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Jacqueline laughs. "You work in a bar, Luke. I'm not going to ask you to buy me a Ferrari. Although, telling Mark to go fuck himself while I drive past him in one sounds like a good idea."
"There will be no Ferrari and there will be no telling Mark that. Forget about him, Jacqueline."
"I can't," Jacqueline says and I note the pain in her voice. "I still think about him."
Right now, I feel like racing to her apartment and hugging her. She’s a total trainwreck and the endless insults I hurl at Mark just to make her feel good rarely works. She loves him and I hate that she’s given in to the soul-consuming illusion of love.
I don't know what it means to love. In my former pack, we were trained to respect the pack's blood ties and nothing more. Back then, I had a list of annoying wolves I would have very much loved to rip out their throats but it would be treason to kill another wolf without cause. Also, when I found my mate, the discovery wasn't founded on love. Every wolf is born to find a mate. I had found mine but she got taken away from me before I could even completely take her as mine.
"I have to go now," Jacqueline's voice pulls me out of my reverie. "Do stop by my apartment this weekend. I miss seeing that cute face of yours."
"Don't go yet," I quickly say. "I need your help."
"Ha! I knew it. You called me for a reason."
"I'm sorry, Jacqueline. But this is important."
"It's okay." Her laughter bubbles through. "I'm not angry. You can always call me whenever you need my help. That was what I told you the day you moved out, right?"
"Yes," I answer and draw in a breath. "This will sound weird but I need you to pretend you're my grandmother."
A long silence. I picture Jacqueline's face morphing into a look of disbelief while a smile of mockery stretches across her lips.
"You're joking, right?" Jacqueline asks. She’s trying hard not to laugh.
"I'm not. Look, there is this girl I met…"
"There’s a girl?" Jacqueline shrieks. "Why didn't you start with that?"
"Just a girl, Jacqueline. She’s not important but I lied to her yesterday that I have a grandmother and I'm taking her to the Strawberry Festival. She texted me this morning that…"
"You have her number?" Jacqueline interrupts me again, her voice going a range higher.
"This will be a whole lot quicker if you stop interrupting me," I say, exasperated.
"Sorry." She clears her throat. "Continue."
I wait for a few seconds, expecting her to say something again. She doesn't. So, I continue, "She is going to be at the Festival, and I don't have a grandmother. Will you be my grandmother for a few hours?"
"Oh, dear, Luke," Jacqueline tells me. "I spend hours every morning removing the strands of gray hair on my head. Then they grow back because life keeps mocking me that growing old is an inevitable journey in my life. I hate being old."
"I know. I get it." I rub my forehead, wondering who else I can call in my lone wolf world.
"Hmm. If this girl isn't important, just don't go to the Festival. Something came up. You can't show up. She can go fuck herself."
Well, I have fucked Adeline and I want to do it again. A lot.
Shaking my head, I repress a sigh at my wayward thoughts. "It's not that easy."
"It is. Go to work and come home after that. Stay in bed and binge-watch Netflix. There’s this new show about fallen angels who—"
"Jacqueline!" I growl.
I don't mean to but Jacqueline doesn't understand how important getting close to Adeline is. I need to infiltrate her pack and slaughter the murderers who killed my family.
"She is important, yeah?" she asks, as intuitive as ever, even if she doesn’t know why.
I take a deep breath. "Yes, she is."
