The White Wolf

~A/N: Wow, it's been like 2 years since I've posted an update for this. I'm soooo sorry (insert 1001 excuses here). I've had this chapter finished for forever. I don't know if anyone is still even interested in reading this story lol, but I figured I'd post the chapter anyway. I honestly don't know how often I will get the time to work on this story, but I really do hope to work on it more this year. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy! Thanks, -RC

Will

Over the weekend I realized that I couldn’t just confront Liam and the others about what I saw. They would have thought I was crazy. Instead, I decided that I had to be more subtle.

I spent the entire week dropping hints about what I saw. Well, not so much hints, more like I brought up glowing yellow eyes every chance I had. I mentioned I was dreaming about them, having nightmares, which was not far from the truth. However, by the end of the week, I could tell Liam and the guys were becoming annoyed with me, so I dialed it down quite a bit.

They had confirmed my suspicions anyway. Every time I had brought it up, they would fidget and avoid looking at me. They tried to change the subject, but each time their attempts grew more and more transparent.

They were hiding something; I just didn’t know what. I didn’t know how James’ eyes changed, or why, but I was going to find out…somehow.

I mulled it over as I walked with Alessa to the cafeteria. She was talking about some guy that had hit on her, but I wasn’t paying much attention. We had become extremely close over the last few weeks, but even more so when Ryland, James and Jordan showed up. She had felt pushed away a bit with them constantly surrounding Liam. I couldn’t blame her; I had felt a little jealous myself.

We walked into the cafeteria and immediately took our seats at our usual table, not even bothering with the mystery goo they tried to pass off as food. Alessa straddled the bench sideways and motioned for me to do the same. I did as she commanded, with my back to her, and she began playing with my hair. This seemed to be her new favorite hobby and had quickly become a lunchtime tradition.

By the time Liam and the rest of the guys, minus Dylan for some odd reason, had made it to the cafeteria, Alessa had a braid running halfway down my back.

“Hey Will,” Liam greeted with a smile on his face as he straddled the bench in front of me.

“Hey,” I replied, staring into his eyes and easily getting lost in the sea of blue. This seemed to happen every time I gazed into his eyes, no matter how many times I saw him.

I don’t know how long we sat there, just staring at each other, but eventually I was brought out of my revere by a sharp tug on my hair. I scrunched my face, which earned a laugh from Liam, and turned my head around to face Alessa.

 “What the hell was that for?” I questioned.

She gave me an innocent smile and shrugged her shoulders. “All done.”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway. I turned back to Liam, bringing the braid over my shoulder to prevent future pulling from Alessa.

“Where’s Dylan?” I asked to no one in particular.

Liam and the guys shrugged, but I could see a flash of worry in Liam’s eyes. I heard a small sigh escape Alessa, but she didn’t say anything. Dylan had been hanging around less and less ever since the make out session between Liam and me in the hallway. At first I had wondered if maybe Dylan felt something for Liam, but Alessa assured me that that was not the case.

The change in mood around the table was noticeable. I shifted a bit, trying to think of something to say to lighten the mood, but James beat me to it.

“Sooo…” James chimed from across the table.

I turned to face James, who had a devious smirk on his face.

“What are you two doing for your date tonight?” He asked.

I turned to Liam, my eyebrows raised. He had refused to tell me what he had planned for the night, no matter how many times I begged and pleaded. Liam shrugged nonchalantly and pushed his food around.

“It’s a surprise,” is all he said.

I sighed loudly, making sure he caught my irritation. Alessa let out something between a giggle and a maniacal laugh. I knew that she knew what Liam had planned. I had tried to worm it out of her, but her lips were sealed, which was surprising.

The rest of lunch went by like it usually did. Jordan and James bickered between each other. Liam, Alessa, and I held little conversations about random subjects, and Ryland sat quietly for most of the time, chiming in every now and again. After lunch ended and we dispersed to our classes, I sort of floated through the rest of the day. Before I realized it, English was over and so was the school week.

I walked out of the classroom with Liam, and we made our way to our lockers.

“Okay, so for tonight,” Liam began, turning to me and grabbing my hand. “Wear something nice, not too fancy, but more than jeans and a t-shirt.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well there goes my entire wardrobe,” I mocked.

He chuckled and wrapped me in a hug. I breathed in deeply as he embraced me. We held each other for a few more moments and he finally let go. He stepped back, but I quickly stepped up to him and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he whispered, breaking the kiss and then slowly turning and walking away.

***

I had been staring into my closet for the past three hours, and I still had no idea what I should wear. I glanced down at my phone to check the time.

6:05.

I had about an hour before Liam showed up. I sighed and stood up from my bed, having decided to take a quick shower. I stripped down, throwing my clothes into the ever growing pile in the corner, grabbed a towel, and made my way into my bathroom.

I turned on the water and waited for it to warm up. While I waited I stared at my reflection in the mirror, making a thorough sweep of my body. I had never been one to be self-conscious, but thinking about the date and what Liam would think, made me nervous as hell.

When I noticed the steam rising from the shower, I stepped in. The water was scalding hot, but it felt amazing, and I instantly felt myself start to relax. I let the water cascade over me, making sure to minimize the amount of water that hit my hair.

My mind was more at ease as I washed up, and a few moments later, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around my waist. I checked my phone and realized that I had been in the shower way longer than I had planned, and I still had not picked an outfit. I quickly blow-dried and brushed my hair and then walked back into my room.

I stopped in front of my bed and looked down. Apparently while I was in the shower, my mother had taken the opportunity to lay out the clothes she thought I should wear, which included a navy blue button up shirt, light khakis, matching shoes, and a belt.

I loved that my mom knew me so well. She had been bugging me about the date all week, asking me where we were going and what we were going to do. I told her over and over that I didn’t know; that it was supposed to be a surprise, but that didn’t keep her from badgering.

I dressed myself, rolling up the sleeves of my button up, and then took a look in the mirror. I fumbled with my hair for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do with it, and finally decided to just leave it down.

I grabbed my phone and my wallet off the bed and then made my way downstairs. It was still a few minutes before seven, but I didn’t know if Liam was the kind of guy to be early, late, or right on time. I walked into the kitchen to find my mom cleaning up from her and my dad’s dinner. At the sound of my footsteps, she turned and a large smile broke out on her face when she saw me.

She put down the dish that was in her hands and walked over to me. She looked me up and down before placing a hand on my cheek and bringing my forehead down to hers.

“Atsutsa,” she whispered, speaking in the Tsalagi language used on the reservation in Oklahoma.

“Etsi,” I whispered back.

She stepped back and looked over me once again. “You are so handsome,” she cooed.

“I know,” I shrugged, making her laugh and hit me lightly on the arm.

“What time is Liam coming to pick you up?”

“He should be here any minute now.”

She nodded and then went back to the dishes. “So, are you excited?”

“Of course…”

“Are you going to kiss him? Do you think he will kiss you? It’s only the first date, so don’t get too carried away. I think…”

“Mom!” I interrupted her, not wanting to listen to her bombardment of questions and opinions.

She smirked at me, but before she could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. I immediately dashed towards it and opened it to find Liam standing there with a smile on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He was wearing a dark grey button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, white pants, and matching shoes and belt. He looked like a wet dream come true.

“Hey,” was all I could manage before stepping aside to let him in.

“You look amazing,” he complimented as he walked past me.

“So do you.” I inwardly screamed because I sounded like a complete idiot. “You didn’t have to get me flowers.”

“Actually, they’re for your mom.”

Because she was no doubt listening in the other room, my mom walked into the living room when Liam mentioned her.

“Liam!” She greeted him excitedly. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s good to see you too, Mrs. Summers,” Liam replied.

“Please,” my mother huffed. “I told you to call me Anna.”

“I apologize, Anna,” he said, handing her the flowers.

She smiled and took them from him, giving his arm a squeeze.

“Alright, mom,” I interjected, wanting to get out of the house as soon as possible. “Liam and I need to get going now.”

“Of course,” she conceded. “Have a lovely time, you two.”

She disappeared into the kitchen, but not before catching my eye and giving me a knowing wink. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and instead turned to Liam.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

He smiled and nodded. “Absolutely.”

I followed Liam out of the house and towards his dad’s truck. Instead of heading to the driver’s side, he made his way to the passenger’s side and opened the door for me. It was incredibly cheesy, but I didn’t say anything.

He closed the door after I climbed in and jogged around to his door. He quickly climbed in and situated himself.

“So,” I began after he had pulled out of the drive and we were on our way. “Are you going to tell me where we are going?”

“Nope.”

I looked over at him. Nope? That was all he was going to say? I shook my head and turned toward my window, taking in the town as we drove through. The drive was quiet, with the radio playing silently in the background, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt nice just to be near him. We were driving on a side of town that I hadn’t been to yet. The houses in the area were nice, and I took note of a couple of shops that I wanted to visit.

It wasn’t long before I noticed a restaurant up ahead, La Bella. It seemed to belong on the nicer end of the restaurant scale, and I realized that it must be where he was taking me. A few moments later I was proven right when we pulled into the little parking lot adjacent from the restaurant.

Liam parked the truck and shut it off. He quickly jumped out of the truck and hurried over to open my door. I appreciated it, but at the same time, it was like he was trying too hard. I wanted to tell him, but I also didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“This place seems nice,” I commented as we walked inside.

“It is,” he replied with a shrug and a laugh. “It’s also the only fancy restaurant in town, so not much competition.”

I laughed. “So you’re pulling out all the stops on the first date, huh?”

His face reddened slightly and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Liam,” I said, making him look at me and using a more serious tone. “It was a joke. This is perfect.”

He smiled and seemed to relax a bit, so I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. At that time we were greeted by a cheery, red-headed waitress named Molly. She brought us to an empty booth in the corner of the restaurant. I slid into my seat, Liam doing the same, and she handed each of us a menu while simultaneously taking our drink orders. We both ordered waters and then Molly practically skipped away.

I looked over the menu, skimming the names of all the fancy Italian dishes, but Liam didn’t even look at his.

“So, do you know what you’re going to order?” I asked him, curious as to how he was already so sure of what he wanted.

“The steak,” he replied.

“At an Italian restaurant?”

He shrugged. “It’s good. What are you going to order?”

I shrugged and looked back to the menu. “Pasta sounds good.”

***

Dinner was amazing. The food was good and the conversation was even better. Whenever we had talked before, it was usually Liam wanting to learn more about me, but during dinner, I was able to learn more about him. We talked about movies and music and all the other things he liked to do. We even talked about his mom for a little while, and how that affected him. It felt good to know that he felt safe and comfortable opening up to me.

Now, after walking along the streets hand in hand, we were strolling through the park. The place was empty and quiet, but the silence was more peaceful than eerie. On a normal evening it might be difficult to see, with only a few lights sparsely placed along the path, but tonight the sky was clear and the moon was shining bright.

Neither of us had spoken for a while, but the silence was not uncomfortable. I focused on the way his hand fit into mine, and on the way he was breathing. Everything was calm, and tonight was going perfectly.

We were walking over a tiny bridge when Liam suddenly stopped. I was slightly jolted by the sudden stop and I turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, seeing his face drawn into a frown.

He waited a moment before shaking his head. “Nothing. I thought I heard something.”

I stood quietly for a moment, listening for what he could have heard, but I didn’t hear anything.

“It was probably just a squirrel or something,” I reassured him, but that frown still didn’t leave his face.

Since we had stopped, I took the moment to bring his face to mine.

“Tonight has been amazing,” I whispered, his nose touching mine.

His frown was finally replaced with a smile as he whispered, “The night isn’t over yet.”