Wolfsbane

17. We argue, once again

I'd somehow managed to get back to sleep last night. After Luca's outburst I'd went downstairs to sleep on the couch. I had made myself a cocoon of blankets. It was freezing, especially considering the heat wasn't on.

I awoke this morning to a gentle shake. I opened my eyes only to stare into the eyes of Maria. She shot me a cringing smile. I didn't know what was running through that head of hers but I didn't like it.

"Good morning sunshine!" Maria exclaimed. I groaned in response. I was only a morning person when I got over eight hours.

Maria sat down next to me. She was dressed plainly today, she was dressed in black leggings and was wearing one of those athletic muscle t-shirts. There was white writing on the front but I was far too tired to read it. I sat up, adjusting my eyes to the increase in light. My eyes immediately darted to the wooden clock which was mounted on the wall.

9:00

It was quite early but I bet that Luca would be up and kicking. Doing whatever.

I pushed the blankets off of myself and stood, I stretched out my limbs, each movement created a satisfying crack. My arm felt far too heavy, that was most likely due to my unconventional sleeping position. I felt a bit light in the head and there was a pounding in my head.

I probably needed a shower to wash the sleep off.

I smiled weakly at Maria, I was too groggy to give her one of my usual bright looks.

"Do you, by any chance, know where I can get a shower?" I said

Maria nodded. She stood up from the couch.

"Yeah, I do" Maria began "You'll have to be quiet though, Francesca's plane got in at three am last night and she's sleeping off her jet lag"

I nodded. "Where was she flying from"

"Zurich" Maria said "Francesca's a historian, well, she specializes in werewolf history. There's a large museum full of artifacts that relate to Magical creatures-"

"The Swartzstag" I said

The Swartzstage was a well renowned institution. My dad had been offered a position there years ago. He didn't take it. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with me, specifically my peculiar abilities.

"That's incredible" I said

Perhaps in another life I would have been a historian, maybe I'd be working in Zurich. Perhaps in another life I would have been able to go to a normal high school, have a normal mate. That wasn't my reality, and it never would be.

Dad raised me amongst humans, ones who I witnessed live normal lives. Humans which I watched throw parties and buy houses and have kids. In the few conversations that I had with the girls who lived on my street, I had been given details about their futures. Their dream jobs, their dream houses, the colleges they dreamed of going to, and most importantly their fantasy weddings. I'd always found weddings to be the most intriguing human tradition.

My parents had a wedding. Since mum was a witch she was human, and had grown up alongside them. She had insisted that they threw a wedding. There a couple of photos knocking about. Mum still had her dress, when I was younger she would let me try it on to play dress up. The way humans bonded themselves to each other was graceful, in the werewolf world it took a matching pair of bite marks and you were "bound together". Of course you could have a Moonbond ceremony but those were becoming rarer and rarer.

Maria led me to the bathroom where I took a quick shower. An incredibly quick shower. After my shower I threw on my Ramones t-shirt and shuffled back upstairs. I needed to change.