Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

-Oliver-
I think none of us Spirit Walkers were surprised that the werewolves wanted to stay the night with us. Natalie and Mike didn't mind, since they had been prepared for it. I was so happy that they let my friends stay. I knew it was the first night for us all, and that my brand-new foster parents were exhausted after moving all our stuff in during the past few days and probably could've used the peace and quiet, but the idea of sleeping alone in a new place was a bit scary for me.
Now it wasn't. It was still only seven in the evening when we made the beds ready for us all, and one by one, went to take a shower in my new bathroom. I went first since they all insisted on it, so I washed myself quickly and then changed into my pajamas before stepping back out.
It was fun to watch them all get excited over taking an actual shower with hot water. They all took their time in there, and when they did eventually step back out, they had big, refreshed smiles on their faces.
"I will never leave this place," Tilly said when she joined us with my bathrobe around her. "Running water is a blessing. I'm so sick and tired of boiling enough water for a bath for half of the evening!"
"I'm sure you can visit us as often as you want," I said with a chuckle.
She went to sit down on the bed next to Arch, who was leaning against the backrest buried in covers. Jaden and I had gathered enough pillows against the wall to lean against. We were going to have a movie night! We even had snacks! I'd never had one before. I'd never had my own TV – it was now hanging on the wall above my desk – nor friends.
I couldn't believe that a few months back, I was alone and homeless.
I snuggled closer to Jaden when the movie started. He pulled the covers tighter around us and lay back against the pillows. The movie started soon, but I couldn't really focus on it. I really tried to, but I kept looking around my room. My room. My beautiful desk, my massive bed, the closet, the bathroom...
My room.
I had my own room...
The door was partly open, and I could hear Natalie and Mike chatting in the living room. They, too, were watching TV, but they weren't focusing on it, either. I could hear happy laughter and excited giggles...
My foster parents.
I was getting so emotional that I curled up next to Jaden, resting my head on his shoulder. He could sense it all, and wrapped me into a tight hug. I felt his lips brushing my temple. His spirits were trying to soothe mine. I summoned his Echo just to get something to distract me so I wouldn't start crying like a baby. The Echo started jumping around like it always did, making me smile.
I stopped even trying to pay attention to the movie. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, after all. A very good day, but exhausting. Jaden and his Echo comforted me in silence, giving me all the time I needed to rest and simply enjoy this new environment. It was really nice. Now if only we weren't in grave danger...
At some point, I continued watching the film, but I'd lost the plot already. I didn't mind. It was a simple comedy, so I was still able to enjoy the jokes and silly incidents. By the time it ended, I felt calmer and more balanced again, thanks to Jaden's presence.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," I muttered when I realized it.
"Hmm?" Jaden turned to look at me.
"If I weren't your mate, I wouldn't have this home right now," I explained.
I could feel his regret again. I knew he hated himself for not letting me in sooner.
"It's not your fault," I whispered. "You didn't even take that long to come around."
"I'm just... What if I hadn't accepted you in the end?" he asked quietly.
"Please – how could you have resisted me?" I joked, bringing up the mood again.
"Fair point," he snickered and planted a kiss on my cheek.
The mood between us two did come back up, but I could feel some dark clouds gathering over the couch. I sat back up and turned to look at Tilly and Arch. They both seemed to be deep in their thoughts. I also felt like this was a good moment to bring up the topic of mates.
"So. Are we going to continue pretending there are no elephants in the room?" I asked.
The both turned to glance at me, then at each other.
"There are no elephants," Tilly said a little too casually.
"Please – we all know there's a certain human-shaped elephant here right now," Jaden said, speaking like he'd known about it for a long time now.
Tilly glared at him, but surprisingly, let out a sigh. "I don't know... All I can say is that I'm sorry I was so hard on you during the whole Oliver is your mate incident," she spoke quietly.
"Yeah, it's not that simple, am I right?" Jaden asked sympathetically.
"Indeed."
"I actually..." I trailed off, not knowing if I should tell her what Selene told me, but since we were on the topic... "I asked Selene about Ben."
"Yeah? What did she say?" Tilly asked, perking up.
I gave her a brief summary, and by the time I finished talking, Tilly looked annoyed. She groaned and flopped down against the backrest.
"Thanks for nothing, Selene," she sighed. "I don't know what to do! Should I just wait until this whole thing is over? It's not like we're in a hurry. Unless one of us dies."
"It's a hard decision," Arch said quietly. "I mean, how can we tell what's the right thing to do?"
"Do you think you're doing the right thing?" Jaden asked him.
"I..." Arch trailed off for a moment, and a small smile appeared on his lips. "I think... yes? I mean... I..."
"You're seeing Jack, right?" Tilly asked. "How's it going?"
"He, uh... He lets me bring cookies for him."
"You and those damn cookies," Jaden laughed.
"Hey, cookies have never failed me, all right," Arch chuckled cheerily. "And I think he's letting me come closer... Last time he took the bag from my hands."
"That definitely is close," Jaden said, and was silent for a moment before he continued, "So you have the hots for our enemy's son?"
"Shut up," Arch snorted, but smirked. "Well..."
The shrug he gave explained a lot.
"Well good for you," Tilly said. "Both of you. All of you."
We gave her sad smiles.
"I'm sure everything will become clear soon," I said. "Your bond with him has potential. Even Natalie sensed it, so maybe things will solve themselves if you give it a little more time."
"Yeah, maybe," she said and sighed. Then she smiled. "He is cocky, though."
"I think he has a good temper, yes," Arch agreed.
"Ehh..."
We all turned to look at Jaden.
"What?"
Jaden shrugged. "I mean, there's something off about that guy."
"What do you mean?" Tilly frowned.
"He's... He's too cocky," Jaden said. "He... I know this sounds stupid and self-centered, but he's not... yielding."
Both Arch and Tilly stared at him for a moment. "Huh?"
"Yeah, he's... Normal people and most of the supernaturals look away if I want them to, but he doesn't."
"...Huh?" Tilly frowned harder.
"The Alpha spirit," Arch guessed. "People sense it and instinctively know not to start anything with you."
"Exactly," Jaden said. "Thank you! But Ben doesn't. He's like... completely unaffected."
"And that's a bad thing because...?"
"It's not, I guess," Jaden said with a pout. "It's just... Not normal."
"Humans can possess Alpha spirits too," Arch said. "Rayleigh was one. Maybe Ben is like that, too."
"So if someone were to turn him... He'd become an Alpha werewolf?" Tilly asked, her eyes sparkling maybe a little too much. "That explains why he has the guts to flirt with me."
"Yeah, I suppose it's that," Jaden said. "I don't know how else to explain it. I mean, he is human."
"So was Oliver," Tilly chuckled. "Until he wasn't."
"He's not a Spirit Walker," I said.
"Too tall," Tilly and Arch said at the same time.
"Exactly," I chuckled.
It was hard for me to fall asleep that night, but mostly because I was so excited. The new sounds, the silence, the smells, the lights and shadows I wasn't used to... There was so much to take in. But I didn't mind the sleepless night. I just wanted to enjoy it all.
I did get a few hours of sleep. When I opened my eyes, the sun was already up, but my friends were not. I admired their ability to sleep so well in an unfamiliar place, but I had the feeling it had something to do with their deep bond. I probably would still be sleeping as well because of it, but now I was too eager to get up and go greet my foster parents.
I really liked calling them that.
I sneaked out of the room and closed the door as quietly as I could, and turned around to see Natalie and Mike sitting at the dining table drinking coffee and reading the news. Though now they were watching me with smiles on their faces.
"Good morning, honey," Natalie said and got up to me and gave me a big, warm hug. "Are you hungry? I made breakfast ready."
"Morning," I whispered back. "I'm starving. But I should probably wait for the wolves."
"Just a little something?" Natalie said, offering me a toast.
My stomach growled at the sight.
"Okay," I smirked and sat down in front of Mike.
"So, how was your first night?" he asked.
We talked about the night with hushed voices, comparing our experiences in the new home. They hadn't had much luck with sleep, either, for the same reasons: too excited.
I couldn't even put into words how much I loved sitting there at the table, eating breakfast that had been made specifically for me, not for twenty people. There were no hyper or tired kids making a lot of noise around, just Natalie and Mike. And three sleeping wolves in the room behind me.
I was just so happy. Part of me couldn't even believe this was real... Werewolves, gods and a magical war were just fine, but having a real home? It was hard to believe.
And our home was so nice and pretty too. So clean. So quiet. I just loved the quiet. Especially after the sleepless night and the slight headache I was having because of that.
It didn't take long before the wolves woke up too and joined us in the kitchen. We had fun chatting and joking around. After we all had our stomachs full, we decided to go for a walk to see the neighborhood. I was excited to take a look around, and I was especially interested in seeing the forest.
Natalie and Mike gave us the permission but made us swear we wouldn't get too far. It sucked that we were in danger, but I refused to let it ruin my day.
The neighborhood was small and peaceful, with lots of trees and nature all around us. The houses and apartment buildings had a lot of space between them, and sometimes I could only see glimpses of the rooftops hiding behind the trees. I really loved that place. It loved how close we were to nature.
And then we stepped into the forest. It was quite warm, so our shoes got wet pretty fast in the melting snow, but that didn't stop us from venturing deeper. Not too deep, but deep enough so my friends could turn into wolves and run around like the mad puppies they were.
"Guys...?" I chuckled, picking up a thick branch from the ground. "Who's up for some fetch?"
I had three sets of wolf-eyes on me. They all prowled closer, their ears pinned up as they got ready to chase after the branch. Sometimes... If these weren't my friends... I definitely would've needed to change my pants.
I threw the stick as far as I could and the wolves dashed after it, fighting for the right to bring it back to me. Jaden won this time, but both Arch and Tilly were still trying to get it from him. I had to look around to make sure no one saw us when they growled angrily at each other.
"Should you guys take turns?" I asked with a chuckle.
I got protesting whines as a reply.
"Fine – but try not to alert the entire neighborhood," I said, and threw the stick again.
They all reached it at the same time and tried to snatch it before everyone else, but the poor thing wasn't meant for werewolf jaws, so it broke into three small pieces. Oh, the sad whining that ensued after that... They ran to me and continued crying over the broken stick.
"Right," I chuckled, scratching them all. "Now you all go find your own sticks, and we take turns who gets to go get it, okay?"
They agreed and ran to find their own branches. Obviously, it took a while since they all wanted to have the biggest stick. I was just laughing at their silliness while they compared who got the biggest one.
"Come on! I'm a tiny human! I can't throw those logs," I told them, and off they went to find something else.
Finally, we had a well-organized fetching ring. Every time I threw one, another wolf was banging their stick on my knees, and there was no fighting anymore. I had a lot of fun watching them go and jump high in the air to catch their sticks before they could touch the ground. My poor shoulder got tired much faster than the wolves, but I didn't have the heart to end this game too soon.
I could only wonder where they were getting their energy from. Once I finally had to give up, they started playing in the snow, wrestling when they got too close to each other, and as I continued walking, they started running around the trees, chasing each other. From time to time, I felt a cold nose brushing my hand, asking for pets and once they had enough scratches, they ran off with tails wagging, just to come back a moment later.
It was so nice. I really wished we could just live peacefully like this.
We spent a few hours in the forest, and it was I who started getting tired first. We took our time walking back home, and when the building came into view, the wolves turned back to humans.
"That was so refreshing," Arch said, stretching his back. "I've missed this so much..."
"Same," Tilly agreed, and Jaden nodded. "I miss our little cabin, too. Once we've kicked the bad guys out of our lands, we should go visit it with Oliver!"
"Oh, I almost forgot you have a secret hideout," I said. "What is it like?"
"Just a small hut in the woods, no running water or electricity," Jaden explained. "But we love the place. It's so nice and cozy."
"We'll definitely take you there once this whole thing is over," Tilly promised with a smile.
"Great," I said, returning her smile.
Once we got back inside, we snuggled under the blankets in my room to watch TV with big cups of hot chocolate in our hands. I hadn't even noticed how cold it had been outside – it had felt much warmer, but now I was frozen solid. Thankfully, Jaden was there to offer me his warmth, and the hot chocolate was working wonders.
How I wished every day could be like this...