Wynter

"Come on Wynter, you're going to be late if you don't hurry up."

"I'm coming, hang on!"

Finishing up the last few sentences of the report I've been working on typing up, I hit save and close the laptop. Marie and Shark are at the door waiting, not so patiently while I get everything put away and push away from the desk. We've only been here for almost three months, but I feel like it's been much longer with everything I've done.

Looking up with a smile, Marie is beckoning me with a wave while Shark holds the door open. His name is actually Mike, but since he's a member of the swim team and always smiling at something, he'd acquired a nickname. One of the guys who'd been stalking me shortly after I arrived here, he and his friend got absorbed into my small circle within weeks. Marie working her charm.

"It's not like they can do anything without me there, you know."

"No, but they can give your appointment to someone else."

Wincing at that, I start moving my butt faster. The tingling in my back is already starting at the thought of how the next few hours are going to go. Hurrying out the door, the three of us head downstairs after locking the room up. The typical group holding court at the elevator getting ignored as they shoot everyone dirty looks.

"Sasha meeting us there?"

"Yeah, she had a couple jobs to do, so she'll be waiting for us."

Nodding while opening the front doors, I blink at the setting sun that just burned right into my retinas. Holding up a hand, Marie passes over a pair of sunglasses, smirking. Sticking my tongue out at her, I slip them over my nose as we start walking, Shark falling into step next to us. I try not to think about it, but my shoulder blades fairly itch at the thought of what's coming.

Half of my back is already finished, just have two more sections to do. Sasha had drawn out the design for me, and the woman she's apprenticing under is doing the work. Thanks to the size of it, it being over scar tissue, and the need for special ink, it's not cheap by any means, so it was split up into sections. I got put on a payment deal essentially. A section would get done when I had the funds in hand.

I've already paid for this one, which is the appointment Marie referred to. Anxiety courses through me as we walk, needing to work it off before we get there so I'm not clenching so much in the chair. It had also been brought up about doing it in sections because of it being on damaged tissue, it would hurt more than usual. Since I've never had a tattoo done before, I'll just take their word for it.

"Did Sasha say what jobs she was doing this time?"

Needing to distract my brain, I inquire about Sasha's work. While not able to do jobs with werewolf ink yet, she is able to do normal tats on humans as long as it isn't too intricate.

"Yeah, a geometric mandala underbust like what she already has and a name on someone's neck."

Frowning, I look over at her, giving a small reprieve on the glare towards the lens on my face. We're walking right into the setting sun, the path clear in front of us. There's a reason this street is called Sunset Drive.

"Isn't that bad luck?"

"More like the kiss of death."

Shark speaks up, his deep voice holding a scoff. The guy has a couple tattoos of his own, one he'd gotten when I'd gone in to get mine first started. His way of supporting me, he said. When he and Corben saw my back, they were shocked, but didn't ask questions. From then on, one or the other is always with us when we're not working or in classes. Neither have approached me like they used to talk about either. I think that's why Marie has taken to them so fast; they've become more like big brothers to us.

"Why do people get it done knowing it's called that?"

I ask, completely confused. I mean, if getting someone's name tattooed on your body is doomed, then why do it? He shrugs and I catch Marie cocking her head. Ever the romantic, she sighs.

"I can see getting it done for memorial purposes, for family members or a best friend that passed. Or even for parents, getting their kids names on them and vice versa, but as for getting a lover's name? Even I'm not that far gone. The whole idea of caring or loving someone that much is awesome, but I've never known it to work that way."

I ponder on it for a moment, biting my lip before admitting something to her.

"You know, the werewolves have a marking that's something like that. Mated pairs I mean. It's a choice between them, so not all are seen with it. My old Alphas didn't do it, but I saw the mark on Alpha Kristos during that full moon at Grotto Falls."

Marie turns to me so fast she nearly trips over her own feet. I catch her arm, steadying her while she gapes at me, eyes so wide I can see them over the rim of her sunglasses. I smile at her as she starts batting at me.

"What? And you never told me? Whhhy?"

Chuckling at her, she clutches my arm to her as she whines to Shark, telling him to tell me to tell her. He just raises his arms with a crooked smile, his bright white teeth flashing at us. He might not be a wolf but he could nearly pass as one if he were to be judged on looks alone.

Standing six foot even, his blond hair has been bleached from all the chlorine in the pools he swims in as well as the sun. Light blue eyes remind me of thin ice crystals you see depicted in crystal caves. His only fault is the buzzcut his hair is in, saying it's to make him more streamlined in the water. As if that would matter with those wide shoulders of his. The rest of him is lean, the atypical 'swimmers build'.

"Wynter, you're so mean."

I gape at my best friend then sniff at her, raising my nose in the air, but then it gets flicked from two sides before they both burst out laughing. Meanwhile I cup my stinging nose and try to glare at them but a smile overtakes my face. I practically get dragged the last half block to the shop, stepping inside a minute before my scheduled time.

There's a couple other people inside, but only one other getting work done currently from the sounds of it. I can hear the buzzing of the gun in a back room. The proprietor of the shop is standing behind the counter, having glanced up when the bell dinged from the opening of the door. Seeing me, she smiles.

"Wynter! Good to see you've returned. Come, I'll get you set up. Sasha is currently working."

Smiling at Ms. Dahlia, I follow after her, Marie and Shark following behind me. The other person in front must be waiting on one in the back as they're just sitting in the 'waiting room' reading one of the many magazines spread out. There are three back rooms, Ms. Dahlia does apprenticeships with the college as well as has her own regular crew. With it being a college town, there's no shortage of work to be done, so she's quite successful.

"So one wing is finished and we're starting on the left one today, correct?"

I nod while my friends move to the edge of the room where a couple chairs are, knowing to stay out of the way or they'll be kicked out. I rub my hands over my thighs, sweating in nervousness as she motions me towards the chair. She moves towards it as well, lowering it so I can lay flat.

"You don't mind your friends being in here?"

She knows I don't, but they have to ask just to make sure for consent reasons. I give my consent then strip off my shirt and bra. I'd been told before that a piece like this would usually require more healing time, but I'm not human and my healing capabilities are up to par. That's part of the reason a special ink is needed.

My bra gets handed off to Marie, but my shirt gets folded under me. I found out the hard way that even though they wipe the chair-table down before and after uses, skin sticks. I think I'd shocked Shark and Corben with how easy I was with nudity, but then Sasha explained it's a werewolf thing.

Well, it's that, and after my short time with Jay, I realized that I just don't have the type of body that guys go for. So while I won't openly flaunt myself, I'm not as shy as I was before either. There's nothing to be shy about. While I know I'm not genderless, that's how I essentially look at myself.

So for the next four hours, I lay there and talk with my friends while another portion of my scarred back gets adorned with ink. Almost three months free, three-fourths of a tattoo, a job, college classes, new friends...what more can a girl ask for?

🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔

✰ \(‾▿‾\) 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 (/‾▿‾)/ ✰