Someone definitely didn’t want me to meet my Xander. That was the only explanation. I’d bet it was Robert. He was the worst. You’d think people wouldn’t listen to him though. We had a history of disliking each other. He was the one with the problem though, not me. I just defended myself from him and annoying Charline. She was SO obnoxious that even ROBERT thought so.
Sharon tugged my hair asking, “Where did you go?” I shrugged saying, “No where… just thinking about how people don’t like me.” She knelt down, “Everyone likes you, Ladybug.” It was crazy she believed that. She couldn’t lie since she had Fairy blood. It was obvious people didn’t like me… especially Robert.
Though I stopped telling them when he bothered me. So, maybe she did believe that. Well, she had to believe it. Obviously….the whole can’t lie thing. We waited and chatted outside for over an hour before my dad came back out. He knelt down and picked me up and squeezed me so tight it was hard to breathe.
I whispered, “Daddy.” He pulled back, “You’ll never have to see him again.” That definitely meant the teacher got fired, butit could mean he killed him. I still didn’t get what happened. He put me in his SUV, and we drove away.
I asked, “Did I do something wrong?” He answered, “No, you did absolutely nothing wrong. That man will never be near you or another pup.” I questioned, “Is he dead?” He gripped the wheel hard before he answered, “No, he’s alive.” Huh. I definitely thought given how he squeezed the wheel the teacher was dead.
Humans would consider us over aggressive, but we lived by a different way of life. Plus, ya know… they were human, and we weren’t. We were supernatural’s and it was still very much a different version of justice we lived by.
Humans had to wait a very long time for justice with the court system. I felt sad for them with that. Even if we waited for the Werewolf or Supernatural Council to render a verdict, it was swift. Sometimes Human cases went on for years.
When we got home my brothers were outside waiting with my mom. She urged, “Hurry up and pack, Ladybug.” I quickly ran inside, not mentioning I was in fact packed. I went and checked my portfolio. I’d had a massive cash influx from a stock when I’d first started everything. I traded some and bought another startup company’s stock that I saw going places.
Prince Gunner recommended real estate purchases, but I hadn’t done that yet. I checked my boards to see if he’d put out another paper. He was my hacking and computer skills mentor… he just had no idea that he was.
Which was totally a thing in my head… but probably not really. He hadn’t put out a paper, but my Xander’s dad did. I quickly downloaded his latest paper and noted King Aiden Holloran, my Xander’s Uncle, had put out another paper one second before Jared popped into my room.
Jared winked at me, “Do you have my paper I gave you to proof?” I handed him his research paper. He took and snorted,“You changed the entire paper I gave you. You were just supposed to edit it.” I frowned, “I did… I mean… it’s just that the parameters could be expanded and far more interes…”
He cut me off, “I believe you.” He conjured a duffle bag of books from Faerie. He winked, “I went to a new section for you this time.” I grinned and gave him a hug, “Thanks, Jared.” We’d had this deal since I was two. The first book he’d given me was a Fealish dictionary and we went up from there. I’d learned for my Xander.
My mom called, “Ten minutes, Ladybug.” Jared winked at me then popped out. I pulled out my packed suitcase from under my bed and my backpack. I put a few of the books from Jared’s duffle back into them and unplugged my tablet that had the two new downloaded papers ready to view. I pulled out my Xander wolf and put him under my arm and smiled at him remembering the day I got him.
Flashback
Melanie was so excited. I’d convinced my mom that I wanted to go to the toy store. I’d earned my allowance from my chores, and I knew what I wanted. I felt a little bad… I had kind of tricked Elise… but she didn’t know.
So, that was ok. I hoped… it seemed ok. Ever since I could remember, I knew Xander was mine. Now, I knew what his wolf, Oden, looked like because she told me. I hadn’t met my Xander yet, so I wanted something to remind him of me.
I loved stuffed animals, so we were heading to the big store around here that carried all a bunch of toys and stuffed animals. My mom asked, “Are you sure you want to spend your allowance?” People would’ve considered me young for one if they knew how old I was.
I was three and I was certain people didn’t think I could hear them whispering that I was genius pup like my dad. That mademe want to impress them even more. I wanted to be just like my dad. I knew that if I lived in a different realm, I’d probably already be working my way through high school level classes.
I could already speak three languages… but… well… no one knew that. Except Jared. Well, he knew I could speak two. English and Fealish. I just also knew Latin because of my Xander. He spoke all three so I wanted to as well.
My mom parked the car, and I scrambled out from the back. She laughed, “The store isn’t going anywhere, Ladybug.” Yeah, well she hadn’t eaten the mom monster cookies yet today, so I needed to get this done.
I hated those cookies because she ate them, then never believed what I said. I didn’t trust the lady who delivered them, but she was friends with my mom…. I guess. Mom always said that when I told her she was shifty.
I’d get in trouble if I said it after she’d had a cookie that evil lady brought. I’d tracked them back to the grocery store. The whole pack raved about them, and sadly I couldn’t prove they were evil. I was hoping I could when I got older. Plus, she clearly wasn’t my mommy’s friend. They were acquaintances at best. Mom never hung out with her or went to the allies day with her.
I couldn’t wait until I got to go those. Xander’s mom hosted them rotating through several realms, and they all whispered about how much fun they were. Elise got to go since she was EJ’s. I was Xander’s but I was the only one who knew that.
When I was older, I would get to go. It was probably how I’d meet Xander at this point. I blamed Robert and the evil cookie delivery lady. It was definitely their fault. Robert was a pup in my pack, but he eyed me weirdly and said mean things to me.
He liked Elise and was mad I’d told him she was EJ’s. I warned him he’d better leave her alone. He made fun of me because I didn’t get all the words right. It annoyed me that I could read all the words but somehow, they didn’t come outright. I sounded better than other pups my age, but I could think all the words they just came out wrong.
My mom took my hand, and we walked into the store. I went over to the stuffed animal section; they had a massive wolf one. The humans thought they were just popular in this area, and had no idea they were so popular because pups wanted wolves that they thought would like them one day or their parents’ wolves.
My mom cooed, “Awww, this looks just like Pepper. How about him?” She held him up and I shook my head continuing to go through the bin. She chuckled, “You seem to be on a mission.” I nodded and kept going.
She gasped, “This one could be what your wolf will look like.” It was a brown wolf with little white spots on it but I shook my head. Although, she was right. It probably was what my wolf would look like.
She snorted, “Fine, he’s a light brown one. I just think my Warrior blood will get in your wolf, and you’ll have a white paws or a white spot.”
Warriors often had white in their coats. The only ones who didn’t were Alpha bloods, even if there was Warrior blood in their DNA. Except my Xander. He had a white underbelly and paws. He was special because he was an Alpha Enforcer, and he was poised to be the strongest one ever. I’d tell people he would be, but they wouldn’t believe me.
