Lunaticus

14

He left before dawn, leaving behind his doubled-down ladder under my bed for, in his words, rendezvous for tomorrow night. I'd be lying if I say I hadn't completely faked the ignorant expression on my face.

We had spoken little, instead memorizing the canvas of each other's skin. Somewhere along the night, his shirt had ended in a heap near my bed. But I didn't strip off mine, and he didn't insist.

This was dangerous territory. I knew he was curious, and one day or another I would have to explain to him.

The past and all the bad things that came with it.

But not today. Today I was in such a cheerful mood I make a batch of cookies, and didn't even bat Arthur's hand away when he reached for his ninth. Of course that came with the self-satisfied smirk on Lyell's face which intensified whenever our gaze met over the table.

Ah, such joy. Nothing in the world could ruin it.

He visited me again, and again. Night after night after night. Sometimes we would make out like two thirsty bunnies, but the other times we'd talk.

I hated when we did that.

"Why were you..in such pain? When you were shifting?" I asked, smooshed into his chest as we sat against the headboard. His hands kept playing with my hair, his chin set atop mine.

"A question for a question?" He mumbled gruffly, trailing one finger down my arm. I shivered for many reasons other than the cold.

"It's not like there's anything interesting about my life."

"You're the most interesting part of mine," And I felt his lips against my temple. I sighed and nodded.

"It's...always been this way. Ever since the first shift. I was an only child. My father wasn't expecting it to be so...rough. We were alone in the forest, away. Which was a good thing when it came to it. Shifting for someone like me was already dangerous-"

"Someone like you?"

He inhaled a deep breath, "Okay, don't freak. But my father's an alpha-"

"Your father's an alpha-"My shriek of surprise was cut down when he clamped his fingers against my mouth. "Ohfmyhgodhanyoudifnttellme?"

"Exactly why I didn't tell you, you a jittery bottle of fireworks," He laughed to himself. "It doesn't matter. I forsake it when I ran away."

"You ran away because of... who you were."

"Yes," he replied softly. "I...well, some other time. Okay, I have answered too many of yours. Now it's my turn. What's your favorite color?"

I smiled in confusion. "Um, green?"

"Oh go ahead, elaborate."

"Well," I traced a vein in his hand, which was set lightly atop my belly. "Hmm. Well in my pack, we were assigned colors to group us, right? And green was the color of my group. And the green also had the best wolves, you know, like best at running, reading, leading etcetera. So I guess I always felt proud of green. That's why I like green."

He was silent for a moment. "And what's your favorite hobby? What do you like to do when you're not cooking?"

"Cooking is...actually not my hobby." I felt my throat tighten and tears prick my eyes. Breath, Chloe. "Well, I've always been good at it, but it's not my hobby. My parents were bakers. So by default, I was good at culinary. I was always helping Mama around, and going with Papa to the market, to sell the bread..."

I cleared my throat, "To answer your answer, I don't have one. I guess I never found a hobby."

"Then what-" There was brief shuffling, the sound of a drawer opening and closing. Before I could even think of objecting, Lyell placed my spiral sketchpad in front of me. "Is this?"

"Pfft," I laughed urgently. "Erm, that's not mine. Okay, that is mine, but it's not something I like to think about. I mostly like to work on it when I don't want to think. You get what I mean?"

"Can I open it?"