We Are Monsters 🌕 Book 1 || gxg

Unlikely Friends

Three firm raps at the front door's frosted glass jerked Sam awake, jarringly so after the peaceful dream she had been in. It was barely dawn. She stumbled downstairs, struggling into her bath robe, wondering how much trouble she'd be in if she threatened to kill whomever was waking her so early on her day off.

The shadow was massive on the glass, and Sam remembered then who it would be. She threw the door open, squinting from the bright motion sensor light on the stoop. Sure enough, Aidan's goofy grin was the first thing she could make out clearly. To his credit, he was wide awake, and contagiously cheerful.

"Good morning!" he exclaimed. "I brought coffee- oh, is this a bad time?"

He was taking in her likely dishevelled braid and the red dents across the bridge of her nose from her sleep mask. She knew she was something of a fiery-haired troll in the morning until her coffee, which indeed he had, two large to-go cups. She took the one with writing on it and let him in without saying a word. It would have been either profanities or gibberish given how vicious her thoughts were just then.

As he shed his winter layers, she flicked on a few lamps. It would be hours yet before the light was bright enough to see without them, what with those dense clouds looming above. Days like this made her want to stay in bed. Evidently, she wasn't getting that wish.

She probably should have gotten dressed, or at least done something to postpone until she was more awake. Instead, she folded into the armchair and sipped the coffee greedily. The deadbolt clicked, and then Aidan sat and crossed his long legs along the length of the couch. As with the diner, he was at once a relaxed fixture in the room. She marvelled at how at home he seemed.

Sam did, eventually, regain the power of speech, and they chatted lightly about the weather there, how it reminded him of home. She asked where that was, and he told her it was in the Northwest Territories.

"I haven't been home in ... gosh, almost four years." His gaze turned to the window, staring far beyond.

"Why not?" she asked and then downed the rest of her drink.

For a moment, she thought he hadn't heard her, or that he wouldn't answer. "I'm not allowed unless I'm following or bringing Noah there. I'm not allowed to enter the entire territory."

"How come?" She was sounding like her niece.

"They wanted to kill me—my father and his advisers. I can't get into it right now ... but suffice it to say I earned their hatred. I was charged with bringing Noah home, and under no other circumstance was I to be allowed over the border."

"That's ... horrible. Why do they want him back so badly?" Sam paused as her other questions came back to her. "Also, why does your father have advisers?"

"He's the pack alpha, overseeing all our kind in North America who would swear loyalty to our family. Anyone on our lands otherwise without invitation from him is considered a stray. To be clear, they're only our lands in terms of our own people and the way they behave while there. Does that answer your question?"

"One of them."

Aidan paused, appearing pensive. "How far have you read in his journal?"

"Late July of 2017."

"If he hasn't written of it yet, I don't feel it's my secret to tell. All I will say is that he broke a cardinal law, and I assisted him. As his elder and the ... former heir, I was made an example of. All things considered, I'm lucky I wasn't killed. After that, my parents kept a very close eye on him. I did my best to take the pressure off when I could, but it was hard to stay in regular contact with him."