What he was to her, was the very air she breathed. She wasn't supposed to want to throw herself at him, to entangle her limbs with his with zero separation between their bodies. She wasn't supposed to need him. She should've been able to move on with her life, find someone else because she would never be good enough for him.
Self doubt was a disease. An infectious infestation that devolved into the mind looking for human weakness. She already knew her weakness because she had been trying to hide it for so long. It wouldn't matter if he didn't want her in his life anymore, if it came down to it, she would still lay her life down.
She had tried to walk away six years ago. In fact, she had run, run as fast as her new legs could've carried her. She could still remember the feel of her bloody feet against the forest floor, ripping and then healing over and over again. She could feel the break of her heart every time she thought of his lips kissing hers, his mouth whispering in her ear, his arms rubbing hers.
She squealed her brakes, skidding her bike. Ripping her helmet from her head she threw it to the street, listening to the quiet thud as she ran towards her heart. Dark alleyways gave way to her speed, seeming to open to her sheer will. Pushing past her frustration, she scaled the brick building, taking to the rooftops.
Her boots were quiet, barely kissing the asphalt roofs as she leapt from building to building. Her last apartment stalled her movements. Crouching near the edge, she looked over it's lip looking down into a crowded parking lot.
"Jungle?" Smirking, she watched the men line up for a chance to enter the one and only gay club in town. "Beacon Hills is growing with the times, I see."
A slight shuffle to her right, alerted her senses to a couple newcomers. A couple boys pressed tight against the side of the building, watched the waiting line intently. She had just meant to laugh at their stupidity but when she sucked in air, she had sucked in the distinct scent of wolf. Stifling her laughter, she gave complete attention to the two troublemakers.
Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have been able to tell which boy was different unless she was right next to him to smell. Fortunately, the rather loud and flamboyant talker was too spazy to be a wolf. That left the dark haired boy, tall and athletically fit. His attention was still drawn to the waiting line, searching for something.
The night suddenly became quieter. The small shift in the air went unnoticed by the humans but her senses were in overdrive. Something dark was disturbing the balance, upsetting her sensitive nostrils. A strange scent floated amongst the night breeze, smelling of nothing but anticipating of something sinister. Her eyes focused intently on the club before her. The humans were completely oblivious to the horror that waited in the wings; its' thick tail disappearing to hide amongst the rafters.
"What the hell was that?" Alex leapt from the roof, shrouding herself amongst the shadows as she crept across the street. The spot previously occupied by the two boys was left abandoned. Cursing to herself, she left in search of the back entrance. She'd feel guilty if anything happened to those two idiots and she hadn't tried to help them.
The handle was missing, ripped from it's original placement on the metal door. "Amateurs." Sighing, she slide through the door, closing it quietly behind her.
The heavy beat of tech music assaulted her eardrums, thumping through her limbs. The presence of her female presence, though not uncommon, made her an easy target for whatever was in there. Weaving her tight body through the crowd, she kept an eye out for the kids. Hands grabbed at her jacket and waist inviting her to dance among the grinding orgy.
Her eyes never strayed from the boys, both of them gesturing vigorously towards the dance floor. Maybe she had been wrong to think that they had been after the creature. Maybe they really were two very confused boys, embarrassed of their obsession with the same sex.
They suddenly separated, both heading towards a different destination. The human boy making a rather clumsy path towards another male; maybe he was the gay one? The other held her attention more, his eyes weren't straying from the rafters. So, they were after the creature.
It crawled across the ceiling like a snake wound around trees; slow, each move deliberately calculated. His dark reptilian skin blended well with the blacked out ceiling making his presence completely unknown to the clubbers. It's arms strained pulling itself along, heading farther away from her. She watched it's movements as she swayed with the crowd. It had a target in mind, not even bothering with the humans around her. Narrowing her eyes, she strayed away from the crowd, searching for the object of his attention.
Heavy rainfall met pine trees, Alex froze. He was here, here in the club, probably within feet of her. Her head on a swivel, she locked eyes with every male in the club, waiting for the assault of his blue ones.
A heartbeat sped up dramatically, faster than the sex driven ones on the dance floor. Her attention was immediately drawn towards the human boy still trying to work his way through the crowded dance floor, his face a perfect mask of fear. Abandoning the idea of Derek for a minute, she rushed towards the frightened boy.
Time had a way of feeling like it was slowing down when you needed to get somewhere fast. The bodies were pressed even tighter on this side of the dance floor, her small frame had a hard time squeezing through. Her hands pushed hard on the naked torsos, breaking an narrow path towards the boy. Running forward, she grabbed his arm yanking him back a foot. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Woah, what the hell? Let go of me!" The boy yanked vigorously on his jacket sleeve trying to free himself. Realizing his attempts were futile, he turned around meeting the dark eyes of Alex. His eyes froze upon her face, already knowing how she could possess such strength.
Alex yanked him towards her, realizing she may have to drag him off the dance floor for his own safety. "Do you not realize what's following you?"
"It's not after me!" The boy fought harder against her grip. Turning around, she watched as he pointed towards a different boy still dancing. "It's after my friend!"
Pulling him back, she threw him to the floor behind her. Pushing back through the crowd, she shoved past the naked bodies yet again. The fog made it harder for the humans to realize what was happening around them. Her red eyes sparked, searching the crowd for the young boy.
Screams erupted around her, knocking her senses off for a split second. Shaking her head, she pressed her hands tight against her ears, trying to cancel out all the screams. Deep thuds of heavy bodies collapsing to the floor brought her attention to the left side of the dance floor. Several bodies lay completely still on the floor, their heartbeats slow but still evident. Growling, Alex looked down upon the quiet body of the young man she had been looking for. The creature apparently achieving it's goal for the night.
A deep howl resounding through the building, scaring the occupants even more. The bodies all rushed forward at once, trying to shove through the only emergency exit on the floor. Alex stood her ground, her body solid amongst the jostling crowd. Her eyes strained, trying to locate the owner of the howl. Yanking her head towards the ceiling, she sniffed the air trying to narrow down his scent. The smell of fresh woods was absent from the heavy collection of cologne.
Her scent was everywhere, intoxicating every move of his muscles. Running across her vanilla smell by the high school had jolted his memories. He had convinced himself that he was just missing her again, just remembering her smell by familiar places they used to frequent.
She had run away so abruptly six years ago, taking his heart with her. He would've loved to say that he hated her for what she did, but he couldn't. He couldn't throw away the memory of their first kiss, the very action that had sent her running. He couldn't erase those dark brown eyes when they smiled at him or the smirk on her lips every time her sarcasm insulted him. He wouldn't have erased the hours he had watched her dance; twisting and throwing herself through the air, letting go of everything wrong in her life.
His life had meant very little before he met her. Everything revolved around making her smile and laugh. He had given every chance he could have to touch her. He had done so much more for her than he had done for Kate, and that had scared him. Kissing him had given her that emotion, that emotion of guilt for falling in love with a fifteen year old girl. She had mistaken the emotion, thinking he had remorse for his decision. She had run away to save her heart only to break his.
She was back, he could feel it in every cell of his body because they were calling out to her. The pain of their bond was growing, tightening with every step they made away from each other.