Crossing Moon

From Aveline Erickana Ruben's diary:

28th September 2008, 10.45 PM, my bedroom window seat.

Currently listening to: "Even More Human than Human – Rob Zombie" (IPod)

It's official. Malcolm is in love with coffee. It's funny really. The moment Malcolm took the first sip on his coffee, his eyes went all glassy and he moaned this little satisfied sound which was strange to hear from a guy like him.

Carrie and I had giggled of course and he went all official with us and told us to get ready for dinner. I thought that his reaction to such a simple thing as coffee was ludicrous; it wasn't until I took a little sip from mine that I understood why the strong and intimidating Malcolm went all gooey over a cup of coffee!

Oh the taste was heaven. It wasn't anything that I had tasted before back at Star Hill Town. The taste, well, it had this strange little feeling that made me think of the pack. Carrie, on the other hand, didn't share the same feelings like I did. She was all like, it was good but not my taste.

Hello? Hello? Are you serious Ms Goody Two Shoes??

Anyway, Alven had come back from his woodsy adventure and he was all hyped up with the new territory. He even had brought back a dead deer for fun. "We'll have deer meat tonight, sis!" he said to me proudly and then smearing his blood-stained hands on my new Chanel sundress!!

How dare he?!

I growled and snarled and I shrilled, "ALVEN YOU BIG MORON! STUPID IDIOTIC MUTT!!"

He laughed hysterically of course! That stupid brother of mine!

Needless to say, what I did to him after that made me feel a whole lot better.

And Carrie was all like, "OH MY GOD, ALVEN!!!" and then rushed to his side like he was going to die.

Seriously, I'm beginning to suspect something here...

And I don't like it!

Whatever,

Avvie

From Carinelle Hynes Thorn's Diary:

25th September 2008, 11.00 PM, bedroom.

I should be asleep right now or maybe I should just go out alone and roam the stupid Rubenston forest! I don't like it here and the only reason that's keeping me rooted here is Alven!

Oh my Moon! Did I mention about Alven and Aveline? Ugh, don't let me start on what had happened before dinner the last few nights ago. I really do not understand why these two acted like such little immature children.

Oh c'mon people! Grow up please!

Alven was all being so proud for having caught the big deer he had caught and naturally, being the big brother and having that opportunity to annoy his little sister, he purposely smeared his deer-blood-stained hand onto Avvie's newly bought Chanel dress.

And can you guess what had happened?

Hell broke loose in Rubenston... that's what it was!

Aveline stood there, frozen on the floor, gaping on her dress. The stain on her dress seemed to be taunting her. She looked up to glare at him and as if it was in a slow motion scene; she gave this big shrill of utter anger, and then leaped up into the air, and her stained dress ripped open when she phased into her wolf form.

Alven, taken aback with her phasing into a wolf, took a step back and before he could even do anything, Aveline landed with her claws open onto him.

There was this ugly mean growling sound booming from the snowy white wolf clawing at Alven's human body. He was shirtless of course and that godly beauty chest was bloodied and clawed. Fresh blood flowing from his perfect chest that I think would feel warm and cosy – OH MY GOD! WHY AM I DESCRIBING HIS PERFECT CHEST AT THE TIMES LIKE THIS??

Anyway...Malcolm had come out from his office when he heard the noise. He yelled out at the two rascals in this strong voice but Aveline refused to stop. She was beyond furious.

I guess a dress matters the most to a silly girly rich girly girl.

Seriously, Avvie needs to grow up from this immaturity

It's just a stupid dress for crying out loud!!

Alven had to phase into his wolf form, or else, Aveline would have probably ripped his head off.

He growled and he leapt up to his sister. Alven, being bigger and stronger than her, naturally had overtaken her in mere seconds.

She phased back into her human form, lying there on the floor, naked, with Alven's wolf form hovering above her.

Seriously, the scene looked kind of sick to me for a minute there when Alven phased back to his naked human form too.

"I hate you, Alven," she told him, not looking at her brother who was still on top of her.

He got up in an instant of course; some of the wolf members quickly gave them robes. "Avvie, it's just a dress," he said.

But she wouldn't talk more to him as she ran up to the stairs, probably back to her room.

"Oh my God Alven!" I cried to him, running up to him and touching his bloodied cheek which was starting to heal already.

"I'm all right Carrie," he said, and then he looked at the stairway. "I really did make her mad, didn't I?"

"Ah, ignore her Alven, she'll be fine" I said to him.

"Is this how the future Alpha behaves?" Malcolm boomed again, obviously crossed with him. "All childish and immature?"

"I was just teasing her, Malcolm," Alven admitted weakly, "Which I probably shouldn't have done."

"You owe your sister an apology, Alpha Prince!" Malcolm said sternly.

"I will, and I'll buy her a new one, I promise," Alven said again as he tightened the ropes on his robe.

Oh my Moon! His chest is just so beautiful... I could just see it from that little gap on his robe.

Oh dear. I have it real bad!

With love,

Carrie.

***

"Where are the boys?" Fiorelle asked Gracielle as she sat down on her chair. She looked around, trying to see where her mate was.

"Oh well, you know how James and Jerry are with their cars," Gracielle smiled, as she poured a cup of tea for each of them. The air in the Ruben Garden was fresh and scented with flowers.

Fiorelle smiled, "You know, I've been thinking about having another baby but somehow, it doesn't seem to be the right decision for now."

Gracielle furrowed her eyebrows, "You know that it's rare for us to have more than 1 child,"

"But you did. You have two! Do you know how lonely Carrie was when she had to come back home after playing with your children?" Fiorelle stated, taking a sip from her tea.

"I'm a different case, Fiorelle," Gracielle chuckled, "I had twins remember?"

"Oh yeah, right, I forgot," Fiorelle replied back sheepishly, "Anyway, the Elders said that it's probably because of our Heat Cycle which can take up to years to restart the whole thing."

"Then just wait for the cycle," Gracielle laughed. "We literally have all the time in the world."

"Yeah I know but I feel kind of weird, to have another baby when my own daughter's already at the ripe age of mating." Fiorelle said again.

"Oh, I have a daughter too, remember? With Aveline, it feels like I have hundreds of daughters on my shoulders." Gracielle pointed out, laughing. She wondered what it would feel again like to have James's seed growing inside her but then she shook the thoughts away. She would know when her Heat Cycle starts and by then, they'll decide on whether to have another baby or just let the cycle pass by.

Fiorelle bit her lips, "Well, I think my cycle is getting near." She admitted.

"Oh, it's great then," Gracielle said sincerely, "So, there's going to be baby number 2?"

"That's the thing, well, Jerry isn't sure about having another one. He's already busy with Alpha work and you know how the alphas have to go back and forth to different countries in such a short period of time and he's worried that he would miss the baby's development and he doesn't want that to happen," Fiorelle sighed, pausing, as she stretched her fingers, "He said that we'll decide when things have settled down a bit."

"But you guys managed fine with Carrie." Gracielle pointed out.

"Yeah but then, that was before he got the load on Alpha work. There have been rumours about another wolf pack forming in the South so the Elders have been pushing him to go and investigate." Fiorelle said, her heart heavy with disappointment.

"Yeah well, James is not really concerned about the rumours but he's coming with Jerry anyway with the other two alphas," Gracielle said.

"It's funny, you know, about the rumours. A new wolf pack! Hah! Imagine that!" Fiorelle shook her head in amusement.

"Maybe it's Adrian's." Gracielle stated suddenly.

Fiorelle's eyes went wide, "Adrian?" her voice rose, shocked with her best friend's theory.

"Why are you surprised Fiorelle?" Gracielle said, leaning back to her chair, her arms folded, "He did betray your pack."

"He didn't betray us!" Fiorelle stated exasperatedly, "I made him do that! My selfishness made him lose his home and family! I'm the one to blame, Gracie! Not him!"

"But still, the idea of that new wolf pack is still relevant." Gracielle replied back.

"He can't lead a new pack, he's not an Alpha, Gracie!" Fiorelle told her, "and besides, where can he find new wolves to lead anyway? There is NO other pack than those that we already know of, Gracie! The new pack is just damn rumours!"

"There are hybrids, Fiorelle, don't forget that," Gracielle stated, "Yes, true, that we've never formed such ritual on a human but it is still possible."

Fiorelle bit her lips hard; she could feel blood in her mouth. "Adrian isn't going to attack us."

Gracielle's left eyebrow went high, "You said it, not me," she paused, "I didn't say that he was going to lead his new pack and attack us but then again, even if he is, I'm certain that he'll lose anyway. Those hybrids are nothing compared to us."

Fiorelle closed her eyes for a moment. She laid her head on to the table with both her arms folded as pillows, "Can we just talk about something else?"

Gracielle sighed, "Fiorelle, honey, we can't run away from our problems, we may hide but it will come back and haunt us," her words went deep into Fiorelle's heart and soul, stinging it like a hot iron rod, "and sometimes, it might even be worse."

***

"Don't be such a baby, Avvie," Carrie said to her as Aveline killed the engine and slammed the jeep's door. "He already apologized and gave you a new Chanel catalogue to choose from."

"Alven is a moron," Aveline stated as she pushed open the cafe's door, "And morons don't get forgiven easily."

Carinelle sighed as she followed Aveline into Wolvern Cafe, "Must we really make a pit stop here?"

"Oh c'mon Carrie, we made a deal with Malcolm remember? One Origa Coffee for every trip on his jeep." Aveline said, reminding her. They went to the counter and once again, the counter was empty.

"This place gives me the creeps Avvie." Carinelle said.

"This place or is it that old man?" Aveline pointed out.

"Both." Carinelle replied.

"Well Carrie, it's just too bad. You just have to learn to endure. Do that or ignore it." Aveline was about to press the bell but then before she could even do that. A blonde waitress came up to the counter and flashed them this cheery cheerful smile that Aveline was instantly reminded about the stupid stewardess in their aeroplane but regardless the annoying fact, Aveline smiled back anyway.

"Hi! I'm Yvainne and welcome to Wolfy Cafe!" Yvainne piped in, sincerely cheery. She had her blonde hair tight into a ponytail.

Ugh, wolfy! Lame much! Aveline thought to Carinelle who stomped her foot, forgetting for a minute that the human couldn't hear their thoughts.

Yvainne looked at them curiously but still had that smile on her face. "So, what will you have for today?"

"Just one Origa Coffee, Yvainne." Aveline said while Carinelle looked around the cafe. There wasn't a lot of customer here, which was odd, because Carinelle would have thought that this place would be buzzing with customers with their coffee drinks that Malcolm seemed to be addicted into.

Carinelle couldn't help but to wonder where that old man was. Okay, if she was being honest with herself, he wasn't that old to be qualified to call as 'old man' but he was old enough to be around her parents' age but still he had that strange little charm that seemed to drawn her into.

It was like he was hiding something.

Wasn't it weird? She knew that Aveline had felt the same way. It was as if this man exuded this aura of being at lost or perhaps, correctly described as being in a crossroads of choices. It was weird to sense such things with a complete stranger, much less a human for that matter.

The bell made that little dinging sound on the entrance door. Aveline's head automatically turned behind and bit her lips for a moment. She shifted back her attention to the waitress who was at the counter on the other side of the wall, making their order.

"Yvainne, babe, where's Dad?" Maxwell asked, going pass Aveline, not noticing her as he pulled a stool and sat down a few feet away from her.

"He's out," the waitress called Yvainne said again, still occupied with the order, "Something about picking up stuff for the cafe."

"Oh, stuff huh?" Maxwell snorted as if he knew something else. Aveline looked up at him, sensing that he didn't like that discovery. She raised her left eyebrow and thought, what was so wrong about buying groceries?

Maxwell felt like he was being watched so he looked up from his mobile phone and met gaze with Aveline. "Yes? How can I help you?" his tone was snooty and Aveline instantly hated this guy.

"Max, be nice," Yvainne said, chuckling, trying to lighten up the situation as if sensing that it could turn ugly.

But Maxwell seemed to not wanting to play nice at all. He jumped out from the stool and went forward to the cashier counter; he pulled another stool and decided to sit down since he was a lot taller from her compared to her. He rested his chin on his left hand and then he went on saying, "You're new here, girl?"

The way he asked it. Well, Aveline thought that it wasn't like a question. It was more like an accusing statement. Hah! So what if she was new in town? What's the big stuck-up brat's big problem with it?

"And why do you want to know, Max?" She said testily.

His eyes went wide for a moment but then his handsome face broke into an amused smile, "So, you know my name huh? What? Are you stalking me or something here?"

Aveline felt hugely annoyed and disgusted. Her?! Aveline Erickana Ruben stalking a useless piece of an excuse of human? AS IF! She folded her hands to her chest, "Is this how you talked to all of your customers?" she asked him, "It's a wonder this place hasn't been declared bankrupt yet."

Maxwell scoffed. "Hey, don't you go attacking on my parents' cafe," he said, "that's really childish."

"Avvie, c'mon, let it go," Carinelle said to Aveline, not wanting Aveline to lose control with her temper and went all wolfy over the human. "Our order is done." She pointed out again as Yvainne placed the order in front of them.

"Childish huh?" Aveline laughed tauntingly at him, "And what do you call yourself as, huh?"

"Ok, let's break this all up," Yvainne said, waving her arms between the two faces. She gave the order to Carinelle – well, more like, shoved the order to her. "The coffee's on the house, really, and sorry, Max's a bit of a cuckoo bird."

Carinelle pulled Aveline to her side, this time hard. "C'mon Avvie, Malcolm won't like it if he finds out that you had a brawl." She added in her thoughts, with a human! Do you really want to be sent back home before school even starts? Huh, Avvie?

That snapped Aveline right up all right. She glared at Max regardless though. "Gee, it's no wonder, you're a psycho freak." She did that flip on her hair, as if saying, 'whatever loser!' and went out with a relieved Carinelle back to the jeep.

Maxwell snorted at the departing figure of the beautiful girl. He couldn't understand why he had snapped so easily. It was as if the sight of her brought this – this ah! He couldn't describe what he was feeling but one thing for certain, he didn't want to see that new girl ever again.

Strange, it was as if there was this unknown string pulling them together and that same string was giving him this bizarre desire to dominate.

Yvainne gave a big punch on his right shoulder. "Oww, Vannie! What the hell did you do that for?" he asked.

"Moron! Why did you go attacking the girl?" she snapped at him.

"Would you believe it if I say that I don't even have a clue why?" he asked her, grinning sheepishly.

"If you do that again, I'll give you a big whack on your big thick head, you hear that Maxwell?" she said sternly, shaking her head, "You can't just go mental on people like that especially the customers!" she looked at him, "Seriously Max, sometimes, I just don't know why you have all these mood swings."

He just smiled at her. "Look, it won't happen again, Vannie."

"Well, all right but you owe that girl an apology." Yvainne said to him.

"W – what? I don't owe her anything!" He pointed out to her.

Yvainne rolled her head, "You and your male ego." she said, shaking her head in disbelieve. She gave a little scoff and then carried a tray filled with cups.

"What? Hey, what?" He asked her back, confused but she just ignored him and went to the kitchen. He shook his head, and then took a piece of croissant from the glass showcase. "Girls are just so weird," he said to himself.

Hah! Him? Maxwell Adams owed that ditz an apology? Hah, there was no way in the world that he was going to do so and besides, he didn't do anything wrong! Why would he give an apology to a rude silly proud girl like her? Hah! She didn't even know the fact that he could have squished her into a pulp if he had wanted so. He shook those thoughts away. He didn't like to remember the fact that he wasn't normal. He was a freak by nature, born into this naive world. He felt disgusted with the idea of being a part of a fantasy that others would have probably thought it as cool but not him.

No, not even close. He hated that half part of him. It wasn't normal. It wasn't real. Heck. Wasn't it supposed to stay and remained a part of fiction? That thing inside of him rebelled sometimes but his human side, oh his wonderful human self, was too strong and that anchored the monster within.

His thoughts went back to his father and he gave this seemingly hopeless sigh. Dad, I just hope you know what you're dealing with here, he thought to himself.

***

Adrian drove to a stop, looking around the area around him. Odd, he thought, did he copy the correct address? He killed the engine and then bent down to the compartment and fished out a piece of crumpled paper. He smoothened it out and reread it, "Yup, Masen Street all right, corner 5 and 6...yup, then, why..." his voice trailed out to a silence when somehow he saw a glimpse of something black running past him, there, hidden in the safety of the woods. He swallowed a bit; he couldn't help but to shudder in response. Was he going to regret the decision of coming here?

His hand went to the key ignition, opting for a second whether to back out and just followed what his son had told him before.

His forehead creased down and he gave a final look around the deserted street. There were rows of houses but those houses were long forgotten and abandoned after time. Grey dry paint peeling and none of the windows had their glass fixed. It was quiet. Too quiet for comfort to be exact, he had rolled his window down and he couldn't even hear a single chirp of a bird.

His foot on the peddle and then, at the same instance when his mind had made up to drive away and rolled his window up, a hand suddenly shot out and held it on place. He looked up, shocked.

"Don't go yet, Adrian Rolf." A voice chuckled. The man removed his hand and then bent his head down to look at him.

"Ray, was that you earlier?" Adrian's voice cracked a little.

Ray chuckled, sensing Adrian's discomfort. "Yes, that was me. I had to take precautions you see...I need to make sure that -,"