He was gone when she woke up the next morning. However, little Luna was sleeping soundly upon the pillow beside her head. Anna sat up from the bed and yawned while stretching out her tired arms. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of her open window, remembering last night. Shaking her head, she sighed and stood up on the floor. Walking to the bathroom, she washed her face and brushed her hair. She walked back to her room and wore comfy shorts. After making herself look presentable, she walked downstairs and looked around for Lola.
The scent of delicious pancakes led her towards the kitchen. “Goodmorning, Grandma,” she greeted once she saw her Grandmother over the kitchen counter.
“Goodmorning, Dear.”
She hopped up and sat at the kitchen counter and looked over Lola. “Pancakes, yum!”
Lola glanced at her and lifted an eyebrow out of curiosity. “You seem very excited today,” she said suspiciously. “Did something happen yesterday?”
Anna blushed a little but managed to hide her face from Lola with her hair. How could she tell her Grandmother that she skipped School yesterday? She had been told to never tell lies ever since she was still young. Had been told to never disobey rules. She was a good girl. But then, she thought to herself, it felt nice being someone different, to be the other kind of girl, to be bad, to be not afraid of the consequences. So she thought, maybe it was best to just keep some things hidden for awhile.
“Nothing important,” she said. “Oh, hello there,” she greeted once little Luna entered the kitchen, seeming to have sensed the smell of food. A smile brightened from Anna’s face as she hopped down the counter and went straight to the fridge to take some milk. She poured it down in a bowl and placed it in front of the kitten which sat calmly near the entrance of the door looking so patient.
“Here you go, little girl.” She smiled as the kitten bent down to lick the milk. It felt nice knowing she could satisfy someone’s hunger. Even if it was only her kitten.
Just as she stood back up, the doorbell was ringing downstairs.
“Would you mind, Dear?” asked Lola from behind the counter.
“Sure.” She walked downstairs, thinking of possibilities. Expectations, perhaps. Would it be her cousins ringing the doorbell too early in the morning? She was puzzled by this. Although, in her heart, it was screaming someone’s name.
Zach.
Could it be Zach?
Her heart was pounding like a wild beating drum. And it seemed there was music. Sweet and romantic, full of desire and longing. It was ridiculous, she thought to herself. Last night, she knew he was there. She knew she slept with him. Together. In a single bed. She had heard his even breathing. Had heard his heart beating calmly inside his chest along with a steady drum. Had felt his strong arms surrounding her, warm large hands running up and down her arms. It was only last night and now.. she was already missing him. Aching for his touch. For his lips.
She took a deep breath and exhaled.
Zach.
She fixed her hair down her shoulder and fixed her shirt as she walked towards the front door. Somehow, she wanted to be beautiful. For him. Gulping down the lump in her throat, she stopped before the door and gently opened it.
Zach.
“Oh, Jake.” Her expression fell but only a little. She masked her disappointment with a fake smile and opened the door wider. “Come in.”
Jake took a moment and glanced down at her. Red lips. Rosy cheeks. Black long hair trailing down her shoulder. Thin shirt. Small shorts. Smooth legs. Bare feet. God, her body was taking his mind to many places. He walked inside and gave her a grin along with a suspicious raising eyebrow.
“You don’t seem very happy to see me,” he said, observing her. Yes, he could hear the pounding of her heart. But he could also see the ghost of a false smile that she plastered on her face.
“I just.. didn’t expect it to be you. Jake, you’re always full of surprises that sometimes I don’t know how I should feel about it.”
“Were you expecting someone else?” he asked, jaw clenching slightly, knowing it would break his heart to know her answer.
She looked away and pursed her lips. “Yes,” she muttered in a breath. She looked back at him. “But you’re here now. Have you eaten breakfast?”
He looked at her. Just looked at her. Why was she so naïve? he asked himself. How could she not feel the way he felt about her? The way he couldn’t take his eyes off her plump lips, always aching for the taste of her mouth?
“No, thanks,” he said. “I’ll just wait for you. I’m taking you to School today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“So you came here too early in the morning just to wait for me to get ready for School?” she asked in quite disbelief.
“You can say that.”
“Well, then where’s John?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Jake,” she scolded, frowning.
“What?”
“Where’s John?”
“He got his own business to take care of.”
“What kind of business?”
“Rogues.”
“Rogues?”
“Outsiders. Those who dare to trespass his territory, he punish them. Now that’s business.”
“Is that part of being an Alpha?”
“In many more ways than one? Yes, it is.” He paused for a moment. “You know?”
“Yes,” she said. “Though it still gets hard to think everything’s real as they are in books, you know. But I just gotta live through it.”
“You believe in fairytales?” he asked, amusement written all over his face.
“Is it a bad thing?”
“No,” he said. “The only thing wrong about it is how they make you believe in happy endings.”
“Don’t you believe in happy endings?”
“It doesn’t exist,” he said, as if he was reciting in class. “Endings are always tragic. Always ending in death. Grief. And sorrow. Someday, you’ll realize.. everything’s not the way they should be.” He took a step towards her. “Fates can be changed.” Another step closer. “Paths can be rewritten.”
She took a step back as he got closer but she bumped against a hard surface–the wall. He leaned his head close to her and looked deep into her oceanic eyes. “Then you can have what you want,” he said. “And not what you should.”
“Jake,” she exhaled in a breath, looking up at him beneath her tick lashes. “Stop.”