Ariella
I wake up and stare at the ceiling. I feel tired and tormented. I need to fix things with Harmony, too, but not today. Today, I just wanna have a lazy day and try not to think about my change happening soon.
I pull on a robe and then make my way downstairs to the kitchen. It's just after midday, and my stomach is cramping from craving red meat. Mom and dad are sitting at the island, discussing the building unrest amongst wares in Alaska and the news article that I brought their attention to. But I don’t get involved, I go straight to the fridge where I find a bowl of chopped up beef waiting for me.
“Thanks,” I say to my parents, grabbing a fork and glass of water before sitting down at the island with them. The meat satisfies my hunger straight away, but as good as this meat tastes, it is starting to get just a little bit boring.
“You're welcome, sweetheart. How was the party?” Mom asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Good and bad.” I shrug. “I kinda fell out with Harmony.”
“What? Why?”
I down my water. “We're just different.” I wipe my mouth and ignore their worried faces. “Anyways, Davonyé kissed me.”
“What?” dad says, more calmly than I expected.
Mom claps her hands together and I shake my head before I pop another piece of beef. They’re silent as I eat, so I finally look up to face them. Dad’s staring at me, but mom’s smiling all crazy. “Yeah. He kissed me. No words...” I shudder just from the memory. Ugh... Words weren't even needed...
“What was it like?” Mom asks inquisitively.
I smile. I can't help it. “It was... incredible.”
She laughs excitedly. “Fireworks? Butterflies?”
“That and more.”
“Did he ask?” Dad asks, kinda killing the mood.
Mom rolls her gold eyes. “Oh, stop it, b. I was only sixteen when you kissed the hell out of me in art, and in case you've forgotten, our daughter is almost twenty and about to experience her change. You know what it's like. She has needs. I, for one, would rather she satisfy her urges with her actual mate, rather than some random guy.”
I give him a sympathetic smile and he rolls his eyes. “So have you spoken to him at all?” he asks after sighing deeply.
“Kinda. He asked what I was hiding because I don't let anyone get close to me, so I told him that I was secretly about to turn into a witch and a werewolf next week.” I ain’t worried about saying that to them because they will probably just think I was being extreme with my story.
There is no chance they would ever think that I was actually about to become a witch.
“What?” Dad's eyes look like they're about to pop out of his head, but mom just laughs her face off.
“What did he say?” mom asks through her laughter.
“He said that even if I was a bloodsucking vampire or a soul snatcher, it wouldn’t keep him from trying to get close to me.”
“Ooh, he has it bad,” Mom sings. “This is good.”
“No, it's not good, mom. He has a girlfriend. I've told you this.”
“Not for much longer he ain’t,” dad cuts in. “Not now he's kissed you.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“When it comes to the attraction between mates, it don't matter whether he's one or not. Once he's aware of you, it's pretty much game over. And now he's kissed you, he'll only crave you, just like how you'll crave to be with him. It's just how it is. You can keep trying to deny what's going on, but if you're feeling like this, then that is definitely your mate and it's only a matter of time before you end up together.”
“But he's human. I can't exactly do things with him once I've changed. I'll kill him.” I know Aura said that my magic will help to control my ware, but I’ll need to practice that.
“Not necessarily,” mom says, shaking her head. “You’ve just gotta be very careful. That's what training is for, and your father is the best there is. Please try not to keep on worrying about this. You'll stress yourself out unnecessarily.”
“I feel stressed as it is,” I mutter and rub my head in my hands.
“You need to stop holding in all your emotions,” she says more sternly. “You're days away from your change, by this time, I was arguing with your father and all sorts. You being this calm isn't normal. You need to accept what's happening to you and let it all out. Are you still intending to go into school tomorrow?”
I look back over to her. “Yes. I'm fine, okay? I'm keeping on top of my beef intake. I'll take a cool box with enough in tomorrow. I only have a couple classes and then I'll come straight back home after. If I feel unstable then I’ll come home and stay home until I'm ready to go back.”
Mom nods her head but I know she's not really happy.
“I’ll ring you if anything happens. I won't out us, I promise.”
“You can't yet, anyway,” dad comments. “Just be careful, okay? And if you get any sudden urges around that boy, make sure you at least find somewhere discrete. Cuz when you're in that moment, I'm telling you, you ain't gonna be able to control that shit.”
I manage not to roll my eyes. “Dad, I'll be fine.”
Mom laughs knowingly. “I said the exact same thing.”
***
I spend the rest of Sunday in my room getting ahead on the rest of my school work. I'm far enough ahead now to keep me up to date for the next two months. I know I'm gonna be banned from school while I'm training with dad, and my baby brother or sister will be arriving in a couple weeks, too. But not only that, I'll need to spend time with Aura so I can learn how to control the magic she's giving me.
That's what I'm worried about most. Not changing into a werewolf or the pain that comes along with it, but the magical abilities and what I'll be able to do with them. I'm so scared of hurting someone because I won’t know what I’m doing. I hope Aura puts some kind of restriction on it, because the last thing I need is to be causing some war or some massive great destruction of the world.
But at least I don't have to worry about her wiping Davonyé's memory of me.
Not yet.
I suddenly feel hungry. Seriously, again?
I'm finding I can barely go a couple hours without eating now. Dad's gonna make me some seared beef to take to school so it doesn't look so bait when I'm eating it there, but I hope to God he makes enough, because this hunger is getting seriously out of control.
