Raven's Rose

              I was lightly kicking the door post with my foot and looking at her through my lashes, hoping the puppy dog look worked.  So far nothing else had. “Well, I’m sorry for earlier. It got out of hand. I mean, I got out of hand. And I guess I haven’t made this transition very easy for you. Will you forgive me—please?”

              She studied me for a moment, and I had no idea what she was thinking. I shifted my feet nervously. This was clearly out of my comfort zone.

              “Okay. I guess I forgive you.”

              I huffed. “You guess?”

              She laughed. “I’m kidding. I forgive you.” She looked at her feet. “I guess I’m sorry too.”

              By her expression that was harder for her to say than even me. “Well, the guys and I are going to Happy’s for ice cream. You wanna come along?” I shrugged. “You know, get out of this place for a while?”

              “Um. What’s Happy’s?”

“It’s an ice cream parlor located in the nearby city of Happy. It’s not too far, maybe twenty minutes or so. We’ve been hanging out there some lately.”

She smiled a little. “Oh, okay, sure. Just let me get my jacket.” She walked into her room and returned moments later wearing a black form fitting jacket that accented her slight curves. I couldn’t help checking her out, but I tried not to be too obvious. She was wearing skinny jeans that were a normal shade of blue, not black like before. Her fiery red hair was in soft natural waves just touching her shoulders, and her lovely round face was pale with just a touch of pink on her cheeks and lips. And of course there was the adorable light dusting of freckles across her nose.

“Are you ready then?” I asked.

“I think so.”

I motioned for her to take the lead, which I thought might please her and followed at a safe pace behind her. I caught sight of Nana peeking around the corner, hiding behind one of her huge plants. She was giving me thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

Chapter Nine

                                           Hope

Thirty minutes later, Wesley, Li, Andrew, and I strolled through the doors of Happy’s Ice Cream Parlor. The atmosphere of the room seemed cozy and friendly, with cheerful faces and laughter surrounding us. We took our seats at a booth near the front. Andrew said he liked to people watch. I thought about my friend Cathy. She often said the same thing. Sometimes we’d end up at the mall just so she could people watch. She said people were much more entertaining than watching T.V. I missed her. Many times since arriving I’d wanted to message her but my dad confiscated my phone and iPod weeks ago after my fight with Amanda in the school parking lot. It had been my third fight with her within the year. She had been bullying Cathy a lot this year, and I couldn’t allow that. Even though I’m smaller than Amanda, I gave her something to fear—redheads. I smiled thinking about it.

              “You wanna share what’s so amusing?” Li asked from across the booth.

              I straightened. “Not really.”

              He shrugged. “That’s cool.” I actually liked this Li guy. I had never met an Asian before but I had always wanted to. Not many lived in our small town in Alaska. They seemed like such neat people, and Li didn’t disappoint. He was funny and he had really cool hair that was spiked on the top and shaved on the sides. I wondered how I would look with that cut.

              Just then the doorbell to Happy’s rang. We all turned to see a small group entering the front door. The biggest man I’d ever seen led the way. He must’ve been seven feet tall. “Hector, you get Charity’s order and I’ll get Ashley’s,” another guy called out to him. Wow, Hector was a good name for a guy like that. All the guys at my table jumped up and greeted the others in friendship.

Wesley ushered them to our table. “Guys, I’d like you to meet Hope Mason, Sergeant Mason’s daughter. Hope, these are some of the guys from the Drake Pack.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that Levi set it up for her to stay with you for a while,” the one that spoke earlier said. “Hope, I’m Josh, Levi’s beta. It’s nice to meet you. How are you liking it here in North Carolina?” He seemed like a friendly guy with thick blonde hair and sleepy eyes. He was cute.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you too. I like it okay. This is really the first chance I’ve had to see it.”

“Have you had the ice cream yet?”

“Um, no, not yet.”

He turned to Wesley. “Well man, what are you waiting for? Get this young lady a cone of the best ice cream in the state.” He laughed, slapping Wesley on the back in a brotherly manner. This surprised me. For some reason I thought that maybe they were still enemies. I guessed that something must’ve happened recently to change that, and I was glad for it.

“Um, so, Josh,” I said, “How are Charity and the new babies doing?”

“Oh man! Those are the cutest kids ever! You should come over and see them sometime. Charity loves to make new friends. As a matter of fact, she’ll be here in a few minutes. They were right behind us.”

“The babies, too?” I asked.

“Oh no. Levi’s mom is keeping them so Levi and Charity can get out for a bit.”

I was disappointed for a moment, but then I got excited about the possibility of meeting Charity. She was like a celebrity at the Mason House. We had heard all of the stories about her rescuing the werewolves from battles, killing a vampire bride, and even influencing a vampire to change sides. Her beauty was rumored to beat out all others. This was a girl I just had to meet.

Wesley must’ve sensed my anxiousness and sat down beside me. “Are you okay?”

I glanced up and our eyes locked. I stared deep into those dark orbs and felt myself getting swimmy headed. I broke eye contact, shaking my head slightly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I sense something coming from you.”

“Honestly, I’m excited to meet Charity. I’ve heard so many stories. Is she really as beautiful as they say?”

He smiled. “She is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you.”

I peered up at him then, my jaw going slack in surprise. His face mimicked mine. I guess he was as surprised at what he said as I was. I actually laughed at his expression.

“I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that.” He fidgeted with his fingers, looking lost and confused.

I touched his hand to stop him and smirked. “It’s okay. You know, even though I’m a redhead, I still like compliments.”

He looked at me for a second, letting the sentence absorb, and then he burst into roaring laughter. This drew the attention from the others who were now all gathered around us.

“What’s so funny, Wes?” Andrew asked.

He caught his breath and answered, “Hope is a funny girl.”

I didn’t think it was all that funny, but I began laughing too, along with the others. It seemed we didn’t really need anything to be funny to laugh at each other. It was nice for a change. Everything was always so serious at the Mason House. Sergeant Mason, my dad, was more strict and stiff than anything else. It felt good to laugh— very good in fact. I stopped short when I heard the doorbell ring again, alerting us to new traffic. Was this Charity, I wondered, peering around the guys to get a good look.

A tall and very handsome man entered first, holding the door for the others. He must be Levi, but then another man who looked just like him also entered. This was the Drake twins. Suddenly, I caught sight of the red streak in the one’s hair and knew it was Eli. With him was a small woman with black hair. She was very pretty and she marveled at everything she saw and touched. I was instantly curious as to what part of this puzzle I was missing. Charity entered then. And I knew this because, not only was she breathtakingly beautiful with long flowing dark hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, but Levi practically knocked Eli over to get to her. He took her hand and led her through the maze of pack members that were still gathered around our table.

Wesley and Levi greeted each other in a friendly enough manner and then he ushered them over to meet