Lunch was ready, everything was in place, but the guest of honour was nowhere to be seen. Sarah started pacing again on the porch.
"Worrying won't make her come back earlier." Anna, always the wise one said.
"I just wish she had told me whos she was going to meet!" Sarah stated and sighed, "Who could she have met here? And when? She was a wolf for goodness' sake!"
Anna smiled gently but didn't answer to her friend's questions. Her answers and theories would make Sarah even more anxious. Anna knew what had happened on Christmas, everyone in the pack knew, but noone wanted to be the one to give Sarah the news. She had been through enough, no need to scratch those almost healed wounds.
Sarah turned once again to her friend and was ready to ask her what had brought that sceptic look on her face when Anna jumped up and ran off, on the same way that Lisa had taken this morning. Sarah turned and looked but could only be sure of Anna running towards a couple of people. Could it be that Lisa was finally returning? And if so, who was with her? A cold sweat ran down her spine as her mind revisited the memories of that morning's dream. 'Had Lisa met the black wolf last night? And if so, why would she bring him to their cabin?' She felt her knees weakening and sat on the chair a step behind her. She felt nauseus all of a sudden.
As they walked downhill Jake couldn't help but worry, what if it was his questioning that had brought the wolf so close to taking over? His wolf was relaxed, he felt almost human for the first time after the attack and he didn't want to let go of that feeling, not sooner than he had to. He kept glancing her way but her face was relaxed, as if nothing had happened. A second later he suspected why as a new scent reached his nostrils, a mixed scent of human and wolf. He raised his head and saw a girl running towards them. She was fast but not so fast that he wouldn't have seen her earlier so... 'You were too preocupied with what happened!' his wolf murmured without even stirring. That was so unlike his other half that Jake had to stop for a heartbeat.
"Lisa! We were almost worried!" the girl said smiling as she reached them, "I guess we needn't be. Hello, i am Anna, Lisa's friend!" she took a few deep breaths giving him her hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you Anna, I'm Jake." he said and shook her hand.while he had to stop himself from continuing with what his wolf wanted to say, 'I'm Lisa's mate!'
"Come on then, we have made lunch!" Anna stated and turned to run back to the cabin.
Lisa turned to him with a strained smile, "She's the 'nothing can go wrong' type, also her boyfriend is a wolf, he's my best friend in the pack." she said and he nodded not sue why she felt that she had to explain anything.
"Sarah is the quiet type. Don't take anything she says personally... she has, had some issues with another wolf. She doesn''t trust our kind... the males... too much." she finished and started walking again.
He was more intrigued than insulted when he introduced himself to Sarah, the distrust was rolling off her in waves. There was a touch of a scent on her, a marking gone terribly wrong. Where Anna's natural scent was interwined with her mate's creating a unique aroma, Sarah bore that other scent like a bad perfume that she washed off trying to erase it. He was curious but knew better than to ask anyone what happened. Not now, not yet.
"Nice to meet you too, Sarah. Lisa told me that you are the chef here. I hope we can share a few tips."he said trying to be civil and not to scare her. It didn't seem to work.
Sarah smiled at Lisa but couldn't make herself look at him. She knew that if he was the black wolf of her dream, her expression would show that she had seen him before. So she decided to remain calm by not speaking to him. It proved to be too hard though, he was too nice, up until he intorduced himself. 'Of all the names in the world!' she thought to herself, 'He had to be named like.... No! I will not think of him!' she ordered her self all the while keeping her arms crossed under her breasts.
"Don't hold your breath!" she muttered and looked at him for the first time. Well she had to admit, Lisa had really good taste when it came to boys... or men in his case! He was dark and tall, built like a boxer of the old days, enough muscle to show but not so much you wondered how the fabric didn't tear. He was the exact opposite of Jacob and maybe not only in his looks. The smile remained on his lips, like he hadn't heard her - she was sure he had! - and he was ignoring her, or most likely giving her enough space and time to get used to him.
'So, how did you meet her?" she asked him, Sarah wasn't used to being ignored, and she surely didn't need to get used to his presence, " Lisa was..." she didn't finish her sentence, his look made her swallow and lower her eyes subconciously.
"We both were in our wolf forms last night. I actually met her this morning in the forest, showed her the way back." he said and waited to make sure she understood what he meant before he downplayed his part in Lisa's return. Sarah's eyes became wet, she understood that if it wasn't for him Lisa could have stayed in the forest. He wanted her to think him as a good guy, not to make her feel guilty, "Though I believe she would be back soon enough. Not much prey in these parts, and Lisa isn't used to hunt for food." off course he didn't mention that he was the main reason for the lack of prey... He took a deep breath and sampled the air, the scent of guilt was fading and the fear he had scented earlier was less noticeable, it was definately time to change the course of the conversation...
"So, Lisa told me you had a wolf boyfriend..." he turned to the other girl, leaving the blond to think what he said. Anna, smiled nodding.
"Yes. We are together a little over a year." she responded and smiled encouragingly at him, "Don't worry about insulting me, it takes more than a few questions to do that! And, yes I know I have his scent. I asked him to mark me." she said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
At that point Lisa came out, she'd claimed to need to use the bathroom but he suspected it was more a case of wanting him to meet her friends. "And don't forget it's a form of protection!" she said smiling, was it his idea or was Lisa trying hard not to look at him at that moment?
"So, I have an idea, since it's such a beatiful day why don't we have lunch at the meadow we saw when we arrived yestrday?" Lisa proposed and everyone agreed. A few minutes later they had packed everything and were on the way to the small clearing next to the parking.
Lisa couldn't help but worry as they made their way to the clearing. Her other half, her wolf, was too quiet, not a good sign. Sure, she had ran the previous night but that was barely enough for her wolf's pent-up energy. She would need to run again, and she hated to admit it but she would feel better if she had some company... She glanced up at him, he was walking in front of them, leading the way. Lisa let out a breath and looked back down. Sarah made a sund fro beside her and she looked at her friend, "Is it too heavy? I could carry it!" she offered eventhough she knew Sarah could carry her load.
"Why did you?" Sarah asked and Lisa stared at her, she couldn't explain it now, jake could hear every word.
"It was only fair, Jake made breakfast..." she said while trying to make Sarah understand that this was not the time for explanations.
"I didn't mean to intrude, if you would prefer to eat on your own..." he said, he'd stopped a few steps in front of them and was ready to offer the basket he was carrying and go back.
Lisa felt her wolf stirring and knew she had to fix it, quickly, "No, I said lunch was on us. If Sarah or Anna don't want to be in our company... We will both go back to the camping and I'll cook something. I might not be as skilled, but I can assure you I can cook!" she was looking at Sarah as she spoke and saw her friend's shoulders falling as she finally gave up.
"Sorry." Sarah murmured, and they started walking again.
"What the heck is she thinking? How can she insult him like that? She doesn't even know him!' Lisa was thinking to her self as she was trying to understand why Sarah was so hostile against Jake. Sure the name might bring back bitter memories, but the reseblance ended there.
Anna started singing something that Lisa didn't recognise, but the lyrics were about unrequited love and how the person wouldn't or couldn't express the love she or he was feeling. Noone could accuse Anna of not knowing what was going on around her, somehow she always matched a song to the vibes on the atmosphere around her.
His ears caught the slight changes in their breath patterns, Anna, the happy one, had started singing softly. 'At least she can carry a tune!' he thought smiling to himself as a scent of worry and weariness reached his sensitive nostrils. He could separate the two scents and match them to Lisa and Sarah. He understood Lisa being worried, after all the memory of her wolf almost taking over was too fresh. But Sarah's weariness was a very different matter, he could understand her not trusting him, not liking him. But the hostility she showed him was a bit too much for someone she had just met. 'She worries too much' his wolf told him and usually his instincts were infallible. 'Worry about what? Me hurting her? No, that doesn't make sense, I hardly know her.' he played with that thought and almost stopped again when his wolf gave him the answer he was looking for, 'She's affraid I might hurt Lisa?' he just barely managed not to growl at the thought. He could never harm Lisa! Help her, protect her, be with her, but nor hurt her, never that! He would just have to find a way of making sure Sarah understood that....
Last night's dream was still in her thoughts, she was trying so hard not to let her feelings show but knew she was failing miserably. She tried to think outside the box where she had put everything that had even the slightest connection with the wolves. After all Lisa was one of them and she would, could, never really harm a fly. So why was she so worried about Lisa? Hadn't Anna already told her how Lisa had managed to defend herself in a challenge? How she had made him clean the floor... and she would have been victorious... if only he had played fair... So Lisa could defend herself against a male twice her age... But Sarah knew, that was not what worried her, it wasn't the physical hurt that had her terrified for her friend, it was the emotional harm that she couldn't protect herself from. Sarah was affraid of how Lisa would react if, when, Jake hurt or betrayed her emotionaly.
Those were the wounds that no one could see, only thr bearer of those wounds could really feel them, and Sarah, no matter how much she wished it, could do nothing to protect Lisa... Well maybe not nothing.... There was something she could do, she would talk to Lisa when they would return to their cabin. She would make her understand that you couldn't trust a male not to hurt you, even if they didn't mean to...
'That's it!' Sarah thought, and finally felt a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders.