C2 A Pledge Over Dinner

“Most responsible werewolf for a pack.” I salute him as he walks inside the room, smiling and with a bag of goodies in his hands.

His baritone voice says, “Good morning, young wolf.” He stoops low, rubs my chin and pats me before he rises to his feet again. I grab the bag from him to check what is in there. He furiously retrieves it from me but I unzipped the smallest aperture already, I didn’t see anything but I smell blood.

“You can have this.” Glaring at me, he handles a lighter bag to me. It seems he brought that out of the bigger bag. I hurry out of his presence and take it to his room. He doesn’t follow me, he rather moves to the kitchen to see mum. Maybe he wants to give her blood or am I the only one perceiving that foul odor?

Once I drop the bag in his room and head downstairs, I pause for a moment. I can see them discussing something while dad keeps pointing at an artificial object. I try to listen to them from a place far from them but I can only hear their voices as muffles.

I tiptoe from the staircase, hoping they won’t look back so I can get closer to eavesdrop. I hear a single word, “transform" before dad looks back and they switch the topic to discuss immediately.

“Sophia?” Dad beckons to me for a hug.

“I’m not interested.” I boldly say.

“Why?” Mum asks as it’s rare for me to be recalcitrant.

“Tell me what is in the bag. I noticed a wolf pullover, a sheath and some strange wears.” I frame, though I never saw these things.

“You must have taken several bottles of Whiskey.” Dad affirms, chuckling at same time with mom.

“Whiskey doesn’t affect me. Okay?” I tell him and walk out on them.

I walk straight to the sofa after grabbing the remote. I press a few buttons on it as a werewolf movie displays on the screen. I change my seat, to be much closer to the TV and more attentive. My instinct tells me to switch the channel but I refuse to listen to it.

After a few minutes, dad walks to the living room, shocked to see me so attentive to the movie. Before he gets to where I am, mum is already here. She jerks the remote away from my hands, looking fierce.

“What the hell are you watching?” Mum screams, switching off the TV.

Dad controls her, and leads her out of the living room but I follow them and I hear him speak.

“How long can we hide it from Sophia that she’s a wolf? She would be 18 years in a few weeks and just so you know, her wolf will arrive. Even before then. What do you expect her to do when she realizes that?”

Mum sniffles hard, “This girl has wild craving. She might even get closer to vampires later on.”

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Dad affirms, patting her shoulders. “You have my word.”

They both return to the living room, looking innocent. I sit at a corner, feigning to be annoyed about how mum reacted and switched off the TV but Dad moves closer and plays with my hair.

“Sophia.” He mumbles, as he runs his fingers through my hair.

“Back off.” I take his hands off, hiss, and walk away but he grabs hold of me.

“What is wrong with you?” He coldly asks. “Do you want a gift? Sure you do?”

A light voice diverts our attention. It is mum. “Come on, dinner is ready.”

I walk faster than Dad, to the dining room. Taking my seat, I gulp at the dinner. Fried shrimp, fried vegetables and coleslaw. “Come on.”

Dad shrugs his shoulders, walking towards us. He takes the seat beside me. Though I feel a bit uneasy by that, but I don’t show it. i feel tense about their silence but I serve myself a portion of the dish. They follow the action as I consider bringing up the topic since we are together and doing something in common.

"Dad, how is Alpha?" I inquire, seizing one of the sizable fried shrimp I’ve just plated with my hand. I tear it apart before savoring the flavorful morsel in my mouth. Dad glares at me till I chew it down my throat. He shakes his head, softly chuckling while mum directs her gaze at me for a long time which makes me stare back at her. I stop staring, and I focus on the shrimp which is stuck in my mouth. Munching it slowly, I look up again only to see mom still staring at me, bizarrely, and almost losing appetite. I stare back at my food, diverting all my attention to it.

"Alpha is fine.”

I shudder, and face back at once, ensuring if someone who was right behind me, spoke.

"Why did you look back?" Mum asks, shrugging. I shrug in return, and I continue eating since I can't see any one.

I shake my head, deciding to speak my mind, “Mom? Dad? I’ll be eighteen years in a few weeks. It’s futile. I mean your effort to limit my knowledge of the werewolf world.”

Clearing my throat, I push back the table as I make a move to stand. I rise to my feet but before I leave this place, dad softly grabs hold of me. He presses my ear to his lips, “meet me after dinner.”

I heave a sigh of relief. I recline my back on the chair, I burp. Mum prompts me to take more in but I’m full. Once everyone is done eating, I stack the plates on top of each other to clear the table. With the intention of cleaning them up in the kitchen, I push back the table but as I make a move to the kitchen, mum proceeds to my seat and takes the plates from my hands. She returns here within two seconds, declaring the work completed. How did she wash the dishes so quickly?

As mum approaches us, she takes a gander at the living room as dad snaps his fingers – and I get it. we really should talk. If the truth must be told in mom’s absence, so be it.

"So, what did you want to know?" He whispers softly, with a husky voice after we enter his room.

"I want to know more about werewolves. Mum hides a lot from me." I confess. "Everything literally"

He sighs. "What section of werewolf kingdom are you interested in?" He gulps, asking. I look into his eyes and shrug my shoulders.

"You are only seventeen. You..." He tells me but I cut in.

"It’s bad if I understand you all?"

"No. I'll buy you a few novels. Maybe some recommended wolf diaries and books too. You can read them, it clearly explains the nitty-gritty of the wolf world. Besides, we intend to register you to Evergreen High School this forth-coming Monday." He informs me.

I scream controllably at the last statement he made, ignoring the first to avoid being down with mood swing. I gracefully navigate his room, dancing between the white tiles while purposefully avoiding the black ones. Tiptoeing, I use the big toes of each foot, savoring each step and controlling my breath. "Really, Dad?" I glare at him, stifling giggles while I let out a gasp.

“There’s a condition though. You must learn a lot about werewolves – Alpha, Beta, Luna. How to fight rogues, how to choose your mate, how to activate your mind link. Certain wolves might try to charm their way into your affections and then leave you, do you hear me?”

I nod my head slightly. He gives me a thumbs-up. I am both excited and anxious about resuming high school once more but I display only my excited self. He walks out of the room but soon returns, “Go get dressed, we’re unwinding.”

Obviously excited to a fault, I want to grab the door so it won’t close before I move out. Sadly, it does. I turn the doorknob and head out of the room.

I move directly to my personal room – I am the only child of my parents. I turn the doorknob and walk into the room. I look at the corners maybe it will excite me more than I earlier was. I intend to play some games before taking a shower but I reconsider this. After all, dad had instructed me to get dressed. I wouldn’t miss an outing for a reason. I undress and there I go, into the tub. In thirty minutes, I am done. I come out of the tub, cleaning my wet eyes so I can pick a towel but I see that no towel is available. I jump out of the tub and open the door of the bathroom silently; I tiptoe to avoid Dad's attention - my door is on latch, Dad can open it and come in easily while I have no clothes on. I come out, and lock my door as breeze blows at my skin, almost intruding into my internal systems too. LOL. I leave the door closed, and walk up to my wardrobe. I open it with my two hands, and it opens on both side. I pick up a green T-shirt, and a black shiny skirt. I wrap and place them in bed. I sit in bed as well. Suddenly, I hear a sound which thwarts my attention, making me face the walls and then the windows. Oh my goodness, they are wide open. I stand up and close them all. While returning to sit, I pick up my comb from where I dumped it two days ago. I comb my hair perfectly, and I long to preen myself in front of a mirror. I quickly wear the T-shirt and skirt as I can perceive that Dad's door creaks open. I preen myself in the mirror close to my wardrobe, twigging my body as I do. I slip Sandals into my feet, and I unlock the door, run of the room and the door slams shut. The sound from it rings in my head till I reach downstairs.

I ascend the staircases leading to the living room and I see Dad rearranging his belt, unbuckling and tucking it in again. I'm happy he is done dressing as well. He squeezes a few clothes which are lazily lying on the sofa, into something that looks like a box. Before I can ask a question, he zips the box. I sigh, wondering why he did that. Can't we chill overnight with a cloth on? I gesticulate at mum to ask if she is going with us since she already knows about it but she shakes her head, nodding in disapproval. I follow behind Dad, almost bumping into his back. I'm thrilled, but is he staggering? Walk fast, dude. He turns the boot's knob, he flings the box inside, and shuts it. He turns back and motions to me to get into the car. I obey him and get to the front seat. When I enter, I see him seated on the driver’s seat. He turns the car key and mum's wristwatch in the car ticks. We both look back, and face front at once. It is 12 am. Dad starts the car and we glide into the streets.