BeccaI wake up hours later in the bed, tucked close to Jason, with my hands resting covered in the healing foam. He must’ve carried me to bed, as I’m still fully dressed. I look back at him, and his droopy eyes blink.“Hey,” he croaks.“Thanks.” I turn to my back, keeping my hands over the covers. His arm slips back from my waist, and I instantly regret the move.“Of course,” he replies with a slow smile.“You can sleep. I’m fine and can take over the watch.” I whisper, glancing from the ceiling back to him.“Are you sure?” Jason lifts his head, assessing me.“Yeah. You need to sleep, too. I’ll wake you so we can leave at sunrise.”He slowly nods and turns on his front, his hand under his pillow. Within a few minutes, his light snores tell me he is fast asleep. No surprise there. He didn’t sleep yesterday.No matter where I look, I can’t tell the time. I sigh, cursing myself. I should’ve asked Jason. And for my phone, too. The idea of getting out of bed flies out of my head as quickl
BeccaMy hands are half healed, but the raw, fresh skin is still too delicate to be used. It needs foaming and bandages for protection.‘If you don’t use it, I’ll heal it in a day,’ Bliss informs me happily.‘We need your strength for the run and the challenge. You can heal me after,’ I reply, and I am glad when she agrees.‘After,’ she says, and joy bubbles in my heart. We are here and ready to face the first challenge.I wear training gloves over the bandages to hide them, hoping they’ll only look at Jason’s hand.We are ready when Elaine gives up her watch and enters the packhouse, but we stand still and wait three more minutes before leaving the bungalow. We settle down to have a quick breakfast in front of the packhouse for the show. It’s better if they see us before we leave. We are up early because we slept through the night like humans. That is what we want them to believe. Lastly, we leave a note for Brock to let him know that we went hiking early and pretend we didn’t see on
JasonIt took us more than an hour to find a way to climb up behind the rocks. Once we got there, there was nothing to grab or hold on to. Despite our wolf vision, we couldn’t see anything but the moon-illuminated wolf craving. We climbed separately to search through everything, and finally, Becca located a tiny, rolled-up paper wedged between two rocks.If you’re looking for usMake sure to use your sensesFollow the direction of the MoonTo where the Goddess has her Temple“What do you think it means?” Becca looks up at me, her intelligent eyes narrowed in focus. Wrinkles appear under them, but not on the outer lines like smile wrinkles. Instead, they are in the middle around her nose, only showing up when she is focused or determined to fix or solve something. And for a moment, I stare at her, realizing how addicted I have become to reading her expressions.Each time her eyes twinkle with mischief, my heart rate plummets. Each time she talks about her family, they shine like diamon
Becca “I’m sorry, Baby,” Jason says again. “Do you have any idea how to get back to the track or the cliff?” I ask. My voice is breaking with a cry, bringing on the human girl mad at her boyfriend. I twirl, gesturing with my hands around us. “Ummm…” “It’s only trees everywhere. The same fucking trees,” I yell again and put in another wallowing cry. “I think that way,” Jason points in a seemingly random direction, but I know it would take us back to the parking lot. “Good,” and without another word, I continue that way, with Jason catching up to me and apologizing again on the way. We drink and eat on the way, stating loudly how hungry we are and how much better the picnic on the top was yesterday. I’m confident in our act, as we stop 30 minutes later to have the same ‘we are lost’ discussion accompanied by my next crying session. Jason plays his part well, cuddling me and acting convinced that he’ll get the right direction this time. We head for the track that takes us to the
Becca When Jason requested separate rooms at the Inn yesterday evening, I had difficulty covering the hurt on my face. Judging by the receptionist’s expression, I failed completely. At least my room for the night was warm and cozy, with hot water in the shower. It had everything a girl would need, right? Well, the only missing piece was a man to curl around me… And not just any man. Sleeping without Jason’s arm tucked at my waist left me tossing and turning all night. I swear the rhythm of his heartbeat has been engraved in my soul, and now I need it to stay sane. His scent still lingers on some of my clothes, although I refused to bring any of them into bed with me. As the morning sun peeks through the curtains, I stare at the ceiling, listening for any sounds coming from his room. He must still be sleeping. Without the worry lines on his forehead or the tension in his shoulders. Calm and relaxed. And probably naked. Is his morning excitement matching mine? A breathy sigh leaves m
Becca We can’t be the last ones. I repeat in my head as the stomping of my boots echoes through the long corridor. I run with excited steps alongside band posters on the walls with an occasional ramification or door. This stadium is like most others, so it’s easy to find my way around, even though this is my first time here with my sound crew and a band I met two months ago. I’m in a city I’ve never been to before, and I run towards someone I don’t know, who claims to have found my lost cardigan at a Diner. The few hundred meters from the mixing console where I work to the back door are decreasing at a steady pace. I know I didn’t leave any cardigan anywhere because I don’t own any. I only wear hoodies or leather jackets. The person who claims to have my cardigan knows it’s a lie. I know it’s a lie, but still, I’m running to meet him. Why? Because I haven’t met another werewolf since I was 13, and I certainly hope he is one. My bracelets jingle together as I quicken my steps, h
Becca I’m giddy with excitement all through rehearsal. I’ve met another werewolf. I can’t believe it. Every five minutes, my hand flies to my back pocket to take out my phone and text him, but I resist the temptation. I need to focus and finish with each band member as quickly as possible. Scott, the lead, has been a pain in my ass since day one. At first, he said I couldn’t be his sound engineer because men have better hearing, and he knows I will fuck up his tour. His manager convinced him to ‘give me one night so that I can prove myself’. Like I need to prove anything to anyone, I’ve been working on concerts for six years, and my reputation succeeds me. I have a team of the best technicians, and there has never been a complaint on any of the shows I did. Thanks to my werewolf hearing, I can detect any problem before anybody else hears it; I can easily balance all the speakers from my stage and distinguish each instrument regardless of the arena's size. I can choose which tour I
Becca The show is about to end, and I reach for my phone to text Jason Juice. I gotta stop calling him that. Why does he hate his name? I offered him tickets or even to get backstage, but he politely said he wasn’t into rock music and he was actually going to a club to see a DJ’s show. I pouted my lips at that, but we agreed to meet after I packed up things here. We had a great time chatting through dinner, and I got used to his cocky sway of talking, his shining earpiece and the way he checked his phone quite often. I get back to the hotel to drop off my work stuff and get my Eastpak springer to carry my phone, wallet, and key. I can easily swing it through my head in wolf form to keep it around my neck. When he doesn’t reply, I look up the DJ and take an Uber to get me to the club. The enormity of my mistake washes over me the moment I exit the car. I turn to get back and leave, but as the street is flooded with people leaving the club, someone takes the car right away. I tenta