Fated Fairy Tales - Beauty Sleep

Beauty Sleep - Chapter 7

Benson’s POV

Of all the things to tell her aunt she was hiding. A kitten? I could taste the bitterness in my mouth.

Talk about how to offend a man, never mind the son of an Alpha. But when she said two of her aunts hated cats and would stay away from the barn if they knew one was inside. I swallowed my pride and ate some snacks Ora brought me.

We climbed up to the ‘loft’ as Ora called it. This was to avoid anyone seeing me, and so I didn’t scare any animals they had around. I was also grateful to avoid the cat litter she scattered around.

Ora must spend some time up here, as there are books and flashlights. Sitting on a bale of hay, Ora sat next to me and we both turned to face one another. We talked for a while. About my family and friends. Where I was from in America.

I didn’t go into detail about my shifter life. She would have thought I was delusional and called the men in white suits.

Ora told me how she lived with her three aunts. They adopted her when she was very young. She has parents out there somewhere. But she has to wait until she’s 18 before her aunts tell her about them.

It always seems like the magic number 18. My wolf will appear when I am 18. I will go to Alpha Academy when I’m 18. She gets answers about her parentage when she’s 18.

“Ora. Food is ready,” a woman yelled from the farmhouse.

“I have to go or Aunt Josie will come looking for me. All of them are quite protective of me.” She got up to walk away. As she climbed down the ladder, she turned and said, “I’ll be back,” sternly. I don’t think she knows where her parting words are from one of my favorite movies, ‘The Terminator.’ Maybe it’s one of her favorite movies as well.

I watched Ora run to the house through a c***k in the wooden slats. Last night may have been the worst night of my life. However, it led me to Ora today. I lay down, realizing how tired I was. I can’t wait to see Ora again. I thought to myself as I closed my eyes for a second.

The next thing I heard was someone slurping a drink. Before, I felt something soft against my hands and face. I open my eyes slowly and find a fleece blanket over me. I sat up and saw a pair of green eyes staring at me.

“Hey sleepy head,” Ora says, smiling as she offers me a bottle of water. It had been hours since I had a drink and swallowed the lot in a few gulps.

Then she hands me a thermos. “Be careful, it will be hot,” Ora tells me. As I screw off the lid, steam flows out of the flask and I get a whiff of something amazing. “It’s Aunt Josie’s homemade beef and tomato. It’s so good.” I put my nose to the top of the thermos. It smells amazing. “It will warm you up from the inside out.” Ora laughs as I blow on the liquid a few times. “Thank you,” I tell her.

“Well, I have to look after my hurt kitty,” she says, tilting her head and ruffling my uncombed hair. The look I give her causes her to laugh hysterically. She doesn’t know how much I dislike cats. I hope she wets herself.

Ignoring Ora and her hysterics, I put the thermos to my lips and tilted the container. When the first drop touched my tongue, I couldn’t help but savor the flavor. I tilted my head further back. The beef chunks are succulent and juicy, and the tomato soup is rich and creamy. It’s the most amazing thing I have tasted in a long time. In no time at all, I had consumed everything inside the flask. “That was amazing,” I told Ora, hoping she would get me some more.

“Aunt Josie likes us to eat the best quality of food. Which is why we grow our vegetables. Eating processed foods is not something she condones. She even sources our meats directly from the farmer down the road.”

I could taste the quality of the produce. It would be amazing to eat food like that every day, instead of the pre-made crap I have been served on our trip to Europe. Everything must have been store-bought and then warmed.

“Aunt Josie said I could stay in the barn until my other aunt’s return. But you can spend the night up here if you like. It will be warmer than the forest.” It made me sad that Ora would be leaving me. But at least I was dry and warm.

Ora started asking me about the places I had visited. She had always stayed within the borders of Yorkshire County and only seen the world through the school’s internet. But she always dreamed of traveling to the places she read about in books.

When I mention the abundance of forests in my hometown, Ora becomes excited. “I love nature. It makes me so happy to be surrounded by woodland creatures. But there isn’t much of it around here.” She says as she lowers her head.

“Hey,” I said, lifting her chin. “Maybe you could visit me sometime, and I could show you what the world has to offer.”

Ora gives me half a smile. “I can’t even go out of the county, never mind the country.” It hurts my heart to hear her say this. But realistically, this bit of time we are having together is all we are going to get. Unless one of us crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

Time slips away from me. I didn’t even notice the barn door open. “Ora, are you in there?” A voice calls out.

“Yes, Aunt Jo. Don’t come in. I have a kitty up here,” Ora says while ruffing up my hair again.

“Time to come in,” Aunt Jo said with authority.

“Two minutes, Aunt Jo. Let me settle it down for the night,” Ora negotiates. Ora stands up and looks down at me. She strokes my face with a finger. I instinctively grab it and kiss it, causing her to shiver.

“Sorry,” I said, thinking I had crossed a line.

“Don’t be. I liked it.” She says before she quickly bends down and pecks me on the lips. Causing me to shudder. I’m curious if this resembles a toned-down mate bond.

Ora then runs to the wooden ladder, turns around, and climbs down a few runs. “I will bring you some breakfast before I start my day.”

“Wait,” I said and crawled toward her. Ora looks confused. I tilted her chin up and kissed her properly. “You don’t have to steal a kiss. You can have them for free.” This causes Ora to blush. She goes to say something. But someone yelled her name.

“I’ve got to go,” she says.

I crawled back to my comfy spot, touched my lips, and smiled. I wonder if Ora could be my mate? Oh goddess, why would you let me find her now? It’s going to be two years before I get back here to find out. Two years of not knowing. But Ora isn’t a shifter, so is it better for her not to know?

I started thinking of ways I could make it here after my birthday. But then I heard a wolf’s growl. There aren’t any wolves in these parts. Maybe it was something else.

The barn door opened and heard someone moving around. I crawl to the edge of the ledge I am hiding on. A woman laughs as she turns to the doorway. “It’s only a kitten, Tessa. If you can’t handle it, shift and let Josie come in.” The woman says. But I can’t see who she is talking to. “Tessa, stop it and shift?” She repeats.

I watched as a brown wolf appeared in the doorway. Then I watch something I have seen thousands of times. A wolf shifting into a woman. My eyes widened in shock. Ora’s Aunt Josie is a wolf shifter.