Cutie and The Beast

Episode Thirteen: Pancakes and Wolves

We stayed out late, listening to the wolf stories, until we decided it was bedtime. I walked out of the house, and down the street, back to Julia's home.I brushed my teeth and cuddled with Graysen to keep myself warm, as he kissed my neck.The next morning, my neck's blood patch was gone, completely healed. I got up and got dressed for the Pancake Expo."Can I drive you?" Graysen asked me."Do you have your license?" I smirked back at him.He smiled, "No, but I do have a fake I.D," he said in a tone to tempt me.I got in the car, put on my seatbelt and waited for the driver.I saw Kevin softly close the front door and jump into the backseat. "Who's driving?" He asked me.I shrugged and saw Graysen put on his cap as he shut the door. He unlocked the car, to make sure he wasn't locked out and got in the drivers' seat. Kevin's face looked like what I was thinking.The expo was out of town, so we drove for a few hours, stopping only for toilet and urgent food breaks.We arrived just before Aunt Tash was finished setting up her cooking station. She turned to us, "Hello guys, I'm Aunt Tash, would you like to take the front row seats? I feel like we've met before, have we?" I was confused and shook my head.She had scars all over her mouth and covering her nose, as well as fiery coloured hair. After taking a good look of her, I sat on the right of Graysen, and Kevin was on his left.Graysen grabbed my hand, "We're the only ones here, what if this isn't real?" I let go of his hand and crossed my arms.Aunt Tash checked her watch, "We need to start! But there's no-one here," she sounded like she wanted to cry.I walked up and patted her, "It's okay, we're here and that's all that matters. Bake away," I told her.She smiled and started instructing us three on how to make her pancakes.A random conversation popped up from Aunt Tash after a couple of minutes of silence. "Have you kids heard of the wolf-shifters? I heard they're really vicious, and that they're targeting smaller adults...." We didn't know how to respond, "My daughter told me everything." Who was her daughter?Graysen said to her casually, "Yeah, they're not vicious, only when they are attacked." Aunt Tash's eyes lifted and she tried to hide her little smile forming.Something about that smile was....familiar.Graysen stopped baking and pulled me closer to him. "Why are you smiling?" He asked her in a firm tone.She looked offended, "Me? Smiling? Now? No! Never, I wouldn't smile over such a serious matter," she grinned, "Unless I knew something you didn't...." she walked around her table to face us, "You're all wolf-shifters."