by Noelle Marie
"Great!" Sophie agreed exuberantly. "We can go as soon as breakfast's cleaned up. It's a bit of a trek into town, so by the time we get there, the shops should be open."
Katherine nodded complacently, impaling a bit of biscuit with her fork and popping it into her mouth.
But, of course, Markus had to put a damper on their plans.
"What about the lunch she's supposed to be making?" he demanded, pointing a butter knife in her direction, though his eyes were on Bastian and the question was clearly meant for him.
"God Markus, don't you ever stop?" Sophie scowled, clearly annoyed.
"It’s fine," Bastian immediately assured her before another argument could break out. "I'll be at a council meeting anyhow and since Sophie and Katherine will be gone, everyone can be responsible for their own meal."
Sophie smiled triumphantly at the news while Markus positively scowled.
Katherine's attention, however, had diverted from the excursion into town Sophie had planned to the Council meeting Bastian mentioned. She was curious – too curious to keep her mouth shut. "What's the council meeting about?"
Bastian seemed surprised by the question – though perhaps that had more to do with the fact that she had asked nicely than the inquiry itself. If the silence from the others was anything to go by, they seemed rather shocked by her civil tongue as well.
She supposed that was fair. She hadn't exactly been very respectful up to this point. But after her talk with Bastian last night, she knew she couldn't remain angry and combative forever. She needed to learn from these people after all, learn to get along with them too – even Markus.
Bastian recovered from his surprise rather quickly and tersely answered her question. "The meeting's about you."
Katherine's eyes widened, but before she could respond to his blunt answer, the man stood up, scrapping his chair across the floor as he did so, and stomped out of the room. Sophie sent her an apologetic look before taking off after him.
Great. What faux pas had she committed this time?
Her mood didn't improve when she caught sight of Markus's mocking smile. She wondered if the responding scowl on her face matched his from earlier.
The rest of breakfast passed in silence – at least from Katherine's end. Markus and Zane discussed something about hunting elk by a nearby stream, with minimal input by Caleb.
When everyone was finished eating, Katherine and Caleb gathered the dirty dishes – Bastian's plate still half-full of eggs stared at her accusingly – and set up an efficient system for cleaning them. She washed, and he dried and put away the clean glassware as she'd yet to learn where everything went.
They were just finishing up when Sophie entered the kitchen and hastily pulled her away from the sink. A fluffy, purple coat that was probably only two sizes too big – which meant it definitely belonged to Sophie, even if the thought of Bastian or Markus wearing it brought an amused grin to her face – and a pair of oversized boots were shoved into her arms.
"I know it's only October, but there's definitely a chill in the air. Our kind isn't super affected by the cold, but you aren't a full-fledged wolf quite yet so you should probably put that stuff on."
She couldn't hide her skeptical glance at the purple monstrosity, but obediently tugged the thing on anyway.
Sophie sniggered. "Don't worry, you can pick out a new coat and other winter gear in town." She pulled a shiny plastic card from a tote bag she had slung across her shoulder. "And don't hold back on getting what you want. Everything is going on one of Bastian's many handy dandy credit cards."
Before Katherine could properly process that, Sophie had a firm arm wrapped around her elbow and was forcing her out the front door. As soon as they reached the outside, however, Katherine jerked to a stop, forcing the blonde to tarry as well.
It was so green.
The color absolutely dominated the landscape.
Towering spruce and pine trees were everywhere, emerging from the thin fog that did little to hide the grass and greenery on the ground. Even Bastian's house, which was made of beautiful burgundy bricks, was being overtaken by the green. Thick vines crawled up the walls and wound up the columns of the wrap-around porch.
It was so different from the yellow cornfields of Iowa.
Katherine's stupor was broken by Sophie as she draped a friendly arm around the dazed girl's shoulders and guided her off the creaky porch. She led her to a dirt path just barely peeking out of the huge forest surrounding the house. The path wasn't very big – just wide enough for one vehicle to make it through safely.
"It's a bit overwhelming, I know."
Katherine nodded, unable to stop herself from repeating her initial impression. "It's just so green."
Sophie laughed before removing her arm from around the smaller girl's shoulders. "Yeah, just be happy it hasn't snowed yet. In the winter, everything turns white. I much prefer the green of spring and summer."
Katherine nodded genially, clutching the burrowed coat closer to herself when a strong breeze whistled through the trees and ruffled her still damp hair.
They'd been walking a good fifteen minutes before Katherine noticed how anxious Sophie seemed to be. The older girl kept giving her furtive glances, like she was aching to say something, but wasn't sure if she should.
This, of course, did nothing but make Katherine uneasy. Sophie seemed nice enough, but she was reluctant to trust her. She was Bastian's sister after all.
"Katherine, look, about my brother." And there it was.
"What about your brother?"
"I know you don't have much reason to believe me, but he's not as bad of a guy as you probably think he is. Hell, he's not as bad of a guy as he thinks he is. He's just under a lot of stress right now."
Katherine just barely resisted the urge to snort.. He was under a lot of stress? If she wasn't so young, she was convinced she would have died of a stress-induced heart attack days ago.
Sophie must have sensed her skepticism and kept on talking. "I know that seems like a silly excuse, but it’s true. He was very worried about you when you were sick. He wouldn't even let you out of his sight long enough for me to change you into something a little more comfortable than his grimy sweats."
Katherine vividly recalled Bastian standing guard the night before. But to her, it seemed more like he did it to thwart another escape attempt than out of actual concern for her well-being.
His words from the night before – “I won't come after you." – reverberated in her head.
Then again, maybe that wasn't the reason.
But Katherine wasn't about to attempt to get inside the man's head. She would admit, however, that is was fairly obvious that Bastian felt responsible for her. Probably because he was the one who’d bitten her. That being as it may, the man certainly didn't like her. If Sophie thought he did, then the blonde was delusional.
Realizing she'd been quiet for too long, Katherine voiced her thoughts. "I suppose he feels responsible for me. He is the one who bit me after all."
Sophie frowned . Whether it was due to Katherine's not-so-friendly tone or the reminder of her brother's imperfections was anyone's guess. "You have to know that he didn't mean for this to happen. He never meant to hurt you-"
"Yeah," Katherine quickly cut her off, not in the mood to hear the blonde make more excuses for her brother. "Caleb explained it to me. Something about my natural scent... calling to him?"
Sophie froze, her eyes wide, and Katherine was forced to stop beside her. "What? What's wrong?"
"What else did Caleb tell you?" Sophie immediately demanded.
Katherine scrunched her brow in confusion, but answered anyway. "Nothing really. And to be honest, what he did say – you know, about me smelling good to Bastian – sounded like a bunch of crap to me."
Sophie's tense shoulders relaxed when she realized Caleb that hadn't told her anything more – though it was obvious now that they were hiding something, probably multiple somethings, from her.
"Katherine, you have to know that Bastian would never purposely do this to someone. His will is stronger than anyone's I know. For him to have bitten you, I mean..." she trailed off, losing some of her gusto, "he wouldn’t have had a choice."
Katherine didn't buy it for a minute. There was always a choice. She didn't care how tasty she'd smelled or how many inhibitions were dropped when one was forced to turn into an animal – and dear God, her mind still couldn't quite grasp that insane concept.
"Things will work out."
Katherine managed a weak smile for the girl walking on her left, but seriously doubted that was true. Still, she managed to keep her mouth shut about the subject.
A few more minutes were spent walking in an amicable silence before they came to the end of the dirt road. Sophie brushed aside a low hanging branch of a trembling aspen tree – one of the few deciduous trees speckled throughout the coniferous – and finally, the heart of Haven Falls was revealed.
Katherine wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this – this quaint little village – wasn't it.
Most of the buildings spread out before her were made of wood – possibly from the trees that must have been cleared away to make room for the tiny town that couldn't have expanded more than half a mile in any direction. Most of the cabin-like buildings were bunched together, separated only by dirt roads a little wider than the one she and Sophie had traveled to get there. There were a few houses, some made of a similar brick as Bastian's home, further out in the distance. She suspected they served as the homes of other inhabitants that lived in the town.
"So, what do you think?"
She glanced at the blonde next to her. Sophie didn't seem too put out by Katherine's lack of reaction.
"It's small," Katherine said tactfully.
Sophie nodded, a small smile spreading across her face. "Yeah, it makes your Middletown look like some bustling city. Haven Falls isn't much, that's for sure, but it’s home."
She began walking again, towards the cluster of buildings. Katherine trailed behind her, continuing to take in her surroundings. “Why’s it called Haven Falls?”
Sophie slowed her pace, allowing the small brunette to catch up. “It’s named after a nearby waterfall. It’s absolutely dazzling and close to our house actually. I can take you to see it later this week if you want.” She paused. “Or maybe Bastian can take you?”
Katherine frowned. “Maybe you can take me,” she hesitantly agreed.
Sophie led her past two buildings, but dragged her to the wooden door of the third. The sign above the entry way proclaimed the small shop to be The Closet.
Hesitating outside of the boutique, she couldn’t help but wonder how the people of Haven Falls – or, the creatures, rather – would react to seeing a fresh face. No one would attack her.
Right?
As if sensing her distressed thoughts, Sophie turned to face Katherine, her blue eyes – so different from her brother’s with his darker colored irises – exuding comfort. “It’s still early in the day, so it’s likely the only person in there will be the shopkeeper, but you still ought to know that anyone who sees you today will probably stare and ask questions.”
Katherine felt her stomach drop, landing somewhere near the oversized boots cladding her feet. She’d almost prefer to be attacked than be on the receiving end of any sort of attention or scrutiny.
“What are they going to ask me?” she immediately demanded, her mind whirling with possibilities. Who are you? Where’d you come from? What sort of pathetic werewolf are you supposed to be?
“It doesn’t matter what they ask. You can’t answer their questions. We need to keep to ourselves as much as possible today.”
“Why?” Not that she was complaining.
“Remember Bastian explaining how the council meeting today is about you?”
How could she forget? “Yeah.”
“Well,” Sophie explained, twirling a piece of her long hair around her index finger, “he and the other alphas are deciding what to do with you and until they came to a conclusion today, Bastian wants to shield you from the rest of the community. I had to practically beg him to take you out and only managed to convince him because you were in need of so many supplies.”
They were deciding what to do with her? That sounded ominous.
“Anyway,” Sophie continued, “the council members are the only ones who know of your existence so far, so it’s best we keep as low a profile as possible while we’re out. Just ignore the looks I’m sure you’re going to get and I’ll deflect any questions that come our way, okay?”
Katherine took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay,” she agreed before allowing Sophie to drag her into The Closet.
The rest of the morning and afternoon passed in a blur of cotton, lace, and chiffon. After spending over two hours trying on clothes in The Closet – the shop sure had a lot of merchandise for such a tiny establishment – Sophie dragged her to another shop clear across town called Vintage Underground.
Here, the blonde convinced her to buy what Katherine had to admit was a phenomenal leather jacket. She also manipulated her into buying a little black thing – Sophie insisted it was a dress – with way too many frills and a complete lack of fabric in the back.
The conversation had went a little something like this:
“Oh! How about this? Every girl needs a little black dress. You never know when a special occasion will come up.”
“I don’t know. Isn’t it a little, well, skimpy?”
“Yeah. Bastian would hate it.”
“…I’ll try it on.”
Apparently, Sophie knew just what to say to get those around her to do what she pleased.
After they were finished there, the sun was high in the sky and they’d stopped to eat at a restaurant – creatively named The Bistro. Katherine supposed it didn’t really matter what it was called though because according to Sophie, it was the only eatery in town.
Once they’d finished scarfing down their lunches – Katherine had ordered a steak and it had been pink, juicy, and delicious – Sophie had quickly shown her the locations of the butcher shop and what she’d referred to as the grocery store, though it was more of a farmers’ market than anything.
Finally, they’d stopped at an apothecary where Katherine purchased some locally brewed shampoo and conditioner, some soap, a package of razors, and deodorant.
She’d never been so happy to see a roll-on.
Of course, the shopping spree wasn’t a completely fun experience. Both shopkeepers and the apothecary owner had stared at her without shame, only forcing their eyes to leave her form after catching sight of Sophie’s responding glare. The waiter at The Bistro had been even worse, but Katherine couldn’t find it in herself to be too upset with the dark-haired young man who had looked to be about her age. He’d flushed and seemed embarrassed when Sophie had called him out on his aberrant gawking.
Despite the stares and her general aversion to shopping, however, Katherine discovered that she rather enjoyed Sophie’s company and it was with reluctance that she returned to Bastian’s house with the blonde late that afternoon.
She figured her lack of enthusiasm had a lot to do with having to once again deal with the temperamental owner of said house.
For all her foot-dragging, though, she didn’t see Bastian until supper and the man didn’t even deign to speak to her until she and Caleb had begun clearing away the remains of supper – scalloped potatoes and ham, which had contained more ham than potato.
“We need to talk.”
Katherine forced herself to look up from the stack of dirty plates in her arms and meet the man’s eyes. “About what?” she demanded.
His eyebrows rose in response to her abrasiveness. What did he expect? For her to fall all over herself for the mere opportunity to speak with him?
Maybe when hell froze over.
“I think it’d be better if we discussed that alone. Follow me. You can leave those dishes for Cale
b.”
Rolling her eyes at the blatant order, Katherine allowed the brown-eyed man to take the plates from her. She ignored a sneering Markus and followed Bastian out of the dining room. He led her down the hallway to a sturdy door opposite Bastian’s bedroom. Opening the door, he gestured for her to enter. Despite her reservations, she did.
Katherine couldn’t help but be impressed by the room he’d led her to. Books were overflowing from shelves that nearly reached the ceiling and the lights of an extravagant glass ceiling fixture reflected on gleaming hardwood floors. A worn, plush-looking chair pushed into a corner of the room looked immensely comfortable and inviting.
She suspected that she’d been led to Bastian’s study.
Her observations of the room were cut short, however, by the sound of the door clicking shut behind her. Bastian stalked past her before sitting atop a cherry wood desk that served as the center piece of the room. Wordlessly, he invited her to have a seat on a chair opposite the desk.
Katherine ignored the invitation completely. Instead, she remained standing, pulling her arms across her chest defensively.
“What am I in trouble for now?” Katherine couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush. She had no desire to be in the overbearing man’s presence any longer than absolutely necessary.
Bastian released a weary sigh before swiping a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Nothing as far as I know. I actually wanted to talk to you about what the other alphas and I discussed at the Council meeting today.”
Oh.
Did they decide what they were going to do with her? Katherine tightened her arms around her torso. “You already told me that the meeting was about me,” she reminded Bastian.
“I know,” he agreed, “but what I didn’t tell you was that we were deciding whether or not you were fit to attend school.”