Chapter 5: Growing Boys and Girls
Over the years, Lapis and Steven were growing up fast. However, the young werewolf was going through a much more rapid growth than his human friend. Male werewolves tended to age more quickly during their childhood.
Steven had already underwent his first transformation into a wolf at the age of two. His pack feared that Lapis would afraid of the boy's wolf form, but it didn't phase the human child one little bit. She was already used to some of her family members changing into wolves by now.
However, Steven wasn't the only one who had developed a dramatic change.
One stormy night, Lapis was trying to get to sleep. But given that she was afraid of the dark and thunderstorms, the poor girl couldn't let her guard down to even close her eyes. Suddenly, she saw a dark shape in the corner that darted to the opposite side of the room. The little one was clutching onto her comforter as she quivered in her bed.
Lapis was sure Rose told her at one point that things in the dark were less scary than meets the eye. Although, that advice seemed to slip her mind in this case. She was sure that this thing was a monster from under her bed that was going to eat her.
When the monster got too close for comfort, that pushed Lapis to her breaking point. She held up her hands in defense and screamed at the top of her lungs which woke up Steven. But, what happened next was shocking.
An orb of light surfaced from her palms to brighten the bedroom. Lapis had no idea whether she should be amazed or frightened.
"How am I doing this?" the young girl asked in disbelief.
Steven was equally flabbergasted.
The ball of light revealed the "monster" that was hidden in the dark. It turned out to be a raccoon who had come to seek shelter from the storm.
Just then, a stampede of footsteps echoed came towards the kids' room. And the raccoon made himself scarce.
"Lapis, we heard you scream." Pearl said as she opened the door. "Did you get scared by the storm? Is every-"
"I didn't know I could do that." Lapis broke the brief silence.
She knew that the werewolves and rebel vampires had powers and she was used to seeing those powers being displayed. However, it was an entirely different scenario since this was her own work.
But to the pack, it was blatantly obvious. Lapis' power of light had awakened much sooner than anticipated. And that only raised the alliance's concerned for the human girl's safety.
"Alright, you two." Garnet said to the children. "Time to go back to sleep now."
When Lapis heard her say that, she stiffened with fear. The ball of light disappeared and darkness fell back into the room.
"No, don't go!" she cried, hugging Bismuth. "There are monsters in the dark who want to eat me!"
"It's alright, Lapis." the bulky werewolf comforted her. "No monsters are coming to get you."
"Except for the vampire loyalists." Amethyst muttered only to be elbowed by Peridot.
"Maybe a cup of warm milk will help her fall asleep." Pearl thought aloud. "I'll be right back."
The skinny vampire stepped out of the bedroom to get some milk from the kitchen.
"This kid's rattled to the core." Bismuth sighted as Lapis shook like a leaf. "I don't know if anything can calm her down."
That was when Rose noticed that the closest door was opened just a crack. She opened it and found a wooden music box with a crank on the side and tiny moons and stars carved on it.
"Strange." the pack leader thought. "This wasn't here before."
She opened the top of the music box and discovered a piece of paper with what seemed to be the lyrics of a lullaby written on it.
The motherly werewolf brought the music box over as Pearl returned with a glass of warm milk.
As Lapis sipped her drink, Rose sat next to her and winded the crank on the music box three times. She had read the song on the note so that she would be able to sing it to the little girl.
Something in the music box's tinkling melody seemed to have a calmative effect on her. The lullaby was as pacifying as the warm milk that sat in her little tummy. At last, Lapis felt herself drifting off to sleep; much to the pack's great relief.
Once the sleeping girl got her many goodnight kisses from her family and left the bedroom, Steven got out of his bed only to climb into hers. He hugged Lapis while she was still resting in case the storm spooked her or if she had a bad dream. The young werewolf's presence help put his friend at ease.
Little did anybody know, the back of the paper that the mysterious lullaby was written on had a message that said: Protect the miracle child of light from darkness' pull.
It would be easy to think that Lapis was pretty lonely growing up since most of her family was older than her. But, that wasn't so. Steven was significantly around her age so he was just the young playmate that the human girl needed.
The kids would frolic in the meadow during spring, swim at the lake in summer, jump in the fallen leaves in autumn, and play in the snow during the winter.
Since there were no other kids in the wooded area they lived in, the two of them made up for each other's company. But, there was also a problem with Lapis having only one friend her age. Because the young girl had only been around werewolves and rebel vampires her whole life, she had never met another human. And when the alliance considered introducing Lapis to other humans, she would always cower behind her pack.
And because she wasn't socially or emotionally ready to go to public school, Lapis had to be homeschooled with Steven. Luckily for the both of them, Rose was a certified homeschool teacher.
Eventually, the alliance would have to help the young girl integrate into human society. But to say when that would happen was uncertain. And to add a more troubling point, the vampire loyalists were still lurking in the world beyond this sanctuary. The pack could only keep Lapis hidden from those monsters for so long as their blood red gleamed in the dark shadows of the forest.