Clear Lake

Chapter Thirty-One

Iris doesn't follow me. As I emerge from the back of the bakery, I see Sam and Paul wiping down tables. Katie stands nearby with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face, supervising. Paul is facing my direction when I enter and as soon as his eyes hit me, he frowns.

I don't give him a chance to say anything. "I'm ready to go," I announce quietly.

I try to pull my face together, as I turn to Katie. "Thank you so much for taking care of us," I tell her. I reach in my purse, ignoring the envelope, and pull out my debit card.

"Oh, no worries," Katie chirps. "The boys already took care of that. If they aren't busy, before you leave, send them back our way! Seriously, they are German-like efficient," she jokes.

I give her the best smile I can muster, but it's clearly not happy enough, because her forehead scrunches. I give her a quick hug, "Thanks again, Katie."

"No problem, babe," she tells me softly. "I'll see you tomorrow night, right?" She asks.

Tomorrow night? Oh yeah. The going away party.

"I'll be there," I tell her, as cheerfully as I can.

I don't think I convinced her, but she doesn't push me.

As soon as the three of us are out the door, Paul addresses me. "Luna, are you alright?"

It's obvious that there's been a shift in my demeanor. I was all rainbows and butterflies only an hour ago. Now, I'm struggling not to break down, while trying to deal with what is my life right now.

"I just need to run," I say, keeping my focus on the sidewalk. We're quiet, all the way to the pack house, where we head around to the back.

I think about Titus. I wish he was here. I want the comfort of his scent and his arms. I think about mind linking him, but what would I even say? I just got gifted a necklace that barbecued some magic into me. Oh, I have powers now too.

I'm sure he's busy, so I try to put him from my mind for now.

We walk about 20 feet into the forest, before I go behind a tree to undress. I set my purse and clothes at the base of the tree.

I touch the necklace, still around my neck, then shift fluidly into my wolf. I can tell the necklace isn't physically there, but there's an indescribable feeling that it's still present with me.

My wolf is surprisingly not angry at Iris, but is ready to take the reins for me now, so that I have time to wrap my head around what just happened. All of this is just another weight to add to all of the heaviness already on my mind.

I come around from behind the tree, and see Sam and Paul in wolf form, waiting for me. At the sight of me, they freeze. Sam tilts his head, and mind links me. "Luna, your fur." Confusion colors his tone.

And I just cannot take one more thing. My fur could be neon green and I couldn't care less at the moment.

I stop him, before he says another word. "Can you just give me an hour? Then, we can talk about whatever my fur is doing. Please." Please.

After a second, he simply says, "Okay."

"Thank you," I say, then set off.

They give me a few yards of space, as we run. For the first five minutes, I just sit back in my wolf's mind and watch the beauty of the forest pass me by.

It's early evening and I hear and sense the creatures around us either hunkering down for the night or awakening. Oh, to live such a simple life.

I take a deep mental breath, then dredge up what just happened. Iris bonded me to a necklace that fireballed some random powers that I know nothing about into me. No warning.