Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Winter solstice is seriously my favorite holiday.

| mean, this will be the first time | get to celebrate it. In the past, | was responsible for wrapping all the

gifts for the Silver Moon pack Winter Solstice party. One year, there was an extra gift left over, so Beta

Tate let me have it after everyone had left. It was a box of chocolate truffles. There were eight in the

box. Each one had a different flavor filling, and | savored every bite. | knew | would never get another

gift again, but that one meant the world to me. It didn't matter to ten- year-old Kas that it was just a

forgotten box. |t was special to me.

Even if | haven't been an active participant before, | still love all the decorations, watching people

exchange gifts, the music, the games, the special foods | get to bake, all of it. It is the feeling in the air.

It is just so wonderful. Speaking of which, | want to give gifts this year, but | feel awkward asking Bronx

for money. | don't want him to think I'm taking advantage of him. So | do what lam best at. | bake.

Since I'm still a little unsure about borrowing a laptop, Ashley prints me out a list of all the families in

the pack. There are over six hundred families, so | have my work cut out for me, but | know | can do it. |

start with chocolates and truffles since they last the longest, then | move on to cookies, then cakes and

pastries. Mrs. Miller tells me there are plenty of extra pantry supplies, so baking for the pack won't be a

problem. She even lets me use the kitchen and helps me find nice decorative packaging from the

storeroom.

Delilah hasn't found a job yet, so she asks if she can help. It turns out she likes baking, and she's really

good at it too, so she helps me with all the goodies I'm making. I'm so glad to have the company. She

and | have a similar taste in music, so we are able to dance around while we are working or waiting for

things to come out of the ovens. A few days before Solstice, we're waiting around the kitchen for more

cakes to come out of the oven. Delilah is leaning against the counter looking bored.

“Kas, | need a haircut. Where do you go to get yours done?" Delilah whines a little, looking at her

blonde split ends between her fingers. “I've never had a haircut. I've used old shears | found in the

trash when it was brown, but | haven't cut it since it turned silver," | shrug. "lokaste Latmus," Delilah sits

up at attention and scolds me, her eyes turning dark blue, " taking care of your hair is just as important

as taking care of the rest of your body."

She picks up her cell phone and texts someone. A moment later, the chime of response comes

through. She picks up the phone and smiles.

"Ashley made us appointments for tomorrow. You and | are getting fresh haircuts for the party," Delilah

says with conviction. | notice her eyes shifting to a lighter blue as her mood changes. It's such a cool

ability.

We make it into a girls' day out and convince Ashley and Lenora to join us. After much deliberation

based on magazine photos, web searches, and opinions from the ladies, | chose a picture from one of

Ashley's fashion magazines.

For the first time in my life, | get a professional haircut. The stylist looks at the picture several times as

she cuts my hair. She cuts off about four inches, but it's still long. Then she adds layers and heavy

bangs that come a little below my eyes. When the stylist turns the chair around, | stare at the girl in the

chair with my mouth hanging wide. That can't be me. | stand up and touch the mirror, thinking | must be

looking into a different room in the spa.

"Kas, it's beautiful!” Ashley squeals as she comes up behind me and squeezes my shoulders. Lenora

and Delilah agree from their manicure stations.

The woman has me sit down and shows me multiple ways to style it. She even shows me how to use a

flat iron to put wavy curls into it. “Do you think Bronx will like it?” | ask, tugging a little at the ends,

looking at my friends in the mirror. The layers make it look even more glittery than before, making me a

little self-conscious.

“Oh yeah. He's gonna love it," Lenora reassures me. '

After we all finish getting our hair cut and manicures, Lenora and Ashley take us out to lunch. |

comment on how nice the restaurant is after we are seated. | haven't been to a restaurant since we

stopped at the little cafe in France when we were coming home and before that; | had never really been

to a restaurant, except one time when | was on a class field trip, but | didn't have money to actually eat,

so the teacher gave me the extra bread from the baskets that was served before the meal. :

“What do you mean you haven't been to a restaurant since you got back?" Lenora hisses, as our food

is being served.

| shrug as | push my fork around my vegetables, "We've had a lot going on. Bronx has been busy with

MasonCo. I've busy helping with Winter Solstice planning.” Lenora lets it drop, but based on the look

on her face, | have a feeling her brother is going to get an earful later.

Bronx gets home at his normal time. He sets his briefcase down by the door and comes to the living

room to give me a kiss, but he stops in his tracks.

“Y-your hair is-...It...l can't......umm," he stammers. The look of shock on his face is not comforting.

"You don't like it?" | ask, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

Crap.

| feel my neck and cheeks starting to become hot and a lump in my throat that | swallow down. | avert

my gaze from Bronx as | try to adjust my hair, so it isn't as noticeable. | stand up in a rush to go geta

hair tie.

Bronx blinks a couple of times with a confused look before he puts his hand over his heart.

“My little goddess, you are...stunning,” he says breathlessly, stopping me in my tracks. : He comes over

and takes my hand as he sits on the sofa, setting me in his lap. He gently runs his fingers through my

hair and admires me lovingly, making me purr at his touch. “Baby, | love it. It was just such a big shock.

| didn't mean to make you feel bad about yourself," he says softly as he admires my face and hair,”

Every time | see you, you're more beautiful than the last time | saw you. Just when | think you can't get

any prettier, you go and make my heart feel like it's going to beat out of my chest all over again.” ”

He pulls me to him and gives me the sweetest, softest kiss. Making me feel like I'm the only other

person in the world. As he wraps arms around me, | hear a small howl far, far in the back of my mind.

Lex?

| pull away from Bronx suddenly, "Elexis?" “What is it, Baby? Can you hear Lex? Is she back?" He asks

hopefully.

| listen carefully and call out for her. The howling becomes more and more distant until | can't hear it

anymore.

My heart sinks, "She's trying, but she is so far away.” 2

"Don't worry, Kas. Keep searching for her, she'll find her way back," Bronx soothes me as he rubs my

back. We'll work on it together.”