Hey guys!! I'm so sorry it took so long! Thanks for being patient though :) I hope you like it!! Enjoy.
-----------------------------------------------------------
ElAHEH
It was evening when I heard a soft knock on the door of my room.
"Come in," I called from atop my bed. I'd been reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and I had absolutely no idea how to feel about the book. It was equally cringeworthy and fascinating. I couldn't wrap my head around how he tried to justify his sickness.
The door opened and Alyssa popped her head in. Seeing her brought a smile to my face. She was bold and happy and it was impossible to be down around her. She was like a breath of fresh air.
"Elaheh! So I was wondering what you planned to wear tomorrow." She said and for a moment I was confused before I remembered Aleksy telling me that he would be introducing me to his pack.
I wish I could say that I wasn't lying when I told Aleksy I wasn't nervous at all but I was. If it was just any pack it might have been different. But this was my mate's pack. Everybody would be assessing me and comparing me to Aleksy. They'd all wonder if I was good enough to be his Luna.
Looking at Alyssa, I realised I didn't actually have anything I could wear. My dresses were loose. In fact, anything I actually owned was far too loose for me. Besides that, I hadn't brought any dresses.
I smiled sheepishly at her and she rolled her eyes.
"I thought so. That's why I brought this." Stepping into the room, she revealed a bag.
"It's one of mine." She said tossing the bag to me.
I caught it and peered inside. The beige material looked soft and glimmered when the light hit it.
I didn't want to take it out to see exactly how beautiful it was.
"It's not going to fit me," I said dropping it on the bed.
"Are you calling me fat?" She asked and I looked at her in shock.
"Wh-what? Of course not. You're perfect...I just meant-"
She cut me off with her bell-like laughter.
"I was only joking." She said still laughing and I chuckled nervously.
I picked up the bag that I had previously flung on the bed and reached in to pull out the dress. To say that it was beautiful would be an understatement.
My mouth hung open as the material sat in my fingers, so soft that I wanted to just bury my face in it.
"Try it on," Alyssa said and I looked up at her still wide-eyed. Quickly, I stripped and slipped into the dress.
I was a little taller than Alyssa so the dress would have been shorter on me but because it was so loose now, it just hung around my frame awkwardly. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming in frustration. I ripped away the beauty of the dress. It looked almost abused hanging on me. I turned away from the mirror. Looking at myself at the moment was more unbearable than usual.
I was about to slip it off when Alyssa walked up to me, scrunching the dress up around my sides to make it stick to me the way it was supposed to.
"Well, we'll need to make some alterations of course. I'll tighten it for you let me just take your measurements. "
With that, she walked out of the room with a slight bounce in her step that I never noticed she had before. I just stood there awkwardly waiting for her to return, not knowing what to do with myself and unwilling to look into the mirror again.
How could she possibly make this better? I looked like a skeleton trying on a dress.
Fine. Maybe I was exaggerating a little bit. I had put on some weight in two weeks but I was still too thin. It was almost obscene the way my bones jutted out through my skin. I used to have the perfect body and I knew it. Hell, I had worked my ass off for it. My arms and stomach were toned, and my legs were shapely with just the right amount of muscle. My legs were long. Not model long but they were good. I was strong and fit. I worked for it so I wasn't afraid to admit that I was happy with the results.
Now I had to start from scratch to build myself back up and by God, I would succeed. I would be the Luna that this pack needed...if I was going to stay here and I would be the Luna that Aleksy deserved to have by his side...if he wanted me. This whole needing-to-be-protected thing was temporary. Soon I'd be just as capable of protecting my mate as he was of protecting me.
I was still standing there reflecting upon my life when Alyssa came back in, her eyes alight with excitement. She held a measuring tape in her hand.
"You're not planning to do this yourself are you?" I asked suspiciously.
"Of course I am." She said simply as she began taking my measurements.
"I'll have it done by tomorrow," she said just as she headed for the door.
"Oh and Elaheh? "
I looked at her questioningly.
"About Chad...he didn't mean to scare you or anything. I'm sorry about what happened."
The familiar feeling of guilt weighed on my shoulders again and I shook my head.
"No, I know. Of course, I do. I didn't mean to snap at him like that I just panicked. I'll apologise to him tomorrow. Especially about the way Aleksy treated him after." I said flinching at the memory of Aleksy yelling at Chad and the look of hurt on Chad's face.
She smiled at me gratefully and began towards the door once more when once more, I stopped her.
"Do you...wanna stay for some time? You know, talk...and stuff?" I asked awkwardly and she just regarded me with amusement.
And that friends, is how I spent most of my second night there. We spoke as though we'd been friends our whole lives. She told me about her parents who were from the Silver Oak pack, which wasn't around here. Her father was a pack doctor and her mother helped him out. Growing up, her mother had sewn all their clothes which was where she learnt it from.
I had heard of the Silver Oak Pack. Years back, they had been obliterated by an enemy pack. I had thought there were no survivors. I didn't bring this up with her though.
There was none of the complications that Aleksy and I had what with both of us being unwilling to surrender our hearts to the other and the fact that I knew that there was something Aleksy was hiding. Maybe he wasn't hiding it, maybe he just didn't bother to bring it up but I'd noticed how reserved he was around everyone and how careful he was about his temper. It was like he barely lost control. It was only when it had something to do with me that he seemed to be unable to control himself. Not to mention that night when I was sure his eyes flashed silver.
I told her about my family and how my parents were killed in battle. I told her about Jackie and Logan. We spoke about Eric and Kaveh and Jenna. Alyssa said that she would love to meet Jenna and I promised her I'd introduce them. We skilfully skirted around the happenings of the previous two months and Alyssa ended up falling asleep in my room.
I didn't fall asleep as fast. I read for a bit and texted Jackie. She was training hard and her relationship or whatever she had going on with that stupid boy was better than ever apparently but I wasn't so willing to trust him.
Eventually, I sunk into a deep, dreamless slumber leaving the lights on.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I wish I could say I woke up to the warmth of the sun and the twittering of birds or something beautiful like that...it was somewhat the same thing except I felt like I was being blinded and it sounded more like those stupid birds were screeching. I hated it.
Grumpily, I rolled out of bed and sleepwalked to the bathroom. I turned the shower on and brushed my teeth while I waited for the water to get warm. I had slept in. Alyssa was gone and the scent of Bacon had been wafting up from downstairs.
Quickly I bathed and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Attempting to run a brush through my hair to try and do some damage control, I eventually abandoned the mission when my stomach growled in hunger.
The smell of Bacon was driving me nuts and now there was coffee too. I dashed downstairs to hear raised voices. It sounded like Alyssa and Chad. Both sounded pissed. I crept towards the dining room and peeped in. Aleksy was sitting at his seat serving himself Bacon and there were already two slices of toast on his plate and a cup of coffee by it. He looked annoyed.
"Baby you're supposed to tell me when you're not coming home!! Do you have any idea how worried I was? You wouldn't pick up your phone or answer your texts!!" Chad said gesturing like a madman but Alyssa's back faced him while she poured herself some coffee. Neither was sitting down.
"Honestly Chad. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself." She snapped banging the kettle down.
"Does it look like I give a shit?" Chad growled as he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. She looked shocked as she stared into his eyes which were burning with anger. "I don't ever want you to be in a situation where you have to protect yourself!"
Needless to say, my heart melted and by the look in Alyssa's eyes, she was putty in his hands too. She looked down, blushing slightly.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, her hand reaching up to grab the front of his shirt as she apologised.
I could tell he'd already forgiven her. He tilted her head up and crashed his lips to hers. The scene that had me going "Awww" just a few seconds back now made me want to throw up in my mouth.
Uncomfortable, I looked away from them only to find Aleksy staring at me. His grey eyes raked over my form and immediately I wished I'd put a little more effort into my appearance, especially considering he looked good enough to eat. His raven hair wasn't its usual neat self. It looked like he'd just woken up from sleep and I wanted to run my fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked. He had a bit of a shadow covering his bronze skin to show he hadn't shaved. He wore a black shirt that hugged his body beautifully, leaving nothing to the imagination. I was not complaining. He wore a pair of jeans that looked like they had been used since the stone age and they fit him far too well.
His eyes still drank me in. They ran down my body lazily leaving a trail of searing hot fire in their wake. I felt my cheeks go hot under his gaze and I was unable to look away from him. The need to move towards him, to be close to him, to touch him was so strong it was all I could do to stay rooted to my spot.
"You're up!" Alyssa said and I ripped my eyes away from him to her, thankful for the distraction.
I took my seat on Aleksy's right and proceeded to pile my plate with food.
"Yeah, I was seriously out for the count," I said smiling up at her. My gaze automatically moved to Chad. When his eyes met mine there was the familiar look of guilt in them.
"Good morning. " I said smiling.
He nodded stiffly before getting up.
"I have something to attend to, I'll have to see you guys later." He said moving for the door.
"Chad wait!" I said getting up. He stopped but didn't turn around.
"Look I'm sorry. I overreacted. I should never have blown up at you like that. You were just trying to help me. I feel horrible. " I said staring at his back.
He turned around slowly but he didn't look at me. He looked at Aleksy. From the side of my vision, I saw him nod.
He sighed before looking at me. " I should have been more sensitive. I'm sorry. You really have nothing to apologise for Elaheh."
I smiled at him. "Okay, we're both sorry. Can we stop walking on eggshells now?" I asked earning a smile from him.
He laughed and took a seat.
"So am I still training you?" He asked and I nodded.
"Great we'll go an hour after breakfast," he said and the familiar feeling of excitement bubbled up inside me.
"No can do," Alyssa said and all three of us stared at her.
"What?" She asked shrugging. "Elaheh needs to look beautiful today and that's not possible if she's going to be dragging herself around like a zombie-like yesterday. You can train tomorrow and that's final."
I was surprised when Aleksy didn't say anything. Obviously, he was used to her barking orders. He didn't seem to mind either and for some reason the thought made me smile.
Thinking about tonight had the insides of my stomach doing backflips. I had to look beautiful. I didn't think it was possible at the moment. I sighed as I shovelled food into my mouth. It was my only source of comfort considering the long day I had in front of me.
-----------------------------------------------------------