Julie woke up the next morning to a lot of yelling going on downstairs. She threw her legs over Sheila's bed and grabbed the clothes she had stashed from Dresden's room. She got into the shower and then changed, brushing her teeth and hair before leaving to see what all of the noise was about.
In the living room was most of her pack. All of the mothers, some of their daughters included, were working away in the kitchen. They entered the living room and dining room and then returned to the kitchen, carrying plates full of food back and forth. Part of the pack was sitting in the living room, laughing and joking with each other. In the back corner, another part was playing a game of poker on the ground. In the dining room, many more were eating and laughing loudly. Kids ran around the pack house, chasing each other and screaming playfully. In the backyard, a game of football was going on. It seemed Julie slept through breakfast.
"What's going on?" She asked Sheila who was licking her fingers clean after eating a plate of chicken wings. Sheila glanced up at her in surprise and smiled widely.
"Julie!" She greeted, giving the Alpha mate a hug. "We're having a before war party. Drinks and food all around!" The room erupted in cheers and howls, everyone laughing as one of them burped loudly.
"I don't understand," Julie stared at them in surprise. She remembered how they were at the party they had before when things were just getting tense. It was unorthodox then to have had a party. But now was most definitely not the time to have a party.
Kris appeared next to her, holding a plate of cold pasta, a burger and some chips. "Think of it as our time to appreciate what we have while we have it. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow so we're going to spend our time now being as happy as possible." Julie gave her a solemn, sad look and glanced around the room. They didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow. For all she knew, half her pack might end up injured or worse, dead. She knew exactly the kind of power an all Alpha pack had.
"Hey!" Leila appeared, elbowing her hard. "Don't go dying us off when we're right next to you!"
"Yeah, it's not cool." Sheila agreed, handing Julie a ketchup covered french fry. Julie gave her a smile, taking it and eating it.
"Besides, we're strong!" Leila howled, receiving another round of cheers and howls, screaming through the house. Julie laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. She admired her new pack and their ability to let go and enjoy the moment - even if tomorrow would be their last day. None of them seemed afriad. They weren't terrified. They were all smiles and laughs, enjoying themselves and each other. She wished she could be more like them.
"Julie," She looked over, hearing Dresden's voice louder than every other noise. He gave her a gently look from the kitchen and she bit her lip. Half of her wanted to edge closer to him and the other half was frozen, too scared to do anything but answer.
"Yes?"
"Your sister is here." He gestured to the backyard with a scowl on his face. "She wants to talk to you." Julie nodded, making her way around him. He grabbed her arm and her nerves went haywire. She felt hot all of a sudden, her palm sweating and she was relieved he didn't grab it instead. "We need to talk before tomorrow night."
She stared up at him, his brown eyes looking desperate. His voice was deep but urgent, surprising her. His posture was tense, she could see his muscles straining. His stressed look sent chills over her. His grip was firm on her arm but it wasn't painful. It was almost as if he was trying to hold on, trying to tell her something without words. She stared at him, her heart racing and her mind going blank. Fear started to edge forward and she wondered what he might have to say.
"Sure." He nodded with satisfaction and let her go, gesturing for her to continue. She left and then stopped before entering the living room, looking back. He was talking loudly with some of the other wolves, laughing and joking. His tense posture was gone. She sighed, shaking all of her thoughts away and then turned, nearly running into Phillip.
As soon as she saw her older brother, she brightened. All dreadful thoughts were vanquished from her mind as he smiled warmly at her. It was like old times all over again.
"Are you doing alright, Jul?" He greeted, kissing her cheek. She smiled at him, nodding her head.
"I'm doing well." He looked relieved and led her to the corner of the porch where she saw Rose in a chair, eating a bun of bread with sausage links and mayonnaise. Julie eyed Phillip.
"Don't ask." He laughed, winked and smirked all at once. She left him and joined her sister on the porch, looking out into the woods. The sun wasn't close to setting yet so it was still near the middle of the day. But it was cloudy out, making it look later than it was. Sitting like this and looking out into the scenery reminded her of the times Rose would take her to a hill, where they would watch the sun set, making wishes for the brand new day to Fenrir. It was a comfort to see that Rose still did it - with or without Julie being there.
"Hey," Rose greeted through a mouthful. Julie laughed and hugged her. "Want some?" She shivered at her sister's offering. The thought of sausage links and mayonnaise together striking her as odd.
"Yeah - no." She answered. "Remind me why you're eating that?" Rose scoffed.
"Um, because it's good?"
"Right, so why are you here instead of at Ollie's?" Rose shrugged, going back to her odd snack.
"Because you're here." Her lips smacked against her fingers, licking off excess mayonnaise. "Besides, we need to talk." Julie stared off into the distance blankly, her mind racing to think of something she did to annoy Rose. Rose only says 'we need to talk' when something serious was happening or if Julie did something she shouldn't have. Julie can't remember pissing her off recently. She didn't play a prank or do some dangerous stunt that endangered her.
Oops, she thought suddenly remembering how dangerous it was when she tried to stop the war from happening. She could only pray to Fenrir that her brothers did not mention that to Rose. Rose would murder her in her sleep.
"It's about Dresden." Rose spoke and Julie let out a sigh of relief. She will live another day without being hunted down by her sister. But what did she have to say about Dresden?
"What is it?" She asked cautiously, distracting herself by watching her pack play their game of football. It was teams of young versus old now and the twenty-thirty group was losing on purpose, holding back tremendously. Some of the younger ones knew it but a few of them really thought they had the upper hand in it.
"You know he cares about you," She started. "Don't even bullshit about him denying you because you aren't as strong as the usual you. He's your mate and you're his - so start acting like it before I do something you'll regret." Julie shivered. She knew Rose's plots to push her family often ended up embarrassing and messy - especially when it came to Julie. She had nightmares for weeks because of it once. She would give anything to have those nightmares again instead of the ones of Miranda now though.
But there was no way she was going to let Rose get involved. That would end way too horrible for her.
"But Rose-"
"I'm not done." Rose cut her off sternly, looking at her sharply. "I may hate the guy but he cares about you and he's been caring about you. If he didn't accept you, would he have gone through all that trouble? Uh, no. Would he make you stay in his room? Uh, no." Julie stared at her sister in bewilderment. She knew for sure that Dresden wouldn't tell her these things but she couldn't think of anyone else who had kept in touch with Rose.
"How did you know that?" Rose smirked.
"I keep in contact through your beta. I'm not going to leave you alone with someone I hate just because he's your Alpha." She explained. "Besides, you haven't been you. I need to keep tabs just to calm my own damn mind."
"So you seduced Jack," Julie sighed, shaking her head at her older sister.
"No, Jack seduced Jack. I just played along. Quit changing the subject." Rose argued, snapping at her sister. "You know thanks to Dreary, you've healed and you've gained part of your old self." Julie shrugged.
"It's Dresden."
"Julie, I know about your recklessness with Ollie and that guy's fight. You used to do stuff like that all of the time. You're gaining your wolf back." Rose stood up, heading back inside for another serving of her odd combination. But she stopped and looked back at Julie. "Miranda thought so too."
Julie froze, turning to meet her sister's eyes. She smiled back before disappearing inside, leaving Julie to think about what she just said.
There was no way Rose was talking about Miranda, the witch. Miranda hated wolves. She would have never reached out to her family and even if she did, Rose would have never let Miranda get near her. But then the witch was the only Miranda either of them knew. And the witch was the only one who knew Julie lost her wolf. So what did she say to Rose?
Rose couldn't have made a deal with her, could she? But Rose didn't look like she had been through pain. She didn't look like her wolf was going to disappear. Did she use something else as payment? Julie didn't know where to start. Rose would answer any of her questions. That was why she mentioned Miranda last. She was always so dramatic.
Her brothers definitely wouldn't know anything. They hated Miranda beyond the normal standards for hate towards an enemy. And knowing Phillip, he wouldn't have let Rose within miles of Miranda. So either Rose is just psyching her out - which was very cruel but very like her - or Rose had somehow met up with Miranda without Phillip suspecting anything.
Julie sighed, shuffling her hair with her hands frustratingly. The sky was mostly bright now, the cloud from before had disappeared. The warmth from the light warmed her skin just before a chilly wind blew. She rubbed her shoulders, dropping her head onto her lap. She knew her sister was getting a good kick out of this but she was feeling more frustrated than ever. What was Rose trying to do?
"Are you okay?" Julie jumped, seeing Jack leaning against the wall nonchalantly. "You look cold." He slipped out of his jacket slowly, wincing a little when his broken arm accidently hit the doorframe. He handed it to her and sighed. She stood, slipping in it. His warmth made goose bumps rise on her skin.
"Thanks," She smiled at him. "How are you doing? You look like you're healing pretty well."
"Yeah, well, I still have a little longer until my arm's good to go. But at this rate, it looks like I'll be accompanying you here at the house when things really turn fun." He answered grouchily, his face showing how much of a gloomy day it'll be for him. Julie smiled, patting his good arm.
"Next time," She comforted and he growled irritably. Julie suddenly had an epiphany. Miranda wanted her to go see her. She wanted to talk to Julie face to face. "Jack, can you do me a favor?"
"Depends on what it is, sweetheart." Jack looked at her skeptically, seeing the troublemaking brain of hers work. He had a bad feeling about it. "Are you going to do something dangerous?"
"Um," Julie hesitated. She wondered if Jack knew who Miranda was yet or if Dresden had kept that to himself. "Not physically dangerous but stupid enough to be so."
He stared at her, attempting to cross his arms over his chest. He failed miserably because of his broken and casted arm so he settled for standing straight, giving Julie a very stern look. "And what is it exactly?"
"I need a ride to a place a couple of hours away." She explained. "A ride there and back is all..."
"What are you planning? He leaned forward, staring hard at her. He tried to see if she would break to tell him the complete truth. "And why aren't you asking Dresden first?"
"I'm planning on meeting an old friend. Dresden would never support me on this and plus, we aren't exactly on speaking terms."
"And you think I'll support you?"
Julie didn't have an answer. She could only stare at him, right in his eyes and hope that someone he'll see her desperation and accept her favor. She could only hope that through this connection that she could convince him to let her do it. She attempted to look weak and cute - something she knew he had a weakness for with kids. If she couldn't get him to accept, she'd have to pull some tricky stunts to get herself there.
"Fine, I'll do it. I can see your brain twisting up ideas that push you do something incredibly stupid anyway. Let's go, Fenrir help me." Julie smiled, jumping up to hug him with happiness. He winced and she immediately apologized, helping him through the house. Luckily, they were able to get through and go out the front door without anyone noticing because of all of the noise and distractions.
"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" She whispered when they were at the front door.
"As long as Sheila doesn't catch us, yes." He pulled out his keys and led her to his black Camaro. She didn't want to know how he was able to afford such an expensive car and he gave her a look that said not to ask. He unlocked it and got in, turning on the engine immediately. Julie caught sight of Sheila running out of the house, looking very angry. She gulped, catching Jack's eyes. He cursed and quickly took off, driving passed her like a wild man. Julie grasped the seat beneath her in shock. She hadn't even put on her seatbelt yet.
"You okay?" He asked after they were a good distance away. "She's going to kill me when I get back."
"Yeah, fine." Julie mumbled, pulling on the seatbelt and buckling in. She relaxed afterwards as Jack adjusted his position.
"Where are we going?" Julie looked at him and then back at the road, sighing.
"Back home."
Author's Note:
Sorry I haven't posted as many chapters up today. I had to go to the campus this morning to deal with some tuition stuff for this next summer and fall semester. Then I was up and down, doing things for my family until my sister snatched me in the middle of this chapter to help her load some things into the car and go through other things for a yard sale she's having tomorrow morning. So if this chapter seems to flow differently towards the end, I was distracted. And I'm tired. Haha.
So I didn't get as much done as I would have liked but there's always tomorrow. :)
Thank you all for your follows, your votes and your comments. I really appreciate it and I just found out, this story has broken a thousand reads!!! :) So Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! <3
I hope you all will continue to support me and continue to enjoy this story!! Do not be fooled! Trouble will be coming up eventually! Hahaha. And you will all get to meet Miranda!!
Until the southern winds meet the north, Until the eastern winds meet the west,
I'll be here, writing another chapter come tomorrow. (so dramatic~)