32. Avoidance

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Saturday, September 26th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Eight Nights to Full Moon)

The next day, I was exhausted. Even though I slept in until nearly eleven in the afternoon, I was still tired. It hadn’t been a restful sleep. I met with Randall for lunch, but I was still tired. I could see the worry in his face.

I desperately wanted to tell him why I hadn’t slept, why I didn’t want to go back to my dorm. I wanted to tell him about Lilith’s revelation and my knowledge that she was planning something important, but that would mean telling him everything, and I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t tell him about my real training, about my lies. Instead, in response to his worry, I told him that the moon’s roundness had kept me awake the night before. It wasn’t technically the full moon anymore, but it was close enough.

“Yeah, it does that to me sometimes too,” He said, accepting my response for truth.

During lunch, we didn’t speak about or mention the previous day’s events, the whole waking up naked and the embarrassment. I didn’t want to talk about it, so I was happy that it remained unmentioned. However, when I thought about it, I felt happy and warm. I wanted to do it again and maybe I would be more confident. I hoped we would get to do it sooner rather than later, before Lilith did whatever she was planning to do.

“Do you ever just run alone on nights when the moon isn’t full?” I asked him. “I mean, as Alphas, it’s possible for us to change whenever we want to. Why not do it more often?”

He smiled, It’s a great way to get rid of pent-up energy. But you have to be careful. You can’t just run anywhere. Even if you have control, you could still be seen. Plus, it tires you out, so that’s why you can’t do it too much.”

I nodded as I took another bite from my sandwich.

“If you ever can’t sleep, if you feel the need to go for a run, just call me. We can do it on the family land. It’s better to run with someone, just in case something happens. We could go, just you and me.”

“Like a date?” It seemed romantic in an odd sort of way. That was the story of my life since I became a werewolf.

“Sure,” He grinned. I supposed I didn’t need to ask. I was pretty much his girlfriend, but it still felt awkward. I was happy for a distraction, though, and I knew that he would be the best thing to do the job. The more I stayed away from Lilith, the better.

“Tonight, then,” I said.

He laughed, “You already know you can’t sleep?”

“I won’t be able to if I’m thinking of you,” I said, my face getting hot. He smiled and his cheeks reddened as well, probably thinking about the morning before.

We left from lunch and went to the movies. Then, we went back to his house. His parents were gone for the evening and he made me dinner at his house. It was a simple spaghetti dish, but it was still more than I expected.

After we ate, we cuddled on the couch together to watch a movie. I felt the same feeling from the night before, though not as strong. I could feel Lilith waking up, though it didn’t affect me all that much. I was so tired that not much could have given me energy. I just ignored my bond to Lilith and watched the movie. The warmth and closeness to him made me wish we could just lie there forever, but the whole reason I had come was for us to run once the moon was high in the sky.

It was hopeless, though. Even though I tried to stay awake, I lost the battle against my own sheer exhaustion and fell asleep in Randall’s arms.

I woke up in Randall’s bed. He was sitting in a chair watching me sleep. It was light outside, which meant morning, or maybe later.

“I thought you couldn’t sleep,” He laughed.

I groaned and rolled over, covering my head with the blanket. I’d messed up our date.

“I’d better get you back to the dorm, you probably need to study for next week.”

I mumbled into the pillow something nearly unintelligible that was supposed to be, “I don’t wanna study.” I had a test in Spanish the next week, but I was reluctant to buckle down and review the material. I would have much preferred to just stay all day and cuddle with Randall.

He pulled off the blankets and kissed me, “It’s for the best.”

I sighed and got up reluctantly. I was still wearing my clothes from the previous day and would have to change when I got back. I was just happy it was light outside, even though I was not too happy about knowing exactly when Lilith woke up or went to sleep. I’d dreamed about the latter, sometime around daybreak. It involved going into a very dark, confined space. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant dream, but at least she was in that space for the rest of the day. I would do my best to avoid her.

Randall took me back to my dorm and kissed me goodbye. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it, or as if he was too nervous. He didn’t say anything, however, and we parted without him telling me what was on his mind.

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A/N

This chapter is a bit lackluster compared to the last one, but it serves as a transitionary chapter into the next bit.