Lost

Family

                    Before anyone can say anything else, she turns around and leaves. It breaks my heart to watch her go, but I know she needs space right now. I’ll find her after the meeting.

                                                                                    BAILEY

                    Leaving the town hall meeting, I just keep walking until I’m deep in the woods passed the lake, surrounded only by the forest.

                    I can’t believe this, my parents were Royals? Laying down in the grass, everything I just learned consumes my thoughts, constantly replaying in my head.

                    I’m a True Royal? I’m already nervous to shift for the first time and figure out this chapter of my life, this part of who I am. Now I have to figure out how to be a True Royal? This is insane. My heart races at all the ways this is terrifying, I could have magic? How would I even handle that? What would I even be able to do? I don’t know enough about the shifter world to be someone so powerful.

                    Then sadness and anger hit me like a brick, washing the panic away. Why didn’t Jack or Asher tell me about this before? Why would they wait until this meeting and so close to my birthday? Can I even trust them if they’d keep something this big from me?

                    So many questions run circles in my head, so many different emotions, and I don’t know how to feel or what to do. I don’t know how long it’s been since I first laid down here, but it’s gotta be at least a few hours based on how much the suns moved.

                    Should I go back now? I don’t think I want to see anyone yet, I’m still too angry and hurt. Should I just leave? But where would I go?

                    Why is everything so complicated?

                                                                                     ASHER

                    After the meeting I waited an hour or two before going to find Bailey, I wanted her to have time to collect her thoughts but eventually I had to make sure she was okay. First I went to the lake, but I didn’t see her so I walked around the entire town. When I couldn’t find her and had no idea where she could be, I used my shifter senses to find her, sniffing her out. She smells so amazing, it’s hard to miss it. Probably should’ve started looking for her this way. I thought, slightly annoyed that it took so long for me to think of this.

                    Walking around the lake into the trees behind it, I see her laying in the grass. The pain and conflict emanating from her shatters my heart, I physically feel broken seeing her like this. Slowly approaching her, so I don’t startle her and so she has a chance to tell me to get lost before I speak, she just lays there unmoving. Quietly sitting next to her, crossing my legs and leaning against a log a foot away, I don’t say anything for a few moments. Taking a deep breath, I try asking how she’s feeling.

                    “Are you kidding me? ‘How do I feel’, how do you think I feel? I just found out this huge thing about myself and my parents, right before my birthday when I shift for the first time, I’m not doing great,” sitting up, she turns to face me. “why didn’t you tell me?”

                    “Honestly, I didn’t know. It never came up that your parents were Royals, so I never knew you were a True Royal. I knew what they were and things about them, but I didn’t know about your family.”

                                                                                BAILEY

                    I want to believe him, but I don’t want to get hurt again. I want to be able to trust him so badly, but what if he lies to me or keeps something from me again? What if he does worse? But… I don’t want to be alone again.

                    “Look me in the eyes,” I gently grab his chin, turning his face so we’re eye to eye. “Did you truly not know?”

                    “I promise, I didn’t know. If I did, I would’ve talked to you about it earlier. I would’ve gotten everything I possibly can to help you understand what it all means.” He’s telling the truth. I tell myself as a weight lifts off my heart. The pain in his eyes, the desperation of him wanting – needing – me to believe him. His eyes could never lie. There’s always that small voice full of doubt in the back of my mind, but I ignore it. I know he’s telling the truth, I can feel it. But all my questions aren’t answered yet.

                    “Why didn’t your dad tell me, though?”

                    “Honestly, I don’t know. I was so angry that him not telling you ended up hurting you, I just yelled at him and stormed out, I didn’t even wait for his response. I wanted to find you and make sure you were okay… well, as okay as you could be. And…I didn’t want you to be alone.”

                    “Thank you, for coming to check on me... and not keeping secrets from me.” Leaning over, I wrap my arms around his neck, wresting my head against his chest. When I feel his arms snake around my waist, a warmth spreads throughout my whole body and I feel completely safe.

                    After a little while we get up and go back to his house, the whole way there he holds my hand and I don’t have the strength to pull away, his hand feels so big and warm wrapped around mine.

                                                                                    ASHER

                    Feeling Baileys small but strong hand in mine makes my heart race, I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t pulled away from me yet. But I’m happy she didn’t. As we walk up to the door, I gently squeeze her hand to reassure her that I’m here for her.

                    “I’m gonna go take a shower, I wanna get into some clean clothes and just relax for a little while before I talk to your dad.” She says, leaning close to me.

                    Nodding, I smile and tell her that’s a great idea. I walk her up the stairs to her room and turn to leave, but she grabs my hand to stop me.

                    “Um, do you think you could… stay?” her question catches me completely off guard and I don’t know how to answer, I don’t even know exactly what she wants. “I- I mean, you stay in my room while I’m in the bathroom and just keep me company and talk to me… if you’re okay with that.”

                    Well at least she’s just as awkward as me right now. The thought makes me smile.

                    “Yeah, I’d love to. I mean, I’d like – I’d be happy to keep you company.”

                    We both laugh off our awkwardness and I sit down on her bed while she goes into the bathroom. She leaves the door cracked open so we can talk, but once she gets into the shower it’s hard to hear each other.

                    “Can you come in here? I can’t hear you.” She calls from the shower.

                    “Uh, y-yeah. Sure.”

                    I slowly walk toward the door while my heart beats out of my chest.

                    “Okay, I-I’m here.” I say as I sit on the lid of the toilet, trying to focus on anything but the fact that she’s showering right next to me.

                    “So when exactly did you become the alpha?”

                    “Oh, um, it was a few years ago. After my mother died… my father wanted to step down and I’d been preparing to become alpha for a few years at that point so he figured I was ready.”

                    “I’m sorry for your loss,” she pauses for a moment. “can I ask what happened?”

                    “She, uh, she was killed in retaliation. There’s a pack in West Virginia not too far from here, they’re truly evil. There aren’t many of them, but the ones who are there are strong. They have no morals. Some say they made a pact with a dark witch many, many years ago so they could gain certain abilities. Supposedly they were jealous of the Royals. When they got their abilities, to keep them they have to sacrifice a female shifter every month or something like that. They had one of our young females kidn*pped to sacrifice her. We took her back and killed the one who had taken her, in retaliation they killed my mother.”

                    “Oh gods, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.”

                    “They’re the ones that Deacon guy was going to take you to.”

                    For a few moments she was silent, I could feel the sadness emanating from her. But I don’t know if it’s because of what happened to my mother or having a friend, someone she trusted, betray her like Deacon did. Probably both. She tries to hide it, but whenever Deacon is brought up a certain kind of sadness fills her eyes. It kills me every time I see it, because I can’t do anything to stop it.

                    “So, uh, what happened after I left the meeting?”

                    “Well Alexander told me to relay his ‘deepest apologies for how you learned about your bloodline.’ He was friends with your mother and father, not as close as my father, but they respected and always helped each other,” pausing for a moment to recall what was said afterwards, I take a deep breath and let it go. Trying to focus my thoughts on the meeting and not Bailey is harder than I could’ve imagined.

                    “we talked about how the murders could be related to being Royals and came up with some theories for someone’s motives and discussed if it isn’t connected to Royals and just coincidence what those motives would be. By the end of it the group was split, some thinking it’s because they’re Royals and some thinking it’s just a coincidence.”

                    Bailey smells amazing, the pomegranate body wash she bought last month mixes nicely with her natural scent. Picturing her rubbing it all over her body – no, stop. I have to keep focused on what she’s saying. But I can’t help picturing just how amazing it would be to be in there with her, lathering her body with soap for her, trailing kisses down her body as I start from the bottom and work my way up her legs. She would taste amazing, I – dammit, stop. Focus.

                    “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. What did you say?”

                    “I was just wondering what they’re gonna do if they’re split believing two different things?”

                    Realizing my thoughts cause some… unwanted excitement, I take off my shirt to hide it so Bailey doesn’t see it when she gets out soon.

                    “Well,” clearing my throat, I force my thoughts to focus. It’s getting increasingly difficult, but I have to. “since they’re divided we’ll meet back up in a month and see if anything’s changed.”

                    “That makes sense. Could you toss my towel over the curtain?”

                    Once the water is turned off completely, I toss her the towel and in less than a minute the shower curtain slides open and she’s standing right in front of me with nothing but a towel and water dripping down her body.

                    “Why’d you take your shirt off?”

                    “Oh, uh, I just got really hot in here with all the steam.”

                    “Sorry, I like to take really hot showers.” She says as she steps out of the tub and walks past me into her room. Staying where I am, I give her privacy to get dressed.

                    After a few moments, she comes walking back to the bathroom in black cotton shorts that hug her in all the right places and a black tank top. I noticed a while ago that she never wears a bra, it’s kind of hard not to notice honestly. But I don’t know how to ask why without it being awkward, so I just pretend I don’t notice. After throwing her damp hair into a ponytail, she puts her socks on and hangs the towel back on the rack.

                    “Can we go talk to your dad now?”

                                                                                        BAILEY

                    Walking down to the living room, I sit down and wait for Ash to bring his father down so we can all talk. It only takes a few minutes, but it feels like forever.

                    “Bailey, I’m sorry.” Jack says as he walks into the room toward me.

                    “Why didn’t you tell me?”

                    “Honestly, I forgot. I’m getting older and my memory isn’t what it used to be. When you first arrived I had meant to ask you if you knew, but by the next morning I had forgotten until the meeting when it was brought up. That’s why I came over and told you myself, I felt horrible for springing this all on you right before your birthday. I’m so sorry, please forgive me Bailey.”

                    Searching his eyes for the truth, I can see the regret and sorrow overflowing from his heart, weighing down him down. Sighing, I stand up and walk over to him. Wrapping my arms around him, I give him a tight hug.

                    “I forgive you, just please don’t do anything like that again. Is there anything else I should know about?”

                    “No, there isn’t. But we’ll have to get you everything we can on True Royals so we can help prepare you for your shift. I promise, we’ll be by your side and help you through everything. You’re our family and we love you.” Embracing me again, he squeezes me much harder than I did and for a second I can’t breathe. When he releases me I just laugh, a memory of him hugging me that tight resurfaced from my childhood.

                    A knock on the door catches all of our attention. Jack goes over to open the door and I hear a few people walk in. One of them is the men from the meeting that moved to the seat next to him so I could sit next to Asher. I think he’s one of Ash’s betas. Then a man who looks almost exactly like him comes in and a woman walks in behind them.

                    “Bailey, this is Enzo and -“

                    “Elias, Enzo’s twin brother. Nice to meet you, Bailey.” he interrupts Ash, introducing himself with a smile. Enzo gives me a polite nod, but he doesn’t seem as happy to meet me as his brother.  

                    Walking through the small crowd comes the woman, she comes to a stop right in front of me.

                    “And I’m Valentina, those two idiots’ cousin,” wrapping her arms around me, she pulls me in for an excited hug. “It’s so nice to meet you! I can’t wait to introduce you to my friends tomorrow.”

                    “Oh, uh, it’s nice to meet you guys.”

                    “Sorry Bailey,” Ash says through laughter. “should’ve warned you about them. Enzo and Elias are my best friends –“

                    “We’re practically brothers, really.” Elias interrupts, wrapping his arm over Ash’s shoulder.

                    “Yeah, and we’re gonna be like sisters now.” Valentina says next to me with a genuine smile.

                    “We’re going to a bar in the next town over, we thought you two would like to come.”

                    Ash looks to me, giving me the final decision.

                    “Sure, let’s go.” I shrug.

------

                    We have to take separate cars because no ones car is big enough for all of us comfortably. Especially with three six foot something men. Valentina offers to drive me while the boys drive together, which will give us ‘girl time’.

                    “Wow, this is a nice car.”

                    “Thanks, it’s a 1968 Shelby GT500.” She tells me with a proud smile, but I’m only confused. I know nothing about cars.

                    “Oh uh, that’s great–“

                    “It’s a mustang.” She chuckles.

                    “Was it that obvious I was lost?” I ask through a laugh.

                    “Yeah, but that’s okay. I learned what I know from my ex-boyfriend, he helped me fix this baby up.” She pats the hood of the car.

                    As we get inside she turns the radio on low and starts to drive.

                    “So you’ve only been here for a month right?”

                    “Almost two months, but yeah.”

                    "I'm glad we're finally able to meet, me and my cousins have been out of town for a while visiting my sister in college a few states away," she's driving like a maniac, but is so calm and casual about it, like she's not going 90 on a 50. "do you wanna go to the mall tomorrow?"

                   “Yeah, sure. I’d like that, thanks. What was Asher telling the guys about me?”

                    “Nothing bad, don’t worry. He was going on and on about how amazing you are and how happy he is you came here. Oh, and how beautiful and gorgeous you are.” She emphasizes the last part, smiling at me like she’s telling me a secret. Well, I guess she kinda is.

                    Pulling up to the bar, Valentina fixes her makeup in the mirror before we get out and meet the boys inside. When we get to the counter, we all order drinks and go to an empty table. There’s a pool table in the back and a small dance floor next to it, it’s pretty packed considering the size. This place is pretty nice, the lights aren't that bright but you can still see where you're going and the music is fun. It's like what I'd imagine a club looking like mixed with a regular bar. For a while we sit at the table and down a few drinks. After our third round the boys go to play pool and Valentina dances, for a moment I don’t know who to follow, but Valentina grabs my hand and brings me to the dance floor with her.

                    “I don’t know how to dance, Valentina.” I try to tell her over the music, which is a lot louder over here than by the tables.

                    “Call me Val! All you gotta do is feel the music and move your body, go with the flow. Like this!” she starts moving her hips back and forth, slowly twirls around and she looks like she’s having fun. After  few moments, I think I finally get it and let myself go with the music.

                    I can’t tell how long we’ve been dancing for but I’m starting to sweat a little, just before I tell Val that I’m gonna go sit down, someone grabs my butt. Instinctively I push him off of me. Apparently he didn’t like that, when I walk toward the edge of the dance floor, he grabs my arm to stop me.

                    “That wasn’t nice, why would you push me?”

                    “Not only did you touch me on purpose without my permission, you touched my butt. What did you think was gonna happen?”

                    “Oh come on, you’re too pretty to be so mean.” He tries to brush his disgusting fingers against my cheek, but I slap them away. Pulling my arm out of his grip, I continue to walk off the dance floor. Once I’m out of the crowd, I grab another drink from the bar and head back to the table. I’m so happy they don’t ask for ID here, but I really need to get one sooner rather than later. Maybe Ash could help with that. Or even Val, she seems really nice.

                    Lost in thought on my way back to the table, I don’t notice the man from the dance floor watching me. When I sit down, I face the boys playing pool. They look so happy together, they really do act like brothers. It’s so cute. I think with a smile. That creep comes over and sits in the chair across from me, almost completely blocking my view of the guys.

                    “What do you want?” I ask, rolling my eyes.

                    “Oh don’t be like that sweetheart.”

                    “Can you please leave?”

                    “That hurts, babygirl. Don’t you want some company?”

                    “Not from you, please leave.”

                    “But I want to get to know you.” The way he smiles sends a shiver down my spine.

                    “Hey, what’s going on over here?” Elias asks, walking up behind him.

                    Turning around, he sees Elias and the other two walking toward us behind him and starts stuttering.

                    “I- uh, I was just, we were just talking and-“

                    “He wouldn’t leave me alone, is what he means.”

                    “Is that right?” he asks the guy, giving him a look that would scare anyone on the receiving end.

                    “What’s going on?” Asher asks as he and Enzo get to the table.

                    “Bailey said this guy wouldn’t leave her alone.”

                    Valentina comes up from behind me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

                    “Don’t worry guys, I got this.” They look up at Val and nod, going to sit in their seats around the table. Val walks in front of the man and grabs his collar.

                    “Didn’t anyone tell you that no means no, and leave me alone means your ass is gonna get kicked if you don’t listen?” Before he could even answer, she punches him in the jaw and kicks him in the stomach when he drops to his knees.

                    “You’re lucky I’m not in the mood to hide a body tonight.”