Crimson Mist ✔️

48: Waiting.

As much as I'd like to know when Jeremy will be here, I don't. Tyler doesn't know either, and the link between the two best friends has been blocked ever since he told me that my mate was coming back for me. It's only been a couple of days, but I've been impatiently waiting, so it feels like it's been a couple of weeks. At least he isn't here yet, which is a good thing, considering the full moon is tonight.

Tristan miraculously went back to normal the day after our short intervention, and acted as if nothing ever happened. His teasing smile had made an appearance once or twice since then, and  as Michael and Tyler started decorating, painting and making a home out of their newly built house, the rest of our pack has helped me get started on the foundation of my new house.

I watch as the liquid concrete is being poured into place, and held there, magically, by the power of Petra the witch. My mind was set on keeping the layout and the size of the foundation that was still standing, and with Tristan's blessing to keep the house somewhat the same as our parents', we got started yesterday.

The house won't be the biggest in the end, but it will be an homage to my parents, and I'll have something that will feel like it was theirs, like a connection.

It's almost unbelievable how quickly we've gotten three houses up. It's been just over a month of grieving, constant working and other weird circumstances, yet we're beginning to build the fourth and final house for now. We'll probably build some more for guests soon, but Petra's magic needs a rest. I told her it's no rush with my house, but she keeps telling me how bad she feels for me, having to share a house with Tristan.

"How do you want the walls, Elle?" Jean asks as she walks around with a clipboard where she draws quick sketches to help both Petra and I understand each others' ideas.

"What do you mean?" I ask back, furrowing my brows. "It's just walls?"

"No, there's so many ways of doing it," Petra says as she releases the last of the concrete into place, and lets out an exhausted sigh.

"You can stop, we don't need to do this yet. You can take a few days, and..."

"No way, you need a home!" she pushes, interrupting me as I try to tell her she can take a break.

I send her a small smile, to tell her I appreciate it, but she doesn't have to use up all her powers to help me. I can sleep in Tristan's house for another week, or crash at Michael and Tyler's if it gets too bad. Obviously I won't need to if this continues, though, since my house will be up and ready to live in in a matter of days.

Even with all the snow coming down, we've been miraculously able to rebuild this small portion of the village, and I would go as far as to say we wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for Petra and her magic. It still baffles me that such a tiny woman can hold such great power. She can do anything. The living proof that women are equals to, if not better than, men.

My house will be rectangular, with a small, squared porch in the middle of one of the longest sides, facing towards Michael and Tyler's home. I smile as I watch the foundation come back up, outlining the house of my dreams. I can't wait for it to become a home, maybe with a few spare bedrooms just in case Jeremy and I end up together.

Jeremy.. The man I'm supposed to be with, to love and cherish, and have so-called puppies with.. Would he approve that I've made the decision of where our future home will be alone, that I decided what it will look like, and how the walls will be built? Apparently there are different ways to do so, and I didn't know.

"I want logs," I say, and point towards Tristan's huge house, "like that. And I can put panels on the inside, right? To paint and have decorations on, like in Gail and Uno's house?"