Hunter

thx for the picture Saku. it help me to write, finally, this little one

Once upon a time, there was a woman who lost fear and in doing so she decided to go back to where fear had stained her whole life, plunging her in an abyss of darkness until she painfully climbed up back to the cliff and back to the thick woods where she knew horrors awaited. Now she knew unlike the year before when she had been hunted. Now, she was the hunter.

As the wind rustled her long cloak and messed her hair; she remembered the night that marked her life forever. Like tonight it had been windy but unlike tonight she hadn’t been on her way to the deep woods but on her way to her old run-down house somewhere in the skirts of the forest. She had moved only a month before having nowhere to go but the old property that she hadn’t even known existed until her grandmother and guardian had passed away.   

That night, the moon had been full and bright making patterns on the poor lit street, it was such a quiet town, she had thought then half-shocked of how even hours to midnight everybody was inside, closed windows and locked doors. The hunter huffed mentally, maybe they all had known what creatures lurked at night like what she didn’t and it happened at the turn of a corner with a faltering lamplight. Back when she was not yet a hunter, she´d been swept up her feet by a man that took her to the middle of the woods to a cave lit by the moon where he showed the monster he was.

She hadn’t even had time to scream when the monster bit into the flesh of her neck, long canines sinking in, blood rushing out warm and sticky and he held her there lapping at the spilling blood coming fast as her heart beat increased.

“Olivia” he had whispered her name with his gravely monster voice not letting her go. She had begged for mercy, to let her go. He didn’t and she had to spend the night crutched against the cave wall as the werewolf covered the entrance but he fell asleep and at dawn, in his sleep she ran away  through the woods, she had fell, scrapped her  hands  and knees but had gotten up and had kept running out of the woods.

Olivia was not the same anymore, back then she wouldn’t have come back to these woods even if for some reason when the moon was full she had the urge in the back of her mind to go back and she worried thinking that she that the scar of the bite meant she´d turn into a monster too, but Amaris showed her it didn’t have to be that way.

Amaris; Olivia almost smiled thinking of her aunt, the one that supposedly was crazy, the one that had taken her in when she had ran away with nothing from her old house, afraid that the monster was behind her. Amaris had been the one that had noticed her agitation and when she had discovered her scar by accident had known exactly what it was and had untied the scarf she always wore to show a faded scar, almost identical to Olivia´s on her neck.

“Am I going to become a monster?” had been Olivia´s first question and then she had stuttered her next question “A-ar-are you like the?” Amaris had grinned what then had felt like a wolfish grin and the creaking of the rocking chair had made it scary but her voice had been soothing and she had have a solution. It was time to take that solution to completion

The moon looked like a wicked grin on the black sky, the clouds pushed by the wind left the woods in darkness at times like that time with the lamplight but unlike then, now Olivia didn’t need the light to see, the soft moon beams were enough and though she didn’t known the path she knew it, the monster had made sure of that.

“Be careful-Amaris had said when she left her large white house- he might be waiting for you”. Better, Olivia thought, let him known I´m looking for him and that I’ll find him with the ´gifts´ he gave me.

Amaris had explained that the bite was a bond that signaled she´d been chosen to be the wolf´s mate and that though she´d left it´d call to her so that she returned to him, he had marked her as his and in time even if she didn’t want to she´d go and fill her place. Olivia had been so scared to know this. How could he do that, she´d wondered in panic, it was a terrible fate. She´d started to cry but Amaris had only smiled that wolfish grin again

“You use it to your advantage” she´d said

“But how?” Oli had sobbed. Fear had plagued her heart. The urge to go back had been more and more with each full moon.

Amaris had taught her how and now as she swiftly walked guided by her enhanced sense of smell, she almost tasted his mind, the ghost of his thoughts; that had been one more of the gifts, she felt him, his joy and anger, his longings and happiness.

“Does he taste my emotions too… I mean can they…?” Oli had asked Amaris once when they were training, the old aunt was remarkably strong for a lady of her age, a gift from the wolf, she’d explained to her niece and pupil

“I don’t know –Amaris replied-never paused to ask him” she´d delivered a blow that Oli hadn’t been able to block but she had smiled, she´d understood, she wouldn’t be pausing to ask any questions either.

Oli felt the wolf before seeing it and he came her way, slow and making no sound, his amber eyes resembled fire. He was glad to see her coming, perhaps thinking his magic had finally bent her will. She grinned and vaguely wondered if like Amaris her grin looked wolfish now. The werewolf came closer and with the speed that he had given her she slashed out, he, of course, was fast and avoided her long silver sword, the hilt embedded in her palm, silver also had started to affect her after she had bitten her but she was used to the burning, she revealed in it as a sign of her vengeance and she furiously and expertly swung and tried again as she read surprise in him, he dodged, bared his teeth before howling low conjuring his magic. Oli felt a pull that almost made her drop her sword and she screamed out of fury and lunged at him again and when she was close enough to him she let her old self takeover, the frightened girl of the next morning after he bit her. It made the wolf pause and focus his amber eyes on her dark ones instead of her sword that came down on his neck. Her silver sword went through flesh and his howl was also torn as his head left his body: wolf head, man´s body, a revealed truth of the monster he was.

Once again at dawn Olivia walked through the thick woods, sword in its sheath, the beast head in her hand, the scar that had signaled her imposed bond already fainting. Olivia could hear in the distance the others in his pack stealthily backing away. She could not be controlled now yet she had all the advantages of the monster still, if they came, she´d be ready and their heads would accompany the golden wolf head and the black one in Amaris basement.

Over the Moon: Tangled In Your Words

“And would you take away my hopes and dreams and just stay with me? Take my hand and my heart and soul, I will only have these eyes for you.” Ed Sheeran. One.

“You have my mate´s scent all over you” Daniel said glaring to Alejandro as the younger boy entered the TV room where Andy and Ricky, the wolf siblings, were playing video games
“And you smell like wet dog. Do you see me complaining?” Ale said glaring back. Daniel had just taken a shower
“You don’t have to insult me”
“You don’t have to sneer and glare at me every time you see me” Ale retorted
“If Olivia thinks of us, of me as a dog it´s all your fault. You know you shouldn’t…”
“If Oli thinks of you like a dog- Ale had interrupted Daniel- I´m doing you a favor. What do you think she´d prefer, wild wolf or trained dog?” Ale glared and Dani scrubbed his face.  Ale had made sense with that; it was less threatening for people to think of a dog than a wolf

“You just think of yourself. You don’t listen to her. You people are so arrogant” Ale had said before Daniel could reply. Both Andy and Ricky stopped playing and were staring at Dani and Ale, waiting on Dani´s cue. Reluctantly Daniel bit back his venomous reply and sighed instead
“Can we talk without insulting each other?” Daniel counted up to ten and back and once again. Ale rolled his eyes
“Yeah, whatever” Ale adjusted his grasses


“Are you alright?” Dani asked Ale once they were outside siting on a bench in the Covin´s large patio. Like Olivia´s the house garden touched and joined the woods
“I´m fine” Ale removed his glasses and cleaned them on his black band t-shirt
“That back in the house, I think you´re upset about something else” Dani said trying to untangle the scents that Ale had displayed earlier
“That was about you being arrogant…” Ale made a face
“Yeah, I guess, but you are resentful about something”
“Fuck that, stop sniffing me… that resents me” Ale had glared
“No, well… it´s not resentment, it is but you’re hurt- Dani blinked at his own words, he hadn’t been trying to discover all the scents that emotions brought to Ale´s particular scent but they came in waves which only meant Ale was really upset- I know we´re not close or anything but you´re family if… anything´s happened you know we’re here for you. You´re one of us” Dani said and he believed it. Ale scoffed, he didn’t believe it
“I´m not and you know that. It´s not how it works”
“You´re part of the Woodhills clan, a brother, no… –Daniel stopped- more like a cousin but still family” he smirked
“As if I´d want to be your brother –Ale adjusted his glasses again- and the whole big brother act doesn’t suit you, quit it and stop smelling me. It’s creepy and annoying. Listen” Ale ad widened his eyes for emphasis
“Can’t help it your emotions roll out in waves from you at the moment –Daniel explained- you know it´s not like I´m reading your mind thought, just your bitchy mood” he teased
“Look who´s talking -Ale looked at Daniel over the rim of his glasses and then, with a sigh, at the distant trees- Martin, Enzo, took another chance to prank me” Ale confessed
“What did he do?”
“Point out how Karen and I don’t belong… it doesn’t matter. I don’t care” Ale sneered
“We could prank him back. He´s been getting on my nerves too” Daniel offered with a growl, Ale snorted
“Did you really had something to tell me or did you just want to bring me out here to sit with me or something, ´cause I don’t like it” Ale said looking at Dani over the rim of his glasses
“I don’t like your company either –Dani replied but it was playful, it didn’t have real meaning- it´s about Olivia … Alejandro, you know she´s my mate…” Ale´s heavy sigh interrupted Dani
“There you go, so arrogant, you people make those things like they are fact, like just because you feel it everybody else is supposed to get it and accept it”
“Ale, it´s a fact, it´s not to be arrogant or to impose on you or Oli, it’s just how it is”
“Well, whatever. Think about the rest of us, ok? About Olivia, at least. She comes to me for answers and I have to tell her I can’t tell her… you are supposed to tell her stuff and you are not doing it”
“It´s not like she lets me. Tell her to ask me”
“I have told her but she doesn’t trust you, can you blame her for that? –He looked at Dani reprovingly- but you people, you, make me keep your secrets and I can’t tell her stuff and now we´re talking about her. I don’t think she´d appreciate to be discussed this way”
“I want to tell her everything”
“Well do it! Don’t just give fragments of information and leave me to pick it from there, especially about shit I don’t even know about!”
“I don’t want to give her a history class or to overwhelm her with information” Dani got defensive
“Well, go tell her the freaking basics then. You can’t go on and on about alphas and houses and clans and bonds if you don’t tell her what the hell that is or who the hell are you”
“Did you tell her about that?” Daniel frowned. It was his job to do so, even if he´d done it bad so far
“She´s your mate, isn’t she?” Ale made a face and a derisive sound. Dani observed him for a second catching something in his scent

“Alejandro, do you have a crush on my mate?” Daniel tried to bit back the venom in his words and to stop glaring, to keep himself from baring his teeth and to keep his fists at his sides. It wouldn’t do to kill Ale in his house or anywhere else. Joel would be furious, Ale was Karen´s brother, his dad would kill him and Oli wouldn’t approve of him killing her friends but his protective and possessive nature screamed for him to behead Alejandro
“Can you blame me?” Ale had sighed
“Alejandro, you are aware of the covenant…”
“I know, shut up about that, she´s out of the market. You wolves ruin everything. Oli’s a cool girl, pretty, smart and funny. I saw her first but no –Ale widened his eyes- you had to make it so she was out of reach for the rest of us. I wonder what she´d say about that particular information” Ale smirked making Dani´s eyes widen 
“You wouldn’t…” Dani quickly narrowed his eyes. Ale was someone who could kill whatever he could do to gain Olivia´s trust. Ale was her friend, she trusted him. Dani had started on the wrong foot, there would always be that stain 

“Ale… please –Dani had sighed -I´ll tell you something but keep it between us. Please” Dani pleaded Ale groaned
“There you go again making me keep secrets for you….”
“Just… listen, ok? Listen to me…”Daniel told him the one thing that had prevented him from going after Olivia that morning after she´d disappeared from his sight
“Wow –ale said with slightly wild eyes when Dani had finished- so that´s true? I mean the story”
“Yeah… it wouldn’t be on you but you could push me into that…” Dani untied and tied his pony tail. Ale sighed

“Relax, it´s not like I’m in love with her. I like her but I’m not making marriage plans. I don’t know what I´d do if she asked me out though…” Ale laughed and Dani groaned
“Alejandro, I´d kill you”
“I´m sure Oli would love to know you did that –Ale smirked, Daniel sighed heavily- but again, relax, you´re some kind of brother, no, wait, like an obnoxious cousin I can’t stand and … well… I know I can’t go after your crush even if I saw her fist… but you better start explaining her stuff or I will tell her what I know and damn the consequences, damned the family honor… I don’t care about that…stuff”
“I´ll try, I´ll do it… Thanks for pointing out I haven’t really been thinking from her perspective”
“It´s my pleasure to point out you´re a jerk –Ale grinned but his eyes had no humor- I can’t believe I have to tell you these things… thought you knew how to deal with girls” ale said with a raised eyebrow
“Werewolf girls or girls who didn’t need to know about me, yes but not when it´s about a non-shifter who´s the last one of a supposedly lost family and that…”
“Ok, ok, stop there or next time you see me you´ll want me to do your make up and talk about your latest crush and feelings” Ale wrinkled his nose
“You could help me dye my hair next time. I´ll add highlights to yours” Dani said with mock excitement
“We´ll play house, too? –Ale said flatly- it´s not a wonder Oli doesn’t like you” Ale smirked
“That was low” Dani narrowed his eyes, Ale shrugged, stood up and walked back to the house leaving Daniel to his thoughts about Olivia and even some about Alejandro and what might have happened to him. A few minutes later his mom had called him in for their usual weekly family dinner.


“How short do you want it, Daniel?” Mr. King asked; the man had cut the man-wolf hair since before he´d stopped getting a ‘decent’ haircut back in high school. Daniel sighed silently. He wouldn’t regret it.
“It´s time to get rid of it, make it short” Dani shrugged
“Ah, so, you´ll finally get a manly haircut” Mr. King, the owner of the barbershop joked, Daniel snorted as Mr. Kind tied his long hair in a low pony tail
“I guess I can donate that to one of those wig places… should be useful…” Daniel mused mostly to himself
“Gotta work for something…maybe a mop” Mr. King joked taking a pair of scissors  
“Stop! -a voice interrupted Mr. King and a strand of hair fell to the floor but the rest stayed intact --what are you doing?” a clear voice said with a gasp to Mr. King who was startled. Daniel didn’t have to look to know who it was. He could recognize his mate´s scent and voice anywhere.
“I´m sorry…?” Mr. King turned to Olivia in confusion, it was not every day that he was randomly stop from doing his job
“What are you doing?” She ignored the older man and talked to Daniel who had stood up and was facing her 
“Getting a haircut?” he knitted his eyebrows upward 
“Why?” Oli frowned as if he was insane for even thinking about it
“Shouldn´t I…?” Dani smiled as he tucked behind his ear the shorter strand of hair that brushed his cheek. Oli shrugged with a face that usually came with the expression ‘duh´. He chuckled and felt something moving in his chest that made him tug at his collar a little
“I won’t be cutting my hair Mr. King but thank you” he told the man paying him anyway and rushed after Olivia who was walking out the barbershop asking herself what was wrong with her; she couldn’t believe she  had gone in that shop to prevent him getting a haircut. She shook her head as her cheeks turned red. Had she gone crazy?

“Where are you going? Can I join you?” The man-wolf caught up to her. Like Alejandro had said, he was the impersonation of a human puppy. Olivia wanted to slap herself; she´d placed herself in that situation
“Grocery shopping” Olivia murmured hoping her blushed cheeks went back to normal. ‘Some head banding on a hard surface is in order’ Oli thought as the man looked at her profile resembling more and more some kind of curious puppy
“I’ll join you –he decided- I´ll help you carry the bags” he offered, she considered. Ale usually joined her to her grocery shopping, not that she bought much but the drive way was a long way to walk…
“You don’t have to…” she said with a weak smile, she didn’t want to say yes but the truth was that she could use his help
“I was heading to your place after the haircut so it´s ok” he smiled his lopsided smile
“Ok” they walked in silence the ten minutes that took them to get to the store

“How was your week?” Dani tried for conversation once they were inside the store. He was carrying the basket for the shopping
“Pretty good… I put oil to my creaking door like I saw you do to the others and painted that one but I think I over did it with the oil” she shrugged, took a pear and smelled it and then put a few in a bag. 
“Can’t be that bad” Daniel smiled
“You haven’t seen it –there was humor mixed with disdain in his mate´s voice. She picked some green and red apples- are you going to pick anything from here?” Oli motioned to the fruits, he hadn’t been paying any attention to where they were in the store, the fruits held no interest for him even less when he was busy being fascinated by her unconcerned answers and the fact that she was talking to him, normally, like they knew each other
“Do you like oranges?” he picked one
“Otherwise I wouldn’t have planted an orange tree –she tilted her head a little to a side and laughed a tiny laugh in the end- if you’re going to get those I could make orange bread” again she spoke as if they were some kind of friends
“What else can you do with oranges? I mean, what other recipes do you know?” he picked a few, more than what they could possibly need, she picked some bananas
“Fresh orange juice?” she teased with a little laugh, he gasped mockingly
“No! I could never do that myself!” he widened his eyes
“I know –se nodded- but you could do a salad, or chicken, beef, fish too, salmon goes well with it… Chinese food–she moved to the side and picked butter and milk- mmmmh I should make that tonight” she said to herself reading the label on the milk carton

“You mentioned beef…” Daniel hinted as they keep walking, predictably meat was his favorite
“Yeah, that can be done too”
“For tomorrow perhaps?” he hinted again as she stopped and picked a can of tuna and started reading the ingredients on it, the nutritional facts
“Yeah…” she said absentmindedly placing it back and taking another
“And maybe fish the next day” Daniel ventured curious if she´d realize that she´d been agreeing to his suggestions for food that she´d cook and he´d eat 
“You´ll get bored of oranges” she tilted her head up to him for a second and picked two cans of tuna of the same brand that she´d read last
“It could be like a theme” he shrugged
“You put themes to your meals?” she furrowed her eyebrows but there was humor in her scent
“Err… nope… I like the smell of them thought, the oranges –he confessed cautiously, she nodded as they walked thought the aisle- but… You´re reading every label of everything that you take” he observed as she grabbed flour and sugar
“I didn’t read the nutritional facts on those two –she narrowed her eyes- but… it´s something more people should do, you ought to know what you´re eating” she shrugged and he thought she was adorable

“What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor?” Daniel asked stopping at the fridge
“Pistachio and vanilla” she said absently taking a bag of frozen fries. He grinned taking a pint of vanilla ice cream
“Can you make anything with oranges and vanilla ice cream?”
”I guess… perhaps the orange bread could be eaten with ice cream on the side or I don’t know; sweet crepes with oranges and tangerines as filling” she raised her eyebrows as if in question
“You know how to cook –he commented- I bet you know a lot of recipes, where did you learn it?”
“I like it, yeah, my dad, well, my grandpa but I called him dad, he had a food truck and sometimes I went with him to help”
“Sounds cool”
“Yea, it was…. Grandma sold it when he died though there was no one to take care of it and we needed the money…” she shrugged and a side of her mouth went downward, her scent laced with sadness
“I’m sorry. I think you´re a good chef. You cook better than Gil” he chuckled, Gil was one of the cooks at his aunt´s restaurants where Oli worked, Oli laughed quietly
“Ale says that too” she said as they got to the cashier. Something bubbled inside him at that, something like cold heavy liquid in his veins 
“Oh! I forgot the cereal –Oli turned around, Daniel was right behind so they collided- Oh!” she exclaimed flushing. He held her arms helping her balance and helping himself to balance his temper. She moved pass him quickly walking to get the cereal.

“You don’t have a problem if we go there, do you?” Oli pointed to the gardening store across the street- I want to get some pots for some herbs I want to plant” she looked up at him expectantly with the cutest tilt of her head
“Let´s go” Daniel watched at his watch checking he still had a few hours before the pull of the moon made him shift to his wolf form

“You like gardening too” he walked next to her
“I guess… -she said-… I mean, I´ve always wanted to have one of those nice gardens that you see in magazines or on T.V, you know, the ones with flowers everywhere and trees in shapes…” she chuckled at herself “now that I have the land I thought I could at least try, I hope I don’t kill the plants thought …”
“What do you want to plant?”
“I saw on TV this show where they taught you to make like your own herb garden and I liked that, it´d be cool to have fresh herbs for whenever I cook… if what they hinted is true, herbs are easy” 
“I think the clay one´s better than the plastic one” he gave his opinion, she´d been comparing two pots of different material
“Yeah but the other will last longer… specially if they fall down”
“Where are you planning to put them?”
“I was thinking the kitchen window but I don’t know if they’ll fall from there”
“If you put them there you might not be able to close the window either…” he observed
“That too…”


“You have time to think about where you want them” they had gone back to talking about the best place to put the just bought herbs as they got close to the house
 “Yeah, I guess…-she agreed- it´d be so cool if I could have one of those herbs gardens that I watched on TV” to Olivia to be talking of things like that felt too familiar as if they were friends. She didn’t like it but she couldn’t deny that he was very willing to help and hadn’t attempted anything in the past months, it had seemed that besides the annoying floor scratching when he was his dog self he tried his best to keep out of her way but he was there when she needed help with things around the house. 

Another thing that Olivia didn’t want to admit was that it was nice to have some company. It had been hard for her to live alone after her grandmother had died. It was not that she wanted someone to be talking all the time but it was nice to have someone thinking about her for a change, one that wanted to please her by doing little things, not that the repairs he´d done were little but still it was something not just anybody would do to be on her best side but she couldn’t forget that easily who she was, what he was and what the circumstances in which they had met were. She couldn’t let her guard down that easily even if it had started to feel like it was way too easy to do it. If anything that was a good reason to not let my guard down Olivia thought.

Daniel had been outside, in the garden all the while after they put the groceries away and she started their usual early dinner, she´d grown increasingly weary and uncomfortable since they went inside the house, as if they grew distant when the number of people and open space lessen. It made Daniel sigh heavily but he had to be patient and give Olivia space even if all he wanted was to be right next to her, to make sure they had a bond, to strengthen the bond he knew they already had.

Olivia wanted a herbs garden, she´d bought some herbs and pots for it but still didn’t know where she wanted it, she´d mentioned what where the designs in the show she´d seen. She wanted it and that made him want it for her. He considered where it could go based on what she´d told him. He took measurements of the spaces where it could go, she wanted it near the kitchen window but it didn’t have to go there, she´d said. The man wolf made a list of the tools he´d need to go home or have his dad bring them, better the second one he thought.

Olivia called him for dinner with a “I´ll leave your food on the kitchen table” he asked her if it was ok to use the old furniture that couldn’t be repaired
“Sure, if you can do that… it´d be really nice… but you know you don’t have to do it” she smiled politely
“It’s ok, I like building stuff –his mouth tilted with a smile- I´ll ask dad to borrow me some of his tools thought, if that´s ok by you, I mean, him coming…”
“Oh… if it´s fine by him…” Oli hesitated, the man was the chief of police, would he be available to bring his son tools to build her something just because she´d seen it on some TV show? She wondered but then she thought that she had to go out of her way to keep an eye on the chief´s son, not that she had that much going on but still, she didn’t to help them so, the chief could do this for her
Daniel nodded and took a seat “this smells really good” he smiled that smile of his that show how his front teeth were bigger than the rest which was funny because if he was a wolf his canines should be the prominent ones. Oli inclined her head at the compliment and to hide the smile tugging at her mouth at the sight of his smile and her thoughts of it
“There´s more –she pointed to the pan on the stove- if you want, you can have some more…” she said with a light shrug and exited the kitchen; a moment later he heard the sound of the TV and her flipping channels to what sounded like cartoons.  He sighed and started to eat, it was a nice meal with the ingredients he had suggested, it was good except that he did not enjoy eating alone.

“It was really good!” Daniel complimented Olivia when she came back with her empty plate; he was on his second serving
“Thanks….” She gave a little smile and proceeded to clean her plate, he noticed se was taking her time to dry it

“I´m sorry about earlier” she turned around and then averted her gaze
“Mh?” he tucked the shorter strand of hair behind his ear, she pointed to his head and he still didn’t get what she was talking about
“Your haircut –she blushed- I… I don’t know why…” she stammered
Daniel chuckled a little “Thanks for saving it. I don’t think I really want to get rid of it” 
“Then…?” she felt her cheeks getting warmer as she remembered his last letter
“I thought you disliked it… -he cleared his throat when she paled slightly- and everybody seems to be against it –he took his dish to the sink- because of the future job and because it makes me look like a slob, not serious or something” he shrugged as he cleaned the dish
“Oh… yeah… appearances, dress codes and all that, respectability…blah blah” she wrinkled her nose
“Exactly…I don’t like that besides if they can’t see my work, see who I am because of some hair then I don’t want to be there” he shook his head and she stared at him for a moment

“Nice” she nodded with a half-smile.

If only it wasn’t so painful, the werewolf thought as he shifted from a shape to the other.  Yet he had never wished to be different. He knew it´d stop, the agony would stop eventually and it would only leave the strength of the more animalistic side, the heightened sense and the honesty that only a wolf encasing a more or less human shaped mind had.  All of these was good, the surge of energy and freedom that he usually felt right after the change was complete unfortunately he was locked but he knew he wouldn’t go out even if he wasn’t because if something was enhanced more than all the other things it was the need for his mate, the need of the company of the pack and the want of the support of his alpha. The lack of all those almost made him dislike being in wolf form and express it in a howl. Olivia was so close yet so far, the wolf thought. Alejandro had been right, the wolf huffed; he was admitting Ale was right… another disadvantage of being in wolf form. Daniel would’ve laughed if he had been able to, instead he sniffed closer and quiet through the cracks of the floor boards as he remembered the conversation he´d had with Alejandro. How it must be for Oli  to come into a new world within the world she knew so suddenly, maybe it´d be like not being werewolf from one day to the other, he thought and wondered as her scent told him where downstairs she was and how she was doing.

“Saw you happily walking your dog out this afternoon :p” read Alejandro´s text that had just been sent. Olivia wrinkled her nose
“haha very funny… Couldn’t help it” she typed quickly
“Excuses, excuses, excuses” came Ale´s reply less than a minute later
“We bumped as I was going to the grocery store” she rolled her eyes as she went upstairs to her room
“The wicked wolf was stalking red riding hood” Oli could imagine Ale had a slight smirk as he had sent that
“It was kinda my fault” she threw herself on her bed and covered her eyes. Ale had just sent a question mark as reply
“Talked to him first… sort of” she explained
“You did? Really? So he’s growing on you, huh?”
“No! it’s just… I don’t know what I was thinking”
“That you wanna talk to him?”
“I didn’t exactly talk…”
“You wanna tell me but you’re not telling me. So just tell me, ok?” Ale texted
“I went in the barbershop and stopped the guy that was about to give him a haircut” Oli felt like she really needed to get it out of her system. It felt like by saying it to someone she could just laugh at it and forget it
“Red riding hood likes the shabby wicked wolf. Got tangled in his hair?” Ale´s reply had taken longer to come; Oli had brushed her teeth and gotten ready for bed in the meantime
“Movie reference as well? And no, don’t like him”
“Had to think of it for a moment ;) then?”
“He said everybody told him he should get rid of it, I felt bad apparently I was the drop that filled the glass on that”
“So, you´re into long manes of black hair?” was Ale´s reply and it made her giggle for some reason
“Won’t say I don’t like it”
“You´re right, the bastard wears it well” was the reply she got, it made her laugh
“Do you like the guy?” she teased in her reply
“He´s fit, even seen how easily they all get rid of their clothes? Too bad he´s a damn dog and of course… he´s yours :p” Ale teased back
“You can have him, you seem to like him lots”
“Nah, I bet you had a lot of fun taking him out for a walk, I can’t take that from my bff”
“NO way! I couldn’t look at him after that!”
“A ‘stop talking to me’ would’ve done it” Oli could hear Ale´s flat tone on the reply
“I can’t just say that to people! Besides I kinda used him to help me carry the stuff… couldn’t be rude”
“At least he saved me that chore” Ale replied, he usually went shopping with Oli since they had started to walk home together
“Which is why you´re not getting theme dinners”
“Lost me, Red” 
“I kinda agreed to make all sorts of recipes that include oranges for meals during his stay” Oli groaned
“Wow and I just get a thanks. No fair, Red”
“Couldn’t say no. Too embarrassed and he bought the stuff. Won’t  ask your help anymore btw”
“I´ll help anyway” was his reply followed by another “or go get a haircut”
“You idiot!” Oli exclaimed and the wolf immediately stopped the soft whine but focused on the threat of humor in her scent, it didn’t match her words. He wondered what she was doing. She´d been going from embarrassment to laughter to surprise to sadness and all over again in different order
“Should I let my hair grow?” Ale replied to her insult
“With your curls your head would look even bigger” She it sent and laughed quietly wondering what he´d say to that
“Ouch. Only long straight black hair then *sights* how much do you think straightening it cost?”
“Blond :p I don’t know ask advice from your wolfie friend”
“You know him intimately, I see, what else do you know?”
“Psssh if we´ll talk about guys now let´s talk of some other guys, yeah?”
“Sure, red, who´s caught your eye?” she laughed, she could tell he´d rolled his eyes like how he did when she and Mai said a guy was cute yet he usually joined them in the talk
“Walter, I think, blond, gray eyes, asks for the same dessert all the time” she wrote about the first person that had crossed her mind only to annoy Ale
“Regnoir. Wolf. Your puppy’s cousin” Ale replied quickly
“Ugh. Really? Ok… idk his name but he wears the fancy school uniform but lives here”
“Isn’t that too young for you? –Ale teased- Canagan Bertrand. Wolf. Next”
“Pssshhh don’t need to be certain age to say someone´s cute and ugh again. Let me see…. Sits always on table 2 to drink coffee and read?”
“Grandpa Martin? Wide variety of taste, girl and wolf btw”
“No! not the old man! The guy with the curls, blue eyes” it was not about cute or not but about how many wolf were regulars at her work place
“Kurt Landry. Wolf. Seems like you like doggies a lot”
“Is there any guy in this town that is not a mythical creature?! So scary!”
“I know at least one”
“Who?”
“Curls, glasses, amazing sense of humor, not dog, not scary, brown eyes, makes great music”
“Carbonell” she laughed as she sent the reply
“Yeah, let´s talk about him”
“Idk, he can be a pain…”

Daniel kept feeling the changes in is mate´s scent every few minutes, even fear and annoyance had sipped in but the dominant note had been humor. Her playful laughter and giggles proved it. She kept at it for a while longer and then they all vanished as she went to sleep and so did he lolled by the scent of her dreams
Fresh orange juice and pancakes with soft orange flavor were Daniel´s breakfast the next morning. He could’ve laugh of joy that his mate had done as he´d suggested. A while after breakfast Covin came to the Belcourt house to bring what he had asked, after greeting Oli and thanking her for continuing to help Daniel as they had agreed, as he´d asked, his dad had gone around the house to the yard and after a while Oli started to hear the sounds of a sawing, hammering and nailing and other sounds she couldn’t identify but knew were made as Dani worked. She wondered if she should be worried about the man and his power tools, he could use them to harm her but if he had wanted to harm her he´d had more than enough opportunities -she told herself- and he definitely didn’t need any weapons to do that.

After another citrus themed meal Olivia followed Daniel to the yard where he showed her his work. She couldn’t help but smile at what he´d done.
“You made me a vertical herbs garden” his mate looked at him with a smile that showed all her teeth and after a second she looked down and back at the boxes that hung from the wall at different heights, old wood and pieces of iron that he´d twisted artistically in shapes to look like old forged iron
“The herbs are still missing” Daniel smiled back relieved that she hadn’t mind the boxes nailed to the wall instead of being separate and movable
“Yeah but this is so cool, like the one I saw on that show I told you. Did you watch it?” she tilted her head and he chuckled tucking the shorter loose strand of hair behind his ear
“I might have seen it”
“That´s lucky… -she turned to the side- you made me a bench too?!”
“There was enough wood -he shrugged- it opens –he opened it, it was like a trunk- for you to keep the gardening tools” 
“Wow –she blinked, her scent all surprise and gratefulness- thank you… you´re very skilled at building things” she said looking at the inside of the trunk which had the few tools she owned
“Thanks ….Are you putting the plants today?” he inquired
“Yeah –her scent laced with excitement- I´ll go change, be right back” she said already walking back inside

Olivia changed her dress for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and kept her bangs out of her face she put on a hairband on her head. By the time she came back he´d brought the bag of soil and had the pots and herbs they had bought the day before ready to be transplanted. She smiled at him and knelt down and between the two of them they changed the herbs from their original bags to the pots. Oli noticed he was not afraid to get dirty, she wore gloves but he just took the soil with bare hands 
“Where do you want this one?” Dani asked with a pot of rosemary in his hand
“On this side of the window” she pointed placing two pots in one of the boxes

“Could you put this one up there?” She passed him the mint pot. The highest box was near the center of the window

“It looks good right? We did a good job” she smiled at him taking a step back to look at the garden. He raised his and in a high five motion and she clapped hers against his and laughed quietly “You did most of it though, thanks, really” she said taking off the gloves 

“Can I help you with anything” the man wolf offered once he came back from washing himself.  The scent of the orange zest on the table filled the room
“It´s ok- she smiled politely- I got it” once again, he thought, she didn’t seem comfortable to be near him when it was closed spaces so with nothing else to do he went and sat on the kitchen table, in her line of vision and tried to relax which was both easy and hard to do. He liked being there in the same room but he didn’t want her to grow uncomfortable if he watched her but he didn’t really have anything to do or anything else he wanted to do.
“What are you doing tonight?” he ventured as she squeezed the orange
“Szechuan orange stir fry” she looked up at him noting he put his rubber band between his fingers as he raised both his arms up to tie his hair in a high ponytail; she went back to what she was doing quickly
“Chinese right?”
“Yeah –she started to mince some ginger- but we’re eating it with pasta instead of white rice” she shrugged mixing ingredients in a bowl
“Is that… sugar?” he couldn’t help but ask. Oli looked up with raised eyebrows
“Mh, it´ll be good, don’t worry” she mixed the contents and started to slice the beef and placed it in the bowl “Do you mind broccoli?” Oli looked up “it doesn’t have to have that so it´s fine if you don’t like it” she turned to boil the pasta, she´d seen he avoided saying no to food even if he didn’t like it. The man wolf grinned
“Broccoli’s fine”
“Cool”
Daniel watched her chop the vegetables and then turn to the stove checking on the pasta and fry the meat. He was sure that if he had wanted to learn the recipe from TV, not that he liked cooking, he wouldn’t have paid half of the attention she paid to Oli cooking. She was focused and relaxed doing that, even with him there. It relaxed him to focus on her and to sense how the fire and the different ingredients mixed changed the smell in the air and around Olivia. He noticed she nodded to herself when satisfied with the taste
“Smells really good” he stood up to take his plate
“Even with the sugar in” she said with humor and taking her plate she walked out but paused before exiting completely “there´s more if you want” 
“Ok, thanks” he replied and she was gone. The man wolf sighed. He did not enjoy eating alone. 



Cherished Olivia,

I am thinking of you. A lot of things have reminded me of you today, from the morning ‘till a few hours ago when I had Chinese, can you guess what the dish was? It was interesting to have themed meals. You were like one of those chefs on TV when they´re challenged to use one ingredient to make many dishes. You were successful

I know I’m imposing on you, I’m sorry about that but I really had fun with the herbs garden, it´ll be cool when you get to use them. I have to say again that you could be a better chef than Gil, aunt Leah should hire you instead (don’t tell him that, though)

Oli, I´m sorry for making you uncomfortable with my staying but I want you to know that I´d never intentionally harm you. I know I left a terrible impression that first time and as I´ve said before I truly regret that. I wish you could give me the chance to explain … there is so much I want to tell you.

Yours always,

                                                           Daniel Covin

******

A/N: ha! so there´s that! I was dying to post something and I was finally able to do it. I was thinking that I could tittle this one "Blossoms and Vanilla" but idk...

ah! I hope it wasnt such a weird post... Ale talking... that wasnt supposed to b in this one, it was something I had written but that was not going to use and then it felt like it fit 

Links:

herb garden -not exactly what he did but quite like it

hair -I couldnt help but to show you how he looked doing that lol -in my mind- 

song: I was listening to music and this one felt perfect for this one "use somebody" by kings of Leon. This one´s a cover that I like a lot.

Saku:

First of all, thank you for providing the pix for this one and also, thx for the suggestion on the last post title. 

sorry I didnt say anything about your last comment, thx for it, I was waiting for this post to say something. 

 -about your question: there´s a word missing there...haha but yeah, he´s thinking about her, he´s wishing she´d let him explain what happened that first time. Makes sense now?

-Thank you for understanding both of their povs, I also felt bad that he was locked but I also feel bad for her, I think she´s taken it pretty well haha

-The tree: ha! that was intentional haha that is why that one is visible from the window

Over the Moon: Cherished Olivia

Someone named Marcia Baldwin signed this pic. I found it online and it´s amazing and perfect for what I imagine Dani´s wolf form to be and the look in his eyes as well and I think the way this pix was made is perfect for this post.

Cherished Olivia,

                I am thinking of you, trying to imagine what you might be doing now. Probably resting, I really hope so, maybe soon you´ll be reading this letter. I am sorry to inconvenience you with it but I couldn’t find another way to reach you.

                Lately I´ve been thinking of regrets, I think I’m probably too young or too careless to have many regrets but one thing that I deeply regret is having hurt you that first time I met you, well, second time, do you remember the first time we ever saw each other? At this very moment I can see your smile in my mind. I can only hope that you let me explain one day why I did it. If you can believe in my word, I promise you that I´ll do whatever necessary to make it up to you, even if it take ´till the end of my life.

                Oli, you are a great cook. I´ve enjoyed every single meal I´ve had at your place; your left-over burritos are brilliant, I´d pay to eat those any day. I have to say though that your singing isn’t that good though. Forgive my honesty. I´ve been trying to find the songs you sung the other day, despite what I said before, they sounded calmed and nice but I don’t seem to find them anywhere, that´s most likely because I didn’t really understood a word of them.

                Olivia, you have a beautiful name, it´s nice to say it, it sounds green, the kind of green of the orange tree that we planted. I bet it´ll be awesome when the tree blossoms, it´s a great smell… I keep thinking of you.

                                                                              Yours always,

                         Daniel Covin.

Olivia had ignored the letter for three days before even attempting to look at it, then she opened the envelope but didn’t read it, it been in her mind through the day, showing itself in the unoccupied times of her day so on the fifth night, Olivia took the letter to her bedroom, closed the door as if she wanted to keep it a secret from the rest of the empty house that she was reading the man´s letter.

Once she opened it, she closed her eyes tight for a couple of seconds and then read. She frowned at the greeting but kept reading. The part about her cooking and singing had made her laugh, albeit reluctant but still real. She disliked the part about the orange blossoms, he´d mentioned he had one and apparently he liked that smell, she didn’t want to have anything in common with the man even if it was something so inconsequential. The way he signed troubled her majorly.  She didn’t want him and he was saying he was hers and in some weird way it was like she could tell he meant it, it hadn’t been for show or to flatter her, it was a fact for him. Olivia rolled her eyes at her thoughts.

Olivia was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood when she got to the end of the small letter all written in capital squared letters. She stood up and sat down, scratched her ear, put the letter away and pick it up again. No one had ever taken the time to write her anything for the sake of communicating thoughts related to her in any way. It was the first real letter she´d ever received. “Well, in this day and age writing a letter is antiquated” she said out loud and smiled shaking her head. Silly old fashioned things like that had always been favorite things in the back of her mind. She shook her head again as if sending the thoughts back to the back of her head and then tossed the letter and the envelope in a drawer, under random papers with the intention to forget all about it.

A week passed went by. What Daniel knew happened: there was no response to the letter he´d sent Olivia and though he hadn’t been expecting one he still felt some disappointment about it. He didn’t write another letter. The day Daniel showed to Olivia's door on the day prior to the full moon he didn’t see a sign of the letter; Olivia didn’t say anything about it either.

"Hello, Olivia" he greeted her with the idiotic grin he always got when he saw her, she looked beautiful in that black dress with sunflowers pattern

"Hi" she moved away opening the door for him, he'd arrived at around 3 in the afternoon again. He placed the bags of food and ingredients on the kitchen and his bag on the floor, near the bathroom door.

"Did you get the paint for the doors? -he asked not wanting to be doing nothing- I can start with the front door today" last time when he´d checked all the house for the repairs they´d agreed that she could start with the smaller and urgent. The most urgent was the roof but it was also the most expensive so she needed to start saving but in the meantime the smaller ones would be done. One of the smaller ones was fixing the doors; some that didn’t close properly, most creaked. The walls needed painting but the plaster needed to be fixed first, parts of it removed and reapplied.

"You really don’t have to do these things" Olivia looked troubled

"I don’t mind at all, I should do something since you let me stay and cook for me" he gave her reasons

"I guess..." She said but she still felt like she was taking advantage of him "ok" she said finally after some thought. This was the guy that had kidnapped her, he should be useful, make it up for what he´d done in some way. It didn’t feel entirely right but she needed help and he could do it and he was offering it, so why not? She told herself.

Daniel changed to his work clothes and started with the front door, he had to fix the creaking and clean it before painting it, still he managed to work on the kitchen door, the one that opened to the backyard and started on the folding ones that divided the kitchen from the dining room before the early dinner that they always had when he came. Olivia had made crepes, both salty and sweet. So he’d been given two different plates.  He'd brought vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and strawberries and those were the sweet crepes filling ingredients and the meat was part of the filling of the salty ones.

"You are not eating sweet crepes?" Dani asked once she came back to the kitchen to serve the other dish, she´d only taken a bowl of vanilla ice cream and had poured coke on it

"I’m allergic to strawberries" she explained

"Aw! I’m sorry. I didn’t know"

"It´s fine" she shook her head a bit as she went out of the kitchen.

When Daniel went up to the attic for the night, he noticed that once again she'd placed a clean blanket and a bowl of water; he smiled despite the pain of the first spasms that signaled the change was happening. He quickly got rid of his clothes and soon after his body started the process of shifting from human form to a wolf. Olivia didn’t shout to him to shut up that night even if he couldn’t help but sniff and scratch at the door and floor. He could smell the negative feelings towards him on her which only cause little whining noises and barking escape his control. She turned on her music and after that she fell asleep pretty quick and that was soothing to the werewolf because the smell of aggression and dislike was no longer there but the scent of his mate dreaming. He knew they were good dreams when her scent laced with happiness and peace. It lolled him to sleep.

Olivia opened the door of her attic at around seven thirty in the morning. She didn’t understand why the man didn’t use the couch to sleep but instead chose to sleep on the floor; on top of the blanket she'd left for him instead of using it to cover his naked body. She didn’t paused before opening, she shouldn´t have to, she´d excused herself but she still wished she had knock on the door before opening because even if it had been only a glance before she turned her face away with hot cheeks se still couldn’t help but notice the way the man´s skin stretched over his back muscles and how his spine marked the planes of his back. She couldn’t help but think that he had the body of someone that despite being lean could lift heavy things; someone that was active maybe that's was why... Oli groaned; cursing herself for even letting herself glance at the man's form, at this said man stirred.

"Good morning" Daniel said with a breathy deep voice that complimented nicely the beautiful smile he had. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders as he stood up

"'G'morning" she mumbled and sighed with annoyance at herself and at the situation and decided to just walk away to the kitchen. It was unlikely that he´d be waiting to attack her since he had had many opportunities already.

"Don’t like oatmeal?" Oli raised both eyebrows when she saw Daniel's disappointed face; she'd made it as he took a shower.

"Ah..." Dani didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to upset her, she laughed quietly

"It's good for your belly -she had a laugh in her voice and amusement laced in her scent- and –she stared at him with a serious face but the amusement didn’t leave her -it's all that there is for breakfast"

"Ok" he looked appalled

"There are still some strawberries and bananas in the fridge, you could eat that, make a milkshake if you really don’t like oatmeal" Oli suggested.  She hated to be forced to eat things she didn’t want when she was little so she didn’t want to do that to people. If you didn’t like something, you didn’t like it.

"I'll try this" Dani half smiled, not wanting to waste what Oli had made.

"Ok" she exited the kitchen. He ate the oatmeal; it was not that he didn’t like the taste but the texture and look of it, no matter who made it, wasn´t appealing to him.

That day Daniel fixed most of the doors and painted most of them. The one that he didn’t touch was the one in Oli's room, she'd said she'd do it herself. "It looks pretty good" Oli complimented with a smile and the sweet smell of gratitude all around her

"Good" he said. That afternoon she made cookies, peanut cookies, really good ones. He loved them

"You are a great cook!" He complimented her when he tasted them

"Thank you" she said with a tiny smile

Cherished Olivia,

Tonight I’m thinking of you again. Will you read this letter? I don’t know if you read the last one. I thought I wouldn’t want to write any more but it feels like a good way to reach you even if it doesn’t do it in the end.

                Are you cold, Oli? Joel, my brother, well, he´s actually my cousin but we´ve always been more like brothers, anyway, we talked earlier and he told me it’s windy at Woodhills tonight. I know it can get cold pretty quick in the woods. I hope you are warm, under many blankets. The temperature has dropped a little out here too, in the city, I mean, where I live or sort of live, I still consider Woodhills my home even if I spend most of my time over here because of school.

                I´m using your ribbon now, my rubber band broke, I´ll give it back next time I see you. I might get a haircut, maybe it´s time; most of the people whose opinion matter to me dislike it. I think you might be one of those who dislike it as well. I guess that makes sense, yours is really short after all, it suits you. You mentioned my dyed hair again, the truth is that I never really liked it blond, it´s silly but the guys in my family have dark hair, my two sisters do have it light, so yeah, can you see why I get it black?

                I’m procrastinating with this letter. I need to go back to my paper soon. What’s your favorite hot beverage? Random, I know, I don’t really remember what´s the proper way to write a letter. I bet I´m screwing many writing rules. Have a great week Olivia.

                                                Yours always,

                                                                      Daniel Covin

"No, I don’t dislike your hair -Oli thought as she rolled her eyes when she read Dani's letter- in fact..." She grumbled to herself and threw the paper away in the drawer. She didn´t want to admit that she liked it, it suit him. Absentmindedly she started to picture him in his natural hair color and she laughed. His dog-self had light brown fur, golden with just some sprinkles of black on top. Was that the dye?  

She had not been expecting another letter. It had been a coincidence to find it, she´d check the mailbox because it was around the time that the electricity and water bills came. The letter had been there for a few days; it´d been slightly damp and stained with the rust of the mailbox. She’d considered letting it there and pretend she´d never seen it but after a minute she’d decided to take it and get rid of it properly. She hadn’t been able to throw it away though; it had felt rude not to at least open it before but “that´s like doing what he wants” she´d thought with annoyance. For a while she´d let it on the coffee table and then moved it to the kitchen because it taunted her but then in its new location it did too. After a day or two of avoiding it, she´d taken it to her room and opened it after closing the door.

Oli lay on her bed watching the ceiling, it was old with flower patterns carved in wood painted white that now looked gray, all of it surrounded by molding with similar patterns. The words of the letter seemed to be written on her mind. It felt like the wolf-man had wanted to make each word to say so much more than it could say. “Maybe that´s just my imagination” Olivia sighed. After a few minutes she took the letter again and read it again, skimmed it, stopping for a second on the paragraph before the last, not reading the words but just seeing the strokes of ink.  He´d said before that black hair had more personality, he´d mentioned the difference between his sibling´s hair color, he´d said his brother was not his brother but his cousin, he called chief Covin, dad but Ale had said it was his uncle… it was like a puzzle. She could ask Alejandro about it, he probably knew but that might be some family business and it would be disrespectful to ask anyway and if she asked the wolf-man he might get the idea that she wanted to get to know him which she didn’t think she want. He seemed and felt harmless but you never knew with strangers but then if he stopped being a stranger and still turned out to be a bad man… that´d be something she wouldn’t forgive herself for, being too naïve. She had to be careful, she was all alone in the world, there was no one looking after her.

Olivia felt a lot like she was now a werewolf too, in the most annoying ways, although for what she´d experienced there was nothing pleasant about the whole thing, it was not that she´d been bitten and had suddenly transform into an animal; everybody –Daniel, Covin and Alejandro- had assured her that she was not in danger of being turned but she couldn’t keep that worry away, for all she knew it might be their plan. It was more than a little worrisome but worries apart, it was more annoying to be reminded that she was in the middle of a myth town where myths were true and there was nothing romantic or fairy tale-like about it. She had to live for a few days with a werewolf that kept her awake at night and that she had to feed during the day and keep occupied because he didn’t seem to like to just sit around and contemplate life. She couldn’t really complain about what he occupied himself with, it was beneficial for her and truth to be told, she didn’t mind cooking and he brought his own food, more than necessary even but that she had to do it without having agreed to it bothered her, sure she´d agreed to him staying there but only because there was the possibility of him harming someone else, she´d been under pressure and the pressure of her decision became more apparent as the moon grew. Olivia didn’t really know how it worked but what before had been a beautiful night wonder was now the bringer of a myth, an overgrown wolf with the ways of a puppy that she couldn’t trust because he was a man, some kind of human and human can show many faces but she did her best to live her life without the influence of what the moon now meant for her but the letters… those had added something… something that she couldn’t name. She hated them, she liked them, she didn’t want them, she got curious about them… Only one thing was certain, she wouldn’t respond them.

A week before the full moon another letter arrived, the two prior had arrived after the full moon, after the man had been in her place, this was one was more unexpected than the other and she´d only known it had arrived because she saw the mailman putting it in the mailbox, she´d been out, in front of the house cleaning the windows. The mailman had come to her, greeted her politely and made small talk, he was middle aged, he´d jokingly complained about the long walk he´d had to make to deliver one single letter; maybe he hadn’t been joking at all, he´d said he was glad she was there, for a second he´d thought she was one of the Belcourt ghosts and had laughed as if making a joke that only he understood. She´d taken the letter, she recognized the letter but even without that she knew who had sent it, no one else wrote her, no one ever wrote letters anymore, that part she liked, at that she was tempted to crumple the letter before opening it but curiosity won and she took it inside, went to her room as if carrying something that needed to be hidden from curious eyes that were nowhere in sight.

Cherished Olivia,

                I’m thinking of you. You´re not here yet you are a constant presence in my space. It´s almost as if you keep me company while your remind me that I am alone. Despite what does to me I wouldn’t change this feeling because that would mean not getting to meet you. I know the timing, the circumstances and my actions were all wrong. I cannot change the timing or the circumstances but I´d do anything to change my actions back then. At this point, though, that is something impossible so I can only try to make it up to you.

                I saw you yesterday. You were going out of work. I was on my way there, to the restaurant. I was on the other side of the street just turning the corner. It was lucky, to at least get to see you. I hadn’t been sent to pick up our food there for a while. Leah, my aunt, was in charge of preparing the food for our family dinner that night. She´d called home and I was the only one available. I’m sure you helped with the food we had last night, the sauce had your taste; it was great as I knew it´d be. I don’t think you see me. All I wanted was to hurry up and catch up to you but thought better of it. You wouldn’t have liked it.

                 Thank you. Thank you for everything you do for me, even if you don’t intend to do things for me I am still grateful. You’re a good person, more than that. I am certain. I only wish, if I can ask that of you, that one day you let me explain my actions and what I´ve brought to your life without your wanting part of it. Even if that day doesn’t come I am still grateful that I met you, still grateful to you.

                Oli, I hope you are resting now. In my mind it’s night time when you´ll be reading this letter, of course, in my mind you read my letters. If it´s night time as I imagine, I hope you´re having sweet and peaceful dreams. Have a greet week.

                                                                Yours always,

                                                                                Daniel Covin.

"How can he say ‘yours’ if we don’t know each other!" Oli grumbled throwing the letter in the drawer along with the other two. It was unsettling that it was night time like he´d imagined and that she had read the letters at night time. It made her feel paranoiac, that and the knowledge that he´d seen her without her seeing him but that made sense. Leah, her boss was his aunt so it was perfectly normal that he went there. Paranoia, however, was a something that ambushed her since she´d met him, she was glad that she hadn’t seen any other person of Woodhills go wolf but she often wondered who else was like that, maybe the whole town was made of people that turned to wolves but then at night, even in the full moon, she hadn’t heard that much wolf howling

The letter had felt different, urgent, it felt like it had more of him in it than the others, it felt less light and it also made her feel like he saw her like some kind of ideal person. “For all you know, wolf, I could be the hunter and not little red riding hood” she shook her head and closed the drawer clearing her mind of thoughts of moon light and wolves and long haired men with amber eyes. 

****

Another post!!!! well, it´s a special week, in my country there´s some mmm celebration, a holiday, so it feels right to post a bit more hahaha

On the scale of 1 to 10, 1 being my poor attempt at re-reading and doing the Word spell check thing as some awful proof-reading/editing and 10, the impossible, which would be actually editing, I´d say this is a 3 which in this case is a lot! I´m sure there´s a lot of mistakes, as much or more than when I got for a 1 but it´s not that that changed but the order of things, there´s stuff that was added that was not in the first draft and some that wasnt to be there until later and there was a gap that was filled so I´m pleased with myself even if it´s as bad writing as it´s always been lol 

The pix for this one, though... atm (now that I´m writing this) I havent added it bc I have two or  three pix for it but I cant decide which one to use... I´ll add the other two below this A/N, I think. 

The tittle´s something that I´m not sure about, in Word it´s "Letters" but I think it´s too simple...

Over the Moon: Pain and Pleasure

“Don’t glare at me, Covin!” Alejandro shoved Daniel away “It´s only your fault that Oli dislikes you”

“Shut up” Daniel didn’t have a witty come back this time; he hated the sound of his mate´s name in Alejandro´s voice, the familiarity with which Ale had said it.

“You screw it. I was there after you screw it” Ale shrugged with one shoulder as he shoved a couple of grapes in his mouth

“You were there… what?!” Daniel had a threatening tone and some kind of grimace in his face

“As a friend, you idiot. It´s like you don’t know girls at all anymore” Ale rolled his eyes and walked towards the dining room where Eleanor Covin, wife of chief Covin and mother of Daniel and Joel, was calling everybody, her large family. Karen Carbonell, Alejandro´s sister and Joel Covin were together; the Covin were family people, had family gatherings once almost every week. Karen was now considered family to them and Ale was like some kind of unavoidable plus, not that they had ever put it that way; they said he was family too but Ale knew better. He was just glad that his seat wasn´t close to Daniel´s, the guy had gone crazy over his major failure with Olivia and he hated everyone that Oli liked, Oli was friends with Ale which made him enemy number one for the wolf.

“Jealous idiots” Alejandro thought as he sat away from Daniel and his sister. At least Andy, Ricky and little Hope were still good company even if they were the youngest and hadn’t gone wolf yet, maybe that was why they were still good company.

On the third month since Olivia had started to let Daniel stay in her place she started to check the calendar to know when it´d be the full moon. She hated it but made an excuse to appease her mind, she didn’t want to be surprised; she wanted to know when to expect the unwanted man. At some point or another Oli found herself wondering why the man had said three days; for what she knew the moon was full only one night, and it was not like she´d ever been attentive to the moon, she supposed there was one every month but maybe the day before and after it was sort of still full and therefore its influence was still there for people like the wolf-man. When she´d found herself almost about to find information about the moon she´d scold herself for thinking about him but on Sunday afternoon Olivia went up to the attic and  brought a blanket along with a bold and a bottle of water. She´d cleaned the dusty couch, just because it was hers not because of Daniel, she´d told herself

Olivia watched the sun set on the attic stuck window and then went down to make dinner. It was really quiet, it was always really quiet in the house, there was echo, she hadn’t managed to fill all of the rooms with the few things she had, there were old rackety tables and furniture here and there but it was mostly unused and empty and there were many rooms that were empty, that only had darker stains where she supposed furniture once existed. At night it was specially quiet and dark outside. The long winding driveway that led to the place didn’t have a single light and was surrounded by trees all the way until it got to Alejandro´s home where the road continued before it connected with the main road where there were streetlights. During the day it was quite pretty but at night it had been a little bit scary especially after meeting Daniel.

“Olivia! You can´t be thinking about that man!” Oli scolded herself out loud once in bed at around ten thirty at night. She´d been wondering why he hadn´t come, she´d felt relieved and somewhat like she´d been stood up. She turned around under her blanket willing herself to fall asleep and she did, luckily sleep came easy.

An hour later Olivia woke up with a jolt as a wolf howled very close, too close, it sounded just outside of her door. She sat up turning the lights and listened, a minute or so later the howl was followed by scratching on her kitchen door, the one that led to the backyard. It was insistent, like a pet that had been left out and wanted to get inside.

Once downstairs, Oli could hear small barking sounds along with the scratching noises. She turned on the outside lights and peered outside the window and found a huge dog that she knew was a wolf and not just any kind of wolf but one with a human mind. It had open cuts on his thighs, neck and ears.

“What happened to you?!” Olivia exclaimed as she opened her door; puppy eyes was the replied she got followed by some throaty sound when the dog-wolf-man entered and limped upstairs to the attic. Olivia followed him. It sat down in the middle of the dark room making a small whine; Olivia stood on the door way not knowing what to do. After a few minutes the animal started to lick his wounds and at that she left. The bitter sweet smell of concern made the wolf look up to where his mate had disappeared and despite the stinging feeling of the cuts he went to the door which by then was locked.

In the morning when Olivia opened the attic door, there was no naked human on the floor but a very impatient wolf that limped out and away as soon as the door was opened. It was out of the kitchen door before Oli made it there. Several hours later, there was a knock on the door as Olivia prepared lunch. A guy´s head peeked inside, his long hair spilling over one shoulder; he had dirt on his cheek and twigs and leaves on his dark long hair. Olivia sighed and went for the blanket over the couch in the living room.

“Sorry” Daniel said once he entered covered by the blue blanket

“Mhh…” Olivia sighed and went back to stirring the contents of the pan not looking at him. A while later chief Covin went by and brought him clothes and advice given with good humor, even a laugh in his voice, something that Daniel didn’t appreciate but that would keep to himself.

Transformation was painful that night but Daniel knew it´d help to heal faster and without scars, the wounds were already small, of course some of them tore a little before closing again when he changed but they´d healed enough during his afternoon nap. Daniel slept on the couch in the attic; he nuzzled against the clean blanket that had the smell of sun and of Olivia´s touch.

“What happened to you?” Olivia´s scent had woken him up the next morning and he´d hastily covered with the blanket but his unhealed leg was still uncovered

“Got in a fight” Dani murmured

“Not surprising” a tinge of humor laced in her voice, it made Dani half smile.

“Is there anything I can do for you today? Something you need done?” Daniel offered that day after cleaning himself and right before she left the kitchen to have breakfast on her own. Olivia paused for a minute

“You´re injured” she said not making eye contact

“I’m fine, it´s nothing. Should I continue with the garden?” he asked, he´d notice that she hadn’t touched the garden since he´d started to turn the soil the month before

“Well… I don’t know…” she started but there was something she wanted him to help her with

“It´s ok, I can go back to that” he smiled his lopsided smile. Oli inhaled softly and patted the door with her fingers

“Maybe –she said dragging the word- you could help me to dig a hole to plant these little trees I bought last weekend? I mean, if you don’t mind” she hurried to say

“Sure, I can do that. What kind of trees are they?”

“A lemon tree and an orange tree” she said and he grinned

“There´s an orange tree near my window –he said- they blossoms smell really nice”

“So I´ve heard” she smiled politely and left

“Where do you want the trees?” Daniel asked as they both went in the backyard a while after breakfast

“I think that corner will be ok” she pointed to the  corner on her left, where there was still a part of the old fence “that way if and when the blossoms will perfume the kitchen” she chuckled, she´d be able to see the tree from the kitchen

“You want both of them there?”

“No, let´s put the other on the other corner” she looked around before replying

“Ok… er… by any chance do you have a rubber band or even a string to tie my hair –Daniel twisted his hair in some kind of bun but as soon as he let go it went down- dad didn’t bring me any”

“Long hair´s inconvenient” she commented “I’ll find something for you” she said walking up the first step back to the house and then stopped and got rid her white hairband “Does this work?”

“Ah, sure” Daniel untied the white ribbon and leaned his head a little as he lifted his hair for a pony tail

“You´re blond” Olivia commented in almost a whisper as Daniel twisted his hair. At the time he had about a centimeter of blond roots that she hadn’t notice until they were in the same level, she was on a step and his head was bow

“Yeah” he looked her way and a few loose hairs fell on his face. He´d been caught with his guard down, the ribbon that now he wore carried Olivia´s scent. He´d felt an idiotic grin on his face right before she spoke

“Why would you dye it black?”

“All my siblings have darker hair –he shrugged- it´s part of the look” he laughed quietly at himself

“Doesn’t it take time?”

“Not really, it´s quick and easy”

“You do it yourself?” she raised both eyebrows and expanded her eyes a little. He couldn’t tell if it was good or bad

“Yeah…”

“I see –she nodded slowly a couple of times not looking at him- I´ll get the trees” she hopped off the step and went to the other side of the yard. Dani sniffed the scent left behind but he couldn’t tell if she was one of those who didn´t approve of long hair and dyed hair in guys, like his parents, she probably didn’t like it, after all her own hair was one of those very short haircuts, the longest part was a bang that went from the left to the right side of her face.

Olivia stayed outside as he dug the hole, she watered the pots that she had on the opposite side and then asked to help to put the soil over the roots of the small trees, she´d said she wanted to say she at least help to plant them once they were old. When Daniel dug the other hole she went to make lemonade and she laughed a little at that since the lemon tree was the next to be planted. It was nice, Daniel thought, but at night, she still didn’t eat in the same place as him and still didn’t let him explain what happened the first time they met and later, after dinner, he was still locked in the attic.

The next day, once again, he offered his help, told Oli he could help cleaning if necessary.

“I really don’t want to use you as my handyman. I have no way to pay you for that” she´d said, he´d smiled

“Let me help, I´m imposing on you good will by staying here”

“Well… -she´d twisted her mouth- I guess that´s… true… but still… won´t it be like you´re working and I´m not paying you? And can you like do other kinds of repairs and stuff?” she’d looked up at him and felt a little uncomfortable at how close he was, not invading her personal space but closer than he´d been so far which made their height differences way more noticeable. He was really, really tall, over a head taller than she was.

“I like to do stuff like that; besides, it´ll keep me from getting bored. Also… no offense by this house really needs to be repaired” he’d looked around and she laughed despite of herself

“You think?” she shook her head and rolled her eyes and ended up laughing again “It´s a wonder that it hasn’t fallen down”

“These old houses had a good foundation. I doubt it´ll fall but it does need work on the roof, doors and windows, at least from what I´ve seen” He looked around again

“What you´ve seen is the best of the house… except the roof, I guess…”

“I could go around taking a look at the place and let you know what really needs to be repaired if you want?” He said, she lifted her eyebrows and her scent was laced with doubt “I have a part time job in construction and I´m studying mechanical engineering... those might help?” he smiled his crooked smile and now her eyes shone with surprise, the good kind.  That´s what they had done that day, go from room to room, mostly in silence, he´d moved some furniture to inspect the walls and under them, offered to restore the ones who could be repaired. He went in all the rooms except Olivia´s room.

That night was spent in similar way to the one before. Daniel still couldn’t help sniffing or scratching the floor boards even the door but Olivia didn’t shout for him to quiet down, however her scent still laced with annoyance all the while until she fell asleep, soon after that he also tried to sleep. The next morning, the last morning Daniel would be there, Olivia slept a little more. When she came up to unlock the attic door Daniel had been awake for about two hours

“Sorry” she said and with voice rough with sleep. She was flustered as if it was a bad thing to wake up after seven in the morning

“I can make breakfast if you want” Daniel offered as they went down the stairs, he was ahead, she followed still in her pajamas, something he´d never seen

“No, it´s fine” she said

“Aren’t you hungry?” Daniel inquired as she pushed him his breakfast, there was no plate for her, she was eating a banana

“No –she frowned- my stomach hurts today. I´ll be fine though”

“I could make you some tea” he wished he knew how to make her feel better, it wasn’t much but he could sense she was uncomfortable

“It´s fine –she shook her head-  ah, some of the food chief Covin brought wasn’t used. I´ll put them on a bag for you to take back”

“No, it´s fine, keep it, please” he smiled and thought she´d say no

“Ok” she shrugged and left the room. He left a little while later.

It had been two weeks after the full moon. It was close to midnight; Daniel was tossing and turning in his bed as he kept burying his nose in the blanket he´d brought from Olivia´s home. the one that she´d given him the second day in the last full moon, the one that had been on the couch downstairs. It smelled like her, she´d slept on it. It soothed him and made him feel desperate, kept him on the verge of being awake and asleep. He wished she´d let him the circumstances in which he´d made the terrible mistake of taking her to the woods thinking she´d scent him too. It comforted him that this last time he´d been at her place she´d been nicer, had shown some concern when he showed at her door hurt… She´d prepared him a blanket upstairs but she still locked him in the attic and he knew she didn’t trust him. He groaned.

“No one told me it´d be this awful” he muttered and inhaled the scent of orange blossoms and vanilla ice-cream and felt warm inside. How can it both be pain and pleasure, he thought and gagged at his thoughts, sat up and went to his desk, turned on his lamp, took a blank page from his printer and the first pen he found, took a deep breath and wrote.

****

Another TME was supposed to be posted today but there´s a part that´s been difficult for me in that chapter so I decided to go ahead and post what I do have which is this one.

I like the last thing Dani says -even if it´s something I wrote, yeah- but I think it was pretty cool haha 

I hope you werent expecting edited stuff because as you know, if you ever read any of my stuff, that never happens