Lauren glared at her reflection in the mirror and raked her hands through her chestnut hair. She felt frustrated, hopeless and on edge, moreso because she had been waiting for Lia for hours. Dammit, where was the she-wolf when you needed her?
She dropped her hands and picked up her phone to check the time, making a mental note to give the werewolf girl a good shaking when they meet. Her eyes immediately traveled to the metal band around her left wrist and she shook it experimentally, knowing it would do nothing. The band wouldn’t break, no matter how many times she shook her wrist. She had tried everything from incessant pulling to screwdrivers and knives to even dipping her hand in the fireplace, hoping the thing would melt off but no luck. She’d suffered a first degree burn but it had healed pretty fast, which made her even more furious. She didn’t want to heal if it meant the wretched band would still be on her wrist.
She groaned and stood up from her vanity mirror and paced her room, her black chiffon dress billowing around her knees. Beth had forced her to wear the thing, aided by her mom. She’d rather wear her signature Jeans and sweater to the funeral than this dress though. It chafed under her armpits, and she tugged at the material impatiently, swearing colourfully under her breath. They were going to bury Alpha Jacob today, Lia was two hours late and her wrist was under bondage by a blasted bracelet.
So many things to be mad about.
The door of her room creaked open and she turned abruptly, a little startled. Mike’s head poked through the door, a smile on his face. She tried to force a smile as he opened the door wider and walked in.
“Hey,” she murmured, patting her dress nervously.
“Hi. Just came to check on you. Everyone’s waiting downstairs, come join us.”
“Well, I’m not leaving this room till Lia gets her butt up here.” Lauren snapped, a little too harshly, and she saw the smile melt off her dad’s face.
Her dad? This man wasn’t even biologically related to her.
She hadn’t really mentally reconciled the man who had kidnapped her and her mother and killed a number of her friends as her father. The first thought that came to her mind when she looked at this man in front of her was ‘dad’. Once upon a time, he was all she’d known as family.
“Okay.” Mike said, dipping his hands into his dress trousers “I’ll just go then.”
“No, wait.” Lauren called and grabbed his shoulder. “I’m sorry I snapped.” She placed a hand on her sweaty forehead and closed her eyes. “Too many things happening, it’s getting to me.”
“I understand.” Mike replied “More than you think.”
Lauren opened her eyes “You do?”
“Yeah.” He walked over to her bed and gripped the bedpost “It’s not only you, Lauren. Everyone has been on edge lately.” He eyed her warily “If only you’d come out of your room and actually talk to the people who care about you…”
Lauren could feel another wave of anger bubbling up inside of her and swallowed hard, trying to still it. It would not do to lose her temper again. And while she hated to admit it, Mike was telling the truth.
Everyone had taken the death of the Alpha pretty badly, but she had acted as though she was the only one feeling the pain. It had been two weeks since the battle at the facility, and since then she had come out of her room only to use the bathroom and to collect her food. She’d shut out everyone; she was sick of hearing them speak about how her Alpha saved all of them from the hands of her father. She’d heard ten times too much how he’d initially refused Beth’s appeal to help her, but then came to her rescue at the last minute.
They were all empty words, she thought. She’d seen how the life had bled out of him and knew that nothing would bring him back, no glowing anecdotes about his bravery, nor shedding of tears. He was gone and gone for good and that was that.
If she was taking the demise of Jacob Boris this hard, she wondered how Aidan must be feeling right now.
As if reading her mind, Mike asked “Have you seen Aidan since… everything?”
“No.” She replied, folding her arms around herself “We haven’t talked since then.”
“Did you try?” Mike enquired “Did you try reaching out to him?”
Lauren looked away and walked to her bed, collapsing on it “I haven’t. I got the feeling he would want to deal with everything that has happened alone.”
Mike joined her on the bed. “Do you want to talk about it? You know I’m always here.”
“No.” She said abruptly, still not meeting his eyes. She didn’t want to tell him about the yards of friction between herself and Aidan these past few weeks. Although the tension of the battle in Perkins had made them put aside their feelings for a short while and work together to escape Dr Makovsky, now that they were in such proximity to each other, they couldn’t avoid their feelings. What made it worse was that she knew the look of self-hatred she would see in his eyes if she ever saw him again. She couldn’t bear to see him beat himself up like that.
“Well, it might make you feel better to know that he was spotted somewhere in the woods yesterday.” Mike added, still looking at her.
Lauren looked at him suddenly, realizing where exactly Aidan would be in the woods, waiting for her. He would be at her cabin.
A knock came from the door and they both looked towards it. The door opened for the second time and Lia walked in, smiling tightly at them. Gratefully Lauren stood up from the bed and walked towards her. The other girl was dressed in a polka-dot straight dress with a halter neck, her hair still shoulder-length and with its characteristic blue streak.
“Hello.” Lia said, still smiling stiffly, waving at Mike who nodded in her direction “So sorry I’m late.”
“I’m supposed to have you up a wall with my claws in your face right now but okay.” Lauren replied, betraying a frown “Where the heck have you been?”
“Fitting myself into this dress.” Lia managed to reply “Why is it so tight?”
“Oh, shut up, Lia. It’s not that tight.” Lauren cut back. She too wasn’t an expert in dresses but she knew Lia was definitely overreacting. The girl was a stranger to things like this, period. She pulled her friend towards the door, followed by Mike, and opened it, stepping outside for something other than bathing and food for the first time in weeks.
They all went down the staircase together and into the kitchen, where Beth, Axel and Katherine were waiting. Beth had gone all out with her dressing, wearing a stiff-looking black off-shoulder dress and a black hat to match. Axel on the other hand went simple with a black dress shirt and pants.
Katherine immediately stood up from the kitchen chair where she was sitting and came to Lauren, giving her a choking hug. She released her after a few seconds and took the younger girl’s face in her hands, looking into her eyes.
“You look so beautiful, love.” Katherine said, smiling “I knew the dress would fit you.”
“Thank you, mom.” Lauren replied, slightly uncomfortable in her mom’s grip. She gave the older woman a once over and frowned “Aren’t you going?”
Katherine looked down at the khaki pants and button shirt she was putting on, a gift from Beth “Oh, no I’m not. I have to stay here and prepare for the funeral dinner.” Lauren looked around the kitchen and saw that the place had been laid out with food already.
“Uh, we’ll be late if we don’t leave on time.” Axel spoke up, glancing at his wristwatch “Let’s hit the road, shall we?”
Sighing, Lauren gently freed herself from her mother’s hands and walked over to the kitchen door, pausing to turn around at the other inhabitants of the kitchen.
“Alright.” She said, her eyes moving from one person to the other “Let’s get this over with.”