Listen to my voice.

Chapter 9.

"Where are you?" she asked him again, her hands beginning to shake.

"I'm coming."

"I'll wait for you on the sidewalk" he merely said and then hung up.

And there it was again, the anxiety that had haunted her since she was a child, and that led her to imagine the worst scenarios in every situation where there was some risk.

She had been diagnosed a few months before her eleventh birthday, and since then her adolescence had become quite difficult.

From her backpack she took out her medication, her body was sweating and her legs were getting weaker and weaker, as was her whole body. She felt dizzy and it was difficult to breathe.

From the small bottle containing the pills, she took out what corresponded to her dose and drank water from the bottle she had left hours ago in her backpack.

All that had happened yesterday and in the morning she forgot to take them in due time, she cursed herself for forgetting.

She took a deep breath and followed all the steps her psychologist had taken to teach her.

She burst into tears when she felt calmer, she could no longer bear anything.

Her missing father, being away from her town, her friends, learning the truth, the lies, the secrets, she could not.

She was really tired and she couldn't tell anyone, she didn't want to worry them and fill them with her problems when they already had their own.

The noise of the car's engine made her raise her head, tears were still sliding down her face, she tried to wipe them quickly with the back of her hand, but it was too late, he had already seen her, her friend came running towards her, Harley stood up and let the brown hug her, to cry on her shoulder inhaling the sweet scent she gave off.

"Hey" he said grabbing her face to leave a chaste kiss on her forehead "it's going to be okay, precious."

"Excuse me" she whispered.

He denied kissing the tip of her nose, eliciting a blush and a giggle from her "nothing is your fault, I'm here to listen to you Yes?"

He nodded.

"Thank you, Thommy."

"Don't thank me, Ley."

"I must."

"Of course not" she reached out to her friend "Movie night?"

A smile tugged at her face "Yes!"

After entering the chestnut's house the boy pulled out his cell phone "I'll let Alei and Liv know, in the meantime go take a shower and put on something warm okay?"

"It's okay, Mom," he scoffed.

A few minutes later, Harley emerged from the shower with a white towel wrapped around her torso. She changed into her pajamas and just as she was about to finish combing her hair, shouting could be heard in the living room.

She ran to the first floor, finding Alei and Thom arguing over which movie to watch, her mother watching all amused while Olivia slept on the couch with her mouth slightly open.

"Guys?" asked the younger girl.

"Pretty, you've come down barefoot" the chestnut reproached her.

She pouted "it's not cold."

She let out a sigh "good."

Veronica stared at them in surprise.

"Are you two dating?" she wanted to know, both teens looked at each other then burst out laughing including Alei "What's up?"

"No, Mommy, we're not dating" she replied with a frown "Why would you think that?"

The three boys sat down on the couch careful not to lift Liv. Their mother repeated the action.

"Well because of the way he treats you" she admitted "he takes more care of you than I do. Plus I still haven't forgotten they got married."

Both girls nodded agreeing with her.

"That's how he is" said the red-haired girl "he's like a feisty mom."

"Hey!" she gave him a sape letting out a whine, the boy rolled his eyes, he hadn't hit her that hard "I only care about my friends."

"Either that or you're a womanizer" Alei added, annoying him.

"I only care about you guys."

*You're a womanizer."

"It's concern."

"You're a womanizer!"

"I only care about you guys!"

The two girls watched the scene amused, there wasn't a day that pair didn't fight, a disheveled Liv stood up and uttered a yawn, she rubbed her eyes and frowned looking at what was going on.

"Did I miss something?"

[ . . . ]

Dereck came downstairs expecting to find his twin as usual, but was surprised to find only his parents and uncle in the living room chatting over some snacks.

"And Liv?" inquired the boy taking a seat next to them, perceiving that they were looking at him without understanding who he was referring to "you know, dwarf, blonde, half dumb, my twin, she's not very well in the head, and she talks to herself sometimes."

"We already know who Liv is, she's my daughter" spoke her mom with a small smile "she went out."

"Where to?" she questioned again but this time with a mouth full of cookies.

"She is at Ley's house." spoke her uncle this time.

They all noticed how the boy averted his gaze a little, the gentlemen looked at him with smiles that they tried to disguise.

"Ah," he merely said.

"What's the matter, puppy?" his father wanted to know "lately you've been acting stranger than usual . . . "

"Don't call him weird, my son" protested the mom with a frown then grabbing both cheeks of the blue-eyed boy causing him to let out a whimper.

"I don't know what you mean, dad."

"Are you in love?" he wanted to know.

He raised an eyebrow "Who could I be in love with?"

"With our neighbor maybe" his mom muttered.

"That's impossible, I've known her for a few weeks."

"And? Love is like that, it comes without waiting."

"I can't fall in love, remember that at any moment I'll find my soul mate."

The older boys looked at each other until the uncle decided to speak "Did you get to thinking that maybe Harley is your soul mate?" the boy was about to speak but his uncle continued "Tell me, Der. since when are you so nice?"

"What do you mean?"

"We saw you, puppy. The day Ley came, you helped her" spoke the father "and no, we weren't spying."

"Why were you spying?"

"We weren't spying!" exclaimed his dad to then look at his wife "right love?"

"Yes, we were going to help her but we just saw you and decided not to interrupt the magical moment." he finished whispering the last, but it was in vain, they were all werewolves.

The boy frowned to which the others laughed at his face.

[ . . . ]

"The letter carrier is at the door" Veronica announced after glancing out the window from the second floor.

" Postman . . . delivery . . . parcels . . . . packages . . . books Books!" Ley woke fully awake, startling his friends who were in his bed.

They felt a thump, thinking the chestnut had fallen down the stairs, and she had. Thom, Veronica and Liv rushed over and found her lying on the floor, she let out a giggle then quickly got up and headed for the door as if nothing had happened.

"I need someone to sign this" spoke the mailman.

Harley was going to yell calling for her mom but was quicker "Ready."

"Have a nice day!" the girl dismissed him with a smile.

Turning around everyone watched the scene in amusement.

"How many steps did you fall down?"

She frowned thinking "I don't know, but I guess it wasn't many."

She sat down on the couch and opened the package she had left on the table, her eyes sparkled when she visualized the books she had ordered a few days ago, but her smile was quickly wiped away when she found letters that came from the detective they had hired a few months ago.

Everyone noticed this, so they approached carefully, the mother gently took her daughter's hands clutching the letters.

After reading them she looked at her daughter "What's wrong mom?"

She let out a small sigh, how would she tell her daughter that her husband was kidn*pped?

The lady started to relate what it said in the letter and as she finished telling, tears were sliding down the girl's face, her friends didn't wait long to hug her and tell her that everything would be ok, that they would do their best to get him out of there.

Hours had passed since what had happened and her friends were trying to cheer her up, Veronica had told her daughter that she might miss school the next day.

"I've thought about it mom" she spoke "I want to go back to our town."

Those words made everyone turn quickly to see her, none of them wanted her to leave, especially someone outside about to knock on the door, she stopped her hand and ran her hands through her hair.

She wasn't going to let Ley leave, not her.

"But what are you saying?". spoke Alei with a half broken voice "you can't leave, we'll find a way to save your dad, I promise, but don't go."

"I just . . . don't know" without more to say she left the house heading aimlessly.

What she didn't know was that a certain bluish-eyed man was hiding, walking behind her to look after her.

[ . . . ]

Harley was already at home, organizing some things in her room, then she planned to bury his body in her bed to plan her father's ransom.

She knew the kidnappers didn't want money, otherwise they would have asked for it long ago, it was beyond that, and if she wasn't mistaken it was related to her.

Her plans were ruined when she received a message from Dereck.

I'm outside, can we talk? he read.

The girl grabbed a coat and at a confident pace decided to go down the stairs.

Dereck sheltered his hands in the pockets of his coat, even though it wasn't winter yet, autumn had really hit hard, especially in that town, the boy was leaning on his car waiting for the brunette to open the door.

"Hello, Dereck" he blurted out as he opened it "did something happen?"

"Harley" he greeted with a nod "I know what happened with your father" he informed to which the girl frowned "I won't tell you how, but I can help them, sure, if you want me to."

She seemed to think about it, she didn't want to get anyone in trouble.

"How . . . ? I don't want to bother you with my problems."

"It's just a matter of tracking him down, you need to tell me where you last saw him and I'll take care of the rest. And it's no bother at all, we're talking about a life."

"Really, you're serious?" he nodded "When would you go?" she asked after explaining what happened.

"I'd go right now, that's why I took my car out."

"Gee, Dereck, I don't know what to tell you."

The boy merely gave her a tight-mouthed smile.

"I should be going, if I leave now in a few days you'll have your dad with you."

As the boy was about to turn around, arms wrapped around his waist and the smell of vanilla flooded his nostrils.

"Thank you so much, Der. Really thank you for what you do, please take care of yourself."

This one nodded "See you in a few days, Ley."

And without further ado he got into his car and drove away from the town.

Veronica watched everything -as well as Derek's family- with a small smile, she was really grateful to that boy, if there was something they knew was that he always kept his word, they were not worried, he would come out of this alive, maybe not so healthy, but alive.

Olivia let out a sigh closing the window curtain "really my little brother is in love, who knew."

"I'm happy for him" the uncle blurted out "and I'm happier that the girl is Ley, she's a good person."

"Yes," agreed the twins' father.

"She'll make a good daughter-in-law" affirmed the mother.

"And a good sister-in-law."

Tyler paced around the brunette's room looking at her things, while the girl lay on her bed staring off into nothingness.

The red-haired man let out a sigh sitting down next to her "What's the matter, Law?"

"Huh? "

"You've been like this for half an hour."

"There's nothing wrong with me?"

"That sounded more like a question than a statement, what's making you uncomfortable?"

She rejoined sitting up "It's not that it makes me uncomfortable, I just . . . feel weird every time I'm with Dereck" she admitted.

The boy looked at her confused "How weird?"

"I feel a kind of electricity every time we have physical contact or when I see him my heart beats harder."

Ty stood there for a while thinking "Not your soul mate?"

"My soul mate?" he nodded "Does that exist?" he nodded again "How would I know?"

"You just feel it, mostly for werewolves it's easier to tell, your soulmate's scent is usually stronger than everyone else's, they have a connection that when something happens to the other the other person feels it or that depends, if it's really bad."

"Then how will I know?"

They both plopped down on the bed staring at the ceiling "only time will tell."

[ . . . ]

His alarm clock let Liv and Ley know that it was time to go to the institute. It had been about four days since Dereck had left, still no one had heard from him, since he hadn't communicated with any of them, which he always did when he was sent on a mission.

Veronica entered the room turning off the device "Are they going to the high school?" silence, she let out a sigh "Are they alive?"

"No." they answered in unison closing their eyes again.

"Did they go to bed early?"

"No." they spoke again at the same time.

"Do you want to stay home?"

"No." the blonde hurried to say.

"Do you guys want to go buy lots of books?" they both looked at her hopefully, quickly that feeling of hope collapsed as they knew she was joking "Yeah, me too. Maybe we can go later with Alei, though."

After a few more minutes, the brunette came out of her room to the direction of the kitchen.

She poured two bowls with chopped fruits and two glasses of juice, besides she prepared herself a strong coffee, since Dereck had left she hadn't been able to sleep very well, she was worried about the blue-eyed boy, that's why some days she would wake up reading something -since she preferred to do something rather than nothing-.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs leaving her to see Veronica and Olivia.

"When does exam week start?"

The girls looked at each other a little dubiously "I think next week."

"In two weeks" they replied in unison.

Their mom raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, I think we're going to ask" spoke the blonde.

"Yeah" she nodded popping a piece of fruit into her mouth "by the way how's it going at the hospital?"

"The usual, I'm used to it. It feels more cozy than the other one."

The girl nodded "it must be because it's smaller, and everyone gets along better" she added "I miss the guys though."

A smile graced her lips as she remembered her mom's former colleagues and friends.

"Yeah, I miss them too. I'll invite them over to the house."

"Really?"

She nodded "something tells me they'll get along great with Robert."

Robert, the twins' uncle, is a trauma doctor, is brown and honey-eyed.

"Not if my uncle doesn't scare them away first" joked the blonde bringing a laugh out of the mother and daughter.

Harley got up and took the dirty dishes to the sink.

"Have you taken your meds?" she nodded "good, remember you have an appointment in a couple of days."

"what day is it exactly?"

Veronica pulled out her cell phone and checked her schedule "uhh, it's not in a couple of days, it's tomorrow."

"Okay, mommy."

The girl left a kiss on her mom's forehead then they both quickly went upstairs and brushed their teeth, they grabbed what they needed to leave the house heading to school.

"You have a nice car why don't you like to drive it?"

She shrugged "I prefer to walk, I like to do it while I think. Hey, Liv."

The blonde looked at her "yeah?"

"You can transform too?"

She let out a small giggle "yeah, my she-wolf's name is Leah."

She opened her mouth slightly "they have names?"

He nodded "they can communicate with us."

"Wooow, that's amazing. teachers too . . . ?"

"Yeah, most of the town."

They walked to their locker dropping off a few things. The sound of the bell let them know to hurry.

"What's our turn?"

"Art."

[ . . . ]

"Hi!" greeted Harley to her friends causing them to startle and almost fall over, the girl let out a giggle at her reaction "Sorry."

"Quiet." assured Thom smiling at her.

"How did class go?" asked Alei after depositing a kiss on her cheek.

"Just fine. In fact, I made them something."

She grabbed her purse and pulled out her sketchbook, not letting her friends look at the other illustrations, she slowly flipped to the last sheet she had used.

Both of their eyes widened in surprise, the portrait was about them, Olivia, Thom, Alei and her. They were in a meadow of sorts sitting under a large tree watching the sunset.

It was just them.

"Don't they like it?" she wanted to know when she received no answer, she put the notebook away with a jerk.

No one had ever in their lives done anything so nice and special to them.

They quickly reacted.

"No, that's not it" Alei hastened to say.

"Guys, if you don't like it just tell me, don't feel compromised, I can make a better one" she murmured.

"I've never had anything so nice done to me in my life" Thom assured her.

"Thank you, Ley" they blurted out in unison.

"So if they like it?"

"Of course they do! You turned out beautifully!"

The group of friends headed into the cafeteria looking for Olivia, she had left a few minutes after the brunette since the blonde wasn't drawing as well as her friend.

The girl raised her arm to make it easier for them to watch her, when her eyes fell on her blonde friend the three of them headed towards her, they already had the tray of food in hands to what they left on the table.

"Did they like it?" the twin asked Harley.

"Yes, I thought they didn't like it."

"I told you they would like it!"

They began chatting amongst themselves until Olivia got a call interrupting the moment, she excused herself to take the call.

When the girl returned to the table she had a small smile on her face.

"Is everything okay, Liv?"

"Everything's fine, Ley!" she exclaimed more smiling.

"What happened?" asked Thom.

"My uncle called."

"And that's good news why . . . ?" wanted to know Alei.

The blonde looked at her brunette friend "Dereck found your dad Ley, they're at the hospital."