Date: 3-14-17
Chapter 49: Only For Family
The next day, Adrian comes over to check on Ivie.
"Why are you here? Need me or my sister for some master plan again?" Ivie says cruelly.
"No, I just came to make sure you're okay. I know you've been having weird dreams." Adrian explains as he leans on his heels, standing right before the door frame.
"Right." Ivie rolls her eyes, not daring to believe that Adrian actually cares about anything.
Adrian curls his fingers into fists out of sight by his sides to keep down his anger. Adrian wonders if Ivie will ever trust him.
Then Adrian releases all the pent up tension by sighing and grinning at Ivie like she just made a funny joke.
"So, are you feeling okay?" Adrian asks when Ivie keeps glaring at him.
"Yes." She says while crossing her arms defensively.
Adrian knows Ivie doesn't trust him, but it still hurts that she thinks he would be lying about it. Then again, Adrian also knows that he's not the most trustworthy person.
Adrian is staring at Ivie, not realizing that she's starting to fidget nervously. Ivie shifts from her weight from foot to foot.
"I'm fine. You can go now." Ivie says harshly to break the silence.
Adrian blinks in surprise but masks it quickly. "Sure. See you later." Then Adrian turns to walk down the sidewalk.
Ivie feels a pang of guilt for turning Adrian away so rudely. But he's just a typical stuck up rich boy, right? At least, that's what Ivie tells herself as she shuts the door.
~*~
"That was a complete shutdown." Monique comments as she follows Adrian down the sidewalk.
Adrian was so focused on reviewing what he said to Ivie to see if he offended her that he didn't notice Monique was waiting for him.
"Yeah. Yeah." Adrian remarks a bit snottily.
"You do know why that happened, right?" Monique says, ignoring Adrian's remark.
Adrian smirks over at his sister before answering. "Because she thinks I'm an a-"
"If you were about to cuss, then stop right there." Monique says fiercely.
Adrian shrugs. "She thinks I'm like any other sterotypical guy, I guess."
"No, that happened because you shouldn't be trying to gain the affection of any girl. We don't need distractions." Monique scolds.
"Like how you've been ignoring Mason." Adrian teases Monique while he walks next to her leisurely.
"Or is that just because he's a stupid love struck teenage boy?" Adrian adds wittily.
Monique looks away in embarrassment. "I just don't have time for anything like that." Monique hates when people think she's another typical snotty girl.
"Uh, huh." Adrian mutters loudly enough for Monique to hear.
Adrian stumbles suddenly when Monique shoves him. "Bush club!" She yells and sure enough, Adrian falls into a bush.
"Seriously? Could you be any more childish?" Adrian snarls out as he picks himself up and brushes off the leaves attached to his clothes.
Monique shrugs and smiles brightly. "I could have stuck out my tongue too." Monique isn't ashamed of being childish. She hardly ever lets anyone see the childish part of herself because it's locked away deep inside.
Adrian growls but doesn't shove Monique back. They're both silent most of the way home.
But Monique finds herself questioning one of Adrian's decisions and can't help but ask him about it.
"Adrian. Why have you been lying to everyone?" Monique asks.
"About what?" Adrian plays innocent, even though he knows exactly what this is about.
"You know what." Monique gives Adrian a hard look. "This has been going on since we got here. I'm not sure I like going along with it."
"Then why have you?" Adrian demands to know, stopping on the sidewalk so Monique will face him while they talk.
"If you hate lying to them so much then why did you do it in the first place?" Adrian retorts.
"Because you always have a reason for what you do!" Monique raises her voice, but quickly lowers it again when she remembers this conversation shouldn't be heard by anyone besides her and Adrian.
"I just want to know why. Okay?" Monique adds softly, staring up at Adrian defiantly.
Adrian puts his hand on his forehead in frustration. Adrian drops his hand with a sigh. "I hadn't planned on it. Lucas and Mason suggested it so I went along. I've never actually lied to them."
"And neither have I. But they'll all find out eventually. So why can't you tell them now?" Monique argues her view of the situation.
"I'll lose whatever trust I've managed to gain with them. All of them. Lucas, Mason, Jerica, Lena, and Ivie. They'll all be even more suspicious if they know the truth. I'll tell them eventually." Adrian explains vaguely.
"I've only gone along for this long because you're my family. But that doesn't mean I'm going to keep it up. If it comes up again, I won't be lying for you. Even if I'm not technically lying." Monique warns.
"Ivie's my friend now and I can't do that to her." Monique adds seriously.
"Fine. That's fair enough." Adrian comments grudgingly.
~*~
That night Ivie tries to stay up by drinking coffee and listening to loud music with headphones on. The overwhelming sound of music somehow lulls Ivie to sleep. Ivie falls onto her bed and the headphones fall off as darkness consumes her.
~*~
Adrian shows up at Lucas and Mason's house around 9 pm that night with Monique.
For this hunt Monique is wearing black jeans with a pink top the exact color of the tips of her hair and her black leather jacket.
Monique has short, dark pink boots on that would look ridiculous on anyone else. But when Mason opens the door to let them in, he thinks she couldn't look more beautiful.
"Hey Monique." Mason says fondly. "Adrian." He adds a bit warily. Mason doesn't exactly not trust Adrian. Mason doesn't see anything wrong with Adrian, but he can tell that everyone else is suspicious of the Alpha.
This reminds Mason that the full moon is coming up soon and he's supposed to turn into a wolf, just like Adrian does.
Before Mason thinks about it he blurts out a question. "Does it hurt when you shift into a werewolf?"
Adrian sees this as popping out of nowhere since he didn't hear what Mason was thinking. It's not like werewolves can read minds.
"Um... Why do you ask?" Adrian says, wondering what made Mason ask that.
"I just remembered the full moon is coming up and I'm supposed to shift." Mason says quickly while shifting his gaze around. He's looking at everything but Adrian, kind of embarrassed for asking.
"I'm going to leave you guys alone. I have to go talk to Jerica." Monique says with an apologetic smile.
Mason moves to allow Monique to pass and head inside.
"Well, for first time shifters it will probably feel weird. Maybe even hurt a little." Adrian says with a shrug like it's not a big deal.
Mason understands that for Adrian it isn't a big deal since he's been shifting for years. But that answer still annoys Mason.
"So does it hurt when you shift now?" Mason asks, staring intently at Adrian.
"No. It doesn't hurt. It's natural for me." Adrian answers, returning Mason's stare.
Adrian can tell that Mason is annoyed and has been for days. He keeps getting left out of everything. Like last night he had to stay behind to watch after Jerica and Lena while everyone else went hunting.
Mason failed in that since Jerica and Lena snuck off, but still. Mason explained when everyone got back that he had searched for Jerica and Lena in the woods and found them when they were coming back.
"How many times do you have to shift for it to be natural?" Mason continues.
"I don't know. It's not like I catalogued or journaled my life!" Adrian says, obviously frustrated.
"Fine." Mason says, clenching his jaw to keep himself from saying something he might regret. "Let's go inside."
Adrian ignores the anger radiating from Mason and goes on in. Adrian doesn't have time for Mason's stupid questions or his anger issues.
Adrian leans against a wall in the living room to wait for everyone to arrive. But when Adrian hears voices in the kitchen he decides to listen in on them.
"Hey Lena? I was wondering... It's random but, are you still having that dream you told me about? The same one that Jerica was having?"
"Oh, no. That stopped a couple of days after it started. I haven't had that dream since then." Adrian hears Lena reply.
Adrian thinks to himself, "What dream is she talking about?"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Does anyone remember the dream? It was only mentioned once.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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