Chapter 9-Arms By: Christina Perri

The next day, the girls woke up early. Due not to planning on getting out early, but they had slept most of the day before, so their bodies and minds where ready to be awake.

Josie opened her eyes to the soft rays of the sun that were filtering in through the curtains. The first thing she saw was Hope staring at her with what appeared to be adoration shining in her eyes.

"Morning baby."

"Morning love. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Your bed is so comfy and you being in it makes it even better."

Hope wrapped her arm around Josie's waist and pulled her in closer and nuzzled her nose into her neck, she started to leave little light kisses all up and down. She loved how Josie tilted her head to give her more access to her neck and the wonderfully soft warm skin found there.

After a few moment, when the brunette started to pant and a few soft moans had escaped, Hope reluctantly pulled back. Her eyes were almost black with how dilated they were. When she met Josie's eyes, she saw wanting reflected back at her. She could read the girls intentions as well.

"We can't, vampire hearing and you know that they are all listening in on us right now. I bet you they will be here in less than ten seconds."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Hope looked at her girlfriend and raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'See, I told you.'

Sitting up, Hope ran a hand through her hair and smiled at the girl in the bed next to her.

"Come in."

Keelin walked in with her hand over her eyes. She had a large smile on her face, as if she were holding back a laugh.

"So, I was told to cover my eyes when I came in. Is it safe to look?"

Both girls chuckled at the antics of Hope's family.

"Yes, Aunt Keelin, it is safe."

The older woman lowered her hand and smiled over and the two girls who were still laughing at her. She shook her head at them.

"Alright you two, I just came in here to let you know that you need to be ready to go out at seven tonight."

"Ready for what? To go where?"

"Hope, have you forgotten what tonight is?"

Hope thought for a moment and then jumped up from the bed with excitement.

"It's the night before the Full Moon!"

Josie looked on in amusement as her normally subdued and mellow girlfriend, was now acting like a cute little puppy.

"What is tonight and why is she jumping around like that?"

"The first night of the Full Moon cycle. Werewolves only have to change on the full moon, and the Crescent Pack doesn't have to even then. But every month, they do throw a huge three-day party. Hope hasn't been home for one of those for a while now."

"Mom loved these parties and we would go all the time when I was younger, when I was home."

"Yes, and tonight we are going to party and have a good time. We will celebrate with the pack, just like she did."

"I guess that I will hang out with Freya while you guys are off parting with the pack?"

The shorter girl stopped and turned around to look at her girlfriend. What was she talking about? Hanging out with Freya?

"No, you will be coming with us to the party."

"Oh, I thought that since it was a pack party, that only pack would be allowed. Like at school."

Keelin smiled at the girl. She really was too sweet. She was starting to understand just what it was about her, that made her niece love her so much.

"Well, with you and Hope, just like with me and Freya, you are with Hope. That makes you pack."

"Yeah, and since Keelin is Alpha, what she says goes."

Hope grinned in her aunts direction. She knew that she was poking a bit. Keelin hated to be reminded that she was Alpha. She never even wanted a pack, let alone to lead one.

The doctor looked over at her niece with a smirk on her face. Really, this is the game that she wanted to play. Well, in that case, she would enjoy a poke of her own.

"Well, I'm Alpha for now."

Hope turned around and glared at her aunt.

"Not this again! We have had this discussion and my answer has not changed."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hope is a true Alpha like her mother and father before her. She was next in line to be Alpha of the pack. When the Beta offered her the challenge, she took it and won. Then announced that she would not be taking over as Alpha right away, as she was just a teenager and was needed for other purposes. She made me Alpha in her place. In all honesty, the only thing that she has to do is show up and say that she is Alpha and that is that."

"Which is something that you know that I am never going to do. I don't want to be Alpha. The only reason that I took the challenge was that the Beta was a dick and the pack needs a level head in charge and someone who can control him."

Keelin laughed. This girl didn't know it yet, but one day she would be the Alpha and she would be as great as her mother.

"Alright, alright. Just make sure that you are ready to go by seven. If you are hungry, Freya had breakfast brought in for you. Come eat while there is some left."

Keelin left the girls so that they could get ready for the day.

"Well, knowing that we are going to the party tonight makes me want to have a lazy day today. Are you okay with that?"

"Sounds fine to me. Anything specific that you want to do?"

"We could just hang out here in my room. We can watch something, or if you like, we can play some games."

"I have never played any of these systems before. MG always tried to get me to play but I don't really like the auto theft and first-person shooter and all that."

"Oh! I know, we can play my favorite game. It's an old PlayStation game."

"What is it? What type of game?"

"It is a RPG. It has magic and creatures. Adventures and side quests. It is a lot of fun. I have played it a ton. You can finish it in as little as twenty hours or take hundreds of hours on it."

"What is it? Sounds like it could be fun."

"Final Fantasy 8."

"I'm willing to give it a try. If I don't like it, you aren't going to like, break up with me, are you?"

Hope looked up with a smirk on her face, barely holding back a laugh.

"I don't know. I mean this is my favorite game. What do you have to offer me in comparison?"

Josie walked up to the shorter girl and wrapped her hands around her shoulders. Hope automatically responded by wrapping her arms around her girl's waist.

"Oh, I'm sure I can think of a thing or two."

Leaning down to kiss her, Josie made sure that this more than a pressing of lips. She knew Hope had been playing with her, just teasing, but she wanted to kiss her anyway and this gave her the perfect excuse.

After a few moments, the brunette pulled back just enough to breathe. Both girls were panting from the kiss.

"Yeah, never breaking up with you. Not happening."

"Good. I had a second idea in case you needed more too convince you not to break up with me ."

"Oh yeah, what was that."

Josie tilted her head, bringing her lips over to Hope's ear and whispered what she was thinking. The older girl turned red and her eyes popped out of their sockets.

Pulling back with one last sweet kiss, Josie released Hope and walked to the bathroom to get dressed. When she came out of the bathroom five minutes later, Hope still hadn't moved.

"Baby, are you ok?"

Blinking, the older girl slowly turned to her devilish girlfriend. She was still blushing but at least her eyes had managed to become smaller.

"You can't say stuff like that to me! You are lucky that you are still standing and that I'm not all over you right now."

"I mean, is that really a good thing?"

Hope growled and took a few steps forward. She looked like she was stalking prey. Josie squealed and jumped over the bed and ran for the door. Hope of course, was faster and pinned her to the door. There was a fire in her eyes that was unmistakable.

Leaning in, Hope kissed Josie hard, putting everything into that kiss. She swiped her tongue across Josie's lips and the girl willing opened for her. After a few more minutes of Hope claiming Josie's mouth, she pulled back.

"Stay here. Don't move. I'll be right back. My wolf needs to calm down and I need to get ready for breakfast."

Josie stood there catching her breath. She knew she was playing with fire while teasing Hope, and she got burned. Good thing she has an affinity for fire and loved the heat.

Hope returned to find Josie just as she left her still catching her breath and panting. She slowly walked over to her and pulled her in for a hug. She was calm now and had her wolf under control.

"I don't know if you know this, but a wolf, even a Crescent with control, this close to the moon is all animal instincts. Tease me all you want, I actually enjoy it, a lot. Just not within three days of the full moon. I tend to, um, not have as tight a hold then."

Josie nodded, still not having words, and hugged Hope tighter and kiss her cheek. She didn't want to get her riled up again, but she needed to kiss her.

"Let's go eat before they come looking for us, or before my wolf can change my mind."

Pulling apart, Hope took Josie by the hand and walk out of the room and headed for the breakfast. Typically, mealtime was casual. The only time they really used the dining room was for large formal family dinners or to make an impression. Hope knew that she would find the family standing around in the kitchen.

"Morning you two. We were about ready to send a search party to see if you got lost."

"Auntie Bex, it's been fifteen minutes. We had to change out of our pjs and get ready. Have you forgotten what it is like to share a bathroom and take turns? Oh, that's right, you never have, you always make sure you have your own bathroom."

The group laughed at that as the blonde vampire playfully glared at her niece. It was nice having everyone home together. They may not be the most functional of families, but there was no lack of love.

"So, what is for breakfast? I'm starving and my wolf is worse."

"I didn't know what Josie would like and knew with the full moon tomorrow you and Keelin would be ravenous, so I order three of everything."

In front of them was a full spread covering every surface. There was a lot of pastries and meats with some fruit and eggs and random other food mixed throughout. There were also some vegetarian and vegan options. Josie was grateful to Freya for ordering the different options, she had forgotten to mention that she didn't eat meat.

"Thank you. I forgot to mention that I was a vegetarian. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Nonsense! You act like Hope did send me a specific list of what I was and was not allowed to offer you. I knew that you needed options without meat, I just wasn't sure which of the options you would like best."

Freya walked over and squeezed the girl's shoulder. She didn't like that fact that her default was to apologize. She would have to work on that with her. She was sure that Hope was already working on it, but an extra voice never hurt.

The girls grabbed their food and sat down at the bar with everyone else as they ate. It was a calm morning and it was perfect.

"What are you two love birds planning for the day?"

Kol turned to his niece and her girlfriend interested to see if he could get them to blush by the end of the meal.

"Aunt Keelin is taking us to the Full Moon party tonight so we are going to chill for the day. I have convinced Josie that she should play Final Fantasy 8 with me."

Everyone started shaking their heads and groaning all at once. The groans around the room where almost deafening.

"What? I love that game."

"We know. You have only played it so much that we had to buy you a new copy, twice!"

Davina was laughing next to Kol. In all honesty, it was her fault. She had bought her the first copy as a Christmas present when she was ten. She will never live it down either, but it made the young girl happy at the time, and still does. She still doesn't regret it.

Josie looked around at the group and had a confused look on her face. She didn't understand what the issue was.

"What's the big deal? It's just a game, right?"

"Oh, sweet summer child, you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into. You are not leaving this house from vacation unless you finish that game. Davina and I had to cancel the first leg of our vacation three years ago because I let Hope talk me into to playing with her."

"Why didn't you just lose to her and end the game?"

"It isn't that kind of game babe. It is an RPG. Only one player plays. But I like to hand off the remote and talk through everything. It is more fun that way. Group games tend to take on lives of their own."

Josie nodded her head and stopped with a contemplative expression. She knew that Hope loved this game, and she was rarely at home. Apparently, everyone here was over playing it. Well, two birds one stone as they say.

"Well that's easy enough. If we don't finish the game, we can take it the console back to the school with us. Except, you will have to buy a TV though; you don't have one."

"Done! I will buy it today and have it delivered and set up for you in your room before you get back!"

Kol was already online ordering an 85-inch 4K TV with all the best features. He was serious about this. If he were going to buy it, he was going to make it the best one that would fit in a dorm room.

"I guess you guys really don't want to play with me anymore."

Hope looked down at her plate. She was happy that Josie still wanted to play but hurt a little that her family didn't.

"It isn't that we don't want to play with you hon, it's just that you have over five hundred games, and that is the only one you play. Pick any other game, I will come play with you and Josie now."

Hope looked up and smiled at her aunt. She understood, it was just that game, it was special.

"No, that's ok, I want to play with Josie. Maybe next time."

Everyone looked at her and they felt a little bad. They hadn't meant to hurt the girl's feelings.

Josie could feel the mood drop in the room. She wanted to get Hope to her room.

"Hey, are you done? Want to go introduce me to this amazing game that I am sure to love?"

Hope smiled and nodded her head. Taking Josie's hand in her own and lead her back to her room. Once they entered, the brunette pulled her girl in for a hug. She knew there was something that she wasn't saying. She didn't want to push, but she wanted her to know that she could tell her.

"Do you want to tell me why this one is your favorite and why it is more important than any other game?"

Hope shifted in the taller girl's arms. She wasn't sure exactly how to say this without it becoming a whole thing.

"Um, ok. But, can I set it up while I tell you? I really need the little distraction."

"Of course, Hope. I'm just going to sit on the bed. You do the whole sexy tech support thing."

Hope let out a soft laugh. She saw what Josie was doing and it made her love her even more. It was getting harder not telling her.

Hope went to work hooking up the right cables and cords and putting in the first of the four discs.

"Aunt Davina bought this for me when I was ten as a Christmas present. It was a bad year. Everyone was separated and we couldn't be together anymore. They sent presents and we used Skype to talk and see each other, but I was alone a lot. Mom and Aunt Freya and Aunt Keelin tried their best, I know they did, but I was ten. I was hiding who I was at school and here I wasn't allowed out with out one of the three. Aunt Keelin being a doctor worked long hours. Freya was dealing with the witches and keeping the peace along with mom. Mom was also working to keep the werewolves together and she had taken on all of the Alpha responsibilities. So, I spent a lot of time here, alone, and bored. I mean, there was always a bodyguard, though they called them babysitters."

Josie was sitting there letting Hope take the time she needed to work through this. She didn't want to interrupt her and cause her to stop speaking. She had questions and suspicions, but those could wait.

"When Christmas morning came and I received the gaming system and the game itself, I was excited. It was something to do to distract myself. Don't get me wrong, I read a lot, and I loved painting, but those made me think of being alone and missing my family. This was different. I could get lost in it and kind of not think about anything outside of the game for a while."

Hope had finished setting everything up and slipped her memory card into the slot and brought the controller over and offered it to Josie, who took it and waited for Hope to finish her story.

"That first night, mom helped me set everything up and then she offered to play with me. She said she had never played as a kid, but it sounded fun. We took turns playing and we got so lost in it, that by the time we could bring ourselves to stop playing, it was already the next morning. We spent the next week playing until we finally beat the game. Mom made arrangements for that whole week so that we wouldn't have to leave the room. She ordered food and canceled all of her meetings. It was just us for a whole week."

There it was the whole thing explained in one simple story. This was the game Hope first played with her mother. A game that caused her mother to take time to spend with her daughter who she was recognizing was lonely. This was the game that brought Hope time with her mother and reminded her of that time when she played.

Josie hugged Hope tightly. She held her like she was never going to let her go again, and in truth, in one way, she never would. She determined in that moment, she didn't care if Hope wanted to play this game everyday for the rest of their lives, she would play whenever she wanted to. With a kiss to the side of the auburn-haired girl's head, she pulled back and looked at her girl with a small smile.

"So, are you going to teach me how to play this, or am I figuring it out all by myself?"

Hope bounced up and down for a moment, making Josie think of ten-year-old Hope when she first played the game. This caused her smile to grow.

"Yes, let's start! This really is the best game. You are going to love it. By this point I have it memorized, but there are so many ways to play that it is different each time."

For the rest of the day the two girls traded off the controller playing the game, going for what Hope said was the long version. They took all the side quests and spent the time needed to gather all of the magic needed and to level the characters up before they needed to be.

When Keelin came to tell them, it was time to get ready to go, Josie was the one who groaned. She had really gotten into this game; it was just so much fun!

"Ok, we will be ready in a little bit. We just have to finish this one fight and then we can save."

Keelin stood there and wait until the girls saved and turned everything off. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but she had seen Hope say this before and then play another two hours getting lost in the game.

"Ok, I will see you girls downstairs in thirty minutes."

After she left the girls stood up and got ready. As it was a cookout type party in the Bayou, there wasn't much preparation needed. Some jeans and tank tops. They fixed their hair and brushed their teeth.

"Ready to go party with some wolves?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. Just please don't leave me alone?"

Hope kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a side hug, hand resting on her hip.

"Trust me, you will not be leaving my side tonight. I want to make sure that every wolf there knows that you are mine."

Josie laughed a little raising an eyebrow. She knew wolves were possessive, however that seemed extreme.

"Really? Possessive of me just a little?"

"Yes, but it is more than that. By making sure that I am claiming you to the pack, that offers a certain level of protection. A partner, or later, a mate, is something that no wolf will mess with, and if a witch or vamp does, the pack will stand with me and protect you. This isn't a marriage, so please don't freak out. This is, for now, me claiming that you are mine."

"I understand Hope. We do go to a school full of supernaturals. I have seen the wolves do this before. I just like teasing you a bit. I like it when you smile."

Smiling wide, just for her, Hope leaned in and gave a soft kiss. Little more than a peck.

"We should go, this is going to be an interesting night."

T.B.C.