Alice and The Rogue Wolf

Chapter 22

The mid-afternoon breeze slipped in through the car window, whistling loudly in my ears. It sounded some sort of pathetic ululation, reminding me of the predicament I sought the most to forget.

We were the only vehicle plowing on the long outstretch of road, but most time's often than not, we would see a strolling pedestrian on the sides or an individual jogging against the cool breeze. The dust rose as we wheeled past

The tension in the car was as thick as a rock. I could tell Mrs. Allen was dying to say what was burning in her chest, but instead of uttering a word, she stuck to drumming her fingers noisily on the steering wheel with her eyes focused on the road.

With her attention taken off me, I reclined on my seat and exhaled deeply. Today was so stressful and all that shouting, arguing, and perhaps kissing, had me feeling weary. As I gazed out the window, my thoughts deviated to Jonathan.

Since in the morning when I left, a lot of hours had passed without me putting a call through to him. I pulled out my phone, only to find it on mute and ten missed calls from Brayden. A scream almost escaped my lips, it was quickly suppressed in my palm. This had Brayden's handwriting all over it. He must have seen the calls and probably blinded by jealousy, had kept them from me so he would have the rest of my day to himself. I considered returning the calls but just as I was about to dial the number, I saw in the corner of my eyes, Mrs. Allen wheeling onto a path that I reasoned would lead us right back into town.

This part of town was busier than the other parts we had driven past. People littered the sidewalks holding hands, waiting for the bus, or stomping home stressed after a long day at work. The sun was still firm in its central position in the sky, but its beam had disintegrated into a somewhat crimson shadow.

"You're going the wrong way!" I said, sitting up alarmed.

"Oh no! I know where I'm going. Jonathan should learn to wait for you because I want to have a drink with you and you won't be returning anytime soon." I stared at her unsure of what to make of what she just said. She had a note of finality in her tone that told me trying to reason with her would be fruitless.

"You know I never asked but how is your mother?" She asked after a while had elapsed.

"She is fine. After what happened, she has been quite a shadow of herself lately but there are times one of those killer smiles would appear and lit up her face," I replied, a picture of my mother crossing my mind.

"I don't know if you recall, but I and your mother didn't exactly see eye-to-eye, but I know she was a good lady and didn't deserve one bit of anything that happened to her. The same thing goes for your father." She spoke of them like she was so close to them.

"You speak so highly of my parents. Were you close with any of them?" I couldn't help the curiosity getting over me.

"Well, as a Rogue, establishing a close friendship with a member of the Excelsis pack wasn't that feasible but I did run into your mother once in a while. She wasn't the perfect Luna but she upheld a few ideologies that I grew to respect her for."

"Ideologies?"

"Yes. Even when the others found him odd and looked at him like a fugitive, she took him in and treated him like her son. She believed in everyone deserving good treatment, and that endeared her to me."

"I see! But when you speak about something happening, everyone talks about something that happened. So could you be specific and tell me exactly what happened?" My question seemed to be ill-timed as just as the words left my lips, Mrs. Allen spotted a grocery store and immediately pulled into its driveway, completely ignoring my question.

"Hey, Megan!" She called, unfastening her seat belt. "What would you like?"

"Uhm, a cup of chocolate ice cream with some vanilla on the side would be enough for me, thanks.".

Mrs. Allen turned to me. "Do you want booze or we should get some ice cream as well? I think I'm getting too old for ice cream so I'll probably just go with the booze."

"You're never too old for ice cream!" I said, chuckling. "But if you say so, I think I'll go with the liquor as well."

She grabbed the keys and her phone from the glove compartment and dashed out to get the supplies. Megan was hunched over her phone chatting and smiling, so I finally had the chance to make that call. Quickly, I brought out my phone and scrolled through my contact list until I spotted his name and dialed it.

Whilst I stared at the beeping caller ID, I tried to cook up an effective and convincing excuse to tell him but nothing came to mind. It rang and just as the call was about to be passed to voicemail, he picked up.

"Hello, Jonathan." I greeted in the softest tone I could muster.

I wasn't expecting him to blurt out a scold, but rather I heard shuffling in the background and whispering voices before he responded in a hoarse voice, panting while he spoke.

"Are you okay? You don't sound too well. Besides, where are you? The music's too loud." I asked, beginning to worry.

"Whoa, slow your roll. I promise you, I'm fine. I just woke up, that's all. The boys are downstairs drowning themselves in liquor and bringing the roof down with the music."

"I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you earlier, I was still with Brayden," I explained.

"Brayden? What were you still doing with him up to this time?" His voice grew more intense.

"Would you just stop getting jealous like for a second, huh?" I teased. I looked over at Megan and even though the headphones prevented her from listening in, I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I have a mission here, Jonathan. I have gone this far already and I'm not stopping till I achieve my aim!"

He signed in resignation. "At least, return home, I'm missing you. It is already getting to evening and here it feels lonely without you. Could you at least come home? Tomorrow is another day you know."

"Jonathan, I miss you too. I'll be back soon, matter of fact, I'm on my way. Just don't stay up late waiting for me okay?"

He hummed a reply and hung up the phone. I knew he was going to be upset about me staying out late, but I didn't have a choice. Mrs. Allen had specifically wanted to have a conversation with me. Perhaps she was about to reveal a valuable piece of information to me, maybe not, but in any case, I determined it was worth the wait.

While I slipped the phone back into my trouser pocket, the door opened to reveal Mrs. Allen, offloading two bottles of beer, a pizza, and two ice cream cones for Megan.

There was a park that was just opposite the grocery store and Mrs. Allen suggested that we spend the rest of the evening there. It was a short distance so I took the stress of walking over, leaving the car locked and secured in the store's parking lot.

"I'm sure going to get booked for parking for a long time," Mrs. Allen said, sighing as we sat back at one of the many park benches.

"Well, welcome to America!" I jested, glancing around the park which was filled with kids jumping about with their peers while their guardians watched them carefully while seated on the benches. There were a lot of options of fun to choose from ranging from the giant merry-go-round, the clown town where kids played about out dressed up in clown costumes, the seesaws, and slides among others.

Once we had arrived, Megan grabbed her ice cream and headed off to meet with a group of girls she recognized from her school, leaving me and Mrs Allen some alone time.

"I can't remember the last time I felt so alive like those kids," she exclaimed sadly. "Just running about chasing the wind with nothing on their minds; no heartbroken kids to endure their fists of anger, and no teenage girl to look after. The last time I felt carefree was three years ago before my husband died." She flung a piece of pizza in her mouth.

I had no idea where she was going with her speech so I kept silent, taking occasional sips of my beer.

"He died defending the pack from a band of werewolves who were after our lives. He breathed his last right in my arms." A tear trickled down her cheek. "I was left with Brayden and Megan and we were okay. Until he met you. He was nothing but good to you but you seek to destroy him, why?"

The beer stuck in my throat as soon as the words flew past my ears, making me cough violently. It bought me some time to think of a response. Playing the dumb card appealed to me but the look on her face make me rethink my choice of words as I spoke.