Chapter 170
Ellie's POV
"You need to get out of that room before you spontaneously combust or, worse, shift in front of Lily."
Jackson's voice was firm as he literally dragged me away from my laptop at three PM on Wednesday. Forty-eight hours. That's how long I'd been hunched over code, building encryption layers and moon-phase synchronization protocols for the werewolf dark web. My eyes felt like sandpaper, my back screamed, and according to Jackson's concerned frown, I looked like death warmed over.
"I have three modules left—"
"And I promised you I'd help code all night if you took one hour to be human." He steered me toward Blue Water Lake, his hand gentle but unyielding on my elbow. "Fresh air. Sunlight. Remember those?"
The afternoon sun hit my face, warm and almost offensive after days under fluorescent lights. Students dotted the lakeside—frisbee players laughing on the grass, couples on benches sharing earbuds. Normal college life, happening all around us while we juggled secret identities and survival.
"Ellie! Jackson!"
The shout made us both turn. Brianna Ford jogged toward us in a bright yellow CVU hoodie, her entire being radiating sunshine and joy. Behind her, Jake Morrison shuffled along in a basketball team cap, one hand clutching a paper bag from the new donut shop, the other caught firmly in Brianna's grip.
"You guys are taking a lake walk too!" Brianna beamed, slightly out of breath. "Isn't it gorgeous today?"
Jake mumbled something that might have been "hi," his face going slightly pink as Brianna squeezed his hand. He was perfectly articulate in anatomy lab, but put him next to his girlfriend and he turned into a blushing mess.
"Ellie!" Brianna released Jake long enough to give me a quick hug. "I haven't seen you for a few weeks. How's the computer project going?"
"Surviving," I managed, returning her embrace. After I'd helped expose her dress sabotage at the anniversary performance, we'd developed an easy friendship—the kind where you didn't need constant contact but genuinely smiled when you ran into each other.
"Jake, you finally left the anatomy lab?" Jackson teased, his shoulders relaxing in a way they never did around pack politics. "I thought you'd married your cadaver dissection project."
"It's... a work in progress," Jake muttered, then thrust the paper bag forward awkwardly. "Want a donut?"
"We just got these from the new place on Oak Street," Brianna added, practically bouncing. "Jake said their cinnamon rolls were the best he's ever had—even though he claimed he didn't like sweet things." She shot him an adoring look. "Now we go every Saturday morning."
"It's just... theirs are decent," Jake mumbled, ears burning redder. His gaze darted to me, then away. "You guys... uh... want one?"
I felt something twist in my chest. This. This was what normal looked like. Blushing over donut preferences. Saturday morning traditions. The biggest stress being whether your boyfriend would admit he liked cinnamon rolls.
"Thanks, but we just ate," Jackson said smoothly, sensing my shift in mood. His hand found mine, squeezing gently.
"Dude, where have you been?" Jake addressed Jackson directly, a rare burst of social initiative. "You haven't slept in the room in like... two weeks. Peter started a betting pool on whether you pitched a tent outside Ellie's building."
Jackson laughed, the sound easy and practiced. "Projects, man. Lots of late nights at the library."
Late nights at the safe house, I translated silently. Council meetings. Alpha training. Teaching me to fight.
"Oh! Speaking of weekends—" Brianna clapped her hands together. "You guys should come with us Saturday night! Oak Square Mall has this new retro arcade that just opened. They have Pac-Man and Space Invaders, all the old-school games. Jake's weirdly good at them."
Jake's eyes actually lit up. "They have... buy-one-get-one token specials on Saturday nights," he added quietly, like he'd researched this thoroughly.
"We'd love to, but..." Jackson's arm slid around my shoulders, his tone genuinely regretful. "Ellie has a huge computer project due. I promised to help test it. Might be an all-nighter situation."
I forced a smile. "Yeah, sorry. But you guys should totally go—win us some stuffed animals or something."
Brianna's face fell slightly, but she recovered fast. "Okay, school first! But we're definitely sending you pics." She turned to Jake. "Guess it's just us, babe."
Jake nodded, and I caught the flicker of disappointment in his eyes. He'd wanted friends there. Double-date fun.
They continued down the path, Brianna already chattering about which games they'd play first, Jake offering occasional soft-spoken responses. A perfectly normal couple planning a perfectly normal Saturday.
I watched them until they disappeared around the bend. Watched the way Brianna swung their joined hands. The way Jake's tension melted when she laughed.
"What are you thinking?" Jackson's voice was low, concerned.
I swallowed hard. "Just... wondering what it would be like. If we were them. If our biggest worry was whether we had enough tokens for the claw machine."
Jackson was quiet for a long moment. Then: "If we were normal, I probably never would have met you. Normal-me would've been some awkward pre-med student too scared to even talk to you."
Despite everything, I smiled. "Jake's that shy, and Brianna still hunted him down."
"Yeah, but I'm worse than Jake." Jackson turned to face me fully. "Without the pack bonds, without Miles forcing me into leadership training, I'd probably still be hiding from my own shadow. You wouldn't have looked twice."
"Maybe." I leaned against him, breathing in his familiar scent. "But we'd be at that arcade Saturday. Not worrying about full moons or Council meetings or staying conscious during transformations."
His phone buzzed. Both of us stiffened.
Miles: Council video conference tomorrow, 8 PM. Dark web update and Caleb hearing prep.
Mine followed immediately after.
Lily: Martinez demo Friday—getting nervous. Can we practice tomorrow?
Jackson and I looked at each other. The real world—both versions of it—crashing back in.
"Come on." I straightened, squaring my shoulders. "Break's over. Let's get back to work."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." I glanced once more at the spot where Brianna and Jake had stood, laughing about cinnamon rolls. "Maybe someday, after all this is over, we can have simple Saturdays too. But not yet."
Jackson nodded, understanding in his eyes. "Not yet."
We walked back toward campus, the weight settling over us again. But before we reached the dorms, I turned back one last time—watching the couples on benches, the frisbee players, the students who got to just... be.
Someday, I promised myself. When the secrets are safe and the threats are gone, maybe we'll get our arcade Saturdays too.
But first, we had a pack to protect.