The Alpha Beast

Chapter 15: Stay

Evelyn 

"What is that?"Weak try Kira I think to myself.

"It's the day we celebrate hunter Andreas. Everyone from Glade, old and young, gathers together. There will be food, drinks, manifestation - whole day long! And music and storytelling at night by the bonfire. It will be amazing!" 

But, it may also be a successful one.

"So, who was this Andreas?" I ask curiously, what makes Kira excited. 

 She goes in storytelling mode.

"When humans first inhabited The Howl Forest area, they thought they finally found the right place to settle. But not long after, one by one started to disappear. The elder Tobias forbid everyone to leave their homes at night and wander into the wood. Except for hunters. But even then the dissaperences continued. So Andreas, the strongest and bravest hunter decided to go to the woods and see what was the danger that was lurking around. He never came back." Kira says almost whispering now.

"But no one got hurt anymore. Some swear that they saw Andreas in the woods but that he was now a beast, a wolf with human features. They said that he helped the ones that got lost or hurt. It is believed that even now he roams through the forest, and every howl you hear at the night of full moon it's from Andreas himself, the protector of the Howl Forest." 

"So Andreas beame a lycanthrope?" 

"Yea. The word is he is the first lycan in this area. So, what do you say?" Kira smiles at me widely, like she's trying to transfer some of her excitement on me. 

"When is the Andreas day?" 

"It's on Thursday. I have to bring canapé for the day. You can finally taste my food too!" Kira almost squeaks. 

I must admit, she is making me excited too.

"Well…?" 

"Fine, I'll stay. But only for the Andreas day." 

"Yes! You'll love it, trust me! It's nothing big, like some carnivals or something… It's small but warm. Everyone puts so much love in it… Evelyn what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I force a small smile. 

"If it's because we want you to stay…"

"No. It's not that.." 

I glance at the door and see Theodore leaning on the doorway, looking at me with the same concern on his face.

"We don't want to force you on doing anything you don't like.." now Theodore is back in the conversation. 

I open my mouth to speak but stop and think about it. I actually really wanna go to the festivity with them. I feel joy that I'm staying here, with them. I must be losing my mind. 

"It's... I never had someone so eager to do something with me. To go to a celebration, a play... Let alone to a party." 

I feel ashamed. 

"What do you mean?" Asks Kira frowning. 

I give her a sad look. 

"When I was in high school I was in strict boarding school. In college, I was a nerd hanging out with even bigger nerds. What a cliche."

Kira chuckles. 

 "Then lucky you you've got us. We're gonna make it wild! Seriously! Don't roll your eyes one me! Theo here is a nerd and a party animal." She look at him teasingly.

"We can even take a real night out one night. I have a place in Beron. The night life is fire! And for the Thursday, I'll get us drinks before we go to Glade." She gives a smug smile: "What do you like to drink?"

"Umm… I drank wine." 

"Only wine?" 

Now her face is in shock. 

"And I tried whiskey." 

 She shifts her eyes to Theodore, like they're having silent agreement on something. I turn to him too and he has a smirk on his face. 

"Girl you're gonna try a lot more now. We'll have alcohol degustation. Oh and the punch Mrs. Morris makes for the festivity is one of the best you'll ever drink! It's with alcohol of course." Kira is so excited now she is almost clapping with her hands. It's like she'd set her mind on a mission and she is the main executive.

 "Bye girls, I have work to do." Says Theodore and leaves. I don't know is it just me or does he seem more relaxed too. 

"You didn't have a boyfriend to take you out on dates?" Suddenly asks Kira as soon as Theodore left. 

"Um.. No." I'm a little caught up with the question. "And you?" 

"I had one, in high school. But I don't do that anymore. I'm saving my self for the pair bond." She says the last sentence whispering and leaning towards me. 

"What is that?" 

"I should've known Theo didn't tell you nothing about that. It's a biological phenomenon. It happens to humans, some monogamous animal species and us. It basically means that a pair develops a strong affinity and love to one another that potentially lasts a lifetime. And I am waiting for that." 

I remember once reading something like that. 

"It's like a soul mate?" 

"Something like that. It's not that you find a perfect person, you still have to work on your relationship. But the feelings for that person are, you naturally gravitate to them and you would do anything to make it work."  

"It sound idyllic."

"Yes. The only problem is it's so rare that it's almost a legend. We can develope it only inter species. And there is not many of us left." 

"So you can't feel it toward human?" 

"No. You don't feel it like we do. It's stronger to us, more obvious. But we can fight it too. Like humans do."