“I don’t want to bother them any more than I already do,” I confessed, my voice nearly a croak. “They’re all struggling enough just keeping me safe here amongst the pack, helping me find a future for myself. Why should I worry them about stuff outside of the pack?”
“Because it’s what friends do.” His voice was firm now as he tilted my chin up so my eyes met his deep brown ones. “You either trust them enough to lean on them, or you walk away. We have too much animal inside of us—we don’t do things in half measures. They want to help take care of you. It doesn’t make you weak to lean on them, just like it won’t be weak of them to lean on you.”
“I didn’t want to ruin the fun of their festivities,” I whispered. “They’re so excited for the full moon…”
“They’re not enjoying it at the moment, they’re all busy looking for you. I assured them I’d find you, but they’re all waiting. They don’t want to enjoy it without you.”
A broken, sardonic chuckle burst from me. “Yeah, right. Alarick doesn’t even like me. Chann and Zev have each other. Even Shannon has her friendship with Alarick.”
“Alarick hides as much as you do, don’t let it fool you. Their friendships with each other in no way devalue their friendship with you.” His eyes didn’t leave mine, his grip not allowing me to look away. “You matter to each of them, all in their own way. Why give up now before you see what you can develop here? You’ve come through so much, beaten so much already. Are you really willing to concede defeat after all of that?”
A large part of me wanted to scream yes, to beg him to walk away and leave me to the pain still roiling inside me. Another part of me reared up at that, a core of pride and strength trickling up like a vine from a deeply buried seed in my soul. His eyes dared me to lie, to pull away. “I don’t want to be hurt again,” I pleaded. “I don’t want to gain a family just to lose them again.”
“Then stop pushing them away. Stop hiding your pain. Find your spot amongst them. It may only be temporary, some families are, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be important to you.” His dark eyes scanned my face and, for the briefest of moments, I thought he would kiss me as his hot gaze trailed over my lips. But he only stood up, reaching a hand down for mine. “Let’s get your face washed and calm them down. I’m sure those twins of yours are about to set fire to something in order to draw you out if you aren’t returned to them.”
A watery chuckle spilled from my lips and I grasped his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. “Alright. I’ll try.”
“Trying is all we can do. Even if it’s just minute to minute. If that darkness pulls at you, come find me. We’ll fight it together, Penelope. One orphan to another.” He tugged my hand, leading me from the tower and my own dark thoughts, as the moon tracked our path.
Chapter Twenty-One
It didn’t take long for the others to find us. Chann spotted us first as he dashed through the gathered crowd, swinging me up into his arms for a hug before releasing me. “Where’d you run off to, Tinkerbell? All the fun’s down here.”
I glanced quickly at Mr. Cole, hoping he wouldn’t bring up my little episode. There’d be plenty of time tomorrow to talk to them about all of it, and I wasn’t going to ruin their event. “It takes some of us longer to get pretty,” I retorted, tapping his nose and grinning. Chann snorted, sending out a rapid-fire text message, evidently informing the others of our location. It took only minutes before I saw Shannon, Alarick, and Zev slip through the crowd to join us.
“Pixie!” Shannon cried, her smile soft and warm. “I stopped at your room, but couldn’t find you. I was going to put braids in your hair for you.” She indicated the narrow, pretty braids that decorated her own brown hair.
“Thanks, I’m okay for now though. It’s not like I have much hair to work with,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “I didn’t mean they’d be big braids. Besides, it’s traditional.” A quick glance around the gathered group of students and teachers had me realizing she was right, all of the females, no matter their age, had at least one braid in their hair. Some were elaborate, thick series of smaller braids all woven together. Others were thin and simple, similar to the style of braid Shannon wore. “It’ll just take a second,” she assured me, reaching up to quickly weave together the longer parts of my hair into a series of thin, tiny strands. “Beautiful,” she whispered in my ear as she let the braid drop. Heat flared in my cheeks as I stroked a finger down the interwoven strands.
“Very,” Chann agreed with a wink, causing the color to deepen in my cheeks, even as Zev made an agreeing noise.
“So, what’s first?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.
“The bonfire lighting’s over with, and the moonlight ceremony won’t start until almost midnight,” Alarick explained. “We’re free to grab food, play games, or just hang out.”
“I’ll leave the lot of you to your amusements,” Mr. Cole interjected. “As a scheduled chaperone, I better start mingling with the other students. Enjoy the festivities.” With a deep nod, he strode into the crowd, the students parting in front of him without a word.
“It’s hard to believe sometimes that he’s only nineteen,” Alarick muttered, scowling after Mr. Cole’s retreating figure.
I nearly stumbled, my eyes wide as I stared at him. “He’s that young?” I ran through our conversation on the roof, doing the math. I had been so focused on the moral of his story I hadn’t realized on how young it would make him.
“He’ll be twenty in a few months,” Alarick explained with a negligent shrug.
“Seriously?” I didn’t think I’d ever have a teacher that close to my own age, let alone one who was in charge of weaponry or who acted as though he was at least fifteen years older than he actually was. “And he’s been teaching for a while now? Without, like, a degree or whatever?”
“Not human, remember?” Zev nudged me with his shoulder before ruffling my hair. “Besides, it’s not like he’s teaching an academic class.”
“Come on,” Chann begged, grabbing my hand to begin tugging me through the crowd as Zev darted ahead of us. “We’ll feed you first and then go find some fun.”
“I thought I was the fun,” I teased, letting him pull me along and trying not to notice the way the muscles of his shoulders pressed against his blue and white Henley shirt. He was going to be freezing by the end of the night, despite how warm the day had been. It was still a surprise to see all of them in casual clothes—most of the students choosing to stay in their uniforms during the day and even on weekends, the way Alarick was now. He wasn’t as buttoned up as he usually was, however, with his tie off and the top button of his dress shirt unfastened to show the bronzed skin at his throat as the light from the bonfire danced over us. Chann dropped my hand as we approached the bonfire, making a beeline for tables of food that dotted the area.
“Here!” Zev’s words were slightly muffled around the food in his mouth as he shoved a massive s’more into my hand.
“Hot!” I yelped, as the marshmallow stung my fingertips, but I didn’t hesitate to bite into the sweet goodness. “Peanut butter?” I asked, bringing the treat closer to my eyes so I could inspect it. It was good, though I hadn’t expected the addition of the peanut butter cup rather than the traditional chocolate bar.
“There’s all kinds, but I figured peanut butter was a safe bet,” Zev replied, licking the sticky marshmallow from his fingertips. My eyes tracked the way his tongue weaved around his fingers and he grinned wickedly. “I’m happy to help you clean up too,” he murmured, his voice husky and his green eyes reflecting a heat that had nothing to do with the bonfire behind us.
“Ha,” I huffed weakly, stuffing the last of my s’more into my mouth so I didn’t have to answer him.
“Pixie!” a little voice squealed, before a warm body attached itself to my abdomen. I looked down at the beaming face of Luna, her blonde hair done up in a dozen braids of varying sizes, as she hugged me again. “I get to stay up for the ce
lebration tonight. Mama even did my braids for me,” she informed me, rattling it all off in one breath, her smile contagious.
“They’re very pretty,” I told her solemnly. “It’s my first Flower Moon, so you’ll need to tell me what to do, okay?”
She giggled, squeezing me harder. “I don’t know, silly. It’s my first party too.” She turned her bright smile onto Alarick. “You’ll help, right?” she inquired, her eyes pleading.
“Of course, pup,” he agreed, tugging one of her braids, his blue eyes soft. “Come on, guys, let’s get plates for everyone,” he ordered the twins, tugging them by their collars. “They need more than s’mores to eat.”
“I’ll grab drinks,” Shannon offered, scrambling away before I could object as I was left standing there with Luna.
“Where are the other pups?” I questioned, unsure what to do with the munchkin currently refusing to release her grip on me.
“They’re at story time with Borris and Zelda.” She rubbed her head softly against my stomach.
“Luna,” a feminine voice scolded, and I winced when I saw her mother scowling at us. “What did I tell you about the human?”
Luna pouted, but withdrew her arms from my legs, her head drooping under the reprimand. “Sorry, Mama.”
“She was just showing me her braids,” I assured the woman, trying to smile as non-threateningly as I could. “You did a beautiful job on them.” She merely nodded stiffly, holding out a hand for her daughter. Luna sighed softly, her head still low, before darting over to her mother and grasping her hand, allowing her to lead her through the crowds and away from me. “They’re the ones who can eat me,” I muttered, irritated. “Why am I the villain of the story?” An insane urge to do a wicked witch cackle tickled through my mind and I pushed it away, hoping the others would be back soon.
“Sorry!” Shannon murmured, appearing at my elbow as though she’d been summoned, carefully balancing a series of stacked cups in her hands. “Took me longer than I thought. Luna left?” She looked around for the little girl. “I got her a drink too.”
“She went with her mom.” I tried to keep my tone neutral, but from the look Shannon shot me, I hadn’t quite succeeded. “The bonfire’s nice,” I commented instead, indicating the wall of dancing flames. I was grateful for the warmth it provided, though the others didn’t seem to notice the bite in the air.
“Here.” A soft weight settled over my shoulders, and I glanced over in confusion at the jacket Alarick had draped around my shoulders. A hat and even gloves followed, and I stared at the soft material.
“Thanks,” I breathed out quietly, completely confused by the gesture.
“You’re only in jeans,” Alarick responded with a shrug. “Humans have weaker immune systems than we do and are more vulnerable to the cold. Considering you didn’t take your own precautions, I figured you could borrow mine.”
I slid into the oversized materials, the soft cashmere a balm on my tender skin. “T-Thanks,” I stammered out, breathing in deeply enough that I could smell the subtle, rich scent of whatever soap he used.
“Man, I should’ve thought of that,” Chann muttered as he approached with plates of food balanced on his arm. Zev was only a few steps behind him and similarly laden. “Now your clothes will smell like her. Not fair, dude.”
I blushed, and Alarick chuckled, smirking at his friend. “Let’s find a spot to eat,” he suggested, taking some of the drinks from Shannon as I accepted some plates from both Chann and Zev to lighten their load. “It’s too crowded here. There are tables up under the trees.” He moved away, the crowd parting around us as we followed in his wake.
“What exactly happens at the ceremony?” I inquired, as we settled into our seats under the heavy branches of the pine trees and out of the crush of bodies that still flowed around the fire. The food was surprisingly typical carnival fare—Italian sausages, popcorn, French fries, and funnel cake were stacked on my plate.
“Oh, you know, the usual,” Zev said airily around a mouthful of cake. “Strip naked, howl at the moon, sacrifice a human.” I giggled, tossing a piece of popcorn from my plate at him, though he easily snatched it from the air and popped it into his mouth while I grabbed another piece.
“You don’t have to get naked if you’re not comfortable with it,” Shannon assured me and I paused, the popcorn just outside my lips.
“Wait, he’s serious?”
“Of course. You’re the human sacrifice, you know,” Chann teased, tugging on one of my braids.
“Alarick?” I pleaded, turning my attention back to him.
“I assume you’re aware we don’t plan to sacrifice you,” he responded placidly, his blue eyes twinkling when I growled in response. “Nudity is optional, as Shannon said.”
“There are two different ceremonies,” Shannon explained. “One’s for the really young ones, so there’s no nudity involved. It makes it easier for them to remember to act human if they focus on human sensibilities as they’re growing. We’re at ease with nudity, I mean, our clothes would just be ruined in a shift if we weren’t naked at the time.”
“But you’ll all be naked?” I squeaked, heat infusing my cheeks. A small, hopeful part of me internally squealed in excitement at that idea. Images of the muscles I’d felt under the twins’ shirts, the bronze skin that poked out of the collar of Alarick’s dress shirt, the contrast of Shannon’s dark hair against her tan skin, even the strength of Mr. Cole’s hands as they had pressed into me, flashed in my mind. The flush of heat that worked over my skin had me gasping for breath.
Alarick’s growl was deep and low, his eyes glowing a brilliant blue, and the sound was echoed by both Chann and Zev. “Apparently she likes that idea,” Zev noted silkily, his tone huskily teasing. “She smells damn good, doesn’t she?”
A squeal of embarrassment slipped past my lips. My cheeks were on fire as I ducked my head down. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, he’s very serious,” Chann countered smoothly, reaching out to stroke a finger down my cheek. “The only thing I want to know is which one of us were you thinking about just now.”
I didn’t think I could get any warmer as I sputtered, unable to answer his question. What would they say if they knew I’d imagined all of them naked—including our weapons teacher? “I bet I could convince her to tell us,” Zev teased, reaching up to tug on my braid. “I definitely want to know the answer.”
“As do I,” Alarick purred. I gaped at him in shock, unable to process his words. Had he really just flirted with me?
“Shannon?” I yelped, as I met her pretty green eyes.
“I wouldn’t mind knowing either,” she admitted, color mantling her own cheeks.
“We can’t exactly make your dreams come true if you don’t tell us what they are,” Chann cajoled, his grin deeply wicked. “Was it me? Zev? Alarick?” Though his words were teasing, there was a core of steel in them. His brow arched over his brilliant green eyes and he glanced at Shannon beside me. “Shannon?” he pushed. “Someone else?” That idea brought growls from everyone at the table, even meek Shannon.
“So, you’re all going to this ceremony?” I said, attempting to change the subject.
Alarick’s chuckle was deep and low, and he leaned into me, surprising me when he licked a path up the side of my neck. “You aren’t going to change the subject on us, Penny,” he whispered, the blatantly sexual gesture and the use of a nickname making me gape. “Yes, we’re all going to the ceremony, but you need to answer Chann first.” His eyes were luminously blue, his power near the surface, but well in his control.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything,” I denied, the lie sour on my tongue.
“Liar,” Zev breathed, his green eyes glowing in the darkness. I hadn’t seen him use his power before, and I wasn’t quite sure what his skill was.
“Were you thinking about me, Penny?” Alarick continued, his lips brushing against my ear and making me shiver. “Or was it the twins that had you smelling good enough
to eat?”
“You really do smell good,” Shannon added softly, sliding closer on the bench. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Pixie.”
“I’m not ashamed,” I nearly snarled.
“Lie,” Zev responded, arching a brow.
Chann chuckled. “You’re not going to get anything past him. Not when his power’s active. He can see lies on you.”
“Really?” I asked him skeptically.
“Feel like testing me, Poppy?” he challenged, his eyes continuing to glow. “Tell me a truth or lie then. I’ll always be able to tell.”
I considered him for a moment, enjoying the distraction that allowed some of the heat to fade from my cheeks. “My favorite holiday is Christmas,” I offered.
He cocked his head. “Truth.”
I waved my hand. “Lucky guess.” I thought for a moment. “I had my first kiss when I was fourteen,” I tried, ignoring the growls surrounding me.
“Truth,” he snarled. “Save the boy some harm, Pixie. Don’t tell me his name.”
“What makes you think it was a boy?” I countered, arching a brow as Shannon hissed.
“Was it?” he pressed quietly, his eyes still glowing. The others remained stiff by our sides, watching our back and forth.
“No,” I lied with a wicked grin, hoping the distraction would help sell it. “What are you going to do, beat up a girl?”
“Nah, I’d sic Shannon on her,” Zev replied, and I resisted the urge to smirk. “Or I would if it was true. Another lie, Poppy.”
“Stop teasing, Pixie,” Shannon said, patting my hand. “He really can tell. I’m a lot less jealous than they are, but you’re riling them up.”
“They don’t have anything to be possessive of,” I objected. “It’s not like, well…” Heat returned to my cheeks and I trailed off. What would they do if I admitted the truth? If I confessed that I wasn’t attracted to just one of them, but to all of them. “You wolves are all very pretty, you can’t blame a girl for looking.” I waved an airy, unconcerned hand.
Flower Moon Rising (Lupine Hollow Academy Book 1) Page 18