The Warning

Zach.

“Zach!” she screamed, her voice tore into my ears making me yelp slightly.

“Oh my god Leah! The door is there for a reason!” I groaned. “I just walked out of the bathroom, and I really don't think Jack would be so happy to imagine this scenario..."

“Oh please! You're really keeping this charade on with Nicole?" she said, gesturing with her hands as though to wave my words away. "Why do you want to jeopardize everything? You know you have a mate somewhere! And a human and a werewolf shouldn't be together! You have to get a hold of yourself Zach. This isn't some game for you to play and win. People are not games. I can't let you toy around with my best friend. You can't jus-”

“Can you give this lecture a break Leah?” I rolled my eyes. I couldn't hold myself back anymore, things were totally out of hand for me. “You don't have to use every opportunity you get to remind me of a reality I'm very much aware of... I can't stop being drawn to her. She fills up every part of me even if it is agonizingly clear that she is certainly not my mate. I can't help but want to be close to her! I can't think of anything but her! It's like there's this invisible force pulling us closer even when I'm trying so hard. You can't just accuse me of playing games with her. The last thing I'd want to do is to turn her into some game, and you know that. You know I'd never hurt her!”

Leah fell silent, her lips slightly apart from one another, while her eyes grew wider, filling with compassion, and then turning away from me to the floor. She walked up closer and took me by the arm, softly.

“I'm sorry Zach" she began, her voice now a faint whisper. I was just so worried that you were actively pursuing her while knowing everything. I know it hasn't been easy on you, you've spent so many years, many resources searching for your mate and you've turned up disappointed each time. I'm really sorry."

I feigned a smile, I knew she was just worried about I and Nicole, and everything at the time had been tied up into one huge mess that proved extremely hard to navigate.

“It's alright, I get it. I just lost my cool there. I'm sorry” I replied.

She heaved a sigh and rested on her head on the wall, her head hung up staring at the ceiling. “Well, thank goodness we're over that, and there's no need for you to apologize, Zach. Alright, look. Let me make it up to you. I already made breakfast, so take it as my peace offering and eat something, okay?”

“I wouldn't miss your cooking for the world” I laughed, while she stood up straight and began her way out of the room.

"I know you wouldn't. Catch you later."

I finished dressing up and the thought of Leah's breakfast occupied my mind. My tummy grumbles. It was empty. I moved swiftly to the kitchen. The kids were at the edge of the stairs as they waited for me.

“Uncle Zach!” They screamed and ran towards me, like torpedoes launched at a target.

“My babies!” I engulfed them in a hug, taking all of them into my arm and laying kisses on their foreheads. “What have you got for me today?”

“The bike is broken!” They all whined.

“What? Really?” I asked, feigning ignorance, I knew it was broken. I was to fix it today.

“Help us fix it uncle Zach!” They all echoed.

“And what am I getting in return?” I laughed.

Their faces turned sour and they crossed their arms over their chests.

“Don't worry kids, I'm going to help you for free!” I said, bursting into laughter.

“Yay!!” They all giggled.

“But uncle Zach is so famished, I might swallow the bike” I joked. "I need to eat before I can get the power to fix the bike."

“No!!!” They all screamed.

“So why don't you sweethearts go play a while so I can eat breakfast and when I'm done, we can all fix the bike. Deal?”

“Deal!” they all replied.

Leah's food tasted delicious, it wasn't the normal stew she usually made but it was great all the same. After clearing the plates, I walked out to the backyard to fix the bike for the kids, Nicole was also outside with them playing chase.

I got down to fixing the bike, as the kids ran around the yard chasing Nicole. They all settled down soon enough, gathering around her like wood around a camp fire.

I tried to focus on fixing the bike but my ears were trained on what she was saying. She was telling them a story.

“How's the city?” One of the kid's asked.

Nicole took a pause, looking at the sky with her index finger on her lips. "Well...it is a lot. You see so many people walking around, you wonder if the city could hold everyone in."

The kids laughed at her statement but continued listening to her.

“Even my school is filled with so many people and so many offices, you could go round and round and round until you got lost" She continued cheerfully. "There are so many places I haven't even seen in my school, to talk more of the city. I someday want to just drive around and do some sight-seeing and you know what?"

“What?” The kids echoed.

“There's so many fun places for children to visit. There are parks, bouncing castles, children's cinema, a large game hall for video games.”

I couldn't help but stare at her with a little glimmer of admiration as she spoke so happily. She glowed as she laughed and had fun with the kids.

“And there are big mascots that chased you all day!” She laughed as she grabbed one of the kids and spun them in the air.

“No!” They all laughed and fell on the grass.

“Are you done with the bike Uncle Zach?” One of the kid's asked, all of a sudden, causing a very sudden pause to what I was thinking. Nicole's eyes met mine.

We had not spoken since she snuck out of my bed this morning. For sometime now I had been beating myself over it. Her eyes were glued to mine, as though watching everything that went on around ourselves from the way she saw it.

“Uncle Zach!!” All the kids screamed, dragging my mind back to reality.

Nicole made a little cough and picked up the water bottle beside her. I could not tell if the cough was real or it was just her way of breaking off our staring moment.

“Yes kids, Uncle Zach to the rescue once again! So who wants to go first?” I asked as I focused on the kids faces, I didn't want to get lost in Nicole's eyes again.

“Aunt Nicole! Aunt Nicole! Aunt Nicole!” The kids chanted repeatedly.

Nicole laughed nervously “I don't know how to ride a bike kids.”

“I'll teach you” I replied before thinking, and then regretting afterwards why I even said it in the first place. “I mean I can show you how to. It's pretty easy.” I coughed.

“Alright” Nicole agreed, walking up close to the bike. Her eyes were on me.

"There." Her put my arms around her and lifted her up a little, holding her so she wouldn't fall.

"Thank you" she said softly, her eyes narrowed at me.

“So it's pretty easy, just make sure you're grabbing the bike with your thighs.” I tried not to think of how her thighs wrapped around me last night. “And just try to move forward a bit, it's easy as soon as your turn on the ignition”

She turned on the ignition and started driving and then she tried to curve.

“Nicole!!!”