Lily was quietly drawing on the page Alice had given her, letting her hand move randomly to create soft lines. Alice was grinding her pencils almost through to the carpet, but had her tongue sticking out in concentration. She had something in mind but was keeping it a surprise until the end. Whatever it was required a lot of colour because she was holding a stack of rainbow pencils in her other hand.
Jack held up a pencil, confused. "This looks the same as the pencil I was just using."
Alice was too focused on her drawing, so Lily explained. "That's different. You were using a HB pencil, that's a 4B one."
"Huh?"
"It's a bit thicker."
"Great, maybe my stick figures will look like stick figures." Jack mused and went to scribbling. Lily was only back to her drawing for a few seconds before she heard the witch sigh. "No, now he looks ill."
Alice looked up, covering her drawing with her hands and stared at Jack's drawing. She immediately burst into giggles.
"He's wonky!" The little alpha laughed, tucking her wild black curls behind her ears. "What's he holding?"
"A flower!" Jack frowned. "Right?"
"He... He..." Alice snorted. "He's holding a cooking thing! One of the ones w-with the loops!"
"A whisk?" Lily chuckled, putting her pencil down.
"Yes!" Alice's squeaky laugh bounced around them. "It's a whisk!"
Jack grinned. "That's not a whisk! It's a flower!"
"It's a whisk!"
Lily raised a finger. "It does look like a whisk Jack."
"Shut up the experts are talking," Jack smirked before digging into her pocket. Lily caught sight of a seed rolling between Jack's fingers as the witch looked at her drawing. "So you're telling me that my drawing..."
Alice gasped in awe as Jack's magic glowed around her hands, green light warming the room, and when Jack opened up her fingers a daisy lay in her palm. "...doesn't look like one of these?"
The wolf dropped all her pencils from her hands. Her bright brown eyes, her father's eyes, were wide as she stared at the flower Jack had sprouted. Jack blinked at her fascination and handed it to her.
Alice jumped as the daisy was held up to her to take. Gently, she slowly reached up and took the little flower from Jack's hand. Alice sat and stared at the daisy for a while and Lily smiled, wondering the last time she'd been given something so lovely.
"This is mine?" Alice asked in a small voice, turning her big eyes onto Jack, pleading.
Jack smiled. "Yeah, 'course, it's all yours."
Alice giggled. "It's a pretty whisk."
Lily laughed as Jack shrugged. "My drawing is pretty spot on, if I do say so myself."
"Except no one walks like that dude does." Lily pointed to the lopsided stick figure.
"Not yet!" Jack declared and they all laughed. Alice placed the daisy by her bed, next to the picture of her family. Lily hadn't met Roman, her and Andrew's father. He was a large man with deep, dark skin with a bright smile, the opposite of his wife's fairness and gentle upturned mouth. Both Alice and Andrew took after their father in hair and skin, but Alice had his kind brown eyes while Andrew had their mother's bright blue - it was something the girls at school swooned over when Andrew looked their way.
A knock on the door announced the brother in question. Andrew poked his head around the corner and smiled at them. "Hello ladies." He purred, looking at the drawings they'd done. Alice quickly slapped her hands over her picture. "What are you drawing Alice?"
"Nothing!"
"It's a surprise." Jack explained, and stood up off the pink carpet. "You finally ready for us to snoop through your library? We've been here for over an hour."
Andrew's bright eyes softened. "Yeah sorry about that, pack meetings always take longer than I want them to."
"You are the alpha aren't you? Can't you just leave?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"I am the Alpha," Andrew smirked, "but I still have my advisers."
Jack hummed to herself, wondering if he actually listened to them and took their advice or just let them talk. She turned back to Lily who was still sitting on the floor with Alice. "You coming to the library?"
Lily turned to Alice, smiling. "Thank you for letting us hang out in your room."
"It's okay. You two are allowed. Andrew and Ryan aren't."
"Why am I banned?" Andrew frowned but Alice ignored him, like usual.
"We'll let you finish your surprise drawing and come back before we go?" Lily said, standing up, brushing the pink fluff off her knees. Alice beamed and dove back into her drawing, holding all the pencils yet again.
Lily left her to it and followed Jack and Andrew into the library. When they'd shown up to go over the pack's books, Alice had answered the door with a beaming grin at the sight of Lily. She'd said Andrew was in a meeting, and Alice jumped up in excitement when Lily asked if they could hang out with her in the meantime. They learned very quickly that Jack couldn't draw to save her life.
Andrew pushed open the doors to the study and Lily breathed in the comforting smell of old leather. "Sorry about taking so long." He said as he walked over to lean on his desk. "What are you looking for?"
"Anything that references the woman in your grandfather's log." Lily said.
Andrew scoffed. "Good luck, I've scoured these logs since I was a kid, nothing sticks out."
Lily shrugged, ignoring the despair that clang in her stomach.. "It's still worth a look. The books here are far more extensive than the ones the school has."
"Of course - the ones in the school were donated by the pack." Andrew said, watching as Lily put her bag down and walked over to the nearest shelf. "The school doesn't have the logs, but they have any texts we have multiple copies of."
"Show off." Jack smirked.
Andrew met her stare. "Impressed yet?"
"Nope." Jack turned away without another glance, examining the shelves. "Where do you want to start Lily?"
"I can take this side, you and Andrew take the other?" Lily said. Jack blinked at her and huffed.
"Okay, come on Andrew, let's see how much you know about these books." Jack said, waving him over to the other side. Lily glimpsed Andrew's eyes lighting up in challenge, but his jaw was clenched at being ordered around. He was an alpha, the most dominant wolf, and he didn't like being demanded to do something.
He was in for a challenge if he thought Jack would roll over. Lily cocked her head to the side, making a note to herself. Jack vs. Andrew - Jack winning, within seven minutes.
Lily stroked the old spines, letting the pool of hope swell inside her heart. Maybe there was something here to help her, to tell her what she is. There could be anything in those pages, but she wished it was an answer to the adventure her life had become. All adventures had maps, keys or legends of some kind. Lily took a book of the shelf, hoping there was a legend about her.
She skimmed book after book. The sound of rolling pages echoed around the library. Between her light turning, Andrew's bored slamming and Jack's quick flaring of the books she stormed through, the library of the opposite of silent. Above the sounds of reading Lily heard Jack and Andrew flirting with one another - or Andrew's attempted flirting and Jack's playful put-downs. Lily wasn't sure how flirting worked but she was pretty sure Andrew was failing at it.
Time flew by quickly with everyone nose-deep in old alpha logs that they all jumped when Ryan walked in. Lily perked up but hesitated when Laura followed in behind.
"Hello?" He called, smiling when Lily emerged from behind a bookshelf. "Hi Lily."
"Hi." Lily cleared her throat to get rid of the squeak. "Hi Laura."
"Hey Lily." Laura flicked her fringe out of her eyes. "How are you going?"
Lily tucked her red hair behind her ears. "Good, thanks, and you?"
"Good, but stressed." Laura smiled, her eyes lighting up. "I'm the head of the formal committee and there's all these new updates which are annoying."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, the principal wants the formal in two weeks, not two months." Laura huffed.
Jack and Andrew rounded the bookshelves, only just overhearing the conversation. "Wait, what?!"
"I know right?" Laura sighed. "I can barely get myself sorted let alone a whole school prepared for a formal."
"I haven't even got a dress yet." Jack paused. "But Claire has an extra six so I'm sure I can borrow one of hers."
Laura raised a brow. "I might have to message her for one too - mine doesn't arrive until next month, which would have been on time if it weren't for school."
Ryan locked eyes with Andrew. "Yeah my dress doesn't arrive for a few weeks either." He joked, grinning at his friend.
Andrew mockingly flicked his hair. "I know mine too, and I don't know how I'm gonna have my hair! What shall I wear?"
"How about a sign that says 'idiot'?" Jack snapped, eyes gleaming.
Andrew glared at her, Ryan too, but Lily didn't hide the smile on her face. Laura was trying to suppress the grin threatening to crease her cheeks. Laura took the opportunity then to step forward.
"Speaking of idiots..." She started. "I'm sorry that I - and Renee and Tricia - didn't protect you on Tuesday. You should have been safe, we were meant to be your bodyguards but we failed."
"Completely failed." Jack said and crossed her arms.
Laura narrowed her eyes. "I've lived with the consequences since. I'm doing my best to be better and kinder. I'm interrupting your library time here for a few reasons - one of them is to apologise to you Lily, for practically handing you to the rogues. And to you Jack, for what Renee and Tricia said to you when you were looking for Lily. It was uncalled for."
Lily's chest was warm. She fiddled with her fingers, unable to look anyone quite in the eye. She tucked her hair behind her ears again and shyly looked up at Laura. "There's nothing to apologise for, I never blamed you for a second. It's all water under the bridge, you're forgiven regardless."
Laura let out a breath and looked to Jack, who still looked unimpressed. The witch's brow was raised at the apology, and twisted the rings on her fingers. Laura was unnerved looking at the glimmering jewels on the old bands. "As long as we're clear that you and the other two aren't her bodyguards anymore. Leave that to me."
Laura squinted at Jack. "You think you're powerful enough to protect her, to match three werewolves?"
Jack slowly smiled. The promise in that smirk sent shivers down all the werewolves' spines. "Absolutely."
She paused for a moment, before nodding and sticking out her hand. "I can agree to that."
Jack shook Laura's hand and all grudges were swept under the bridge. Forgiven yes, but she wouldn't forget that Laura put her friend in danger. Lily had forgiven and would forget, would want to move on and have no one bring it up again, but Jack would remember for her - she always remembered when her friends were hurt.
Ryan and Andrew were both leaning on his desk, watching the girls clear the air. Andrew whistled low between his teeth. "Damn I was expecting a chick fight to happen."
Jack laughed. "Lily would win in a heartbeat."
Lily grew flustered, especially at the admiring look in Ryan's gaze. "I...I don't know about that, I'd rather not."
Jack shared a grin with Laura. "I'm ready for a fight if you are?"
"Let's go." Laura grinned.
"Easy, we have work to do, remember?" Ryan said, staring between the two, knowing that while Laura was a trained fighter thanks to the pack's self-defence classes, Jack was the type to fight dirty if she could, so would ultimately win that fight.
Laura frowned as her phone vibrated in her pocket. "Yes we do." She muttered as she looked at the text she'd just received. "Oh Poppy's on her date! I'm happy for her."
"Poppy's on a date?" Andrew frowned, wondering who would date her. She was small and petite, and wasn't fiery like Jack was. He didn't know her very well because she barely spoke to him, she barely spoke to anyone.
"Yeah, her crush messaged her and asked her out to the local ice cream parlour when we were in the formal committee meeting - speaking of, what are you two wearing for the formal? I need to know in case someone's bought the same dress." Laura said, grabbing a notebook out of her bag.
"What?" Jack burst out.
"Your dress. What kind is it?"
"A whole one."
"Come on Jack," Andrew teased. "I have to know what dress you're wearing so I know what my tie is going to be."
Jack glared at him before turning back to Laura. "I don't know, probably green."
Laura levelled her gaze at her unspecific answer and turned to Lily, who'd grabbed another book from the shelf while they were talking. "What about you Lily?"
"I'm not going."
"What?" Ryan blurted, wide eyed. Jack, however, went a different route with her questioning.
"That's an option?!"
"I think just for me. I am suspended."
"Teach me. How do I get suspended in two weeks?"
Lily chuckled, but it stopped quickly when Ryan was still looking at her, quite shocked. "You're not going?"
"No I'm not."
"Why?"
"I don't want to?" Lily said nervously, looking into the book so she didn't have to look at anyone.
"Are you sure?" Laura butt in, glaring at Ryan briefly. "I can keep your name on the list just in case you change your mind?"
"No it's okay." Lily frowned over the title of the book. "I'm not going."
Laura and Ryan shared a look, the latter panicking slightly, but Laura put her notebook away. "Okay, that saves me stressing over another person, at least."
Jack was watching Lily warily. Lily could feel her stare as well as the awkward tension in the room. It was taut like a rope over a raging river, waiting to snap.
"What book did you find there Lily?" Jack broke the ice and Lily breathed a sigh of relief.
"Abnormal weather patterns in the wider area. The mountain range a few hours north has had bad winds for decades but there's been bad storms there especially for the past six years. And there's a town east of here that hasn't had a day below 16 degrees in almost twenty years. Not to mention, west in Marlin's Bay, they haven't had a long rain shower for just over five years."
Jack plopped herself down on a chair, her legs hanging over the arm rest. "That's what Mrs Khan said in Ag, about the storms up north."
Lily shut the book. "There was nothing else. There's nothing else in these books." She couldn't stop the sadness from leaking into her words.
Ryan stood up from the desk and made his way over to her, his head dipped a little so his dark blonde hair was hanging over his forehead. "Hey, there's got to be something here that will help, okay? You're more than welcome to come back and keep looking."
Lily smiled. "Thanks Ryan, it means a lot that you let me look around."
"It's a pleasure." Ryan grinned. Andrew raised his hand, about to say that it was in fact by his permission that they were allowed in his dad's library, but a fierce look from Jack stopped the words in his mouth.
Jack noticed the time though and knew she'd have to cut this short. "Lily, you said you wanted to be home by six? It's quarter-to now."
Lily blinked, startled by the hour. "Oh my aunt is going to kill me." She muttered and grabbed her bag from where she'd left it next to the chair, the same one Jack begrudgingly removed herself from.
"Remind me to get one of those chairs." Jack said to no one in particular, and draped her bag over one shoulder.
As Lily hauled her bag onto her back, she thanked them for letting her over. "Please let me know if there's anything else you find that may help?"
Andrew frowned. "We don't have your number."
"I have it." Ryan said, ignoring the pointed look Andrew was giving him. The look that said, then why haven't you called her and asked her out, you idiot.
"Okay, I'll see you guys..." Lily remembered she wouldn't see them at school anymore. "Around?"
Laura smiled. "See you two around."
They let themselves out, walking past Alice's room but the door was shut, with a haphazardly stuck sign on the front that said, 'No entry, especially Ryan and Andrew!'. So the two walked over to Jack's car, the witch frowning at the yellowing plant life around her.
"They need to water their plants." She said.
"You need to get a dress - you're going to the formal with Andrew." Lily teased.
"I am not!" Jack huffed. "He was just joking."
"He seemed pretty serious."
"No."
"He wants to light up your life, Jack."
"Shut up."
"Jacinta and Andrew, sitting in a tree..."
"If you finish that I'm throwing my bag at you."
"K-I-S-S-I-ah!" Lily squeaked as Jack hurled her bag at her face, ducking into her car just in time. Lily burst into laughter as Jack stomped around the car to pick up her bag, but the witch couldn't hide her smile.
Maybe, Jack thought, this formal wasn't such a bad idea after all.
~
A lot of you are picking up on the clues I've left in the previous chapters about Lily's creature, which is exciting! Some of you are along the right lines, but I'll give you a little hint.
You'll find out soon!
Libby x