Alexia Eden

by Sophie Summers

  “Why don’t you visit me for lunch? I live in the town over it’s not too far, I would really like to get to know you better and I promise I will explain anything you want to know? Oh he’s going to be so happy I found you!” she smiles at me as she mumbles the last few words but I overheard her and I’m confused as to who she is talking about.

  “That would be great, just give me directions and I should probably get your number?” I say still not sure what she meant when she mentioned a “he”, I take my phone out. She gives me directions on a piece of paper from her handbag and I get her number.

  “I will see you at around one o’clock; I gotta go get these groceries home before mom wakes up. I’m so happy I finally met you!” I say and notice her jaw tense at the mention of my mother but she covers it up quickly and gives me another hug.

  “I know Hun, I’ve wanted to come see you for so long…but things are very complicated and I couldn’t come over to where you were staying, but now that you’re here we're definitely not going to lose touch! You’re my family and I want you in my life, there’s so much we have to tell you.” she smiles and wipes the tears away.

  “I know how you feel, I don’t have any family, I just have mom and… now I have you…” her smile falters again when I mention my mother but she regains her smile just as rapid at the mention of having her in my life.

  We say our goodbyes and I continue my shopping as she reluctantly leaves looking back at me as if I might vanish into thin air any moment.

  Once I get home I decide not to tell mom of my reunion with Alex, I’m scared that it brings up memories of dad and she has a melt down again. I will tell her about Alex eventually but I wanted to talk to Alex about it first.

  I unpack groceries and restock the fridge as mom comes out from taking a shower fully dressed with a towel over her hair.

  “Sorry about that Lexi, I just haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping.” She says as she helps unpack food.

  “It’s okay, I don’t mind going, I know you work long hours besides I didn’t have anything to do this morning anyway.” I say back to her.

  “Thanks babe, what are your plans for today?” she asks as she walks towards the lounge area.

  I freeze a little, I don’t want to tell her about Alex but I hate lying to my mother, so I guess I will tell her the truth but not really explain it, “I’m going to meet my friend Alex for lunch, so I might come home a little late, she stays in the next town so will it be okay if I use your car?”

  “In the next town? Uh…that’s a different terr…I mean… I don’t know if that’s safe Lexi, you don’t really know anyone there and what if you run into trouble or something? How did you meet Alex, if she lives in the other town, then she wouldn’t have gone to your school?” I’m a bit confused why she is showing apprehension and asking all these questions, I wasn’t expecting this, this is the first time she’s concerned about me since dad’s death and to be honest it throws me off guard.

  “Mom, Alex will be there if anything did happen, I actually ran into her at the supermarket and we got along pretty well. I’m just trying to make friends mom, please?” I say “mom” knowing how much she misses that, maybe this will convince her not to worry.

  “Okay…I guess it’s alright, I was going to get a lift to work with Ambz anyways, just text me when you get there and when you leave okay? I’m going to go over to Amber for tea, so if I don’t see you when you leave just remember what I said Lexi.” she says brushing her damp her then pulls me in for a hug.

  I stand there in shock as she walks out the door, did that just happen? She acted like she cared? Maybe she is getting better, I haven’t seen her so often these past few days, she’s either at work, Amber's house or visiting the new boyfriend that I haven’t met yet, she apparently met him at work. I wonder what brought about the change in her. That was pretty weird, she acted like my mother… not Georgina.

  I make myself a sandwich and sit on the couch thinking about my mother and what just happened. I look at my phone and see I have 2 messages.

  DRAKE at 05:27am: Morning Babe , I really hope I’m not waking you, I can’t stop thinking about you and those lips ; ) What’s your plans for today? Miss you already.

  That boy is too cute; I really don’t understand why he seems to like me so much. I’ve had small relationships with guys, one or two week long relationships and the guys were good looking but nothing like Drake or definitely not as gorgeous as Jax for that matter. I just can’t fathom why these guys could be interested in me. I know I’m not terrible looking but I’m not gorgeous that’s for sure, apart from when Drake told me I was beautiful no one ever called me that, I was always “hot” or “cute” and I’m guessing the guys that called me that before only said those things to try butter me up to try get somewhere with me.

  I send a reply to Drake and it kind of comes out as an essay but I don’t care:

  LEXI at 11:36am: Hay! Nope I actually only saw your message now, LOL sorry about the late reply I had a busy morning & didn’t get a chance to look at my phone. Hmmm these lips huh? Well these lips are waiting for yours. You are such a sweet talker! I’m actually going to lunch with a friend so I’m only going to be home maybe later tonight. What’s your plans?

  I look at my next message.

  JAX at 07.32am: Hey Lexi, kinda fell asleep in your bed. It was just so warm and comfortable next to you. I don’t think we should tell anyone about our little sleep over, they wouldn’t understand our friendship and Drake would just look into it as something else and we don’t want a jealous Drake. What are we doing today?

  Typical Jax, presuming we were hanging out today.

  LEXI at 11:45am: Jax! It’s okay I don’t mind, yeah the bed was so warm with you next to me I usually freeze my ass off at night & last night I slept like a baby! LOL, yeah I agree. I don’t want to keep secrets from any of them though so I guess we should keep our sleep overs to a minimum ;) besides we’re best friends so last night was fine, it wasn’t like we were hooking up or anything behind their backs it was all friendly. I don’t know what YOU are doing today but I’M going out for lunch with a friend & I’m only going to be back late so maybe I’ll see you tomorrow?

  After a few minutes I get a message from Ronny. What’s going on? Why is everyone texting me?

  RONNY at 11:49am: Wattsup Lex? D & J tell me u going out 2 lunch with a friend & I know we haven’t made any plans yet, so they asked me about it, who you going to see?

  Damn these people are nosey. I guess they’re just wondering because they know they are the only people that I’ve hung out with since I’ve been here.

  LEXI at 11:51am: Damn news travels fast here! Ron, please tell them not to stress, you too. Why is everyone so worried about me all of a sudden? It’s just someone I haven’t seen in a while & we just wanted to catch up.

  Not even a few seconds pass and I get a reply for Ronny.

  RONNY at 11:52am: What’s their name? Of course news travels fast when you live in the same house! We just want to know who u going to be meeting up with? The boys ask where u meeting your friend?

  This is really starting to annoy me, I can go see whoever I want! I don’t need to explain anything to anyone! Jax and Drake seriously need to stop the whole possessive thing it’s starting to piss me off!

  LEXI at 11:53am: You guys all live together? How am I only finding out about this now? Seriously… you guys are asking me all these questions when you hide so much shit from me, I’m not asking questions am I? I’m allowed to have other friends you know! Whatever…. I gotta go! Cheers

  I abruptly end the message like that so they can know I’m pissed off. I lock the house and decide to leave because knowing how stubborn those three are, they’re probably on their way to my house right now. I leave the spare key under the pot plant on the patio. As I get in the car, I see another message come through from Jax.

  JAX at 11:56am: Alexia, Don’t you dare leave! We’re on our way. I swear if you leave you are goin
g to be in trouble! DON”T LEAVE!

  Who the fuck does he think he is? Seriously? This just pisses me off even more. He might be able to talk to his lap dogs that run around to please him like that but I’m not one of them!

  LEXI at 11:57am: You know what Jackson? FUCK YOU!

  I knew as soon as I sent it that I shouldn’t have, but I was really mad and his bossiness is starting to piss me off.

  Shit, he’s going to kill me when I get back I even used his full first name that I know he hates. I put my foot down on the gas and leave the trailer park before they show up.

  After about five minutes my phone starts going off and I can see its Jax calling me, then Drake and then Ronny tries. My message alert goes off and it carries on the whole way till I reach the beginning of Fort Hill, the town where my aunt lives. I switch my phone on silent seeing that I have fifty three missed calls and twenty two new messages most of which are voice mails. I follow the directions that Alex gave me and it’s pretty simple since the town is a little larger than our small town but there are only a few roads. The road I’m on starts turning into a wooded area and a gravel road, it’s so quiet and scary under the shaded trees, something you would see in a Wrong Turn movie. Oh God Lexi, stop thinking that, you’re just freaking yourself out more!

  Eventually I see a group of wooden cabins in an open area, I see Alex sitting on the steps of one of the cabins so I stop the car where a few other cars are parked, and it’s quite a walk to where Alex was sitting moments before.

  As I step out the car, someone comes up from behind me, “What are you doing on our territory?” a deep voice comes from behind me, it makes me jump and lean against the car and I bend over with my hand on my heart trying to catch my breath from the fright he gave me.

  “Talon don’t scare her away, I just found her!” Alex shouts from a distance as she steps down from the porch. I turn towards where the deep voice came from to see a large bare chest, looking down I see the guy is only wearing gym shorts as my eyes travel toward his face and past his perfectly defined six pack, I see the most brilliant blue eyes. His raven black hair touches the base of his neck and is messy. He’s hot and fucking scary! This dude is massive, he has broad shoulders and from my perspective down here, I’m pretty sure this guy doesn’t have one ounce of fat on him. He’s so intimidatingly tall that I’m in direct eye level with his hard pecks and I have to strain my neck to look up at this beautiful beast. He has high cheek bones, dark long eye lashes and perfect lips… that are now smirking at me? Shit. I’m staring.

  “Alexia? This is Alexia?” The guy says in shock, he steps closer to me and I mimic him taking a step back. He scares me because he is gorgeous yet so daunting against my small structure.

  “Come here! I’m not going to bite you!” this Talon guys says chuckling a deep gravelly tone.

  “He may not bite but I certainly might…you look good enough to eat.” says a similar deep voice from behind me. Turning I another guy the spitting image of Mr. Daunting behind me. Apart from his eyes which seem to be a darker blue and his black hair in a messy faux-hawk. I can’t stop myself from looking back and forth between the twins.

  Talon starts laughing at me from behind and I turn to glare at him but he unexpectedly pulls me into a big bear hug and swings me around.

  “Welcome to the family Miss Alexia, you’re going to love our pack! Did Luna convince you to join?” I squeal as his big body spins me around and he hands me off to his twin who does the same except he smacks my ass, I’m in shock. What the fuck is going on here? Where did Alex disappear too?

  I push out of twin number two’s grasp and knee him in his junk, as he falls to the ground Talon puts one hand on my shoulder and bends down laughing holding his stomach. I take his arm and twist it, using my free arm I elbow him in the face and knee him as he grabs his face causing him to land on the ground in pain alongside his brother.

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that you shouldn’t touch what doesn’t belong to you? Now, what do you mean join your pack? And who is Luna?” I ask the second twin as he pulls himself up from the ground still holding his hands between his legs.

  “To join our pack silly? You know…. us werewolves…. have packs? I thought your aunt would have already asked you to join the Fort Hills Pack?” he speaks to me as if he’s speaking to a 3 year old then laughs. “Damn girl! You’re feisty… I like it.” Twin number two winks at me.

  Okay they’ve lost it… they’re completely bonkers! Werewolves? What the f… I let out a nervous laugh but halt when I notice how serious they look as they stare at me as if I’m the crazy one. “What do you mean werewolves and why would I join your pack?” I asked in confusion as they both stand up straight. “I don’t understand?”

  Talon mumbles running his hand through his hair and I can tell that my questions are frustrating him. “Damn this girl is slow, just show her already Tyler.”

  I watch Tyler as he walks backward then all of a sudden his body starts shifting and contorting in different directions. I hear bones breaking but it’s happening so quickly that its all one big blur to me. I take a step back, snow white hair starts sprouting from his skin. I can hear and see his shorts ripping apart, I take another step back as I step against Talons chest, fear and shock now taking hold of my body.

  Before I black out and hit the ground, I hear Alex’s loud scream “NO!”

  CHAPTER 13:

  That didn’t happen… it was all one big scary dream! Werewolves don’t exist! I’m going mad! Maybe I should go see a doctor, no! This is all a dream I’m going to wake up and none of this happened…everything’s fine.

  My head is pounding. Whatever I’m lying on is very comfortable and warm, It’s obviously a bed and whatever room I’m in is quiet…too quiet. I feel someone gently rubbing the top of my one hand with their thumb and someone on my other side holding my other hand pretty tightly. The hands are big, rough and warm. Oh God. I slowly open one eye to look at whoever is holding my hands and quickly shut them. Oh God…it’s not a dream.

  “Ah sleeping beauty is awake, I was beginning to think one of us was going to have to give you a kiss to get you to wake up.” Talon says. “And that would be me of course!” Tyler says kissing my hand gently.

  “Uh… no thanks, you saw what I did to you out there? Come anywhere near my face with those lips and I will do way worse. How long have I been out?” I ask them in a gravelly voice.

  They chuckle. “About two hours love.” Tyler says.

  “Shit, I’m supposed to let my mom know I arrived! I gotta get going, it’s going to get dark soon!” I start to get up. Alex rushes into the room and comes over to the bed where I was lying giving me a tight hug.

  “Oh my God Lexi I was so worried about you! Please don’t hate me, I thought James would have explained everything to you! I didn’t know you were unaware of what we are but when I saw how scared you were when dumb-ass over here turned in front of you I knew you didn’t know!” she says as she starts to cry on my shoulder.

  “Please try help me understand what’s going on? I’m so confused? I’m not dreaming am I?” I say more to myself than her.

  The boys start laughing and Alex lets out a giggle as well, this cheers me, damn Eden woman are emotional.

  “No honey you’re not dreaming, I’ll explain everything tonight, I hope you don’t mind but I sent Georgina a message from your phone saying that you will be sleeping over? I’m guessing she thinks you’re at a friend’s house right? And I don’t want you driving in the dark alone - especially after you fainted.” she says as she could read my mind. I want to yell and shout and ask them to explain everything to me right now, I’m so confused but I think the shock that is currently still running through my system is keeping me from asking the questions because I’m too afraid to know the answers.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell her about you just yet. Thought it might bring up old memories about dad and I can’t see her go through that pain again just when sh
e’s starting to get better, you know?” I say looking down at my hands that now rest on my lap. Talon is watching me intently not saying a word but it looks as if he’s trying to figure me out. Tyler is sitting on the bed next to me just smiling at me with admiration, it’s quite unnerving to be honest.

  “Of course honey, I was hoping you wouldn’t tell her. I just don’t want to be a reminder to her of my brother you know, but with you it’s different. I want to get to know you, I’m just so sorry I wasn’t around for your childhood. You’re already a young woman and you’re so beautiful… I’ve missed 17 years of your life! I wish we did things differently….” She whispers as tears fall down her face.

  “Please don’t cry Alex, I’m so happy I met you, you’re my only aunt and apart from mom you are my only family.” I give her another hug.

  “Now you have us, we are your family too.” I hear Talon say.

  “Can we join the group hug?” Tyler comments as they come closer. Alex and I start laughing as they surround us and squeeze us between them.

  They release me and ask me to come down to join the bonfire. Alex holds my hand as she walks me down towards the kitchen, she’s tall just like dad was.

  What the hell happened to me? Why am I such a shorty? Alex and I look alike apart from her height, my pale skin and our eyes; our features are similar too as if I’m a miniature version of Alex. I’m still nervous and quite scared to be honest, they just told me they are werewolves and I saw one of them turn, The shock is now wearing down and I’m unsure how to act around them.