Jolene was in her apartment, her back against the wall as she slowly slid down to the floor. Once her butt reached the fluffy carpet, she cradled her legs and put her forehead on her knees. The sound of the fire alarm muffled her loud sobs. She used her shirt to wipe her nose.
After about fifteen minutes Jolene stood up took a barstool and stood on it to reach for the fire alarm and silence it. Someone knocked on the door and she opened it to see two police officers staring at her. They peeked at her apartment which evidently was not on fire.
“Miss, could you tell us what happened?” said the younger officer as he noticed her bloodshot puffy eyes.
Jolene sniffled and swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked down feeling embarassed. By their smell she knew they were in Lancelot’s Pack.
“I… I was cooking and I got distracted and next thing I know is that everything is burned and the fire alarm is ringing…”
The police officers were nodding trying to hide their amusement at her story.
“Then… I tried to…”
She reached for a sheet of towel paper and she blew her nose loudly. “Then I tried to reach for the fire alarm but it was too high for me.”
“You alarm was ringing for almost twenty minutes. Your neighbors got worried,” said the older officer.
“I just wanted to cook something good. Okay? But everything got burned; I was too frustrated to think quickly. Cooking and loud noises stress me out.”
The younger officer looked at her sympathetically and patted her on the shoulder. At the same time, the older one gave her a judgmental look and shook his head before turning around and leaving. After they left Jolene threw away her first failed attempt of rice with chicken and lay down on her bed contemplating a future without ever trying to cook again. After a while she began laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of the whole scene.
***
The next day at the waterfall, Lancelot, with the help of a book, showed Jolene the stories of the origin of the meanings behind all the flowers he had given her. They only met briefly because Jolene had to train with Kathy and Matt and Lancelot had to work on a school project and other homework.
Jolene spent the rest of the afternoon teaching the siblings judo holds. By the time they were done, she was exhausted. That night she cooked white rice and managed to not burn it, but she put too much water and it was all watery. She threw it away and ordered pizza. After dinner she prepared a few classes for the following week.
Jolene had called Merry the day before to talk about her father and Merry had insisted in meeting in person.She had texted her asking her to meet at the Alpha’s house after she got out from work the following day. She was done at about 2:00 AM.
***
On Wednesday morning, Jolene found two red roses at her doorstep. She remembered that Lancelot had mentioned that the number of roses also had meanings. According to google, two roses means ‘deeply in love with you.’ Jolene sighed, a silly smile tugging at her lips.
She found Lancelot by the parking lot as usual. This time, Matt and Samuel were there as well. Jolene walked up to them and waved. Lancelot’s face lit up as soon as he saw her and she gave him a broad smile.
Samuel nudged Matt. “Totally ship it,” he said.
Matt chuckled and nodded.
The day went by and Jolene told Lancelot to meet a little later than usual. She did not tell him she was going to his house because she wanted to see his surprised face. After changing her clothes Jolene drove to the Alpha’s house. Merry was waiting for her outside. The Alpha’s house was almost as big as the pack house, but the choice in decoration made it look cozier. Jolene knew that this was Merry’s work. Everything seemed to be in place and Jolene felt like her sole presence put the order out of balance, though.
Merry guided her to a small room with two seats and a small round table were a teapot and two cups were waiting for them. Merry poured the hot tea for her and Jolene. They both sat, and Jolene peeked through the large bay window at the garden fountain.
Merry took a sip and began talking. “Your father… I remember the day we met him as if it was yesterday. One day, when your mother was seventeen, we ventured near the West limit as we had done many times before. I had already met Aaron but your mother had not found her mate in our pack or any neighboring pack. When we found ourselves surrounded by ten rogues, she was complaining about her fate.”
Jolene gasped. Merry nodded and took a sip of tea.
“It was terrifying. Both of us knew we could take on most of them. However, it was possible that we would not remain unscathed. So, the fight began. By the time the ninth rogue was dead, Emma and I were excited, but only one more wolf was left.”
Jolene laughed and shook her head. “For a moment, I thought you would tell me that you had to be saved.”
Merry gave her a sly smile. “Please, we were not Alphas’ daughters just for show. So, five more rogues appear out of nowhere and Emma and I are back to back, or tail to tail, ready to jump into action again, but then… A loud growl pierced through the air and the rogues ran away. I felt Emma tense up and asked her what was wrong but she was not paying attention to me. She was focused on the huge black wolf in front of us. I looked at him and I immediately knew the reason, but he was a rogue too.”
Jolene felt a chill down her spine as she remembered Chris’ words. “My father?”
Merry nodded and took another sip of her tea. Jolene imitated her, taking a big gulp of her tea instead.
“Your mom mindlinked me to run away on her signal and so we did. We never talked about what happened that day, but I noticed she seemed sad and never mentioned anything about her mate after that day.”
“So they did not stay together since they met?”
Merry shook her head. “Oh, no! Your mother hated rogues. It had been a group of rogues who had killed off her pack back in her home country. She graduated high school that year. I had graduated before but I was waiting for her to go to college together.” Merry laughed. “We went to the town’s Community College. First day, Emma locks eyes with the hottest guy there. He begins making his way toward us, or more specifically her and she snatches my car keys from my hands and takes off.”
“My dad again?”
Merry nodded. “So, he is standing in front of me and I can smell that he is a rogue, which is weird because he was not supposed to be there. He is about to leave and I grab his wrist and ask him what he thinks he is doing. He is about to growl at me so I cross my arms and tell him: I am her best friend, and you are one good or bad advice away from her.”
Jolene laughed and clapped. “That was a good one.”
“I know. We talked and he told me that his scent was actually masked, and regular werewolves could not detect him. The only reason I could tell was because of my Alpha blood. He admitted that he was her mate and I told him that she despised rogues. I think I saw him tear up that day.”
“Merry, you are breaking my heart right now.”
“He said he would do anything to be with her and begged me to accept him in the pack. I obvio-”
“Mom, do you know where-” Lancelot walked into the living room with his hair damp and wearing only a towel around his waist. He locked eyes with Jolene and froze. He looked down at himself and coughed before his mouth arched in a wry smile. “Jolene. I did not expect to see you here. What a pleasant surprise.” He winked at her.
Merry narrowed her eyes to her son. “Lancelot Allen King, go put some clothes on for goodness’ sake, and give me some more time alone with her. We are in the middle of a story.”
“On it,” he said as he hurried to leave the room.
“These boys. They would do anything to catch their mates’ attention,” said Merry.
Jolene began to laugh but then tensed up. She chuckled nervously. “What do you mean Merry?”
Merry gave her a knowing look. “I guess I never told you about my ability.”
“Your ability?” Jolene tilted her head.
“Yes. The Moon Goddess gives abilities to future Alphas if she consider that they would needed to keep the equilibrium between packs. I can identify other werewolves’ mates even before they figure it out. Also, sometimes I get small flashes of what is yet to come.”
“Sounds pretty cool,” said Jolene trying to avoid the fact that the Luna knew she is her son’s mate.
“Looking at the future is not really useful most of the time, though, as it keeps changing and changing with each decision we and the rest of the people around us make.” Merry sighed and for a second Jolene saw a hurt expression flash across her face but she quickly covered it up and gave Jolene a warm smile. “Going back to the story, after that day I began making my case to my father and my brother so Felipe, your father, would be accepted in the pack.”
Jolene smiled because she finally knew her father’s name. So Felipe, she thought. “That must have been difficult…” It is unusual for packs to accept adult male rogues. It is not impossible but it just does not happen.
“That was not the most difficult part. The hardest part was convincing Emma of giving him a chance.” Merry sighed. “But less than a year later after they finally accepted each other, my brother and our other best friend, his Beta, were murdered. Then, our other childhood friend was killed. Lastly, your parents disappeared into thin air and I never heard anything back from them until I received your call this year.”
Jolene held her breath and tears back. She had always hoped that her parents had met each other at a young age so they could have enjoyed together a little longer, but that was not the case.
“Merry what else do you know about my father?” she whispered.
“Honestly, he would never talk to me about personal things. I know he shared everything with your mother, but he did not talk to anyone but us two; with me, it was only casual conversation. He was too mysterious.”
Jolene nodded. “So going back to the mate issue-”
“It is not an issue, Jolene. I completely support you two. Of course it is not the most appropriate to begin your relationship right now, but you should be together… I have seen what happens when you don’t…”
“What?” asked Jolene with a confused look on her face.
“What?” Merry gulped down her tea. “That was all I know about your father, sweety. Now go meet your mate. I am sure you can sniff your way to his room.”
Merry stood up and left the room.
“The weirdness runs in the family…” Jolene said underneath her breath.
“I heard that!”
“Sorry, Merry.”