Finn

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Finley, please get up." Rory whined, tugging at the blanket I had pulled over my head. I groaned, rolling further away from her and burying my head in the pillow.

"You know I love you, and I've been covering for you all week, but you can't stay in bed forever." She argued, poking my legs through the thicket comforter. I kicked my lets wildly, hitting her in the arm and side when she finally stopped poking me.

Ever since Howard showed up and threatened the pack, I'd given up all motivation I had for doing Luna duties. One way or another, I was never going to be Luna, or even stay with the pack. I saw no purpose in getting up early to run around doing tasks that wouldn't matter in two weeks when Howard showed up again to take me away.

"Just let me sleep." I groaned again, hoping Rory would leave me alone.

"All you do is sleep!" Rory argued, returning to her previous attempts to tug the blanket away from me. I knew she could easily rip it away, but appreciated her attempts to at least let me have a chance.

"What if I told you I have good news for you?" She tried when I didn't respond to other attempts. I pulled the blanket down enough so I could see her over the edge, and rose an eyebrow at her.

"Is Turin back?" I asked sarcastically, though slightly hopeful, "did you kill Howard?"

"Well, no..." Rory answered with an uncomfortable chuckle, "let's just say I have a surprise for you. And I have coffee!"

I hesitated, my eyes scanning her face as I wondered what the surprise could be. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, and my curiosity desperately wanted to know what she was talking about. Plus, coffee was pretty tempting.

"Fine." I finally agreed with a loud sigh. Rory cheered and clapped her hands together before literally dragging me out of bed.

"Yay! Meet me downstairs in five minutes and we can head over to my place," She told me, grinning from ear to ear as she searched through the wardrobe and threw me some clothes. She made her way to the door, pausing briefly to turn back to me and wink, "and run a brush through your hair, Finley. You look like a wild animal."

I threw a shoe at her as she cackled and shut the door behind her. Once I made it to the bathroom, I had to admit she was right. My hair was usually a little untamed, and fell in wild waves when it wasn't tied back in a braid. But I hadn't brushed it or tied it back in a couple of days, so it was left to tangle up and twist together and create a mess on my head.

I changed pretty quickly, but I took me five minutes to get all the knots out of my hair and tie it into a thick braid. I rushed out the door and down the stairs once I finished, knowing Rory would be waiting for me. She was always perfectly on time, and expected the same from everyone around her.

"Finally!" She exclaimed when she saw me, not even waiting for me to finish climbing down the stairs before throwing up the front door. I ran to catch up with her, slightly out of breath once I did.

"Why are we going to your place?" I asked as we walked down the gravel path. It was mid December now, which meant blankets of snow had covered all signs of green on the ground. As we walked by, I glanced at the spot where Andrew had bled out almost two weeks earlier. The stains of his blood had been covered by a fresh snow, but I could still see him falling to the ground in my memory.

I had pleaded with Cillian for days after that, begging him to give me to Howard. He shut me down every time, insisting that wasn't an option. When I asked what other options we had, he'd tell me he was working on and offer no details. Eventually, he just avoided talking to me altogether since it just ended in us arguing.