Wendy

"Mornin' darlin'" Sarah, Shane's grandmother, said as I trudged into the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?" she asked kindly.

I gave her a small smile as she handed me a steaming cup of coffee. "Good. Thanks. What about you?" I asked.

Sarah smiled and started pulling out some cream and sugar for my coffee. "I slept just fine. Thanks for asking. Shane's gonna come over. He wants to take you out somewhere" she informed me.

After thanking her again, I started to add some sugar to my coffee. "Really? Do you happen to know where he's taking me?" I questioned. Sarah made a motion to imply that her lips were sealed. I pouted and poured a little cream into my coffee. "Can I have a hint?" I asked while jutting out my bottom lip.

Sarah shook her head at me. "Sweetie. That didn't work on me when I had Shane's mother; and I can assure you that its not working now" she stated with a light laugh. I frowned and stood up. Remembering where she got the sugar from, I put it back in the cabinet before putting away the cream.

That's not fair! I didn't know that Shane would be all 'romantic' and make things a surprise. Wait. What if he's taking me out somewhere nice. I have no clothes! "Sarah?" I said softly. "Do you think Shane would mind if we just go out some other time?" I asked in a quiet voice.

She turned to look at me with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why not today? Are you feeling alright?" she questioned as her face turned from confusion into concern.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight. Its been a while since someone has been concerned for me. And Shane, Maddi, and Ralph do not count. I mean someone like a parent-figure. No one was there to look out for me. And this woman- that I had just met last night- treats me like she's known me forever.

"I'm feeling okay. I'm not sick or anything" I stated. She gave me a look that told me to continue. "I just- I don't want to go out with Shane. Not because I don't like him. He's really sweet. Its just that; I'm not exactly in a good state to be going out" I explained.

Sarah cocked her head in confusion. "Well, what's the problem?" she inquired.

Sighing, I sat back down in the dining chair and put my hair in a ponytail. I kept that hair-tie that Shane gave me. "I only have a backpack full of clothes. There isn't anything that is actually decent. All my clothes are worn out and I doubt there is one thing that doesn't have a hole" I stated. I should really do laundry. And get more clothes.

'You don't have money' Liz pointed out. Oh, yeah. That's why I'm dressed like a hobo. I should get money, then buy clothes. That sounds like a good plan! "Let me show you something" Sarah said as she walked out of the kitchen. After taking a quick sip of my coffee, I followed her.

We walked down the hallway towards my bedroom. But Sarah stopped a few doors down from my room. She reached up to the door-frame. I guess there's a key or something. "I'll get it" I offered. Standing on my tippy-toes, my fingers barely touched the frame. I slid my hand across it, until I felt the cold metal.

After grabbing it, I handed it to Sarah. She gave me a grateful smile before sliding the key into the door knob and opening it. The room was slightly bigger than mine. There was a queen sized bed and a couple of dressers. "This was Jade's room" she said softly. I'm just gonna take a guess and say that Jade is Shane's mom.

I followed Sarah into the bedroom and she sat on the bed. "I can still smell her faint scent" she whispered. It was like deja-vu. The first time that I walked back into my parents' room, I could still smell their scents; it was almost as if they were still there with me. Walking towards her, I grabbed one of her hands and gave it a small squeeze. "I never moved her things. I'm sure you can find something" she stated.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

Sarah gave me a small smile and wiped the few tears that escaped her eyes. "Clothes. A dress might fit a little better than the other stuff" she informed me. "You can have whatever you want"

I quickly shook my head. "I can't. Its hers. I'll be just fine wearing my clothes" I told her. I would feel bad for wearing Jade's clothes. Her things obviously meant a lot to Sarah. She kept her room the same and locked it.

She got up and walked to the closet. A few moments later, she walked back out with about five dresses in her hands. "I'm not taking no for an answer" she said sternly. "Now, try these on. And see which one you like best" she urged.

I wrapped my arms around her, taking her by surprise. "Thank you" I mumbled. She giggled and kissed my head before walking out the room. I can see where Shane got his manners and kindness from.

With a smile on my face, I looked at the dresses. I spread them all out on the bed. There was actually six, not five. The first one was a long black dress. It was beautiful, but way too formal. There were two pink dresses. I stripped out of my clothes and grabbed the floral pink dress. It was strapless with a pink bow that wrapped around my waist. The dress almost fell to the floor once I put it on.

I guess Jade had bigger breasts than me. It's a really pretty dress though. Sighing, I slid it off and put it with the black dress. The other pink dress had roses on the bottom. I put it on and walked around, looking for a mirror. "Closet" I muttered to myself.

Going to the closet, I found a body mirror on the door. I groaned at the sight of myself. The dress looked really tight; and honestly, it was not cute at all. No offense to Jade's style. I peeled off that dress and looked at the other options.

There was a cute mint one, but I'm not in the mood to wear mint. I'm picky. I know. The last two options were a red dress and a blue dress. The red dress just looked like a really long t-shirt; whilst the blue dress had thin straps and a short skirt. I tried on both dresses before deciding that I liked the blue one better.

The bodice hugged my torso, but it wasn't extremely tight. The neckline dipped down in the middle of my breasts; but it wasn't very low, so it didn't show a lot of cleavage. The skirt part was flowy and ended a little higher than mid-thigh.

A knock sounded at the door, pulling my gaze away from my own reflection. "Come in" I called out. I heard the door open and Sarah walked in. Smiling, I got out the closet and did a little twirl for her to see the dress. "What do you think?" I asked while nervously fiddling with my fingers.

"Its beautiful" she stated. "Jade never even wore that dress. It was too short for her. She got her father's tall genes" Sarah told me with a small laugh. I smiled at her. "You should keep that one. It looks really good on you" she said softly.

I smiled even wider and brushed lint and dust off of the dress. "Thank you" I chirped. Sarah walked over to one of the dressers and started opening them.

After a while, she grabbed a small bag. She motioned for me to come closer. I stood next to her as she unzipped the bag. "Jade never like make up" she told me as she started pulling out all sorts of products. "May I?" she asked.

I quickly nodded my head and she told me to close my eyes. I felt the brush against my eyelids as she put eye shadow on me. "Now remember. Shane is a male. Which means he'll get very excited when he sees you" she stated. I laughed at her choice of words. "But I'm too young to be a great-grandmother" she informed me.

"You're too young to be a grandmother" I stated. Sarah actually looks pretty young for her age. My guess is that she's at least 80, since Shane is in his twenties. But she looks 50.

I could imagine her rolling her eyes at me. "Kiss ass" she muttered as she continued on my make up. She finished one eye and started on the next. I'm pretty sure that it was only eye shadow. I felt something touch my lips, and I moved back by reflex. "Its just lipstick" Sarah informed me.

Slowly nodding, I let her put lipstick on me. I don't even know what colors she's using! I trust her judgment, but I never had another person do my make up. "Okay. I'm done" she stated. I opened my eyes and walked to the closet.

I gasped at my reflection. In just a few minutes, Sarah managed to give me the perfect smokey eye look, but it wasn't extremely noticeable. It was light, so it didn't look like I was going out for something really nice. She also put bright red lipstick on. I pressed my lips together to make it more even, and smiled at myself. "Its perfect. Thank you so much" I gushed.

She smiled and kissed my cheek. Sarah went into the closet and came back with a black shoulder purse. She put the lipstick inside before handing it to me. "Just remember. No great-grandbabies" she said. I laughed as we both heard Shane yelling through the house. "That boy" she muttered with a shake of her head.

Laughing, we both made our way to the sound of Shane's voice. "There you are!" Shane exclaimed. He bent down to give Sarah a hug. "Hey" he said as he looked at me.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "That's your mate. And all you say is 'hey'?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll cover my eyes if its not PG-13" she offered.

Oh, god. Shane wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I just pushed him away. "Are we gonna go?" I muttered, slightly embarrassed. I was never embarrassed or even flustered about people talking about sex. Its just different when its with my mate. Or maybe its because of the emotions. Whatever it is, it feels weird, but a good weird.

"You look gorgeous by the way" Shane said as he guided me out of the house. I quietly thanked him as he handed me the helmet. I put it on, and he buckled it for me. Stupid buckle! We both got on the bike with me sitting behind him. "Where'd you get the dress?" he asked as I wrapped my arms around him.

I stiffened. "Um... It's your mom's" I answered reluctantly. I waited for his reaction. He's probably gonna be mad. I'm wearing his deceased mother's clothes. And her make up. And I'm using her purse.

To say I was surprised by his words would be an understatement. "Its beautiful on you. Grandma wanted to keep my mom's stuff for my mate and my daughter. She had this thing about keeping it in the family" he informed me as he kept one foot on the ground to balance the motorcycle.

I smiled. "But she told me that she's too young for great grand-babies" I said with a light laugh. Shane's torso vibrated as he chuckled. "Hey. Where are we going?" I asked.

He kicked up the kickstand before zooming away from Sarah's house. "That's a surprise!" he shouted over the sound of the engine.

Rolling my eyes, I rested my head on his back. Sparks moved up and down my arms, my face, and my torso. Wherever we made physical contact, there was sparks. And I just couldn't get enough of the feeling. "Do you mind stopping my Ralph's house? Maddi's been asking about you" Shane asked after about ten minutes of silence.

"Sure. Are you gonna go with me?" I asked. I have a feeling that Maddi won't completely blow up on Ralph if Shane is there.

I felt him stiffen. "If you want me to" he offered. I nodded against his back, but his body still felt tense. Does he not want to go with me? Maybe he doesn't like Ralph. I can always just tell him that I changed my mind, and he doesn't have to go with me. It would awkward if Shane hates Ralph. I mean, I don't have the perfect relationship with my cousin right now; but its bearable. I just don't want Shane to feel obligated to go with me.

He has already done so much for me. And he's trying to get rid of this thing. And he probably has things to do- being Head Warrior and all. I don't want to add more to his plate. "Wendy" Shane said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I didn't even notice that we stopped. We were at this small diner- so cliche. I got off the bike and Shane took my helmet off for me. He locked both of our helmets in the seat, as usual. Silently, we walked into the diner and waited to be seated. I probably should just go to Ralph's house alone. It would be easier. We followed the waitress to a booth and ordered drinks. My purse was next to me in the booth, and Shane was across from me.

I stared at the menu, but I could read it. Obviously, I could see the words; but it was like nothing was processing through my head. Sitting with Shane was uncomfortable. I didn't like it. Things were too tense, and it had me squirming in my seat.

Giving up, I dropped the menu on the table. "What's wrong?" I questioned.

Shane glanced at me from over his menu. "Nothing" he replied curtly.

I was taken back by his response. That one word was a punch to the gut. The way he said it was like he was mad. His body was still stiff, and his hands were clenching the menu. I'm pretty sure that his hands shouldn't be that white. "What is it?" I pressed.

His eyes narrowed at the menu as he repeated his first response, in the exact same tone. "Something is wrong. You're acting all tense and angry" I pointed out.

Shane looked up at me. "Its nothing! Just read the damn menu!" he demanded before putting the menu back in front of his face. After a few minutes full of tension, I could take it anymore. I grabbed the purse and slid out of the booth. "Where are you going?" Shane asked from behind me.

"Anywhere but here" I replied. "I can't be with you when you're acting like this" I said honestly. I probably have no right to judge him, since I'm the one with a Royal Mark. But he won't even tell me what's wrong. And he's just being difficult.

I just want to know what's wrong; so I could try to fix it, and it wouldn't be so tense! I attempted to walk off, but he grabbed my hand. I knew it was him from the sparks that erupted on my palm. "Just sit down. You don't even know where we are" he noted.

Pulling, my hand out of his grasp, I took a step away from him. "I'll figure it out" I muttered. Honestly, I would probably get lost and end up asking for directions.

Shane sighed and pulled me back towards him. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling. Can you sit down, please?" he asked softly. Giving into his soft voice, I eased back into the booth. "I'm not a big fan of Ralph" he said honestly.

I nodded. That was pretty obvious. But I want to know why. "He was such an ass to you" Shane answered my unasked question. "I was with him during Christmas. His phone was ringing off the hook the whole day. He kept telling us that it was just people wishing him Merry Christmas" he stated.

He ran his hand down his face. "I looked at his phone once when it was ringing, and it said 'Blue Moon'" he told. I frowned. I wasn't the one calling him. "I didn't think anything of it because I knew it was his old pack. I believed that people just wanted to wish him Merry Christmas.

But now, I think that someone was calling him about you. I think he just disregarded the fact that you needed him. And I absolutely despise him for it. He didn't even have to go to your pack alone. He could've just brought you to us if he wanted to spend time with us that badly. Hell, we would've went with him to your pack if we knew what was going on. But he just-"

"I know" I cut him off. "It was fucked up. But hating him won't change anything. I don't like him either, but he's family. My only blood family. I'm trying to forgive him, and I know its not gonna be easy. I just... I need you guys to get along" I said softly.

We're all gonna be together at some point. And its gonna be full of drama if Shane hates Ralph. "You don't have to bond with him" I continued. "Just be able to tolerate being near him" I begged.

Shane slowly nodded. "I'm sorry" he apologized. "I know he's your only family, which is why I didn't want to say anything. But I can't help but hate him for what he did" he stated.

I reached over the table and grabbed one of his hands. "You don't have to be sorry. And you don't have to go with me if you don't want to. I'll be fine on my own" I told him.

"I'll go next time" Shane said with a small smile. The waitress chose the perfect time to show up. I think she just waited for our intense conversation to end. We quickly ordered before moving on to less serious topics.

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I didn't like how this ended. Oh, well!

Sarah was the name that came up most in the comments... so that's his grandmother's name!

I really need to add more characters... and cast them... and Maddi needs to have her baby... maybe that'll be in the next chapter ;)

Kayyyzzzz Byeeezzzz

~A.J.