french vanilla and panic
I leaned into the old, but still oddly comfortable, cushion of my favourite booth that was located in the very back of the cafe. My hands gripped the edge of the table as though my life depended on it. And, I let out, yet again, another breath of anxious air.
My back was stinging, my hands were tingling, my legs wouldn't stop shaking, and whatever else came from that forsaken building—that dreadfully captivating man. I tried to pay little to no attention to the pain.
The addicting aroma of strong coffee had already filled the entire coffee shop since it had first opened early this morning. I continued to breathe in the deep, rich scent to calm myself down. Although it seemed like it wasn't helping a whole lot, I kept repeating the same litany—in and out, in and out.
My eyes scanned the busy area. I glanced over the various mismatched mugs that customers held between their hands, steam blowing into their face whenever they took a sip, and I recognized the different chairs that they each sat on. Nothing in the entire place was the same thing, even the couple of booths had their very own, individual fabric design.
Amanda is quirky, incredibly eccentric, even as a stereotypical unique person. I always claimed that the coffee shop was just a reflection of herself. And, I believed myself to be right.
I glued my eyes on the door, and my leg shook, up and down, as I waited in anticipation. I took another hooded glimpse, roughly the hundredth one in the past five minutes, up towards the bell hanging above it entrance. I longed for it to ring, longed for her. She would know exactly what to do to make me not feel so nervous, so inferior.
Sooner than expected, my self-proclaimed expert of a best friend came barrelling through the door with her hair the colour of coal pulled back into a tight, long ponytail. I watched as she sashayed over to our table, her hair swinging back and forth behind her. She knew more than me, about them, but that wasn't saying much.
"Hi, my sweetie," she greeted as soon as she was close enough to grab my face between her thin, long hands. I could feel the coldness of her ring-covered fingers as she began squeezing my cheeks together.
"This is very unprofessional, Viviana," I tried to say, but it came out as an messed up sentence of, 'dis is very unprofishonal, Vivana'.
"Alright, alright, alright-" Viviana sat down in front of me, shuffling into the seat before throwing her elbows over the table and resting her face in the palm of her hands, "-so, what made you change your mind about hanging out today? I mean, usually you don't want to see anyone on your birthday, but over the phone, you practically begged me to come see you. It was a nice surprise, don't get me wrong, but it was so unlike you."
"I know," I agreed with a groan, running my hands down my face, "but, I'm not here for my birthday. I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Questions about what?" She asked with a pucker. In mere seconds, she no longer looked confused as her face suddenly lit up with a familiar glow. Her electric blue eyes brightened with realization. Just when I thought she magically understood my predicament, she stuffed her hand under her shirt, not caring that she was in public, and she pulled out three pieces of hard candy. "Oh-" she shoved the candy across the table and aimed it in my direction, "-this is for you!"
"Candy from your boob?" I questioned, raising my dark eyebrow. "This isn't my birthday present, is it?"
"Hey, be grateful," she laughed through an airy breath. Her eyes widened playfully, and she leaned across the table with a finger pointed down at the candy, "I finally got my nonna to buy something other than just butterscotch."
"Oh, so, you stole candy from your nan's candy jar?" I giggled while grabbing the tiny pieces of cherry and green apple flavoured hard candy, thankful that she got two of green apple instead of just one. "And, butterscotch is such a classic. She doesn't need to change."
"I know, I know." Viviana waved her hand around before she placed her chin on top of the table, closing her eyes. "But, it's that chewy kind and it sticks to my teeth so bad."
"The price you pay for joy," I joked, poking the side of her face. She wiggled her nose in response. I then started to lift up her head from off the table, noticing a splotch of red forming, but she continued to pout at me with her wide lips. She didn't know what I was about to tell her next, "Viv, let's talk now. I seriously need to talk to you about something."
She sat up straight in her seat, her shirt falling loosely over her shoulder to reveal a pinkish mating mark. The nearly white scar jumped out at me like a enigmatic omen, and the more I stared at the healed bite, the more antsy I felt. It had always haunted me, acting as a reminder that I couldn't avoid them in this town, nor this life. She removed me from my intrusive thoughts like a shot, "Go ahead, babe."
"Okay," I started, gulping down my fear before I looked away from her and towards the table instead. Just like ripping off an old, ragged, sticky band-aid. "It's about, uh, werewolves."
She smiled widely, showing off the work of her prior braces. Throwing her long arms back over the top piece of the booth, she said with confidence, "Well, you've come to the right place to begin. What is it that you need to know, young grasshopper?"
"It's-" I lowered my head quickly, looking around the room before I continued through whispers in an attempt to avoid the wary, "-about mates."
She quirked up a curious eyebrow. "You want to know about mates? Like, human and werewolf mating, or?"
"Yes. I need to know about that," I answered nervously. "So, how does that work exactly?"
"I like to think of myself as a professional on this particular subject," she said nonchalantly and started making a face that I could only describe as a smug looking grandmother. It was true that she had just gone through the process herself, but she was raised by sheltered parents, which was a similar situation to mine. The only difference is that she was actively trying to learn. "Anyways, it's literally the same thing as just regular mates. They have the same sparks, the same connection, the same treatment—everything. But, of course, there is this tiny thing about werewolves needing their mate more and humans just not feeling it right away. They're just really protective, to be honest, but I
think that it adds to the charm."
She leaned in closer and put a hand on the side of her mouth, before whispering, "Mine is like a cling on for half of the time."
I let it all sink in, though a deep feeling in my gut told me that there was so much more to it than she was telling. My nerves slowly began to go back to normal, especially as she joked around with me. I spoke, "Okay, so if a werewolf happens to find their human mate, will they go after them? Is there a process? Just, please, say there isn't a time-limit."
"Obviously a mate would go after them-" she looked around the room, "-but, I guess, depending on their rank it will be different. And, then there's perfect timing, stuff like that." She finally stopped looking around to focus back on me, tsking as she asked, "What, did you snag yourself a werewolf mate?"
"Shut up!" I whisper-yelled once a complete grin broke out on her face, one that was very contagious. My lips pulled up into a smile as the sight of her reddened cheeks. Lowering my voice, I admitted, "I'm still not quite sure if I'm even mated to him."
"Alright, no worries, I'll play your little game." She examined my reaction closely. "Right, so, let's discuss rank. Now, a regular pack member will probably want to go through the whole accepting thing first, so you have like a week. They would have to manage to get you into the pack, but it's not that hard. Everyone has a soft spot for mates. And, it's not like you're a rogue or anything."
"Higher," I said, cutting her off as I grew impatient. I made a raising hand movement to emphasize my point.
"Ah, okay. That would be a fighter of sorts, I do believe." She winked. "A warrior will need barely any time to get things going, so a definite three to four days, maybe. They're practically trained to deal with strangers."
"Higher," I continued. My leg started to violently shake again as I waited for her to realize.
"Above that is a Gamma. All he has to do is tell his Alpha about you and you're already in, so I'd give you a day on that one." She slowly clapped her hands, and added, "You little minx."
"Higher," I continued, again, rolling my eyes and ignoring her last comment.
"A Beta? Girl, you are getting it! Get packed and ready to go because he's probably looking for you right now, searching these streets for his woman." She leaned up and started looking out the window that was behind me, "Don't you worry, I am on the lookout."
"Higher," I continued, one again, but now looking down at the table.
"Oh, my Goddess!" I glanced up to see her looking proud as she watched me squirm in my seat, her lips moving fast as she went on and on, "An Alpha, Emery! Is he waiting outside? Who is he? Who could it be? Emery, give me details, for Goddess' sake!" Her eyes went wild as she gobbled up all this fresh information. She was practically screaming of pure excitement.
"Viviana, higher."
"What can be higher? Alpha is at the top of the ranks, babe, that's how far it goes-" she looked at me, her smile faltering, "-well, then technically it would be the Moon Goddess' son, but nobody even knows if he can have a mate, and-and he's kind of sleeping at the moment. You don't mean him, do you? He's rumoured to be the next, the next-Emery, you're not talking about him, are you?"
We looked at each other, communicating through shocked wide eyes and shrugging our shoulders repeatedly. Viviana's opinion could either go two ways. However, neither of us had any clue of what to do next, or where to even start.
A tray smacked right down on the table beside me, causing me to practically jump out of my seat. Once I realized that it was just Amanda placing a full tray down on our table, I calmed a bit and glanced back at Viviana who also looked pretty surprised.
"Hi, girls," Amanda greeted with a smile, completely oblivious of the tense aura surrounding us, and gently placed two mugs in front of us. It was one French vanilla and one black coffee. "I got you two both your regular orders."
"Th-Thank you," I told her and smiled gratefully at her, taking my hot French vanilla into my hands.
"Yes, thanks, Manda," Viviana smiled and started tracing the doodle style patterns on the mug.
As Amanda was leaving, she called out behind her, "Oh, and happy birthday, Emery!"
I eased back into my seat as Viviana started talking, "How did this even happen?"
"I honestly don't know." I shrugged. "One second I'm visiting Mom, and then the next, I'm making out with a man."
"What!" She shrieked instantly, then lowered her head to match my gaze. She tried to avoid the attention, an act that was so unlike her, after a few people looked over at the sound of her letting out a tiny, startled cry. Through a breath, she screamed, "You didn't tell me that you made out with him!"
"I thought that it would be weird if I lead the conversation with that!" I explained with my hands held out. "He's practically dead, isn't her?"
"Dead? Are you kidding me!" She leaned closer to me, nearly laying across the table to reach my shrunken form. The curious stares were growing frantically, and this was not a normal, common topic. And, with a much calmer tone, Viviana asked, "This is going to sound totally inappropriate, but was he, uh, zombie-like, or?"
"Okay, so, not really. He wasn't actively decaying, or anything like that." I shivered at the thought. He didn't seem dead at all, actually, he appeared to be more than alive. "And, besides, it was just a tiny little thing. I think I was just imagining it, you know. I must have just gotten freaked out and let my mind get the best of me."
"Oh, so what, it was just an experiment? A bout of daydreaming?" She raised her voice as she mocked, "I'm going to go and kiss this guy in a coffin, just for fun, duh."
"Give it up," I laughed and pushed her away, sending her back into her own seat. "I'm actually scared."
"Honey, I don't know what to tell you." She gave me this small, teasing smile. "You're the one out here kissing random dudes in coffins."
I groaned and threw my head back, praying to whoever above to take me out of my misery. "I don't know what to do, Viviana."
"Well, when did this happen?" She asked seriously.
"Like, thirty minutes ago?"
She stared at me blankly, "And, you what, just ran away?"
I couldn't help but giggle at her facial expression. "Yes, I did run away. And, to be truthful, I actually fell down at some point."
She leaned in again, wiggling her eyebrows. "Well, what was he like?"
I thought back to the exact moment I threw myself off of him. "He was kind of like, uh, demonic? Maybe? It was a typical, 'Mate, come back! I'll kill you if you leave me!' type deal."
She rested her face on her hand, looking up at me with a twitch of fear in her eyes. "Well, sweetie, this is going to be fun."
"In all honesty though-" I took a sip of my French vanilla, "-how long do you think it'll take until he comes for me?"
W O R D C O U N T : 2485
Super long for me, haha.
Also, 'nonna' means 'grandmother' in Italian for those who don't know!
I'm posting this now because I'm so excited about it.
Enjoy!