Gypsy Moon

Chapter Three: Sinah

. . . . . . (three years later-late June)

My name is Sinah, and I was hit by a car the day before my sixteenth birthday. It's really alright, I succeeded in rescuing my best friend Lilian from the car in question. I just didn't manage to get myself out of the way in time. The human kid that hit me was a mess, he was a little younger than I was and was just learning how to drive. I swear, I felt sorry for him. My left leg was destroyed, but I was hugging him and trying to calm him down while Lilian called 911. The surgery was described to me by the pack surgeon as 'we're going to pin your bones in place temporarily, so they can heal correctly when your wolf arrives'. No problem. I was hours from sixteen, I would get my wolf, we'd be out of the hospital in a couple of days, and this would just be a funny story later on.

And then I had to go and react negatively to the anesthesia and died a minute before I turned sixteen. It's okay, I swear. The doctors revived me, no problem, only a few minutes later.

Three minutes that changed my whole life.

The Elders say that when the Moon Goddess came to awaken my wolf, she couldn't hear my heart, so my wolf was sent to re-incarnate. By the time my heart started beating again, it was too late. My wolf was gone. All of it. I was a sixteen-year-old human with a pretty slim chance of ever walking again. I will admit, even my optimism faltered at that news.

I spent what I felt to be a respectable amount of time wallowing in self-pity so that my pack didn't worry about my mental health. I let my classmates push my wheelchair for me as if I were completely helpless. I honestly think my family took the situation harder than I did. Sure, it totally sucked to lose my wolf and basically be human, but seriously, it beats being dead, and I would never regret saving Lilian, even if it HAD killed me.

She was the only one I was honest about my struggles with. She was also, ironically, my only human friend, and the only one who would have questioned if I had made a rapid and downright suspiciously miraculous recovery, like I would have with my wolf. But my werewolf healing was gone with the rest of my wolf senses.

She convinced the school Dean to allow her to give up P.E. so she could take Home Economics with me during that period, mostly so that she and I could bake and play with the training baby dolls. No one is sure how she worked that miracle, but I'm fairly certain her argument involved the promiscuity of our sports teams, as several of them ended up with training babies set to the worst setting almost every weekend. The Dean would just chuckle every time he saw someone carrying the dolls around school.

The Home Ec teacher encouraged it. She was a werewolf and delighted in pointing out all the newly mated werewolves to Lilian, who would observe the happy couple before assigning them a training baby. To this day, I believe Lilian was personally responsible for the distinct lack of pregnancies in our school during our junior and senior years. I spent most of those two years focused on my recovery, which was a very long and painful process.

I went to physical therapy every other day with one of the older pack warriors. He was firm with me, but let Lilian come to my sessions, and never once raised her suspicions that we were anything but humans. He was the only wolf I was honest with from the very first session I had with him. I could tell he thought it was 'too soon' to try to get back on my feet, so I had to level with him about the entire situation. I wasn't upset, I accepted my fate, and after six weeks my ass was already tired of sitting in a wheelchair. So, he invited Lilian to join me in what started as just simple exercises to keep the rest of me in good shape and evolved into an easy friendship revolving around their shared support of my lofty goal of walking again.

Lilian and I got an apartment in town together when we turned eighteen. I put on a brave face and told my parents that I felt independence would assist in my recovery. And Lilian couldn't make the rent without me with only her part-time waitress job, which was true, and the allowance I got from the pack would cover half of the rent, until I found a job too. I lucked out and got a job at the diner she worked in, making desserts since my chair wouldn't get in the way much in the kitchen if I was baking and I only had to go in on the days I didn't have therapy.

I worked there almost a year before I noticed one of the busboys had a crush on me. He was a human, but I hadn't really considered the possibility until he shyly asked me out. I felt bad for turning him down, but I explained to him I just wasn't far enough in my recovery to be able to focus on a relationship, and I couldn't put that sort of strain on a new partner.

I wasn't really lying; I still couldn't support any weight on my bad leg. I could stand with all my weight on my good leg for a while, which was great. I didn't have to constantly ask people to get things down from shelves for me. But as soon as I tried to shift any weight onto my left leg, it would buckle, and I would end up on my ass. I told him I would be ready to start dating when I could face a relationship with the knowledge I could be independent if it didn't work out.

I felt like I was making excuses to myself though, suddenly feeling like I needed to justify why the Moon Goddess would leave me so completely alone. I should have found my mate right after I got my wolf, that's how it ALWAYS worked. His interest in me reminded me sharply that not only did I lose my wolf, but it appeared I had lost my mate at the same time. It had been three years since my wolf was lost. What happened to the wolf I was supposed to be mated with? How had he been affected by the loss of my wolf, his mate?

"You are burning your cookies, Sinah." The manager's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was right, this batch of cookies looked like they were hockey pucks. I groaned and pulled the smoking tray out of the oven. He laughed and picked up a potholder so he could take the tray away, escaping into the dining room before I could speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, dire news!" I groaned again and wheeled my chair to the door he had stolen my ruined cookies through. "Our beautiful Sinah is burning cookies, maliciously, in this very kitchen!" The patrons chuckled at his antics as he dramatically flung the black circles out the window 'for some brave squirrel out there'. Lilian played along, she had the hots for Kyle, the manager. I just shook my head and rolled over to the short counter we kept the register on. I glanced at the clock to confirm my assumption. It was a quarter to nine, and we were supposed to close at 8:30.

I smiled at our patrons and tapped the bell that should have rung half an hour ago. In near perfect sync, everyone looked at the clock and realized the time. Lilian and the other waitress passed out checks as quickly as they could. The customers apologized for staying too long. I just smiled and cashed everyone out. The cook patted my head as she left. She'd been done cleaning up for almost an hour and it was her way of thanking me so she could go home. Just before nine, I let Lilian push my chair outside while Kyle locked the doors.

"Good evening, ladies. Would you like me to walk you home tonight?" Lilian almost always said yes, even though we only lived a couple blocks away. Today, though, she giggled at him, and told him she had surprise plans for us. It was my nineteenth birthday, and she had already called a cab.

"What? When was I going to get to know this?"

"Right now, Sinah. That's why they are called surprise plans." Kyle chuckled as the cab pulled up and he helped Lilian put my chair in the trunk after I got myself in the back seat. I could hear her giggling, but I couldn't hear what she said. He laughed and told her to have fun as he helped her into the cab next to me.

"That's the idea." The cabby grinned at Kyle when he hesitated, seeming to understand why he was still holding her door open.

"Don't worry, sir. The lady booked me to wait for her until they go home, so don't you worry, I'll make sure they get home safe." Kyle thanked him and slapped the side of the cab when he was clear. Lilian waved to him before turning and squealing at me. She started messing with her makeup, so I just stared out the window and let myself zone out. Her second squeal made the cabby flinch a little and cough to cover a laugh. It also brought my attention to our surroundings. She leapt out of the cab to get my chair as I stared at the mob milling around outside the arena.

"I'll stay here for you ladies until you are done. I won't leave, so you go have fun with your squeaky friend." I groaned loudly when I finally spotted the banner over the entrance.

CHIPPENDALES, LIVE!!! TONIGHT ONLY!!!

"Ugh."

Lilian refused to take no for an answer. Apparently, she'd been planning this since she found out the event would happen in our town, and just so happened to be on my birthday. I was greeted at the door with a tiara and a sash that proclaimed me as the birthday girl. We both got red wristbands, since we weren't old enough to drink, and we were led to a special VIP area that was roped off right in front of the stage.

A woman wearing a 'Bride-to-be' sash gave me the same embarrassed smile I gave her while her bridesmaids exchanged greetings and hi5s with Lilian. The room smelled like a perfume factory exploded next to a brewery and my chair wheels stuck to the floor in a few spots. My bad leg started to ache as the lights dimmed and the throng of women began shrieking excitedly.

This was going to be a long night.

. . . . . .