Page 46 of Emerald Moon
Krista bounced with them and they both laughed.
“I need to go to tell Cass, too!”
“Yeah, of course!She’s outside, like usual.Come on.”Krista stopped bouncing and took hold of Jo’s hand, dragging them out the back door and down the deck stairs towards the tree line.“She’s got a couple of favorite spots.Not even I know them all, but after the full moon, she’s usually —” Krista dropped Jo’s hand and pointed to a patch of trees in the distance.
Jo followed her finger and saw a flash of a lime green shirt.Cass was sitting down with her back against a tree, her head tilted downwards.They followed Krista, picking up the pace as their news bubbled up inside them.
She looked like she was sleeping and Jo worried about bothering her, but Krista had no such reservations.
“Hey Cass!”Krista shouted as they got closer.
Cass lifted her head, slowly blinking her eyes open.
“You sleeping?”Krista asked.
“Not anymore,” Cass replied with a yawn.“These runs take more out of me than they used to.”
“I remembered something!From the run!”Jo said, unable to keep it in any longer.“After Beta Seraphine brought me back, I was getting dressed, and I remembered chasing after Harry and Wil in a creek and I ran over to Wil and asked if it was true and it totally was.I had my first wolf memory!”
The warmth of Cass’ smile made Jo beam with pride.
“I knew it wouldn't be too far off for you.I’m so happy for you,” Cass said as she stood.She took a step closer.“Could I hug you?”
“You don’t have to ask.”
“I think I do.”
“Yeah, of course!”
Jo threw their arms open wide, ready to wrap them around Cass’ middle, the only part they could easily reach, but instead Cass swiftly lifted them up from the ground.Jo yelped as their feet dangled in the air.They held on to Cass’ shoulders, their heart beating faster from surprise, but it melted into a sweet, content feeling as Cass squeezed them tight, her cheek pressed against Jo’s shoulder.Jo looked down at the top of her head and nuzzled into her hair, comforted by the scent of Cass and the forest.
It occurred to them as they swayed from one side to another that this might be a weird thing to do with a new friend, but with Cass it felt right.
In the days that followed the full moon run, Jo felt a familiar ache in their bones.It was easy to blame it on the fatigue that all werewolves had after the full moon, but they knew better.The timing couldn’t have been worse.The wedding was the coming weekend and Jo needed to have as much of their brain working as possible to make it through the weekend.The depressive episodes weren’t as bad as they used to be now they had medication, but it still took a lot out of them, and they wanted to be there for June as much as they could be.
Jo did what they could to keep it at bay.They went for walks out in the sun despite the heat and humidity .They immersed themselves in the things that they loved — making things with Wil, reading fanfiction, being with the pack — and they focused on the parts of work they found satisfying, as well as making macarons whenever they had the time.It felt good to make something and to see the product of their hard work.
“They’re looking good,” Emmaline commented as she passed by Jo in the bakery kitchen.
“Thanks,” Jo replied, not feeling the need to deflect because they did, genuinely, look great.It was their third batch in as many days and they’d tinkered enough with their recipe over the last couple of weeks to find something closer to what Jo wanted.
“Time to put them out in those cases out front.Can’t keep letting the pack eat them all.”
Jo shook their head.“No way.Not yet.These aren’t close to what the rest of you can make.”
“That’s only because you made them.You see the imperfections.You have an image in your mind of what you want to achieve, but that’s not what everyone else sees.I’m content with what I produce for the bakery, but I still see pastry cases that aren’t quite right or buttercream that could have been better.”
Jo twisted their head in surprise, looking at Emmaline.“But everything out there looks like art you can eat!”
Emmaline puffed out a quiet laugh.“See?We see different things when we’re looking at what others create.Try to look at your work from an outsider’s point of view.What would they see?”
Jo looked at their latest batch of macarons and tried to view them like a customer would, but it was impossible to see past the cracks in some of the shells, the way the filling spilled out of some, and the fact that they all weren’t exactly the same size.“I don’t know.”
“I think they’d see something they’d want to enjoy.”
“Maybe.”Sharing with the pack was one thing.Putting their macarons out into the world was another.What if they didn’t sell?What if people made weird comments about them?
“The pack loves them.So will everyone else.I know Alpha Parisa is ready to sell them whenever you are.”
