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Chapter Eleven
The week leading up to the full moon, I was a nervous wreck. The heart palpitations and waves of anxiety were to be expected, but with Kate’s upcoming departure hanging in the back of my mind, I had to contend with my wolf’s pining as well. My head throbbed, my heart skipped whenever someone walked behind me, and my sense of smell was so sensitive that the thought of visiting the bakery made me sick to the stomach.
Needless to say, as soon as we reached the church, I shifted my focus and dove into my work. My wolf could howl at the top of her lungs for all I cared, but as long as I concentrated on what I was doing, I’d be fine. This meant not thinking about Kate, my wolf, or how much my next shift was going to suck.
Thankfully, I made it through the morning without so much as a whimper from my wolf. However, when I stopped to check my phone, there were two messages waiting for me. The last one was from Kate.
“Hey. I just wanted to check in. You had that job at the church this morning, right?”She mumbled something under her breath, then went on.“Looks like I have someone waiting at the door. I’ll call later. Hope you’re having a good time.”
Silence followed.
I’ll call later?I wondered if she meant during lunch or once she went home.
Seeing as I still had some time before I had to go in and help my folks, I ducked under a nearby tree, pulled up Kate’s number, then hitdialbefore I could back out. My stomach churned as the phone rang on the other side. It wasn’t even eleven yet, so maybe–
“Hello?” Kate’s voice calmed the few nerves I had left. “Liv?”
“Hey. Yeah. It’s me.” I winced inwardly at how awkward I sounded then. “I got your message. Is everything okay?”
“Yup. I’m glad I caught you. Or I guess you caught me, huh?” She released a nervous laugh, then continued. “What’re you doing tonight?”
“Uh… you mean aside from taking a hot shower?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. Probably sitting in with my folks.”
“You want to go out?” There was a twinge of excitement in her voice.
Could I go out?
Glancing back at the church, it wasn’t like there was a rule saying otherwise. But ditching my folks so close to dark?
I considered Kate’s question a moment, then smiled. “Sure. I can sneak out.”
“Sneak out?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Cool. Meet you at Ben’s around eight?”
“I’ll be there.”
* * *
Ben’s had been around since before I was born, and while it might’ve looked like a normal diner to some, those of us in Oaksprings knew it for what it was. The orange walls with fake wooden panels along the bottom didn’t bother me one bit. As for Kate, on the other hand…
“Oh, wow. Nora told me this place was unique, but this is on a whole new level,” Kate said as we stood under the blast of cool air inside the doors. “It feels like we stepped back into the sixties.”
“It isn’t the best,” I admitted, “but after a while, it grows on you. I always thought it was a place for old people when I was a kid.”
