Lauren led Aidan to her cabin, a safe distance from the funeral site. The place was the same as the last time she’d been there, only that she’d left Aidan in the cabin and he had not locked the door. It swung open easily and she padded in with Aidan following suit.
The sleeping bags they had used during the last full moon had been packed, most probably by Aidan. The floor was dusty and the corners were full of cobwebs from weeks of unuse. Lauren walked over to a threadbare sofa before the only window in the room and leaned forward to open the curtains. Then she turned and sat on the sofa, smiling at him.
“Come on.” She said, patting the seat beside her “Come sit with me.”
He moved forward slowly and came to sit by her. She saw that he tried to leave a safe distance between them on the sofa and she moved forward, closing the space. She looked at his face and saw that he was looking at her with a terrified look. He looked trapped, like a deer before the headlights of a truck, about to become roadkill.
“Aidan,” she murmured, feeling the joy of seeing him again die in her chest “Stop it.”
“Dont… don’t you hate me for what I did to you?” He asked, his voice quivering.
“I could never hate you, Aidan.” Lauren cut in “I know you didn’t do it because you wanted to. No matter what you think, you’re not an evil person. I want you back, the Aidan I used to know. Stop doing this to yourself, to me. I hate it when you look like this!”
He looked at her for a full ten seconds, his eyes full of regret and self-hatred. Then he looked away, his throat moving up and down in a swallow.
“Just say it.” He whispered hoarsely “Stop hiding it. I know you do hate me for betraying you.”
“Oh, fuck it!” Lauren flared up. “I am so done trying to convince you that I don’t hate you. If you want to believe I hate you, so be it!”
She stood from the worn sofa and moved towards the door in anger but Aidan leaned forward and grabbed her wrist, the one with the blue metal bracelet on it, dragging her back to him. She stopped, her chest rising and falling with every angry breath.
“Don’t go.” He whispered, looking up to meet her eyes.
“I will Aidan, if you keep pushing me away. You disappeared for weeks after Perkins, you left me worried and confused with no explanation. And all this time I thought you were mourning your father. But the truth is you were running away from me. That’s the truth, isn’t it?”
Aidan blinked a couple of times, still holding on to her wrist. “It’s true, Lauren. I couldn’t bear to look at you again. How can I face you, look in your eyes and see all the mistakes I’ve made? How can I talk or think about my father without-without remembering that he died because of me, because of my stupidity? How do you want me to live with that, Lauren? Tell me!” He yelled.
“I regret every hateful word I said to him, Lauren. It’s harder than you think, trying to pretend I’m fine, because I’m not.” He added. “I will never be fine, as long as my dad is dead, as long as this guilt keeps eating me up.”
Lauren shook her head “You’ll be fine.” She said “You got me. Do you remember what you told me that night in the woods? You said I wouldn’t have to deal with anything alone, because I’ve got you.” She walked back to the sofa and sat, taking his face in her hands “That’s a two-way thing. I’ve got you, and you got me too. You won’t deal with all of this alone. I’m here.”
Aidan’s voice quivered “Lauren-”
“Shh.” She placed a finger on his lips and kissed him lightly, her finger a barrier between their lips. He leaned in for a deeper kiss and she obliged, taking away her finger and locking lips with him.
Her body reacted as though it was their first time kissing, under her sheets on a moonlit night. She felt his pulse quicken under her fingers and groaned softly as he grabbed her waist and drew her closer, till they were entangled on the sofa.
Somewhere in her mind a morally conscious Lauren screamed that it was wrong to be doing this when her Alpha was being buried at the same time. Her mind told her it wasn’t sensible to be kissing him when his father was barely in the ground, but she couldn’t care less. Not when Aidan was kissing her like he thought he might be punished for doing it, but it would be worth it.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, into the soft fabric of his button shirt, feeling the tautness of his muscles. Her hands traveled from his shoulders and down to his chest. He pulled back and watched as her fingers worked on his buttons. They were shaking with desire, and he impatiently removed her hands from his buttons, pushing her backwards till her back was on the cushions. He unbuttoned the rest himself and pulled the shirt off his body.
Lauren’s heart stilled as she saw the scar on his neck, the ring of inflamed skin that had never really healed. She remembered how he’d pulled away from her the first time they kissed, his hands grabbing the wound and his face full of fear. She reached up and touched the skin lightly, watching his face as he flinched with obvious pain.
“What happened?” She whispered. “Who hurt you?”
“Not now, Lauren.” He murmured, holding her hair, his voice husky with desire “Another time.”
She nodded and let her hands wander once again, traveling from his neck to his chest and caressing. His hands tightened in her hair as she continued to touch him, then groaned and leaned forward to claim her lips again.
Lauren gasped as he suddenly gripped her legs, pressing her harder
back against the sofa while she wrapped them around his waist. He let out a gasp of surprise, low in his throat, and dug his fingers into the thin fabric of her chiffon dress.
Not unexpectedly, they tore, and his fingers were suddenly on the bare skin of her legs. This was uncharted territory for her, something she’d never done before, but it seemed to be driving him crazy: he was moaning softly against her mouth, setting her body on fire with kisses. She felt like her body would break apart with desire, and she panted, aching for a closer touch. Closer, she thought.
That was the last thought in her head before she heard an intrusive noise from the edges of her consciousness. She felt Aidan being pulled violently away from her body forcefully and sat up, looking around.
Aidan was standing a few metres in front of the sofa, his hackles raised. He had his back to her and was growling with rage, his fangs out and his claws extended. Lauren stood up and her heart skipped as she saw who the intruder was.
A wolf with pitch black fur stood before Aidan. Its eyes were glowing red and it had a ring of reddened skin around its neck, just like Aidan’s. Lauren knew immediately what it was and who sent it.
It was one of her father’s rogue wolves.
The creature snarled and chattered its teeth maniacally. Aidan reciprocated by releasing a snarl of his own. The thing pawed the floor, then without warning charged at Aidan.
Aidan lost no time in morphing. He leapt into the air and changed into his wolf form. The two werewolves met midair: two powerful black beasts. They hit the floor rolling, with the rabid werewolf on him. The wolf snapped its teeth at Aidan, then picked up the boy werewolf and flung him to the side. Aidan flew into the air and hit the opposite wall with a grunt.
Lauren let out a roar of rage and faced the werewolf headfirst. Its eyes were unfocused, darting every which way, but Lauren knew that it wanted her. She circled it, her claws and fangs out and her eyes glowing amber. The thing leapt at her and she swiped at its neck, flinging it aside. It landed on unsure feet and righted itself, then moved towards her until she was pinned in a corner of the room. She moved until her back touched the wall, and for the first time that day she felt scared.
The werewolf was strong and relentless, and she knew the thing had the ability to tear her apart before she could even think of morphing. Its eyes shone with a mad hunger, and she felt her heartbeat quicken in fear.
The bracelet on her wrist seemed to be reacting to the presence of the werewolf. It glowed blue and gripped her hand painfully. She grimaced in pain and shook her wrist, trying to make it stop. She could feel the thing biting into her skin, sapping her of her werewolf energy. Slowly she slid to the ground, unusually tired. The bracelet had drained her completely of energy.
Suddenly she heard a roar from behind the werewolf and saw Aidan leaping into the air and tackling the werewolf. He was back to human now, his hands around the beasts’ powerful neck.
She backed up into the corner and wrapped her hands around her legs in fright as the two wolves tore at each other. Aidan turned to her frantically admist the scuffle.
“Lauren, go! It’s you it wants, run!” He yelled at her. She shook her head “No!” She yelled back “I’m not leaving you here.”
“Jeez, Lauren. Stop being a rockhead and go! I’ll take care of it.” He snapped at her. She hesitated, looking at him reluctantly, but he gestured impatiently at her to leave. Slowly she picked herself up from the corner and moved towards the door. She stumbled on the way and grazed her knee on the hardwood floor, yelping in pain. Picking herself up again, she reached the door and opened it, letting herself outside.
Once outside she ran like she had never run before, her heels scattering leaves and twigs on the forest floor. She continued to run like a terrified child with only the fear in her chest for company, till she had left the cabin far behind her.