Dearest Readers,

This chapter is a long one, and because of that it took a long time to write, so I really hope you like it! I don't think the next chapter is going to be as long, so I hope you enjoy this while it lasts (awkward laugh).

As always, favorite the story, follow the story, favorite me as an author/follow me as an author- whatever floats your boat. Just let me know what you think ;)

XOXO Ally Layne.

Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 15: New Year Same Me

The week passed by relatively slowly.

Paul came over a few different times, demanding to watch some movies with me. We ended up settling on the Hangover, which was absolutely ridiculous. Especially considering he decided he was going to try to recreate it for Sam's bachelor party.

It took some convincing, but I think he'll bring me along for the ride. I wonder if the Mist works on ID's?

Anyway.

It was New Year's Eve, and I was just about to walk into Sam and Emily's house with Paul, who had awkwardly arrived at the same time as I did. He was quickly becoming one of my favorite pack members, if only just because of his sarcastic outlook on life.

It was very funny, too, watching him get annoyed as Hades about Jake.

"I'm sorry, but what does the dumbass see in that vamp-tramp anyway?" he asked one night when we were lounging on my couch after nearly eating ourselves into a pizza-coma. I was so proud of Paul for actually wearing a shirt when he came over that I had offered to buy him dinner. He might've been wearing cut off shorts, but that was beside the point.

I had been explaining what happened at Christmas, and Paul decided to go on a long verbal rampage about how horrible of a friend Jake was to let me leave.

"I was the one who left, ya dingus," I told him after letting out a loud burp. "Did you not listen to a word that I just said?"

He shrugged. "I heard that Jake abandoned you for that vamp whore, Guppy."

I let out a low growl. "Don't call me Guppy."

Paul snorted right when he was taking a sip of his Mountain Dew, making it come out of his nose.

"Ewe, gross!"

He gave me a dark stare. "This is your fault."

"You're the one who called me guppy, you dog."

He let out a dramatic sigh. "What do you have against guppies, anyway?"

I rolled my eyes. "I am not a fish, whereas you actually are a dog. That's the difference."

Even though the guy was insistent on calling me guppy, which also happened to be small, like really small. It was obvious he was referring to my smaller stature, which wasn't even that small compared to everyone else in the United States but apparently I had to surround myself with giants.

Sigh.

We walked in Sam and Emily's door, and I smacked Paul on the arm, which was covered by a nice blue flannel, when he happily announced, "We're home!"

Emily peered around the corner from the kitchen, her long sweater following her movement. "Sam, your children are here!"

I laughed at the look on Sam's face when he walked over from the living room, giving Paul nucks and me a quick hug. I could smell a faint whiff of cologne from his nice shirt and jacket combo that I was sure was only possible because of Emily. "You're both on time, since when has that ever happened before?"

"Woah, Paul and Andie are actually on time?" Jared called from the couch, where he sat with Kim by his side.

Jared was decked in a light denim button down and some dark wash jeans. Kim, on the other hand, was wearing a long sweater dress and leggings that made my Tom Petty concert shirt and jeans that had a hole in my right knee from natural causes feel a little underdressed.

Eh, whatever. These people didn't care what I looked like, so what was the point?

"You guys the only ones here so far?" I asked, heading over to a chair and taking it as my spot for the night. It also happened to be the same chair I nearly bled to death in. "Is it normal for everyone to show up late or is it usually just me?"

"Normally people show up anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes late, but you're usually the only one who pushes 30 to 40 minutes, Andie," Kim explained, leaning more into Jared's arm.

"We usually show up right on time, we beat you just by a few minutes," Jared added.

I sighed. "Look, I don't try to be late, it just happens."

Kim held her hands up in amusement. "Hey, I'm not trying to insinuate anything here."

"She's just spitting straight facts," Paul told me.

He then proceeded to walk over and plop himself on the floor in front of the fireplace, sprawling out to enjoy the warmth. "Do you need a blanket to make a nice little doggy bed for yourself?" I asked him, making the others laugh.

He shrugged. "I wouldn't be opposed."

Jared grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over at Paul's head, who caught it easily.

"Thanks, dude."

"So, Andie, what did you do for Christmas?" Kim asked politely. "Jare and I spent some time with my parents and brother. It was a nice, laid back day."

Paul coughed, making me glare at him. "Shut up, La-Hottie."

Kim looked between the two of us in confusion. "Uh… am I missing something?"

Jared patted her shoulder. "It's just that Jake decided to spend the holiday with Bella instead of her, and Andie was essentially forced out of his house on Christmas by that vamp's ex."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, she has a name. And to be honest, she's not really that bad. It's just an awkward situation gone wrong."

She tilted her head. "Are you okay about it, though?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"I mean, does it bother you that he continues to do things like this to you?" She asked, leaning even more into Jared for support. "If Jare had done that before we started dating, I would've been pissed."

"Well, you did go after him with a tire iron after he showed you that he was a wolf," I deadpanned.

Jared laughed. "I'm glad she didn't kill me."

"That would've been shitty," Paul agreed, mumbling into the blankets he was now curled up in. I gave him an amused glance, which he noticed right away. "What? I had to patrol all night, Guppy."

Sam and Emily walked in, each holding platters full of appetizers. "We come bearing gifts," Emily announced, setting the trays on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Dig in, this is a little something before I get more stuff ready for our meal."

I immediately went and grabbed some chips and a small sandwich and put it on one of the plastic plates they laid out for us.

"Is there anything else I can grab you guys? Water? Soda?" Emily asked, running her hands down her long-sleeved shirt dress.

I looked over at Paul. "Do you know where they keep their drinks?"

He nodded. "Wanna go get me a Coke?" He sighed, nodded, and stood up. "Emily, go sit down and relax, we're all fine," I told her.

She slowly eased herself on the loveseat, but it looked like it was painful for her to do so. "You don't need to-"

Sam smiled down at his fiancée. "She's right, Em. Just relax a little bit, we have enough to tie us over right now."

"But the chicken needs to-"

"Be put in the oven?" He finished for her, giving her a knowing grin. "Yeah, I can handle that, I think."

I smiled over at the two of them. "Awe, Sam's going to be helping out his lady."

He rolled his eyes at me. "I don't see why we keep you around when you're always this annoying."

My smile remained. "I think it's because I'm an all-around badass, but who am I to judge?"

"Oi! Paul, I'll take a Coke too, and Kim-" Jared looked at his own lady love, who was trying to hide her giggles. "Sprite?"

She nodded.

"Kim'll take a Sprite!"

"Emily will take a water!" Emily called, leaning her head around to yell down the hallway.

"Alright, alright," we heard Paul call back to us. "It's not like I only have two hands!"

Sam rolled his eyes again, but this time went to go help Paul.

"Who else is ready to par-tay?!"

I looked over at Embry and Quil as they walked in, followed by Jake and (of course) Bella Swan.

The vamp tramp.

Who is probably nicer than everyone gives her credit for, but for some reason she just keeps rubbing me the wrong way.

"It looks like the party just arrived," Emily said, laughing as Embry was doing some sort of dance after his announcement. "We have food on the table here, so just relax and hang out. We also have some board games too if anyone wants to do that."

I smiled over at Embry and Quil who immediately hurried to the food at it's first mention.

Bella politely thanked Emily and went to sit next to Jake, who I was carefully avoiding making eye contact with. Luckily they were on the other side of the room on another couch.

Embry and Quil split up, Embry sitting next to Jake while Quil took a seat next to Jared.

"Where's Sam?" Jake asked as I deftly looked at my nails. They were unpainted and chewed down so far they were nearly bleeding. But at least it gave me a small reason to not have to look at him.

"He's just getting everyone some drinks," Emily answered.

He must've nodded, because there was a long silence after she spoke.

"What did you and Sam do for Christmas?" Kim asked, cutting through the tense awkwardness that was starting to seep through the room. "We never did ask you."

Thank the gods for Kim.

Emily seemed to share the same thoughts as she smiled at Kim pointedly before going into a long description of what she and Sam did for the holiday.

I really hoped someone wasn't dumb enough to ask what Bella or Jake did because boy that'd be rough.

"How about you, Embry?" Emily asked once she finished.

Embry grinned. "Well it was just me and my mom, so we really just hung out all day. Nothing too crazy."

That was when Paul and Sam came back with the drinks, and based on the smell of the beer on Paul's breath that I got a good whiff of when he handed me my coke- they had also had a round for themselves as well.

"What, no drinks for us?" Quil asked, looking at Paul and Sam with annoyance.

"You got here late," Sam told him, before cozying up next to Emily on their small loveseat.

Jake let out a snort. "How did Paul not get here late, is my question?"

I caught the slight smirk on Paul's face as he sat himself down right at my feet. "It helps when Andie makes sure I get here on time."

I kicked him. "You're an idiot."

He looked up at me from his seat, bending his head backwards instead of turning around like a normal person. "I'm your idiot."

"I already have an idiot. And you're not my anything, La-Hottie." He opened his mouth to say something probably really dumb, so I kicked his back again. "Not to mention, I really don't want you to be my anything, anyway."

He rolled his eyes, before lifting his head up to look at the others. "She wants me."

"In your dreams," I muttered.

He threw his head back to look at me again with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "How'd you know?"

This time I flicked his forehead. "Down, dog."

The others laughed, but I couldn't help but notice that Jake was stiff in his seat next to Bella. That short glance I threw his way was just long enough, and we locked eyes.

He wasn't happy.

What right did he have to be mad at Paul? It's not like we can't have other friends-

I could just hear Annabeth's voice in my head. Well, look who's a hypocrite now?

Of course the Wise Girl would be my voice of common sense.

I looked between Jake and Bella. It was one thing for them to be friends, but a whole different thing for her to be completely wrapped up in him all the time. Everyone said that she was just dragging him along and was going to drop him as soon as her vamps came back. But they have been friends forever, so maybe this was just natural for them? And who am I to judge, it's not like Jake's in a relationship with me.

We're just friends.

Even though I really wouldn't mind if he decided to kiss me and stuff, but that's beyond the point.

"Uh… Guppy?"

I blinked. "What?"

Paul, and pretty much everyone in the room was looking at me all concerned-like. "You good?"

I nodded my head, feeling a faint blush forming on my cheeks. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

Embry looked at me with raised brows. "Well, he did call your name like five times- owe!"

Jake elbowed him in the stomach, glaring at his friend. "A little uncalled for, don't you think?"

"You didn't need to elbow me."

I looked down at Paul. "What did you say?"

His eyes softened a small fraction. "You said you already have an idiot-"

I snorted. "Yeah, unfortunately."

Quil scratched his head. "So… then who is it?"

I felt a small grin tug on my lips. "Percy, obviously. Even though he's currently missing, it doesn't change the fact that he's probably still doing dumb stuff. So, yeah, he's my idiot. I don't really have a choice either way, I've been stuck with him since birth."

Paul grinned. "He seems like my kinda guy."

I felt myself nod. "He really reminds me of you, with the sass and all. But he's not as smooth with girls and definitely has a skater-look going instead of whatever you're doing."

Emily let out a giggle as Kim snickered, hiding her face behind her hand while the guys just started to laugh obnoxiously. Even Sam looked like he was chuckling at Paul's demise.

"I thought you were proud of my fashion sense?"

I rolled my eyes. From the amount of times I've done that today I'm surprised they weren't stuck in the rolling-position. "I'm just proud that you decided to wear a shirt today, that's all."

He glared at me as the others kept laughing.

When they finally sobered, Jake looked at me again, eyes narrowing intently. "Have you heard anything about him lately? I haven't seen or heard from you in awhile, so I wouldn't know."

I ignored the small dig in his words. He knows I've been avoiding him. But I doubt he knows the reasons why. "Well, it turns out that we found three demigods at the Grand Canyon on some sort of school trip. Anyway, Annabeth thought one of them would be Percy, because our oracle gave her a prophecy that the answer would lie with the boy with one shoe, but Percy wasn't the boy with one shoe."

"Do you know who he is?" Sam asked.

I shook my head. "We don't really know much about him, because he lost his memories. The girl with him thought he's her boyfriend but apparently he doesn't remember her and she doesn't know anything about his past-"

"How can a girlfriend not know anything about their boyfriend's past?" Kim asked, her tone curious instead of cutting.

I decided I really liked her.

"Apparently it was some god putting the three of them together, and now they're going on a quest. I honestly doubt they really have been friends for very long, but it's good that there is at least some familiarity before they risk their lives together."

Emily stiffened. "Why do they make children risk their lives?"

I shrugged. "They made us fight a war by ourselves, so… I don't really put that past them."

Jake shook his head. "I still can't believe that actually happened."

Bella looked at him oddly. "You know about this?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we talked about it before." Jake obviously didn't realize Bella's gaze darkened at those words. "Why do you ask?"

She pursed her lips. "Just curious."

I decided to ignore their little moment and continued with my story. "Apparently they ended up saving Hera from captivity, and there were giants that were starting to rise-"

"Giants?" Jared asked.

Embry was not hiding his shock, either. "Giants are real?"

"They're very real, alright. And a lot of them come from Gaia or my father, which makes things even more interesting as to why Percy was taken in the first place."

The pack looked between each other, and Emily kept shaking her head. "Children, I can't believe they actually send-"

"Well, most of the pack are just kids, too," I told her, smiling wryly. "Sometimes we just gotta do what we gotta do in order to survive."

"Amen to that," Quil added, holding up a chip in a toast before biting down on it rather loudly.

"How does all of this happen and no one realizes it?" Bella asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "Surely someone would realize that there are actual giants out there."

I shrugged. "There's the Mist, which covers everything in the demigod and godly world from regular human eyes. It's why people see my sword and think it's a gun or a knife, instead of a normal longsword."

"Then why can we see it for what it really is?" Jake asked.

"Considering you can change into a wolf at any given moment, I think you're immune."

"And me?" Bella asked.

I furrowed my brows, then snapped my fingers.

Her eyes widened. "Is that what you look like?"

I noticed Emily and Kim looking at me oddly, too. "Do I look different to you as well?" I asked them, and they nodded.

"Wait, so do humans not see demigods for how they normally are?" Sam asked, looking at Emily and then back to me in confusion. "What is the difference?"

I smiled. "I cast the Mist over my form to avoid any unwarranted attention," I admitted. "To them, I wasn't as fit or athletic and didn't have this powerful aura surrounding me, courtesy of my godly powers, of course."

"You are very beautiful," Emily told me, her eyes twinkling.

I felt my smile widen. "Thank you." My mind wandered into a far off memory from a time that felt so long ago, but really nearly two years had barely passed. "My ex told me that I looked like one of my father's nymphs, because my beauty was surely something I was born with to lure people in while masking the danger that lurked underneath."

"Your ex?" Paul asked, eyebrows skyrocketing.

I felt my nose wrinkle. "What, did you think I was forever alone?"

He blinked. "Well… no, but-"

"But you never mentioned him before," Emily cut him off, giving him a pointed look as she continued. "It is something we just didn't know about, that's all."

I definitely didn't bother to try and unpack the looks they were giving Jake, or the way he had tensed at my words.

Moving on.

"You said you were a part of a war?" Bella asked, and I tried to keep myself from sighing at her poor ability to read the room.

"Er, yeah, it happened just last summer."

Everyone looked between each other once again. Damn, I was really getting tired of being the latest pet project.

"I get with a snap that you can hide your form, but how on earth did people not realize a battle was happening?" Embry asked, gaping. "Did it take place in the middle of nowhere, or what?"

I blinked. "It actually happened in downtown New York," I admitted. "But Morpheus put all the mortals to sleep before it happened and the gods wiped the memories of everyone and fixed the surroundings to make it look like-"

"Like a storm had just passed?" Emily guessed, tapping her mouth in thought. "I remember there being a news story about that in August."

I nodded. "Yeah, it happened on my birthday."

They all seemed to wince. "Happy Birthday to you," Paul mumbled.

"No kidding," I agreed. "But my brother and I were in the middle of it all, it was us against Kronos in the throne room on Mount Olympus, which is-"

"On the 600th floor of the Empire State Building," Jake finished, making me raise my brows in shock. He rubbed his neck, realizing he did just spit it out unwarranted. "Uh… I guess I knew that."

"You're shitting me," Paul spoke. "Now that's some serious wizard shit right there."

I kicked him in the back, once again. "Shut up, we're not wizards."

"So you and your brother fought Kronos?" Emily asked, eyes wide.

"Me, my brother, our pal Grover, and Annabeth, yes. Annie went toe to toe with him with only a dagger and her wits. She really is the biggest baddy I know."

Sam raised a brow. "Baddy?"

I sighed. "Baddy or badass, whatever you want to say."

He nodded. "Makes sense."

"So what happened to Kronos?" Jake asked, looking at me curiously. "How did you stop him?"

It felt like a lowkey punch in the gut.

"It actually wasn't any of us that stopped him at all," I admitted. "It was the… it was Luke, who had his body possessed by Kronos, that ended up saving us all."

Bella's eyes widened especially considering how big her eyes already were. "Why would someone ever let themselves be possessed like that?"

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, then allowed myself to speak, opening them once more. "He had a long, traumatic history that led him down the wrong path," I said. "He did genuinely think that it would be better without the gods at all, and if someone was going to do it, it would be Kronos, the King of the Titans himself."

"Damn," Embry whispered. "What happened to him?"

I felt my chest tighten, and tears gathered in my eyes. "A lot," I choked. "A lot happened to him."

"How did he stop Kronos?" Sam asked, this time.

I did my best to ignore the pain that the memory brought me, but knew it couldn't be stopped. "He regained control through sheer will, then ended his life with my brother's sword." I spoke, completely monotone. I couldn't let my emotions get the best of me.

"That was brave of him," Bella admitted. "To right his wrongs."

I quickly shook my head. "We had forgiven him," I admitted. "He never once deserved the hand he had been dealt, and sometimes I feel the same rage that he felt toward the gods, if only because of how they had fucked him over."

Her brows furrowed. "But he made the choice to ally himself with Kronos, even you said."

I felt a silent wave of fury wash through me. "He was fooled, tricked into doing what he did," I snapped. "He was a victim like the rest of us in a scheme that he was far too much of a pawn to be caught up in."

"It sounds to me like you are making an excuse for what he did," Bella insisted. "Didn't a lot of your friends die because he went rogue?" She looked over at Jake. "Isn't that what you told me? That you hung out with her because a lot of her friends died?"

I blinked.

A familiar tug in my gut pulled from the anger that was just broiling beneath the surface.

Jake looked between the two of us. "Bella, this isn't the time-"

"You take that back," I demanded, standing up from my seat, forcing Paul to jump to the side to get out of my direct path of fury. "I won't let his name be tarnished and villainized just because you think he was evil."

Bella crossed her arms. "I think you're overreacting."

Jake's eyes widened, and then he turned to look at me in near shock. "Was he the ex you talked about?"

A small smile of disbelief tugged at Bella's lips. "Oh, well it all makes sense, now."

"Oh, shut up." I demanded, my voice dropping into a murderous low. "You know nothing, so stop pretending like you do."

Her eyes narrowed.

But before she could say anything, all the water from Emily's bottle whooshed out and jetted right at her face, nearly choking her as she had her mouth open for a retort.

I smirked as she let out a few choking coughs, making Jake pat her back in worry. "Bells? Are you okay?"

"Next time I'll drown you," I warned her.

Everyone went still.

"Andie, that was uncalled for," Jake spoke coldly, standing in front of Bella to block her from any other attack. "You just used your powers-"

"I can't always control it, Jake-"

His eyes fashioned into a glare. "Then you're too dangerous to be around us. You need to learn how to control-"

"Says the one who phased right in front of me and nearly clawed me to death," I deadpanned, crossing my arms. "You have no leg to stand on, dog."

Bella snapped her head around Jake, making sure I got the full impact of her measly glare. "Don't talk to him like that."

I raised a brow. "Tell me, what is a mortal like you going to do about it?"

The room went into a cold silence once more.

My eyes scanned the others, and I noted that each member of the pack was protecting someone- whether it be Jared and Quil with Kim, or Embry standing in front of Emily with Sam.

Paul was only looking at me knowingly.

He was the only one who understood the monster that lurked underneath.

"Just go, Andie." Jake said, before he sighed. "You're going to hurt someone-"

I looked at him, disbelieving. "Ha, some friend you are."

He shook his head. "Just go."

I grit my teeth, took one more look at the people around me, then looked directly at Bella, who seemingly started this whole mess. "I hope you're happy, Isabella."

Then, I stalked out of Sam and Emily's house, slamming the door behind me.

I didn't even dare look back.

Not even as I pulled out of the drive.

You shall be betrayed by the one who loves you in return.

So much for making sure that never happens again. But wait, it was all one-sided. But wasn't that some sort of betrayal itself?

Once I got to my home, I felt something was off, and it wasn't just my mood.

I slowly got out of the car, and walked to my door. But before I could even get there, a large male figure stood in front of me, his eyes red and skin pale. He had blond hair, and was grinning hungrily at my form.

"Hello, Andromeda Jackson."

Before I could even get my sword ready, my world went black.