Waindale

“I thought we agreed that it was best to keep her out of this,” I say.

I follow my mom as she leads me to the living room. Adam is close behind me, and when we enter, grandma is sat there alone. “Your friends said that they would reach you later,” my mom says. “I think we need to have this talk alone.”

I face Adam, my chest rising and falling like the waves I tumbled into. Grandma looks up at me from the couch. She doesn’t give away anything on her face, so I hesitantly sit on the adjacent loveseat. Mom joins her, and Adam—me. I feel as if I have been called to the dean’s office. The only thing keeping me from dashing out the front door is Adam’s presence.

I watch grandma with big, innocent eyes—the ones I used to pull when I was younger and in trouble. “They told you?” I ask her, my voice unsure.

“They did. They told me quite a lot,” she says. “I’m not sure what to think of it, but I tried my best to understand.”

Air fills my lungs. “Okay, well, I guess I should introduce you both to Adam.”

“Adam is her mate, mom,” my mother reminds her although grandma seems to be keeping up just fine.

Grandma nods. “They told me a lot about mates. It’s a little crazy, dear. What have you gotten yourself into?”

“It wasn’t really my choice. It’s just the way things are. I knew it from the moment I saw him.”

“I know this is overdue,” Adam says, “but I am happy to meet you both. This must seem very strange, so if there is anything I can do to explain our situation or give clarity—”

“Okay, great,” my mom cuts in, not wasting any time. “Some basic information would be nice, so how old are you, Adam?”

“He’s four years older than me,” I answer.

“Wren, I’m sure he can answer for himself.”

I lean back against the couch and cross my arms.

“And how long have you been in Waindale?” She asks.

Adam doesn’t seem bothered by a bit of an interrogation. “I’ve been here since birth. My family’s pack has been located in Waindale for many generations.”

“And are your parents here with you?”

“Now that I’ve taken lead, they’ve gone south for a bit, but they’ll be back soon. Waindale is still their home.”

“Right. I’ve heard a lot about this Alpha business,” she mutters, looking to grandma.

“Adam is now the Alpha of his pack,” I sneak back in. “A lot rests on his shoulders now; he’s responsible for a lot of people. People in Waindale are a part of his pack, grandma. Your neighbors could be like him and you would have never known.”

“So you’re the leader of all these werewolves that are a part of one big group?” My mom clarifies.

“Yes. It’s passed down through family bloodlines genetically. We call it Alpha blood. Only those with Alpha blood can lead as Alpha,” Adam elaborates. “There are packs large and small all over the world. We are quite a significant pack in the northwestern region.”

“The kids told me that this is unusual. They said you aren’t normally mated to humans,” Grandma says. “I just don’t understand why Wrenley? Why her?”

Adam shakes his head a little. “I don’t know. Like humans, we have our own beliefs and spirituality. In our culture, mates are paired by the goddess of the moon. She controls who we are bonded to from birth and it can not be changed. You’re right that being mated to a human is very unusual. It has only happened a handful of times, and there isn’t a good reason why. In this case, we fall back on our trust in the moon goddess that who she pairs us with is who we are meant to be with.”

“We didn’t choose each other,” I add on. “Adam didn’t force me to be his mate.”

Grandma’s eyes gaze deeply into mine. “And this is what you want? You are accepting of all of this?”

I peer back to him for a moment. “Yes. I know it’s bizarre, but I need to be with Adam. Our souls are connected. Without him, without each other, we don’t know what we would do with ourselves. This is forever. For as long as I live, I will be with him.”

“You really feel so strongly?” She asks.

“I do. We need to be together. Without him, it’s like I physically can’t go on. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep—”

“Now this sounds familiar,” Grandma murmurs.

“Look, Wren, we love you, you know that,” my mom cuts in. “Adam seems like a stable person. I don’t mind you spending time together, but you’re only eighteen years old. You have your entire life ahead of you. I know you two are connected somehow, but I don’t want you tying yourself down so soon. I mean, you’re not even through with high school yet. When you say that this is forever, I can’t lie, it worries me, kid.”

“It’s overwhelming, I know,” Adam says. “We take things day by day. There isn’t much I can say besides the fact that I would never do anything to make Wrenley feel trapped. She is free to do as she pleases. She makes her own decisions.”

“I do,” I assure her. “Which I why I wanted to talk to you about living part of the time with Adam.”

Her eyes grow wide. ”Living together?”

“It’s what I want and what I think is best for me. Half of the time I’ll be based out of here, and the other half, I’ll be at Adam’s house.”

“Adam’s house, of course,” she breathes. “I-I don’t know about this one. You’re kinda pushing your luck here. I knew I was being nieve to believe that you two are just friends.”

“Just friends?” Grandma questions her. “They’re trying to tell us that they’re in love. Why would you think that they’re friends?”

“Okay, I wasn’t telling the truth completely when I said that. I was just scared of your reaction.”

My mom sits up. “Wrenley, I don’t want you making any mistakes. Living with someone, even partially, is a lot of responsibility. You’re still so young and moving in with a guy is something... It’s not something girls your age do. As your mother, I can’t sit here and tell you that this is a good idea.”

“Adam is responsible enough for the both of us. It sounds so crazy to you because you can’t see it from our perspective. When I’m not with him, I’m sick to my stomach, and he needs me too. I know my age is inconvenient, but that doesn’t change the facts. We can stay apart, sure, but it will wear me down. I’ll wither away right in front of your eyes.”

My mom turns to Adam. “There’s a lot to consider,” he says, “we understand that. Your concerns are valid. For me, having Wrenley around would assure me that she’s okay. We all want her to be healthy.”

Her eyes find me again. I know what she’s worried about. She’s thinking about her own experiences, reliving the hardships of moving too quickly without a net to fall back on. She’s thinking about being a young mom, raising a little girl on her own.

“I know you don’t want me to make the same mistakes you did,” I say directly at her, “but this is different. It’s hard to believe me when I say that what we have is forever, but I can’t prove any of it if you don’t give me the chance.”

Her shoulders drop. “You’re an adult now. If you want to stay with Adam for a few days a week, I’m not going to try and stop you. I’m trying to grasp your situation, and I hope you can try and put yourself in my shoes too. If you trust Adam, I’ll trust him too. But don’t get me wrong—if something happens, anything that harms you or puts you at risk, I’m pulling the plug. I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care if you’re an adult or not, understand?”

I nod.

My mom looks at grandma. “What do you think, mom?”

“Wrenley is a smart girl. I know you can take care of yourself, dear. I was married to your grandfather at your age and I turned out okay. Maybe to begin with—as a trial—you can live Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with Adam. If that goes well, then you can come back and forth as you please.”

“Really? You both trust me?”

The two of them nod. “For your well-being,” my mom says, “not for fun.”

When the conversation ends, I walk Adam outside to say goodbye. I shut the front door and face him on the porch, already hating the cold as it creeps back under my clothes. We look at each other for a moment before I say, “That went better than I expected. Are you happy?”

“Yes. I am. It will be a long wait until Friday, but it will be worth it.”

I take a few steps toward him as I say, “I’ll get some things together—things that can stay at the house for me. I won’t have to bring a bag back and forth then. My toothbrush will be next to yours. I’ll have a drawer of clothes; a few extra bottles in the shower.”

Adam looks into my eyes a says, “Your things can take up as much space as you like.”

Although I have four days to get stuff together for Adam’s house, the second he leaves I head for my bedroom and pile stuff into my suitcase that I keep under the bed. My summer clothes are dumped out and replaced with pajamas, jeans, shirts, socks, hair products, toiletries, and anything else I convince myself absolutely needs to be there. After an hour of working, I stand back and look at my mess. The zipper struggles against my sheer will but eventually gives in.

Over the next few days, a thing or two is shoved into the bag as I remember my favorite shirt or cute pair of underwear. I walk with my suitcase to school Friday morning and track down Imogen in the parking lot. She gets out of a small silver car when she sees me, and I hurry over to her.

“Thanks for letting me keep my bag in your car,” I mutter and heave the crammed thing into the trunk.

“Looks heavy,” she says. “You pack your whole life in there or what?”

“Oh, you know, pretty much.”

We walk up the front steps together. Vivianne is waiting just inside, surely watching the door like a hawk sitting on a high branch. The second we push through the doors, she’s swooping down to us. “I can’t believe it,” she breathes, making our duo a trio. “I know I can be convincing, but I wasn’t sure whether your grandma would believe us. I think it was Elara. She brought the human perspective in and totally helped her along. Gosh, it’s all coming true—my girl is leaving the nest.”

I hush Vivianne as we pass the girls’ tennis team. A racket comes swinging and I quickly duck. “Is it me, or is it extra crazy in here.”

“There’s an assembly today. Happens during third period,” Imogen explains. “The sports teams come out and so does Dean Murphy. They make some announcements. You know, typical stuff.”

“Oh! They’re going to talk about the winter formal,” Vivianne gushes.

“Winter formal?”

“We don’t have homecoming or prom, but after students begged for a few years, they allowed us a winter formal. This year will be the fifth one. Oh, Wrenley, it’s my absolute favorite thing. Last year I wore this light blue dress with rhinestones along—”

“Last year you went with Carl and got a headache from the music and threw up in the bathroom,” Imogen cuts her off and looks to me. “Carl ended up hanging out with some other girl the rest of the night. Turns out, all along he wanted to go with her. Vivianne and I went a little too crazy at the after-party and woke up on the beach.”

I look to Vivianne and she shrugs. “Carl was boring anyway. This year, I’m going to find the perfect date.”

“Huh, well winter formal sounds interesting. I never went to any of the dances at my old school. My friends and I would just have a sleepover or something.”

“You’re going to winter formal,” Vivianne tells me with a straight face. “I’m sure Adam will go with you.”

“Uh, yeah, no thanks. The last thing I want to do is ask Adam to a school dance when he’s busy with Alpha stuff right now,” I explain. “I’ll probably spend that night with him anyway. I’m sure you two will have fun, though.”

“What? No. Wrenley. Come on. It’ll be your one and only winter formal at Waindale Academy. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

We come to the hallway where my first class is located. I turn to the girls and sigh. “It’s only a dance. I have to go, but I’ll see you guys at lunch.”

As I walk away, I hear Vivianne call, “I’m not letting this go.”

“Didn’t think ya would,” I call back.