Fears To Face

∞ Chapter 37 ∞

Rayne

Something was different.

Today was the last opportunity to see my mom before the turn. Tomorrow the bending would start and just before the end of the afternoon my body would ache and I would be more than a bit cranky. So this afternoon I had picked up Kayley from school and had driven to my old house.

Mom had hurriedly welcomed us in and disappeared into the kitchen before we even passed the threshold. She was all worked up because Luke had just accidentally let a glass slip through his fingers, so he was picking up the large pieces while my mother constantly warned him not to cut himself.

When she came in with tea later and she really looked at me for the first time, she could almost start cleaning up again, because she nearly dropped the tray with glasses. Kayley's hands shot up and helped her to steady the tray and put the glasses down on the coffee table. I would have done it myself if I hadn't been the reason why my mother was startled in the first place.

It was the way my mother smiled at Kayley that made me realize something had clearly changed between them. It was a brief second, if I had blinked I would have missed it, but it was long enough for me to see the genuine familiar smile playing on both of their lips.

Mom sat down and looked at me with unease in her eyes. "Why are – your eyes..." she trailed off, her hands fidgety.

"I know this must freak you out, but they always look like this near the end of the cycle, it's part of the wolf," I explained. The expression on her face told me she had no idea what I was talking about or she tried very hard not to understand. "You don't want to know the details mom, trust me. I came today because I won't be able to come until it's over." Her mouth sunk immediately. "It's just for a few days, I promise," I added, hoping it would make things better, but her lips remained sad. So much for trying.

Right then, Luke came into the living room and he stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw me looking up at him. Yet, his face didn't contort in the cynical grimace it normally did, more like he was just shocked. He cocked his head to the side as he asked, his tone friendlier than I had ever heard since my return, "Since when are you wearing contacts?"

I tried to stop the grimace from coming to full display. I didn't like talking about the wolf part in me to them. It made me think back to my first turn and how those days right after made me feel. "They're not contacts. It's the wolf."

He considered that for a while as he took a seat. "I didn't think your eyes looked like that last time I saw you," he commented.

"They didn't. They're only this bright the two days before the end of the cycle. It increases through the month, but it doesn't really stand out unless you know." I glanced at Kayley and she smiled shyly. We both remembered the first time we had met and how she'd known in a second.

"So it's coming again Saturday?" Luke asked. This was more than strange. He was actually talking to me, and not with the sarcastic voice or disgusted or bored face, but with actual interest. I had the strong feeling I had missed some kind of development in here.

"Yeah, in the evening."

Luke seemed fascinated with my eyes, he was gazing at them the whole time, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Do you see differently now they're orange? Like better or worse, or with more sharpness?"

I laughed. "No, I never noticed any variation."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Too bad."

My mother sighed heavily. "Luke please, it's not a game. This is his life." She clearly needed some progressing time. I knew it would be hard for her to accept I still was a werewolf when you could ignore it so easily. Well... she could, I didn't.