"Do you remember the way
That you touched me before
All the trembling sweetness
I loved and adored"
-My Skin (Natalie Merchant)
There were little things Simon took joy in nowadays. One was hanging out with Rachel and the second was letting time slip him by looking at nature. At the moment since Sam had told him the day before that he would be escorting Rachel to school, Simon found himself with free time in the morning. At the moment, to kill time, he was laying on the grass staring at the sky. There was nothing exciting except for gray clouds and, if he were lucky, he would catch a hint of sky blue between the clouds. He hadn't seen the sun since that fateful day two years ago and there were moments he found himself missing it; its warmth and its promise for a new tomorrow.
"Excuse me."
Simon frowned when a girl with slight Asian features, dark brown hair that fell over one shoulder in curls and honey eyes blocked his view of the sky.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm new here and I don't know my way around. I need help looking for the admissions office." She looked away as her face heated up when he remained quiet. The rapid beating of her heart was very unsettling to her.
The wind blew and with it carried her scent of something sweet. For the first time in two years, he heard a low growl in his mind. "It can't be…"
"All I need is directions, if it's not too much," she said, feeling self-conscious when his gaze did not waver from her form."It can't be…" Her wolf whispered as a shiver went down her spine when his eyes flashed blue for a moment.
"Who…" Simon sat up causing, her to take a step back as he turned to face her. "…is she?" He could see the shock in her gaze as he stood up and closed the distance between them. "Once you go inside the main building, continue walking straight and on the first corner take a right. It's the last door on the left."
"Thank you," she said quickly, before scurrying away.
At the moment, she reminded him more of a rabbit than a wolf. He remembered a week ago Rachel telling him excitedly about a new she-wolf moving in with her daughter, but now he regretted not paying more attention to what Rachel had been trying to tell him. The wolf in him gave a slight whimper as she entered the building and disappeared from his sight."Go after her." But Simon remained standing in his spot, not knowing what to think of the feelings tearing through him.
"Simon!"
He whipped around just in time to catch Rachel in his arms as she slammed into him with a hug. "Isn't someone happy today?"
"Of course," Rachel grinned when he put her down.
Simon looked over her head to see Sam approaching with at a slower pace and a frown. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing…he's worried about today."
He knew what she was referring to. Today was the day that Shelby and Rachel will meet with Dwight, Mary and Sam to discuss what will happen on his eighteenth birthday, and what Rachel and Sam have decided. The whole town, by tomorrow, will know the decision of their future alpha and his mate.
When Sam reached them, Rachel wrapped her arms around him. He sighed and held her closer to him, not wanting to let go. Today they were finally going to address the issue he had been avoiding for two years.
"So I think I met the new girl in town," Simon said, breaking through the tension.
Sam looked at him grateful, while Rachel in surprise. "Really? You met Sunshine?" Sam noticed the way Simon's eyes slightly widened.
"That's her name?"
"Yeah, don't you remember?" Rachel looked at him confused. "I told you."
The wolf in him grinned, while he outwardly frowned.
Dwight looked at his eldest son with his mate seated across from him. He felt Mary's hand on his right shoulder, giving him support. Shelby stood on Dwight's left, looking between Rachel and Sam. Simon stood in front of the door that was the only entrance and exit toward Dwight's study. "As you already know, Sam's birthday is within a week," the alpha addressed both teens. "Rachel, Mary will inform you of what to expect on the day and Shelby will be there for you as support, but when the day arrives it will only be you and Sam."
Rachel nodded wordlessly.
"Have the both of you discussed your options?"
"Options?" Rachel looked at him curiously.
"You have two." Dwight smiled at her gently. "The first being that you will help ease Sam into his transformation by letting him claim you. The second option being you will do exactly like the first, but you will go through the turning and bind yourself to him."
"I want to go with the second one." The moment those words left her lips, Sam went tense, Dwight gritted his teeth, Mary looked at her surprised, while Shelby smiled at her daughter. They had talked about this for the past two years, so she was able to get used to the idea. If she couldn't change her mind then no one was going to be able to.
"Rachel, I want you to know that the turning isn't a painless process," Dwight said, trying to break it gently to her.
"I know it's not." Rachel met his gaze. "It's painful and it can lead to death. I did my research on the matter."
"And yet you'll through with it," Sam snapped, surprising his parents and Shelby.
"It's my choice."
"It's our choice!" he roared, standing up and glaring down at her. "It's ours because in the end it will affect the both of us!"
"Is it horrible of me for wanting to spend immortality with you?" Her voice rose as she stood from her chair and faced her mate.
"It's not guaranteed that you will survive!"
"And it's not guarantee that I will die!" Rachel took a step toward him. "You seem to forget I'm not just a mortal but a sorceress!" She stomped her foot.
"Why can't you just be content with the years we can have?" Sam asked with sorrow in his gaze.
"Because I refuse for you to watch me die."
"Either way, you are damning me to that fate!"
"So then in the end it doesn't matter what I choose because in your point of view we are screwed!" Rachel screeched, feeling her eyes gather with tears at the realization that he will not fight for them.
Sam remained silent.
"In the end, whether you're with me or against me, I will go through the turning."
"What makes you so sure I will cooperate?"
"Then I will grow to resent you for making me live a life in a way I do not wish to."
This time, he felt like she punched him in the gut and the tear that slid down her face begged for him to aid her in her quest, but he couldn't. The thought of losing Rachel sooner than later hurt far more than he could bear and clouded his judgment. "Then I will have to remind you why love me."
"I was hoping you wouldn't force this matter." Rachel closed her eyes as more tears streamed down her face. "I was hoping that these last few days I'll have you by my side."
"You do. I'll do anything you ask except for that."
"Then you will lose me."
"What are y—"
"I guess you were right." She let out a humorless chuckle. "We are damned to lose each other." Not waiting for him to respond, Rachel turned to Mary. "What time would you like for us to start our sessions?"
"Is after school all right with you?"
"It's perfect," Rachel smiled at her before looking at Dwight. "I'll see you tomorrow and I'm sorry for raising my voice."
"It's understandable, sweetheart." Dwight gave her a sad smile. "You can yell whenever you feel like."
This time a small genuine smile graced her lips before she looked at her mother. "Can we go home? I'm feeling really tired right now."
"Of course." Shelby smiled at Dwight and Mary in farewell before waving at Sam as she walked passed her daughter.
"Rachel, I—"
She placed her hand on his chest to keep him from coming closer to her. "I think it's best if we put some distance between each other."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Sam placed his hand over hers and grasped it gently in his.
"I don't think that's possible." She looked him in the eyes. "But at this moment, more than anything, I wish it was." The hurt in his gaze had her wanting to take the words back, but she couldn't. Not if she wanted him to see her point. She needed his support more than anything because it was with him that she wanted to spend immortality with. "Simon is going to be escorting me to school from tomorrow onwards." She didn't wait for his response as she pulled her hand from his grasp and walked away from him.
Simon tried not to let the glare Sam was giving him get to him as he moved out of Rachel's way and opened the door for both Shelby and her. "Goodnight," He told the Evans family before walking out and closing the door behind him as he followed the Berry family. He knew that he was going to have to play mediator between Sam and Rachel again. After all, it wasn't the first time they fought, but Simon felt this one was going to be much harder to settle.
Sam tried to calm the raging emotions within him as he looked at the closed door and took deep breaths. Before his parents could tell him anything, he stormed out of the study and into his room. The door of his room slammed, echoing through the house.
"What are we going to do?" Dwight asked, burying his face into his hands.
Mary wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "All we can do is wait and hope that Sam and Rachel come to an accord."
The sound of two doors opening had them looking up and into the hallway only to see Stacy and Stevie sticking out their heads from their rooms. "Is Sam going to be okay?" Stacy asked, worried.
Stevie frowned, worried. "He sounded really mad."
"Don't worry." Their mother smiled at them reassuringly. "He just needs some time alone to think."
The two children nodded before retreating into their own rooms again, missing the look of worry both their parents shared.
AN: I want to give a huge thank you to my beta MissBreePhoenix for looking over this chapter. =)
AN 2: So it has finally begun. ;) I hope you enjoyed the prologue. The next chapter will hopefully feature the others. Please leave a review telling me what you think. 15+ reviews is all I ask for and I will update as soon as I get the chance. (^_^)
AN 3: I made a cover for this fic, but it doesn't look right in this website, so if you want to see it go to my twitter, I posted it up there. =D
