The Elemental Luna's Awakening

Chapter 9 - A Walk To Remember

Seth

"No, dad, she doesn't have a clue yet. Julia and I are working on it". Mom and dad are looking forward to seeing Rhiannon. They haven't seen her since she was a baby, and are eager to help in her transition, but they know this is a very delicate situation.

"She's messaging another male!" Lucius interpreted our conversation, his words laced with jealousy.

"What? How do you know that?" Clearly I had missed something.

"Well, her window is open. I heard her say something about dinner and a movie. Obviously, she wasn't talking about us. We must find this other male and kill him!" NEVER piss off a horny wolf that can't have his mate when she's right in front of him. It's like dealing with a puppy all over again.

"Dad, I've got to go. I'll call you later. Bye." I hung up my phone and hurried inside to interrupt the conversation she was having before Lucius fought to take over again.

I gently knocked on her bedroom door and heard her calming voice say two simple words in return. "Door's open".

I slowly opened the door, inhaling her sandalwood and magnolia scent, and couldn't help the smile that crossed my face.

"She doesn't smell like she was aroused while talking to the other male." I said to Lucius, pointing out what he already knew to help calm his nerves.

"No. She doesn't want him like she does us. But she's ours. No one else's." He may be calmer, but he was still irritated.

"Maybe he's just a friend from school?" I knew better, but, I'm trying to stay on the positive side.

"She has no friends from school. I don't trust him." Lucius growled in my mind, his words a harsh reminder of her life at home.

"You're right, but we have to work on getting her to want to stay here first. We can't just go up to her and tell her she's our mate and to ignore anyone else trying."

Lucius huffed in defeat.

"Let's just head out on our walk and enjoy some alone time with her." I said to him, trying to get him out of his funky mood.

I didn't trust the situation either. Humans always seemed to care about themselves. Their own wants, needs, and desires. Maybe not all of them, but a good amount. As of right now, I have other hurdles to jump first.

"Ready, Miss Rhiannon?" I asked, holding up an open arm for her to take.

Her beautiful smile grew. "Please, call me Rhi." She shyly insisted, her face reddening.

"I can't wait for her to be ours." Lucius' groan echoed in my mind.

I fully agreed with my wolf. I know she feels the sparks from the mate bond, it's just a matter of time before she learns that it's not a strange version of static electricity.

Rhiannon

Before we headed on our walk, I made sure to go to the pasture to check on Dub. He seemed to love being here more than I did, and spent all of his time grazing in the lush grassy field.

Dub ran up to me, but he oddly snorted at Seth who was standing next to me. His ears pricked forward at Seth. After a few seconds, he calmed down and rested his forehead on Seth's chest while Seth rubbed his neck. It was like they were having their own little conversation. Weird.

--

We had been walking for a little while, cutting through fields to get to a section of woods. There were trails around here that I had never noticed before. Or maybe I did and I just assumed they were deer paths.

Seth and I were having idle small talk. Favorite colors, foods, genre of music and movies. He seemed amused that Gram's taste in music rubbed off on me.

"You've mentioned how you'd rather live with Julia. Why don't you move in with her?" He looked at me with, I swear, hopeful eyes.

"Well, we've talked about it, but we figured it was best that I finish school where I'm at first, then revisit the idea next summer". I want to move in with Gram in the worst way, but I have so much I need to take care of at home before that can happen.

He smiled and his beautiful crystal blue eyes held my gaze. "You know, we have a very good school here. My mom used to be a teacher and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to home school you if you decide to move in with Julia sooner but don't want to go to a new school."

"Seriously?!? Would she do that for me?" He had my full attention now. I had no friends at that school. Even the teachers didn't go out of their way to be nice. I was just another student for them to teach. Despite that, I wasn't interested in starting over at a new school for my last year.

"I'm sure that she would be thrilled to. If you want, I'll give her a call tonight."

"Thank you so much!" I squealed with too much excitement, and not even thinking about it, I went over to him and gave him a hug.

Seth hesitated a moment before putting his arms around me, hugging me back tightly. It felt, safe. He felt safe. I inhaled and realized that he smelled like lavender and lemon. Odd. He must spend more time hanging out with Gram than I thought. It's the only logical explanation. Right?

Right when I realized how weird the situation was getting, I heard a snap in the woods behind me, and smelled .... frankincense and rain?

I felt Seth tense and we immediately released our hold on each other. I looked at his face briefly before turning to the direction he was looking, still holding onto his arm in natural instinct when you see a wolf is eyeing you down.

I swore that I saw Seth's eyes glow red, but seeing the beautiful golden brown and white wolf with glowing blue eyes had my full attention. Why do their eyes glow? Reflection of the sunlight, maybe? I asked myself questions without getting any answers.

"How many wolves live in these woods?" I whispered to Seth. It was obvious I was afraid that if I were to talk louder, the wolf would attack.

The wolf's eyes stopped glowing and Seth seemed to relax, which in turn caused me to relax. And that's when I noticed that I was STILL holding onto his arm!

I felt my face redden as I quickly let go of him. Sh.it! Fu.ck! That was all extremely inappropriate of me. I took a few steps away, trying to compose myself in the middle of the situation.

Seth chuckled. At least he's amused by my embarrassment. I rolled my eyes at myself, in my mind at least, so he wouldn't see it.

"There's actually a good sized pack that lives here. It's another reason my family owns so much land. This land belongs to the wolves, too. If we don't keep the land, it'll probably get developed for humans, and they'll lose their homeland," his reply was casual, as if it was well known.

Seth talked normally, as if he didn't care that the wolf was there, watching us. No fear in his voice at all. He sounded as relaxed as he did when he was at Gram's house just a few hours ago. I saw him nod his head, as if him and the wolf were having a silent conversation, and the wolf left.

I turned back towards him and put a hand on my hip. "You talk about humans as if you're not one." I fully meant my sarcastic tone.

He leaned against a nearby tree and grinned while his eyes lit up in humour. "Maybe I'm not." He added a wink to his reply.

I snorted in amusement. "So, what, are you saying you're like an alien or something? Ghost, warlock, vampire, werewolf? Oh, I know, you must be a God!" Sometimes I couldn't keep my damn sarcastic mouth in check.

Seth tilted his head to the side. "What if I was one of those things? Would it freak you out? Would it scare you off?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and rubbed my left shoulder with my right hand while I thought about my reply. "Honestly? Probably not. I refuse to believe everything in history is fully based on myth. There's got to be some truth behind it. Right? Maybe the truth has been changed for protection or control, or maybe our minds only see what they want?"

"Really? Care to explain?" Seth was no longer leaning against the tree and took a step closer to me, making my heart start to race all over again.

I shrugged. "There's more to life than the things we see at face value. Take people who need glasses, for example. They can go years thinking they have perfect vision, until the day they realize their vision actually really sucks. Once they get corrective lenses, they see the world how it really is." That's the best way I could think to put it.

He took another step closer and now the distance between us was close enough that I could hear his breathing, I could feel his closeness. He looked down with his blue crystals locked onto me and I wanted nothing more than to feel his lips pressed against mine.

Instead, I awkwardly stepped backwards and, in a desperate attempt to break the heated silence between us, I started rambling. "Well, werewolves, for example. If that wolf was one, I'd want to meet him. He was beautifully colored and I bet extremely cuddly."

I swear I heard a soft growl come from Seth. "You liked that wolf, huh?" He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Well, I haven't seen many in person, only two to be exact, and he comes in second place." I nodded my head in the direction the wolf had just left.

"Oh, really? So he's technically in last place? Do tell, who might be in first place?" Seth asked with an attractively coy smile.

"One that chased Dub and I on my way to Gram's. He had a black mask that went around his eyes and over his snout, black ears, his legs were mostly black with very little grey mixed in, his body was a beautiful salt and pepper color that made it look gray, almost silver ..... and his eyes glowed red."

Didn't Seth's eyes glow red? I started thinking to myself, but Seth's deep chuckle quickly interrupted my thoughts.

He was staring at me with a huge smile and I could feel that my face was getting red at the visual attention he was giving me. "What?" I asked him shyly.

He shook his head. "Nothing, just the details that you gave. Clearly, that wolf left an impression." His cocky smile was making my heart beat faster and stomach knot up.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's not often I'm chased by a wolf after I shoot it with a rubber slug, all while on a horse's back." I paused briefly. "Come on, let's keep moving."

I took off at a brisk walk through the woods and I could hear that Seth wasn't far behind. I tried to get back control of my thoughts, and body for that matter.

It reacted in ways that it shouldn't. He's funny, successful, attractive ..... very attractive. No, Rhi! Stop having those thoughts! It'd never work out. You're, well, YOU for crying out loud! I criticized myself for thinking anything good could happen to an outcast like myself.

Before I knew it, I made it to the edge of the small section of woods we were in. I might not be thin and toned, being blessed with the body of a plump European peasant that thinks it needs to keep added weight to continuously run from the English, but I had endurance. Seriously, when I wear flannel, I look like I misplaced my axe.

Once I got to the field on the other side of the tree line, I came to a stop. I just stared at the field. It all felt familiar, though I'd never actually been here.

"It's about time you stopped and waited for me." Seth said as he came to a stop near me.

I just stood there, blankly staring at the field, not saying a word as my mind put the pieces together.

"Rhi, what's wrong?" Seth asked as he got closer.

"I know this field." I choked the words out, slowly walking to the middle of the field, looking all around me.

Seth closely followed me. "How? It's on what you thought was a neighbors, not Julia's."

"I've seen it before, in a dream." I whispered as I started breathing faster, remembering the dream and how real it was. Seeing all of the death that happened. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate, and I started turning my ring obsessively, trying to reel myself back in.

Usually my panic attacks are only bad when I'm around my house. Not outside. Not in front of anyone. I fight to keep that much control over them.

"Are you ok? Tell me what to do? How can I help?" Seth asked calmly, in a relaxing tone laced with concern. He sounded like he genuinely cared.

But I couldn't answer. My mind felt foggy and my body weak from hyperventilating. Before I knew it, I was sitting on the ground rocking, my mind going blank.

I felt warmth around me. Lavender, I smelled relaxing lavender. But it was too late. I was being overpowered by my anxiety. The last thing I remembered was feeling a cut on my arm, being laid down on my back, and feeling tingles on both of my arms before hearing Seth's voice.

"Julia! Get here! NOW!" He yelled deeply.

Gram? Why'd he yell for her? I wondered before blackness completely took over.