Two days had passed since he called with Shantel and he tried all he could to get his mind off her. He tried all he could make sure he didn't think much about her, but the insults she laid on him gave him scar if he didn't he could ever heal from.
The only thing that managed to distract him from Shantel was his son, Tris.
It had been days since he saw him last, and his wolf was yearning to see him again. It didn't matter how hard he tried concentrating on work - his restless wolf never failed to make him feel uncomfortable.
So there he was, sitting in his car, a convenient distance away from Tris's mother's house.
His wolf had dragged him here, in case anyone asked.
He'd been there for thirty minutes, and he hadn't seen any movement from where he sat.
It was Saturday, so he thought he wouldn't spend this much time before seeing someone come out or walk in.
***
"Aunty Kayla?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Can I go out to play with my friends?" She heard Tris ask as she did the dishes.
"You know your mum gave an order to let you out of my sight, or out of this house. I think it'd be better for the both of us if we obeyed your mum"
Earlier this morning before she went to attend to something important, she confided in Kayla and talked about her fears.
Of recent, there had been too many unusual things happening in Tris's life. First of all, it was the large amount of money he brought home one day. Then it was his school calling her, telling her that Tris had just been involved in a fight. Amy remembered getting there, only to here baffling stories about a janitor.
Then it was a sudden call last week about her son getting lost. She almost had her heart ripped out of her body, if not for that fact that they found him later on.
This was all too much on Amy, and it was worse that she didn't know why. She didn't know if it was all individual coincidences, or an intentional chains of occasions that was happening for a reason. She didn't know what to expect next, or who to suspect if anything happened to him again.
That being said, she pleaded with Kayla not to allow Tris outside the house.
The chances of any strange happenings occuring again was slim with him in the house.
"But it's Saturday, and I need to play with my friends," she heard Tris's gentle voice plead with her.
This was the part she dreaded the most.
She had a soft spot for Tris.
Hell, her whole heart was a soft cloud for Tris!
She always found it hard to tell him no, even when she knew his mother would get mad at the decision.
It seemed that he knew this.
"Baby, instead of playing outside, why don't we watch anything you want, today? How about that superman movie you've been pleading to watch? Your mum's not here, so we can watch it over a plate of popcorn and Red Juice"
Tris didn't utter a word to her. He only left her side and traipsed to the living room. He found himself a space on one of the sofas and once he settled down, he stared at the TV absentmindedly.
"Oh, my heart is breaking!" She said to herself, about to cry.
She could hear her wolf yell at her for not heeding to the boy's demands.
She hated to be in this bad spot. What was she supposed to do now?!
She walked over to him and sat beside him.
"Tris?"
He didn't even look her way as he responded.
"You know what? I'll let you go"
She saw him face her, with a question mark on his face.
"I'm serious. You can go, but you can only stay out for thirty minutes. You need to be back before your momma comes back home. Deal?" She stretched her palm.
"Deal!" Tris slapped her hand with a bright smile on his face as he jumped off the couch and ran out of the house immediately.
She knew Amy would have her head for what she just did if she ever found out.
Was that even a good idea?
Why was she regretting it now?
*
Tris skidded along the street in happiness, on his way to his friends house. He was about to check out the playhouse Gideon's parents built for him.
All of a sudden, he felt a shadow behind him.
He turned to see a familiar face.
"Mr. Stranger!!" He yelled in happiness and.ran to hug.the legs of the man who snuck him out of school last week to have the fun of his life.
"Tris, my boy! How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing well, sir," he replied.
"And where are you going?"
"I want to go see my friend,"
"Do you have time for me today? I need to take you somewhere,"
"Are we going to the park again today?!" Tris eyes bubbled with excitement.
"Well, no"
And the excitement was quickly replaced by disappointment.
"Don't be too sad. We're still going to have fun,"
"Really? Where?" Tris asked in curiosity.
"First of all, I want to give you a haircut, and then we'll go fill out bellies with food"
"But I just had a haircut a few days ago"
"Well, ermm... This will be much more better. You'll have a girlfriend after you get this one?"
"Really? Okay," he shrugged.
The man took him to his car and the drove away, past Tris's regular barber to another place.
They gave him the best haircut he'd ever had and he was excited.
Although he saw them pack the hair I to a bag and give it to the man, he didn't give much thought to it. He was still excited about the haircut.
After that, they went to a big restaurant where he had everything and anything he wanted.
According to the man, it was a "buffet"
He ate until he could anymore, and he was taken back home.
The man dropped him metres away from his doorstep and he waved before driving away.
A tired and well fed Tris opened the door with the intention of going straight to bed. Unknown to him, someone was waiting for him. He went into the house, only to meet an angry face standing before him, hands on her waist in a menacing way.
Behind her was his aunt Kayla, who had a look of horror and guilt on her face.