Soren's mate. Mathilde, was a different story. She had a reputation for being nosy, solicitous, and using her position as clan matriarch to protect people from themselves (supposedly). A motherly type to her core, but perhaps a bit extreme in her mothering. She liked to call Calvin a "lost pup," which irked him, because he was never quite sure how he'd strayed. Still, she took care of the clan and Soren would surely have sharp words and fangs for people who lashed out against her.
The sun dipped lower in the sky, and more werewolves arrived through the trees. One guy with brownish, somewhat scraggly fur sat down next to Calvin and gave him a prolonged sniff. No one really liked this guy; he had a reputation for being something of a whiny nebbish. The sniff made Calvin back away slightly, giving the offender a stern look. "What's your deal?" he asked.
"You always smell like humans," the other wolf complained, half whining.
Even as a wolf, Calvin could roll his eyes and scoff with the best of them. "You don't exactly smell any better." The other guy smelled kind of like fish, but instead of wondering where that guy spent his time, Calvin was thinking more about what it meant to smell like humans. Humans were everywhere. Didn't everyone smell a bit like humans, then?
He didn't get to continue his train of thought before a great howling resounded throughout the space. The meeting was beginning.
Soren's gruff voice echoed through the minds of all present, a limited telepathy. "We are gathered here tonight, under the full moon, in reverence of the ancestors and nature spirits that guide us. May the moon's watchful eye oversee all, and may we be blessed from past to present and future. Now, a moment of reflection."
The area went silent for the ritual moment of reflection, aside from a few disrespectful but unaware crickets. Though no one dared share their thoughts, Calvin was certain not everyone took the pause so seriously. He did enjoy the silence and the opportunity to sort his thoughts, but he knew not everyone prayed or even thought when instructed to. If he had to guess, there were two wolves thinking about their next meal for every one that was praying to their ancestors and guardian spirits.
The moment passed and Soren spoke once more, "Tonight's meeting is a simple one. We are here to check in with all of the clan members. It is important not just for the health of the clan's members, but for the health of the clan as a whole, that we keep tabs on what everyone is up to. While no mischief has reached our ears, we would still like to hear how you have been doing. I will start with the one to my left, and we will go from there."
Calvin sat down and spaced out as every wolf recited a summary of how their lives were going. He thought he heard Mathilde chime in every now and then, but he wasn't terribly interested in all the mundane details going around. Either he belonged to the most boring werewolf pack ever or everyone was too busy going about their human lives to do much the clan would find pertinent. It wasn't like he could say anything about that, though; he wasn't doing anything particularly interesting either.
"Calvin?"
"Hm?" Calvin jolted when he heard his name, and he realized that everyone was looking at him.
"Calvin, are you all right? Normally you are more focused at meetings." Mathilde scraped the ground with one paw, her eyes fixed on Calvin with a visage that somehow straddled the line between a motherly concerned look and a piercing, interrogative gaze.
"I'm fine," Calvin muttered, embarrassment prickling along his skin. "I'm just going about my business."
"And what is your business?" Mathilde asked. "Being so secretive does not suit you."
Calvin gave a wolven shrug. "There's nothing interesting going on that's interesting. I wake up, I work out, I go to work, I come home, I do what I want, then I go to bed and repeat the whole thing."
"Perhaps I should change the question," Mathilde said. "Do you consider yourself to be living a healthy lifestyle, balanced in all ways? I hear that you take care of yourself physically, but how are you mentally, spiritually, socially?"
"I'm fine, really. I don't experience loner angst, if that's what you're asking. If it helps you any, I'm actually making friends." Calvin knew that he was setting himself up for further questions from her, but he figured that if he slipped out quickly, he could avoid them.
"I see. I am glad to hear that." Mathilde nodded, then mercifully averted that soft yet intimidating gaze and moved on to the next wolf. Calvin exhaled a heavy sigh of relief, then waited for the rest of the wolves to give their summaries.
After everyone is done, Soren spoke once more, "I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well, though I cannot help but notice a heavy focus on your human lives. I understand that we live mostly as humans, but I must warn you: do not forget your brethren or your origins. Forsaking your true self is a dangerous choice, and there will be consequences for it. Meeting dismissed."
Calvin shuddered at Soren's weighty warning. Who was to say when someone had truly forsaken their nature as a werewolf? It seemed like such a difficult to judge event at times. Would someone who failed to show up at a meeting be punished, or someone who was deemed to have stayed in human form too long?
"Calvin?"
There it was again, Mathilde's voice. Calvin had clearly not escaped fast enough. He sighed and resigned himself to further interrogation from the old woman. "Yeah?"
"I would like to talk to you, if at all possible." Mathilde reached over and gave Calvin a sniff. "Could you please come with me?"
"Fine." Calvin followed Mathilde to a distance away from the main meeting spot. "What do you want?"
Mathilde stared at him for a moment, then gave him a quick grooming near his right ear, making him growl. "I am sorry. You just had something right there."
"Ma'am, can't you at least ask before you fuss over me like that?" Calvin couldn't help but feel like a child around this woman. Her preferred form of address seemed to make her even more ancient.
"Next time." Mathilde sighed. "Calvin, dear, you have always been a lost pup to this clan. Since you were young, you have kept to yourself and you have always had a sad seeming to you."
Calvin tried not to roll his eyes. He had heard this story bunches of times before, but he didn't want to be openly disrespectful to the clan matriarch. "Where are you going with this?"
"I would just like to know what kinds of friends you're making. Someone like you... you need good friends who care for you. I do hope you haven't fallen in with anyone unsavory."
"Not at all." It was Calvin's turn to sigh. "I met a girl recently. She seems genuinely interested in me. Cares about more than my looks. Satisfied?"
"A girl, you say?" Mathilde sat up, looking poised. "I see. I do hope she cares about you as much as you say. But I take it that she is human?"
"Unless she's not telling me something, yeah, she's human."
"I see," Mathilde said again. "I suppose there's not much to be done about it. Humans vastly outnumber werewolves, so those you meet are unlikely to be one of us. All I ask is that you are careful. Humans can have varying reactions to learning secrets."
Calvin was torn between being lulled into a sense that Mathilde was truly looking out for him and having a feeling that Mathilde was trying to make trouble. "I'll be careful. I always have been."
"Indeed, that is true." Mathilde took a few steps past Calvin towards where Soren was waiting for her. "I do hope you can maintain that caution when the stakes rise."
Calvin watched Mathilde walk off and he grumbled to himself. He had a feeling that the other werewolves were going to get nosy and ask why the matriarch had singled him out, so he was going to have to prepare himself for that. Feeling thoroughly disgruntled, he headed home, feeling a sense of relief when earth transitioned into concrete.
Chapter 3: Bonding
Some time passed and Calvin continued to talk with Alexis online and over the phone, but somehow, none of them seemed to make a step further and set another date. Until one day, Alexis invited Calvin to her house. Initially, he was surprised
and considered that a bold move. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take her up on the offer so soon, but then she had to pull the food card.
"I'm a pretty damn good cook! What's your favorite food? Challenge me. I'll make it for you."
The opportunity for a home-cooked meal won Calvin over and they made the plans. That day, he drove to Alexis's house and knocked on her door. Just standing in front of her door, he could smell a spicy aroma wafting from inside the house. Sometimes, a werewolf's enhanced sense of smell had its perks. When she opened the door, the scent rushed out, and he tried unsuccessfully to stop his mouth from watering. "Well, well, well, look who decided to show up today! Come on in!" Alexis stepped away from the door and ushered Calvin inside.
When Calvin was inside, he took a deep sniff. "Smells like jambalaya."
Alexis patted Calvin's back teasingly. "You betcha! I didn't go light on the andouille sausage, either. Challenge was accepted."
"Is it almost done?" Calvin asked.
"Almost," Alexis replied. "Come on, have a seat in the kitchen."
Calvin did so and he felt like an impatient child waiting for a timer to go off, or perhaps a dog waiting for the dinner bell. "So... what are we going to do here? Aside from eat, I mean."
"First things first: no funny business. The bedroom is off limits. Hope you weren't thinking of including that in your tour of my house." Alexis fussed over the counters and stove, making sure everything was in order.
"Yes, ma'am." Now, Calvin wasn't exactly expecting to reach the bedroom on their second meeting, but the way she shut that down made him feel like he was being scolded for something he didn't do. Why was everyone treating him like a naughty child?
"Good boy." Alexis grinned as she started plating the food. "Tell your taste buds to brace themselves. This is gonna be the best jambalaya you've ever had."
"That's a lot of hype. I hope it lives up to all that," Calvin said.
Alexis set the plates of jambalaya on the table, the dishes clanking against the surface. "Here you go. Eat up!"
Calvin took a big forkful of jambalaya and when he ate it, he wondered if his surprise was as visible as it felt. The spices and flavors surged onto his tongue vividly, leaving him nearly speechless with delight. All he could get out was a stunned "Wow."
"Good, huh? So, does it live up to the hype?" Alexis pointed at Calvin with her fork, a coy little smirk on her face.
"Yeah. You win," Calvin said, diving in for another forkful. "Damn, this is really good."
Alexis just laughed and began digging into her own smaller serving.
"You know, you never answered my question. Are we going somewhere after lunch, or what?"
Alexis nodded and made a thoughtful noise. "You know, we connected over the fact that we both played Eyes Ablaze. I think it's time I saw how good you are behind the controller."
"Really?" Calvin wasn't expecting to be dragged into playing a fighting game, but sometimes he didn't know what to expect from Alexis.
"Really. Does it look like I'm joking?" Alexis made her face go serious, though a smile still twitched at her lips.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell with you." Calvin took another bite, hoping it didn't look too much like he was stuffing his face. "Feeding me and taking me to play video games... are you trying to make a pasty nerd out of me?"
"Hey, you're the one who likes video games. I mean, I do too, but you know what I mean!" The serious mask broke off Alexis's face as she laughed.
The meal disintegrated into banter and it wasn't long before both plates were empty. Calvin exhaled heavily and rested a hand on his stomach. "I think that's the most I've eaten in one sitting in months," he said.
"You must eat like a bird, then." Alexis gathered up the plates and deposited them in the sink. "Still, it's nice to be able to cook for someone other than myself."
"That's good to hear. Maybe I'll come back for more sometime."
A content silence passed. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go in the living room. I'll come out and set things up for you in a moment," Alexis said.
Calvin did so, splaying out on Alexis's couch. A minute later, Alexis followed and she started setting up the game console, handing Calvin a wireless controller. "There you go, Player Two."
"Thanks." Calvin positioned his hands around the controller, ready to get his game on. Alexis did the same, and catchy guitar riffs cut through the air as the game's title screen launched.
Alexis navigated the menus out loud. "Two players... arena... random stages. All right, here we go." She looked over to Calvin. "You never did tell me who you main in this game."
"Who I 'main'?" Calvin was not up to date on all the gamer lingo.
"Who you play as the most and the best."
"Oh." The game made a clicking sound as Calvin selected his character. "Ziegel."
Alexis snorted. "You play as the dog boy? Wow. I guess I should have expected that, but he's so... mid-tier."
"What is that even supposed to mean?" Calvin knew Alexis wasn't aware of the thematic aptness of his playing the guy with wolf ears and a tail, but the rest of the associations were lost on him.
"There's characters that are better balanced and better in a competitive environment," Alexis explained.
"You say as you're picking the magical girl," Calvin said.
"Hey, Nika is top tier! She's actually borderline overpowered because of how easy some of her combos are to pull off, but no one is really complaining." Alexis pressed a few more buttons to start the fight. "Get ready!"
"None of that tier stuff makes any sense to me."
"LOL, casual gamer!"
"...Did you seriously just say LOL out loud?"
Alexis giggled, "Don't worry about it. You'd better get moving, or I'll have you stunlocked before you know it!"
"That's a thing in this game?!"
A frantic mashing of buttons ensued as the two engaged their game, periodically quipping at each other or remarking on how some hit shouldn't have landed. The two played round after round of battles and before they knew it, it had gotten dark outside. Alexis stretched her arms and set the controller down. "Geez, what time is it?"
Calvin checked his phone, and his eyes nearly bugged out. "8 o'clock."
"Dang. Time really does fly while you're having fun, huh?" Alexis tipped over, gently leaning on Calvin's side. "I had a lot of fun, though."
"So did I." Calvin put his arm around Alexis and decided that he liked how she felt against him.
"You're really warm," she said softly.
"Do you like that?" When Alexis nodded, Calvin decided to make an impact. He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, which made her jump slightly.
"Did you just-" Alexis stared up at Calvin, her face going red.
"I take that as a yes, then?"
"Yeah. I do like that. And I like..." Alexis started up and planted a kiss straight on Calvin's lips.
When they parted, Calvin smiled softly. "I like that too." For a while, the two simply leaned on each other, enjoying each other's warmth. Calvin spoke up again, "Is the bedroom still off limits? Even just for sleeping?"
"You bet it is," Alexis said with a lazy giggle. "I mean, if you want to stay here, I guess that'd be okay, but you're getting the couch."
"I'm thinking about it," Calvin said.
"Really?" Alexis's eyebrows raised, her surprise evident.
"Why not?"
"Well, people might think there's something going on if they see you coming out of my house in the morning," Alexis said, a slight hesitation in her voice.
Calvin shrugged. "Who cares? People crash at each other's houses all the time."
Alexis made a thoughtful noise. "I don't think it's a good idea right now."
"Okay." Calvin nodded, then slowly separated himself from Alexis. "I guess you're right. I don't have any problems with taking it slow."
"You're sure about that? You're not mad at me for shut
ting you down?" Alexis asked.
"No, it's fine. I'm not going to push you into something you don't want." Calvin got up and went to go grab his jacket. "See you again sometime soon?"
"Yeah, definitely," Alexis said. "Let me know when you're home, okay?"
"Will do."
Forever Together Page 31
