Wolf under an oak tree.

The phone rang for a couple of minutes before he finally picked it up.

“Hello, Walter.”

“Oh my God! Why can't these two love birds go and trouble someone else, instead of waking me up from my beauty sleep every single time.” Walter groaned from the other end, and I heard a lot of shuffling.

“Good morning to you too. And I am doing great this morning. How are you?” I asked him sarcastically, and he sighed again, and I know that he must be cursing me even more right now.

“What do you want, Luna?” Walter asked, dragging the Luna word for extra emphasis, and I shook my head at his childish behavior.

“Why are you grumpy early this morning? Didn't you just leave my house like thirty minutes ago? I mean, why are you sleeping again?” I asked him.

“Maybe, it because I was on night patrol and when I just came home to sleep, your stupid mate had to drag me to your home for no freaking reason, and now when I was about to catch on some sleep again, you had to just ruin it.” he sounded annoyed, and I know that I would have felt the same way if people kept disturbing me.

“I know how you must be feeling, Walter, and I am so sorry for that. But, I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't an emergency, right?” I asked him.

“You are right. So what happened? Are you in any trouble?” Walter asked, and I can clearly hear the panic in his voice and the opening of a door.

“Walter, wait! Don't tell anyone yet. First, hear me out.”

“Alright, tell me, what is it?”

“Okay, so my parents gifted me a stone, and since you still didn't give me back the ring that I gave you to resize. I want you to add this stone to that ring also.” I finished, and I heard nothing from the other end, so I brought the phone away from my ear to see that he was still on the call. “Walter? Can you do that for me?”

“Are you fucking serious? Did you wake me up from my sleep to tell me this?” Walter was clearly agitated.

“God, Iris, now I know why the moon goddess has paired you two together. You guys are just fucking perfect for each other.” after that, he cursed for the next few minutes before he calmed down and spoke again.

“Alright Iris, I will attach the stone in the ring for you. “ Walter said after a long silence, and I quickly did a happy dance in my room.

“Besides, I was anyway going to come and give you the ring later today, but since you want a stone attached to it, could you bring it to the packhouse so that I can make the necessary adjustments for you?”

“Sure, I will be there in thirty minutes,” I said, and I hang up. After that, I quickly took a shower and dressed in a loose summer dress with a pair of flats, and I went downstairs.

“Iris, where are you going?” Ada and my brother were already standing in the foyer, and it looks like my brother is all set to go.

“I am going to town. I have a few things that I need to buy.” I said, and Ada nodded her head.

“Okay, be safe,” Ada said, I nodded at her, and I made my way to my brother and gave him a tight hug, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me.

“Have a safe flight. And come back soon.” I whispered in his ears, and he nodded his head before we pulled away.

“You stay safe here and make sure that you don't bring home any trouble.” Cole joked, and I lightly smacked his hand before I looked around for my niece.

“She is in the car,” Ada answered my unspoken question but something was off about her, she has been avoiding any eye contact with me for the past few days and she always spoke only a word or two to me. This made me worried and anxious at the same.

Did Ada find something out?

I nodded my head before heading out. And when I reached Cole’s car, I saw that Beatrice was sitting at the back, on her car seat, looking at the road outside.

“Beatrice?”

“Aunty Ilis, are you also coming to the airport with mommy and daddy?”

“No darling, I have a few errands to run. But, I will see you later, alright?” I said, and I brought her into a warm hug, which she returned.

“Okay, and could you please get me some chocolates?” she asked me with an innocent voice.

“But didn't grandma and grandpa get you chocolates when they came?”

“They did, but daddy and I finished it earlier,” she said, and I shook my head, but I promised her I would get it before I closed the door and made my way to my car. Before I go to the packhouse, I thought of getting Walter his favorite cookies from the bakery downtown as an apology gift. So I sped towards the town.

It didn't take me long to get to the busy town, but by the time I reached the town, the sky above was covered with grey clouds, and there was this occasional thunder and lightning.

Wow, just great, just when I needed to buy some cookies for Walter, I had to be met with bad weather.

I parked my car in front of a small boutique and took my purse and umbrella from the car before getting down, as soon as I got down, I was greeted with a cold breeze and the smell of rain which made me smile since I always liked the smell of rain. I locked my car and made my way to the pavement, and I started walking toward the only bakery that this town has. Once I reached the old brick building that was modernized with flowers and paint, I went inside to be greeted with the smell of freshly baked goodies.

“Hello ma'am, what can I get for you?” the person standing behind the cashier asked me, and I looked at all the baked goodies that were kept in front of me in a glass box. There were cakes of all colors, donuts, and cookies that were available in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

“Can I have a set of twelve cookies from all the colors and flavors?” I asked her, and she nodded at me with a smile on her face and started packing my order, once I was done paying for it, I also bought some chocolates for Beatrice before I made my way back to the car, and once I had loaded the goods at the back I was about to get in when I felt this strange pull towards an alleyway that was a few, meters away from me. And being the curious idiot that I am, I followed my instinct and made my way to the alleyway.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I heard yelling from there, and I can see that a woman and a man were standing there, but I can't clearly see who they were.