Surprise Comfort
When I was 14 years old, I officially met Aegis for the first time.
He was 15, one year older than me. I'd seen him walking around the school all the time. Everyone knew he was training to be the next Alpha, and therefore, everyone liked him.
At the time, there was another boy I'd had a major crush on. By all intents and purposes, he'd liked me, too. He'd walked me home from school, had played guitar for me, and we'd basically acted out a very corny, very cringy teenage love story.
Until Brittani Choi wanted him, anyway.
One day, I went from having a very promising future in the romance department, and the next, he was carrying her books, playing songs for her, bringing her roses.
At 14, this was devastating. World ending. Life altering. A betrayal so deep, a submarine couldn't have traversed it.
I happened across this boy singing to Brittani Choi in the main courtyard of our High School, and when she and I locked eyes, I knew she'd done it on purpose, because that's just the sort of relationship we had at that point. Whatever I wanted, she got and handled it better.
I turned and fled, sobbing, broken hearted like only a teenager could be... and ran face first into the already very broad-chested Aegis Black.
He was only a little smaller back then, but he already had that Alpha aura going on. He grabbed me by the shoulders, alarmed, and sat me down where no one could see or comment or joke. He waited patiently for me to get all my tears out, before asking me what was wrong.
I poured out my stupid heart to him right there, on that bench.
"Sylvia," he said, which was surprising because I didn't know he knew who I was, "if a guy can leave a girl that quick, then do you really think Brittani's the winner, here?"
I stared at him. "You know who I am?"
"I know everyone in my Pack."
That was confusing. "Aegis... I'm not a werewolf."
He snorted. "You live on my territory. That makes you Pack, and that means your problems are my problems."
"My problems are very small, compared to everyone else's."
"The size of the problem doesn't matter," Aegis said. "All that matters is that it is solved. Besides-" He leaned forward. "From what I know of you, Sylvia Lake, you will find someone ten times his worth, and he will love you more deeply than a fated mate."
There was, obviously, no going back from that. I healed quickly from my devastation, because I'd found that now that I paid close attention, Aegis really was there for everyone. Even Brittani Choi, and if someone could put aside her issues for the greater good, than he had to be the closest thing I'd ever find to perfect.
Now, here I was, a decade later, standing five feet from him, and all these memories came pouring forcefully back through the mental dam as Ivy clapped her hands over her mouth in mute horror.
Apparently, however, I wasn't the only one who was supposed to suffer. Before anyone could do anything else, Paul, finally able to react to Lucy's blunt revelation, laughed aloud in his usual carefree manner and said, much to everyone's horror, "That's funny! Aegis basically said the same thing about your mom!"
Jade ducked her head to keep from bursting into nervous laughter. Aegis had his eyes closed, and I couldn't read his expression at all.
I felt my face go from pale white to deep scarlet, but apparently, Paul's commotion had come back around to sort of save us from having to address either of these mortifying statements.
"Wait, Sylvia?" Several vaguely familiar faces suddenly appeared around the edges of the group, all of them excited, all of them blissfully unaware of the slow, painful unraveling of my dignity.
"Ah, I thought that was you!" A woman stepped forward, beaming, to grab me in a tight hug. It took me several moments to realize I recognized her face, from the dim corners of my memory. We had... Trigonometry together, I think.
"Hey, I can't believe you really came back!" Several other faces converged on us. "And this must be your daughter! She's the spitting image of you, that's insane!" Lucy took my hand, startled at the number of faces, but smiled tentatively.
"You helped me ace all my tests," the first woman gushed, smiling as she stepped back. "I got into college thanks to you!"
"And promptly came back to work in our jank town," another guy joked. "Sylvia, do you remember me?"
I squinted. "Ah..."
"I would be upset," he laughed, "but back then, I was a total nerd. I used to hang out in the darkest corners of the school."
"You opened up one of those tabletop RPG cafe's in town, Rufus, you haven't changed that much!"
"Details! Anyway, you got my game back when one of Brittani's posse stole it. I never forgot that."
"Mom?"
I looked up, startled and strangely overwhelmed, to see Dylan and Collin walking through the crowd, looking a little confused.
"Oh," I said, reaching for them. "What's up? I thought you guys were with the other kids."
"We were, but we heard a ton of people shouting your name," Dylan said, frowning in concern as they reached my side.
A soft sound went through the now-gathered crowd around us, everyone's eyes on the boys.
"These have to be the twins," someone said. "They look... wow. Spitting image of both Marie and Roger."
"Bet you guys would love to hear some stories about your mom, here," Ivy said, jumping in. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and I felt like there was an anchor back to reality. "You want stories, you got 'em. All kinds."
"Ah! Yes- your mom, Sylvia, was one of the good ones," the girl from before- Susan?- said eagerly. "Helped a lot of us through some seriously tough times."
"Everyone was friends with your mom," the guy- Kevin, if I remembered right- said. "If you had a problem, Sylvia could bail you out, somehow."
"Half the problems were caused by Ivy," someone else snickered, and Ivy pointed in mock outrage, trying to pinpoint who'd said it.
"What?" Dylan blurted out. "Our mom? She never has time for friends. She's a total loner."
I blanched, but there was a soft chuckle around the group. Susan squeezed my arm, smiling warmly.
"I'm a mom, now, too," she said. "I get it. And all on your own? I can't even imagine. I don't even have time for friends, and I'm married!"
"Mom life," another woman said, with a soft laugh. "I thought I was prepared because I used to have to raise my sister- you remember that, Sylvia? You came over a couple of times when I had a project to do, so I could get her washed and fed after my mom left for work."
"I..." I said, at a lost. Some of these stories were picking at old memories, but they were lost, like Aegis had said. You don't remember much, do you? Before you left.
I didn't.
I looked his way, and I realized he was watching me steadily. There was no surprise on his face, and I got the sudden impression that he knew all of this already, somehow.
Don't go there, I thought immediately, looking away, ignoring how my heart rate sped up. Don't go there. We didn't come here to chase old memories. The kids come first. I have to keep the kids safe, fed...
But it seemed these old memories didn't exactly want to let me go.
Everyone devolved into stories- not just of me, thank God, but of High School in general. The boys were fascinated with the idea of an all-werewolf football team, and Lucy wanted to know absolutely every story she could drag out of anyone willing to talk to her.
"Saving it for her dolls," I muttered to Ivy, and she burst into laughter.
Despite my desperate desire not to remember, there was something... familiar about it all. Ivy was next to me, laughing, and when I looked around, I saw familiar faces filled with joy, and there was warm laughter all around.
For once, it was a good familiar. Tantalizingly good.
"Paul," I asked, "what do you do, now? I mean, Ivy's Sheriff, which I never would've seen coming."
"I work for Aegis," Paul said, grinning. "You know. Cars, repairs, all that stuff."
"Tell her about the monster trucks," Aegis grunted.
"The WHAT?" Dylan and Collin immediately asked.
"Oh, that." Paul waved a hand. "It's my hobby. I do monster truck rallies- built one myself!"
"Shut UP, you can just do that?!" Collin demanded.
"Yeah! Pretty easy, honestly, if you know what you're doing."
"It is not," Aegis grunted, rolling his eyes and grinning. "He makes more money off of that than he does at the Auto Repair."
"He could go pro, if he wanted to," Jade said quickly, stepping forward. "But he'd have to leave Werewolf Hollow." I thought I saw a tinge of pink to her cheeks, but I could have been totally wrong.
"No one just leaves Werewolf Hollow," Paul said. "Even you came back, though for a hot minute, you all had us thinking you were dead, Sylvia!"
I saw faces fall, and my walls immediately jumped back up. Nothing good lasts.
“You left so suddenly,” Susan said, looking at me with a sad expression. “We didn’t even know what had happened. All of a sudden, there was a funeral, and... you weren’t there.”
I looked around, and I realized I wasn’t getting out of this, this time. Worse, Dylan and Collin were giving me accusatory looks.
How was I supposed to make everyone understand without... talking about it?
“That’s a story we don’t have the context for,” Aegis said, voice rising over everyone else. “And we don’t need it. Sylvia made the decision she thought was best for her and the boys, at that time. I trust that.”
Shockingly, everyone just... accepted that. A few shoulders shrugged, faces relaxed, and people went back to chattering. Alphas, I thought, more than a little stunned.
Ivy released my shoulder, however, and stepped back into the crowd, turning to chatter at someone... but I couldn’t help but feel that she was avoiding me, now.
That moment of familiarity, the memories of a time long past, were evaporating again. So much for that good, warm feeling. But now that I’d felt it... it hurt more when it was gone.
“Hey.”
I jumped, looking up to see that Aegis had stealthily moved to my side.
“Good God, Aegis,” I muttered, smacking my chest. “You and your sister. You’ve always been like ninjas.”
He chuckled. “You haven’t eaten. I’ll take you over to the tables.”
I glanced over. “Rudy hasn’t come back either. I need to make sure he’s all right.” I turned to Ivy, hesitated, and then moved over to Jade. “Would you... watch the kids? I’m going to go get them some food.”
She immediately saluted me, looking far too serious. “You got it,” she said.
“And you,” Aegis said, as I turned to walk. To my surprise, he really did join me.
“You don’t have to walk with me,” I said, giving him an apologetic smile. “I’m sure you’d rather catch up.”
He snorted. “I live here, Sylvia. I see these people literally all the time. All they do is catch up. Besides- they’ve got a willing audience in your kids.”
That made me laugh. “True.”
His expression turned serious. “You’re concerned about Rudy?”
“Well...” I hesitated. “It’s just a feeling, but...”
“Tell me anyway.”
“I feel like... like he’s here to check something off a checklist. Like he’s closing a door.”
Aegis frowned. “You’re worried he’s going to hurt himself. Has he told you about...?”
“No, but I’m not stupid. I know something happened. It’s his family, isn’t it?”
Aegis rubbed the back of his neck. “He had an incident of his own. I suppose I should’ve realized that could be an option. It’s been long enough that I thought he wasn’t a danger anymore, but if he was holding out for your family...”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Aegis looked at me. “Has he been involved these past ten years?”
“Not exactly. I mean, he’s sent presents, cards, and called often enough, but I think he stayed away to avoid unnecessary questions. But when I called...” I shook my head. “It was like I’d just seen him yesterday, and he was helping me with... everything.”
“I see.”
He didn’t press for more, and I was glad, because we were skirting the edge of some very difficult memories that I was working very hard to keep down. They were faded and sat in shadow, but those early days of newborns and trying to get every ounce of help this country offered for people in position were filled with the distant memory of both Rudy and his wife.
We were nearing the tables, now, and they were absolutely packed with food. Even with a field full of werewolves, somehow, there was still more than enough food.
“Collin’s into meat right now,” I said, grabbing two plates. “Surprise, surprise.”
“Grab something for yourself,” Aegis commanded. “I’ve got Collin. I’m pretty sure I know what he’ll like.”
“All pre-pubescent werewolves the same?”
He chuckled. “Not all, but there’s a lot of stuff they have in common. A thirst for steak is one of them. Which one is more complicated to feed, Lucy or Dylan?”
“Lucy. Dylan can be a bit picky, though.”
“You picky?”
“No, not really-”
“I’ll fill up your plate, then. You’ve only got two hands, so no, I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Pushy,” I muttered, shaking my head at him as he walked off. The memory of Lucy just blurting out that I thought he was “drop-dead gorgeous” replayed in my mind, and I shuddered. That’d be something to deal with later, because I had to be somewhat normal.
I was looking over the massive plates of cooked food, picking out things Lucy and Dylan might go for and marveling over the sheer volume of food, when a new voice reached my ears.
“Well, well, well. Look what the paparazzi dragged in.”
My head snapped up, because I could never in a thousand years have forgotten that voice. She was standing there, directly in front of me, and she looked like she hadn’t aged a day. Long, shimmering black hair with pink tips, flawless full face of makeup, and perfectly painted nails that were long enough to be a security threat in an airport. She was dressed to the nines in clothes so immaculately white, I secretly suspected witchcraft, and she had an outrageously expensive bag hanging from one shoulder.
Brittani Choi.