"That wasn't scary right?" Valentina waits for my answer with a smile on her face.
"No, I wasn't," I say smiling back. That was unnecessary panic, I panic a lot I notice.
"Did you think it was weird? Are we very different from normal people?" We both look at the open space.
''No not at all. You only talk about other things." I simply answer.
I have a question, the answer can be very logical or very complicated.
"How come Jason learned everything so quickly? Joshua and Justin have been wolves longer than he right?" We face each other before she answers.
"Yes, Joshua and Justin have been wolves longer than Jason has been. But just to be clear, you don't become a wolf at a certain age. It could be that Jason had been a wolf since his tenth while they turned for the first time at their sixteenth." She explains.
I nod, Jason had already said this.
"I think Jason turned the first time about two years again and the twins four years ago."
Wow, the twins have been wolved two years longer than Jason, but he is faster at changing than they are. It is nice to see that they are not the jealous types.
"But ok back to your question. Jason has done a lot of research. Since what happened to his mother, all his attention and time went to studying werewolves. We thought that was just a distraction. When you first change it is at full moon. You know in advance that it will happen just like we know with Mason now. Soon it will be full moon and then he will start changing. The nails come first, next time the ears. Usually, you completely change after a couple of full moons. Because Jason was already so well prepared, he changed completely the first time. He spent all day practicing in his room. I think he started with his nails. The first time he tried it would probably take him a lot off time. He just kept on practicing until he can do it as fast as he can now. This way, he has practiced everything step by step and is perfecting it. Since the last full moon, he tried not to change. That is very difficult because the moon gives them the power to change. The moon forces them to change, which is why the first changes only come at a full moon."
"Oh wow," Is all I have to say. I think back to the story about the upper alphas. Why was it so important for him to be able to do everything as quickly as possible? He is a perfectionist, I'm sure about that one.
"Would you like to be a werewolf?" I ask. She looks at me with frowned eyebrows.
"Uhm no, actually not." She remains silent for a moment and looks in front of her. "Well, sometimes,'' she admits. ''When they all start running in the forest, when they hear or see something that I can't, but the most annoying thing is talking, I talk to them less when they have changed."
''Why?'' I would be mean if they were to busy being wolves to talk to her.
''They all talk to each other in their heads," she says quickly.
Can they read each other's thoughts? Is mind link a real thing?
"They can share their thoughts with each other. If we were wolves and we would like to talk to each other, we could read each other's thoughts to know what we want to say.''
''So if Jason says something to Jake, they will all hear it?"
"No, only the person you're talking to can hear it. You can also only hear wolves that are in your pack. So it is usually quiet because they all talk to each other in their heads."
"Wow," So you can just talk with each other during a test. You can just say things to your friends that you usually can't say out loud because people are there.
I look at her and feel sorry for her.
"I get that you think it annoying, I would also think it is when I don't know what everyone is talking about."
"Yes, I usually get scared when they arrive. They don't speak and hardly make any sound. It surprised me that you were not shocked when they arrived." She says and looks surprised.
''Yeah but they were talking,'' I say. She looks confused then it hits me.
Wow, a Vini can "hear" and see everything magical creatures can. I could hear them when they were talking in their heads.
"I was confused over the fact that they where talking about me like I couldn't hear them," I say in surprise. Valentina looks at me confused, waiting for me to explain myself.
"They did not know that I would hear, because they spoke in their heads. I heard them when they spoke in their heads." Her mouth falls open.
"Are you sure?"
"When they ran around the forest I also heard whispers," I say and think back.
With a mischievous smile, she looks at me "This is going to be fun." I look at her in surprise but I already know what she means.
"No, I'm really not going to eavesdrop. I won't make a good first impression by doing that." I have to laugh.
"Oh, okay." She just says like a child who doesn't get what she wants.
"But it would be fun." She says laughing. I think back to what they said. Jason told them not to say anything to scare me. Is there anything I don't know about wolves that could scare me? Or does Jason just think I am such a person who gets scared very quickly?
"Why did Jason act so... distracted?" Maybe Valentina knows more.
"He's worried about the meeting between you and the family." She says as the smile disappeared from her face.
I know that not everyone agreed when they decided to ''trust'' me. I believe that the people I have met so far agreed.
"He wasn't like that before when we were sitting at the benches."
"Because we thought they would be gone. Aiden, Nathan, Justin, Joshua and their fathers would go to another pack. To the fiance of Aiden, to get everything ready for the wedding. They are getting married soon! "She seems very happy with the latter.
"Are they? That's so nice!" I really like weddings.
''I know right. So they went there to talk and arrange things, but apparently it didn't happen.''
She starts telling about Aiden and his fiancé.
"I think they have known each other for 5 years," she says. "Aiden started working in a garage 6 years ago. That garage belonged to her father. "
"Ohww"
"Yes, I really can't wait for the wedding. I'm going to be a bridesmaid! "She is shouting now with a high voice. But after a second she rolls her eyes "And of course his sister too."
She told me there is one other girl but that one tries to stay out of this family as much as possible.
"So cool your gonna be a bridesmaid!" I always want to be a bridesmaid myself.
She nods in agreement.
"Do you already know which dress you will wear?"
"No, we still have to discuss that. I think Jessica will come by soon. I have already looked at it myself. I have saved four cute dresses. I really can't choose between those. They were 32 first. I hope Jessica is clear on what she wants, if she wants a long dress, 2 will already fall off."
"Now I'm curious, do you have photos?"
"No, not with me, but I do have them on my tablet, we can go get it."
"Yeah sure," we both get up.
Wait do I want to go to her house? Will the other who I haven't met be there?
I grab my crutches that were still against the tree. We walk in the opposite direction as we came from. Deeper into the forest. Her parents will be there too. Maybe it was her parents who did not agree to trust me. I said yes too quickly. Do they all live in a large, packhouse? Or do they all live in other parts of the forest? I hope for the second option. If they all live in one house, it means that all their parents and all the wolves are now at the house and that I am going to meet them.
"I also watch videos to see what I can do with my hair," Valentina interrupts my thoughts.
I focus back on what she says.
"Your hair is naturally beautiful too. Maybe you can just leave your curls like that and then an updo." I usually ask Daniëlle my questions about hair, she really knows a lot about it.
She tells about hairdos she has sees so far. After about 10 minutes we arrive at her house. This was not what I expected. There are 5 large houses, but like huge, houses diagonally next to each other. Apparently they live in separate houses next to each other. There is a path in front of the houses that also runs into the forest. We walk towards the middle house which is a modern build like the other ones. Joshua and Justin are in front of the first house but the rest is on the porch of the 3rd house. Jason and Jake are standing there talking with someone who sits on the bench. I have no idea who it is. It must be Aiden or Nathan.
Jason lookup first when we approach the house. He sits on the other couch and when Jake sees us, he sits down next to the other person. The porch is quite large, in the corner is a lounge set with two benches an two chairs. The chairs are set so you can look over the field, and one beach so you sit with your back to the field and the other on de site.
We walk up the stairs to the porch, very awkward with my crutches. Exactly at that moment, a woman comes out of the door with a tray in her hands. There are about five glasses on it. She is around 5 foot 9 and has short blonde hair. I think she is around 40 years old had the same nose Valentina and Jake have. When she sees me she first looks surprised and then normal again.
"Hello, you must be Cira, nice to meet you. I'm Liz, Valentina's and Jake's mother." She says quickly. She looks at me with big, friendly eyes and then holds out her hand. I shake her hand.
"Hello ma'am, nice to meet you too," I say with a smile.
"Here" she shoves a glass in my hand. "Drink this, it's good for you." I look at the glass that is filled with thick green lumpy liquid. It doesn't look really tasty. She walks over to the boys and also gives them a glass.
"I'll make new ones," she says, and walks into the house. Valentina also walks in to get her tablet. I look again at the glass in my hand. I think it's a green smoothie you see in all those magazines nowadays. I bring the glass to my mouth to take a sip. It is very thick, lumpy. A sour taste spreads in my mouth. Oh god...this is gross. I try not to show it and swallow it quickly.
"Haha," I hear a burst of lout laughter form my right and see it's Jake.
"Yes, I really expected that face." He still laughs.
I smile back. I see the other boy also looking in my direction. The look on his face and just everything about him give me the chills. He looks me straight in the eyes, with a hard expression on his face. Like I'm his biggest enemy but he isn't going to attack me yet. He is older than the others and looks more intimidating than they do. Maybe because of the scars on his face and arms.
Jason sits on the other couch and also looks at me with a little uncomfortable smile.
"Come and sit down," Jake says and beckons me with his hand.
On one couch, Jake is sitting next to the other boy who is still staring at me. His eyes are light grey, cold like ice. His face looks like a face wich isn't able to smile. His jaw is clenched making it look like it will break any moment. I don't want to go near him but I have to.
I walk towards the bench Jason is sitting on. In the way the boy looks at me, I can see that he was the one who didn't agree to trust me.
"Hey, I'm Cira." I say and smile briefly not making eye contact. I sit on Jason's couch as far away as possible from them.
Jake and Jason are looking at both of us, they can feel the tension too. The boy still looks at me with the same expressionless on his face.
"Nathan," he finally says his voice is full of irritation.
I look at my glass again while everyone is quiet.
I take another sip of my drink. Omg, why did I take another sip?
"She shouldn't be here," Nathan hisses. It sounds so dull again so I think he said it in his head. I try not to look up. I look ahead and see from the corner of my eye that Nathan is still looking at me with the same expression. I don't wanna hear what they are gonna say.
"I know, but we and the whole pack have decided that we won't hurt her." I hear Jason calmly say. He keeps his eyes on Nathan.
"I haven't agreed with this from the start. This puts all of us at risk." Nathan anger dripping off his voice.
"Nathan please," Jason says warningly but also imploringly.
I see Jake looking at Nathan's hands. His nails are growing, shit.