Chapter 7

I scrambled up quickly, brushing the butt of my jeans, my face flushed red at the embarrassment of being caught.

"Er… I was just…"

"Eavesdropping, we know." Seth said, looking amused.

"We werewolves have good hearing, you know." Brady chipped in.

I laughed nervously, thinking that Brady had cracked some really lame joke. Seth and Brady stared back and me, their expressions completely serious.

"Um…" I started again. "So, uh, what'd you guys want to tell me?"

"You might want to sit down," Seth suggested. I glared at him. Was he implying that I was weak?

Apparently I was weak. Because when I had listened to what Seth and Brady had to say, and had asked a few questions, I chucked the contents of my stomach all over the garage floor. Because what they told me was completely unbelievable. And if I didn't have an uncanny knack for knowing when people were lying to me, I would have laughed scornfully, but the sombre expressions on the faces of the two men in front of me were so honest, so decent, that I just had to believe them.

"So, you're telling me that you -" I pointed at Seth - "and you -" I pointed at Brady - "Are werewolves?"

Both nodded seriously.

"Are you fucking with me?"

There was no answer from them. And I knew then that they were telling the truth. And that was when I puked.

"So, explain all this to me again," I muttered, taking a sip from the glass of water Brady had handed to me. We were in the office. I was sitting on a plastic chair behind the desk, my head leaning against the window that looked outside. I felt awful. I could see Seth spreading sheets of newspaper on the floor where I had barfed. I felt kinda bad about that. Oh well.

Brady sighed and sat in the chair that sat in front of the desk. "Me, Seth and Collin are part of a werewolf pack, here in La Push. Oh, and Jacob too."

"Jacob too?" I repeated. "Is that why you're all so big?"

"Yeah," Brady said flatly. I was getting the impression that he didn't think much of me, but I honestly didn't care.

"And why are there werewolves?" I asked, for the third time.

"You know the answer," Brady said.

"I need to hear it again," I insisted.

"Because of the vampires." Brady said.

"Oh, the vampires, of course," I muttered sarcastically. "Now there's something you hear everyday."

Brady didn't say anything.

"Any why, again, are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because of Collin. I told you."

"Tell me again," I demanded like a spoiled child.

Seth came into the office, his nose scrunched with distaste.

"Sometimes having a great sense of smell isn't so good."

I just looked at him.

"Tell me," I repeated, turning back to Brady.

He openly glared at me, before standing up and stalking out of the office.

"What's his problem?" I muttered, frowning after him.

"Collin is his best friend," Seth explained, going into the bathroom to wash his hands, but leaving the door open. "And you're hurting him."

I exploded. "Hurting him? How?!"

"Look," Seth said heavily, coming out of the bathroom, and leaning against the doorframe. "We explained -"

"Explained? I know you explained! But in case you forgot, you just announced to me that werewolves and vampires are freaking real!" Except I didn't say freaking.

"Ok, relax! You're not being very cool about this!"

"Oh for Christ sake -"

"Right, Bonnie, chill." Seth strode over to where I was standing and placed his large hands on my shoulders. I was breathing heavily, and sincerely hoping that I wasn't going to vomit again.

"I'm sorry, I just -"

"It's okay, it's natural for you to be going to into shock."

That got to me. "I'm not going into shock! I'm just a little… surprised."

Seth sighed loudly and stepped away.

I swallowed, still trying to take it all in. "So… you're telling me that Collin is in -" I stopped and took a deep breath - " love, with me?"

Seth rubbed his chin. "Yeah. Well, it's kind of more than love."

"Why?"

Seth shrugged. "You're his soul mate."

I snorted. I didn't want to be anyone's soul mate. Especially not some supposed werewolf. No one could suddenly just decide that I belonged to them. I didn't belong to anyone. I was entirely my own self. I was the one who made decisions, and decided who to love. And I would make those choices myself, not have some infatuated werewolf make them for me. So there.

And yet, I couldn't get Collin out of my head…

It was my turn to make dinner, and as I chopped onions and peppers for stir-fry, my thoughts kept wandering to those big brown eyes, that floppy black hair, those high cheek bones and full lips…

Maria could tell there was something up, and kept pestering me. She eventually shut up, but only when Wayne told her to leave me alone.

I was really beginning to like Wayne. He was pretty cool, for a nerd.

After dinner, I moped around the house, not feeling at all like myself.

Maria started firing questions at me again, so eventually I went to bed, though I wasn't at all sleepy.

My mind was in a turmoil. I was trying to relax, be calm, but the day's events were running over and over again in my mind, like a bad TV station that had some old soap opera constantly on repeat. Even my body was acting strangely… I had a numb sort of ache in my abdomen, and it was kind of gradually spreading down my legs and up towards my chest. It wasn't like anything I had ever experienced before, and I had experienced a lot of unpleasant things. I wasn't frightened or anything, and it wasn't painful… it was just uncomfortable.

The next morning, I was absolutely in agony. Every bit of me was aching, calling out for an antidote. I knew exactly what that antidote was, but I absolutely did not want to face up to it.

I didn't want anything to do with Collin. But I was aching for him. The aches and pains in my body somehow made me stronger, believe it or not. They made it less likely for me to go looking for him. Giving in to my desires would be giving in completely, like a weakness, and I was not weak. I was being ridiculous, I knew it, but I just could not let myself give in.

I had a shower, got dressed and drove to work. Jacob was just opening up when I arrived.

"Hey," He said, almost coolly, when I arrived.

I hesitated in the doorway, wondering why he, too, was mad at me. I tried to ignore the awkward atmosphere, and got on with my work.

When Seth arrived, he told that the account books needed to be taken care of, and that it was my turn. I had absolutely no experience with accounting, and informed him of this fact, but he took no notice. He directed me towards the office, and after telling me where the books were, left the office, shutting the door behind him. This gave me a feeling that the reason I was being kicked out of the garage was so he and Jacob could talk.

I did the books quickly and quietly, a sullen expression on my face the entire time, though there was no one there to see it. It took almost the entire day, and by the time I was going home, I was in a severely bad mood, and the ache in my body had grown about four times worse.

I stalked out of the garage without saying goodbye to Seth or Jacob. They didn't call after me.

I got into my van feeling extremely disgruntled. I wanted to lean my head against the steering wheel and sob, which was something I never did. I started the engine, and began to drive. Just as I approached Forks, I noticed a hunched over figure walking along the roadside, shoulders slumped against the rain. Even though it was only my second time seeing him, I recognised Collin straight away. The second my eyes clapped onto him, the ache lifted from my chest and I felt free - more free than I had ever felt in my life. As I passed Collin, he looked up. A range of emotions flickered across his face - shock, surprise, upset, anger, and something that was vaguely familiar to me. It was an expression I remembered on my father's face when he used to look at my mother, and it was an expression I saw exchanged daily between Maria and Wayne.

It was love.

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Lily x