Hola everyone :) my AN is at the end today it kinda explains it a tad (please read it). This one is a tad different also just fyi but that's all i'm saying up here.
disclaimer: i don't own Night World or Jez (16) and Morgead (17)
New Kid
Jez was slumped in her desk at school glaring at a small bunny twitching its ears in the field outside the window, but her interest was piqued when the morning announcements ended and the teacher announced, "We have a new student with us today. Class, please join me in welcoming Renier Boyden."
There were several murmured hellos and many curious stares. Craning her neck to see around a large boy blocking her view, Jez turned critical eyes on the new boy, and was met with a shock.
He was a 'wolf.
Jez realized it immediately. He looked young and scruffy and more like a mutt than anything, but he had snapping blue eyes and a twitching nose. He was trying to take in everything at one, and the poor guy was probably getting a sensory overload.
Like a little puppy, Jez thought amusedly. She gave a tiny giggle, barely audible, but the boy twitched his head and looked at her. Jez let a curtain of hair fall in front of her face as she looked serenely out the window again, not wishing to advertise her vampireness right away.
The teacher was speaking again anyway, and the boy's attention was jerked back to her.
"So, Renier – or do you prefer Ren?"
He bobbed his head and Mrs. Yamada continued. "Ren, then. Why don't you take a seat since you're all set up for the day, and let's see . . . there's a seat over there by Miss Nicola," the teacher pointed over the heads of several students to a seat in the middle of the row. "There's one up here by my desk next to Mr. Peterson, and . . ." she squinted through her tiny glasses at the back of the room. "There's one last empty spot next to Miss Redfern in the back. You may choose whichever seat you wish."
Unsurprisingly, Ren's head had whipped towards Jez as soon as her surname had been announced, and he came trotting unhurriedly to the seat beside her. As he sat down, he flashed Jez a sharp-toothed grin, and as soon as Mrs. Yamada turned to the board and started the lesson, he whispered very quietly, "Hi-ah."
Jez cocked a brow and murmured, "Pup."
He chuckled huskily and replied, "Hope you won't hold it against me."
Jez shrugged shrewdly but did not offer up an answer. Truth be told, she had never really spent time around werewolves before, and she was vaguely curious now that there was one lounging beside her.
She snuck sidelong glances at him every so often as he drummed on his thigh and inhaled deeply through his nose.
When the bell finally rang, Jez stood and stretched languidly while Ren popped something in his neck and jumped to his feet.
"So," he grabbed his bag and swept his unopened books into it. "A Redfern, eh? That's exiting. Is there anyone else here?"
Gathering up her own things, Jez lead the way towards the door. "I know for sure there's a little witch in ninth grade, but other than that, I don't think so. Hick school anyway, so."
Ren nodded earnestly and Jez became aware that several lagging students were gaping at her. Ignoring them, she asked, "What are you doing here, Pup?"
"Oh, my pack moves around a lot. There's only a few of us, but we're into hunting, you know, so we relocate. The alpha says we're just here 'till he finds the next good hunting grounds."
"Mm, illegal hunting," Jez hummed in agreement.
"Yeah, it's –" he clamped a rough looking hand over his mouth and stopped dead. A couple of younger kids cursed and veered around them, shooting dirty looks.
Jez surprised herself when she felt a laugh bubble up. "Chill," she chuckled. "We hunt illegally too."
"We?"
They began walking again, and Jez explained, "My gang – well," she scowled and heat flooded her face with the memory of her recent defeat. She grumbled, "Morgead's gang."
"Cool, cool. Who's Morgead?"
"I'll tell you some other time. I'm headed this way and I believe," she peered over Ren's shoulder at his schedule and finished, "You're not."
Ren pouted, and Jez got the feeling that he would have his tail between his legs if he were shifted. Waving him off, Jez turned and melted into the rushing sea of students.
Almost around the corner, Jez heard Ren call across the crowded hall, "Hey, wait, Redfern!"
Peeking over her shoulder, Jez saw Ren standing on his tip toes and waving to her over everyone's heads. "I never got your name!"
The people who passed her as she stood looking back gave her bewildered looks. Shaking her head, Jez allowed the wave of kids to sweep her up again, and as she turned into the next corridor, she cast out her mind.
Jez, she told him, and felt herself smile.
This pup isn't so bad, she mused. I think I like him.
Jez passed the next period in a stupor, wishing desperately that she could grab a quick snack. When the bell finally rang, Jez was out the door before the last person had gotten up.
Ren found her at lunch, tapping his nose when Jez gave him a surprised look. She was in the parking lot walking her bike backwards out of her spot when he bounded around the car next to her.
"Ren."
"Nice bike. Where you off to?"
Jez sat back in her seat and clucked her tongue. "Grub."
Ren scruffed his hair and blinked at her. "Well why not eat here?"
"I don't eat," she deadpanned. "And I don't stay here."
"Oh – right," he clutched at his throat with one hand and made a yeesh face.
Jez kick started her bike, preparing to leave, but Ren yelled over the roar of her bike, "Is there anywhere away from them I can eat my chow in peace?" he held up a brown paper bag.
Wordlessly, Jez pointed across the soccer field to the little grove of wild trees. Ren nodded and loped off as Jez peeled away. She had an hour before the tardy bell rang, but that was more of a timid suggestion to Jez than a time limit.
She did the fifteen minute drive to Morgead's in ten and showed herself up to his apartment. Breezing through the door, she asked, "Is it just me, or are you starving today? I mean, I know I didn't eat that much yesterday, but it's like I didn't even feed!"
Morgead glanced up at her from under his bangs but didn't cease the push ups he was performing with military posture on the worn floor where they normally practiced.
Jez strode by the kitchen and grabbed a bagel from the open bag on the counter. Grimacing at the slight staleness, Jez chewed mournfully and walked up next to Morgead. She watched him go up and down easily a few times before she took a seat on his back and pulled up her legs to sit cross-legged.
There was a barely discernable stutter in Morgead's pace as the new load was added onto him, but he was quickly adjusted and pumping up and down just as rapidly as before.
Jez bit off another chunk of bagel and listened to Morgead's even breathing. She sighed and smacked her lips against the dryness of the bagel. It was doing nothing to quench her thirst.
"Do you want to come with me to grab a bite?"
"I fed this morning," Morgead grunted. "Woke up starving and headed out first thing."
"Oh – oh!" Jez grunted when Morgead thrusted up with more force, sending her several inches into the air. Quick as a whip, Jez was moving, readjusting herself so she could land without impaling Morgead with her bony knees or butt. But Morgead had moved too. He'd flipped onto his back and caught her by the waist before she even fell. He placed her gently so that she was straddling his stomach and pulled his knees up behind her. Laying his head back on the floor, he grumbled, "Did you want me to come?"
"Er, no. I think I can handle it. I'm a big girl. By the way," Jez rolled onto the floor beside Morgead and looked over at him slyly. "There's a 'wolf at my school now. Temporarily."
Morgead's brow creased over his closed eyes. There were beads of sweat sticking on his forehead and lip and he was panting slightly. "For real?" he asked breathlessly. Jez saw his nose crinkle.
"Yeah, his name's Ren. Ren, er, Boyden."
"Well, that's a stupid name."
Jez snorted and shook her head. Forcing herself to her feet, she muttered, "I'm cramping up, I've gotta feed. See you."
Jez cruised around town for a short while before she settled for luring a business man into an alley.
Ren was in both Jez's afternoon classes, but it seemed that the vermin had taken an interest in him. They swarmed around him and the teachers let it slide since he was new. The scene reminded Jez of kids adoring a reluctant puppy with the way he shied away from their advances and squirmed in agitation.
By they end of the day they'd apparently deemed him unfriendly and abandoned dogging after him, but Jez didn't see him again until the next day.
Ren was there, drooling on the desk beside hers when she walked into homeroom. Jez felt a corner of her mouth quirk upwards as she looked at him. She thought he was asleep, but when she slumped into her desk his head twitched and he cracked open one eye to look at her. He gave a mumbled greeting and wiped his mouth.
Being still mostly asleep herself, Jez only settled as comfortably as possible in her chair and drifted off.
By the end of class, Ren had been chewed out for sleeping and Jez, who had been doing it much more stealthily than him, was busted as well when the teacher marched down the aisle to rap on his desk.
So when Mrs. Yamada finished the lesson and declared the last ten or so minutes free time, Jez smirked at Ren and asked, "So did you enjoy your little fifteen minutes of fame yesterday?"
"No way, it was horrible!" he shuddered and scratched behind his ear. "They kept asking stupid stuff and wouldn't leave me alone. Actually," he scratched his head furiously. "They were asking about you too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, they wanted to know if we knew each other and stuff. Like, are we friends or dating and junk."
"Uh huh. Do you have fleas or something?"
"What? No!" he whipped his arm down into his lap and blushed furiously.
"Sure," Jez snorted. "So what did you tell them?"
"What did I tell who?"
Jez glared. "The vermin."
"Right, right. I just said that we just met. But, they did give me an idea there," he flashed a roguish smile. "We should go out."
Jez blinked. She wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. "Excuse me?"
"You know, like a date."
"No."
"It's cause I'm a 'wolf, isn't it. Seems a little prejudice to me."
"That's not it."
"Then you have a boyfriend?" Ren shrugged and suggested innocently, "I could eat him if you like."
Strangely, Jez pictured Ren chewing on Morgead's arm and had to stifle a laugh.
"Look, I just don't want to go out with you, and I don't see why you want to go out with me," she told him sternly.
"Oh, I see. You're one of those people who think love is illogical. Well guess what? It is! You can't explain it, or stop it, because it's not something to control. It's a force of nature, like a hurricane, or a tornado! You just have to go with it and see where it takes you."
There was a moment of silence where Jez became aware of the buzz of conversations around them and Ren stared at her with big brown puppy dog eyes.
"I'm still not going out with you."
"Aww, but my speech!" he whined.
"Yes, it was very nice," Jez assured him sarcastically. "But it's not going to happen."
"Damn. Well what about lunch? Are you leaving again?"
The bell rang and they left the room with the rest of the class.
"Yes, I am," Jez sniffed. "And no, you can't come," she snapped when Ren opened his mouth again.
He whimpered, but Jez could tell it was just for show. Was he really trying to make her feel bad? She was a huntress! She didn't feel bad for anyone.
They stopped at the place where they had to split up, and Ren surprised her by asking, "Do you go out with that Morgead guy you mentioned?" he cocked his head expectantly, like a pup waiting for her to throw a ball.
"Yes. And as a matter of fact, he's meeting me here today." They were planning to go for ice cream, and Morgead's house was not on the way to the parlor.
"Is he a vampire too? Can I meet him?"
Jez shook her head and turned down her hallway. "Fine, but you're still not coming, you hear me Pup?"
He barked out an affirmative and scampered in the other direction.
Just like the previous day, Ren tracked her down at lunch before she'd even left the school.
"Hey," he came trotting up next to her and gave a sloppy grin.
Jez shook her head and wondered if the amusement and distant exasperation she felt was how Morgead felt with her.
"I guess I should warn you," Jez sighed as they walked out front of the school. Morgead was leaning carelessly on his bike, but when his eyes locked onto Ren he pushed himself into a guarded position. "Morgead doesn't like werewolves. Actually, I don't think he likes much of anything."
Heedless of her warning, Ren's first words when they reached Morgead were: "Hey, so you're a vampire too? I haven't actually met very many before. The name's Ren, by the way."
Jez winced, and Morgead shook hair out of his face and eyed Ren distastefully.
"Yeah."
"So, that's Morgead, and we're off," Jez huffed. She'd grabbed the sleeve of Morgead's jacket and began to tug, but the sound of a backfiring car made her head snap around.
Above her head, Morgead glared narrowly at Ren, shifting only slightly, but all the same conveying a distinct Don't come near her! message.
By the time Jez had looked back, Ren's entire attitude had changed. Hackles raised, he was now eyeing Morgead warily.
"See you, Jez," he muttered and stalked away.
Odd, Jez thought as she and Morgead sped into town. He practically had his tail wagging a minute before.
When they reached the ice cream shop, Morgead propped open the door and ushered Jez inside. He seemed irritated, but Jez couldn't think why. Just meeting Ren couldn't have been that big a deal.
Jez went up to order while Morgead went to sit in their booth.
When she smacked Morgead's bowl in front of him and sat down on the opposite bench, Jez said mildly around the glob of bubble-gum ice cream in her mouth, "Do you know he asked me out this morning."
Morgead twitched, and he said icily, "I don't like him."
"Why, just cause he's a wolf?"
Morgead sneered and spooned chocolate ice cream into his mouth. When he didn't answer, Jez continued: "He's not so bad, you know. I kind of like him. His pack even hunts just like us."
"There's not room for both of us here," Morgead growled.
"Relax," Jez snapped. "He says they won't be here very long. They're just laying low for a bit."
"Yeah, until they get hungry." Morgead's voice was very dry.
"God, you're so cynical."
"Yeah, and so are you!"
"What? No I'm not," Jez cried incredulously.
"You are, and you know it. But now all of a sudden you're all chummy with that mutt."
"Why do you even care, huh?"
Morgead's livid eyes closed off and he sat back stiffly in his seat. "I don't.
"Good."
They finished their ice cream in stony silence, and the second that Morgead was finished, he threw his spoon into the bowl and stormed out of the parlor. Jez was left seething in her seat as she crushed pieces of waffle cone between her teeth.
Now that she was in a foul mood, Jez decided that she would forgo the rest of the school day and headed instead to the park. There wasn't anything she could do there except sit and fume silently, but she couldn't go home and Morgead's house was obviously out.
Shortly before the end of the school day, Jez made up her mind. She headed back to school and waited outside her last period class.
Ren was one of the first ones out when the ball rang, and Jez snatched him by his hood before he could walk away.
He spun around quickly to face her, and a crooked grin cracked across his face.
"I changed my mind," Jez growled, tugging him off to the side. "Let's do something tonight."
"Really? Awesome!"
Jez rolled her eyes at his sudden energy.
"So what do you want to do? We could go see a movie, or go to diner, or maybe for a walk around town," he said all in one breath.
"Calm down, Pup," Jez snorted. "I was thinking maybe we could go hunting after dark."
"Hunting?" Ren cocked his head and considered. "Yeah that would be cool. I've never hunted with anyone that wasn't, well, you know."
"Great," Jez flashed a brilliant smile. "I know the perfect place, and there's lots of deer there."
Ren nodded eagerly. "Deer, that's a good idea. Just to be safe, you know?"
"You're worried about getting caught?"
"Well," Ren blushed and scratched his head. "The alpha's a pretty scary dude, but my mom's the one I'm really scared of finding out. If she finds out I did something stupid she'd skin me."
"But I thought you guys hunted regularly?"
"Yeah, but Bane – that's the alpha – is really strict about it. He makes sure we don't get caught. Anyone who breaks the rules gets abandoned. I've seen it."
Jez was surprised to hear him talk about how serious his pack was about what they did. And even more surprizing was how serious Ren had become. Idly, Jez wondered who it was that had gotten abandoned.
"Deer it is then," she breathed.
"Great! So do you maybe want to do something until then or . . . ?"
He looked hopeful, but Jez shook her head.
"I was supposed to do something tonight, so I've gotta swing by somewhere and cancel."
Jez thought that Ren might ask what she had planned, or even if it was Morgead she was going to see, but he looked like he'd already moved on.
"Alright, so where do you want to meet?"
"You could, er, pick me up," Jez offered awkwardly. "I can drive then since you don't know where it is."
Ren agreed to her terms unabashedly, and Jez gave him her address before she left to go stomp her plans in Morgead's face.
When Jez got to Morgead's she knocked.
"My God, just come in!" he shouted from inside.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked icily; even though she'd known that he would.
"Please, I could sense you down the block. You're projecting. And you're mad." Morgead sounded mad as well.
"Yes."
"So then why are you here"
"I came to tell you that I won't be hunting with you all tonight."
Morgead scoffed. "Really Jez – just because you're pouty –"
"I'm going with Ren."
Morgead froze.
"You're going with . . . Ren."
"I am," she sniffed. She was standing stiffly just inside the door, though it was closed behind her.
"You are."
He seemed to be having trouble processing.
"Yes, Morgead."
"Why?"
Jez blinked. Why? Because she wanted to piss off Morgead, obviously.
"Because I want to!"
Morgead growled and stalked towards her.
"So you want to spend time with that werewolf," Morgead accused. "Over your own gang." He sounded disgusted.
"No," Jez snarled. "I'd rather spend time with that werewolf than with you!" she jabbed him in the chest for emphasis.
Morgead's eyes turned a burning emerald and he took a step forwards – and then several more until he had backed Jez up to the door. Morgead leaned his elbow beside her head and put his face very close to hers. He breathed heavily for a moment, and Jez recognized hurt in his eyes.
"Why are you being such a jerk?" she whispered when he didn't do anything.
"Because," Morgead murmured hoarsely. "He –"
"I swear, if you say 'Because he's a werewolf.' one more time – don't you have any other reason?"
Morgead did, but he didn't plan on enlightening Jez.
They stood very close to each other, breathing hard and glaring.
"If you'll excuse me," Jez had to push Morgead forcibly away from her. "I'm leaving."
Morgead watched her whisk away and slam the door behind her, hating himself. Because even if he wasn't the biggest fan of werewolves, it was the fact that he was interested in Jez – and she was apparently interested in him – that was eating him.
Feeling reckless and resentful, and before Jez was out of range, Morgead yelled, Have fun with your new friend, Jezebel.
Jez didn't bother dignifying him with a response, choosing to head straight back to her house to sulk in her room.
By the time Ren showed up, Jez wasn't feeling any better. She took her time getting up and heading downstairs when she heard the doorbell ring, and by the time she got there her uncle was talking with Ren.
"Hey, Pup," Jez said unenthusiastically.
Both her uncle and Ren looked around at her. Uncle Bracken smiled and bade them goodbye, telling them to have fun and be careful.
Ren on the contrary, had lost his easy smile, and when the door shut behind them he said, "You smell like him."
"Like who?" but she already knew the answer.
"Morgead. Was he who you had to see? You had to break off plans with him?"
"Yeah."
Ren sounded surprisingly bitter when he said, "Bet he wasn't too happy about that."
"Understatement," Jez muttered. "I never realized he didn't like 'wolves so much."
"I don't think that was it."
"What?"
"Nevermind. Do I get to ride on your bike?" Ren looked at her hopefully.
"Yeah," Jez laughed. "C'mon."
"Holy – I had no idea there was anything like this around here," Ren exclaimed when Jez pulled into a sheltered spot close to the trees.
"Yup, Muir Woods," Jez gazed fondly up at the tall redwoods.
When she looked back down to earth Ren was doing his own gazing – at her.
"It's weird," he told her quietly. "All those stupid kids at school told me you were a real bitch. 'Beautiful but unapproachable' one guy actually said. But I guess they'll never know how wrong they are."
Jez was at a total loss for words.
"Anyway," he continued in a normal voice. "I'm dying to get in there, let's go!"
It was true, he was quivering beside her. With a lopsided smirk, he bounded into the trees. Still feeling stunned by what he'd said, Jez followed him uncertainly. But then she remembered something – something she didn't want to miss.
"Hey, wait!" she broke into a jog after him. "I want to see you change!"
"Uh, I kinda have to take off my clothes for that."
Jez blinked and felt a blush creep up her face. "Yeah, I guess that would make sense."
Ren's ears were pink when he said, "If you want, I could sacrifice my underwear. It's not a big deal."
Jez hesitated. It would probably be freaking cool to see him shift to a wolf, but . . .
"No, it's alright, I mean –"
"It's cool. Just, er, don't, I don't know, laugh or whatever."
And then Ren wrestled off the grey hoodie he'd been wearing and pulled off his shirt. By the time he was hopping out of his jeans his face was bright red. Jez bit her lip under the hand that was clamped to her mouth in disbelief.
Ren tossed his jeans aside and faced her with a self-humoring look. "Ready?"
Jez bit back a laugh and nodded for him to go.
Jez was captivated by the change. She supposed it was something to the way that her prey felt looking at her.
It happened very fast. Course brown hair spurted all over his body. His face elongated and his ears rippled and moved, stretching as they traveled up his head. At the same time, he was leaning forwards to land on misshapen hands and shrinking. But at the same time, not shrinking.
And then: he was a wolf.
Jez grinned as he shook something off one of his legs – his torn boxers – and came trotting up to her. She laughed when he nudged his muzzle under her hand and patted his head.
"That was cool," Jez marveled.
Ren shook his head cockily and pranced in front of Jez, making her giggle.
"Alright, you make an adorable wolf," she informed him as he loped deeper into the woods.
Jez chased after him, dodging trees and jumping fallen logs that got in the way. Ren was fast, probably as fast as Morgead, but Jez was faster. She ran ahead until she could no longer see him and leapt into the trees. She watched in amusement as he reached a spot below her and circled a few times, sniffing around. It took Jez throwing a pine cone before he finally looked up.
Ren's tail wagged once and he propped his front paws on the trunk of her tree and barked. He jumped back and forth several times, barking some more, until Jez threw herself into open air and plummeted fifteen feet straight down. She landed easily with her knees bent. But Ren loped over and sniffed around her coiled legs as if looking for damage.
"Relax, that was nothing. Time to hunt?"
He pulled back and looked at her with about as impressed expression as a wolf could manage and dipped his head in an unmistakable nod.
Together, Ren and Jez sprinted off again. Jez let Ren lead. She could tell he was sniffing out prey, and very soon, they were within sight of a buck.
I'll take it down.
Jez knew that wolves used their numbers to take down prey, whereas she was used to taking out hers single handedly.
The buck was already running, nimble and fast, but Jez overtook it quickly. It tripped to the ground and before it could untangle its legs, Jez was on top of it. She sank her fangs into its white neck and drank greedily. There was no one to share this blood meal with today; she didn't have to spare any for anyone else.
But the buck was big, and Jez was full before it was drained. She had managed to kill it though. It had stopped struggling some time ago, and its animalistic screams even before that.
Contentedly, Jez sat back on her heels. Ren was laying watching her with his big head on his forepaws. Suddenly self-conscious, Jez wiped at her mouth and pulled her hand away red. Unable to resist, she flicked out her tongue and cleaned off her fingers.
Ren gave a deep, rumbling growl beside her and stared at her with dark eyes. Slowly, he eased up to his feet and licked his chops sloppily. He licked the still-bleeding wound in the buck's neck experimentally, while Jez sat back against a tree feeling full and slow.
Snuffling around a bit more, Ren's dark eyes flashed back at her and he shifted just enough so that Jez could not see what he was doing. She realized with a start that he was intentionally blocking her view while he ate.
She heard him tearing into the buck's flesh, and soon the ripping and smacking sounds became too much for Jez to simply listen to. She leaned over to see what he was doing.
It was disgusting watching him eat, and Jez stared with a sort of sick fascination as he ripped and tore at the buck carcass.
When he finished, Jez leaned back so that he wouldn't know she'd been watching. The buck's middle was now an unrecognizable jumble of mangled meat and innards-turned-outards, and Ren's muzzle was as red as if he'd dipped it in paint.
Ren gave a satisfied sound and padded over near where Jez was. He plunked his rear on the pine needles and began scratching furiously behind his ear with one hind leg.
"You're scratching," Jez intoned.
With a noise like a sneeze, Ren tossed his head and pawed at his snout. He tossed her a bashful look and lay down.
Content and full, they stayed where they were. Jez didn't realize she'd drifted off until she felt a hot, wet nose on her cheek.
She blinked awake and realized that it was dark; the kind of dark that comes in the earliest hours of the morning when everyone has been asleep for hours.
"Man, what time is it," Jez mumbled, more to herself than anything.
Ren yawned in reply.
Jez stood and stretched. "S'pose we'd better head back," she sighed.
They'd run back a ways chasing the buck, so it wasn't long until they found the place where Ren had left his clothes by the base of a tree. He picked them up in his mouth and limped behind the tree.
Jez averted her eyes since she could still see some of him around the skinny tree. When he came back around, he was adjusting his pants and looking uncomfortable. His mouth and jaw were dark form blood.
"Going commando has never been my style," he grimaced.
Jez snorted and waved for him to follow. "Let's just go."
"Sorry, will your uncle be worried?"
"Nah, this is normal."
Jez turned slightly towards him and saw him frown at her cheek.
"I got blood on you."
Jez glanced quickly at him and asked, "What?"
"Your cheek," he nodded towards her face. "Where I, er, woke you up."
"Oh, no big deal," Jez reached up and touched the warm dampness on her cheek. "I mean, I was drinking it, wasn't I?"
"True."
They walked in silence until Ren stopped just before the edge of the forest and turned to her.
He sounded oddly subdued when he told her: "You know, I've never really seen a vampire in action before. I mean, I've seen them be all creepy and attack people in allies and stuff, but never . . . hunting," he shrugged and looked away. "You were beautiful. You are beautiful."
Jez didn't know what to say. All she could do was think of what he'd said before entering the forest, and the way he'd looked at her after she'd fed, and the embarrassed way he'd tried to hide the way he ate.
And he's serious, she thought.
"We're leaving tomorrow," he told her unexpectedly. "Moving on."
Jez frowned. "What? But, I thought . . ."
"Yeah, I thought we'd be here longer too." He shrugged again. "Oh well, it was cool to meet you."
"Yeah, you too . . ." Jez felt oddly disappointed by the news. "You were . . . not terrible. Too bad you're not sticking around, Pup."
He snorted and shook his head. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment."
"You better," she joked. "It's as good as you're gonna get."
It was quiet for a moment while Jez frowned at Ren's solemn face.
"I'm not going the same way you are. I'll run back."
He turned but paused. Spinning back around, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jez's cheek. Pulling back, he wiped away the blood with his sleeve.
"I think I'll miss you, Jez," he whispered.
Yeah, I think I'll miss you too, Jez thought as he turned and loped off.
"Well you'll be happy," Jez told Morgead the following day. "Ren's pack left."
Morgead glanced up from the TV and eyed her warily. "So they're gone."
"Yes."
"And you're sad."
"I don't know," Jez shrugged and crossed her arms protectively. "I liked him."
"More than me, apparently," Morgead muttered bitterly and Jez gave him an exasperated look. "And you'll miss him."
Jez made a helpless gesture and huffed, "Well I guess a bit."
"Did you like him?"
"Morgead – I just said I liked him!"
"No," he shot Jez a dark look. "Did you like him."
Jez blinked. It was a strange question for Morgead to ask her.
"No. Of course I didn't. He was here two days, Morgead. But he was funny and, actually, he reminded me a little of Val."
Morgead sighed and patted the cushions next to him. "Well, then I'm sorry he's gone."
"No you're not," Jez told him as she came and curled into the space next to him. Being so close to Morgead again, she realized something: "He said I smelled like you. He seemed . . . upset about it. Did you do that on purpose?"
Morgead's expression didn't change, and he didn't look at her, but Jez saw the malicious glint in his eye.
"Jerk," She punched him in the arm.
But she didn't leave. She felt better being with Morgead, which was perhaps why she'd come straight here after school even though she was angry with him still.
And it was like she'd said herself: she had only known Ren for two days. It wasn't like she'd known him so long he'd become as much a part of her as her vampire nature. She glanced surreptitiously at Morgead beside her.
She could deal.
alright. so. i feel like some people will be all like "wow jez is so happy and relaxed with this guy, how come the writer doesn't make her like this with morgead?" well. it's because morgead i guess makes her feel, you know? and ren is just agreeable and fun like a puppy. and who doesn't love a puppy? so, yeah i know that jez seems a bit different, and morgead is just angry, but let's face it, who doesn't turn into a little softy with a puppy (which is what jez thinks of ren) and obviously morgead would be jealous.
alright, thanks for reading and whatnot, see ya!