Matt
“How long are we staying here?” I asked.
It wasn’t like Tony to want to stay in the human world long. Let alone at this house, and I missed the scent of the forest around the pack estate.
“A month,” he said as we waited for Lucy to come out of the bathroom. “She needs to eat more.”
I nodded. “Fair. Do you think she’ll relax a bit?”
“She’s not going to have much choice.”
I scoffed. “Do you have to be like that?”
Lucy came out, silent and looking at us as if we would lunge across the room and tackle her.
“Dinner,” Tony said, gesturing to the tray on the cart. “Get back in bed.”
She ducked her head. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she scurried across the room. She climbed back onto the bed. Before she could reach for the tray, Tony had uncovered it and set it over her lap.
“The doctor says you’re underweight,” Tony said. “You’re going to be eating three meals a day at least from now on.”
She looked down at the tray. “What… is this?”
“Steak and potatoes,” Matt said. “And spinach. Something about being healthy?”
I shrugged. “I hate spinach, personally. Everyone should, really.”
She blinked at me.
“She’s only half,” Tony said. “We can survive on meat alone, but she can’t.”
She glanced between the two of us, then dropped her gaze to the plate.
“Eat,” Tony said and settled on the other side of her. “We have things to talk about, and I’d rather do it now.”
She picked up her fork and stuck it into the mashed potatoes before bringing it to her mouth. She looked at us as if we were going to eat her.
Tony sighed. “What do you know about your parents?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
Tony set his jaw, and I shook my head.
“I’m taking over now because you can’t tell a good story without getting growly, T’.” I pat her leg. “We told you we’re werewolves. You’re half. There are things you need to understand about our world before we take you back to the pack. Thousands of years ago, the Old Moon Goddess passed away.”
Her brow furrowed. She looked like she wanted to ask a question, but she just ate more mashed potatoes.
I continued. “When she was alive, we were one large pack, but when she died, we split up. Currently, there are the Black Moon, Blood Moon, and Blue Moon packs. The Blue Moon Pack is the most powerful.”
She blinked and had a bit of spinach. I couldn’t tell if she liked it or not, but she kept eating.
“Twenty years ago, the Blue Moon pack split, forming the Blue and White Moon packs. The White Moon pack was the weaker of the two, and the Blood Moon pack took advantage of this. They attacked them and stole the power of the White Moon pack.”
Her brow furrowed more like she had more questions. She looked as if she didn’t believe a word I was saying, but she said nothing. Finally, she stuck her fork in the steak and tried to pick it up whole.
Tony growled and took the fork from her. “Don’t you know how to cut a steak?”
He cut it for her into multiple pieces as she shook her head.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you mean? You don’t know how to use a knife?”
She shook her head.
His eye twitched, and I smiled brightly. “Plenty of time to learn! We eat a lot of steaks around here. Probably why you’re so skinny, not eating enough meat… In any case, the White Moon Pack was destroyed, and the only princess of the White Moon King was lost in the human world.”
Tony gave her fork back, and while she started eating the pieces of steak, she still looked confused.
“Do you have questions?”
She shook her head and kept eating. Then, Tony’s phone rang, and he left.
Tony
After a week of feeding her three meals a day, the doctor said she’d recovered enough strength to at least walk around for a little bit. She was still underweight, but the shock had eased.
“We’re going shopping,” I said, entering her room. She hadn’t moved from where I’d left her that morning. Matt was lounging in bed beside her, playing with the short curls at the nape of her neck.
When is it going to grow? I heard him whining through our bond.
Matt popped up, his eyes sparkling. “Yes!”
I placed the bag of clothes I had picked up for her at the foot of the bed.
“There are shoes inside. Go get ready.”
She said nothing as she scooted out of bed, took the bag, and went to the bathroom.
“Still not talking?” I asked.
Matt shrugged. “I haven’t gotten her to laugh either.”
“You’re not that funny.”
She came out a little while later. The jeans looked a bit too big on her, as did the shirt, but the shoes seemed to fit just fine.
I hoped that we’d have to take her shopping sooner than later. She said nothing, sitting in between us as we rode to the nearby mall. Her eyes looked up at the building in wonder.
“You recognize this place,” I said, eyeing her. “You’ve been here before?”
She shook her head and said nothing. I didn’t have the patience to be gentle about asking her, so I let Matt take her hand and lead her into the store.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I think you’ll look great in….”
I didn’t pay attention to what he said so much as to how she acted. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t hesitate to try on whatever he gave her. She didn’t even seem to have a preference, just going meekly along with whatever.
We were waiting for her to come out of the dressing room when I heard a shrill voice.
“Lucy?” A woman asked and started laughing. “Why would they ever let trash like you into this mall?”
Matt stood just as I started crossing the shop. There was a large man standing beside the woman.
The man reached for Lucy, and before he could touch her, I grabbed his arm, twisted it until it cracked, and he cried out, dropping to his knees.
“He looks familiar,” Matt said absently, then looked at Lucy. “Who are these people to you?”
Lucy dropped her gaze. Her lips trembled, but she said nothing.
I twisted the man’s arm harder. “Who are you, and how do you know Lucy?”
“I-I don’t! S-She knows her!”
I turned my gaze on the woman who stared between me and Matt, part in fear and part in desire.
“Talk.”
“I-I knew her school–a long time ago.”
I glanced at Lucy and then looked back at her. “The next time you see her, leave the building.”
Her eyes widened as I let go of the man’s hand.
“Get out of my sight.”
He scrambled to his feet, and they both dashed out the door.