Austin

Today was far too crazy for even me to process. Poor Izzy, she just can't get catch a break. Then again, she wasn't doing herself any favors by egging Drew on. I still felt bad, though, that I couldn't do anything more than throwing a lousy shoe at him in an attempt to help. I could only hope that Izzy's leg would heal quickly.

Everyone was silent on the way back to the living quarters; not even Mary or Dakota dared to speak. It was obvious they were embarrassed by how Drew acted, but it wasn't their fault. Considering how pissed Drew was, I doubt there was very little they could've done to stop him apart from an elephant tranquilizer.

No, he had his own issues that he seriously needed to work out.

It wasn't long before we were back and as if on cue, my stomach growled followed by several others. So much stuff was happening at once that I nearly forgot that none of us had eaten all day. My stomach felt as if it was trying to devour itself.

"Did Chris never bring you guys food?" Dakota questioned with a shake of his head. "Get comfortable, Mary and I will be back soon with food. I really hope some of you know how to cook."

"I can-"

"No!" several shouted out at once, cutting me off before I could even finish what I was saying. I swear, they're such party poopers.

"Hey, fires are a normal part of cooking," I replied in defense.

"Not when the fire department is called," Alyssa stated.

I rolled my eyes. "That only happened, like, twice."

Mary and Dakota laughed which quickly turned into a nervous chuckle when they noticed the serious looks on everyone's face. I swear, they were just really over exaggerating the situation. I don't think my cooking was that bad.

Dakota clapped his hands together. "New rule: keep Austin away from anything flammable while we're away."

The others laughed and all agreed to the new rule at hand. I merely folded my arms and grumbled inaudible words to myself. Alyssa patted my head as she walked past me into the building. As Mary and Dakota left to grab food, we all slowly dispersed inside. Some went to their already claimed rooms upstairs in wait of food while others, including myself, lingered in the living room. I finally used this opportunity to look around the dusty room, but nothing specific really caught my interest until I entered the kitchen.

"Austin," Alyssa warned, not even bothering to give me the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm not going to start a fire, Lys. I just want to see if this stuff actually works," I told her. I ran my hand over the light switch and a smile grew on my face when the light did, indeed, turn on.

"Why wouldn't it work?"

"Think about it," I said as I tested the sink which was also functioning properly, "we're in the middle of nowhere; would you expect this place to have electricity and running water?"

She hesitated for a moment before her green eyes suddenly lit up nearly as brightly as mine. She finally realized what I was so fascinated with this.

"Woah, then how does everything work?"

I was, by no means, a plumber or electrician so my guess was as good as anyone's when it came to this stuff, but I did have a slight suspicion regarding what it could be. When I turned on the stove and realized it ran on electricity rather than gas, I was beginning to believe more and more in my guess.

"I think... I think this whole town runs on the electricity generated by the waterfall," I said, my words trailing off as I opened the fridge. It was empty, but still running.

"Is it actually possible for a waterfall actually provide power for a whole town?"

"Of course it's possible; just look at Niagara Falls for example. All you need is a water turbine and there you have it - you're all set to start generating your own electricity. They'd have to use it pretty sparingly, though..."

Alyssa looked around the room with a look just as curious as mine. The werewolves lived in such a different world from ours that it was almost terrifying. Unlike us, they didn't grow up with the convenience of technology right at their fingertips. Everything they have now is everything necessary for their survival.

"It's like we took a giant leap out of the 21st century and into one way before our time..."

We both shivered at just the mere thought of it. I swear, once we got back home I was never going to take my TV for granted ever again. Though, that brought up a new question: when exactly would be going home? Hunters weren't exactly the forgive and forget type nor was I. I was going to make them pay for Liam's death no matter what it took. Being the one to start the fight wouldn't deter me away from that.

No, I couldn't see life going back to normal for us anytime soon.

"Knock, knock!" Mary exclaimed as she and Dakota walked through the door, each carrying a basket of food. Her basket contained an array of fruits and vegetables while Dakota's had various packages of raw meat for us to cook. Everyone cheered, more than happy to start digging in as soon as possible.

"Out," Alyssa ordered after noticing I was still standing in the kitchen. She tried her best to intimidate me with a wooden spatula in her hand.

"But-"

"I'm cooking."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I did as I was told. I couldn't tell if she would've seriously hit me with the cooking utensil but I didn't feel like pushing my luck today, especially when the odds weren't in my favor. Instead, I allowed my grumbling stomach to lead me over to where the basket of fruits and vegetables laid on the table. Before I could take a bite out of a giant, juicy looking apple, someone interrupted me.

"Hey, Austin?" Mary called, causing me to pause mid-bite. I looked up at her and grinned.

"Hey. You okay?" I asked. She had a distant look in her eyes almost as if she was distracted by something.

She hummed softly. "Oh, yes, I am. I was wondering if instead of eating here, would you want to eat with me in the park? It's very calming to be under the stars."

A smile immediately sprung to my face after hearing her words. Dinner with a pretty girl under the stars? I'd have to be one hell of a fool to decline such an appealing offer.

"I'd love to."

* * *

The sky was crystal clear aside from the millions of stars whose light pierced through the darkness. The few lamps laid about the paths of the large town were finally turned on and lit up their surroundings. It seemed off, but The Grove appeared even more beautiful under the dim lighting. It was a mysterious, yet gorgeous sight to behold.

Mary and I were one of the only people walking around at this time. Seeing as how many houses were lit up, it was obvious that mostly everyone else was enjoying their night in the comfort of their own homes. Mary didn't seem to care that we were the only ones out here. If anything, it seemed like she might've preferred that more.

The walk to the park only took a few minutes. We both remained silent throughout the walk, preferring to let ourselves bask in the peaceful silence the night provided us. For someone as loud as myself, I was honestly surprised I managed to stay quiet for such a long period of time. It was almost as if Mary's calm nature was rubbing off on me.

Even when we entered the park, she didn't stop walking. Mary kept leading me further into it and over a large hill where a garden packed full of growing fruit trees and vegetables. Even without a lamp post nearby to provide light, the glow of the crescent moon was just enough to show me just how huge the garden was.

Rows after rows of various fruit trees grew in the garden followed by even more plots of vegetables. I couldn't see exactly what was being grown, but just imagining all food there was enough to make my stomach rumble in hunger.

Mary giggled, most likely at the ecstatic expression on my face. "That's the town's garden. It's where the people not assigned to hunt work a few hours a day to keep it thriving. That's where I spend most of my time, even when I'm not assigned to."

"It's so... beautiful!" I exclaimed.

Before she even had time to react, I grabbed her hand and started running towards it, dragging her along behind me. Even without looking at her, I can tell she was smiling from the laughs she made.

I ran all the way to the nearest apple tree and cupped an apple blossom flower in my hand. Mary stepped up next to me and touched the flower as well, a small - almost nostalgic - smile present on her face.

"I planted this tree when I was eight," she said softly, no doubt remembering that day. "I've been taking care of it since then. Watching something grow stronger each day is riveting in a way. It wasn't until this tree sprouted its first apple that I realized I wanted to continue to bring life to things instead of hunting like the other werewolves."

Her immense kindness was inspiring in a way. Despite how long I've been with the Rescuers, our interactions with werewolves was minimal. They were very wary people for good reason so as soon as they were at a safe distance from the Hunters, they left without sharing much about themselves with us.

I was well-aware that they weren't evil creatures like vampires, but they I never pegged them to be so similar to humans. Yes, they were different from us in more ways than one, but we all did share similar traits; kindness being one of them.

"Are those some of the jobs you guys have then?" I asked, curious to learn more about everything they do. Even without being in possession of any technology, they were still far more advanced than I ever thought.

"I wouldn't necessarily call them jobs," she said slowly. She stepped back from the tree and walked down the rows of trees and plants. "Everyone here is aware that everything we do affects The Grove in a way. If we all pitch in to make the town become the best it possibly can be, we'll all be happy and prosperous in the end."

"Basically to sustain the town, some werewolves hunt while others grow food?"

She nodded and I began to follow her down the path, trailing just a few feet behind her. Mary looked so happy being around all the growing life and I knew exactly how she felt.

"That's only two of the roles here. We have doctors, teachers, blacksmiths, and so many more. Everyone physically capable of doing so plays a part to sustain the town."

I stopped in my tracks, a sudden wave of worry rushing over me. As someone who grew up on the poorer side of society, I had a bad feeling where this was going. Mary stopped too once the sound of my footsteps vanished and she turned around to look at me, a worried look present on her face.

"And what happens to the people not able to support the town?" I asked hesitantly.

The worried look instantly vanished and another bright smile appeared on her face. "That's what this garden and the market are for, silly."

"Wait, what?"

"The one thing werewolves dislike about humans the most is their tendency to abandon someone once they're no longer useful. We strive to help support everyone, even if they can't do anything to help us. Everything grown in this garden goes to the werewolves who are too old to help out or physically incapable of it."

I couldn't stop my jaw from hanging wide. That was far from the response I was looking for. In spite of all the horrible stories involving werewolves, they were far kinder than any human I knew of, including myself. They took horrible situations going on in the world and turned it into something kind and wholesome. All the hate I harbored for the Hunters multiplied at that moment. How dare they try to twist such kindness into malice?

"So the werewolves who have gardens outside their houses use that to support themselves while the ones who don't come here?"

"You catch on quick," she noted with a smile.

I ran to catch up to her, a large grin residing on my face. I couldn't explain why exactly, but this was all so interesting to learn about. Never once in the past few years did I ever stop to think about how the werewolves lived and now that I finally got the opportunity learn about it, I couldn't stop asking questions.

Just when I reached her, I opened my mouth to ask her something else when she handed me an apple. It was only then that I remembered just how hungry I really was. She laughed when he heard my stomach growl. "Care to have a little picnic on the hill?"

* * *

It was only after I ate three apples that my hunger finally ceased. Even after we were both finished eating, we stayed quiet as we sat at the top of the hill staring up the vast sky before us. She seemed so absorbed looking up the gleaming stars that I didn't want to disturb her and instead choked down my remaining questions that were threatening to spill from my mouth.

Looking at her and seeing how kind and peaceful she is, I couldn't understand how she could be friends with someone as the likes of Drew. He tried killing Izzy at practice for nothing more than defending me. Admittedly, she did take it a bit too far, but he started it first.

I know better than anyone how cruel humans have been to werewolves even now and that's exactly why Izzy, Liam and I formed the Rescuers. We may be humans, but we're probably one of the only humans out there that are on the same wide as the werewolves. Couldn't we get just a little appreciation?

"Try not to be so hard on Drew," Mary said, making me fear that I said everything out loud. Thankfully, she eased my fears. "Sorry, you didn't look too happy with what you were thinking about so I naturally assumed Drew."

I chuckled sheepishly and pushed back my messy hair out of my eyes. "That's some intuition you got."

She revealed a small smile, but averted her gaze from me and looked down at the ground. Her fingers nervously played with a strand of grass, playing with it yet never ripping it out.

"I promise he truly means well, he just doesn't know how to express it... Like many of the other werewolves, he's not too trusting of humans after everything that's happened between them and us. He fears that you and your friends will only betray us in the end-"

"What do you think?" I interrupted, looking away from her.

"Excuse me?"

"What's your opinion on my friends and me? Do you agree with Drew?"

My hands gripped the fabric of my jeans tightly and a frown resided on my face as I waited to hear her response. I was almost fearful of what it would be. I couldn't look at her if it was going to be the response I dreaded to hear.

"I think... I think that despite all the betrayals humans have caused in the past, that you and your friends are different," she answered softly, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I truly believe you're all here to help and that being so, I'll place every last ounce of my trust into you."

My worry instantly dissolved away at the sound of her words. Even if they had every right to do so, werewolves have distrusted humans for far too long. I want to help prove to them that not all of us are horrible no matter how long it takes. There will eventually be peace between us, I'll guarantee it.

I placed my hand on top of hers and squeezed it softly, my eyes piercing into hers which were just as dark as the night.

"I promise I'll put your trust to good use."

* * *

I never wanted my time with Mary to end. Words weren't necessary between the two of us; we found pleasure in just each other's company. It wasn't something I ever felt with anyone else, not even Izzy. If I had it my way, I would relive that very moment forever.

Unfortunately, time was a very real thing and it was getting far too late. We had spent a few hours together before we had to say our goodbyes and head off to bed. The whole way back to the living quarters, I couldn't stop thinking about her.

Her long, dark brown hair which flowed all the way down to her lower back, her bangs which she was often blowing out of her eyes and oh boy, that smile of hers was what killed me the most. I swear that smile could brighten up any room.

I barely noticed the absence of people in the large home or how it was close to midnight. I just couldn't wait to tell Izzy about how my night went, assuming she was already mostly recovered. As I opened the door to our shared bedroom, I made my way over to where she slept, careful not to disturb anyone else in the room.

It wasn't until I was standing right over her and was about to shake her awake that I heard her incoherent mumbles and the pained expression on her face. There was no doubt she was having another one of those nightmares again.

I cursed under my breath and my eyes darted around looking for the cup I used early to wake her, but there was no need. I had barely taken a step when she shot up in bed, eyes wide and her skin pale.

Her eyes locked onto mine and she stared at me incredulously as if she was looking right at a ghost. It was then that she spoke just one word that caused my heart to shatter into pieces:

"Liam?"