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Chapter 192


Leah


We sat in the swimming pool, had pushed the many loungers together to form a large area and organized a veritable picnic with coffee, juice, pastries, and fruit. In a very pleasant mood.

I also had chocolate. Caramel chocolate! The smuggling had been superfluous, because I was now allowed to eat normally again.

Only reluctantly did I share the two tablets that Marcus had brought.

Marcus' company was very pleasant.

I still felt something for him, but love no longer came into question for us. Not after Nanuk. There was no more tingling nor was even a vague erotic tension in the air. No, we were far away from that. I was a little afraid that I might never find my happiness. I would probably compare every man I got to know somehow with Nanuk. But no one would be like Nanuk. But with Marcus, despite everything, somehow something connected me, and he let my heart find peace temporarily. It didn't hurt quite so much anymore when he was around.

So we all chatted until we were finally back in the water.

Jake and Marcus engaged once again in a personal competition.

Silly and unfair as always.

Becky and I floated on a pool mattress on the water and made fun of the two of them. Mom sat with Jazz and Alice in the little side pool, where there were various water jets with massage functions. Dad was sinking a boat again and again with a watering can with Ced, which he had to recover also each time again from the bottom of the pool. And Em and Rose were very busy with themselves. They were trying to get into the sauna unobtrusively.

They did not particularly succeed. Not the inconspicuous part.

When someone realized that Becky and I were making fun of something very specific, we were rudely taken off the mattress.

Marcus and Jake had approached stealthily, dived under the center of the mattress, and then pushed it up with all their might.

When Ced saw our wipeout, he clapped his hands in jubilation and wanted to try it too.

In short ... it was a pretty fun afternoon.

Around six o'clock, news reached Jazz that Akai and Tom would be on their way to their practice now.

Becky and I had enough of the water - as well as everyone else.

Except Ced ... of course.

But he admitted defeat after what was now almost five hours of frolicking with everyone in the water with only relatively short breaks.

"You really will grow fins one day!" Dad teased his son, and Ced peeked at his hands and feet in irritation.

"There!" he held them out to Dad evidencingly.

With Becky, I went under the shower down here to wash the chlorine off our bodies.

Sometimes I wondered what kind of people had once built this house. In places it looked like a public swimming pool. For example, there were changing rooms down here, with both communal showers and separate individual cubicles, compartments to put one's clothes in, separate sanitary facilities. And everything nicely in duplicate. So that male and female could always change separately from each other. Well. Among us, this planned room layout had become rather superfluous. At least until now.

So I quickly pulled my towel from the rack as Jake and Marcus rushed in. I was naked by now and just washed out my bikini.

"Sorry," Marcus muttered and immediately turned around.

"Sorry. I completely forgot that you're not together anymore," Jake whispered apologetically.

But I smiled.

There were worse things than my ex seeing me naked. After all, he had already been able to look at me very extensively like that. I found it more funny than embarrassing, although I also felt it was inappropriate if it would continue to happen.

"It's okay," I said, wringing out my bikini and continuing into the locker room.


With still damp hair I stood alone at the front door and welcomed the arrivals, to whom I had opened the main gate over the security room. Akai and Tom had gone directly into the little room, but I hugged Phoebe and hung her jacket on the wardrobe.

"How are you doing?" she asked cautiously.

Inwardly I gasped at this question, but I was not really angry with her. It had been almost two weeks since we had seen each other and there all had been well.

"It hurts that he's gone. I'm still a searching little bit for my reason to keep living, but with every day it's getting better," I said just as Akai stepped out of the room.

My gaze immediately lingered on him.

"Nanuk," I murmured, already feeling a tear escape from my eye.

He hesitantly approached me and took me in his arms.

"Hello, Leah," he whispered.

I returned the embrace and breathed in his warmth.

There was no clear morning in the forest.

A little disappointed, I wiped away the lonely tear.

"Hello, Akai ... I never noticed before that you have similar facial features to him." I hadn't noticed it yesterday either. Maybe it was because of the lighting conditions or something.

"Brothers," he explained all-embracingly.

I smiled at his flippancy.

One by one, everyone came up from downstairs into the hallway and Tom came out of the room as well.

We introduced him to everyone he didn't know yet.

Someone asked how Akai's family was doing. In the meantime, everyone was probably doing well enough that they were no longer just sitting there shocked and grieving. All of them had resumed their lives.

Tom blew it with Ced right at the first go.

"So you're the little monster!" teasingly stated Tom.

It was supposed to be a joke, but it didn't go down well with Ced.

My little brother contorted his face very suspiciously. He turned to Dad, who had him in his arms, and gestured - pointing wildly at Tom with one hand - while putting the other to Dad's neck.

Did he demand revenge or satisfaction from his daddy?

And Tom's 'nice' manner didn't get any better ...

"What a hot chick," he was seemingly a bit overwhelmed with Rosie's sight.

The fact that he didn't drool with his mouth open was everything.

"Hello, Tom," Rosie replied in an exceedingly delightful manner. She took his hand to shake it greetingly, devotedly taking her time long enough to lull Tom into a sense of security. "May I introduce you to my husband, Tom? Emmett!" she then said.

Tom swallowed hard as he looked slightly to his left. To the huge bear-like guy, who didn't look very enthusiastic. Tom took three steps backwards when the two stragglers arrived with us - Jake and Marcus.

"And so you are Marcus. Her previous fuc ...", Tom wanted to say, but already got a harsh blow against the chest from Akai.

"... boyfriend," he then gasped to a close, and still coughed afterward.

I rolled my eyes.

Tom's obnoxious behavior, as if he were the top dog, really got on my nerves.

"Now I can definitely understand you," Marcus smiled at me without commenting on Tom's saying.

I had reported to him very extensively how disgusting Tom was in my opinion. He had not wanted to believe me and said that I certainly exaggerated.

"And ... are you two back ...?" Phoebe wanted to know.

She asked it almost in a whisper.

"No!", Marcus and I answered simultaneously, like a shot.

"But we are friends," I explained afterwards.

Marcus nodded affirmatively.

"I'm happy for you guys," Phoebe smiled.

"Well, here we go, little puppies. Time for you to learn something!", Emmett rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Tom turned a little pale when he realized that the guy was going to train with him, whose wife he had just been drooling over.

Pretty much everyone chuckled in amusement at this, and I made to follow the wolves, Jazz, Alice, and Em, but Dad held me back by one shoulder.

"It's not your turn yet today, Little one," he said.

"But I'm fine again," I reflected. Physically impeccable, I confirmed to myself mentally once again.

"Do me a favor and pass on it today," he asked me.

I nodded.

There were definitely nicer things than being thrown around through the area by vampires.

We looked after them for a moment, while a large rusty brown wolf jumped back and forth between the vampires. A gray one walked demurely beside the group. The mud-colored one made a rather crouched and fearful impression.

I wouldn't begrudge Tom if he got a real dressing down out there.

"Em will certainly have his fun with him," Dad let me know before disappearing into the living quarters with Ced and Mom.

I grinned. Diabolical!

Then Phoebe, Becky, Rosie, and Marcus were standing in the hallway. And me, of course.

Empty-handed, in the midst of awkward silence.

"Do you have any time left?" turned Rosie to Marcus.

"Actually, I wanted to go home," Marcus replied, already heading for his jacket at the wardrobe.

He was taking it off the hook when we flinched in fright.

"You're not going anywhere before dinner!"

My mom. In just that tone of voice. Commanding and threatening. But she smiled while doing so.

Marcus hung his jacket back and turned to Rose.

"Apparently I do have some time," Marcus surmised.

"Then maybe you'd like to visit your bus sometime?" asked Rosie.

Sounded like granting visitation rights.

They went to the workshop.

That left only Becky, Phoebe, and me.

What did we do now?

"You haven't seen the attic yet, have you?" mused Becky in Phoebe's direction, as if responding to my thoughtful question.

She shook her head.

So we went upstairs, turned on some music and got comfortable on the floor after Phoebe came to terms with the glass loft. The half-moon was just shining through very picturesquely between some clouds. And it was snowing.

Amazed, she had dropped onto a cushion without taking her eyes off the view.

I had seen Dad through the windows.

I suspected that he had fetched the ingredients for dinner from his house.

But less than three minutes later, he knocked and entered the attic. With a tray in one hand and Ced on the other arm.

Hot cocoa. But without cookies, or marshmallows, or anything comparable!

Educationally, he stated that dinner would be served soon.

"You can leave Ced with us. Then you'll have Mom to yourself for a bit," I said, as Ced sat on the floor between us anyway and independently got more acquainted with Phoebe.

Well, actually they already knew each other from our visit to the Native American village, but the two of them hadn't had that much contact there.

We got to chatting and of course the conversation turned to wolves, vampires, and especially imprinting. Phoebe knew all the secrets of Spirit Warriors. Or Blood Wolves, as they were called with them.

In the process, I had also cried a little again when I recounted my experience with the bond. How I had experienced it.

In the meantime, Phoebe had half a heart attack.

Ced understood what we were talking about and punctuated Becky's and my stories with his memories. For example, the moment Jake showed Marcus what the imprinting meant to him.

This caused Phoebe a little bit of anxiety.

Not the wolves per se, she gladly teased Akai again and again about oversized predators and such. It was the imprinting. Phoebe and Akai had been together since the beginning of last summer's vacation, but she had never thought about them being together forever. Well, there was absolutely nothing in her mind against it at the moment. She loved Akai, liked being around him, whether in his human or wolf form, she liked his family very much, her family liked him too. Especially her older brother agreed with Akai. This apparently amounted to an eighth wonder of the world, since the latter had at times sabotaged every relationship of his little sister. I assumed that she was exaggerating. But this finality that had now come through the bond for Akai worried her. They were still young, after all. Who knew what would be in a year or five. Who they might both meet in college or then through work. Who could possibly make a decision for the rest of their lives at seventeen?

"Don't think about it too much," Becky opined.

I was a little taken aback.

That had kind of sounded like Becky had been thinking about things like that, too. I didn't know anything about that. She and Jake were so happy together, as if it had always been like that.

"I was scared by the finality of it, too," she confirmed, catching my undoubtedly incredulous look. "We're only human, Leah. The imprinting affects you, not us ... We have lived until now with the conviction that we could do whatever we wanted. And then some wolf comes running along and says, 'Bam ... that's it. You're mine for the rest of your life ...'"

"I doubt Jake said anything like that to you," I interjected skeptically.

Ced agreed.

"No, he didn't," Becky admitted with a chuckle, "But that's kind of how it came across to me between the lines. That, along with everything else, is a merciless knockout then. Your freedom is gone. Along with having a say over your life. That's scary! ... But Phoebe, you just can't think about it like that. You say you love Akai. Then just enjoy the moment. Let each day come to you and don't think about tomorrow or next year. I've known about all these things for a lot longer than you have, but in all these months it never occurred to me that I would break up with Jake. Our love has only gotten stronger and stronger over all this time ...," Becky began to say, sharing that she was so incredibly happy with Jake.

Despite all the dangers that our vampiric family and his task as a wolf brought. There were very frightening moments every now and then. For example, when we met our enemies, but also otherwise Becky had already experienced some strange things with us, which had made her afraid or at least scared her. How much Jake and I were connected, and I let him physically feel my pain through that. The first time it had been really obvious was when Dad had attacked me in the woods under his hunting instincts.

She didn't tell Phoebe that exactly, though.

But on the other hand, there were so many beautiful things. Jake being so warm was just a small part of it. What it was like to be carried through the woods on Jake's back. How he generally always behaved towards her. Sometimes funny, sometimes profound, sometimes loving ... It was always the mood Becky needed at the moment. But it seemed to her sometimes as if he tried every day anew to win her heart. By little things, with which he surprised her again and again. A single flower, something sweet, an unexpected 'I love you!', he gentlemanly carried her school bag. They had also met once by chance in town and Jake acted as if he had just fallen madly in love with 'this stranger' at first sight.

I had been there. It had been kind of silly, but also sweet.

When she slept at home, they would talk on the phone, but afterwards Jake would still text a 'good night' greeting.

"Sounds pretty romantic," Phoebe sighed.

"We'll teach Akai that too!", I promised. As a wolf I had the best connections to the thoughts of the boys. There I would give him unobtrusively to understand that his girlfriend had complained about too little romance. So to speak.

"Or are you under the impression that you can't handle all these secrets?" Becky remembered to ask, however, when my cell phone started beeping.

Dinner was ready.

"Yeah ... I mean no," Phoebe peeked a little irritated, apparently still sorting through Becky's question about what the right answer to that would be.

But she smiled unambiguously good-humoredly.

Ced crawled toward Phoebe. He obviously liked her and let her carry him downstairs.

On the long walk to the dining room, we told her she could stop by anytime if she needed someone to chat with.

We both knew how heavy it was to be able to talk to hardly anyone about all these things and were very glad that we had us two girls for this. Now we would be one more. I had already had a guilty conscience very often with Lisa. She was my best friend. For years. But now there were things that I was not allowed to share with her. I had once thought about what she would say to the truth, but I quickly came to the conclusion that she would not take it as lightly as Brandon. Maybe one day, if she noticed too many inconsistencies and called me on it. But really, just maybe.

"Your little brother is quite brash!" said Akai when we arrived downstairs.

Phoebe had Ced in her arms and my baby brother smiled with similar charm as he usually did with Becky.

"Complain to Dad. He taught him that!" Jake countered.

Akai peeked suspiciously at Edward.

"I didn't teach him anything!" he defended himself with his hands raised defensively.

"That's just his genes," Jazz interfered.

"That's right!" confirmed Emmett as well. "You still haven't told me what you did to the principal in Fargo, so I didn't get kicked out of school there!"

Mom raised her eyebrows curiously and looked toward Dad.

"We merely had a very pleasant conversation," Dad smiled.

I doubt there was anyone in the room at the moment who believed him unreservedly. Even Ced peeked skeptically. What was it called again? A gentleman keeps silent, and he enjoys, or something like that. However, I couldn't imagine Edward resorting to overly seductive tricks. He wasn't like that. Except with Mom, which he immediately proved with devotion.

"Where did you actually leave Tom?", I asked interestedly.

"He's still getting dressed," Emmett smirked.

"He has sore muscles or something," Jake chuckled.

"What did you do with him?"

"Just trained!", Jasper made unmistakably clear.

I did not believe him for a second!

"That's MY girlfriend!", Akai then first clarified as he stood imperiously right in front of Ced and Phoebe.

Ced pretended at first that he wasn't really interested, but he reached out a hand to him. The other he put against Phoebe's cheek.

Jake and I stood with them immediately. We knew what was going to happen.

Ced created a connection in their thoughts.

We had forewarned Phoebe about this moment. That Becky was so afraid of the extent of Jake's feelings that she had hyperventilated. Actually, we had only come to the subject of imprinting that way earlier.

Phoebe actually buckled a little.

I was already standing behind her to hold her, but Akai had been faster. One arm immediately slipped around her waist and gave her enough support while he pulled her to him.

Phoebe looked slightly dazed, also a bit scared and frightened, but she didn't back away from Ced's gift. She glanced fleetingly at Becky.

She certainly remembered her advice to just go with it, enjoy it, and don't question it.

Jake already had Ced on his arm, but he stood close enough that he didn't break the connection.

It was a very beautiful moment for the two of them. You could see it in their faces. For me it had been more than just beautiful. For me it had been a glimpse into my future. An overwhelmingly beautiful future. A future that no longer existed. Which was irretrievably gone.

I squinted my eyes, forbade myself to cry again, and turned away.

However, my own prohibition was quite useless. I wasn't sure which way I was moving, but when I had cool arms around me, I stopped and leaned.

That's how it would probably be for the rest of my life. Something would always remind me of Nanuk and tear the cracks in my heart anew.

"It will get easier, Little one. Every day it will get a little bit easier, and the cracks will heal a little bit more every day. Until it will only make you sad, but no longer threaten to tear you apart from the inside," Dad whispered.

I lifted my gaze slightly from his shoulder.

Was that a promise? I wanted to believe him; it would be easier if it were true, but how could he promise such a thing?

"Because you have been very brave so far ... You have lost your soul mate and yet you can laugh again. You love life and what it has to offer. You don't want to give up believing in this life. That it still has something very beautiful and, above all, everlasting to offer you."

"Leah," I heard Akai say tentatively behind me, along with a warm hand on my shoulder.

With eyes still wet with tears, I turned to him. Dad gently pushed me out of his arms and Akai took my face in his hands.

"Nanuk is no longer with us, but he lives on in all of us. And he wouldn't want us to mourn him for too long. If he could, I'm sure he would kick our asses if we stopped thinking about our own lives," Akai opined.

"Yes, I know," I nodded. Nanuk had practically told me this himself. I had no place with him now, he didn't want me with him. It was much too early for me. And the world was beautiful. I would only have to be able to see the world that way again, and I didn't. Not always. And certainly not as beautiful as it had been for a few hours. "But it's easier said than done!"

"I know, but it can go," Akai said with an encouraging smile.

Yes, that's how I knew him.

"Are you going to tell me how you've been all this time?", I asked.

"If you really want to hear it!?"

I nodded.

I had heard in the meantime that he had wordlessly and largely thoughtlessly jammed the invitation to the funeral on the patio door, had gotten into a fight with Jake, and that he had been with me. Moreover, I now saw him as mostly cheerful. I just didn't understand the whole connection between these changes in feelings. Yesterday we had overheard each other in the woods by chance and had met afterwards, but we hadn't really had time to talk. His family had besieged me a bit, asking how I was doing and so on. But now we both had time.

We sat down in one of the rooms on the first floor so that we were undisturbed.

Dad brought us our dinner, and had not forgotten about the fact that we were wolves with accordingly required portions.

So Akai began to tell, and I listened to his words in silence while we ate.

"The first night I was quiet. I didn't understand that Nanuk shouldn't be there anymore ... He was lying there peacefully. On our sofa. All night long. We sat with him all night, kept watch with him ... None of us was able to do anything great. We sat there, we cried, we were shocked ... I didn't really register that Carlisle was there ... My grandpa took care of everything. So he also called a funeral home ... When the people came to pick him up in the morning, I went crazy. I was so terribly angry. And during my anger, Phoebe came too. It was all too much for me and I broke down ... I slept until the next morning, with Phoebe by my side, who calmed me down. But my anger remained ... My big brother was dead ... Someone was to blame for that ... I ... gave it to you."

"Me?!", I muttered, choking up, and coughing some more afterwards.

"Yes. You ... I couldn't think of anything more meaningful at the time. He was with you. So you were the guilty one for me. That's why I delivered the invitation to you only under protest ... But Grandpa and Shanti brought home to me very clearly that I could not blame you ... I should remember how I had been with Phoebe the day before, when I imprinted myself. How my world was leveled to the ground by a tornado, leaving only Phoebe and me standing ... That you would have only given in to that force ... So I understood that you couldn't be to blame ... But someone had to be to blame, and I was still angry. I just didn't know at whom ... At the funeral it was me again on you ... I tied the bond myself and now I knew what power connected you. The fact that you weren't there blew a fuse with me, and I went off on Jake ... But it was more the overall situation that upset me ... Jake took me over to you. I saw you and you scared me more than Nanuk's death could as of that moment ... I was glad that Nanuk did not experience this himself, nor would he have to see you like this ... It really hurt me ... And then I knew it! ... Nanuk would not want that we should suffer like this for the rest of our lives ... He even told me himself, but it was some time ago. When our uncle died, Ma's brother, I was in a bad mood for weeks. He had been such a great uncle and had done a lot of things with us ... But Nanuk said dying was part of life, to remind us to live each day as if it were our last ... That's kind of my new motto in life."

"Live like it's your last day on earth," I muttered to myself.

"No matter how angry or sad we are, Nanuk won't bring it back. Now all we can do is make sure he has no reason to be mad at us when we see him again someday."

I thought about it.

That sounded so ... right. So wise and profound and yet also somehow serene. I would try it.

"Do you actually believe in God and heaven and hell?", I asked.

"I don't know, but it's a satisfying idea to have Nanuk as a ghost sitting next to us right now ... Maybe he doesn't quite know where to put his oversized angel wings and would look rather comical in his little golden angel dress," Akai smiled.

I chuckled and involuntarily looked next to me.

I imagined him sitting on the front edge because the wings made it impossible for him to lean. However, I was sure that he would not have wings. I could almost really see it in front of me. In modern white clothes, Nanuk would look pretty good and very casually grace this sofa. And he would laugh very heartily at Akai's conceit. I also saw him leaning towards me, putting a hand to my cheek and looking at me like an angel. 'Live, Leah! To the fullest! Without a desperate look back!', I thought I heard and even felt his warmth. I hardly let his dark eyes out of my own at this.

But I blinked in disbelief.

Yes, that was pure fantasy! But had I also imagined a wolf behind Nanuk? A rusty brown one? Now he was gone. Both of them. Strange, what my imagination caused me to see.

Our plates were empty, and we went back to the others. They had also just finished eating.

Tom was also sitting at the table, but said nothing. He seemed somehow crouched on his chair.

"Well, Tom. How was your first practice?" I asked straightforwardly and in the best of moods.

"Good," he muttered, barely comprehensible.

I laughed.

Akai casually put one arm over my shoulders.

"They tried to teach him manners in dealing with pretty ladies, too. Alice playfully flirted with him, leading him to make some really inappropriate remarks. For each one, he went flying through the area ... It wasn't until after practice that Jazz clearly told him that Alice was actually his wife," Akai explained to me.

"And what exactly does that have to do with effective practice?", I raised an eyebrow doubtfully in Jasper's direction.

"Imagine him standing drooling in front of an enemy instead of attacking her!" defended Jazz with deadly seriousness.

At this idea alone, I laughed again heartily.

Our guests said goodbye, but Jake and I ran with them to the gate as wolves. Against Tom's looks when we would say goodbye in human form, I had taken a towel with me as a precaution. A large, very large towel - ! - which I threw around me as I hugged Phoebe and Akai goodbye.

"Remember, Leah. Nanuk will be angry if you don't enjoy your life!", Akai blew me a implied kiss on the cheek.

I nodded.


Back in the house it had already become considerably quieter.

After all, none of us lived in this house. It was only because of the swimming that we had all stayed here.

The vampires had retreated to their own homes and the lights were already out everywhere. Except in the hallway, where Marcus was still standing and chatting with the rest of my family.

Mom, Dad, and Ced were getting their jackets and such on, then heading over to our little glass palace.

Jake and I went into the little room behind the front door and got dressed.

"So how's your bus?", I asked Marcus, then fully clothed again.

"He's suffering," he smiled contritely.

I contorted my face without understanding.

Putting aside the fact that a bus had no feelings, how could it suffer when it was in Rosie's care?

"Rosie took it apart and has barely put it back together yet!" grumbled Marcus, still playfully horrified.

"Rose hasn't gotten all the spare parts yet," Dad explained before I could ask.

Jake had taken a little longer to get dressed due to Becky, but now came out of the room with her. They said goodbye to my ex and headed out. My parents and Ced also went on their way.

"I'll be right there, too," I said to them, while they had sufficiently wished Marcus a good night.

I also wanted to say a proper goodbye to him.

"Did Rosie say when you'd get him back, then?", I asked as we then stood alone in the hallway.

"The last parts are supposed to be delivered next week, but it could be the one after that. They're coming directly from the manufacturer in Germany, it seems."

"And without this one, I don't think she'll get anywhere," I concluded.

"Yes and no. She could already keep working on it. But actually, she had intended to finish the bus in one go then."

"What does 'actually' mean?", I dug deeper.

Marcus smiled a little sheepishly and likewise ran a hand through his hair. While he hummed and hawed a bit, I sat down on the stairs. I waited patiently, while he sat down next to me.

"She asked me if we wanted to do it together," he then came out with the language.

"And why are you saying that so carefully? You were so excited about being able to work on your bus yourself and learn all kinds of things from Rosie. Or has something changed about that?"

"No, I'd like to do it with her ..."

"But?"

"But ... I don't want to get on your nerves if it means we might run into each other here more often."

"But you're not annoying," I objected.

"I also don't want to give the impression that I expect anything from you, just because we would then see each other regularly. That we ...", he began to say, but was apparently still searching for the right words.

However, I understood him, even without him getting to the point.

"We both know our time together is up, don't we? We already realized that on Monday when we were sitting on the porch ..."

He nodded ...

"I don't expect anything from you, and I know the same is true for you. You said we're friends. Then let's treat each other like friends, too. I would like it very much if we could see each other regularly through this. Even if you were here every day tinkering with your car with Rosie, you don't owe me an explanation. You belong to us after all ... if not to me anymore. Stay a part of our family ... which could have come out of a horror movie," I said, and meant it absolutely sincerely. Except for the last half-sentence, perhaps. Back when he found out the truth about the wolf in me in such a frightening way, he had voiced this consideration, as I had just remembered.

He seemed to remember that as well and smiled at it.

"And what part do Bella and I play in this horror movie?" he asked.

"Do you not think about Becky at all?", I teased him.

"Nah, she's in way too deep and she's going to contribute little werewolves to the family one day!" he justified himself.

"Someone has to keep up the human facade on the outside!"

We laughed about it and found other uses for the humans in our family.

As a blood reserve for the vampiric part. As domestic staff when we all no longer looked our age and could therefore no longer go out the door. As court jesters in the glass castle. Optionally as cooks for the countless Spirit Wolves ... The ideas became more and more nonsensical, but all the funnier.

I don't know how long we sat together on those stairs and just chatted about God and the world. We went from one topic to the next.

He had discovered a new music band, of which he played me something on his cell phone.

Solid rock. Sounded really good. The band wasn't too well known yet, but that would certainly change soon with this sound.

I talked about school, where I had been again today. It seemed to me as if I had not been there for years. Tomorrow evening we had a date with the group of friends to play darts in a pub. Since we still wanted to be friends, I invited him to come along, but he already had plans.

By the way, Jules arrived home in one piece the other night. Who could have seriously expected that?!

Awe-inspiring muffled low and steady sounds could be heard from the living room down the hall. The big old pendulum clock struck midnight. And we were still sitting on the stairs.

I hadn't even noticed how the time had passed. We had been chatting for over three hours.

"I really should drive home soon. Big wolves have to go to bed," Marcus said and rose heavily.

He stretched and I heard it crack softly everywhere.

I chuckled at this humanity, because I stood up without any little bone or even unimportant joint in me being bothered by it.

"Big boys, too, though," I remarked.

He put on his scarf and jacket, I merely slipped into my shoes. I hadn't gotten around to that yet. Jackets were overrated for wolves as long as they didn't move among ignorant humans, but Marcus zipped all the way up and put the collar up still. That's how we walked.

I turned off the light and pulled the front door into the lock, while Marcus was already complaining about the cold.

We should have reached the freezing point once again.

"Do you want me to drive you down the trail? Then you don't have to walk through this freezing cold," Marcus offered.

"Nah, I feel like getting some fresh air before I probably fall into bed. But I have to get you to the gate, or you won't get out of here," I replied, holding up my bunch of keys in evidence.

With the radio control for the gate dangling from it.

We got into Dad's Audi and Marcus immediately turned on the ventilation and heated seats.

"Okay ... See you tomorrow, Leah," he smiled charmingly.

Huh ...? Tomorrow? Didn't he say he already had plans?

"Rosie anticipated that you wouldn't have anything against it. That's why she's expecting me at the workshop tomorrow."

I puffed contemptuously.

That was so typical of Rosalie. She could neither hear thoughts, nor had visions of the future, nor could she perceive sensations. Nevertheless, she was usually right with her assumptions about interpersonal relationships. She had also predicted the relationship between Brandon and Lisa, but no one had believed her. When it had turned out that way, she had felt very much confirmed.

Marcus and I hugged goodbye, circumstantially as much as was possible sitting in the car, but then I walked down to our house.

The air did me good and revived my senses.

A starry night. I would probably sleep in my attic tonight and count the stars until I fell asleep.


Thank you for reading!