PHIONA:
The two girls continued to walk through the garden, past flowers, shrubs, and vines. The mix of light fragrances floated around Phiona and calmed her. No other place smelled like this garden. Each fragrance bouncing on the wind made her think of home, or the home she knew would be hers.
"I'm guessing you talked with Alester about me last night?"
Phiona still couldn't get over how brazen and straightforward Samantha talked. There was no beating around the bush with her. No one she knew would talk like that, not even as children.
The first time she officially talked to Samantha one on one, she was astonished.
What was the girl playing at? The girl showed up naked in front of her mate. And then she had the gall to ask Phiona why she hadn't put her dress on in the woods!
But the more she had talked to her, she realized the girl meant well. She only spoke her mind. She seemed timid. Yet she was friendly, open, brazen and didn't hide behind false pretenses or fancy words meant to placate.
Phiona was used to speaking and speaking a lot. But most of the words she used were fluff. They went nowhere and meant nothing. Those words were safe. They were predictable and people automatically liked her when she spoke them. She had never attempted to use words the way Samantha did. She wanted to try it, to be open like her.
Saying what she meant was more difficult than Phiona had expected. Being truthful like Samantha meant every word had meaning. It held weight. It meant being exposed, disliked.
Yet, with Samantha, Phoina felt she didn't have to worry about offending her. 'She probably won't stay long.' She told herself. She could be as open as she wanted, but she still had some caution. 'Had words always been so stifling and freeing at the same time?'
"I wish. No. My dad filled me in. Next question. "
Phiona said flippantly, hoping Samantha wouldn't notice her avoiding talking about Alester.
"Hold on. What about you?"
"Me?"
Had Samantha caught her avoiding the subject?
"Yea. You know I live in the city. But what about you?"
Phiona raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I don't live in the city."
"I know that. I meant..." Samantha paused briefly, as if finding the right words to say.
"You know something about me, but I don't know anything about you."
What did she want to know? Wasn't she just here to be trained? To learn about being a wolf? What would she want to know about her?
Phiona recalled the way Samantha stared at Alester. Was she digging for information about him? Trying to disguise it being about her? Had Phiona's irrational fears been right, and she wanted her mate? Phiona shook her head. She was doing it again, looking for extra meaning in Samantha's words. If Samantha wanted to know about Alester, she would have asked about Alester. But what could she say about herself?
"Not much to tell. I grew up with my dad in a neighboring pack."
Phiona was going to leave it there, but the nagging memory of Samantha and her Alester naked together in the woods, and the way he looked at her and she looked at him. It brought a sense of panic and a moment of petty jealousy that she couldn't shake, even if Samantha wasn't asking about him. Phiona wanted to skew things in her favor.
"Alester's dad and my dad are best friends, so I've known Alester since we were kids. We went to the same schools, even high school. We were like any other kids, any other teenagers. Albeit it was schools of werewolves..."
Bringing up highschool was supposed to be a tactical move. One that should hint to say 'we were highschool sweethearts.' without actually having to lie. But what she said felt off, disjointed.
It was supposed to sound flippant, natural. Instead, it was as if the sentence couldn't hold itself together. It didn't seem to imply what she had wanted it to and bringing up highschool churned her stomach. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. She didn't want to let out that Alester had never liked her. Or that he outright hated her since high school. Is that what Samantha wanted to know? Did she already know? Phiona felt like Samantha could see right through her.
head cocked to the side, and a smile on her lips, Phiona's face remained as untouched by her fears as she trained it to be. Though Samantha walked ahead of her and couldn't see her face. "What would you like to know?"
Samantha had passed the next stone trail Phiona was going to take them down and had continued straight ahead, their wolf hearing allowing them to continue conversing. But she stopped and bent to stare at some purple anemone and tapped her finger on her lips in thought.
"You live with your dad. What about your mom?"
Samantha actually wanted to know about her! Not just small talk. Phiona paused, shock passing her features. Phiona hadn't talked about her mom in a long time, if ever. Most people already knew, and it was a topic best avoided. Phiona shifted on her feet and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"She died when I was young." Phiona answered flatly, not wanting to talk about it any further. Samantha stiffened and kept her eyes fixed on the flowers.
"Oh. I didn't know my mom either... but I guess that's not the same because I had Lara."
"Who's Lara?"
Samantha's body relaxed, but she pursed her lips and furrowed her brow.
"She's my adopted mom. She's raised me since I can remember."
"What's the next question?"
Phiona noted Samantha was as reluctant to talk about her own mother just as much as Phiona was. She looked at the paper in her hand, eager to read the next question of the test and get away from the awkward questioning.
"Oh. It's an easy one! How do you shift your wolf?"
Samantha turned to look at her in astonishment. "You call this easy?"
Worry lines formed, and her face fell. "I have no clue. I've only shifted once."
Phiona could feel her eyebrows rise and her eyes widen. "You don't know how to shift your wolf?!"
How could this girl have shifted but never learned how?! It's the most basic of all things! It's second nature! She couldn't even recall how the study books described it. Samantha truly needed help.