Chapter 1-Parallel Lives
Chapter 1 — Parallel Lives
Xander
Her laughter tinkles like wind chimes in a storm. That’s all I can remember night after night. It haunts me like a heartache, though I know I’ve never seen her before… except in my dreams but all I can ever remember is her laugh and how it makes my soul glow.
An hour later standing in a field surrounded by men of all different ages, all on edge, awaiting instructions. Xander stretched while thinking of the last remnants of this morning’s dream; little pieces of her that he could always hold on to.
Charlie
Being alone is something she was never very good at. Growing up in a commune makes her life experience so much different from everyone else she knows; and has not been helpful Her social skills are lacking from the suspicious, close-knit clan she left not so long ago. She doesn’t know fashion or technology, and it eats away at her confidence as she walks through the diner doors to start her shift. Maeve’s is a greasy spoon on the outskirts of a small town in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Her home, and her prison.
Never having the opportunity to travel, this small town and its small, small, minded people are all she’s ever known. She has always had this fire inside her, a ‘never say die’ attitude. She hungered for knowledge- of anything- and would seek and absorb anything she could. Knowledge is power after all.
Born the daughter of a succubus and a mayor, and existing in this day in age, when fantasy is clearly separated from reality and no one realizes succubae exist, Charlie Wells has spent the last few decades in hiding, rejecting every maternal trait she had inherited.
Xander
There is nothing sweeter in the world than waking next to her… arms and legs wrapped around me, her scent- sweet and delicious like fresh baked goods and earth, home. Still hazy eyed, suddenly so cold and alone, Xander Bennett rakes his hands over his face in frustration knowing it was just a cruel dream. Bunks surround him, waking around men all within a decade of his own age. The smells are not sweet and delicious, just musky and then some. Warrior training-all men and women must train from 16-19 for the protection of themselves, their families and their country. Separately, of course.
Checking the clock, it is barely 5am. No sun to greet him yet- in the dead of winter in the north the winter brings the daily sunshine later and later in the day until spring bounces time back in the other direction. It’s cold, snowy and stormy out- still or already he wonders. Throwing on his favorite grey sweats and a compression hoodie, Xander starts his 5-mile morning run. It is the only thing that keeps her off his mind. Especially since it’s impossible to meet your mate and know it’s them at 12 years old- even when her 11-year-old eyes are begging you to believe her when she tells him that summer so long ago. He digs in and runs a little harder blasting FFDP matching the rhythm in step.
Charlie
Charlie wakes up cold, unknowingly just a 3-hour trip from her best friend since childhood. His letter came yesterday, they both have been writing back and forth for 3 years now -strengthening their friendship and bond, being each other sound board, wingman, and equal champion cheering each other on and planning for the future- as Xander is promised to her best girlfriend, Callie. As excited as she is to get these letters, there is always that nag in the back of her mind that makes her feel like a traitor to herself. No one believes in, cheers for, or has created a safe space for Charlie in her entire 19 years, with the exception of her very best friend Xander- who is far too good for a trailer rat like her to ever be loved by. But his friendship- it was like the sunshine for her- feeding her strength, like a gasp for air after being stuck under water… she was so grateful to the Goddess for blessing her in this way at least.
Where Charlie comes from, love is pain. Beauty is pain. Life is pain. She lives in a constant state of struggle not much different from Xanders childhood. A constant state of survival mode.
She could hardly wait any longer, and the breakfast rush was finally slowing down. Charlie gave Maeve a kiss on the cheek and ran out for a smoke break. Holding the letter inside her pocket, she pulled it out so quickly she nearly dropped it in the snow. It was a reflex; to smell the envelope- it always smelled like him. She quickly opened the long white envelope, unable to wait any longer to see how he was, what he was doing, and especially if he was coming home yet!
“Hello and how are you? And What has your goofy ass been up to?” she couldn’t help but giggle a little out loud. Always so grateful for his blunt honesty- she always had been a bit of a goofy kid, growing before all the other kids, sticking out like a sore thumb.
The back door to the restaurant opened. Kevin, the teenage dishwasher busboy, ran out “Yo Charlie, its busy’
She quickly put the letter in her pocket and ran in… no rest for the wicked I guess. She , laughed to herself and got back to it. Running breakfast out to the cops, and carpenters and laymen she had known her whole life
Chalie hadn’t traveled much outside of that little busy valley she was born in- there was no need to, no urge to truly. With all four seasons acted out every single year, the beauty of nature surrounding her, she felt blessed to be somewhere both so close knit, and always bustling. Not that she felt like she ever belonged… but those were feelings for another day.
The busy café slowed to a halt at just past 3pm, like every day. Charlie finished up her responsibilities and got out the screened back door, letting it slam behind her. Kissing Maeve on the cheek, outside having her last smoke break before closing up for the day.
“Love you honey” Maeve yelled.
“Love you, Maeve” Charlie blew a kiss, running to her beat up old red coupe.
“And, on to the next” she huffed out loud, starting the car, queueing up some Limp Bizkiet, and checking the rear view quickly before backing out and heading toward the city. Cranking the volume, and putting the windows down, she smiled singing her heart out while the wind whipped through her hair. “It’s my G-G-generation…” she pulled into her spot at the salon after a few minutes, the engine and radio turning off Charlie inhaled deeply. She grabbed her bag and her phone and ran toward the mall entrance. The envelope crinkling in her pocket reminded her again that she didn’t get to finish reading it, let alone reply. She felt a little guilty, knowing the longing she felt and that these letters were her lifeline- wondering if her BFF felt the same.
The days feel longer and longer, and fragrant stuck surrounded by other men. All working out, on their warrior fitness journeys together. Xander was both excited and exhausted at the end of every day,,, 81 and a wake up until he can see her face again, see her smile, smell her wheat blonde Pantene hair around him. A wedding to plan and a lifetime of expectations and responsibilities ahead of him, staring him down, he had his fill of stress but knew it was only starting. He had more than his fill of joy waiting at home as well, right after he finished finals and the Alpha Trials.
Alpha trials were open this year for all senior warriors in training this year as new territories became pack lands, there were not enough old families with leaders to fill the new positions. Pennsylvania was overlooked for many years, despite its beauty, culture, and open land.Xander had actually been the one to scout and blueprint how and where they should acquire land in NEPA. His ideas and opinions were valued amongst both his peers and the elders as a blood Alpha himself. His lineage was from out of state, but he had also been living in the Back Mountain for the last decade before leaving for his training.
“Yo, where’s the fire, cuz?” Travis, Xanders younger brother and bunk mate asked as he tripped over his brothers fast moving feet.
“My bad,” Xander smiled back at his brother. Wondering again to himself, how they were even related. Where Xander is tall. Lithe. Strong, Charismatic. Travis is average height; a little pudgy and common sense did not really live there. Xanders blonde hair and blue eyes were a far contrast to his brothers darker, empty eyes and chestnut brown hair. Outgoing and generous vs reserved and introverted, they could not be more different. But Xander had a special place, a fondness for Travis; and a feeling of responsibility for his little brother, no matter how different they were.
His mind raced, jogging the last of his daily 10-mile run, always settling on her. The pictures hanging over his bunk did her no justice. He imagined the way her eyes would glow as she laughed at something he said, how affectionate she always was, how she seemed to hug him with her whole self with every embrace. She could light up a room, or burn the place down if you ever made her angry.
Xander had to stop running, as started to laugh at the thought of his best friend and their debauchery together, the month before he left for training. It had been a blizzard; The schools and businesses and stores all shut down. A Northeaster, they called it. They had bundled in layers and layers of clothes and jumped off her 2nd story balcony into the 6 feet of snow that had fallen the night before. There had been a bunch of them there, but he could only remember her…
“Ground control to major Tom” Eli yelled, coming up from behind him.
“What’s up, Bro? Why are You, of all people, running?” Xander smiled back, pushing the memories away, locking them back in their box.
“Finals and the trials are stressing me out, man. The nervous energy in the air is making me feel cage-y. This is all I could think of to release my anxiety and still be training” Eli wiped the sweat from his face with a towel from the locker room as the boys walked through to the showers.
“You were valedictorian and are in the top tier for the trails, Eli. And your dad is an alpha, you are an alpha… where is this fear coming from?” Xander tried to comfort his friend, knowing he was worrying for naught, When Eli got home, he already had an established pack to run and his place in that pack is set. The old laws and traditions supersede the new laws, Eli did not have to worry about someone questioning or fighting for his spot.
“Any letters come lately, X?,” Eli asked from his shower stall, yelling above the locker room chatter and old pipes.
“You know it,” he laughed, thinking of the daily letters from his best friend, his girlfriend, and his many fans. “Need me to set you up again? Are you sure you’re ready this time, bud?” Eli was shy and had a hard time connecting with members of the other gender. Xander always suspected a neurodivergence separation with his friend from kindergarten but knew the pack healers didn’t bother with those kind of labels.
The silence got awkward as Eli took a moment to respond, “I want to find my mate, man. I just can’t bring myself to connect with anyone that isn’t MINE… knowing there is some one out there made just for me. Doesn’t it seem kind of disloyal to date around?” Eli stood behind Xander now, eyes watery.
“I apologize, Eli. I guess I never realized how you felt before. I have always considered it market research and development. Everything I learn from dating, likes, dislikes, how to push every button… that is all going to help me understand and make me the best lover for my mate.” He responded, getting dressed and pulling his bag from his locker,
“Not all of us have known who our mate was since elementary school, you know X. Some of us actually have to wait and that waiting is HARD and confusing to be honest.”
Xander thought about that for a minute, no one knew he hadn’t actually felt the mate bond yet. He and Callie had been dating off and on since elementary, all through high school, and it was… comfortable. Her presence was soothing, even if they had never really been alone before.They were pressured into the engagement; with her father so ill and the pack expansion responsibilities falling on Xander, the union seemed like a perfect alliance. A few more months and their mate bond would be confirmed. He never really thought about it much. It was all planned and decided already.
The packs kept dating couples “safe” where they came from- only double dates with peers or an older advisor so there were no pups born out of wedlock. NONE. Not a single one in our 100 years in Toby’s Creek. They were to wait for their mates, especially the daughters, though human women were fair game. Most of the men got their experience dating humans, fae, or succubae, though it seemed to be starting some issues as of late.
Were kind and humans couldn’t procreate unless they were mates, at least historically. But lately we had been finding more and more cross overs and hybrids. Women who had hid pregnancies from wolves that never thought a pregnancy could happen, were now having adult children coming out of the woodwork it seemed. Some shifters, some without a wolf, and even some with other magics that they council were only just now meeting and being tested for their places within the pack. It was one of the main reasons the warrior training had been opened for all magical beings.
Charlie
“Standing in these shoes should be a crime,” Raquel looked at Charlie through the mirror, smiling. “Alright! Let’s get it together, girls,” she clapped, her chocolate eyes glowing, dark hair waving down her back. Raquel was the salon manager and one of Charlie’s good friends. They had only known each other for a few months but bonded over their love of children and hair care. Raquel’s daughter was 6 and came in often for nails and hair, but also because of the soft pretzel store directly across from the salon. Charlie’s heart burst with affection every time the little girl came into the salon, smiling ear to ear running for Charlie.
“She’s my favorite, Mama.” Chloe had told Raquel on Charlie’s 1st day of work there and they had been friends ever since. Charlie knew every nursery rhyme, poem, and could quote kids movies from the 50s to the present making her a magnet for both children and scared new moms. She had a gift with kids, a benefit of the commune she supposed.
The crowd started to pour in for the afternoon rush and it was all hands on deck now. No time to reminisce. Woman, Children, Men, Teenagers took turns flooding the salon, making appointments, giving tips and gifts, and all leaving feeling brand new with their highlights and crew cuts, hair balms and sprays. The night passed quickly and before she knew it, it was finally time to close up and finally get off her feet.
“Drinks Anyone?” Alisha yelled, far too loud. Star dangly earring swaying beneath her choppy platinum pixie.
