Who am I, a heroine?

Chapter 3

*** Serena’s POV ***

*

“I am home.” I said as soon as I stepped through the front door of our apartment, if I can call it that.

“Kitchen.” I heard my dad saying, so I made my way towards the kitchen. They were sitting at the table and from the expression on their faces I could tell that they were talking about something serious.

“Hi dad.” I said and pressed a kiss onto his cheek.

“Hi, kiddo.” He said with a smile.

“Hi mom.” I kissed her too and sat down at the table, facing them. “What is it at this time?” I asked in a bored tone.

“We had a meeting with the council today and they want to meet you once you turn sixteen and get your wolf.” Dad explained. His blue eyes looked tired, but he was still very handsome and they both looked very young. They were only 34 years old after all. My mom was beautiful with her long hair and grey eyes. I always wanted to look like her. It’s not like I am ugly, but I always wished to have her beautiful, long, light-brown hair instead of this disaster on my head that makes my life complicated.

“Why?” I asked them with a sigh.

“We know that you don’t like this, honey, but they want to see what your special ability would be. They believe you will get them once you get your wolf and shifted.” Mom explained.

They researched a lot about my special hair colour in the past 16 years and they told me I am some kind of gift from the Moon Goddess, that’s why I was born with white hair. They also told me that I would have a special power to help me in my mission to save werewolves if it’s needed in the future.

Honestly? I think it’s all bullsh*t, but everybody believes that it’s the case. That’s why I was praised all the time by everyone as soon as they learned about it. They think I am some kind of prodigy.

“What if I don’t have any special powers?” I asked them and they looked at each other before looking back at me.

“We are sure you would have, since every werewolf in werewolf history with white or silver hair was special with special abilities. We already talked about this, Serena.” Dad said and I nodded my head with a sigh.

“Alright. Can I go now?” I asked them. I will turn sixteen in two weeks, so I still have some time before that happens and I don’t want to worry about it now.

“Yes, just go and have fun with your friends. It’s your resting day after all.” Mom said with a smile and I nodded my head and stood up to give them both a kiss before going to my room.

I have training every morning, but I refuse to train or do anything on Saturdays. That’s my resting day. Mom and dad had created a tight schedule for me that includes training, school, learning about pack duties, history and etiquette. It was even tighter when I was small, but I told my parents that I needed time for myself too. I wanted to live my life like any other normal teenager, so they let me have some more free time.

I decided to go back to Cayden’s and hang out with them a little bit more, so I went to my bathroom to freshen up before I headed back to them.

I have a bad feeling about that meeting with the council. I know my parents mean well, they want the best for me, but I think they should have handled this situation differently from the start. For example, they should have hid my hair colour or at least the things they found out about it till I turned eighteen. I would have had a normal childhood then, maybe. The past is in the past, though, we can’t change it anymore. I just hope that they know what they are doing.

I knocked on Cayden’s door and walked in. They were playing a video game again , but Cayden stopped it when he saw me walking into the room.

“Serena? I didn’t know if you would come back or not. What did they say?” Cayden asked curiously and Mason was looking at me, waiting for my answer as well. I just sat down on the bed and let out a sigh.

“Apparently, the council wants to meet me after I shifted to see what my special ability is.” I said while I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“Oh,” Cayden said as he looked at Mason. I looked at him too, hesitantly, before looking back at Cayden worriedly. “What is it, Sera?” Cayden asked when he saw the expression on my face. I used to share everything with him, but now Mason was in the room as well and I wasn’t sure if I should talk about my worries in front of him.

“I don’t know. What if it turns out that I am just a normal werewolf… nothing special like everyone thinks I am?” I asked while I was fidgeting uncomfortably. I feel like I should have waited for this conversation till I was alone with Cayden.

He let out a sigh and made me look at him.

“Look, Sera. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know that your family and friends will stand by your side either way. You are smart and strong. You are the daughter of the alpha and the Luna. You have nothing to lose.” Cayden said, and I just fell for him even more. He always knows what is the right thing to say in different situations.

“I know, I am just afraid, I don’t want to disappoint them. Everyone is expecting me to be a heroine and save people once and I don’t know if I will be able to do that.” I said while I looked down on my shoes, feeling the pressure on my chest.

“Are you serious? I saw you several times while you were training with your mom. You are a very good fighter, Serena. Who cares if you don’t have any special abilities? You are already great.” He said and I smiled at him.

“You are right. I shouldn’t care about what others think. Thanks ,Cayden.” I said while I smiled at him gratefully. See? That’s why he is my best friend. Who cares about that one-year difference when he says things like that?

I looked at Mason and he was just looking at us quietly, studying everything without saying a word and I was grateful for that. The last thing I needed was his ugly remarks.

“Anytime.” Cayden said and grinned at me.

“Do you guys want to go out to eat something? There is a new restaurant in the city. Should we try it?” I asked them with a bright smile. I felt much better after talking about it.

“Hell yeah, I am starving.” Mason said and stood up abruptly.

“I could eat too.” Cayden said, so we ended up sitting on our bikes and going to the city to try the new restaurant.

The restaurant was between Alpha Jeremy’s and our territory and, as I heard, the owner was a werewolf couple from Alpha Jeremy’s pack, so I was already excited about trying it.

Alpha Jeremy is a friend of my parents and he is very nice. He doesn’t mind if we roam around on his territory, he even invited me a few times to visit them.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we parked our bikes in the front of the building before walking inside. The place was nice and it smelled new. There were a few customers, but mostly adults.

“It’s nice,” Cayden said, and I nodded my head in agreement.

“Let’s sit there.” Mason said and pointed at a table by the window. We made our way there and sat down. I looked at the menu and everything looked delicious in the photos.

“Hello, I am Lili. What can I get you all?” A young girl came up to our table. She could be around 18. She was beautiful with blonde hair. I noticed she was looking at the guys from head to toe before her eyes landed on me. Her eyes widened for a moment before she composed herself again.

“Hi. We haven’t decided what to eat yet, but I would like to order an orange juice.” Cayden said with a smile, and I saw the girl blushing as she noted it in her notebook.

“I want the same,” Mason said, and the girl looked at me again.

“Then 3 orange juices, please.” I said with a smile.

“Coming right up.” She said, turned on her heels and left.

“She is pretty,” Cayden remarked, and Mason nodded his head in agreement. I couldn’t help but feel a pang in my chest.

“Yeah, she is hot.” Mason agreed, and I was just reading the menu quietly.

“Oh my goddess. It’s really you.” We looked up from the menu when a woman walked up to our table excitedly. “I am sorry to disturb you, but I just wanted to say that it’s an honour to have you here, my dear.” She continued and I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. You would think I am already used to the attention… well.. I am still working on it.

I looked at the guys and I caught Mason rolling his eyes. He murmured something under his breath that I couldn’t catch, but Cayden kicked him under the table, which made him hiss from the pain.

“Uhmm.. thank you.” I said to the woman.

“Can I please take a photo with you? I can’t wait to tell my children about you visiting our restaurant. It will be good to bring in more customers as well. Can I?” She asked excitedly and I nodded my head in embarrassment. At least she didn’t hide the fact that she wanted to use me to get more people to come and eat there.

“Alright.” I told her and stood up from my chair. She handed her phone to Cayden and stood next to me. He snapped a few photos of us and handed the phone back to her.

“Thank you very much, young man, and you too, dear. I won’t bother you anymore. Enjoy your food.” She said and walked away finally.

“Sorry.” I said to the guys in embarrassment and Mason looked at me like I had grown two heads.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cayden said, and we finally ordered our food when the waitress came back.

The food was delicious, but I was glad we finished eating because already 3 people walked up to us to take a photo with me. Like I was some kind of celebrity and I always hated attention like that.

“Can we have the bill?” Cayden called out to the girl and the woman appeared again.

“It was on the house, kids. I hope you liked the food.” She said kindly.

“It was delicious, thank you, but are you sure..?” I asked her. I never liked it when they didn’t let me pay. Even though it happened a lot.

“Yes, yes, dear. I hope you will come again. It was a pleasure to meet you.” She said and walked back to the kitchen after we said goodbye to her.

“Well, free food again,” Cayden joked, and Mason rolled his eyes again. I don’t know what his problem was, but he was quiet the whole time while we were eating. “I will go to use the bathroom quickly and we can go.” Cayden added and went to the bathroom. Mason and I were just sitting quietly and it was kind of awkward so…

“Did you like the food?” I asked him and he looked at me with narrowed eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he was holding back.

“Yeah. It was good,” he said shortly.

“What is it?” I asked him when he didn’t say more.

“Nothing.” He said indifferently and then I was sure he had a problem.

“Tell me.” I insisted and he let out a sigh.

“Alright, you asked for it.” He said before he leaned back into his chair. “It can be terrible to have everything that you want with the snap of your finger, huh?” He asked sarcastically and I let out a sigh. I knew he couldn’t hold his insults back for too long, but I asked for it, didn’t I?

“It’s not all good, Mason. You don’t understand this….” I started but he cut me off.

“Really? What I see is you always whining about your life, while you have everything that others just wish to have. You are always complaining about the attention you get. Other people have real problems, you know?” He said with a grimace and I let out a sigh once again. Other times I would talk back to him, but at this time, his words saddened me a lot, so I just stayed quiet. I didn’t ask for this… I didn’t ask to be special. I didn’t ask for attention and I know that some people have bigger problems, but that doesn’t make mine disappear. All I wanted was a simple life. Was it too much to ask for?