Wolf's Bane

Chapter 4 pt. 1

The songs of birds woke the boy. Groggily, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his digital alarm clock with a stretch and a yawn. '7:56 AM' Holy s**t, I slept? The beast was silent this morning. It was a strange occurrence for him. The scent of food cooking caught his nose before he jolted out of bed and ran to his door. Mom must be awake.

Leaving his room, he rode the stair rail down and landed on the carpeted floor of the living room. The loud thump caused Tom to startle awake on the couch. "What the f**k, boy?!"

"Wake the f**k up, you f*****g slob!" Sam spoke with a laugh. He moved to the kitchen quickly and skidded into the back door. "Mom! Good morning you beautiful woman."

"Sam? You're in a," She paused as she looked at her son. "Good mood." Sam took a chair and spun it around before straddling it. "I am. I've met her."

The words took a bit to register, but his mother began to beam with delight when they did. "Oh, that is wonderful! What's her name?"

"Luna."

"Luna?"

"Oh, just the sound of her name makes me happy." Sam looked at his mother with the goofiest smile he could muster. "Is that why you weren't home for dinner?" His mother sat at the table and handed her son a cup of coffee. It was something he didn't need but took anyway. "Yeah, sorry. I got a job at Mom and Pops. She works there." His mother nodded in acknowledgment. "Then I walked with her to pick up her little sister. Oh, yeah, Gage is an adorable kid; you'd love her."

"Honey, you're talking a little fast."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. You're excited. You haven't been this way since the change." His mother giggled and sipped her coffee before standing and moving to the stove again. It was apparent that breakfast would be eggs, pancakes, hash browns, and biscuits. His mother had already made most of the breakfast and was working on the eggs. "Hey, mom."

"Yes, Sam?"

"Can I take a couple of plates?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, here's the thing... I don't think Luna's parents care for them well."

"Oh, dear. I'll make you a baggie of food for them. Poor dears."

"Thanks, mom."

The morning continued like normal. Only this time, Sam had a destination in mind. Sam had eaten and quickly grabbed the bags of food his mother had gathered for Luna and Gage. "I'll be back later on today." He spoke before leaving the house with a slam of the door. This action caused his stepfather to wake up again. "Stop slamming the damn doors!" He yelled out at Sam, who now ran down the road.

With his inhuman blood, he could continuously run at a speed of forty-five miles per hour for a reasonable distance. This enabled him to reach Luna's house in no time. Slowing to a walk before going to her driveway, he fixed his posture and ruffled his hair a bit. Looking down at the front door, he noticed the envelope was still there. "Guess she hasn't been outside yet." He muttered to himself before lifting his left hand and knocking on the door.

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Luna was lying on the couch of her living room, fast asleep. She didn't manage to make it to her room to sleep before she passed out with Gage on top of her. She didn't manage to make it to her room to sleep before she passed out with Gage on top of her. Her immediate reaction was to turn to the side, but the sound of a child playing stopped her.

She opened her green eyes that almost seemed brighter than they had been. Her energy was replenished. She enjoyed having a day's break from most of the problems in her life. The redhead sat up and stretched her arms out while yawning. Her hair was going all over the place, but she didn't see the need to fix it. "Hey, Gage. What do you want to eat?" She said across the house to her sister. The small child only squeaked and ran to her sister.

"Can... can I have... um... Can I have ice cream?" Gage said as she jumped up and down. This caused Luna to smile a bit and shake her head.

"No, Gage. How about some cereal? I'm sure we have some left. I'm kind of tired of bread." Luna stood up after patting the girl's head.

"Awwww. Can I have some later?"

"Yes, you can have some later. But only a little."

"Yaaayy!" The small child ran around excitedly before finding her seat at the table. Luna had begun to place a bowl in front of her.

"Let's see, how about some cheerios?" She could barely reach the cereal box but managed to get a hold of it. She then poured the last bit into her sister's bowl. "Might I eat it dry till I get more milk, okay?"

Gage didn't complain as she began eating the dry cereal she had. On the other hand, Luna decided she would skip out since there was nothing else. Instead, she casually began scrolling through her phone. Missing posts were everywhere for Zach. She almost forgot about him even though he was only gone for a day. "Can't believe they haven't found him yet." Running her fingers through her hair, she sat back and waited for her sister to eat. Once she had finished, Luna stood up.

"Gage, it's time for a ba-" Luna started to say before hearing a knock at her door. She didn't know who it was. No one else knocked at her door for any reason other than to mess with her before. Then she thought of yesterday. Maybe it was that boy? She sighed a bit before walking to the door to open it. Gage was already running around without clothes to take a bath. "Gage, get in the bathroom. Can't be out here without clothes when someone is at the door." Luna turned her attention to the door and opened it slowly. To her surprise, the boy did come back. "Oh, Sam..... hi." She smiled a bit before looking back into the house. Gage was still dancing around without clothes.

"Look, sister. I have mosquito bites."

"Gage!" Luna let go of the door to move her sister into the bathroom. "You're too much, kid."

"Who's at the door, sister?"

"Sam, take a bath before I throw you into a pool."

"But I want to swim!!"

"Go, Gage." Luna pushed her sister into the bathroom before closing the door to it.

"Fine!!" Gage finally said before Luna and Sam could hear the bath water. Luna slowly slipped onto the floor and rubbed her face in frustration. She was not going to be a good mom in the future.

Sam stood there in disbelief as the scene unfolded. A slight chuckle left his lips after he was left at the door with it slightly open. "May I come in? I have things that need to go into a fridge out here."

Luna froze before realizing she had left Sam at the door. After giving herself a facepalm, the green-eyed girl stood up and walked back to the door. She grabbed the door to open it more, but she hesitated. After staring at the door for a couple of seconds, she slowly opened it to let him in. "Sorry about the mess... We don't really clean very much." Regarding the house, toys were all over the floor, and clothes needed to be washed. In the kitchen, a pile of dishes was found that had not been done in quite some time. She felt embarrassed about it but never found time to clean between school, work, and her sister. "Just.. uh... Ignore it, I guess."

He moved to the kitchen and placed the four bags of food items on the table. "You know, it's not as bad as you may think. I can help you clean if you want?" Sniffing the air, Sam began to put together the pieces of Luna's puzzle. The only scents in the home were of Luna and Gage. This fact finally put the glue to the mystery and solidified the picture. "Oh, I forgot to mention, I saw an envelope under the door while outside. Not sure who it is from, but it has your name on it."

Luna sighed a bit when he offered to help her. She shook her head and began picking up toys from the living room. "It's okay. It's not your mess to clean.' She put the toys in the toybox in the room's corner. All of them looked massacred. Barbie dolls were missing heads, and plastic toys had a ton of chew marks on them. Luna couldn't afford more toys, which seemed fine with Gage.

Looking at Sam now, she tilted her head slightly. She never got letters often. "It's probably a bill or someone trying to mess with me. That's about the only letters I get to be fair." She shrugged before moving some of the clothes into a pile and staring at the mound. "Do I even have money for laundry this week?" She said this to herself as she scratched her untamed head of red fluff.

Sam started putting the food he had brought into the fridge. I'll need to bring more items over. He didn't want her to think he was doing it as a charity, but he felt he needed to help her. She was his mate, even if she didn't know it; he felt responsible for her. "But in a way, it is." He muttered in rebuttal of his wishing to help.

With the fridge's necessary items put away, he left the box of goods and canned goods on the table for her to sort. It wasn't like he knew where she put her groceries at. Stepping back into the living room, he opened the front door and took the envelope from the other side. "No return address, so, not a bill, and the handwriting is too pretty to be a taunt." He shook the paper package and smirked. "Feels heavy as well." Closing the door, he walked to her and offered the letter. "Open it."

Her green eyes turned to the boy holding the letter. She smiled and shook slightly before taking the note from him. She looked at it for a minute before opening it. She quickly closed it back, looking surprised. "Why would I get money for no reason?" Luna was used to working for everything she got. It wasn't long before she sat down on the couch. Her eyes were swelling slightly, but she tried not to cry. "No way, this is mine."

Tears. He didn't expect this emotion. Smooth move dickhead. You made her cry. Sam moved to her and knelt in front of her sitting position. "I knew you wouldn't take it outright, but I wanted to show you I could help you provide for Gage." His voice was low now as he looked at his hands. "I want to help you better your life, for you and your sister." The goofy smile returned to his face as he looked at her.

Luna just shook her head a bit and smiled. She took a hand to wipe her face and the other to pat Sam on the head. "Oh, Sam. I've been doing this for years. I'll be okay." Luna turned her head to the bathroom, where she heard the door opening. Gage was peeking her head out of the room with her face all wet and her hair dripping. "Sister. I need clothes."

"Oh, shoot, right." Luna sighed a bit before standing up on the couch. She looked at Sam for a second and smiled. "Just uh... I guess you make yourself at home. There's not much." She quickly went to her sister's room to dig around her dresser. She couldn't find much. "I've really got to keep up with laundry." She mumbled a bit before pulling out a stained t-shirt with a unicorn and a pair of stretchy pants. She shut the dresser before walking over to Gage. "Here. Make sure you dry off well, okay? Don't want that mop on your head, making your clothes wet. Got to go do the laundry today." She smiled as she saw Gage's face light up.

"Do we have to go to the washing place? With the big machines? Can I spin in one?"

"No, Gage. I know they are bigger than you, but we'll get in trouble. Now get dressed." Luna smiled and shut the bathroom door again. She then felt her stomach make noises which caused her face to turn red. Luna hated it when people could tell she was hungry. Then she remembered that Sam had brought food. "So... What did you bring?"

As Luna left to tend to Gage, Sam moved to the kitchen and began to clean up. He was elbows deep in the second sink full of dirty dishes. "Lots of food. Different varieties," It was when he remembered his mother packing the two breakfast plates that his eyes brightened. "In the second bag, there should be two foam carryout boxes with breakfast in them." He took a soap-covered hand out of the water to point toward the bag. "They're for you and Gage."

Luna slowly moved to the bag and pulled out the food he was talking about. She stared at it wide-eyed for a moment before looking at Sam. She just couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her. "Sam...." She looked back at the food for a second and smiled. It's been a while since she had something decent to eat. She was running out of food in her house and wasn't sure how she would manage the slow week. "Thank you. "She sat down to eat the food just as Gage came out of the bathroom. She was instantly running towards the kitchen.

"Smell pancakes," Gage said. She looked at Sam and then at the food table. Her hair was highly wild today. Part of it was in her face, while the other part was in the air.

"Come over here. Get you something so we can go." Luna smiled at her sister as she watched the child sit at the table. If that was one thing, they both remembered when parents were always seated at the table when you ate.

"So, Sammy, are you going with us to the laundromat?" Luna asked, even though her mouth was a little full. The chubby girl honestly didn't care how she sounded now that she knew she wouldn't starve today.

"You don't have a washer or dryer here?" Sam asked as he handed Gage a washed fork so she could eat. "You'll love the pancakes. Mom made them special for you, Gage. Chocolate chip with blueberries." He chuckled before going back to washing the dishes. "If you want me to come with you, I can or stay here and clean for you?" Sam's eyes were on Luna now, even as his hands moved over the dishes to check for any remaining residue.

Gage smiled as she stuffed her face with the pancakes. She didn't use anything other than her hands as she dramatically ate them. On the other hand, Luna was already almost done with her food. She had places to go today. "Well, to be honest, I'm not used to people being here while I'm gone. So I should probably come with him." Luna was trying to find some excuse to keep him from doing excessive work. She wanted to help him clean, not make him do all of it. "Can help me carry clothes if you want."

"Stinky clothes," Luna said as she giggled and stuffed more food into her mouth.

"Yes, stinky clothes."

"Alright. Let me finish up these dishes, and we can go." He chuckled as he turned and took the fork that Gage did not use. "You know, young lady, you eat like a wolf." He gave a wink toward her and chuckled. "Proper table manners are required later on in life." He ruffled her damp mop of red hair before moving to rinse the dishes. Be careful, Sam. You may scare HER off. Rinsing the new fork, he put it with the other silverware before rinsing the sink thoroughly he had previously washed.

Looking at the clean dishes, he noticed that no single pot, pan, kettle, or skillet had been used. It made sense if she was bringing food from work and home for them to eat. He wondered how long it had been since a proper meal had been cooked there. That is when an idea struck him. "Hey Luna, can I cook you dinner tonight?"