Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future Chapter 13

Chapter 13We come out of the bathroom to find Bronx watching TV in the sitting area. H e stands up when he
hears the bathroom door open. When he turns around, he freezes.
"Oh my Goddess," he says under his breath. He gulps as he stares at me.
"She cleans up nice, huh?" Lenora smiles.
"Uh, yeah, I- uh, stun- that - I," he's not able to make a full sentence as he stares at me.
You know what, I'm just gonna go," Lenora says over my shoulder as she points to the door. She gives
mea thumbs up and a wink as she leaves.
I stand where she left me, not sure what to do with my hands.
"Waannnaaa... watch TV with me?" Bronx points behind him at the television.
"Sure," I tentatively walk over to the sofa. He takes my hand causing little sparks where he touches me
and gently pulls me down onto the seat next to him. “Is this okay? Sitting next to me like this? Ishould've asked first.”
“Yeah, it's fine," I feel myself blushing. "What do you like to watch?”
"T don't know. I've never had time to watch television."
"Oh, right. Okay, um, what are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time?"
"Hmmm, homework and mental breakdowns." :
"Oh crap, I'm sorry, Ididn-"' :
"It's okay, Bronx. I'm teasing you. I mean honestly though, all I know about i s cooking, baking, and
stocking pantries...and homework," I look at him from the side of my eye with a smirk on my face.
"Okay, smart aleck. Cooking and baking. I can work with that. We have like three cooking channels," he
flips the station t o a cooking competition show called Chopped.
The chefs are given boxes of ingredients. They don't know what's inside until the timer starts and they
have to make up a meal using all the ingredients. Bronx gets up to make popcorn as I describe what I
would make with the ingredients for each course. By the time we're on the third episode, I think I'm
addicted. The dessert rounds are my favorite.
"Kas, were you the one who made dinner for the formal party at Silver Moon? The first night I was
there," he asks with an air of sudden realization.
"Yeah, I made breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day at Silver Moon. Did you like the beef Wellington
at the party?" "Like it? It was the best dinner I ever had. That means you made the killer key lime pie
too, right? Before I found you going into my room, I was going to ask the Alpha who the chef was so we
could use them for some of our formal events." Well, I'm at your service, parties big and small, I cook
'em all!"
He smiles and puts his arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer. I gladly snuggle up next to him.
Seriously, how is this my life right now? There's no way it's real.
I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I wake up in the morning tucked in bed. Bronx isn't next to me or
sleeping on the couch. It makes me feel a bit empty inside. I slide out of bed and see a note o n the
nightstand.
Kas, A couple of pack things came up. Lenora will take you to the mall. «
Have a good time!
Bronx oe
“Watch out world, she's a wild one!" Lex teases while I make myself some toast with butter.
"Knock it off. I don't want to get sick again," I sulk at her.
"I know, I know," I sense her rolling her eyes, "Kas, do you think we can talk to our mate about shifting
soon? Please?" ‘Yeah. When I see him after the mall. I will make time to speak to him." "Thank you.
So, what do you think the mall is like?”
"I don't know. It sounds like there are stores with a ton of clothes and shoes and stuff," I shrug a bit, not
able to picture it in my mind.
She's just about to ask another question when Lenora walks in with a blonde- haired, blue-eyed
woman.
"Hi, Kas! Ready for a big day?" Lenora says with a big smile, "This is Ashley, she is Reggie's mate."
“Nice to meet you, Ashley," I smile awkwardly as she stares at me.
Oh, my Goddess. Rude!
“Oh, sorry," she snaps out of her stare, " It's an honor to meet you, Luna. I didn't mean to stare. They
said your eyes were purple, but I didn't realize th-”
“Oh no, just Kas, please. Really. Yeah, the eye thing is a bit unsettling if you're not prepared. It's okay. It
still freaks me out sometimes too," I reassure her, " Lenora, do you have a hat I can borrow? People
are going to stare at me.”
“Pshh, Kas, you don't need to worry about that. Humans dye their hair and wear weird color contacts all
the time to get what you have naturally. You're going to fit right in.” «
“Alright," I feel self-conscious, but I guess I'll get over it. ’
We go to the garage where there are about thirty different cars and get into a black BMW convertible.
“Lenora, this is your car?" I lookin awe.
“Oh no," she dismisses, "My car is a Jaguar. It's only a two seater, so we have to take a pack fleet car
today.”
“T see. Um, so, Ashley, other than being ranked members of the pack, what do you all do for work?" I
ask, trying to make small talk.
Ashley explains the jobs in detail, "Our pack has a security company, MasonCo. We have different
divisions - physical security, electronics, networks, all kinds of stuff. Bronx is CEO. Lenora is the VP 0 f
our International Contracts division. I'm the head of HR. I mostly make sure there are no problems
between the werewolves and humans that work for the company. Milo and Reggie runa military-
focused division that we don't talk much about...you know...protocols and all.”
“Oh wow," I reply. Would I need to work for the company as well? I do need a job after all.
“This is great! We can show them how awesome of a warrior we are!" Lex chirps.
“Don't worry, you won't have to work for the company when you're Luna. Bronx needs you at home
heading up pack matters," Ashley glances back at m e from the front seat. -
“Dang it," Lex huffs.
The mall is nothing like I expected. There are people everywhere, loud noises, bright lights, and smells.
Holy cow, the food court smells like a million bucks! There are stores just for perfume that smell
overwhelming. I don't understand why humans would want to smell like that. There are more stores
than I can count. I'm pretty sure Lenora and Ashley want to go into all of them. We don't go into all the
stores, but we do go into most of them. For every store we go into, they make me try on countless
outfits and dresses, even evening gowns. When will I ever really need an evening gown? We buy
almost everything I try on, even though I insist I don't need it. I was just hoping to get out of there with a
couple pairs of leggings, a few t- shirts, a bra, and some underwear. No such luck. Ashley had already
taken three loads of bags back to the car while 'm trying on even more clothes.
All the sales people seem very familiar with Lenora and Ashley. Their eyes light up and they practically
run over to help us when we would walk into their store. They are friendly to my face, but while I'm in
the dressing rooms of several of the stores, I hear sales ladies whisper things like 'so thin' and ‘eating
disorder ', which makes me very self-conscious. Lex tells me not to worry about it. Lenora must haveheard also because she makes me buy some of the clothes a size bigger than what I currently am. She
loudly says she is sure I'm going to need them when I'm no longer underweight.
Our last stop before lunch is Victoria's Secret. I pick up some comfy looking cotton underwear from a
sale bin and Ashley grabs them out of my hand.
“Oh no no no, Kas. You can do better than that," Ashley says with a sly smirk. She leads me into the
store where she and Lenora load my arms with silky, lacy bras and underwear and some other things
they say are meant to be" exciting for my mate.”
But I'm not really at the mall. I'm in the stockroom. Ryan is on top of me, his hot breath in my ear. Not
again. Please don't let this be happening. Goddess no, I can't go through this again. I can feel his
weight on top of me, his hands roughly grabbing at me. I squeeze my eyes shut. I can't believe
escaping Silver Moon was just a stupid daydream. Actually, I can. I just can't believe I let myself believe
it was real...but it felt so, so real.
I’m not really in the stockroom. I'm sitting in the food court. Why the Hell would I have that flashback
like that in the middle of the food court? And why the Hell did it feel so real? Actually, how did I get to
the food court? I don't remember leaving Victoria's Secret. Is this another daydream? Ryan's scent is
still strong in my nose, Lenora and Ashley are sitting in front of me completely oblivious of the danger,
laughing at a joke Lenora is trying to tell. Why do I feel like none of us are safe? Panic is starting to
build in my chest now.Someone is patting my face. I shake my head and look up to find I’m still in the lingerie store. Lenora is
kneeling on the ground in front of me holding my hands and Ashley is looking at me wide eyed, gently
patting my face with her hand. “You okay, Kas," Lenora looks at me, concerned.
“T-I just remembered something, that's all,'" my voice is shaky. I realize I had dropped all the items they
put in my arms and tears are rolling down my cheeks. I'm not sure how to explain what just happened.
“I-Is there a bathroom?" I clear my throat, "I just need to freshen up.”
“veah, I'll take you," Ashley takes her sleeve and wipes my tears, "Lenora, can you pay? Meet us at the
food court.”
“Of course. You're sure you're okay, Kas? We can go home right now if you prefer," Lenora asks, still
looking concerned.
"T'm fine," I reassure her. Ashley takes me by the elbow and leads me out of the store to the bathroom.
She waits outside the door while I freshen up. When I come out, she hugs me and tells me I can
always talk to her. I return the hug and thank her. I don’t feel like I know her well enough to trust her
yet, but maybe one day. -
We go to the food court where there are a n infinite number of smells and restaurants. It seems like
there is every type of fast food you can think of.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Well, I'm only allowed to have bland food for now, so somewhere with breadsticks, maybe?”
“Sbarro, it is!" She texts Lenora to let her know where we're headed.
She gets slices of pizza for her and Lenora and breadsticks for me. Lenora meets up with us and sits
next to Ashley. They are laughing at a joke Lenora is telling. I get an odd feeling of deja vu. The
distinctive scent hits me. Ryan is here and he's close. My heart starts pounding. Lenora and Ashley are
still laughing, completely oblivious. I start to panic.
Lex is on full alert in my head, "Run, Kas! We need to run! NOW!”
“Lenora... - something’s wrong...I," I stammer as I start to stand up. I can feel my eyes wide with panic.
Lenora stops laughing and looks at me. Her eyes widen and turn pitch black as she looks past my
shoulder.A hand claps the back of my neck hard and squeezes with sharp claws extended, painfully breaking my
skin, as I get pushed back down in the seat. A little yelp escapes me. Oh shit.