Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

thirty-four.

"...Heyyy, Mrs. Delacour..." Ella said, nervously as she sat. I took the beer from Odie and placed the bottles in the cooler, pulling it closer to us. Odie sat down in the other chair, moving a little closer to the fire. I opened a beer and took a long drink. I could feel Odie and Ella avoiding my eyes. We sat in silence for a few minutes. They each had a beer in their holders, but neither one of them would drink it.

"Your beers are getting warm..." I said. "They'll be gross if you don't drink them soon." I saw Odie nervously reach his hand to the bottle and close his hand around the neck. He picked it up slowly and put the bottle to his lips. He made a face as he swallowed the beer. "Is that your first one?" He didn't answer. I saw Ella putting her bottle back in the holder and then sat on her hands. "This is going to be a pretty boring conversation if neither of you talk..." I said, taking another drink. "You two aren't in trouble. If Mom comes down right now, it's on me."

"What about the cigarettes?" Odie asked.

"What about them? They're mine and I can smoke them if I want." Odie still wouldn't make eye contact. "Ella, honey, are you cold? I can grab you a blanket if you like..."

"That'd be nice actually..." I got up and headed inside to pull the throw blanket off the couch. I handed it to her and she covered her legs, then took the beer and took another sip. I sat back down on my chair. "Is that your first one?" I asked her. I saw her eyes dart over to Odie.

"...No." She was silent for a second. "This isn't my first drink." I nodded.

"Oh?"

"...My old pack... when you triggered your curse... they'd make you drink the day of the full moon so that you can't remember the pain of transforming. Every full moon, the pack would get together and drink..." I took a deep breath. I didn't know that she'd triggered her curse.

"You've triggered your curse?" She nodded slowly and drank. "Where is your family from?" I asked, changing the subject.

"We're from Wyoming."

"Oh, you're mountain wolves."

"Yeah," she smiled. "We are."

"What does that mean?" Odie asked.

"A mountain wolf is larger than the ones around here, but I suppose now that Dylan opened his pack up that doesn't mean much," I said. "So, it's you and Braylen and your parents?"

"Yeah. Me, Mom, Dad, Bee, and Uncle Aaron." I nodded and took a drink. Odie was nursing his beer, nervous. "Odie, are you okay over there? You haven't touched your beer..."

"Because this isn't what I expected to happen the first time I drank..." Odie said quietly.

"What did you expect?" The two of them looked at each other and through the light of the fire, I could see them blush. "Oh... Well, I can leave if you'd like..." I said, facetiously.

"What, really!?" Odie's face lit up.

"No, not really!" I laughed. I finished my beer and reached for another. I saw Odie grab his beer and drink from the bottle, making a face again.

"Does this ever taste any better?" he asked.

"No," I said. "It usually will taste like shit."

"So why do you drink this? I'm not feeling very relaxed."

"It's a way to relax, yeah, but it's more a social thing than anything. Especially as a supe, it takes a lot to get us drunk." Odie started to drink again, attempting to finish the bottle. "That was not a challenge," I said, reaching for his hand. "If you're going to drink, you're going to be responsible." I saw that Ella had finished her drink. She slowly reached to the cooler. "It's okay if you want another, Ella." I pulled one out of the cooler and opened it for her. "Odie?"