Her Promise

Her Secret | Chapter Four

LIAM JR

Delilah was away with her mom, and Leo was busy with our mom making a present for Miss Sol’s birthday. Miss Lacey was watching Calix and Azly because they were supposed to be napping. I didn’t need naps anymore, but I was bored.

I sat on the couch in the big room, thinking about what video game to play. Lots of my games were two-player, and I always played with Lilah. We liked the racing games.

“There you are, Junior,” Azeron said. I turned my head away from my stack of games. He stood in the doorway with someone next to him. It was the quiet girl from school. Mel. She held a book to her chest and looked down at her shoes. “I’m afraid I need to take care of a few things. Alpha said you didn’t have anyone to play with, so I was hoping you might play with Melody for a bit?”

Melody. That’s pretty. I thought her name was just Mel.

“Okay,” I nodded.

Azeron knelt down and whispered in her ear before he pushed her forward. She stumbled a little but caught herself. “Have fun,” he said as he stood up to go.

“Um, hi,” I said. Mel hugged her book tighter, her shoulders curving in. Was she scared of me? “I was going to play a video game. I have lots. Do you want to play with me? You can pick the game.”

She shook her head and then tried to hind behind her book. She looked scared. Was I scary? Delilah was never scared of me. Baby Azly wasn’t either.

“Um, we can play something else. We have lots of toys and games. What do you like to play?” I asked her. She didn’t answer, and I wasn’t sure what to do.

Last year, somebody had been bullying Mel, and Delilah and I stopped them. It got us into a fight, and Dad said it wasn’t fair because Lilah and I got to do Alpha training. We even got grounded for it. Then, Lilah said that Mel would only get one Christmas present from Santa because she didn’t have parents or siblings like we did. That made me sad for her, so Maddox helped me get her a present too. But she never said anything about it. Maybe she didn’t like it.

“We can go outside,” I suggested. I moved side to side because Mel was making me nervous. She wouldn’t talk to me.

“Dad, what do I do when a girl won’t play with me?” I linked him. He always had the answer.

“What do you mean, bud?” he linked back. I liked being able to link anyone. Some grownups thought it was weird, but I could still talk to my sister and Maddox even though they were in a different pack now.

“Well, she’s being quiet and won’t talk to me. I said she could pick the video game,” I explained.

“Ah,” Dad said. “Okay, well, how about you tell her that you’re going to play and she is welcome to join you if she wants. She might just be shy. Give her space.”

“Okay,” I agreed. I looked back at Mel. “So, I think I’m going to play Space Blasters. You can join if you want, or even just sit and watch. Or you can read that book. Um, whatever you want.”

Mel didn’t move, so I went to sit on the couch. After the game started, I peeked over the couch and saw she had moved. I didn’t see her, so I scrambled over to the other end of the sofa. When I looked down, Mel was sitting against the side, still holding her book.

I held my breath so she wouldn’t know I was above her. After a minute, she opened the book, and it was full of pictures. Lots of different ones that looked funny. Then I realized they were paintings. It was a book full of paintings.

Mel slowly traced her fingers over different parts of the pictures, staring at each one for a long time before turning the page. I didn’t see how that was interesting. I could look at all the pictures in the book in a few minutes.

I sat back but stayed close to that side of the couch and played my game some more. After a little while, my stomach started to growl. It had to be snack time. I looked back over the couch; Mel was still looking at the pictures in her book.

I wanted to see if she also wanted a snack, but I didn’t want her to be scared again. She seemed calm and happy now. But what if she was hungry? I should get her a snack too. Was it okay to leave her alone?

I slid off the couch and tiptoed to the door, so Mel wouldn’t notice. I poked my head out into the hall, and it was quiet. I looked back at the couch and didn’t see Mel. As quick as I could, I ran to the kitchen where Miss Marci was working on dinner with another lady.

“Little Alpha, what are you up to?” she asked when she spotted me.

“Can I have a snack? For me and Mel?” I asked her quickly.

“Are you in a hurry?” she frowned. I nodded.

The other lady came over with a basket from the pantry and gave it to Miss Marci, who leaned down to me. “Who is Mel? Is she a new friend?” Miss Marci asked as I looked at the options.

“Uh, yea,” I said, thinking. I didn’t know what Mel liked. Did she like fruit gummies? Or maybe crackers with peanut butter? Or how about a granola bar?

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Um, I don’t know what she likes…”

“Hmmmm,” Miss Marci said. “Why don’t you take a few things, and you can bring back whatever you both don’t eat?”

“That’s genius!” I told her. I grabbed one of everything and raced back to the big room. I stopped myself in the doorway, remembering to be quiet so I didn’t scare her. I got back up on the couch and checked over the side. Mel was still there.

I slid down to the floor and pushed the snacks around the side toward Mel. “You can have whatever you want,” I said, keeping myself in front of the couch. “I thought you might be hungry. I’m always hungry.”

Slowly her hand inched out and grabbed the crackers. She pulled them back to her slowly, and I smiled. My chest swelled, and I had that big feeling inside like I did when Lilah smiled at me. Maybe Mel wasn’t afraid of me.

-

I woke up with a groan. Letting my head fall to the side, I found the other side of my bed empty. Delilah had already gotten up and probably gone to get breakfast. I grabbed my phone and saw that I had definitely slept past breakfast.

I sat up, trying to reconcile what I saw the previous night with my dream. I didn’t even realize I remembered the first time Mel came to the packhouse. Our interactions had only improved marginally over the years. She didn’t ever seem comfortable in the same room as us, but she didn’t act scared anymore.

Images of her trying to shift floated into the front of my head. I felt pity for her. It shouldn’t have been that difficult for her. Why had she not asked for help before? We were basically adults, although I couldn’t remember her birthday.

Someone knocked on my bedroom door, interrupting my contemplation. I answered the door, scratching my bare stomach. “There you are, Little Liam,” Mom smiled at me. “I was a little worried when I didn’t see you at breakfast.” She still used that nickname even though I was as big as Dad and no one called me ‘little’ anymore.

“Sorry, Mom. Guess I was more tired than I thought,” I shrugged.

She gave me a knowing look. “Maybe you should be a little more selective about your late-night excursions. Anyway, I was hoping you and Delilah might not be too busy tonight.”

I blushed. Of course, Dad had told Mom. Or maybe she told him? Who had peeked into my room? “Never too busy for you,” I told her.

“Great. We’re going to attend a birthday dinner,” she said.

“Who’s birthday is it?” I asked, frowning. “And just dinner? Birthdays are a way bigger deal for you than dinner.”

“I’m not in charge of this one, and it’s just a dinner,” she said. She looked me up and down. “Pull a comb through that hair and wear something kinda nice. We leave at five.” With no more explanation, she left me standing in my doorway and headed for the stairs.