Chapter 3

I usher out a quick "thanks" to Kira and jump out of the car. Rushing towards the packhouse doors, I barely have time to acknowledge the Guard as I dash inside, sprinting up the stairs, trying to reach my room. Knowing my father, he and Beta Mark are keeping tabs on how long it takes me to get to the restaurant.

I almost bite it in the hallway--someone's recently mopped and the floors are a slippery mess. I save myself from falling by grabbing onto the only thing nearby--the arm of the pack Luna.

"Perrin, are you alright?" Deidre steadies me with her other arm.

"I'm fine, Luna," I shake her off, careening down the hall as fast as I can. Of course, running into my step-mother is just what I need right now. She'll have my father on speed dial in a heart beat.

Once in my room, I shed off my shoes, shorts, and dash into the shower. I don't really have time to shower, but given that I'm torn between the clock and my own mental refusal to meet Leila, I decide it's ok.

The shower is hot, steaming, and exactly what I needed. The water washes away the residual sweat from my earlier workout with Ethan and the scent of Jasmine still laced around my neck. I shake my head, thoughts of Jasmine's body quickly derailing my ability to think straight or stop cleaning my--

"PERRIN!" Deidre's voice rings through the fog of steam and my stereo blasting. "DO NOT KEEP LEILA WAITING!"

"FUCK OFF!" I yell. Deidre has no business being in my room, let alone showing me what to do. I hate that she's Luna. And she'll never be my mother. 

I hear the door slam behind her as she leaves.

I step out of the shower, checking myself out in the bathroom mirror. I can give myself a few more minutes if I'm already running this late.

The last few years of training have really revealed the Alpha blood that runs in my veins. I've grown by nearly a foot and a half, leaving my just shy of Ethan, who stands proudly close to 6'5". Thankfully he's the only guy in the pack (next to my father) with the balls to stand at full height around me. I run my hair through my shaggy blonde hair, shoving it to the side. one green and one blue eye gaze back at me; the same eyes my mother had. The eyes that Deidre and my father don't have. They're the only real memory I have of my mother. I'm admiring the hard work--and muscle--that last few years have brought when I hear my phone buzzing on my bed in the other room.

I walk over, glance at the screen, and throw it back on the bed. Dad, chill the fuck out. I throw on a tight black t-shirt and a pair of jeans that are Jasmine's favorite. No need to be formal--and Jasmine always loves me in black. I think she thinks it makes me dangerous. Either way, it pleases her. I take one last look in the mirror and head out to the restaurant.

***

It only takes about ten minutes by Guard Car to reach the restaurant. I shoot my dad a quick text as I walk inside, but as I glance behind me, the Guard is already on his phone in the passenger seat. Of course... he's calling my father.

It takes me about 10 steps inside the restaurant to realize it's completely deserted. There's a table about halfway in on the left set for two, with one occupant holding up a menu in front of her face. I saunter over and sit down without saying a word.

I thought Leila would put down the menu. I was the Alpha Dauphin after all. But she doesn't drop the menu.

Then cough. Then cough again. She doesn't move.

"Riveting reading, eh?"

The menu flutters to the table and a startled Leila realizes me for the first time. She has earbuds in. No wonder she can't hear me.

"Perrin!" She smiles warmly, gazing down in respect and bowing her head slightly before she raises her eyes to meet mine.

She's slimmer than I remember. Thin in a beautiful kind of way. Her tan skin sets off silver-white hair cut in a sleek bob to her shoulders. Her pale eyes are big, beautiful, and almost watery.

"Lo? Or do you go by Leila now?"

"Lo is just fine." She gives me a warm smile. "Nobody's called me that in along time."

"I can call you Leila if you like---"

"No, please. Lo is kind of nice. Makes it feel... easier to be back?" She curls up the ear buds and stuffs them in the purse hanging on the back of her chair. Won't you have a drink?" I see she's almost through a glass of red wine that had been hiding behind her menu.

"Water's fine," I reply. A waiter appears out of nowhere flourishing a silver pitcher and fills my glass.

"Just water?" She raises an eyebrow.

"I've only got a few months left before The Sacred Calling. Training's my number one priority right now."

"I see."

We sit in uncomfortable silence.

"So, you've been in Texas?"

"Yes."

More silence.

"So why are you back--"

"It's been such a long time--"

We talk over each other and stop abruptly. I know it's been twelve years, but for some reason there's tension. I try to crack a smile.

"Your father set you up for this. But if you aren't interested in finding your mate, why did you agree to it?" She takes another sip from her glass.

I chug most of mine. "Have you met my father? It's not like I really have a choice. Ever since my mother..." I trail off.

Ethan was really the only one who really knew what happened to my mother--at least, out of the people I still spoke to. But ever since, my father was never the same. Hard, grueling, and determined to make my life driven into the ultimate Alpha success story. He started having me train with the Guard before I turned eight, even when the normal fighting age was eleven. I became suddenly uncomfortable, realizing that Lo was now part of that intimate group again that knows what happened to my mother. But so much had happened between then and now. Deidre, for one. And that was enough.

"I see." She looked at the menu again, giving me a chance to gather myself. My phone buzzes and I have an excuse to shift in my seat. I silence the phone through the jeans of my pocket.

"So.... why are you back?" 

"My dad." she replied simply.

"Won't your mom miss you?" 

She looked thoughtfully into her empty glass. "Probably not."

*Buzz*

"Why?"

"Because I think she sees my father in me the older I get. And that's hard for her." 

"Whatever happened between them? I know we were kids but..."

More silence. Her eyes shift towards the menu and she moves to pick it up again.

*Buzz*

I continued. "Why did you leave? I know we were just kids but your dad is here. You didn't have to go--"

"Are you going to get that?" She's looks pointedly at my hand, situated on the pocket of my jeans, ready to silence the next incoming call.

"No, it's fine it's probably just Ethan--"

"Ethan!" She exclaims. "Now that's a name I haven't heard in awhile." Her curtain of satin hair falls into her eyes as she lights up at the sound of Ethan's name. She smooths it back behind her ear. The flick of her wrist sends a flowery scent through the air, stirring a memory of us as kids.

"Yea, he's still a trickster. I'm still not sure how he got all those cats into the Packhouse kitchen." I shake my head laughing. "Bit whatever you do, DON'T give him your phone number. EVER!" I warned, half joking.

A smile broke out on her face--slowly at first, but shifting into a beautiful grin. I could still see the shadow of my five-year old playmate. Her pale eyes seemed to sparkle--one was almost purple-- "Considering the last time I saw him, you tried to set my dollhouse on fire--"

"It was totally his idea, I swear!" starting to laugh myself, trying to picture Ethan with a tiny box of matches.

"Oh, I'm sure it was," Leila draws out sarcastically, cackling in delight. "And you had nothing to do with HOW he got the matches. Or the fact that the Guard wasn't anywhere around..."

"But the look on your face!" I begin to wheeze, clutching at my stomach. I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed this hard.

*Buzz* I slammed my hand towards my jeans pocket.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Her smile softened. "Well, I can see he's certainly got big plans for you this evening." I wasn't sure why, but her playful tone irritated me.

"Don't worry." She continued, then reaching for her purse. "I'll tell my dad we had a great catch-up. I'll say I was tired from my trip and wanted to end it early." She folded her menu. "And you know that whatever my dad knows, it's not very long until your dad will know. That should get him off your back for awhile and you can get back to the rest of your evening." She stood up from the table. I wasn't sure why, but her abrupt departure wasn't exactly what I wanted. It was nice to catch up with old friends, wasn't it?

I hadn't realized it before, but seeing her now in full view was... well, Leila was definitely not my five year old playmate anymore. She strode towards the door, heels clicking on the restaurant floor, body swaying--

*Buzz*

She turned her head at the door. "You better answer that she-wolf," she said. "Ethan would never buzz your phone like that during a date." The door closed with a soft click behind her.