"Is it me, or did cheese burgers suddenly get a lot better?" Erica asked, looking at me from the other side of the table.
I shrugged, finishing the slurp I was taking out of my strawberry milkshake. "Guess it's part of the upgrade when becoming a Werewolf."
Erica began to smile, still chewing on her burger. "Seriously, is there any downside to his?" Erica asked sarcastically as she swallowed. "I mean…" she looked down, gesturing to her sexy self. "I get all this and there's no consequences?"
"Well…bar the Full Moons," I pointed out, trying not to ruin her mood.
Erica shrugged, still smirking away. "One night a month is nothing compared to the amount we've spent sulking together. And besides, we get to be chained up. That sounds so kinky," Erica said with a playful seductive look, raising her brow as she did, which made me laugh.
"I wouldn't tell Derek that. I doubt he'd appreciate it," I pointed out, before taking a couple of fries and throwing them into my mouth.
"I don't know," Erica pondered, leaning back in her seat as she twirled a blonde lock of hair around her finger. "I think I could tempt him to–"
"I'm begging you, don't finish that sentence," I said with a grimace, almost gagging up my lunch.
Erica eyed me then, eyes lighting up like the popular teenage girl she was turning into. She was still in the cocoon phase, able to be more true to her new self because she was with me. But soon she'd be like this all the time, even when I wasn't around. And while I could foresee it getting annoying, today, nothing either of us did could annoy the other. Today was our sister day, a celebration of our new Werewolf empowered lives.
"Do you have a thing for Derek?" Erica asked noisily.
I scoffed, muttering a, "No," as I munched on some more fries. It made Erica laugh, leaning over the table as she grinned. Having found something new to playfully tease me about. We never used to tease each other all that much. We got it bad enough from everyone else that doing it to each other would only lead to us lashing out unnecessarily. But now that we were evolving into our new powers and popularity, we could afford to tease each other a little from time to time. It was a nice change of pace to be honest.
"Oh my gosh! You totally do!" Erica squealed excitedly.
"No, I don't," I said more firmly, fixing my sister with a look that told her it was not true. Derek was my Alpha, the one who'd given me the best gift I'd ever receive in my entire life. A chance at a fresh start, and at such an early stage in my life. And he'd extended that gift to my sister, the most important person in my life. I could never repay him for all of that.
But in spite of that, I didn't have romantic feelings for him. Was he attractive? Hell yes. Would I go out with him if he wanted? Yes. And not just because he was my Alpha. However, that was really all he was to me right now. My Alpha. I was grateful towards him, probably always would be, but everything else I felt came from that Beta-Alpha bond. He was my leader, my teacher. Romance just didn't come into it. Besides, with all I had now, I wanted to play around for a bit, before actually doing something serious like falling in love. It was way to early in my new life for that.
"Fine, don't admit it," Erica sighed in dramatic depression. I grinned at her pouty act, still finding it cute even with her make over. "I'm just saying, you know who I'm crushing on," Erica muttered as she played around with her fries, before placing a couple into her mouth.
It was true, I did know who she had a crush on. It was the same guy she'd been crushing on ever since she could understand what crushing on someone meant.
I reached over, placing my hand on hers and smiled as she looked over at me. "Erica, trust me. The second I start crushing on anyone the way you crush on him. You'll be the first to know." She appreciated that, and smiled, like the old Erica would. Timidly but full of heart.
"That said, if you start ditching me to go out with him, I'll be pissed," I playfully warned her as I leaned back. She laughed, so I continued to tease. "I mean, I know you're smoking hot now, so he'll be putty in your hands, but come on. Let's have some fun first."
"What do you have in mind then?" Erica asked, playing along as she leaned down on the table, sipping at her smoothy.
"Well…neither of us have ever been to a night club," I pointed out with a hopeful look to her.
"We live in Beacon Hills," Erica pointed out with a deflating look. "We don't have night clubs."
"All right, fine, a dance club – whatever, look, I just want to go to club of some kind, because we've never done it before and we should," I rambled out.
"Sure, sounds like fun. And the perfect way to end our Sister day," Erica said as he grin broadened.
"And a perfect place to take advantage of our new hotness," I pointed out, lifting my cup. Erica let something that sounded like a growl of agreement, before lifting her own cup and tapping it against mine.
We then finished our lunch before hitting the mall. We spent a good few hours there. Going from shop to shop as we experiment with cloths, accessories, cosmetics…boys. Though the boys came towards the end, as we tried to find out where the clubs were and which ones were hot right now. It was easy enough to find out, what with several groups of boys offering to escort us. We were happy enough to let them, but we had no plans to stick with them once we got inside. They weren't family, and this was a night for family.
We charmed the boys into getting our tickets for us, but the second we got past the bouncer, we vanished into the crowd, using the other boys that stared at us as shields to protect us from the ones that had got us in. However, when the original group of boys got insistent, another group asked if there was a problem. I might have given the most subtle of implications that there was, and then the two groups went out side. A few minutes later, the second group returned with a few bruises, cuts, and red tinted fists.
That was the kind of power we now held. It might have been brought on by the Werewolf bite, but it was something that had always been inside me and Erica. Only now we had the confidence and the ability to use it. And we were obviously using it well, judging by the the attention we were getting. It was the VIP treatment, and we were loving it. We were at the centre of everybody's attention. The boys crowding around, just to get a chance of catching our attention – even if only for the briefest of moments, while envious girls glared daggers at us from across the room. We took it all in. Their hormonal love, they're dramatic hatred. Everything we'd been denied back when we didn't exist, pre-Werewolf bite.
It was all so glorious. Going from one boy to the other, making out with them, using them to satisfy my own pleasures. At one point I would have given anything to have my lips against another boy's, now I had them lining up for my temporary affection. For now I was willing to hand it out, give them a taste before shoving them aside and moving onto the next. They each got a second, maybe two if they were really good. But my rejection just made them want me more, fighting to try and win me back. I used to hate the girls that boys would fight over, but now that I am one of them, I can see the attraction. Smiling away as fight after fight broke out. One boy accusing another of stealing me when it had been my choice all along. They were all such adorable little toys, and I'd only just begun to peek into the chest.
I caught glimpses of Erica throughout the night. We were always close by, my nose told me that, but the sheer mass of bodies around us meant we lost sight of each other every now and then. Even so, her smile never left her, which meant mine left me. I saw her grinding from in between two boys at one point, hair swishing back and forth as she danced away to her heart's content. No one was teasing her about her dancing now, and because of that fact alone, she seemed to get better, much like me. Maybe it was another hidden Werewolf power, just something else to love about our new lives.
We regrouped after a while, the enjoyment of boys flocking to us like moths to a flame wearing off. We grabbed ourselves some drinks, which some very nice boys bought us after a little flirtation, then we set out to have another kind of fun. We'd both sampled a taste of it in the hallways at school, but now we were ready for the real thing. We found a group of couples, all hanging out together, and inserted ourselves. It was easy enough, the boys were hardly resistant to our charms and looks, no matter how much their girlfriends complained.
First they told us to leave, but the boys insisted we stay. Then after a little touching, stroking, seductive whispering and the girls were shouting at us to mind our own business and get lost. The boys came to our defence though, like good little soldiers. And that was when we went in for the kill. I wrapped myself around one, Erica the other, and we proceeded to kiss them. The girls shrieked in outrage. The other boy went to question his friends' actions, but he quickly shut up after I pulled him over to join us, capturing him with a kiss. And then we backed away, leaving three couples arguing and savouring the sight. We knew each and everyone of them, all of which had tormented us in someway or another. None had recognised us, none had cared, not until we became what we are now. And for that they deserved this.
We had a lot more fun that night with everyone at the club, but then Erica took me aside and said she wanted to go home. I didn't argue, I'd had my fill of fun, and so had she. We waved goodbye, blowing kisses to all the boys as we departed, and more than half the club bid us farewell with a heartbreaking sigh. It was almost enough to make me consider staying, almost. But even if I had considered it, I wouldn't have. Erica wanted to go, and I wanted to remain with her for the rest of the day, so I left too. We returned to the school, collecting our car before heading for home. It was half one by the time we got home, our parents already in bed.
We'd texted Mom earlier to let her know we'd be out late. She'd been thrilled. Dad hadn't cared, or rather there was no response from him, but I took that as him not caring. Part of me thought one of them might have stayed up until we got home, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Now that we were the 'going out' type, they didn't seem to care what we did – at least for now. I'm still of the mind set that they're planning on kicking us out once we turn eighteen or leave school. Erica's a bit more hopeful, but I'm under no illusion about our nothing but business father and pushy mother.
I expected Erica to head up to her room, but instead she grabbed me and took me into the living room. "You want some popcorn?" she asked, letting go as she headed into the kitchen, leaving me dazed and confused in the middle of the living room.
"What?" I called after her, once I unfroze.
"I'm going to get some," Erica then said offhandedly, as the sound of the microwave starting up floated into the room. "You can pick the movie tonight." I was so confused by what she was saying. It was the middle of the night and we had school tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I'd done my fair amount of skipping school recently, but as the older sister I wasn't going to let Erica get as reckless as this. The only time I'd stayed up late since turning was if Derek needed me. Otherwise I had my fun during the day and went to bed like normal. Thinking like that made me wonder how little I might have actually changed.
"Hold on," I began, marching through to the kitchen where Erica was leaning against the counter, watching the microwave like it was already playing our chosen movie. "You want to stay up and watch a movie now?"
"Yeah," Erica said with a soft smile, much like that of the old Erica – the pre-bite Erica. "It's what we always do," she pointed out as she looked over at me with a shrug. And I don't know why, but it made me smile. A smile I'd probably used pre-bite, just like Erica. It was nice seeing this side of her, my little sister. It showed me the bite hadn't completely changed us, just helped us like Derek said it would. We'd made the choice to be better, but that didn't mean we had to lose ourselves and become something unrecognisable. We could be the new powerful dominant Werewolves around everyone else. But when we were alone, we could let down that exterior and show each other what no one else would ever see again, unless we wanted them to. Our vulnerable sides.
"Okay," I said, smiling at my sister's soft tender eyes. "But we're still going to school tomorrow."
"Of course," Erica said in a cheerful voice as the microwave pinged, the popcorn complete. She took it out, pouring it into a large bowl that often sat on our laps. "But we can afford to be a little late, right?" Erica asked innocently as she finished pouring the movie treats.
I grinned at her. "Sure."
Erica chuckled, before disposing of the wrapper and taking the bowl in both hands. "So, what's your pick then?" Erica asked as we walked into the second living room at the back of the house.
"Twilight," I answered, to which Erica tilted her head back and groaned.
"Seriously, again? You've watched those movies a thousand times. And you've made me watch it with you half those times, if not more," complained Erica.
"All right fine, I'll pick something else," I chuckled as we walked into the room, scanning the shelf of DVDs for something we'd both like. I spotted something instantly, something we hadn't watched in a while, which was odd consider how much we'd loved it. "How about some pirates?" I asked, twirling around to showcase the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD – which if it were a book, would be torn apart at the spine because of how much we'd watched it.
"Yes!" Erica exclaimed as she dropped down onto the couch, already munching on the popcorn. "It has been far too long since we last watched that together."
"Agreed," I said, putting in the DVD before joining Erica and grabbing a handful of popcorn. We both removed our leather jackets, throwing them over the arms of the couch while we cuddled together, bowl of popcorn balanced in between our legs. For the first fifteen minutes of the movie, we just watched and ate popcorn, until I finally turned to look at Erica.
It took a moment for her to realise I was staring at her, then began to frown as she looked at me. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," I said with a smile. "It's just nice to see you happy again."
"That Werewolf bite made you even more sappy than before," Erica teased with a grin, before I lightly shoved her.
"Yeah, well, yours made you mean."
"I'm sorry," Erica apologised sincerely.
"I know," I said, taking some more popcorn before we went back to watching the movie.
"I'll never be mean to you," Erica whispered, her head leaning on my shoulder, like she'd been doing since she was four years old. A sign she was either tired or depressed, and I knew it wasn't the latter. "Promise you won't leave me."
"You already know I won't."
"Just promise me…please," Erica pleaded, breaking her gaze from the TV to look up at me.
"Promise," I said with a heartfelt smile down into her young naive eyes. "It's you and me against the world, just like alway. Only now, we've got superpowers."
And that brought a grin out of my little sister. "Hell yeah we do."