A/N: Sorry for taking so long to upload a new chapter. Life got a little hectic these last days. I hope you enjoy. Remember to vote and comment!
The next two weeks passed by without Leila even registering its coming and going. Grayson and Riley left town for pack business the day before. Some rogues decided to attack nearby packs that they had alliances with, so it was customary for the Alpha and his Beta to join their fighters in defending their packs from rogue werewolves.
Sammi had been spending all of her free time with Riley before he left with Grayson, leaving Leila to have a lot of time to spend with herself. She got a chance to call her mom and dad to catch up on what was happening back home. Apparently her brother found a girlfriend that he was going to keep around for the long term. This came as a shock to Leila, whose brother was known as the town player. He couldn't keep a girl for longer than the amount of time it took her to climax. Her sister was still protesting authority and joined a flower power club at school. Leila laughed at the lives of her family members. She wondered how her parents managed to keep their wits about them with all of the stress their kids caused them.
Leila missed home and made a point to work out going to visit them as soon as she could get a break from work and after she could get even better understanding of how the werewolf world worked. Right now with the rogue attacks happening closer and more frequently, she couldn't take the risk of leaving and causing harm to her pack or her family.
As she straightened up the area she was working on in the mail room, Leila took a step back to admire her work. After three weeks of paper cuts and sweat, she had finally finished the mail room project the day before. It was truly impressive. Not only had she put them in alphabetical order, but she had also put them in chronological order dating back 4 years. There wasn't a single piece of mail on the floor. Each file had a printed label that had the addressee's name with a colored dot associating it with the year it came in. There was also a filing system set up so that the mail room never ended up back like it used to be. She hadn't had a chance to show anyone except Sammi who had popped her head throughout the project seeing its progress.
The person she really wanted to show wasn't there. He was out of town. Grayson had been the one to initially assign her the project, and he even had the faith in her to finish it. Of all the people that should see her accomplishment, he was definitely top of the list.
She hadn't been able to get him out of her head since he left her condo that night. The fact that they had almost kissed, and that she was the one would was about to go in for the kill completely boggled her mind. He had her under a spell whenever he was near. His scent alone could make her body feel things that she had never felt before.
At the same time, she was having negative feelings about the fact that he took a call from some girl that wanted a hookup in the middle of their...of their, whatever their thing was. That he was arrogant and demanding was another negative to consider. It frustrated her to try and figure it all out.
She decided to push thoughts of Grayson and their almost kiss to the back of her head. Tonight, she and Sammi were going to have dinner tonight to catch up on everything that was happening in their lives. It had been a while since they had dinner together. Sammi even spent her lunches with Riley in his office, doing God only knows what. It wasn't that Leila was upset, she was very happy with the happiness that Sammi found in Riley. But sometimes, she just missed her friend. They had spent most of their lives together and now one of them was growing in a different direction. A mated direction. It was a little saddening but Leila knew it was for the best, which is why she was happy for her friend.
She met Sammi at her car and they took off for the diner in town. Ever since they came to town, they had been meaning to eat there but they hadn't had an opportunity. On the drive to Bernie's, they talked and laughed about the newest gossip at their job. Scott from Legal was caught in a compromising position behind the water cooler with Debbie from Marketing.
Once they arrived, they both strained to contain their excitement. Sitting down at a booth by the wall they settled into the diner using the time they waited for the waitress to arrive to take in the decor.
The place was the epitome of a small town diner. The aged paint on the walls was a bit of a faded beige and blue. There was a bar by the cash register where you could eat and watch the food cook. It looked like you had stepped back into the 1950s. The air smelled of Leila's grandmother's home cooking. Smoked bacon filled her nose and the smell of cinnamon pancakes and waffles made her mouth salivate. There were pictures of famous people who had visited over the years. Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Lucille ball, and even some music celebrities that stopped by on their tours. More recent stars such as U2, Will Smith, and Tommy Lee had ordered a meal at the diner. Even a hotel heiress that shall go unnamed dropped in for a hangover cure.
There was an older red headed woman about mid 40s, with a 90s Rachel haircut, wearing a faded turquoise diner dress and a white apron. She was chewing on some gum as she came over to their table ready to take their orders. She spoke with a bit of a southern twang.
"Well hello there sugars, my name is Darci and I'll be your waitress. What can I get you young ladies to drink?" She pulled her notepad out of her apron and a pen that was tucked behind her ear.
Pointing at Leila she began. "You look like a Diet Coke and you look like an iced tea with...extra lemon?" She finished by pointing at Sammi with a warm smile. They both dropped their jaws nodding in shock at her ability to know their drink choices as she smiled and chuckled.
"Yeah I surprise all the newcomers with that trick." She winked at them and then continued. "I like to say it's a gift; I can almost always tell what a person is going to order." She bent forward over their table and lifted both of their jaws to close them.
"Now you girls are too pretty to have your faces hanging like that. I'll be right back with your drinks. And I'm thinking you want a little extra sugar, Sugar?" Sammi nodded. Darci took off back toward the kitchen for their drinks.
"Did that really just happen? Doesn't that shit only happen in the movies?" Sammi asks.
"Well stranger things have happened" Leila responded as she nodded slowly
"It's funny because she smells kinda human, but she doesn't smell like a were?" Sammi processed out loud.
"This is true, and I would love to discuss it more but do you know what you are gonna have yet? Because everything on this menu is making my mouth water, and I am so hungry!" Sammi laughed at her
"Not a clue. I haven't had a chance to really look at it. I mean pancakes or french toast? Bacon or sausage? Hash browns or country potatoes? How does one decide?! And don't even get me started on the eggs!" Leila laughed as she noted movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Well Sugar, I think I can help." Darci appeared with their drinks and placed them on the table. "I'm thinking you should get our secret recipe pancakes with maple flavored sausage and some cheesy scrambled eggs. And for you honey, I think you should go for the homemade french toast with applewood smoked bacon and a side of homestyle grits." Leila's mouth watered at the words that flowed from her mouth. She smiled at them. "I told you it was a gift." Sammi and Leila shared a look and handed over their our menus accepting what the waitress suggested for them. Darci disappeared again to place the orders. While they waited, Sammi told Leila about how life with Riley was going.
When their food arrived, she was still going on about him.
"He is so amazing Lei. Like so much better than Seamus. Ugh, I can't believe that asshole made me think that what we had was love." Sammi displayed a disgusted look before continuing. "He twisted my words to make me seem like the bad guy. He was manipulative and rude. I don't even know what I saw in him. And then he just fell off the face of the earth, only to show up 3 months later with some new girl and no apology. I can't believe I cried over that ass."
"Well, we all make mistakes. Some are just bigger than others." Leila smiled at her friend.
"Yeah. Getting dumped by Seamus was the best thing to happen to me. And I have Riley now. Who is everything Seamus wasn't and more. Oh my god Lei, he is so freaking big too! Like I'm talking 7 in--"
"Whoa, yo, whoa Sammi! As much as I enjoy getting the dirty details of your life with Riley now, I don't need every detail. Keep that shit in the bedroom!" Leila laughed. Sammi blushed.
It was great being with Sammi again. She knew that she really missed her best friend, but she didn't realize just how much. Sammi was home for her. As long as she had Sammi by her side, she could do anything. They were two peas in a pod, double trouble, Thing 1 and Thing 2. They just fit with one another.
"Lei! Are you even listening to me?" Sammi waved her hand in front of Leila eyes to regain her attention. Leila hadn't realized that she had let her thoughts wonder.
"Sorry. I was off in my own thoughts again." She turned slightly red at her mess up.
Sammi chuckled. "That's alright. Like I was saying, Grayson and Riley should be back by this weekend so Riley and I can be together for the shifting party at the pack house."
Leila clucked her tongue. "Shit. That's this weekend isn't it?"
"Yep! It's going to be awesome! Riley and I are going to officially announce our relationship."
"Yeah, because it's not obvious that anything is going on between the two of you when you come out of his office buttoning up your shirt and him zipping up his pants." Leila sarcastically retorted.
"That was one time! You and Hannah were the only ones to see anything. I told him it wasn't a good idea, but Leila, do you know how hard it is to resist him?"
"Clearly." Leila took a sip of her soda and then took a bit of her french toast.
"No seriously! Like sometimes, I have no control over my brain when I am with him. It's as if nothing else matters when we are together. He says that it's a part of finding your mate." Her face became serious. "Oh that reminds me. I need to talk to you about something."
"Ok. What's up?"
"So Riley and I...Well, we..." Sammi struggled to find her words. Leila let out an exasperated sigh.
"Sammi, just spit it out. You know you can tell me anything."
"Well, we...OK. I'm just going to rip it off like a band aid, OK?"
"At this rate, I will be mated with children by the time you tell me what's going on."
"I just don't want you to get upset." Leila rolled her eyes.
"I think that I'll be more upset if you keep stalling."
"OK, OK. Fine. But don't be upset. Promise?"
"Pinky."
"OK. Riley and I...are going to mate. This weekend. The whole announcement isn't just for the relationship. It's to announce our mating."
"Seriously? That's what you wanted to tell me? As if a 3 year old couldn't figure that out."
"Lei there's more."
"OK..." Leila was growing impatient.
"OK, so you know how Riley lives at the pack house? Well, that's like a customary thing. The Alpha and Beta live in the pack house. Really they should call it a mansion because 'house' does nothing to describe the freaking castle those guys live in. I mean what do they do with all of those spare bedrooms?! Surely they don't---"
"Sammi, you're rambling and getting off topic."
"Right, sorry. Once they find their mates, then they move them into the pack house as well. Riley and I are going to mate. That means I have to move into the pack house Lei."
Leila took a moment to let that sink in. Sammi had always been her roommate. She didn't know living without Sammi being there. They even went to summer camp together, sneakin into each others cabins at night. Sure lately Sammi had been spending a lot of nights with Riley, but at some point she would always come home. It was something Leila could always count on. Sammi would always come home. She never thought about how that could change.
"Oh."
"Yeah." Sammi looked at her friend with a new found sadness.
"How long until you move out?" Leila was trying to remain calm.
"Well he didn't say for sure but from what he has implied, pretty soon."
Leila knew it wouldn't be right to beg her friend to stay. They were adults. Living on their own without one another would eventually happen. Somehow they would make it work.
"Well he's your mate and he makes you happy. It would be wrong for me as your best friend and fellow werewolf to protest you doing this." She sighed." You wouldn't happen to know anyone looking for roommate? She smiled at her longtime friend.
Sammi's smile reached her ears. "If I wouldn't get eggs and syrup on my shirt, I would reach across this table and hug you!"
"Please, please refrain yourself from doing that!" She laughed. "I don't have any spare clothes with me."
"I love you Lei. You are the best! I swear I will help you find the best roommate but not one that is as good as me. I mean let's face it, who could ever replace me?"
"No one. But maybe we could find someone that doesn't leave their trail of trash everywhere!"
"You call it a trail of trash, I call it a 'Trail of Memories'" She joked.
Rolling her eyes, Leila appeased her friend. "Mhmm. Whatever. It's still trash."
"You love it."
"Love is such a strong word. It's more of an endearing irritation."
"Sounds like love to me."
"Well, you are in love so it makes sense that everything seems like love to you."
If you would just get over your pride and give into Grayson, everything might seem like love to you too."
"Whoa, yo, whoa. Who said anything about Grayson and me?"
"Oh silly Leila, it is so obvious you two have the hots for each other."
Leila felt a heat flush run up and down her neck. Could everyone really see how much she and Grayson wanted each other?
"Yeah. It's that obvious." Sammi smiled, letting it turn into a small chuckle. Leila threw a sugar packet at her.
"Hey! I only speak the truth. If you won't admit it, then I will. The two of you almost kissed. People that have no feelings for each other don't just share a meal and have an intimate moment like that with one another."
"You obviously haven't seen an episode of True Blood. Happens every time. And then they get nude and sex each other."
"True Blood is a TV show. I am talking about real life."
"I know. But that slice of avoidance pie just looked so good. I couldn't help myself."
"Well you might be surprised at how good a confrontation pie tastes." Sammi smirked at Leila.
"And that is why we are best friends."
"You know it."
The girls let the conversation die as they finished their food. To say the food was orgasmic would be an understatement. They found themselves moaning at the taste of the food. Each bite was better than the last. It tasted like everything they were expecting and more. The food cast a spell over their senses and filled their stomachs with a comforting feeling. Eating at Bernie's wasn't just a meal. It was an experience. They agreed to make lunch dates for the diner. Ignoring the pain their stomachs felt from the consuming the entirety of their plates, they ordered apple pie to go.
Leila looked at her friend as they walked to her car. She would miss living with Sammi. Their talks at night, the way they could read each others next move. Their lives were synchronized. All that was about to change. Change was always something that Leila was uncomfortable with but adapted very well to. Clearly becoming a werewolf showed that.
Leila decided then that if they could survive being turned into werewolves, they could survive living a town's width apart.