Saving Shaw

Twelve

The next few days were uneventful. I began falling into a routine I was comfortable with. I'd wake up, shower, and get dressed before heading downstairs and having breakfast with whomever was in the kitchen. Sometimes, if I was lucky, I would eat alone. That gave me the chance to think and mentally prepare myself for the day. Though I did crave the company sometimes.

After breakfast, I would head upstairs to the office and get some work done. I'd taken on a new request for a paper I didn't have in my database. It was about animal psychology and had piqued my interest. It also gave me a chance to do some deep diving into the behavior of wild animals. Given my current situation, I was researching wolves and pack mentality. Part of me was hoping that this would give me an insight on lycanthropes.

Though from my experiences so far, I didn't have much to go off of. I'd only seen a fully transformed lycanthrope when Talon lost control in front of me. I'd seen Luke shift parts of his body, but neither experience were sufficient. I didn't have enough time to observe them, but that didn't stop me from writing this paper.

Sometimes Talon would be working in the office as well. We didn't talk much while we worked. He was on calls a lot and I kept quiet so I didn't bother him. Most of the time, his conversations were boring. That was until he started yelling at the person on the other end of the phone. It didn't happen often but when it did, I found it highly amusing.

After I worked for a few hours, I would go hang out in the living room. Usually, Steele was in there playing his video games. I still didn't understand how he got paid through that, but I didn't question it. Sometimes I watch him. Other times, I scrolled through my new phone or read a book I found in the house.

If I grew tired of the living room, I'd go venture outside. Sometimes I'd go for a run or just walk along the trails. Arrow would come with me sometimes and we'd talk about Carmen, what we could remember from our individual childhoods, or he'd tell me stories about the kids he volunteered with. I really looked forward to those conversations as well as Arrow's patience and kindness.

When it was time for dinner, one of the guys would cook or we'd order take out. We typically ate together either in the kitchen or the living room while watching TV. Sometimes one of them would go out. Axel ate dinner with us less frequently than the others.

I didn't ask, but I noticed that there were days where he'd get moody and agitated. Then he'd disappear for hours on end. When he returned, Axel would be like his happy-go-lucky self. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd gone out into the forest and lost control. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I knew better than to follow him. Despite the friendship that developed between us, Axel wouldn't be able to control himself in that state.

After dinner if Axel was around, we'd watch reruns of sitcoms on TV. Sometimes Steele or Arrow would join us. Talon always kept to himself after dinner. I don't know what he did. One night when I was getting a drink from the kitchen, however, I saw him sitting outside on the steps of the back porch. His back to me, but I could see that he was staring out at the forest as if he were waiting for someone. I never bothered him.

The worst part of the day was when I went to bed. Not only did I feel guilty for displacing Talon, but it was the time of day where I felt the loneliest. I may have been surrounded by four other people, but I still felt disconnected from them. I felt disconnected from the world and that feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

It made it difficult to find sleep. When I finally did fall asleep, I was plagued by nightmares or other strange dreams that left me feeling tired. I dreamt about my mom, Carson, Luke, Talon, and sometimes just myself. Except when I dreamt of myself, I was the wolf. I was the one that ran through the forest uncontrolled. I was the one taking down deer or crashing through foliage. Those were dreams I couldn't make sense of, but it was something I was beginning to accept.