“Yes, you are. Let me tell you a secret, then.”
Lancelot nodded and kissed the back of her hand.
Jolene stared to the waterfall and talked in an emotionless voice. “My parents were killed right before me when I was one year old.”
Lancelot gasped and caressed her cheek. “Jolene that is so horrible. I am sorry.”
“Do not apologize. You were not the one who killed them. Some people do know what I just told you. However, everyone assumes that since I was so young my only memories are the stories told by my adoptive parents. Still, I have nightmares about that day almost three times per week.”
Lancelot stared at her with alarmed eyes. “So you remember?”
Jolene nodded, a lone tear running down her cheek. Her lower lip was trembling. She gulped trying to ease the knot in her throat. “That is the secret.”
Lancelot wiped the tear off and took her hand to his mouth, kissing each of her knuckles. “Could you recognize the faces of the killers?” he asked.
“No. Their faces always look blurry in my dreams,” she whispered lowering her face.
She hated those dreams because they never let her know what she wanted to know the most. It was like their only purpose was to torture her.
Lancelot put his arms around her waist and she mindlessly ran her hands through his hair.
She sniffled a couple of times and cleared her throat trying to talk in her usual tone. “Can I tell you the dream?”
“Of course, Jolene, but only if you want to.” Lancelot stared at her as she shifted her gaze to the waterfall once again. However, it seemed like it was not the water that caught her attention; She looked lost in a painful memory.
Jolene took a few deep breaths and began talking, her voice cracking repeatedly. “My dream begins with my mom reading me a Spanish book. Two men barge into our apartment through the front door. My mom takes me in her arms and jumps out of the window even though we are in the third floor. She keeps running and running. My father appears and faces the two men, but a third man stops us, pointing a gun at us. He says that the gun has silver bullets. My dad had already killed one of the men but he stops fighting when he sees us. The two men make us walk to an alley. There…”
Hot tears began pouring from her eyes. She felt her heart clench. Lancelot’s eyes watered as he saw the pained expression on his mate’s face.
“There, they kill my parents. Sometimes I have the complete dream, but it is mostly just a loop of how they were killed.”
Lancelot sat up and pulled Jolene into a hug. Her legs rested on his right leg and her back against his left leg. She started sobbing and sniffling against his chest. The mental image of her recurrent dreams tormented her, but she felt how his touch slowly calmed her down. Lancelot rested his cheek on top of her head.
“I am sorry I had to spoil the mood,” she whispered.
He snickered. He found it funny how she could care about something like that when she was hurting. “I care more about you than about the mood. I am actually happy you told me that. Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thanks for being here for me.”
Jolene never revealed too many details about her past unless it was necessary, but to him, she felt like she could tell everything down to the last bits. “I will always be here for you whenever you need me.”
Jolene looked up and into his eyes. “You promise?”
He rested his forehead against hers. “I promise.”
For the first time in his life Lancelot felt the need to protect someone, even if it was against her own past. He wanted to be the person whom she went to whenever she was afraid or sad, the one who could always made her feel better.
Jolene hugged him again burying her face against his chest. He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. They stayed like that for a while.
“So… Do you have any pet?” asked Lancelot.
Jolene looked up tilting her head and he shrugged and sighed.
“That question is so random,” she said.
“I want to know everything about you.”
As Jolene relaxed, she became aware of the position they were in. She straightened up and felt her face heating up, so she looked at her lap.
“What is it queen?” Lancelot put his hand on her cheek and made her turn her face to him.
They were extremely close. Jolene stood up and went sit two meters away from a surprised Lancelot.
“Really, Jolene?” He smiled, putting his arms on his knees and resting his face on his forearms.
“Why queen?” asked Jolene brushing off his comment and staring at the sunset.
“Because you look and act like one.” Lancelot laid down on the grass and looked at the sky. “Come here.”
Jolene went to lie by his side, resting her head beside his but her feet in the opposite direction.
“I do have many pets,” she said.
Lancelot smiled. “Dogs?”
“Not exactly…” said Jolene trailing off.
“What kind of pet, then?”
Jolene turned to him. “Do not laugh.” She was smiling but her tone was severe.
“I would never laugh.” Lancelot saw himself reflected in her eyes again. He loved how mysterious her eyes seemed. They matched her personality somehow.
“I have… pet chickens.”
“Excuse me. What?” He shook his head slightly.
Jolene giggled. “Chickens… as pets.”
“Do you ever eat them?”
“What kind of monster would eat their own pets!”
“A wolf who raises chickens. I have now seen everything.” Lancelot laughed until some tears spilled from his eyes.
Jolene frowned and sat up. “You said you would not laugh!”
“I am sorry. Come back here.” Lancelot supported himself on one elbow and patted the ground beside him.
Jolene sighed and laid down again. They looked at the changing colors of the sky and talked about their favorite weather. It turns out that Jolene loved the Summer and the rain, while Lancelot preferred the Winter and the snow.
“Another other detail I should be aware of?” he asked after a while.
Jolene hummed as she thought. “A small detail actually.”
“It cannot be more surprising than the ex-fiance and the chickens.”
“What about my son?”
Lancelot sat up and turned to her and Jolene did the same.
“What? You… you have a baby?”
“You could say that he is my baby.”She looked at his reaction. His eyes were wide open, raising his eyebrows on his forehead. He stared at her as if waiting for an explanation.
“Who is the father? Your ex-fiance?” he asked.
“No. His father is the late Beta of my pack. Why? Does it matter?” Jolene stared at him the whole time. She felt relieved that she could not find anger or resentment in his reaction, only surprise.
Lancelot shook his head and looked back at her. “No it does not. It must have been difficult coming here alone and leaving him there.” He gave her a warm smile. Lancelot stood up and walked toward her. He sat behind her and hugged her. “I cannot wait to meet him,” he whispered in her ear.
Jolene giggled. “Good. You two would get along. He is almost a year younger than you.”
Lancelot stiffened. “How?”
Jolene laughed. “I took him in when he was six. I have tried to be a mother for him since then, and I think I have done a decent job.”
“But you were only eleven when that happened.”
“I know, but he was all alone and he was such a quiet, well behaved child. He did not even cry in front of other people and insisted on living alone in the Beta’s house, not wanting to have anyone near him.”
“So how did you befriend him then?”
“I asked the cooks to cook for him. Every day for six months, I went there, knocked on his door, gave him the food and left, until he invited me in one day. He gave me a room in his house and I would stay making him company sometimes. When he asked me if I could be his mom with his bright green eyes, I could not possibly say no.”
Jolene turned to see Lancelot, who seemed to think in his own world. She kissed his cheek and he smiled.
“And that is the story of how Aiden and I became family. I adopted him as soon as I became eighteen.”
“That is actually impressive.”
“Yeah. To be honest my brother has helped us a lot. He is far more responsible and boring than I am. When the incident happened, he was nineteen and had just taken over the pack. He became a father figure for Aiden.”
“I know that the previous Alpha and Luna of the Silver Fang Pack are alive. So, you were adopted by them, right?”
“Yes. It is actually a little complicated. Can we talk about that another day?”
“Okay. Do you want to-”
Jolene’s stomach growled. She had only eaten a bowl of cereal that day and it was 7:57 pm.
Lancelot laughed. “Do you want to go eat something? My treat?”
Jolene arched one eyebrow.
“What? You paid last time. It is only fair,” said Lancelot.