Chapter 8: Chapter 8
~Ariana's POV~
I sighed in relief at the sound of the bell, standing up I packed up my stuff and zipped up my back pack, picking up the sheet on the table, I walked to the teacher's desk and turned in my work before returning to my seat and clearing up the lab equipments I had used, once I was done, I picked up my back pack and walked out of the lab.
I headed to the parking lot, pulling out my phone and going through the missed calls, I noticed Dan's name and called back,
"hey Dan, what's up?", I said once he picked up,
"Ana hey, you done?" He asked,
"yea, just now, about getting into the car, did you need something?" I answered,
"I was wondering if you could stop by at the grocery store and get some peanut butter, we're out." he asked hopefully, I chuckled at his addiction to peanut butter .
"of course, that won't be an issue, you know what?, text me a run down of the stuffs we need, might as well go grocery shopping." I replied,
"awwwn thanks babe, I'll go check out the fridge now.", I laughed
"your welcome Dan, see you inna bit." I said before hanging up, shoving my phone into my pocket, I pulled out my car keys, unlocking my car and getting in, I turned on the ignition and pulled out the driveway heading to the store.
I got there soon enough, parking, I got out the car, turned off the ignition and got out, shutting the door. I headed inside, pulling out my phone on the way, I made a mental note of the list before putting it away, I got a cart and began pulling things off shelves, mentally ticking along the way, once I was done, I pushed the cart to the counter, ignoring the looks I was getting from the male folks, I stood off to the corner and pulled out my phone as I waited for my stuff to be bagged.
"Hey!" I heard, looking up from my phone, I raised a questioning eyebrow at the guy standing in front of me, he chuckled at my lack of response putting both hands up
"I mean no harm I swear." He promised, I chuckled slightly at his words.
"you couldn't if you tried." I replied matter of factly,
"woah, don't tell me I'm dealing with another black belt." he said backing up,
"what?, got a problem with that?" I asked
"no problems, just unpleasant and scary memories." he said shuddering slightly, I couldn't help the smile at his reaction, noticing my expression, he grinned widely and I rolled my eyes, laughing slightly.
"you're beautiful." he said suddenly and a brow went up again at that,
"I know right?" I replied with a smirk and he laughed
"A confident one?, I like, I'm Dylan, May I know your name?" He asked with a polite smile that admittedly made him look a tad bit more handsome and he originally looked quite good, cute brown hair, brown eyes, dimple kinda handsome.
"miss, your bill is $115.65." the lady at the counter said, I turned to her, handing her my debit card as a worker helped with the bags, she returned it after swiping with a smile,
"thanks for your patronage!" She said and I nodded in response.
"come on, please?" Dylan said, I walked past him without a word and I heard his sigh,
"Ariana." I said without turning back,
"A beautiful name for an equally beautiful lady, see you around Ariana." he said loudly with a poor imitation of a British accent, I laughed, walking to my car, I opened my trunk for the worker and he placed the bags inside, shutting it, I turned to him, glancing at his name tag, I smiled
"Thanks Jake." I said gratefully, he looked down blushing,
"you're welcome." I chuckled softly at him
"a blush, how cute!" I replied teasingly and his face turned a deeper shade of red, he scampered away muttering stuffs about having work to do, I laughed softly, shaking my head in amusement, I got into the car and drove home.
"Dan!" I yelled as I got out the car, he rushed out the house, running to me, his eyes flashing round, as if checking for danger,
"are you okay?" he asked worriedly and I stared at him confused,
"of course I am, I just wanted you to help with the bags." he didn't look assured,
"Dan, chill, I'm fine, what happened, what has you so spooked?" I asked softly, he sighed,
"Ana, we have some people over, people from our pack and they might not react kindly to you." he said
"me? Why not? I don't even know them." I said in confusion, he sighed again grabbing my hand,
"I don't know, the were community is a conservative one, their existence has always been kept a secret from humans, for important reasons of which I and Mia informed you earlier, we trust you and we know you'd never reveal us but our pack might not see it that way, whatever you do Ana, please don't let it slip that you know of our existence." he said pleadingly
"Interesting." we both heard, Dan spun around immediately, blocking me from the view of whoever had said that, I couldn't see who it was exactly or what he looked like but from the voice, it was certainly a he, or they considering I noticed two pairs of booted foots, I tried moving out but Dan growled lowly and I knew his wolf was close to the surface, he probably felt I was in danger, I decided to stay still for his benefit,
"keeping secrets from us now aren't you Dante?" the same voice asked, his tone sounding annoyed.
"Seems being away from the pack didn't do you both much good after all." The other said as Mia walked into the scene, looking around quickly, she got a grasp on the situation and rushed to Dan's side, shielding me,
"Back off Caine!" she snapped threateningly,
"Seriously Mia? Some distance away from your friends for a while and you're threatening us now?!" the other guy who wasn't Caine said,
"we mean no harm Grey, just don't ask about this please." Mia answered with a sigh,
"we wouldn't if we could Mia, you know that, we wouldn't want to harm someone important to a friend but this affects the whole pack, move aside and let us speak with the human!" Caine guy ordered in a bossy tone.
'human? who the fuck was he addressing with such a tone',
"The name's Ariana, Mr Caine, not human and watch the tone." I said angrily pushing out from behind Mia and Dan, the moment I got a good view of them, I felt like moving back to my previous spot.
'damn, they were huge, now I wasn't by any means weak, I was an African woman after all but the one thing growing up in Africa taught me was how to pick my battles and I sure as hell couldn't win this, I realized then I should've sized up the opponent before letting my temper run free, there were some people you just shouldn't get angry with, If you loved your life that is.
I sighed as I noticed that the step I had taken had put a bit of distance between I and the twins and brought me a step closer to the hulks, as much as I wanted to, my pride would never let me step back, I heard a growl and looked up, noticing the menacing look on their faces, I groaned inwardly,
'they just had to be wolves didn't they ' I thought to myself..
"it'd be in your best Interest you mind how you speak to us human." Wolf Caine said with a growl, despite my inner hesitations, I put on a deadly glare, staring them down.
'you're so gonna die!' I thought to myself, I noticed Mia and Dan move closer to me and I sighed in relief, my death glare intensifying,
"or what?" I asked, 'or they'll eat you stupid' I answered within me but my expression didn't change, they both stared at me for a while, to my surprise and relief, their expressions softened and wolf Caine even let out a soft laugh while wolf Grey looked at me in amusement,
"You're one lucky woman, miss, somehow my wolf Aaron seems really hesitant to offend you, I don't know how you did it but you have his respect and for that you've earned mine, my name is Caine Aaron Black and I'm the Beta of Crescent Moon Pack, where those two traitors come from." he said smiling and I gave him a weird look,
"I'm sure you must be weirded out, Caine is strange like that, I'm perfectly normal though and I believe we'll get along just fine, I'm Grey, but you already know that, my wolf's Donovan and he thinks you're awesome too!" Grey said excitedly, a hyper wolf, how fun I thought sarcastically.
"so you're Grey Donovan.....?" I had noticed their wolf's names doubled as their middle names, the same way it was with Mia and Ashley her wolf and Dan and Ashton his wolf making them Mia Ashley Stone and Dante Ashton Stone respectively,
"Grey Donovan Hunt, third in command of Crescent Moon, pleasure making your acquaintance." he said politely, stretching a hand out to me, grabbing his hand, I gave it a firm shake.
"I'd say same here, but then I'd be lying, I'm actually still deciding if this meeting is a pleasure or not, cause so far it's been a bit.... intense." I replied with a shrug, they all laughed at my words and I smiled,
"Pardon our earlier actions, we don't take too kindly to strangers." Cain explained,
"Dan informed me, it's fine.", I replied,
"maybe we should go in and discuss this situation?" Dan suggested and we all agreed, heading into the apartment, we settled in the living room,
"so I take it my knowledge of your existence is the problem here, despite the fact that I wasn't by any means interested in gaining this knowledge before I did, now that y'all know I know and are adamant on not keeping it between us, what exactly happens from here?" I asked curiously, Cain chuckled lightly at my words.
"well, first of, I'd like you to know that if it was within my power I'd keep your secret but it's not, your knowledge affects the whole supernatural community, now I'm convinced you wouldn't reveal this knowledge but I'm not the only one that needs convincing." he explained,
"yeah, on a normal, if we wanted to handle it between us, the best option would be to get someone to wipe your memories ..." Grey continued but I cut him off mid sentence
"excuse me! wipe whose memories?, Mine?, I don't think I'm interested in being involved in whatever that entails." I said seriously,
"we understand, which is why, the next option would be you meeting the Alpha and perhaps convincing him you wouldn't spill, this would let you keep your memories and with the Alpha's backing and influence you stand a good chance against the rest of the supernatural community.", Caine said,
"when do we meet this Alpha?" I asked without hesitation and they all laughed.
"well, the Alpha's schedule is quite tight, but there's this gathering coming up on Saturday, the day after tomorrow between our pack and the Blood Shadow Pride, they're a pride of Lions, the strongest Pride of Lions actually, we're a powerful pack but they're admittedly a step ahead of us in all respects, in short apart from us, they're the other big deal around here, it's actually a pretty good opportunity for you because if you can meet the leader of the pride and convince him as well, well you don't just stand a good chance, it's a done deal and all odds are in your favor, I think I could get you an invite to the party, that's if your willing." Caine informed me,
"Party it is." I said with certainty,
"Are you sure, Cain may not have explained the dangers in this, you'd be the only human, in a hall filled with wolves and Lions, if things don't turn out well, there's no going back for you, you automatically loose the element of choice and whatever the Alpha's decide is how it's gonna go down, are you sure just wiping your memories isn't a better idea?" Grey asked concerned, I turned to him with a glare, I understood his concerns but messing with my memories didn't sound like a better option to me, I sighed, softening my features and giving him a reassuring smile.
"I understand, I want it this way, it might sound like a better option to you but it's not to me, my memories are mine and I want to keep them, I understand keeping your existence a secret is important but to me, my memories are importanter." I said with a smirk, they all chuckled, Cain and Grey left soon after, and we remained in the living room, watching a show.
"We should get ready for a party then." Mia said with excitement, Dan and I groaned in dread before I recalled something.
"the groceries...." I began,
"my peanut butter!!" Dan cut me off with a yell running out to the garage.