Love and Submission

Chapter Nine

Connor was waiting just where he said he would be and had somehow changed into a pair of blue jeans and a layered long sleeved and t shirt combo. He looked like a preppy bare footed magazine model just standing there. When he saw her he smiled and reached out to enclose her hand in his. “So I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy that this morning but we need to actually talk about stuff.” Olivia said. Connor nodded then pulled her close so he could smell her hair.

“You smell really good.”

“Thanks.” She said with a giggle.

“So your questions.” He pulled away but didn’t release her hand. It was still a curious sensation for her to actually feel a sense of loss when he moved away.

“Alright. I’ve been feeling different lately.”

“Different how?”

“Like I have endless energy. I can see better, hear better, smell better, even taste better. My mood changes drastically and without much provocation. I haven’t slept much either.” Connor was nodding along so she stopped listing things.

“That’s all normal.”

“This all happened when you were bitten? And that reminds me, who bit you? Was it your dad?” He looked confused for a moment.

“Nobody bit me Livie. I was born this way.” Her eyes widened and blinked rapidly. “Both of my parents are werewolves so their children are too. The infection changes your DNA enough so the genes get passed down.”

“Wow. So your whole family is made up of werewolves?”

“Yup. My Grandfather passed the gene down to his children, of which there were too many to go into right this minute, and my dad passed it down to his children. I imagine we will all pass it down to ours.” Olivia tried to make her eyes shrink back to normal but they just wouldn’t.

“Does it hurt?”

“It gets easier the more you do it. The first time is a bitch.” He looked down at her a little worry showing through those gray peepers. “I’ll be there with you though, I promise.” Yeah she wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to be able to do by being there. Hell she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to do this anyway.

“So what if I don’t want to be a werewolf?”

“I thought we already covered this.”

“You said there was no other option.” He looked at her with frustration. “There is always another option Connor, no matter how unpleasant.”

“Okay, death is the other option. You can off yourself if you really can’t handle the thought of being one of us.” They were quiet for several minutes. “Let’s not talk about that yet. We’ve still got time.”

“Until the next full moon right?” He nodded.

“Younger wolves need the moon to change. But after the first year or so you won’t. After you change the first time it will be harder to…” His voice trailed off and he looked down the road off into the distance. “If you still wanted to I mean.” He was talking quietly again.

“So the moon rises and then what?”

“You’ll feel it probably a day or two before the moon is completely full. It’s like an itching under your skin. It’s not bad enough to need a scratch but bad enough to get your attention. Your moods will snap rapid fire. All of your senses will be even more heightened. Then when you see the moon, you’ll change.” Olivia was nodding along, mentally making checklists so she could be prepared.

“And after?”

“You’ll spend probably that first night running and hunting. I’ll change with you so we can do it together.” He looked down at her again with an almost excited look in his eyes. “I can’t wait.” Okay definitely excited. “You have to be careful now too. You’re a lot stronger than you used to be and it’s only going to increase with time.”

“Really?” He nodded. “How much stronger?”

“Uh, well me right now, I could probably lift that car over there and hock it across the street.” Olivia stopped in her tracks knowing that she was doing a fairly decent impression of a fish.

“Prove it.”

“That’s hardly a way to keep a low profile. I’ll show you sometime.” She glared but started to walk again. “It’s very easy to forget that humans are very breakable. Just try to remember that the next time you lose your temper. You also have to be very careful about biting people. Once you break the skin it’s transmitted and there is no going back.” He trailed off again at the end as if suddenly realizing the memories he was dragging up.

“Why would I want to bite someone?” She said with a frown choosing to ignore the memories. She only had so much time to get answers and that time was shrinking fast.

“You’ll be surprised how the animal instincts get integrated into your thought processes subconsciously. Biting is a very wolfish impulse.” He said with a little wink. She flushed remembering him biting her on the neck when they were horizontal before.

“Where are your shoes?” They were in sight of the school now and she suddenly remembered he was barefoot.

“In my bag.” He chuckled. “I wish I could go around barefoot all the time.” He said with a wistful sigh. He bent down to put them on finally relinquishing her hand for the moment.

“Is that normal too? Wanting to be outside all the time?” He nodded.

“I’ll bring you to my place sometime and you’ll see. We have a huge yard with a forest and a pond. The works.” He smiled at her again. She sighed and then remembered Kitty, waiting to pounce on them. He stood up again and reclaimed her hand. She smiled at that but deflected the unspoken question from him.

“So did you want to go to the mall after school today? Kitty is going to be waiting on us in there.” Olivia motioned towards the building. Connor smiled again and looked down at her.

“Like a date?”

“Yeah. A date plus Kitty.” The smile widened until he was flashing all of those pearly white teeth.

“Sounds great!” Olivia laughed and shook her head.

“You shouldn’t sound so enthusiastic you know. It’s just a mall. Overcrowded, enclosed, with people of varying degrees of intelligence and personal hygiene all pressed too close together.” Connor blinked a couple of times and then laughed loudly.

“You sound just like my uncle! Oh god that’s great. Dad is gonna love you!” He was still laughing as they entered the school building. Olivia watched as people turned to stare again. Well she was going to have to learn to deal with it. She wanted Connor, he wanted her and that was just the way it was. She would ignore the internal voice telling her they were moving too fast and she wasn’t thinking. For now they could just be. She spotted Kitty in the courtyard and waved. Just being with Connor. She could definitely handle that.