Roses are Red

11. Book

Waking up in the morning I had to be tactical, my mind thought of loads of stupid ideas to try and get the duvet and sheets out the house, into some random bin without Carly seeing. I decided just to go for it, slowly going down the stairs and looking left to right to see if she was there. My pace grows faster as she is nowhere to be seen as I get outside I see a couple of people giving me strange looks especially our neighbour Mr Peters. He raises an eyebrow.

"A cat got in the house and tore it to pieces," I made it up on the spot. He rolls his eyes and walked down the street. I went to go to the bin just around the corner when I saw a homeless person sitting on a park bench with his dog. I glanced down at the duvet all ripped. I could buy another one, and throw this one away easily, but this guy couldn't.

I changed my direction and headed straight to him. When I came round to face him, his eyes open and he stood up straight away.

"Alpha, I'm so sorry I didn't know this was your territory..." he looked down. I raised an eyebrow confused, he must've gone mad with being in such harsh living conditions.

"No trouble here, don't worry." I played along with his hallucinations, "here, this is for you," I passed it to him and he took it with wide eyes and a glint of gratefulness. I smiled, "a cat got in and tore it to pieces but it should still keep you nice and warm." He smiled.

"Thank you, Alpha." He bowed and then sat back down.

"You're welcome." I walked away feeling good about myself, once I got back into my house the smile didn't drift away.

"That was nice," I freeze and see Carly by the stairs, "what you did for that homeless guy? There's a new duvet on your bed with a sheet." With that, she went back up the stairs and I hear her shut the door to her room. Why didn't she ask about the state of the sheet? I don't take her not questioning for granted and try not to think about it, making a note never to bring it up.

I got changed for work and messaged Grace that I was on my way.
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After a busy day of work I was so tired, I had been given an extra hour to pack everything up, because John had to go home early to pick up his kids from school.

I yawn and grabbed the book for my essay project. I scan the faded beige cover once more and wondered how people took this stuff so seriously.

Grace has said she had already finished the book and was on study leave, our lecturer David had given her some topics to do on the final exam. I can't believe I have gotten my self so far behind.

I open the pages to the first Chapter. I start to read and while I'm doing so familiarity builds up in my thoughts and a memory flashes before my eyes.

"It was a secret that everyone had to keep, to cherish and respect but to also protect from those who do not fully understand. Think of our ways like a religion, we are a pack, we protect our own, if you go against this you are no longer one of us, banished. Being banished from a pack is worse than death, your wolf can't survive on its own, a pack makes our wolves stronger, braver." His eyes flashed with a moment of pride.

"Mates. They're a blessing to us we mate for life at the age of 18 when our wolves become fully grown and let's say, they hit puberty. The Moon goddess chose our soul mate allowing us to become stronger with that bond, some mate parings choose to reject in that case, which is rare, a werewolf loses their wolf for a period of mourning time. This is where people commit suicide or go mentally insane. No one's wolf has ever come back before. For those whose mates have died before bonding, there might be a second chance or there might not. The wolf is still stable just lonely and usually just stays alone." With a sigh, my grandfather went back to looking out of the window.