Stepping Away

My mate left me alone with my thoughts, and I sat for a little longer at the side of the river, breathing in the clear air and attempting to clear my mind. After a while, I began to feel less stressed out about everything and decided to make my way back home. I spent the last two weeks being on our pack with the ones I loved the most, Dani and my father.

Dad worked most days alongside the side of our Alpha, being the pack Beta, he was in charge of our warriors. He woke up early to prepare for their training and spent his afternoons filing paperwork and setting patrols. There were very few rouge attacks in the last few years, so it was very rare that Dad would be called to work in the middle of the night, but it did occasionally happen.

The nights he was home we'd play video games together, watch a movie, and sometimes even leave the house for long drives just to park somewhere in the woods and run wildly, playing with each other's wolves.

Dani and I got a little wilder. We drove to the city to shop one morning and splurged on ice cream until our tummies hurt. We stayed up all night, dancing and singing under the moonlight. Drinking and eventually bawling our eyes out as we held onto each other and cried out about how much we'd miss each other while I was at school and made a pact that we have to video chat at least once a week to keep each other updated.

I also took her out to my favorite stop in the woods, letting her in on my secret haven after all these years. She wasn't mad that I hid it from her, not really, she was more upset about how beautiful the spot was, and quickly stripped to jump in the river. We spent the whole day swimming and running through the meadow.

It was so much fun, but then came the day that I needed to wake up early and head to the airport, but Dad and I were shocked to find a PJ-wearing, red-eyed, Dani at our door when we tried to leave.

"I need to drop her off too, I couldn't sleep, I'll miss you too much Janna!" Dani choked out and threw her arms around me while my father chuckled and grabbed my suitcases, throwing them in the back of his truck.

"Well then, get in Ladies." Dad smiled as he stepped into the truck.

It wasn't a long ride to the airport, but it was nice that Dani came, we hugged and cried as if we'd never see each other again. Even my big warrior father shed a tear as I left them for the boarding area.

It wasn't until I had boarded the plane, and the warning to turn off cell phones was announced that I realized I hadn't checked my phone all morning, and did so before turning it off. I let out a big sigh when I realized there were no messages. Since my talk with Brandon, I haven't received a single message from him. So last night I took the initiative and texted him, telling him it was my last night on pack lands, and his last chance to speak with me before I left for Paris. Again, there was no message.

I huffed in my seat until I was joined by a sweet old man, once in the air, I ate some snacks that I brought with me and watched the romantic comedy provided, which honestly wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the second film was an action film that couldn't hold my interest, I found myself drifting off to sleep the remainder of the flight away.

The older gentlemen who shared out seats woke me up when the pilot announced that we would soon begin our descent. And I thanked him, who knows how I would have reacted to waking up to our descent, it was my first time flying after all. The old man chuckled and spoke soothing words as I once again gripped the chair hard, digging my nails into the fabric, while trying not to damage them with my werewolf strength.

When my feet ultimately met with solid ground I was ecstatic, I don't know if it's just me or a werewolf thing, but I decided that I absolutely hate flying, and wasn't looking forward to flights home to visit Dad and Dani.

The airport was a lot larger than the one I was used to, and with my limited french it was hard to follow the directions to the main entrance. But after 40 minutes of wandering around, I finally located my Aunt Janet and Uncle Nicolas. I noticed them first and got to smile, seeing my father's sister practically bouncing in place with excitement.

When she met her eyes with mine, her eyes widened and a screech left her lips as she pushed her mate from her side and ran towards me, enveloping me in a tight embrace.

"My little Janna! How many years has it been? You're so tall now, and your figure! We'll have to beat the boys off you here for sure! Nicolas look! My little Janna has grown!" My aunt gushed about me as she led me to her mate.

"Salute Janna, it has been a long time. It's nice to see you again." Nicolas smiles down at me apologetically, glancing at my eccentric aunt.

"Thank you for having me, I'll do my best not to be intrusive," I state as we start to exit the building.

"Don't you even start with that nonsense, you are family! Even my son is excited to meet you again, however, he had training, so he couldn't be here to pick you up. He will be back in time for dinner." Aunt Janet paused for a minute, before smirking mischievously. "But you don't need to worry about that, you should be more worried about what I have planned for tomorrow morning."