A Werewolf Girl's

1.13

It's been three days we've spent checking out the stuff that Dave and I brought from the old house. Comparison of the number of finished and unread papers is decreasing, although there is still little information we can get from the files and some of the boxes.

Emily and the twins were still busy taking care of the contents of some boxes, so it was me, Theo, Dave and Grace who had to sacrifice themselves to read the italics and small size in the gathering room.

I rubbed my tired eyes and tried to focus on reading the writing and absorbed it. Grace who was sitting next to me seemed to be frowning as she read the paper in her hand, Dave who was opposite me looked very serious with his reading while Theo who was beside him had started to look bored and closed his eyes several times.

Today Chloe invites herd members besides us to take a walk, an activity of two to three months that has been a tradition since five years ago. The condition of the house which is usually always crowded by chatter, for now feels quiet like the state of the hospital at night.

I took a slow breath and looked at them. "Will anyone drink?"

"I'm lemonade" said Theo looking up at me with a big smile.

Dave answered briefly. "Either."

"I'm coming along" Grace answered immediately standing up and followed me walking towards the kitchen.

Grace walked ahead of me and opened the fridge to grab her breakfast leftover milk carton and sipped it to the end. He let out a sigh of relief before finally taking some lemons from there and putting them on the table.

He glanced at me briefly before pointing at the bottom drawer not far from where I was standing. "The squeeze tool and the knife are there."

I nodded in understanding and opened the bottom drawer to pick up the orange squeezer and the kitchen knife as directed. I put the two tools on the table and started to notice Grace splitting the lemon in two and then immediately received the piece from her, squeezing all the pieces of fruit alternately then pour the juice into a clear glass teapot filled with filters so that the seeds do not come in.

Grace walked back to the refrigerator to pick up the ice cube mold and poured the contents into the teapot after adding sugar and a pinch of salt. His hand moved to stir all of that using a long, slender spoon then let me put in 2 slices of lemon in addition.

"How are you guys doing?"

"What?" I turned to Grace, confused.

He did not return my gaze but raised his eyebrows a few times and asked back. "You two didn't talk about any time to the old house?"

"You mean ... Dave?"

He's nodding.

"Only about you who cannot enter the old house and can only memorize the house plan by the elders" I replied. "What's wrong?"

"It's okay, forget it then," she smiled briefly and pointed to the tray next to my hand. "Please give it to me."

I handed it over without saying anything and saw him compose a teapot and a few glasses on top of it, followed his steps back to the gathering room then helped him pour lemonade into each of our glasses.

"No snacks?" tanya Theo stared disappointedly at the tray that now began to be moistened the faint spots of ice water flowing from the teapot. There was no expected snack there.

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Try to find it yourself. I don't know if there's still a snack or not."

"Seriously?"

"There's potato chips in the room if you want," Dave replied suddenly still reading the paper.

Theo immediately turned to Dave and asked in an excited tone. "Where?"

"Next to Yohanna's room, the bed by the door, on the table."

Theo immediately got up from his sitting position and went to the hallway without further ado. I grabbed the paper he left behind and put it into the pile of paper he was reading.

Grace let out a loud sigh beside me and headed towards Dave, laying her body on the boy's lap and closing her eyes shortly afterwards. I could see her breathing coming in and out smoothly through the faint movements of her stomach that was covered in a black blouse.

Theo returned very quickly in the gathering room, carrying two large packs of potato chips in the arms of his arms and his other hand clutching a can of beer that caught Dave's attention.

"That's my beer?"

Theo. "Yes, it's okay, isn't it? In your coffin there's still plenty."

Dave clucked to hear the speech of the curly-haired guy and then resumed reading in his hands. "Say fifty dollars to me later," he murmured slowly at the end.

"Yes, yes," Theo was still grinning as he turned to face me and offered his potato chips. "Do you want to, Allison?"

I nodded then returned his smile. "Thank you."

I took a few at a time and started eating them. Theo also offered it to Dave and opened the beer he was carrying earlier, poured it into a glass filled with half his lemonade and gulped it in one swallow.

I grabbed the paper I had previously held and started to read it back while finishing the lemonade in my glass. The writing now feels clearer than ever.

I looked at Grace confused and then turned to look at Dave who suddenly stiffened and Theo who seemed to think hard.

"What's wrong?"

Grace turned her head towards me and frowned. "Do you have a plan, Allison? to face Whitney?"

I was silent for a long time and then shook my head slowly.

"Do you know what it means to be an Alpha in our group?" grace again looked serious.

"Leading you...?" my answer sounds more like a question. I sound unsure even to myself

Grace shook her head while sighing softly, her head turned towards Dave who now looked down staring at the floor then sighed again. "I have to go."

He stood up from where he was then walked quickly towards the exit while unbinding the rope on his blouse. Theo also stood up, called out the woman's name and immediately followed Grace who had disappeared out of the house, leaving her blouse lying near the wide-open door.

I could only remain silent in my place, confused and in a state of confusion, staring at the passing of Grace and Theo.

"Dave," I muttered involuntarily after a while. "Did I make a mistake?"

Dave shook his head, his facial expression looking unreadable as he stared at his tightly clenched hands. "No, it's not your fault."

I didn't answer.

For a while we were silent and dissolved in each other's thoughts. I could only stare blankly at the sheet of paper I was holding while my mind wandered elsewhere.

"Grace's words were right, Malcolm too." I murmured slowly clenching my hand until it hurt. "From the beginning, I seemed too weak to be an Alpha of your group. You ... must also think that way, right?" I looked at him, looking for the truth from his eyes.

"No, I never thought that way." Dave answered my question firmly. "You deserve to be our Alpha, Allison."

I choked between tears and laughter, one hundred percent doubting what he said. "liks. I don't even know what to do right now as an Alpha."

"You know, but it's not now."

"What do you mean?"

Dave grabbed my hand and held it gently. My initial reaction of wanting to shake off his hand grip vanished, instead, a calm and comfortable atmosphere encompassed me and washed me of all the restlessness I had previously thought of.

I raised my head to look back at Dave, who was now looking back at me. "Can you feel it?" askinya.

"Yes...." I stared at our interlocking hands, still feeling that warm atmosphere all over my body. "What's this?"

"This is the bond that exists between us, our people call it Mate. A bond that occurs only once in a lifetime and is predetermined from the very beginning we are born."

"We are ... Mate?"

Dave nodded, looking at me solemnly. "With this, you don't have to worry about your responsibilities alone .. because I'm here and will be by your side at all times."

I blinked my eyes.

He looks a little embarrassed. "Of course our members will also help, because we are one entity. You understand what I mean, right?"

I slowly nodded, turning my gaze back on our hands that were still clinging to each other. Grateful for the security he gave through his actions and speech. "Thank you, Dave."

~°~°~°~

I still felt in dreamland as my eyes opened and the ceiling of the room immediately greeted my eyes that felt so bright. I blinked my eyes a few times to adjust before opening my blanket and stepping out of the room.

My feet were as slow as possible down the hallway to the door of the house, there was no sign of anyone waking up to notice what I was doing at the moment so my hand immediately moved to grab the door handle and then lower it slowly.

The night air immediately hit me as I stepped through the door and closed it back, my head slightly looking up to look at the full moon shining brightly above me, it was silent for a few moments to stare blankly before turning its eyes and stepping forward to enter the forest.

My hand moved back automatically to get rid of the branches and avoid some branches that I could not get rid of. The previously tight-looking forest now widened and gave me a gap to pass through more easily.

I stopped my steps after arriving right in front of the man standing next to the jeep, his face still looking flat at my arrival, just like the time he drove me first.

"Hans."