32

Outside my window, the rising sun put me in a slightly better mood, although I still felt torn. I no longer knew what to do next, how to continue living. This was all getting on my nerves so much, but I didn't want to freak out for fear I'd transform again out of sheer anger. So I lay there in my soft bed and accepted the current state. I had no other choice.

I rose slowly, pushing aside the warm blanket to stand and stretch. My bones and muscles felt tired, possibly an after-effect of the transformation. Looking out the window, I ran to my dresser and pulled out clean underwear, my red blouse and a pair of black jeans to change after I drew the white curtains.

Before leaving my room, I tied my hair in a high ponytail and took a deep breath. I knew I had to apologize, it just wasn't as easy as I thought. After all, she had fooled me and brought me here, knowing I would probably have to stay forever.

I padded down the stairs carefully and looked through the kitchen door, where my grandma was standing with her back to me, stirring her coffee. "Good morning," I greeted her and moved to her side, causing her to turn to me. "Good morning," she replied, pouring coffee into one of the empty cups.

"Chiara, it does-" "No, you don't have to. It's okay," I interrupted, thinking about her crying face from the day before, which showed me exactly how sorry she was. "So... what are you up to today?" She looked like she didn't know how to deal with me and asked this question very carefully, after which I took her hand and smiled to make her feel good.

"I don't know yet, but I wanted to see Ludwig first." "Don't you want to eat anything?" "No, I'll eat on the go." She nodded at me as I grabbed my cup to take a few sips and then left the kitchen to put on my shoes in the hallway.

"I love you, Chiara," she murmured standing in the doorway and I hugged her lovingly. I knew why she had kept everything from me and I was struggling enough with myself to be mad at others. "Iyou too."

I broke away from her with a smile and then left the house to finally confront the blonde. Even though so much had changed since our last meeting, there was still a lot I wanted to talk to him about.

The sun was shining brightly and made my skin feel nice and it was kind of amusing that I couldn't tell if it was warm or cold anymore. I couldn't care less since my transformation. I would never leave a jacket anywhere again because I didn't need one anymore, which made me wonder why Chace and Jayden always wore jackets, but I shook off the thought and just focused on the trail.

Arrived on Ludwigs Strasse, everything looked even more beautiful in the sunlight. One could live a peaceful life here, with nice neighbors and playing children. The expensive cars were shiny and the front yards were all freshly mowed.

I could have stared at this view for hours, but decided to walk to his house and, after a moment's hesitation, rang the bell. After a long wait he didn't open the door again, which made me knock loudly on the door and lo and behold, I heard footsteps from inside.

"What are you doing here?" the blond beau asked me with only a towel tied around his waist. His hair was wet and the water dripped onto his trembling chest.

I looked down, embarrassed, trying not to let my shame show. "I wanted to talk to you. My grandma told me that you rang my bell," I stuttered, looking up into his eyes again.

"Wait a minute. I'm going to get dressed," he smiled and ran up the stairs behind him. I peered through the door curiously, but it looked the same as always, so I turned to face the street and ran out of the shade to let the sun shine on my face again.

"So, shall we go for a walk?" He pulled the door shut behind him and came to me on the curb. I eyed his black slacks and red linen shirt and noticed that we looked like we had colluded in our choice of clothes.

"Actually, I wanted to invite you to dinner," I told him and he nodded happily. "Sure, I know a very good baker," he explained to me, which made me laugh. "There's not really a lot of choice here."

We walked down the street together and left the beautiful area to arrive at the market square after a while of silence. "What do you want?" he asked me and I curiously looked at the little baker's selection. "A pretzel," I replied, and he turned to the chubby salesman, who had conspicuously red hair.

"Here," he handed me my pretzel and we strolled across the market square over to a small fountain to sit on the edge of it. "You kissed me," I broke the resulting silence and gave him a reproachful look, whereupon he turned to me.

"Chiara, I'm so sorry. I actually stay away from women, but with you. You were somehow different and I couldn't control myself for a moment." I watched him closely and could see that he was really sorry. I had already received two apologies that day and I wanted to accept both of them.

"It's okay. Stuff like that can happen," I replied, breaking my gaze from his to bite into the warm pretzel. "Is everything alright between us then?" he asked and I nodded to him silently so that he smiled and turned to his roll.

"Who was the redhead?" I blurted out, causing him to look at me in confusion and then roll his eyes. "A girl who's been after me for too long." He grinned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Some women want me so badly that they don't care about lost time, but I don't go into it."

I had to shake my head laughing. "I didn't know you could be conceited too." "Only sometimes, and that's just for fun."

I smiled, but I still had a question. "Can you steal years from a she-wolf too?" I asked him nervously, biting my lip. "No, I can't," he suddenly beamed, which made me smile in amusement as well.

We sat by this fountain for a while, enjoying the quiet while we kept glancing at each other and the sun cheering us up. Finally a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

"What do you think about going to the Wialtrama tonight?" he asked me and I looked at him in horror. "You really want to go there?" I looked at him questioningly and noticed how sad he suddenly seemed.

"Well, there's no question of wanting to. Lou isn't feeling well. She drinks a lot and really messes up. I'm still a guardian angel and I thought it would be good for her to see you." He shrugged and I felt the anger surge up inside me.

"We can go to her too? Why should we go to this shithole for that?" I asked after I had calmed down a bit. "She hasn't been home for days. No one but the pack knows where she is at lunchtime and they're unlikely to tell us." "They won't either, because they're all selfish," I hissed, rolling my eyes in annoyance.

"Fine, but you don't leave me alone for a second! I'm a wolf now and strong enough to take on you if I do," I grinned at him, but inside I suffered with the brown-haired woman whose fate weighed on me. "I promise! Do you want me to pick you up?" "No, we'll meet before that."

He got up and helped me up by the hand, causing us to stand so close for a moment that my heart skipped. Our eyes met while everything else around me blurred. "Well, see you tonight," he whispered, stroking my cheek. "Until this evening."

The blonde broke away from me and I watched him walk across the market square and turn around to me smiling again and again until he disappeared into a side street. I stood there for a while and shone brighter than the sun. His closeness was incredibly familiar and I felt so comfortable with him that I could hardly imagine what it would be like here without him.

"You didn't even bring me a pretzel." I turned in shock and eyed Ethan, who was sitting topless and wearing only sweatpants where I was sitting before. "And you run out of money for decent clothes?" I shot back at him annoyed, causing him to laugh out loud and squint at me in amusement.

"What's going on there is none of my business, but it won't work." He leaned forward and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from which he took one and lit it. "Yes, you're right, it's none of your business."

I wanted to pass him, but he got up in a flash and grabbed my arm roughly to push my blouse aside. My pulse quickened and I couldn't control my breathing. "Do you know what that is?" he asked, pointing to my marker and then dragging on his cigarette. "It's a sign that you belong to someone. You're not destined to be happy with anyone else. But go ahead and try it, it'll be fun watching your house of cards fall down."

He let go of me and grinned at me coldly. "Actually, I would punch you, but your father does that already!" I glared at him and saw how horrified he was at what I had just said to him, but I didn't care. I turned away from him and made my way home. There were more important things that day than messing around with imaginary bullies.

When I got home I helped my grandma a little around the house, cleaned my room and watched TV with her until it was time to get ready.

I chose a white top and blue jeans to disappear into the bathroom and take a long shower. The water felt so nice that I didn't really want to get out, but I had to and reluctantly got out of the shower stall after the shampoo had drained from my hair and body down the drain.

I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to bring out the best in my looks. I made up my eyes discreetly, applied lipstick and blow-dried my hair with a round brush so that it fell slightly wavy. All just to please him.

"You look pretty," my grandmother smiled at me when I entered the living room and only when I looked over to her on the couch did I recognize Rudi next to her, which made me totally uncomfortable. "Hello Rudi," I breathed softly and then stood in front of my grandma without paying any more attention to him. "I have a question," I informed her, seeing her curiosity. "Then feel free to ask."

She leaned forward and gave me an interested look while I started to grin. "How does alcohol affect me? Well, I mean now that I'm kind of different." I noticed Rudi's smile and my grandmother couldn't help but giggle. "It works, but you'll have to drink some."

I nodded my thanks to her and said goodbye to both of them to make my own way to the Wialtrama. The hope that I could help Lou somehow drove me to run faster and I was already standing in front of the club, but unfortunately Ludwig wasn't there yet, so I waited leaning against a wall and looked at the women very closely, full of anticipation entered the club.