My Resolution

Chapter 9

The next morning, Donovan found me sitting on the small couch in the sunroom, wrapped in a cozy blanket, drinking a cup of coffee, gazing out upon the winter wonderland before me. The storm had passed in the night leaving no surface untouched. The ground was sparkling white, as far as the eye could see. There were large mounds here and there, but nothing identifiable, save the snow-covered trees and mountains rippling on forever.   

“Good morning, Valley Girl,” he said with a sheepish grin.  

“Good morning,” I replied with a soft smile, gesturing for him to sit.  

“Did you get much sleep?” he asked with apparent curiosity.  

When we finally went our separate ways the previous night, I dreamed of Donovan. It was a simple dream, nothing especially noteworthy. There I was, standing in the middle of his bedroom, but he was sleeping. I wanted to reach for him, to feel his warmth once more, but, instead, I contented myself to sitting on the couch in his room, remembering the passionate kiss from earlier.  

“I slept so so great,” I gushed, “I don’t know the last time I felt that rested in the morning,”  

“That’s good,” he replied. His tone was off. I looked at him, noticing he was deep in thought. “Hey,” I nudged him with my foot, “what’s up?”  

“It’s nothing. I just...I had a really vivid dream, I guess,” he explained, still slightly biting his lip.  

“Weird, I did too! What was your dream?” I asked, eagerly.  

“Nothing special, I guess. I kept looking over at the couch in my room and you were just sitting there. You seemed kind of lost in thought,” he answered, “I don’t know. It seemed so real. I thought I was waking up and you were really in my room, but I just decided to let you be there. Weird, huh?”  

I was staring at him slack-jawed and wide-eyed. “What?” he asked, “I didn’t think it was that weird.”  

“No, no, no, no! Sorry, it's just, well, I had a dream where I was sitting on the couch in your room while you were sleeping.”  

“That's f*****g weird,” he affirmed, nodding with his eyebrows raised.   

“I mean, I’m sure it's just a weird coincidence, given, you know, last night,” I suggested.  

“Sure, but still... well, whatever, I guess we are just in each other's heads now,” he abruptly concluded, “anyway, you hungry?”  

I had been worried about things being weird between us this morning, but it still felt as natural as ever, sitting here with Donovan. I smiled, “I’m starving.”  

The holiday break was relatively uneventful after that first night. Alpha Fredrick was able to get me home later that same day. Christmas eve and day were a whirlwind of wrapping paper, delicious cuisine, and gleeful pups. Donovan and I shared another secret kiss on New Year’s Eve that was somehow more magical than the first. There was a part of me that wanted more and more of him, but I restrained myself, knowing it could never work. He was the future alpha, so he had to produce an heir. I had the same dream again, I was just sitting on the couch in his room while he slept. It hurt a little bit to think about, but I know we can never really be together.  

We returned to school the week following New Year, the first day of my last semester of high school. There was already buzz in the air about spring break, prom, and the senior trip. When the winter formal had been cut short most of us were disappointed, so we hoped the other events would make up for the loss. I rarely did anything special over spring break, the cost was just too great, but I would be joining my class for the senior trip to St. Augustine, Florida. I was excited to get to see the ocean for the first time.  

I was on my way back to my locker, after my final class of the day when I noticed Mara standing there fidgeting. “Oh, for f***s sake,” I mumbled under my breath. I considered just making a lap around the building and seeing if she left but quickly dismissed the idea. “I don’t have time to be hiding from this bitch.” I thought, irritated.  

I strode directly to my locker and began spinning the combination lock. I could feel Mara standing there. I wasn’t about to acknowledge her presence first, if she had something to say, she could step the f**k up and say it.   

“Hey, Valerie,” I almost didn’t hear her, she sounded, scared?  

“What, Mara?” I responded flatly without turning around.  

“Could I, uhm, I mean, do you have a minute?” she stammered.  

I finally turned to face her, she was standing there wringing her fingers alternating between looking at me and the floor. “A short minute, what?”  

“I owe you an apology for what I did the night of the formal,” she said, barely audible.  

“Speak up, I can’t hear you,” I asserted.  

She took a breath and finally met my eyes, “I owe you an apology for what I did the night of the formal.”  

“I’m aware,” I crossed my arms.  

“Well, I’m really sorry for how rude I was, and for getting my friends to gang up on you, and for slapping you.”  

“Thank you. I’ll take that into consideration.”  

She nodded and dropped her face back toward the floor and slouched away.  

I watched as she left, she looked like a beaten puppy. I still didn’t get it; she was always so nice. It made me a little sad. “Damn it, why am I like this?” I thought, quickly catching up to her.   

“Mara,” I touched her shoulder, trying to get her to stop walking.  

She turned toward me, confusion clear on her face, “yeah?”  

“What's going on? And don’t say ‘nothing’. We may not be close, but we have known each other basically our entire lives. You are, literally, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and I live with the Boones.”  

Tears started to shimmer in her eyes. “Okay, come with me,” I instructed, grabbing her hand and leading to an empty classroom. She broke down into sobs. I pulled her into a hug, patting her back. I didn’t know what else to say or do, so I just kept patting her back until she finally calmed down and pulled away.  

“I’m sorry, Val,” she sniffled, “I didn’t mean to lose it like that.”  

“Honestly, it’s okay,” I assured her, “Do you want to talk about it?”  

“You don’t have to listen to me whine. You don’t owe me anything.”  

“No, I don’t. But you just seem like you could stand to vent, or something,” I smiled, “It’s up to you.”  

“Well,” she breathed deeply, “when I got mad at you at the formal, it really didn’t have anything to do with you. It wasn’t even about Donovan, honestly. Everyone knows you two are best friends.”  

“Yeah,” I answered.  

“Well, you know Drew and I broke up. I think everybody knows.”  

“Sure, I think it was a huge surprise for just about everybody. You two had been a couple for like six years or something.”  

“Four, but still, it was a long time. Well, do you know why we broke up?” she asked, looking at me curiously.  

“I really don’t. I only found out you all had broken up when Donovan told me you had asked him to the formal. I don’t generally keep up with gossip, at least not on purpose,” I shrugged.  

“That doesn’t really surprise me, you’ve always kind of minded your own business. It's one of the things I’ve always liked about you,” she commented, “Well, anyway, he graduated last year and has been going to college at Oklahoma State.”  

“Oh, ok. I guess I hadn’t thought too much about it,” I said apologetically.  

“No worries. Anyway, he turned eighteen during Thanksgiving break. He had come home to visit, and everything was perfect.”  

“Okay?” I murmured, thinking I knew where this was going.  

She took another deep breath, her eyes fluttering, threatening to spill over with fresh tears, “his first day back to classes, he found his mate,” she bawled, “why would the moon goddess do this to me?”  

My heart ached for her. This is exactly why I thought having a relationship was a horrible idea, a lot of people think they know who their mate will be, but they can’t possibly. Mara was standing in front of me devastated because the man she loved was fated to another. What’s worse is, Drew's new mate would be coming home with him to join our pack once the alphas of the respective packs make the arrangements. It's possible that she will be in anguish until she meets her mate, if she even gets one, not everyone does. “Goddess, let her find a mate as soon as possible,” I prayed, hugging her once more.  

“Hey, I know it hurts and I wish, like hell, I could take this pain away,” I said quietly, “but I also hope you know that you’re still a good, worthy person. His being bonded to another mate does not speak negatively about you. We aren’t meant to understand her decisions, but we know she has reasons for who she chooses to mate.”  

“I know,” she choked out through sobs, “I just hate it, you know. I’m mad.”  

“And that's okay,” I assured her, “You’re allowed to feel your feelings and to heal in the best way you can. Just don’t become bitter, and ya know, don’t slap anyone else.” I chuckled.  

She pulled back from me once again, “I really am sorry about that,” she said quietly.  

“I know and I forgive you.”  

“We should hang out sometime,” she suggested.  

“I would like that,” I responded, “Text me your number.”  

We exchanged numbers and each went our separate ways.  

When I made it back to my locker, Donovan was waiting for me. “Hey, where have you been?”  

“Mara wanted to apologize,” I said simply.  

“Good, she owed you a major apology,” he said clearly annoyed.  

“Yeah, but we’re good now. She’s just having a hard time,” I shrugged.  

“What did she say?” he asked curiously.  

“It’s not my story to tell, Donovan. If she wants to tell you, she will.” He may be my best friend, but I would never violate anyone's confidence like that; besides, I really hate gossiping.  

He shrugged and grabbed my bag, “let’s go, Valley Girl.”  

We went straight to the packhouse to study for a while. A new semester project had been assigned in biology and we were working out our senior research paper. I had heard about packs that attended school within human towns and it seemed that their requirements were far less rigorous than ours. It hardly seemed fair as I sat there, trying to decide which topic I wanted to research from the list we had been supplied, and reading through the assigned experiment we needed to perform and then write a journal article about.  

“Ten dead chickens?” Donovan was complaining, “Where are we supposed to get ten dead chickens?”  

“Grocery store?” I offered.  

“I guess, but there are fifteen of us in that class. The store is gonna run out of chickens,” he surmised.  

“A small price to pay for us to understand the decaying process of carbon-based tissue,” I said, doing my best impression of our biology teacher.  

“What are you doing for spring break, Valley?” Donovan asked as I was looking up the difference between a regular jury and a grand jury.  

“Nothing,” I said absently while reading the first article on the search list, “Why do we have to write a research paper of the ‘U.S. Government and Legal System of the Human Species?’ None of this makes any sense!”  

“We live in the U.S. so it is important that we know their laws and system of government, not only for general day-to-day life but also so we can serve our packs better,” Donovan rattled off.  

“You sound like you swallowed the i***t's guide to running a werewolf pack,” I sassed.  

He rolled his eyes at me, “anyway, spring break, do you want to do something?”  

“Like what? I can’t go anywhere,” I responded.  

“We could still do something.”  

“Okay? It’s not until March, so let me know what you come up with,” I shrugged, still trying to figure out what the hell a grand jury was.  

“Could you pretend to be a little more enthusiastic,” he pleaded.  

“I supposed I could, but I don’t know why I,” I was saying vaguely as I pulled myself away from the computer. He was looking at me so deflated. “Sorry, yes! What shall we do for spring break, Donovan?”  

This got me another eye roll and a head shake.  

“Seriously, what do you want to do? Did you have something in mind?” I continued.  

“I have a few ideas, but I was thinking we could plan something for each day, like hiking at Devil’s Den, riding horses in Eureka Springs, going to that place in Springfield that throws bread at everybody, ya know, that kind of stuff,” he bubbled.  

“Oh, yeah, that would be fun,” I answered, “I’ll try to come up with a few things too. I am surprised you aren’t going on vacation with your parents, though. You all usually go every year.”  

“Yeah, they’re going to meet with the alpha of the pack in Florida before the seniors all go down in May. I don’t want to go, and then go again, so I’m staying home this year.”  

“Why does he need to meet with the alpha?”  

“Just to iron out some logistical stuff for everyone’s safety. Sending a bunch of werewolves, of age or not, into another pack's territory, is unacceptable, even if the territory is a tourist trap. He does it every year, that why we always take a vacation over spring break.”  

“Oh, I never knew that,” I puzzled.  

“I never thought it was a big deal,” he shrugged.  

“It’s not,” I agreed, “I was just sayin’ that’s all.”  

We finished up our work for the evening and Donovan dropped me off at home saying he would text me later.  

Angelina and Katie were in the kitchen making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner.  

“Smells amazing, girls,” I complimented, “Have either of you seen Mrs. Boone?”  

“She isn’t here,” Angelina explained, “she left for the hospital about twenty minutes ago.”  

Before I could ask, Katie chimed in, “Emma might be in preterm labor.”