Werewolves of Bloomfield Hills

Chapter 20

Bale entered the druid's office looking somber now because he knew he was going to be scolded. And thinking about it, he began to regret his actions.

"How are you feeling now?" the druid asked him after he sat down.

"Better" he croaked.

Lacing his fingers together, Hendell snorted sarcastically "I guess hitting a woman made you feel BETTER?"

"No that was not what happened! I didn't hit her!" Bale defended. "You should've heard the things she said about my parents"

"I heard it, and it's not an excuse" Hendell chided him. "That aside, what brings you here?" he changed the topic. Bale thought about the question for a while, wondering if it was a trap or if Hendell felt so disgusted that he didn't want to talk anymore, then he answered.

"I heard we'd be assembling before The Council in a few days, so I decided to come earlier. You know I like it here. It's less chaotic than Bloomfield Hills."

"We're assembling before The Council?" Hendell asked, frowning.

"Yes, that's what I heard. I'm even surprised I wasn't informed officially."

"I don't recall arranging any such meeting." Hendell's face creased with worry.

"If you didn't, then who did?" Bale asked, puzzled.

PENNY RETIRED to her apartment after delivering her message; and finding it boring, she decided to go to Topher's where she found the woman whom she was forced to believe was his second cousin, lying on his bed, reading a magazine.

"Where's Topher?" she asked Jane while her eyes scanned the room.

"He's in the bathroom," she answered sitting upright. "Now come sit here let's continue from where we stopped last night." she slapped the bed excitedly. Feeling a bit shy though, Penny went and sat with her. "How are you feeling?" Jane asked, grabbing her hand.

"Fine" Penny answered.

"Cool. Now we're going to talk about packs..." Jane began but was interrupted by Penny.

"Packs? But I thought that was just a werewolf cliché?"

"No, it isn't. And let me tell you, belonging to a pack can be very thrilling. It's like having a large extended family with fun uncles and aunts." Jane explained.

"Is it mandatory, 'cause I'm not sure I'm ready to meet other people like you. Like us." Penny pointed out her concern.

"It isn't but that'd make you a lone wolf, and you wouldn't survive much. It's just our nature, we're not meant to be alone." Jane answered. "It's okay to feel scared Penny. And I understand that this is still a lot for you, but I want you to understand that Topher and I are here for you. We'll guide you all the way" she assured her. Penny thought about her reply for a while, then she asked.

"So which pack am I supposed to join?"

"Well you said it yourself, your dad belonged to Bloomfield Hills pack, and you've been living there, so it makes more sense if you join us. And what's more, Bale is our alpha!" Jane revealed.

"So Bale is the alpha of Bloomfield Hills pack?" Penny called out each syllable, her face creasing with worry.

"Yes, and you two would be doing a lot of work together to prepare you for your ritual if you decide to join us."

"Quite an ironic twist isn't it?" Topher emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. "It'd be fun to see you two together" an innocent wry smile formed on his lips.

"I doubt it would" Penny without any smart comebacks, settled for those instead. Still having a delightful moment here, realization suddenly hit her and she became gloomy. How was she going to tell Topher about the thing with Bale? Thinking about it and how he could react made her scared and she decided it wasn't important to tell him. After all, she wasn't going to go through with it, so why bother him?

"I can picture the drama in my head already. And Bale should be here today!" Jane interrupted her train of thoughts and they continued with the conversation.

The sun hung lazily on the 'almost cloudless' sea-blue sky, shedding its light evenly on the several thousand square feet of land that was the Druid's Tower compound. It was afternoon now, and in Topher's apartment, the three vibrant youths sat behind a table full of empty plates.

"God! It can be boring here sometimes." Topher was the first to speak after their meal.

"I concur" Jane agreed with him.

"What do you say, let's go for a short sprint?" he suggested with a mischievous smile.

"You can't be serious. You know the druids don't like us running around destroying their shrubs. They like it quiet here" Jane disapproved of his idea immediately.

"C'mon Jane, don't be a killjoy. Besides, we won't even be gone for long so they won't even notice. At least let's do it for Penny here. Let's show her how exhilarating these things can be." he gave an excuse but Jane still refused. He had to give a couple more heart-touching ones before he was able to coax Jane to do his bidding, and unanimously they left his apartment for the woods.

Halting now deep in the woods where it was lush, Jane and Topher began to take off their clothes with Penny following only after they'd explained their reasons. Jane was the first to shift, followed by Topher who shifted effortlessly into a grey wolf. Jane's was dark auburn just like her hair but her eyes were blue. Funny enough they'd just assumed that Penny knew how to go about all this. Left to figure it out on her own, Penny joined them a few minutes later. She also noted that shifting the second time wasn't as painful as the first had been.

Returning to the Druid's Tower, Penelope and Topher decided to have a few moments to themselves in the garden. It was evening now and Penny couldn't stop herself from chattering about how exhilarating the sprint had been. To her it felt like she was one with the woods, and It marveled her how she was able to run at such speed without jamming a tree.

"See? That's what I was trying to tell you earlier." Topher smiled putting his arms around her shoulder.

"I can see that now. We should try it again!" she demanded.

"Sure we would," Topher assured and then they fell into silence as they enjoyed the cool evening breeze. The silence lasted for a while before Penny spoke again. She was pensive now.

"Topher you trust me right?" she stared at him and he simply grunted in reply. "And you know I can never do anything to hurt you?" she pressed on, looking for some sort of assurance in his compelling dark espresso eyes.

"I know," he replied with a smile, and Penny snuggled closer to him.