Small Town Love

Chapter 17

The People with the best advice are usually the ones who have been through the most.

Anonymous

Even when Luke had told her that Caroline was alright with her staying overnight...Daphne still somehow felt like she had done something wrong when she came home the next morning.

There was a mixture of ice and water on the grounds and Luke walked her home in his wolf form.

She wondered if she was ever going to get as used to this as he was.

For Luke being a werewolf was something natural, something he had been born into. Something he treasured.

For Daphne...For Daphne, it was a supernatural thing that was weird and painful and she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it.

Luke hadn't pressured her once about what she should do about the wolf lurking beneath her skin. He had only asked her that once if she wanted to shift and had accepted her desire to wait. If Daphne ever wanted to shift now that...she had the option.

Sometimes she felt terrified about the prospect. And other times...like this, with Luke next to her, the big black wolf's ear twitching and checking out the forest around them...then Daphne wondered if she didn't want to be with him like that as well.

Sometimes Daphne wondered if she could feel the wolf lurking underneath the surface. If that was what she was feeling when the heat unfurled in her chest as it did sometimes when Luke was close to her.

She scratched Luke behind his ears when she reached the front door, smiling at him.

"You'll come over later?" She asked him softly and he nodded his agreement, stepping back and waiting until she had unlocked the door before he darted back into the forest.

She looked at him for a moment, suddenly wondering what she was going to look like if she ever shifted. Would she be a similar black colour like him? Or look something completely different? Was it hereditary?

Daphne didn't let herself end that thought, slipping off her shoes and her jacket and hanging it up in the hallway.

"Daphne?" Her aunt's voice came from the kitchen and Daphne stepped through, finding her baking, which was a rare thing.

Cecilia Schuyler was the standard baker in their near circles of friends and acquaintances, always sending Grace and Luke to school with cookies and muffins and pies. And they were always great.

"Christmas Cookies," Caroline asked the unasked question. "You can help me decorate them later if you want to.

For a moment Daphne was frozen in her spot, staring at the gingerbread men that were taking shape.

She never had...done that beforehand. Ever.

Michelle hadn't baked and later when Daphne had maybe been old enough to do it on her own, making gingerbread cookies had been at the very bottom of things to do.

She never even had eaten one.

"Everything okay, Honey?" Caroline asked her gently and Daphne nodded.

"Yes. Everything is great," she brought out. Gingerbread Men. Why were they the thing that ended up reminding her of her mother?

Daphne took a seat at the kitchen island, Caroline pushing a bowl with the offcuts nearer to her.

"You can eat some of the ones that didn't look right," Caroline winked at her and Daphne just shook her head but picked out a misshapen gingerbread cookie, taking a bite.