Bonfire

Twice a month the werewolves were allowed to host a bonfire, and this bonfire was allowed to run all weekend, no one had curfew until Sunday at 8pm. The snacks and drinks were provided, and sometimes they could be special ordered, and since this was the first time they would be doing this since Riley, Sebastian, Nyx, Nex, Ava, and Mark had arrived, everything was ordered through a google doc that everyone shared and could add to.

The fire was huge, Mark had never seen anything like it. They had put whole trees onto it but had a fence around it so none of the students could get too close. They didn't need to, there was a large area for the party and you could feel the fire in a large radius around it.

Mark walked around the flames, staring at the top as they licked the sky. He grinned widely. Maybe living here wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he could safely explain what was happening with the girl that followed him and Mercy would let him leave over the summer. Maybe there would be a reset in the phantom.

Hands clasped over Mark's eyes and giggles came from behind him causing his neck and ears to flush red. He snickered as he stumbled back, the person was shorter than him and had, apparently, been up on their toes and had grabbed him before lowering their heels and pulling him down.

He was slightly thrown off guard when a deeper voice from above him spoke, "Guess who." It was obvious that Riley was holding him but Sebastian was speaking.

"Lacy?" He said with a snicker. They all burst into laughter as he turned around to face them.

"Did you call me?" Lacy said, trotting up to them. Mark noticed that walking behind Lacy with her hands in her pockets and hood up was Ava, who came to stand next to and slightly behind her.

"It wasn't you standing behind me?" Mark asked, all of them starting to laugh again. Lacy's hearing was extra keen and she probably knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Hey Lacy, when are they bringing the food?" Bash asked.

"Why do you think I know?" She asked him.

"Uh, because you're the R.A." Bash answered.

"You're right." She said snickering and nodding her head. Ava bit her lip and smiled, "The chaperones have to finish putting up the tracking spell to make sure no one is doing anything they aren't supposed to. When that is done they will bring everything out."

"What spell do you mean?" Riley asked.

"It shows them if we venture into spots we aren't supposed to be, doing things we aren't supposed to. Keeps us from being alone with one another." Lacy explained.

"Oh! Okay. Hey! The rest of the pack is over there." Riley said, pointing. Riley started to lead the way over to them, walking in front of Mark, Sebastian draping an arm over Mark's shoulder. When Mark looked over to him he caught a glimpse of Lacy grabbing Ava by the hand and Ava's cheeks flushed lightly as she was lead after them.

"So Riley..." Mark asked, turning his attention back to her, "What is going to happen Sunday night? During the full moon."

"They have safe rooms for us to go into and they have classes to help us learn how to keep ourselves in check. Werewolves always have a little trouble with the full moon but being out late tonight and being in the wild and partying will keep us from needing to be out in the wild too much tomorrow. Mercy and a werewolf teacher will be watching over us." Riley explained, falling back to Bastian's other side so she could walk next to them, him draping his free hand over her shoulders too.

"Is it scary?" Bash asked, delicately.

"It's not as scary as it used to be." She answered truthfully.

"Does changing hurt?" Ava asked quietly.

"During the full moon the feeling of the moon itself calling for your wolf drowns the pain out." Lacy explained to her as they made it to the group of rowdy wolves.

They were laughing loudly, pushing one another and teasing. They all cheered when Riley came over and came over to them.

"You never properly introduced us, Riley." Said one of the boys.

"We hang out with all of your friends but with the start of school we haven't even told everyone our names." One of the girls added.

"As brave as all of you are, I was sure you would introduce yourselves." Riley said with a scoff.

"Well, in that case, I'm Luke." The boy who hadn't spoken yet pushed through the other wolves and offered his hand to Bash then to Mark. He stood up to see past them and waved at Ava, who waved back shyly.

"I'm Annalise." The girl said, doing the same motions as Luke had, giggling a little, "It's funny because before we all knew one another we went by Lacy, Luci, and Lisa."

"Where is Kara?" Riley asked.

"She was hit in the face during a game of soccer earlier so she is in bed. Her nose is going to heal back into place properly but it hurt pretty bad so she has some pain medication to help her sleep." Luke explained.

"Who hit her?" Lacy said angrily.

"She jumped and slammed into someone. When their arm snapped up their elbow hit her face. It was entirely an accident." Annalise said.

"Werewolves are much more agile than that." Lacy stated with a growl.

"It was a Fae, those are much more agile than werewolves since their human forms aren't their real forms. They are only a few inches tall so they know how to flit around. Calm down, Kara is fine." Luke insisted.

Lacy had pulled Ava up with her to join the circle but when they had started talking about Kara, and Lacy had become defensive of her, Ava had let go of her hand and shrunk away.

"Is Kara that tall girl with the round face and the pixie cut? Really tall?" Bash asked.

"Yes that's her." Annalise said, nodding.

"Is the Fae alright?" Riley asked, worried, "If she hurt the Fae then she could get in a lot of trouble." She looked to each of her pack members.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Mercy called from a small stage off to the left of the fire, so Mark, Riley, Lacy, and Bash had to turn around to look, "Remember, all other rules apply even though the curfew isn't still in place, understood?"

"Yes, Principle Mercy." Everyone said, almost all at the same time.

"Well then, Children, Have fun!" He called, gesturing to the tables that the food had been laid out on.

"Thank God, I'm starving." Bash said, sliding his arms off of Mark and Riley and leaving them behind for food. Riley started forward, her three pack members pulling past her, all except Lacy.

"Riley, where did Ava go?" Lacy whispered, looking around with a frown, "She was right behind me, right?"

"The fire is making it hard to pick out her scent. Especially with everyone else around here." Riley said, "You know Luke is our best tracker, I'm horrible at it."

"It's not that important, I'll find her. I just don't know why she slipped off without me. Maybe we overwhelmed her." Lacy said absently, letting Riley go.

Riley turned to Mark with a worried expression.

"Just because we smell the same doesn't mean I know her or her motives." Mark said with a long sigh, "Lacy is right, she probably got overwhelmed being in the group.

"Speaking of your smell..." Riley started. Mark cut her off by pushing past her with a laugh. HE was not ready for what she wanted to talk about, he probably never would be.

"Race ya!" He shouted back to her.