Jessie followed me and my dad out of the study after Helang's sudden arousal permeated the air.
I practically ran outside past the forest line to calm my racing heart.
Her scent... oh god... it drove me insane.
It took everything in me not to cross the room and kiss her, hold her, claim her.
I had to get away...
Jessie's gray eyes sparkled with mirth as a smirk adorned his stupid fucking mouth.
Feeling irritated, I snap at him with a low growl. "What is it?"
"She'll never be yours. You had your chance when she threw herself at you, and you pushed her away." He taunts me with a wolfish expression.
Out of everybody, Jessie was the only one who figured out that my act of hating Helang was a ruse and nothing more.
Nadia, my best friend, did confront me as well all those years ago like she said she would, and I begrudgingly told her how I actually felt.
Granted, she was pissed with me when she found out the reason and told me I was going about everything the wrong way. She said I would come to regret my actions later, and I told her everything would be fine.
Now, here I am, regretting that decision just like she said. And no, I will take it to my grave and not tell her that she was right. Moon goddess above, I will never hear the end of it!
Anger courses through my veins as remorse tightens its grip around my heart.
Jessie walks away, and in my momentary anger, I chase after him, fuming with clenched fists.
I hate him!
"Steven! Control yourself!" My dad commands gruffly in my ear after he catches up with me and holds me back by my shoulders.
"I'll fucking kill him!" I hiss through my teeth with rage.
My eyes glow silver with regret and anguish while tears pour freely down my face. My face twists into a grimace, and I cry out the grief and pain I feel.
This whole time, he's been wooing her while I waited for her to come back.
I remember the day she left with Officer McCarter, and the agony that coursed through my veins as she walked out the door.
When she came back a few days later, I was excited to see her but remained nonchalant. The feeling crashed down when I found out she only came back to pack her belongings to leave again.
I've been avoiding her like the plague... but I didn't... I couldn't...
"He's not worth it, Steven! Think how far you've come," my dad pleads with me, trying to soothe the rage that's starting to bubble to the surface.
Breaking free of his arms, I growl in frustration and lash my hand out at a nearby tree, slicing parts of the bark into ribbons.
Stunned, I look at my dad with wide eyes and stilted breath while my chest heaves from anxiety; my anger forgotten.
"Dad...?" I quiver out with uncertainty, suddenly feeling small and confused. I look down at my hand and see the beginnings of extended claws in place of my fingernails.
He inhales and barely nods his head with admiration and joy.
"Finally." His shoulders drop slightly as he breathes out with relief, each syllable of that one word coated in it.
"Dad!" I quiver out more urgently as my breathing starts to become ragged.
He gently chuckles as he walks over to me.
"Everyone may say that you're a late bloomer, but you're actually early. I'm not sure when you will be honored with your first shift as a lycan, but when it's time, you'll know." My dad beams with unshed tears in his eyes as he claps my left shoulder.
"Lycan? But I thought I was a werewolf..."
My dad heaves a sigh and smiles at me.
"Come with me, son. I have a lot I need to talk to you about."
.
.
.
I sit, confused, looking around the office and wondering where everyone went. One moment, everyone was there, and the next, I'm sitting alone.
John Carter?
How does Jessie come from John Carter?
The thought has my eyebrows plunging down as I contemplate how I've heard that name before...
The door bangs open, causing me to spring out of the chair like a coiled wire as I feel my heart pounding in my skull and chest.
Jessie walks in with a sultry grin, and I glare.
His grin widens and-
My eyes snap open, and a shrill scream escapes my lips as I claw at my neck in desperation and pain.
"MAKE IT STOP! OH GOD IT HURTS!" The anguish screams that fall from my lips leave me confused, and my vision is blurry.
"Hold her down!" I hear Mr. McCarter command gruffly in a panic.
I hear glass shatter and a few screams from both male and female.
Then, a prick sensation at my arm, and I feel my body go lax.
Incoherent babble and whimpers leave my mouth, and I feel hands gently cupping my face.
"Helang, baby. It's ok. You're ok, just hold on to consciousness. Please..."
Desperation and hope is what I hear.
But I was awake...
Right?
My eyes roll back, and I'm sitting back in the office with Jessie.
Feeling shaken, the anger I felt earlier is now replaced with uncertainty and fear.
"Can we go outside for some air?" I quiver out after I clear my throat.
As if sensing the shift in my mood, he quickly sobers up and leads me outside by the small of my back.
"Helang, is everything OK? You look kind of pale," he says, his features contouring with concern.
As soon as the fresh air hits my face, I take a deep breath- and another and another.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," I shake my head and try to forget what just happened, and I give him a nervous chuckle.
He stares at me for a moment too long, but his lazy grin returns, and he's back to his old self. Seeing that, I relax and go back to my old self as well, and we're back to joking again.
"So what's up with Steven? He was acting really weird," I say nonchalantly while casually playing with the ends of my hair.
"Who knows! He just stays to himself most days; plus I don't really hang with him," he says almost dismissively.
I let out a hmpf and roll my hazel eyes.
"Well, you're no help!" I grumble as he bursts out laughing.
"Why so curious about a guy like him when you have me? I thought I was your best friend!" he says, pouting pitifully.
I roll my eyes once more and playfully hit at his chest with an exasperated response of: "Well, of course you are my best friend! I unfortunately have to love you!"
"Unfortunately!?" Jessie covers his heart in mock hurt and turns his head with a playful, offended hmpf.
Naturally, I frantically kiss up to him with praises, but after a few seconds, I burst into laughter because I cannot take the moment seriously at all.
.
.
.
I watch the playful banter from afar. I do my best not to march over there and punch him in the face.
I want to be the one to make her laugh that way.
But as he told me earlier, she'll never be mine because I pushed her away.
But there has to be something I can do right?
My dad clasps down on my shoulder, and I turn from the scene with a sigh.
"If she's truly the one, she'll come to you when the time is right," my dad says with a somber tone.
I give him a half-hearted smile as I think back to the day she threw herself in my arms with a happy smile and tear-glistened eyes.
I shake my head in shame as I also remember those tears falling down her soft, rosy cheeks in disbelief as I pushed her away and scowled at her. She turned in on herself a week later and became a shell.
One day, a few months later, I wasn't trying to be weird when I decided to follow her that day, but my instincts kept telling me something was off with her. I stayed at the tree line with a grumbling Nadia when we both witnessed the moment she threw herself off a cliff. It was the most unbearable moment ever when I thought I lost her. I had barely caught her, but relief flooded my soul.
Then seeing her body during that mandatory strip...
I don't know why I kept pushing her away, but I regret it so much.