To the Wolves

Chapter 41

Victor stood in the middle of the pack as he guided everyone to carry out the task at hand. There had been two deaths of the people who had gotten caught up in Dino's spell, and a lot of destruction that followed had to be reversed. In addition, there were bodies of Mico, Dino, the wolves of Ethan's pack, and some of Mico's members who had died trying to save him.

When Victor was ordering someone to carry the deceased to the burial ground, an old man walked up to him.

"Thank you," he said, taking Victor's hands in his. "Thank you for everything you have done for this pack."

Victor stood awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.

"You don't need to thank me, sir," Victor said. "I did not do anything."

"No, you have saved us," the old man contradicted. "And to think that we ever doubted you! It was wrong. It was very wrong of us to put our trust in Mico. We should have never let you go like that." The man shook his head.

"I am here now," Victor simply said.

The old man smiled and left to go back into his home, leaving Victor to resume the tasks.

As promised, Aubrey had returned the bodies of the wolves belonging to the pack and for the next few days, Victor was occupied with getting the pack back on its feet.

Aubrey did the same for her pack, now having gained the respect and acceptance from her members after eliminated their biggest threat.

After a few days of work, Victor ended up in the library looking at some papers in the afternoon. Lillian knocked on the door before walking in without waiting for a confirmation.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at him standing behind the desk.

"We need to cut expenses. We also need to increase labor," Victor said, ruffling through the papers.

"You're getting too caught up in this," she said. "I don't like it. You are scaring me."

Victor looked at her confusedly.

"How is this scaring you?" he asked.

"I'm starting to think that you might want to stay here," she said softly.

"Where else would we go?" he said pointing the obvious, "this is our home. I can't leave now. Not while the pack needs me the most."

"But we have a good life in the human world," she insisted.

"Do we? Can you honestly say you love living there? That you never miss being with your own kind?"

Lillian stood silent, knowing that he was right.

"All I know is... I cannot live here," she said before leaving through the door.


***


The thin white curtains blew due to the wind causing a glimmer of sunlight to enter the room while Ethan remained busy with cleaning and packing up some of his things.


He picked up the books from the shelf one by one and arranged them neatly in a cardboard box labeled 'storage'. Picking up his copy of the play 'Waiting for Godot', he put it in the box, thinking he didn't need it anymore.

Leaving the box on his desk, he moved towards the bed and picked up the wrapped gift. He looked at it for a second and then placed it in the upper drawer of the desk. Coming back to the bed, he started dusting off the corner of the sheet when Olivia suddenly rushed into the room.

Looking at her he murmured, "I'm getting a deja vu."

She approached with excitement and a hint of desperation on her face. Squealing, she threw her arms around him in a hug, making him lose his balance. They fell on the bed with Olivia on top of him.

She suddenly kissed him, catching him by surprise. He kissed her back after registering what was happening, but she pulled away, not being able to contain her excitement anymore.

Getting off of him and sitting on the side, she cheerfully said, "I got in! I went to the house this morning and found the letter! I was too scared to open it at first but when I did I literally jumped. Jill was too shocked to see my hysterical reaction but I think she was teeny tiny happy for me. And, I'm not too thrilled about it, but Jill is insisting on paying for tuition fees. I'm going to take it for now because I need it but I promised to pay her back." She paused before repeating, "I'm so happy!"


He perched on his elbows and smiled widely.

"I knew you would get in," Ethan said, "Congratulations! I am so proud of you."

Sitting up, he pulled her by the neck and resumed the kiss.

She couldn't stop smiling through it and pulled away a few seconds later.

"I'm so happy!" She said.

He laughed. Softly touching her lower lip and looking into her eyes, "you deserve every bit of it." He said, "I guess I will see you in a college drama club now."

Her head tilted a little. "Nah, I think I'm gonna give it up", she said.

"Why?" He asked, then snickering he said, "don't worry, Will won't be there to annoy you."

"It's not him. I did hate him though, but it's not him."

"I have always wondered," Ethan observed, "you're not the type of person to hate somebody so easily, so what did he do to you to make you hate him so much?"

"When we were kids, like 6 or 7, I accidentally walked into the boys' washroom and saw him... pant less; and I told everybody about it." Olivia laughed. "I didn't know what it was; I was a kid! But he still holds that against me. And then I started to dislike him because he always made me play such bad characters, characters whose parents die in front of them, characters who had to go through so much adversity. It was downright cruel of him and he did it intentionally," she said. "But I don't hate him anymore, since I won't have to see him."

"I'm glad." Ethan laughed. "I always thought you'd lose it one day and end using your magic on him." He paused. "So, what is the real reason for quitting?"

Olivia smiled slightly as she looked at him.

"I don't need it anymore." She said while shrugging her shoulders. "I used to love acting because it gave me a chance to live someone else's life, even it was just for a few minutes. That was when I was unhappy and didn't want to live as me, but that has changed now. I'm finally content, and at a place where I can accept the things as they are."

Ethan took her hand in his and looked at her proudly. "That is enough of a reason to celebrate."


Olivia nodded. "I wish Victor and Lillian were here. It's been a week already. When do you think they will be back?"

Ethan pursed his lips before he said, "soon." And then he paused before saying, "I gotta talk to you about something."

"It's gonna have to wait. I am going to see Natalie. We'll continue this later." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before running out of the room.


***

Olivia sat with her feet up on Natalie's bed, with her back resting on the headboard while Natalie stood at the foot of the bed.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Olivia said.

"Some things have been bothering me for a long time, and my breakup with Victor was an eye-opener." Natalie pursed her lips. "I know I have many issues and I think I'm gonna start by addressing the biggest one: my parents." She paused. "I'm planning to travel to wherever they are and I'm going to confront them."

Olivia nodded her head. "Yes, that has been long overdue." She almost applauded. "But what if you don't get the response that you're hoping for?"

"That does not matter. I just need to get it all out there. They should know how their behavior and actions have affected me." Smirking, she continued, "Besides, I have a few ways to get their attention. If worse comes to worst, I'll threaten them with the idea of getting emancipated."

Olivia looked at her blankly and said, "You're 18."

Natalie scrunched her forehead and said, "they don't know that."

Olivia snickered at her exaggeration.

"Anyway," Natalie continued, "I wanted to ask if you would like to travel with me. Kaden has already agreed. That's why he is visiting his mom early right now." She looked at Olivia expectantly. "So? What do you say?"

"Get Kaden on the video call," Olivia said.

Natalie and Olivia sat on the edge of the bed as they waited for Kaden to answer. He answered on the fifth ring while he was crossing the busy street. Without looking at the screen he said, "Nat, I'll call you back in--" but stopped when he saw Olivia. "Olivia! Is that you? Where have you been?"

"Long story," was all Olivia said. Kaden moved to the sidewalk. She continued, "the reason I called was to tell you and Nat that I can't travel with you guys because I'll be too busy moving into the dorms."

Kaden stopped walking altogether while Natalie stared at Olivia's face with a surprised expression.

"Shut up!" Natalie said, getting up to tackle Olivia into a hug, causing her to drop the phone out of her hand. "You did it!"

"Congrats Olivia!," Kaden shouted, "pick me up."

"Wait," Olivia said, "I'm still reeling from the after-effects of this hug!"

Kaden laughed. "By the way," he said, suddenly remembering, "my mother Teresa wants to meet you both, but I guess Olivia won't be able to make it."

Natalie immediately picked up the phone and said, "I want to meet her too! I'll book a flight as soon as possible."

Olivia left Natalie's place and walked back home. She observed the light grey clouds in the sky that partly eclipsed the sun. Soon, it began drizzling, although she could barely feel the droplets on her skin. She smiled the entire way back home while admiring the scenic beauty.


***

Olivia walked into the house to see Victor and Ethan sitting opposite each other on the couch, while Lillian half-sat on the armrest of Victor's seat.

"Hey!" Olivia said, surprised, as she walked into the living room. "You're back!"

"Why are your eyes all red?" Victor asked, seeing her slightly puffy eyes.

"Oh, I met Natalie. We got to talking, went down memory lane, reminisced, and eventually cried about how we wouldn't get to see each other every day anymore. It was sad." She recounted while looking at the floor. "Anyway, when did you guys come back and what took you so long?"

"Got here 10 minutes ago," Lillian said.

Victor nodded. "It took so long because we had to bury all the dead wolves."

Olivia looked confused. "Why? Someone could easily dig it up and try to wake them again."

Victor glanced at Ethan. Ethan turned to her and hesitantly said, "they decapitated the wolves before burning and burying the body parts at different places."

Olivia cringed. "That's nasty."

"There's something else..." Lillian started, "I'm moving out." She paused and correcting herself, she said, "or better yet, we are moving out."