I woke up alone, but I wasn't surprised. It had been about a week since the ceremony. Since then, Tony had been gone most of the day, taking calls, meeting with people, or whatever. More often than not, he dragged Matt with him for really long meetings.
“I don’t want to go!” Matt whined.
I had no idea what they were up to. I also had nothing to do. Today, I decided that I couldn't continue to just sit around and do nothing. I got dressed and left Matt’s room, heading to the little dining room they liked to use for us.
Tony looked at me as I took a seat at the table. “Morning. I expected you to still be in bed.”
Matt grinned. “Looks like we were wrong. Even only being half she can keep up.”
I sat down as Tony went back to looking at whatever he was looking at on his phone. Matt made a plate for me then slumped into his seat with a sigh.
“Do I have to go?”
“Yes you have to.”
“But I really really think that you would be better off without me. I don't know anything about money or counting or—”
“You just want to stay behind and have sex with Lucy. No.”
I took a bite of the waffle that was on my plate and looked over at Tony, but he didn’t look at me. He ate without looking at his plate and without dropping any syrup on himself.
“If I could trust you to do something useful maybe you wouldn't have to go.”
“But Commerce talks are boring. I know nothing about retail or packaging or whatever they're gonna be talking about, and I don't want to care about it either.”
Tony scoffed. “You simply don’t want to go. Don’t insult me and the education I made you get.”
I hesitated to speak. Maybe now wasn’t a good time. Matt pouted and looked miserable as he ate.
“I’m going to fall asleep. Just you watch.”
He stuffed the rest of his breakfast in his mouth. Before I could manage to say anything, Tony was finishing his breakfast and dragging Matt along with him. Matt looked so sad as they left me alone. And I sighed again.
I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. I thought about going to see if anyone needed help with anything, but I ended up not leaving the room except to eat, watching people walk around from the balcony.
When they came back later that evening, Matt pulled me down the hall to his room and into bed with him. He slid his hand under my shirt and tucked his face into my shoulder, but he didn’t try to undress me.
He let out a low rumble. “This is the only reason why I didn't just walk out of every meeting today.”
I frowned as Tony entered the room and laughed. “The reason why you didn't walk out of any meetings today was that you knew I'd pummel you if you did and restrict your access to Lucy.”
He huffed. “He’s so mean to me, Lucy.”
I smiled, warmed by their bickering.
Tony scoffed. “You act like it was so hard. You didn't have to say anything. I didn't have to say anything. She did all the talking.”
“It was still boring.” Matt sighed and cuddled closer to me. “What have you been up to, Lucy?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean nothing? You had to have been doing something all day.”
I shook my head. “I don't have anything to do.”
Matt sighed. “That’s what you should be saying. I’m glad for it. You should have nothing to do and nothing to worry about because—”
“I want something to do,” I forced out and bit my lip, waiting for one of them to say something.
Matt groaned. I looked over at Tony, who looked oddly smug.
“No, Tony, I'm not going to pay you.”
Tony pinched him. He yelped and lurched away from him.
“You are going to pay me because you lost the bet.”
Matt scowled at him. “You’re infecting her.”
“Not all of us are lazy,” Tony said. “I won fair and square. We've done it your way, now it's time to do it the right way.”
Tony sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me. “What is it that you want to do?”
I bit my lip and twiddled my thumbs. Matt took my hand and stopped me.
“Just tell us, Lucy.”
“...I want to help. I think it's the least I can do.”
Matt parked up. “You mean you'll go in my place?”
“Eventually, we’ll all go,” Tony said. “When it’s called for. Those discussions aren’t something she needs to concern herself with and there's a long path between there and now.”
Tony stroked my face. “We'll have to start with the basics.”
Matt grinned and kissed me before hopping out of bed. “I'm gonna change!”
“You should, too,” Tony said.
He helped me out of bed, led me down the hall back to my room, and pulled out a simple dress for me.
“You won't need underwear or a bra.” He paused. “Hopefully.”
He watched me change before we headed to his room so he could change into a pair of shorts. Matt met us in the hallway, and we walked down the stairs out to the back door that led into the forest. Matt seemed overjoyed, but I had no idea where we were going or what we were going to do.
“To be a good luna, you're going to have to learn to shift.”
“What do you mean?” My stomach turned. “I just thought you’d let me…. Dust some shelves or something.”
Matt snorted. “We have servants for that. You’re the luna.”
“But… I don’t know how to do anything else… I told you.”
Tony took my hand. “Paperwork can be taught. And you won’t be doing any of that anyway.”
I frowned. “What… will I be doing?”
“Playing nice with the other lunas,” Matt said. “Being social. That’s all…”
He grinned at me. “Having our kids.”
Tony shoved him. “You're only half, but there is a chance that now that you are stronger, we can see if you can shift.”
Matt grinned. “If you can shift and you're only half, imagine what you would be like if you were a full werewolf… And how much easier everything will be….”
He kept talking, but I wasn't really following what he was saying. Soon we got to a clearing, and the forest was very quiet around us.
Matt threw his shirt over his head and stripped out of his shorts. Then, white fire rippled out of his skin, and he dropped on all fours as a wolf. He nuzzled my leg. I immediately thought of that night that they turned into wolves and scared my adoptive father.
“Going from the human form to a wolf form is what we call shifting,” Tony said. “And you’re going to try.”