Page 19

I cower away from it and put my head down between my knees to hide. I know this won’t really keep me safe, but my first instinct is to hide.
I know I’m going to hurt when the creature tears me apart. I don’t expect to feel a wet nose gently pushing against my arm. I slowly raise my head and see a wolf, not a bear. A wolf that is as big as a bear, but still a wolf. It rubs its nose against my arm again and then licks it. I look at the wolf, and tears keep falling like rain in a storm.
It looks like the wolf is sad that I’m upset, and it slowly backs away from me. I will never forget what it does next, no matter how hard I try. I see the wolf turn into a person right in front of my eyes, with the sound of bones cracking and ligaments moving.
Jaxon.
What should someone do when their friend, who they’ve made out with a few times and really like, turns from a wolf to a person right in front of their eyes?
Because I have no idea what to do, I want to run as far and as quickly as I can. I want to cry for hours and hours. I want to yell at the man in front of me. And those are all good choices, but I choose to sit on the dirty ground of the alleyway and stare at Jaxon in shock. He was a huge black wolf just a few moments ago, and now he’s the Jaxon I care about. But is he really Jaxon? That Jaxon was a person. This Jaxon is a huge jerk.
I’m not crying anymore, but I’m shaking uncontrollably because I’m cold and shocked. When another wolf, this one brown and half a head shorter than wolf-Jaxon, trots into the alleyway and hands Jaxon a piece of fabric, I can see that I’m flinching and pressing my back as hard as I can against the wall. Jaxon takes the black cloth out of the wolf’s mouth and whispers something to it while he puts on the shorts.
That’s when I remembered that Jaxon had been naked since he turned back into a person. His being naked doesn’t bother me at all right now because I’m so upset. Jaxon whispers something to the wolf and looks over at me every few seconds to make sure I’m still there. I can’t run anywhere because he’s blocking the alleyway and my legs feel like noodles right now. I don’t think I could run if I tried.
The brown wolf makes a low grumbling sound from its chest, which makes me whimper. I back up even more, scraping my arms against the brick wall as I move deeper into the shadows. When I whine like a baby, Jaxon’s head turns toward me, and his eyes are as dark as a predator’s. There is one tear running down my face. How is this going on?
“Go,” Jaxon says in a voice that is probably normal, but because I’m so scared, it sounds like he’s yelling. The wolf makes a noise like a person scoffing and runs away from the alley and into the woods a few blocks away.
Jaxon walks slowly toward me, making sure not to scare me. That’s what I think he’s doing. But I’m already scared of him, and nothing will change that. He’s a beast! A creature with sharp teeth, claws, and a strong body that could kill me in a second. What does he want me to do? Run into his arms?
“Baby, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” His low voice doesn’t help me feel better. His voice and the fact that he’s so close to me make my breathing speed up, which almost makes me have a panic attack. He sees that I’m upset right away and reaches for me, but he stops before he touches my skin. He pulls his hand back slowly, as if it hurts him.
“Breathe, baby. Take a deep breath. You’re okay. You’re safe.” He keeps whispering things like this to me, and I slowly calm down. I look up at Jaxon, who is worried, when my breathing is at a normal rate.
“W-w-what’s h-happening? I-I don’t… You’re a… Oh my god!” I cover my mouth with my hands right away as a horrible sob escapes.
Jaxon reaches for my arm, but I pull away from him again. I yell at him in a stern voice. “Stop! Don’t you dare come near me!”
Jaxon probably looks shocked and sad when I curse because I never do. He raises his hands in surrender and moves to the other side of the alley, as far away from me as he can get.
“Calla, I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I promise I’ll explain everything to you later. But first, please let me see your injuries. I need to know you’re okay.”
I’m already shaking my head back and forth, but the movement makes me wince loudly because the pain is coming from the back of my head. When I raise my hand to touch the source of the pain, I see red. My blood.
I don’t even have time to think about my injury before I turn to the side and throw up all over the ground. I don’t even notice that Jaxon is helping me lift my hair away from my face as I continue to throw up. I finally lean back against the wall after another minute of gagging and coughing.
I can feel Jaxon’s hands on me. One is gently touching the back of my head, and the other is checking my wrists, which have red marks on them from when the vampire pinned me to the wall. When he touches the back of my head where it hits the rough bricks, I whimper. I can see that he is breathing heavily and his eyes are black. “It’s bleeding too much,” he says, more to himself than to me.
Jaxon easily lifts me up by putting one arm under my knees and the other around my back. He starts to walk away with me, but I slowly start to squirm to get away. He might take me and kill me! Or eat me!
“No…” I scream. “Stop. Put me down,” I say, but my words are getting mixed up and my vision is getting blurry. I try to push him away, but he doesn’t even notice. I don’t think he even cares.
“Baby, you’re really hurt. You must have a really bad concussion. Relax, I’m going to make it all better. I’m taking you to the doctor right now.”
I don’t have any more strength to fight him. I want to get away from him so badly, but the adrenaline is gone and I’m tired. I can’t do anything but cry because I’m in so much pain.
I cry, “It hurts,” and push my head into the crook of his neck. I know I’m weak, but I need to feel better right now even if Jaxon says it.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
As I’m falling asleep because of the pain, I hear Jaxon say, “I’m going to kill that fucker for touching what’s mine.”
********
I wake up to a voice I don’t know. It’s deep, so I know it’s a man, and the fact that it sounds rough makes me think he’s older, maybe in his early forties.
“I don’t know what to say, Alpha. She’s a person, so her injuries will take longer to heal. From what I’ve read, this is a normal reaction for a person after a trauma like hers…”
“It’s been twelve hours, David. Twelve f*****g hours, and my friend is still basically in a coma! You need to do something!” I know this voice. It’s Jaxon, and from the way he’s talking and the number of times he’s cursing, I’d say he’s angry about something. Oh, Jaxon, I’m always in a bad mood about something. I wonder what it is this time. I wish he would stop yelling, though. I want to go to sleep.
“With all due respect, Alpha, I am the doctor here. I’m telling you that your friend will be fine. She may have a headache and some light scrapes and bruises, but she will be fine. The vampire didn’t feed from her or inject his venom…”
A loud noise cuts off the voice of the unknown man. If I weren’t so tired, I would have probably opened my eyes to see what it was.
“Hey,” Skyler says softly. “Trust me, I’m just as angry. She’s strong for a human. She’ll be fine and eating like a pig in no time.”
I don’t eat like a pig…
“She doesn’t eat like a pig,” Jaxon says to protect me. “She’s cute.”
Ezra says, “We know.” “He didn’t mean anything by it. You know how Skyler is…”
Hold on… Why is everyone in my room partying while I’m trying to sleep? I try to pry my eyes open with all the strength I can find, but it takes a lot more effort than it should. When my eyes finally open, I quickly close them again because the lights in this room are so bright. The room is white, and the lights are so bright that I can’t keep my eyes open for long. I open them again a little while later and squint my eyes. I don’t think something is right…
I don’t know this room. This is not my room. Why am I not in my room?
When I move my arm, I feel a light pull on my hand. When I look down, I see that there is an IV sticking out of it. It takes me a moment, but once I realize how bad my head hurts, the memories of the night before come rushing back. All the voices stop when I suddenly take a breath. Jaxon is suddenly standing over me, his Jaxon blue eyes showing a mix of relief, sadness, and guilt.
It doesn’t matter what Jaxon thinks. He told me a lie, so I can’t believe him anymore. And I’m afraid of him. The only thing I can think of right now is getting as far away from him as I can. Not how my skin feels when he holds my hand.
I sit up quickly, but I wish I hadn’t because my head starts to spin. My body leans to the side without me knowing it, and Jaxon grabs my shoulders. But his touch only makes me more afraid. I don’t want that beast to touch me!
When I lean away from Jaxon and jump off the bed, my throat makes a noise that doesn’t make sense. I can get away from Jaxon’s touch and off the bed because he didn’t expect that. And straight to the floor.
If strong arms hadn’t caught me around the waist and lifted me up to stand, I would have fallen all the way down. I don’t think my legs want to work right now, and the person holding me seems to know this because they keep hugging me.
“Easy there, Calla. I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” a voice I know says. Hey, Skyler! I look up at him and see that he’s not joking around like he usually does. He doesn’t smile, and the bags under his eyes are so big that they look almost purple from not getting enough sleep. He looks like a mess, but I’m so glad he’s here that I could cry.
I do cry, though. And the crying makes my head hurt more, which makes me cry more… Yes, it’s a cruel, never-ending cycle of me being a big baby. Right now, I can only feel.
“Skyler, I’m so glad you’re here! Please help me!” I cry, and my tears probably soak Skyler’s red hoodie. Skyler holds me close and protects me. I feel safe in his arms. Until I hear a loud growl coming from somewhere in the room. When I hear his voice, I shake uncontrollably and pull my head deeper into Skyler’s hoodie.