretching her arms. Zack had started them off with a good ole run, no surprise there. "I thought you liked the training," she mocked, "gets rid of the itch, right?" Damian laughed from her side, mocking their fidgeting. As much as it helped to take the edge off, it always riled them up first. She remembered Erik talking about how it felt like his skin crawled. It wasn't something she ever wanted to experience either.

"Easy for you vampires to talk from up your high coffins." Her lip curled slightly, showing teeth. "Go suck someone else's blood for today, will you?"

They took the insult in stride; their bad mood wasn't anything new. It was entertaining actually. Val huffed her agreement from the front.