Lifestyle Change

3.

Calypso

After Letha leaves, I cannot rest until I explore the house. I couldn’t relax, not knowing my surroundings, using my unnaturally fast speed to my advantage speeding from room to room. There were three bedrooms, including the master. Two guest rooms were on the upper level, including a jack and Jill bathroom.

The living room and kitchen were an open concept. A large tv was on the wall, an oversized sectional couch sat in the living room, and a half bath was between the living room and the massive white granite island, which was probably big enough to seat eight. I couldn’t imagine having dinner parties worrying about the extra seating.

The lower cabinets were a dark mahogany color, and the uppers were a bright white. The white made me not want to touch anything in order not to tarnish anything. With that thought, I ran into the master bathroom. It had a wet room! The huge tiled walk-in shower also had a large claw foot tub sitting inside.

Letha put soaps, razors, lotions, shampoo, and conditioner. I start the shower needing to get all the dirt off of me. The shampoo and conditioner smelled of apples and lavender, which helped to relax my muscles.

I walked to the tub to have a soak and found a bubble bath! I have always wanted to try some bubble baths. I add way too much, I realize when the bathtub is full, but it was worth living a childhood dream of mine.

I get out of the tub and attempt to brush out my long white hair; my poor hair is matted and tangled. I am probably going to have to cut it from all the neglect. But it is the whitest it’s been in years from the high-quality shampoo and conditioner. My left blue eye and my right green looked tired but more vibrant than they had. The pajamas that I found are so soft. Letha needs to be my shopper for the rest of my life. 

I crawl into bed, wrapping myself in the blankets, enjoying comfort for the first time in many years. I don't know how long this pack life will last, but I will do my best to make this work. I suspect that they will not make it easy, though. But that was tomorrow's problem; I will now enjoy the small victories that come my way. 

I wake up feeling groggy, hearing a knock at the door. I begrudgingly walk towards the door, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes. When I open the door, there is Letha and another woman with honey-blonde hair. Both are smiling, even though the one I don't know looks very nervous. I suppose I could understand her nervousness. "Good morning," my voice was groggy from sleep, but I still wanted to try and be hospitable.

Letha laughs, looking at me before shaking her head. "Calypso, it's almost 3:00 in the afternoon. We wanted to take you to the pack house for dinner. We are a welcoming crew and also clearly a getting you ready crew since you decided to hibernate." 

I was rubbing my eyes while motioning for them to both come in. "I was tranquilized twice on the same day; cut me some slack," I said, joking but not joking. 

"Twice?!" The blonde said, her hand going to her throat, somewhat terrified of the big bad hybrid that apparently needed to be tranquilized to be captured. When in all actual reality, it was way less dramatic than all of that. 

"Apparently, the RHC really wanted me to be in their club. That was part of the initiation, and I completely failed." I said, trying to lighten the mood while walking to the kitchen and figuring out how to work a coffee pot. It had been too long since I tasted the sweet caffeine nectar. "Anyone knows how to work this beast?" 

Letha walked over, patted me on the back, and whispered, "I got this; go sit down." I feel sorry for myself as I feel like a toddler playing house because I have no idea what I am doing.

Remembering my manners, I walk over to the brown-eyed honey-blonde lycan that got dragged over here, probably against her will. "Hi, I am Calypso," I said, reaching my hand out for her to shake. 

She hesitates for a second, glancing over at Letha before clearly seeing the green light from her friend. Shaking my hand before saying, "Elsa."

"Did you pull the short straw or something?" I asked her curiously because clearly, she had lost a bet to be here.

"Excuse me? I am not exactly sure what your meaning?" Elsa asked, almost tilting her head.

"You seem nervous, clearly not entirely comfortable being here, so I didn't know if you lost a bet or something." I started as if it was clearly the explanation that made the most sense.

"I trust Letha, and if she says your okay, then I believe it. Just cautious." She said again could not blame her; there was a reason that hybrids didn't exist.

Letha hands me a cup of coffee, and I almost moan into the glass because it is the best. "You will have to teach me how to tame that beast one day."

"Of course! I hope to have Elsa cut your hair if that is alright with you?" She was pointing to my clearly out of control rats nest. It was even matted in a few places, and I was thankful for the offer. I would have ended up cutting it with kitchen scissors which probably wouldn't have made the best impression on the pack tonight.

"Please! Please do what you can with it. I am sorry for the condition it's in." I said, feeling slightly embarrassed by the whole situation. 

She pulls out some scissors and a comb and starts doing her thing, hoping she doesn't give me a bowl cut. "Why is your hair this bad? Sorry if that was rude. I was just curious."

"Oh well, been homeless for the last three years. Mostly was worried about other things other than my hair but appreciated you trying to fix it."

I could feel the hair falling off to the floor to the floor and already felt lighter. I probably should have done this years ago. But it was a pretty freeing feeling. "I call dibs on doing your make-up!" Letha says, running back to the master bathroom.

Close to an hour later, I was standing in front of the mirror in shock at the person staring back at me. My hair touched the top of my shoulders; the layers helped to frame my face. My eyes were a smoky purple color that suited both colors of eyes. They put me in a flowy lavender-colored dress that stopped at my knees. For the first time, I felt desirable. "Holy hell! You both have outdone yourself."

I looked at them with genuine appreciation before saying, "thank you." From the look on Elsa's face, I would say she was finally warming up to me. I wasn't expecting us to be besties, but it was nice to have someone not look at me with hate and disgust. 

Dinner was awkward, to say the least; I felt like the social outcast at school, and the popular kids were extending an olive branch. I hope they didn't lead me into a trap and then egg me or something terrible. I may have overeaten, but it was hard not to, and nobody was judging me, considering how lycans ate. 

We stepped outside to prepare for a run; excitement flooded me as I was excited for my first run with a group. I could also feel my wolf's excitement, ready to get out and stretch her legs. Plus, she never has ever gotten to play with other wolves. 

Before I could shed my clothes, the hairs on my body seemed to stand at attention. I almost felt like my wolf was trying to push to the surface. My brain felt like it was making space for us to see. I wasn't sure I liked the meshing minds, but after the initial discomfort, sharing this space with her was almost comfortable. It was less lonely than I usually was. She was only focused on finding the one person that made her plus forward. She kept whispering the word over and over in my head, mate.