The Summer Moon
Chapter 36 -

"Malia, honey, can I please come in?" My dad was knocking on my door. This was his third attempt since Ty had dropped me off yesterday. I'd been staring at the ceiling so long my eyes were starting to hurt. I couldn't bare to leave my bed, none of this life felt real anymore. "I know you're upset but I think you'll feel better after we talk," my dad called through the door again.

"Not right now," I rolled over and curled myself up in a blanket once more. I looked down at my phone to see a few missed texts from Alana, one from Emily, and one from Ty. I sighed and opened the text from Ty first. Morning Gorgeous, I hope you're feeling better this morning. Call me anytime if you want to talk.

I groaned and pulled the blankets over my head, throwing my phone back on the bed. Why did he have to be so sweet? He made it so hard to be mad at him. I had been a total bitch to him yesterday, and while he sort of deserved it, I couldn't help but feel guilty. The look on Ty's face when I threw his sweater at him broke my heart and I couldn't get it out of my head.

I took a deep breath then picked up the phone again and read the text from Emily next.

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please don't be mad at me!!

I rolled my eyes, another text I didn't want to reply to right now. And the cherry on top came when another knock rattled my door. I grabbed my pillow and crushed it over my face and screamed into it, letting all of my frustration out. Then as I flung it away I shouted back, "Go away dad, I don't want to talk!"

"Actually it's me, can you open the door?" I heard Savanah's gentle voice on the other side and immediately felt guilty. She hadn't deserved that. I climbed out of bed and walked over to unlock the door, opening it slowly to be sure my dad was going to jump in behind her.

"Just me, I brought you some breakfast," She smiled sweetly and held out a bowl of cereal which I gratefully took. "Can I come in?" Savanah asked as I backed away from the door. I appreciated her asking and not just pushing her way in as I was sure my dad would have, so I nodded my head and returned to sitting on the bed. She shut the door gently behind her.

"Your father's gone to work now. I figured you might need some girl talk? I know I'm not your mother, but I'm here, Malia, for anything you need," She sat on the opposite side of the bed to me, careful not to overstep her boundary. I smiled back at her, then hung my head. "We don't have to talk about... that, if you don't want to."

"I don't know what to talk about Savanah, I don't know how to feel about anything right now," I stirred my spoon aimlessly around my cereal.

"About Ty? I saw him leaving here pretty upset last night," I sighed, knowing I was the cause of that upset.

"I'm not ready to talk about Ty," I said quietly.

"That's okay too, sweetie, but when you are I'm here," Savanah set her hand on my knee and gave me a small smile.

"Are you one too?" I asked, looking down at her hand, wondering what it would be like if it were suddenly replaced by a wolf's paw.

"I am," She replied and I nodded my head. I had been expecting that, and replaceing out she was a wolf hurt less than replaceing out about my dad and Ty. "I can't imagine what you're going through, Malia. I grew up in this world so I never had to adjust to it."

"Is that what I'm supposed to do? Just get used to all of this now and accept it? Everyone's been lying about it since I got here. Dad's been lying my whole life," I could fear the tears coming to my eyes again but I pushed them back, willing myself to be strong. I'd done enough crying in the last 48 hours.

"I know it seems impossible right now," Savanah took her hand off my knee and stared out the window with me. Silence filled the room and I took small bites of my cereal. Savanah was the first to break it, "Your father lied to me once," I looked over at her, shocked.

"When we first met, we fell in love instantly. He lied to me about you and your mom. I showed up at the house one night to surprise him, and found myself surprised instead. I found out that night that the man of my dreams was married and had a daughter with this other woman whom he lived with. I was heartbroken". Her eyes met mine and I could see the raw emotion they held.

"What happened next?" I was almost afraid to ask, but somehow they must've worked it out, or we wouldn't be here right now.

"He ended things with your mother the next day, and you know what happened after that. But I think I told him I hated him about 300 times over the course of the next 2 years. Then one day I woke up and I just finally admitted what I'd known all along. No matter how upset I was with him, he is the love of my life, and now we're here," I reached out to hold Savanah's hand and smiled.

"The point of me telling you this, is that I want you to know that it's okay to take time to figure things out. It's okay to take care of yourself first, you don't have to feel guilty about that. You're allowed to be sad, angry, hurt, however you're feeling. But things tend to work out how they're meant to eventually," I pondered on Savanah's words, and felt a sense of comfort come over me.

"Thank you Savanah," I leaned over and half hugged her, resting my head on her shoulder.

"Anytime Sweetie," She rubbed my back gently and I suddenly longed for my own mother, it had been a while since I had heard from her. As frustrated as she made me, I still missed her, and I couldn't help but wonder how much she knew about this new world.

"And in the meantime, if you're looking for something to keep you busy and make a little money, I run a little cafe in town and I'm actually looking for a new girl if you're interested?" Savanah interrupted my train of thought, but I nodded eagerly. That was exactly what I needed, I just needed some normalcy in my life right now and nothing screamed normal like an average girl working a part-time job for the summer.

"Great! If you're not up to anything this afternoon, I can take you in with me and show you around," I nodded my head again and Savanah left me alone to get ready.

As I pulled on a jean skirt and tank top I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to Tyrese. I wondered if I would ever come around to understanding him as a wolf. I wondered if we would end up like my dad and Savanah, but I quickly shook the thought away. We'd hardly known each other a couple of weeks, it was way too soon to be thinking like that. But deep down, even if I wasn't ready to admit it to myself yet, I knew things with him just felt right. Just then, I heard my phone buzz and I looked to see another text from Ty.

Malia, please, just talk to me. I can explain everything. I need to explain. Call me.

I took a deep breath, feeling that same ache come back to my chest. Whether I was angry at Ty or not, Savanah made a good point. My feelings for him were still there, but that didn't make this any easier. I ignored the message once again and pushed the phone into my back pocket.

Savanah took me down to the cafe after lunch and I immediately fell in love with it. It was right at the edge of the town just in front of the beach and filled with cute intimate tables and couches for seating area. Everyone I met there was super friendly and welcomed me warmly as a new employee. Savanah even gave me a little apron to wear if I were ever working in the kitchen.

For now, she showed me how to stock the shelves and work the register. I was already so eager to start. I even convinced her to let me do some training with one of the other girls to work in the kitchen. I'd always loved baking growing up, it had always been a good outlet for me to release stress and I'd never needed an outlet as badly as I did now.

Savanah left me to work into the evening with the other girls and I honestly had so much fun. Even when I heard my phone buzz and read another message from Ty, it couldn't ruin my mood.

You can't just shut me out.

I felt guilty reading the message. That wasn't what I was intending to do, but I needed space. I needed time to think and truly he did this to himself. He's the one that decided to start a relationship with me that was built upon secrets. I heard Savanah's words from earlier echoing in my ear and decided to ignore this message as well.

When we left and locked up the cafe for the night, the sun was just starting to set. I looked out over the beach and watched the waves crashing onto the shore.

"Malia," My body suddenly tensed, hearing a voice behind me, reminding me of the secrets I still had to face. I spun to see Emily standing behind me, holding her hands nervously in front of her.

"Malia, I'm so sorry," She said, suddenly throwing her arms around me and I couldn't help but hug her back gently. "Please don't hate me! I wanted to tell you from the very start but you know it really wasn't my place, it should have come from-" Emily began to ramble, so I pulled back and gripped her shoulders.

"It's fine, Emily," I cut her off. It wasn't her I was mad at, she was right. It wasn't her place to tell me. It should have come from Ty, it should have come from my dad. I spent so much more time with them, they had so many opportunities to tell me, but instead they chose to keep their secret. My dad should have told me when I was a kid, but he kept this from me my whole life. Ty should have told me before he made me have all these stupid warm and fuzzy feelings for him. Now things are just way too complicated.

"Thank goddess!! Because you and I are totally gonna be best friends, I can just sense it," She looped her arm through mine and began walking us down towards the beach. "You know I'm so glad you know now though, because I have so much more I can tell you about now. Wolf drama is crazy,"

"You're a wolf too?" I asked her. I stopped in my tracks. Was everyone in this town a wolf?

"Yeah duh, well I mean technically I am. I haven't shifted yet. I can feel my wolf, I know she's there, but honestly, after the rogue stuff I'm not ready to shift yet. We have until our first full moon after our 18th birthday to shift though, so I have some time still," Emily began explaining, and when her eyes finally met mine the smile faded from her face. "Wait, Ty didn't explain all this to you?" Emily's eyes went wide as I shook my head.

"That boy, I swear!" Emily groaned, but I shrugged my shoulders awkwardly. I hadn't exactly given Ty much of a chance to explain anything. I didn't want to hear it.

"Are you okay Malia?" Emily paused and looked at me seriously. I looked over at her, thinking for a moment, then nodded my head.

"I'm doing the best I can I guess," I bit my lip. "Is Ty here?" I asked, unsure what answer I was hoping for. Part of me was still craving him, but the other part of me never wanted to see him again.

"Um no, but Jared, his younger brother, is. Ty will probably be by in a bit to pick him up." I hadn't known Ty had a younger brother but I brushed it off, there seemed to be a lot of things I didn't know about him.

I nodded and followed her down to the beach. As I looked around the group of people I recognized several of Ty's friends and I couldn't help but wonder how many of them would turn into wolves as well. "Come on, we can lay on the beach over here," Emily led me over to a spot where she had a towel laid out and a beach bag sitting in the sand.

Together we rested on the towel for a while when suddenly two tall blonde boys came to stand over us. One was slightly taller with a more muscular build. While the other held tight curls in his hair and a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His eyes met with mine and he gave me a shy smile.

"Hiya boys, how can we help ya?" Emily winked at them and they both flashed charming grins back. Just then, in the distance behind them, my eyes caught the sparkle of a shiny black car pulling up at the edge of the sand. My heart suddenly beat fast as I watched Ty slip out of the car. His eyes instantly locked with mine and I was taken aback to replace his eyes cold and narrowing as they focused on me. Was he angry with me?

I felt the anger in me begin to boil over again. He had no right to be angry at me. I'm the one that should be angry at him!

"I'm Luke and this is my friend Tom. We were wondering if you girls would be interested in going out some time?" The taller boy asked as I drew my attention back to the conversation in front of me. I had already begun shaking my head but Emily was quick to answer before me.

"We would love to!" She exclaimed. My eyes went wide, turning my full attention to Emily, who looked very happy with her own answer. She knew I was with Ty, but then I paused. After what happened yesterday, there was no way we were still together. My eyes flickered across the beach once again, catching his as he waved his brother over. The cold gaze he returned told me we were over.

"Great! Maybe we could go to the carnival tomorrow. We can meet you there at say 8?" The boy with the glasses said, and I shifted my attention back to our conversation. Emily eagerly nodded and the boys returned bright smiles. As they turned to leave, I couldn't help but feel a little unsettled by it.

As they disappeared from our sight, I quickly grabbed Emily's arm. "What are you doing?" I hissed at her but she only gave me a sly smile in return. Her own gaze flickered over to Ty's as she crossed her arms over her chest and I couldn't help but feel like she had just set some sort of plan in motion.

"Sometimes you gotta teach boys a lesson honey, make Ty smarten up," she smirked at me and I felt a chill run down my spine. I looked off in the distance once again to see a younger boy climbing in Ty's car, then the car took off down the street. But what exact lesson did she want me to teach him? After everything that had happened, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be with Ty any more.

"Won't making him jealous only make this whole situation worse?" I thought aloud and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Look, Ty's crazy for you, but he doesn't know how to fix this. So I'm just going to give him a little push," Emily explained, ahe that seemed right up there under the bad ideas. I wasn't even sure if I wanted Ty to fix things, but Emily seemed pretty set on her plan. How exactly was me going on a date with another guy going to fix anything though?

I chewed my lip nervously, "okay but I swear if he kills anyone, it's on you" I couldn't help but feel a little scared, remembering Ty kill that other wolf last night. Ty's a killer. I couldn't be with him. And now he's angry with me, or at least he definitely will be after tonight. Would I be next on his list?