Page 14 of Timber Hollow

14

Rattlesnakes

full moon

W aking up by myself has put me in a foul mood. I try not to think too hard about the reason for that as I get dressed in a sage green cropped long-sleeve and jeans. But, even being in a shitty mood won’t be a good enough excuse to get out of what I have to do today.

Unfortunately, since Magnus decided to order me to go see my Mother in front of the entire pack, I should probably do that. Go see her today before she joins the Pack for the Full Moon. Sounds about as fun as going to bed in a sleeping bag full of rattlesnakes right now.

I've been home for almost a week already and haven’t managed the few miles to her house. My mom will be pleasant I know, at least on the surface. There are always thinly veiled insults and jibes in her words. In how she says things. It’s all passive-aggressive bullshit, or playing the victim. That’s all she knows. More than that though, I know Mom is going to ask about Ethan. And, his car that I currently walk towards, trying to find music for the drive over on my phone. The engine rumbles when I turn the key over, vibrating the car.

I’m really going to miss this beast when Ethan takes it back.

This morning had been cold, frost glazing the windshield until the Sun melted it off. I’d watched the ice disappear through the window while I sipped on coffee. I wish, for one single moment, that Athena and I have a better relationship as I pull away from my apartment. Once upon a time, we'd been close, thick as thieves even. I don't know what changed, but suddenly we stopped talking every day, then every week, and then just all together. At this point it's been… years since I've spoken to either of my siblings.

Either way, I suppose it's time to go home. No matter how much I wish things were different. Driving over there barely takes any time at all.

My childhood home sits near the middle of town, a one-story house painted a horrifying pale yellow. My mom always liked the color, going so far as to paint the inside of the house a similar shade at one point. When I'd left home, the lot on the end of the street had been empty. Now, a new robin's egg blue house sits there. I have almost no doubt that it is Athena's house. I don't see anyone moving about inside, so I have to assume she's at Mom's.

Great.

Maybe it won't be that bad. My wolf's golden eyes peer out from the dark of my mind, her hope for me as tangible as a physical thing.

Maybe. I agree, even if I know differently.

Walking up to the door, I can't help but feel like I should knock. Like I need permission to enter. I don't, though, if only because I know that if I were to knock on the door I would be greeted with something like 'What, don't think you're welcome anymore?' or something similarly crass and passive-aggressive.

The door creaks now, the hinge not nearly as silent as it once was. As I shuck my boots off, I'm hit with a wave of nostalgia. The house smells like Mom's homemade chicken noodle soup. She used to make it once or twice a season, once the weather turned cold. Mom would also make it if either of my siblings requested it when they were sick. I can’t say I remember ever getting the same treatment.

Athena is sitting at the bar, a bowl of steaming soup on the countertop before her. Mom has her back turned to the door, but I know she heard my entrance.

"Surprise!" I hoot, doing a little spin. "I'm home!" Mom turns at that, an exasperated smile on her face.

"Artemis! There's my girl." She says, pulling me into a hug, gripping me tight, and swaying side to side. "Oh, I missed you so much! My baby!" She hugs me like that for almost too long, before holding me by my chin, brushing my hair out of my face. "Your hair is lighter." She adds, "I like it."

"Thanks," I reply, giving her a tight smile, ignoring how it makes me feel. Of course, she'd like my hair lighter. I don't remind her of dad so much with it more like hers .

"Are you hungry?" She asks, already fishing a bowl out of the cupboard to fill with soup from the crock pot.

"Sure, a small bowl please," I answer, sitting on the stool next to my sister.

Athena says, "Hey. Heard you were back in town. Almost didn't believe it."

"Yeah, sorry I haven't been by yet. I started working right away and I've just been exhausted." The reasoning… excuse is for them both. It's not a lie, but it's not the truth either.

Mom sets my bowl of soup in front of me with a biscuit, saying "Too tired for your poor old Mom?"

My wolf rolls her golden eyes so I don’t have to.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have come sooner." I answer, filling my mouth with the scalding soup, even if it burns like a motherfucker. I don't have to talk if I'm eating. The soup is admittedly delicious. Peppery with good-sized chunks of rotisserie chicken, celery, and carrots. The good egg noodles instead of the cheap macaroni elbows she used to use.

As soon as we leave we're going for a run. I say to my wolf, feeling the itch to leave under my skin already. Two minutes inside the house and I've said I'm sorry twice.

Deal. She answers.

"So you've come home and managed to get yourself in trouble with Magnus before you came to see me. What's going on?" Mom asks, making it sound as if I'd done something intentional to the Alpha.

"I heard you were already shacking up with Jay Temple." Athena chimes in before I have a chance to respond to Mom.

"Wow. Okay." I say to them both, my spoon clattering into the bowl. I huff a laugh before I say "I didn't get myself in trouble with Magnus. He's mad because I ran off without telling anyone and without joining in on Pack runs for a few years. He thinks I broke my wolf."

"Did you?" My mom flat-out asks, and the look on her face makes me think that she agrees with Magnus.

" No." I grate and leave it at that. My appetite is gone, but I know that if I don't at least look like I'm enjoying the food, and eat a good amount of it she'll be passive-aggressive about that too. So, I pick up the biscuit and dunk it lightly in the broth.

It's a fucking good biscuit, I'll give her that.

"And Jay? I noticed you didn't say anything about that ." My mom quips, right as I'm taking another bite of biscuit. Leaving the opportunity open for Athena.

"One of my friends said they were all hot and heavy all over each other outside the Packhouse the other day." My sister says smugly, sipping on her iced tea.

I make a face at her as if to say really? We're supposed to be on the same side! And there's absolutely no fucking way I'm admitting that we’re not dating, only pretending to because I almost got fired on my third shift.

"Alright, fine. I didn't know that the apartment Aggie set me up with was also apparently Jay's. But.. He uh…" I trailed off, not sure what to say. How could I explain that even without seeing him for seven years, I feel safe with Jay? "I don't know... He's Jay." I shrug, hoping it is enough.

I'm gonna kill Jay when I see him though. Murder him. Hack him up into tiny little pieces and scatter them across the forest so that they’re picking him out from between the weeds for centuries.

As heat crawls up my neck and cheeks again, I have to resist the urge to make some excuse to leave in the next three seconds.

"I always wondered if you'd go through with it, you know." My mom says, smiling softly at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Marry that rich boy. Never thought I'd see my baby girl again, but I didn't think you'd marry him either." The smug look on her face makes my stomach twist. "Are you going to run off again when he breaks up with you this time?"

I choke on my spit. " What? "

"You don't think I figured it out? You took off right before graduation and that party you begged me to go to. Then Jay starts asking about you looking like a lost puppy. He broke up with you and then you ran off."

"Not exactly, no. I left because I wanted to." I snap.

"Mhm. I don't think I believe that. You two were always hot and cold. You made me dizzy half the time."

"Right…. so, why is my love life the most pressing topic of conversation?"

"Because your ex is engaged already, but you've got a car in his name in my driveway while you're shacking up with the Alpha's boy."

"How do you know it's in his name?"

"Because you're not going to put vanity plates that say "rich boy" on a car like that. Agnes would have taught you better."

A quick glance out the window would prove that, yes. That is what the plates spell out. Damn .

"Fine. I found Ethan White in the midst of sticking his dick in someone else, so I left. I took the car as… compensation for dealing with his bullshit."

"And Jay?" Athena pushes, fingers laced under her chin, elbows propped on the counter.

"Jay is Jay. Put him and me in a room together for long enough and one of us will fold." I shrug. It's not a lie. He already feels like an itch under my skin, one I'm dying to scratch.

I thought you just needed to get laid . My wolf snarks, apparently satisfied with the conversation as well.

The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

"And that's all? You didn't come home for him?" Athena pushes again, and I have to restrain the urge to reach out and shove her off her barstool.

"No, I didn't come back for him . Apparently, everyone thinks that though." I sigh, remembering how Helena had also interrogated me as soon as I'd entered the Packhouse.

"Are you running with us tonight?" Mom asks, using her dusty mom instincts to sense that I don't want to talk about Jay anymore.

"Nope. Not allowed to join." I answer, taking the remnants of my now cold soup to the sink. Not that I'd run with my mom or sister in the Pack run anyway. They're too slow. Too loud.

My mom sucks in a breath, her eyes going round. " What ?"

"You heard me. I'm not allowed to join in this run. Magnus essentially said that if I wanted to be a lone wolf so bad , I could be one for one more full Moon. No one is allowed to join me, either. I'm to run alone while you all run together."

"That's what you get," Athena says under her breath, and I have to push down the sting of hurt. I don't know why I keep expecting her to take my side. It's been years since we were on the same side of anything. Even before I left we'd strayed apart. She has a ring around her finger now, and to shift the focus off of my shoulders once and for all, I ask her about it.

"Did you marry whats-her-face?" I knew she had a steady girlfriend before I left, but I couldn't say what her name had been.

"Daisy?"

"If that's who you were dating when I left, sure," I answer, leaning against the counter with my arms crossed.

"Yeah. We broke up off and on for a while but we found our way, eventually." Athena has a soft smile on her face, and I am happy for her.

"Daisy is wonderful. I love her!" Mom adds, and then the two of them start talking about how good of a cook my sister's wife is, cooing over the lamb steaks she makes on occasion.

Apparently, they do family dinners now too. Fucking kill me now.

I can't help but wonder what Dad would have thought about all this… about me. Would he have understood my inability to join in on another Pack’s run? Would he have let me go? Growing up I'd always been his shadow. The Shadow's shadow.

Because that's what Dad had always been. Magnus's shadow. His second.

"What does Magnus mean when he says ' blood debt to your father'?" I suddenly ask, interrupting their conversation about the menu for the next family dinner, that I've been invited to.

Mom cuts a look at me, before sighing heavily and leaning against the counter. "Your father made Magnus swear an oath, sealed with a blood bond, that our family would always have a place in Timber Hollow. So long as it's Magnus's blood in power. It was his contingency on becoming Beta. He didn't want to get himself killed in a fight, and then have us all be kicked out."

I hate her for how she says everything so callously, without her face betraying even a spec of emotion. But I swallow down my emotions, instead just nodding and letting them go back to their menu planning.

So if there is a blood debt in play, then my punishment is merely that. Punishment from the Alpha for running away.

After making excuses to leave my mom's around three, I head back towards my apartment. The Pack won't start running until nightfall, but they're all over at the Packhouse now. Eating, laughing and just being together. A family. Mom and Athena had been talking about going over soon, too.

I can't wait any longer though, I need to shift. I need to run.

The time I spent over at my Mom's has only made the need that much more urgent. When I pull into the lot for the apartment, I'm surprised to see that all the boy's cars are still there. Throwing the shifter into first and ripping the e-brake up with probably too much force, I exit the Stingray. I can't go inside.

I can't. I have to run.

My wolf is pacing inside my mind, and I can feel her fur under my fingers, her teeth in my maw. Taking the trail that leads into the forest, I shed clothing piece by piece. First my boots and socks, then my shirt, then my pants. I drop my underwear at the tree line, and then it's just me and my wolf.

I surrender. The words come out as a prayer. I don't mean to say it, but it doesn't matter. In seconds, my limbs all snap and rearrange, and her teeth emerge. The wolf. Me.

My paws barely touch the cool earth before I propel myself forward. The Moon isn't even visible yet, the Sun is still too bright— but I feel it.

I feel the ebb and flow of the tide in my blood, a song for the Moon and the Moon alone. Tilting my head back towards the sky, I let the note free- let it reverberate through the woods.

Here I am. Here I am.

Running through the trees, I trace my steps from days and years past. Even when I was young, on full Moon runs I would inevitably find myself separated from the pack, alone under the canopy of leaves. It's not half bad, no, it's just the fact that I'm not allowed to join the others. Not allowed to be part of my family for the night we're supposed to be closest.

Noise coming straight towards me disturbs my thoughts, and seconds later, Jay's wolf emerges. The two wolves flanking his either side, a step behind must also be Saint and Dante. I can't tell who is who, other than Jay is in the middle, his silver wolf distinct from the other two.

One is grey, looking like it has been dusted by cinnamon sugar, the color more dense along his forehead and spine. The other is more brown and red, only the points of it grey.

My hackles raise a low growl erupting in my throat. I'm on edge, and I have no idea what Jay is going to do. He takes a step, then another towards me, giving me ample time to read his movements. My muscles tense, locked, and loaded to explode into motion. Then, he brushes his body against my own, a sort of bump hug that would have sent me to my knees if I didn't feel so charged.

Jay has me- hook line and sinker and he doesn’t even know it.

I take a tentative step towards the deep forest, checking to see if they are going to follow. Jay's wolfy eyes are bright, and they all take that same step with me. My heart soars.

With a yip, I dash away. Claws digging into the dirt, the boys hot on my tail.

Hours and hours pass, running through the trees with them. The Moon rises, and still we run. Through the trees, jumping over streams, and sneaking behind waterfalls. We run all over the forest until even the Moon sets.

But every step of the way, Jay, Saint, and Dante are with me.

Jay

Resisting Artemis' call is impossible.

Even if I hadn’t known it was her, that she was here there is no resisting the howl she let loose.

I can’t believe she’s back though. I’d almost given up entirely on her.

Not anymore though. Not a chance. Not when I know how hard her heart races when I kiss her, even if she tries to pretend otherwise. With Saint and Dante following me, I keep sight of the black tip of her tail. I didn’t ask them to come, to disobey our Alpha, but they did anyway. My pack.

I never had any intention of listening to my father's order when it came to making Artemis run alone, again. Saint and Dante never let me get into trouble by myself, so the party of two became a party of four.

Following her clothes to the treeline like a trail of breadcrumbs set a fire in my blood. Every time she lets me get close, I wonder if I'll be able to pull away. I wonder if I'll tip my hand, and I wonder if she bolts again, if I’ll be able to find her.

I've kept tabs on her through the years, once I found her that is. Artemis had dropped off the face of the earth for a few years until one of my buddies in the Nevada Pack said he had a new bartender resembling my high school girlfriend. By the time I'd gotten there, Artemis was already gone. But it was her, the memorial polaroid of her sitting on the bar that was tacked up to the wall behind the top shelf booze now resides on the bookshelf in my room.

A few other packs had contacted me through the years, saying a blonde fitting her description had been there for a few days, gone without a trace. One out in Colorado had sent me a picture of her with both middle fingers up, wearing a cheesy grin.

And then, when her beautiful face showed up plastered across the tabloids, I thought for sure I'd die on the spot. I thought I'd lost her for good. The photographers sure did like capturing photos of Artemis standing next to her fiancé. Learning to let her go was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

But here she is. Leading me around the woods just like she used to. I'll follow her anywhere. Anything she wants, I'll give to her.

Artemis Hunt. The girl I never got over. She'll be mine again before she even realizes. I'll make sure of it.