Dark Side of the Moon (13 page)

London nodded.  “Artemis, go get the pelt.”

She gave Channing a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing down a hallway to the right of the living room.  I didn’t question about the pelt she was retrieving.  I was a little nervous about dedicating myself to this pack for practically the rest of my life.

Right after Artemis’ parents arrived, she came back carrying a black pelt.  London stood, and everyone became quiet once again.  He held his hand out to me, and I hesitantly accepted, standing with him.

The group parted, and formed a semicircle around us.  Channing stood to London’s right, Artemis to his left, and London had me standing in front of him.  “Kneel, Selina Scott,” he said, authority ringing in his voice.

Though I didn’t like his tone, I obeyed, sitting on both of my knees.

He carefully took the pelt from Artemis.  “This is the pelt of the first werewolf of Moonlight Falls that has been preserved for generations.  Do you swear to keep our secret, to keep us safe from outsiders whether they be human or wolf, and to follow the ways of the Fairbanks clan?”

My eyes widened.  How old was that thing?  It looked new.  Casting my wonder aside, I nodded, and told him, “Yes, I do.”

London slowly unraveled the pelt, and draped it over my shoulders, the head of it acting as a hood.  It felt heavy, and was a little bigger than me.

“Rise, Selina, as the newest member of the Fairbanks pack.”

As I stood, the rest of the pack behind me cheered and whistled before breaking out into harmonizing howls.  London had a small smile on his face, as well as Artemis and Channing.  I was one of them now, and hopefully, they wouldn’t expect too much of me.

London was careful in taking the pelt off of me.  As he handed it back to Artemis, he told the others.  “Alright, go ahead and go home.  We’ll celebrate later.”

No one objected as they made their way to the front door.  They all seemed happy with the exception of Ricky and her friend.  My only guess was that they were here because they were a part of a pack and no other reason.  London’s mom also didn’t look too happy, and didn’t glance at us as she exited the living room.

Artemis gave me a one armed hug then.  “Welcome to the pack, Selina.”

I gave her a little grin before she headed off to put the pelt away.

Channing completely shocked me by asking then, “So, when’s the mating ceremony?”

London thankfully took it in stride.  “We’re going to get to know each other first unlike you and Artemis.”

Channing rolled his eyes.  “Come on, man.  It wasn’t that bad.  Just a little awkward afterwards because we had already taken a big leap and didn’t know how to act toward one another.  Practically everyone does that.”

London just shrugged.

I’ll ask what Channing meant by that later.

After Artemis came back, she and Channing left, telling us good-bye.  Then, London turned to me.  “Ready to go back home?  Think that was enough time for us to study?”

I nodded.  I still needed to shower and I wanted to draw a little more before I went to bed.

When we were back in his car, I asked London, “What did Channing mean by a big leap and awkwardness?”

He took a deep breath.  “I had already told you that a mating ceremony is similar to that of a human wedding.  The ceremony is held in front of the whole pack, and then afterwards, they go have the honeymoon.  Usually, mates don’t wait very long after they find each other, and they don’t often times know much about each other until after the ceremony.  We’re kind of going about things differently from the rest of our society.”

“Will it look bad to the others that we’re not going with the norm for you?” I asked, genuinely concerned.  It wasn’t a good thing for leaders to be seen as weak in certain aspects.

“It’s fine, Selina.  If they don’t like it, they can get over it.  Besides, there are some mates who don’t immediately go through with the ceremony, so it’s not like what we’re doing is completely abnormal.”

That was a perfect transition for what happened with his mother.  “Does your mother have something against wolves that were turned?”

He sighed.  “My family has been werewolves for as long as we can remember.  That pelt was a distant relative on my mother’s side.  She just takes great pride in her heritage, and doesn’t really like the fact that my dad doesn’t want her to bite him and turn him into a werewolf.  You can’t help who you mate with, but they do argue sometimes, instigated by her for no good reason.  I don’t see eye to eye with him either, but it’s not because he’s not a wolf.  We just don’t agree on certain things.  But my mom thinks that those that are born wolves have more of an advantage than those turned, something about having wolfish instincts already ingrained in our brains.  I think it’s a load of shit because we all have to learn how to be a wolf.  She may or may not come around to you, but don’t let her attitude bother you too much, Selina.”

I nodded.  I kind of already didn’t like his mother, and she hardly said a few words to me.  But it wasn’t really my fault if I didn’t want to speak to a person who thought she was better than me for no reason whatsoever.

A moment later, we arrived at my house.  London shut the car off as I grabbed my backpack.  I guess he was going to walk me to the door.  I didn’t mind, and actually thought it was nice of him to make sure I safely arrived home.

I turned to face him before opening the door.  But I didn’t really know what to say to him. 
Thanks for letting me into your pack?
It seemed too strange to say out loud, let alone in my head.  But when I was about to just tell him good night, London leaned into me, and gently pressed his lips to mine.

It shocked me because I hadn’t seen it coming.  But his lips were surprisingly very soft, and he kept with a light pressure, not going for anything deeper or more urgent.  His arms did wrap around me, though, and I ended up dropping my backpack beside us.  My heart pounded in anticipation; it’s been a while since I last felt like this.  And…I kind of wanted more.

But just when I thought he was going to deepen the kiss, London pulled away from me.  His blue eyes were soft as he looked at me.  “I’ll see you in the morning, Selina.”

I was speechless, so I just nodded.

He held me for a moment longer before heading back to his car.  It took me a second to move to find my key so I could go into the house.  I opened the door right as I heard his car’s engine roar to life.

No one was in the living room.  After I closed the door, I somehow managed to call out, “I’m home,” to my parents.  They didn’t answer, so I headed to my room, almost in a daze.

After I dropped my bag off and stripped myself of my shoes and coat, I ventured to the bathroom to shower.  Then, I dressed in my pajamas, brushed and dried my hair, and crawled into bed instead of drawing.  There was no way I could concentrate on it now.

The last thought that ran though my head before drifting off to sleep was being London’s mate probably wasn’t as bad as I made it seem.  But I wasn’t going to rush over there to his bed.  I still knew little about him, even though I felt like that was going to change real soon.

Chapter 15

When I woke, my whole body ached.  My chest felt constricted.  It was a little heard to breathe.  What was going on?

Suffering through the pain, I got ready for the day, and waited for Dan in my car.  He didn’t say anything to me, which told me that I was doing a good job of masking my pain.  Was this what Artemis told me about?  Had I been away from London for too long?  How was I going to get through this every day?  And was he feeling this ache, too?

After we arrived at school, Dan and I went our separate ways.  I ventured to my locker to get the books I needed before going to English.  I had no idea where London was, but I knew that he’d come to English, if not to participate in class but to see me.

As soon as I sat in my seat, my body aches went away.  Did that mean that London was near me?  But I didn’t look around for him; I didn’t want to seem desperate or that I was expecting him.

Plus, I also thought about what happened when he left my house last night.  What had that been about?  Sure, I had liked it and wanted more, but…I still didn’t know much about him.

A moment later, I looked up when the chair beside me scraped against the floor.  London sat in the chair, and looked my way.  A small smile played on his lips.  “Morning, Selina.”

“M-Morning, London.”

“Sleep well?”

I nodded.

“Are you doing anything after school today?”

I shook my head, wondering why he was asking.

“You should come over after you drop your brother off.”

“Why?” I asked, and almost immediately regretted.  I said I wanted to get to know him, and this was obviously his attempt at doing that.

He shrugged my response off.  “I figured we could watch a movie or something.”

Well, at least he was trying.  “Okay.”

He gave me a smile right as Mrs. Riley called class to order.  Instead of working on my drawing, I took notes.  I kind of didn’t want London to know about it because I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure about how I felt about him.  That meant I couldn’t draw in my next two classes, either.

Needless to say, I was very bored in my classes not being able to draw.  Why did London have to sit next to me in every class?  Luckily, during study hall, I was able to work on my homework, giving me something to do.

After study hall, I went to my locker to switch out my books.  Then, I headed to the cafeteria, and waited in line to get my food.  I could still smell everything and everyone, but it didn’t bother me.  Was I able to turn my heightened senses off, or was I subconsciously ignoring it? Yet another question to ask someone.

As I approached the table Dan and Derrick were sitting, someone bumped into me.  Before I could say anything, I saw it was London.  Plus, he didn’t bump into me too hard, just enough to get my attention.

“You should sit with us today,” he said.

I gave him a confused look.  “Why?”

“You should get to know everyone else, too.”

Not knowing how to counter that, I just nodded, and followed him to his table.  I tried not to pay attention to the rest of the cafeteria as I did so.  They were whispering to each other, asking what I was doing with London.

As I approached the table, I heard Derrick ask, “Dude, what is she doing with him?”

“I don’t know, man.  I think she’s dating him or something.”

“And you didn’t tell me this?”

“I don’t know if she is or not, but just drop it.  She wasn’t interested in you anyways.”

I tried not to blush as we approached the table.  If I heard Derrick and Dan’s conversation, then I was sure everyone else in the pack did, too.  And though I had just seen them all last night, this was the first time I’ve interacted with any of them except London at school.  And I had no idea what any of them thought of me.

London approached the middle of the table, where an empty seat was waiting for him.  But before he sat down, he looked to his left, at the person sitting there.  “Move,” he told them, authority ringing through his voice.

The guy quickly moved, not questioning London or why he needed to move.  Everyone was silent as London took his seat.  I hesitantly took the now vacant seat beside him.  But everyone still remained silent.

It kind of made me uncomfortable.  Luckily, London told them, “Guys, just be normal.  People are already staring as it is.”

They all immediately broke into quiet chatter.  It was still so strange to see London ordering them around and them obeying without question or hesitation.  And when I looked at him to see his expression, I found that he was giving me a small smile.

“It seems like your pest is pissed that you didn’t sit with him.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my burger.  “He’s so annoying.  I don’t know why Dan hangs out with him.”

“I don’t think he likes him that much either.”

“Then why does he sit with him?”

London shrugged.  “You’ll have to ask him that, Selina.”

Though London had said that I should get to know the rest of the pack during lunch, we actually ended up not speaking to any of them.  Or each other, for that matter.  Though I had questions that probably any member of the pack could answer, I didn’t know how they would react to my questions, if they would laugh in my face or they would scoff at them, and I really didn’t want to find out.  I’ll just have to ask London or Artemis sometime.

Speaking of, I didn’t see her or Channing in the group.  So I asked London where they were.  He told me that they would sneak off on their own every now and then for some alone time, that they were around the pack all the time and wanted some time to themselves during the school day.

After lunch, London stood with me and walked with me to throw away my trash.  And he insisted on walking me to my next class.  His behavior was a little strange to me, but I think it was because we were still in the beginning of our…relationship I guess you could say.  I mean, he did ask me to be his girlfriend, and I didn’t really object or agree.  I wondered as we walked to my math class if he was waiting for me to give him a definite answer.

When we arrived at my class, London told me he’d see me later, and left with a smile.  I wanted to draw in this class, but I struggled with the new formulas we were learning.  So I had to take thorough notes instead.

Afterwards, I ventured to chemistry.  I arrived there before London, and sat in my normal seat beside his.  A moment later, he walked through the door, and took his seat.  But when Mr. Smed called class together, he told us we had a lab today.  As we went to our lab table, I asked London, “So, are you still going to make me do the whole lab by myself?”

He gave me a look.  “I have no idea what we’re doing, Selina.”

“Is it safe to assume that you haven’t paid attention in class this whole year?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

I rolled my eyes as I pulled out the supplies we’d need.

Throughout the class, I was surprised that London tried to help me.  Though he was the leader of his own pack, he took direction well from me.  Maybe it was because he said I was his mate, the other alpha of the pack.  Or maybe he was just trying to make me happy.  Either way, I was glad to not be doing everything by myself this time.

He also helped me clean up before class was over.  I had decided then that he was trying to make me happy rather than actually learning something in class.  But I was curious as to how he was going to make a living off of being an alpha for the rest of his life.  I doubt he was paid a salary for his position, but I wasn’t sure if I should ask him.  So I stayed silent as he walked me to my last class.  Again, he parted with a “see you later” and a smile, going to whatever his next class was.

When I took my seat, I sighed of relief and pulled out my sketch from the other day.  We weren’t doing anything in particular today, so the teacher didn’t mind that I was doing my own little project.  I wanted to get as much of it done as possible.

After I finished the last details of the bush, I moved on to the subjects of the drawing.  I was doing to spend most of my time on them.  First, I sketched the outlines with my pencil, making sure the proportions were correct.  Then, using my charcoal pencils, I thickened out the sketch lines, giving form to the subjects.

I had been inspired by the night I first transformed.  I had appreciated London coming to find me and staying with me until morning.  He didn’t have to, but I wasn’t sure if he had genuinely been worried about me or if it had been his instincts.  Or were they one in the same?  I’ll have to ask sometime.

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I continued drawing London in his wolf form.  Before I had fallen asleep that night, I had felt him rest his head on my side.  We were in the same position in my drawing.  At first, I had his eyes closed, as if he were asleep, too.  But then I drew the pupils and irises and eyelids with my pencil.  If he was supposed to be protective over me, then shouldn’t he be keeping a watchful eye to make sure nothing came too close to me?  I wondered then how long he had stayed up that night, if he had truly been keeping watch over me while I slept.

I wasn’t able to do more than that to the drawing because the bell rang.  I quickly packed up my things, and went to my locker.  As soon as I opened the door, someone leaned against the other lockers to my right.  London.

“Are you going to drive, or should I pick you up, Selina?” he asked.

“I think I’ll drive.  Any specific time I should be there?” I asked, switching out my books.

He shook his head.  “Just come over after you drop off your brother.”

“Okay.  See you then.”

Before London walked off, he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.  I tried to not blush, but I couldn’t keep my heart from fluttering.  Was this normal?  I’ve never felt like this so quick in a relationship.  Unless it was a mate thing.  I had so many questions I needed to ask.

Trying to remain calm, I headed out to the parking lot.  As soon as I was outside, I called my mom.  After she answered, I asked, “Can I go over to Artemis’ after I drop Dan off at home?  We’re going to look over each other’s study guides, and I promise to be home in time for dinner.”

Instead of immediately answering, she said, “I’m so glad you’re finally making friends here, Selina.  But are her parents going to be home?”

“Yeah, her mom is.”

“And do you really have to leave Dan home alone?”

I was not going to bring my brother to my practically boyfriend’s house.  Besides, they’d all knew I was lying.  “He’s almost sixteen, Mom.  He’s a big boy, and can take care of himself.  Besides, I don’t think he’d want to go with me to study with my friend and listen to us talk about girl stuff.”

She sighed.  “Alright, you made your point. I’ll be home soon enough anyways.  Have fun, Selina.”

“Thanks, Mom.”  I hung up right as I arrived at my car.  I quickly got in and turned the heat on for Dan.  The cold didn’t really bother me, was just a little annoying.  A moment later, Dan climbed in on the passenger side.  As I pulled out of my parking space, I told him, “I’m going over to Artemis’ after I drop you off.  Mom will be home soon, though.”

He just nodded.

It only took us a few minutes to arrive home.  But I didn’t leave until Dan was safely inside.  Butterflies flew around in my stomach as I drove to London’s.  Was this because we were mates?  I couldn’t tell if I was genuinely interested in him or if this was being forced upon me.  Sure, he watched over me after the wolf attacked me, visited me in the hospital, helped protect me from the second wolf attack, stayed with me instead of having me return to the pack, and is trying to get to know me, all of which I greatly appreciated.

I probably would have been interested in him if wolves weren’t involved.  Sure, he was very easy on the eyes, but that wasn’t everything.  He had seemed like an ass when we first met, and I had no idea if he would have changed had I not been attacked.  There were so many factors to look at with us.  Maybe I should just go with it?  After my questions are answered, that is.

I cast all of my thoughts aside when I pulled into London’s driveway.  When I arrived at the house, I saw his car parked off to the side.  So I parked beside it.  As I approached the stairs to the porch, the front door opened.

London held the door open for me, a smirk on his face.  I gave him a confused look, and asked, “Why are you smiling so smugly?”

“I ordered my mom out of the house and told everyone to only call if they needed something, to not come here.”

We were alone?  I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.  “You know I’m not—”

“I know, Selina.  I just don’t want any distractions.”

I guess that made sense.  After I removed my coat, London took it from me and hung it on one of three empty coat racks.  I suppose they were for when the others were here.  I had left my backpack in my car, but I kept my phone and keys in my pockets.

London then motioned for me to follow him, and lead me to the hallway beside the living room.  An archway and a stairwell were located there.  The archway led to a large dining room and kitchen combo.  London led me up the stairs.