The Last Protector

Chapter 2

Grayson Pov

~ The Dream~

I could see her. We were sitting in a quiet place, quiet but beautiful. The off-white stone behind her was littered with dark green vines running up and down the stone foundation, beautiful, but not as beautiful as her. She was dancing, her slim hips moving in time to the soft music spilling from a group of teenagers laid out on a blanket further away. Normally I would have been annoyed, our secret spot with a group of people close by. I would have gone down there and killed them all, forced them away. But the way she smiled at me, telling me it was alright, and then she started to move, all I could do was watch her. Her beautiful exotic purple and yellow skirt was flowing around her as she moved, her hips swaying professionally from a career she grew up in. There was something about the way she swayed, twirling and dipping her body as she danced, the tambourine in her hand giving a soft twinkle to the beat of the music, enticing it, making it better. Then she turned to look at me, her green eyes haunting and curved, her tanned skin darker in the dark of the night as her luscious long blond hair fell down her back in waves, like the ocean. She smiled at me, and I was enchanted by the curve of her full lips as she spoke. “Are you planning on biting me today?” She asked, humor in her voice.

~Waking Up~~

Suddenly I sat up, breathing hard, my head throbbing in pain as I clutched it in my hands groaning. “Grayson! Time for school! Get up!” I groaned again, hearing mom’s voice echoing through the basement. It seemed to be enough for her to know I was awake as she shut the door, giving me privacy. I started sleeping here after a few months of trying the upstairs bedroom. It was just too bright up there, no matter where I positioned the bed. I stood up, shaking out my wild dark brown hair as I grabbed some clothes. With my clothes and Zain’s clothes thrown around the room, it took me a minute to find something clean, and mine. I yanked it on, going to the mirror and brushing my hair out of my dark brown eyes. I could see it, the dark circles, spreading under my eyes from the nightmares. They started a week ago, slowly. Meredith was happy about it, saying it was progress, but when I told her there was no way I’d know who this random girl was, she frowned, confused. How could I be having memories of a girl I’ve never met? She seemed to think maybe it was a girl in school, but I wasn’t sure. Could I forget someone that apparently made me feel like that? Then again, I wasn’t exactly telling her the whole truth. In the dream, she always asked me about biting her.

I shook my head, frustrated, trying to forget it all as I grabbed my phone. All I had was a text from Lexi wishing me good luck on my first day of school. I smiled, thinking about Lexi as I walked up the stairs. It seemed silly now that I asked her before if she was my girlfriend. She was definitely family, I was starting to recognize the familiar feelings between people. Meredith said even though my brain forgot, my body would still recognize, to a degree. Zain flashed in my mind, the way his green eyes cut into me as I stared at him in the hospital room. I had been thinking about that so much lately, but I couldn’t figure out why. When I woke up, when I told him he was familiar to me but that I didn’t know him. For a second, a split second, his eyes were filled with so much pain and horror, before flashing to shock. But it was so fast, I wasn’t sure if I really saw the pain at all. If it was there, it wouldn’t make sense. Why would he be in pain from me losing my memories? Sure, it’s an inconvenience but I was learning everything pretty well. I didn’t have something about my past that was really important, did I? No, I couldn’t figure it out. All I knew was the more I tried, the more my head throbbed. “Mom, aspirin,” I grumbled, staggering into the kitchen and plopping onto the counter.

She clicked her tongue at me, annoyed. I felt it, the sharp sting on my backside as I yelped, standing up fast and backing up. I rubbed my butt as I eyeballed her. She was standing there in her usual apron, spatula in her hand poised and ready for another wack as she raised her eyebrow at me. “You’ve been overthinking again, haven't you?” She asked, making me back up another step.

I ran into my dad, his giant hands gripping my shoulders to steady me as I looked up at him. He had a bright smile on his face, his long hair free on the side and falling against the side of my face as he hovered over me. “You don’t need to overthink anything, little Gray. If it’s important, the Moon Goddess won’t let you forget it forever. She’ll give it back to you, when she feels like you’re ready for it.” He said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes at him, pulling away and grabbing the bottle of aspirin. “You make it sound like my memories are things I can check out of the library, and the Moon Goddess has been keeping them all to herself, so I have to wait until she returns them to the library for me to remember them again,” I mumbled, putting the pills in my mouth and drinking a glass of water. I felt another rap on my butt and jumped, nearly choking on the water as I turned to see my mother glaring at me. “Fine, fine. I’m sorry, you’re right. But I wasn’t trying to push myself. I had another dream. I can’t help what happens when I’m sleeping.” I said with a sigh.

Instantly my mother put down the spatula and walked to me, wrapping her slender arms around my shoulders. “Oh, Grayson, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It’s just so hard to see you suffer, and we almost lost you, we can’t help but worry. We don’t mind that you don’t remember, we are just happy that you’re safe.” I nodded against her embrace, taking a moment to close my eyes and breathe in her scent. Familiar, warm, family. I couldn’t help but categorize people now. Trying to remember all of them, it was exhausting. I was just glad she stopped asking me about my dreams. I told Meridith to tell her to stop. I could barely understand them when I told them to Meridith, let alone to anyone else. I doubted mother knew who the girl was anyway. Alpha Julien just had a meeting earlier with the whole pack, and there was no one here with blond hair and light green eyes. There was no point pulling it up for her to analyze, and knowing what I do about my mother, she's driven. She’d quickly look up all blond hair green-eyed girls and search through all of them, holding up pictures forever until I recognized the girl of my dream. It was just too exhausting to think about, and it hasn’t even happened. I didn’t want to do it, I wanted it to just disappear. Why couldn’t it just go away? I didn’t want to remember, not really. As annoying as it was not knowing anything, I couldn’t help but feel like I forgot it all for a reason. If something happened that was too hard for me to handle anymore, it was better left in the past.

“Come on, you’re going to be late.” Mom said, handing me pop tarts. Well, gourmet pop tarts. I’ve gotten used to how much this family handmakes everything from scratch. Even the pop tarts were made fresh this morning, the warm apple filling smell flooding the kitchen, mixing with the marinade that is resting on steaks for dinner tonight. I thanked her, kissing her on the cheek as I went outside to the car. They didn’t trust me to drive yet, so I was currently carpooling with Florin and his girlfriend. Florin was apparently a good friend of mine, or so they say. Short red hair, green eyes, he was a cute kid. He just started high school, and apparently, he’s been dating a girl in our pack that’s a few years older than him. I waved at them, sliding in the backseat as Florin grinned at me from the passenger seat.

“Man, we’ve been waiting out here forever!” He said, rolling his eyes.

Manassa, his girlfriend, smacked him lightly on the thigh, scolding him. “Be nice. This is all new for him.” She said, winking at me. I nodded a thanks to her, sitting back and pulling out my sunglasses as I pulled my hood over my head. Apparently this was new for me too, or so my parents told me. They showed me pictures, plenty of pictures. So many of me with tan skin, grinning ear to ear with Lexi and Zain. I was always with Lexi and Zain, sometimes just Lexi, sometimes just Zain. Teddy was there to a lot, but that was about it. I heard Jaiden’s our friend too, but I don’t have pictures of him with me, but apparently, he swooped in out of nowhere last year and took over. Breaking up Lexi and Zain’s engagement. I groaned as I pressed my head to the back of the seat. “Are you okay?” Manassa asked me, adjusting her mirror.

I nodded dully, closing my eyes. “Yes, headache,” I mumbled. She started rambling on about having a headache, something about cheerleading tryouts this year, but I ignored her. Why was that such a bad thing for me to think about? I shook my head, not trying to dwell on it. I cringed, my sunglasses falling down as the sun beat into my eyes. Quickly I grabbed them back and pressed them against my eyes, frustrated. Well, if I never was like this before, why was I like this now? Hating the way the sun feels on me, or the brightness. It didn’t hurt, it just made me feel itchy and tired. Kind of like a cat when it rains. I pulled up my left sleeve, staring down at my tattoo of an intricate stare on my inner wrist, watching the way the sunlight hit it. Itchy, it was so itchy. Why was the sun so annoying?

“Bro! Is that a tattoo? Sweet! I want one, how’d you get it? You’re underage.” Florin said, turning around in his seat to stare at me.

“I’m pretty sure this pack is getting them soon, Colette’s just been slowly going through the Blood Moon pack and the Shifters,” I said with a shrug. “But it’s not like I got it done for the hell of it. Apparently it’s a protectors thing.” I said to him.

“What? You’re a protector?” Manassa asked, her eyes wide.

Florin laughed at her, poking her in the cheek and getting a slap. “Of course not. But he’s friends with a Protector. What’s it do?” He asked, curious.

Yes, friends with a protector. I didn’t doubt it. I felt comfortable with Jaiden, an admiration even, as if I trusted him, with my life. It made me laugh thinking about it. How could I trust anyone with my life when I didn’t even know it? But I guess they all knew me, as complicated as it is. “Because I was kidnapped, Lexi too. I almost died. The tattoos are magical, a way for Colette to track us. As long as she’s conscious and has her magic, she can find us just by concentrating.” I replied to him.

He started to ramble on and on about how cool that was, and what kind of tattoo he was going to get when we finally pulled up at the school. “So, are you ready?” Manassa asked me, snickering.

I frowned, looking at her as she parked. “Ready for what? The start of the school surrounded by kids who apparently know me when I don’t know any of them?” I asked her with a shrug. I wasn’t as bothered by it as everyone seemed to think I should be. It’s not my fault I didn’t remember them, if they had a problem with it they’d just have to get over it. If they didn’t want to be my friend anymore, then whatever. It’s not like I remembered them anyway.

“Well, yes. I guess. You’re mostly popular because of Zain, really. He’s always been the most popular kid, and you’ll probably get attacked all day by his fans asking how he is and what’s he doing. Along with his girlfriend, she’s a senior this year. But I was mostly talking about Lana.” She said, pointing.

I frowned, sighing. I didn’t want to think about Carrie. I never met her, but I heard about her plenty. She sounded annoying as f**k, honestly. I looked up, staring at who Manassa was pointing at. I gulped, my eyes wide, as I stared at the blond-haired girl with green eyes. I had to blink, to really see that it wasn’t the girl from the dream, but even still, she was close. I was too shocked to answer Manassa, and she shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll see how you do.” She said with a smile. I nodded dryly, getting out of the car.