"Okay, say I have three rocks," Annabel sat face to face with Layla and her friend Samira on a patch of dirt under a large tree, a little separated from the rest of the pack land.
"Three rocks," Layla nodded, seeing the small rocks Annabel had laid in a line in front of her.
"And then you had three rocks," she made another column and put three more in a row. "And then say Alex had three rocks," she put three more. "And then you had three more," she looked at Samira and added three. "How many people is that?"
"Four," Samira said after a moment.
"And how do you know that?"
She pointed to the columns and rows, "there's four rows."
"Right. So," with a stick she etched into the dirt 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, "three and three and three and three make how many rocks?"
"Twelve," Layla said.
"So four people," she wrote 4 x 3 into the dirt, "times three rocks, equals...?"
"Twelve," Samira said. "Ohhh, so this is the same as that?" She pointed to the two equations.
"Didn't know your sister was hosting math class today," Nia walked over to Alex, who was watching the interaction from afar.
"Yeah, neither did I..."
"It was a good idea, bringing her here," Nia said with a nod. "The kids love her, and she's really helping with the aftermath of Jamani dying and finding out what she did to your mom. I know everyone was really stressed about it, but Bella's really helping lift everyone's spirits. Having a kid here with a smile on her face who can balance out everyone's stress - it helps."
"Yeah," Alex agreed.
"So why do you look upset?"
"I'm not upset, just... she's living with vampires. And I'm pretty sure she's dating one of them. I want her to come live here, but I know if I push her it'll just make things worse."
"Maybe she'll figure it out, eventually. She'll realize how dangerous vampires are, how much safer she'd be with her pack." Alex looked at Nia, finding that her words only served to give her more anxiety.
⋆⋆⋆
Annabel walked into one of the side bar rooms to see Diego talking to a nightwalker. She knocked on the wood, gaining their attention, and he smiled.
"Hey, beautiful," he said with a smirk as she walked over, putting his hands on her hips. "We're all set, Otto," he told the night walker rather insistently, and the vampire walked out, chuckling to himself.
Once he was gone, Diego sped her over to the wall, making her giggle as she looked up into his darkened eyes. "I haven't seen you in forever," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his low voice.
"It's been a day, Romeo," she said with a grin.
He brought a hand up to her neck, tugging down her sweatshirt and tracing his hands over the hickeys. "Tryna hide my work?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Just trying not to let the warden see," she replied.
He hummed in response, his eyes focused on the hickeys. "Maybe I should put one right here," his finger trailed up her neck, "then you won't be able to hide it. Everyone will know you're mine."
Annabel raised an eyebrow, maintaining her playful teasing she knew was just frustrating him, "Didn't know I was property..." Her eyes were focused on his lips as she spoke, wanting to kiss him so badly but even more so wanting to keep on teasing.
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Fanfiction[book two] It had been just over ten years since Annabel called New Orleans home. Back then, her naivety kept her safe, clueless as to all the violence going on around her. But things had changed since then. She had changed. After graduation, Annabe...
