Chapter 12

Chloe's POV

A werewolf party. Never in my life would I have suspected I would go to a werewolf party. Us vampires don't get along with the wolves. They're ruthless, have no shame or fear. We might be the ones without souls, but at least we have a conscience. Well, most of us anyway.

"Beca, are you sure about this?" I stare at her as she drives. Her eyes are focused on the road, but I can tell her wheels are turning. How can someone so beautiful and small, look so...scary? The way her eyes darken in focus and the shadows hit her face mesmerizes me. She barely glances my way as she answers.

"Yes. I'm actually headed toward the station to talk to Detective Swanson. I'll see if he'd like to join."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Aubrey asks, for once sounding concerned instead of pissed at Beca. "A full moon. Doesn't that mean they're going to like wolf out or something?"

"Not necessarily. I studied them a lot growing up and it's fascinating what myths humans have come up with over the years. Werewolves can actually shift when they want and rarely do it during a full moon. A full moon just means they're stronger and most don't care to shift during that time. Instead they party. When they're younger though, a full moon is what starts their change from a human with the potential of becoming one, to finally becoming a werewolf."

"Wow. We don't usually care to read up on them since we don't get along. We all just sort of ignore each other's existence." Stacie comments. "Is it still dangerous to bring humans to a party like this? I'm assuming the detective is human and so are you. I know you're an agent and all, but I'm not sure how well you'd do against a werewolf."

I glance at Beca and grin. She smiles but doesn't spill her secret. Instead, I answer for her. "I think Beca can handle anything really. Plus, she'll have us to back her up."

"What about the detective?" Aubrey snaps. "Would you really put him in danger?"

"No," Beca snaps back. "That's why I'm giving him a choice. If he wishes to tag along, that's up to him. Now, I'm not saying I'll throw him to the wolves if something does happen. I'll do what I can to protect him if things go sideways."

"What could you fucking do?" Aubrey yells, but Beca doesn't answer. Instead, she pulls into the station parking lot and gets out.

"Are you coming?" Beca asks me and I shake my head. Vampires aren't wanted there unless they're going to a cell. "I wouldn't let them say anything, you know."

"I know," I smile, my heart warming at her effort. "Just go. We'll wait out here." Sighing, she goes inside, leaving just the three of us. Now, time for some ass whooping.

"Bree, do you really have to be that way towards her?"

"Why shouldn't I? She's a fucking agent, Chloe. You know how they work. Just because she's a little different, doesn't mean she won't do the same thing."

"She would never do anything to hurt any of us. You have no idea who she is." Or what she is. "Just give her a chance, please. All she wants to do is solve John's murder so we can move on and no one else gets hurt."

"Chloe, I just don't want to see her hurt you in the end. I see the way you look at each other, we all do."

"That's none of your damn business," I yell. "Stop trying to fucking navigate my life. Maybe it will be a mistake in the end, but I'm happy now, so let Beca and I be." Suddenly exhausted, I lean back in my seat. For a second, Aubrey remains silent.

"I'm sorry. Just don't let yourself get in too deep, not until you're sure you know exactly who she is. I don't want to see you hurt." I turn around in my seat and grab Aubrey's hand.

"Thank you for that, for being a good friend, but you have to trust me on this. One day, you'll understand. She's not who you think. I love you Bree, but please try to be nice to her."

"I'll do my best," Aubrey agrees and I smile. Hesitantly, she smiles back and I laugh. Stacie does too.

"Now that we got that out of the way, can we please talk about this?" Stacie grins. "When did you guys happen?"

Blushing, I answer. "I mean, officially just yesterday, unofficially, the moment we met. When I saw her in that bar, I felt a connection I can't explain and it's only gotten stronger. I feel like I've known her forever and I can't imagine my life without her. In my heart, I know she's the one. She's it for me. I hope that doesn't make it weird between us."

"Of course not," Stacie gushes. "While we were great together, we weren't meant to be. You and Beca have something I've never seen before. Something we didn't have. I think we all see it. While I do support this though, please be careful."

"I will, I promise." I turn back in my seat and a couple of minutes later, I spot Beca and Jesse talking by the door. They're both laughing which lights a spark of jealousy in my chest. It's put out when Beca glances at me and smiles.

"I have one more thing to say," Aubrey states and I groan. Beca is now headed toward the car so Bree better hurry up. "She may be an agent, but she's hot so you got that going for you at least."

For a second, both Stacie and I are stunned, but then we get over it and all bust up laughing. When Beca gets in, she frowns at us.

"Did I miss something?" We just shake our heads no and Beca starts up the car. "We are all set for Friday night. For now, we'll do what research we can on this group. Does it say what they call themselves on the flyer?"

Grabbing the flyer, I scan it for a name. Nothing pops out at me until I notice a little shape in the corner. It's the outline of the moon and in the middle is a creature. It almost looks like a werewolf in mid change. Not quite human but not yet a werewolf.

"Just this symbol," I show Beca and she makes a noise in the back of her throat.

"I've seen that before but I can't remember where. We'll head to the house and search the books. I've never been a fan of libraries, but it looks like I'm about to get real cozy with y'alls."

…

A few hours later, almost everyone is hauled up in our house library, looking for anything to pinpoint the symbol. Amy is on the computer, trying to see what she can find on there. I sit next to Beca on the couch, books splayed out everywhere in front of us.

"I know I've seen this before, but where?" Beca groans, rubbing her temple. I place my hand on her arm, concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Beca smiles weary at me. "Just a little headache. Probably from all of this reading. I've never been good at it. Sitting still is not for me."

"I like reading," Emily pipes up. "It calms me. When I was growing up, we weren't allowed to touch the books that my father had in his office. 'Books are not for women unless they contain recipes.' That's what he would always say. But then again, that was the time then. Women weren't allowed to vote or do much of anything outside the house. I never even learned to read until I met Chloe."

"Yeah?" Beca cocks her head at me and I look at the ground. Emily's past is not pretty and I hate when she talks about it. She may be fine with it now, but I'm not. What I had to do… It's something I never want to repeat.

"She saved me," Emily continues. "My dad wasn't just strict with books but with everything and liked to use his hands to deal with me. Whether it was a beating or a time late at night when my mother was asleep." Beca sucks in a deep breath and grabs my hand. Her thumb rubs my palm as Emily tells her story.

"I met Chloe in town when I was running errands for my father. My mom had just passed away from sickness and I was left to do all the chores. We ran into each other and got to talking. When she learned I didn't know how to read, she made it her mission to teach me. On days my father was at work, she would come over and we'd sneak into his office to borrow a book. When he was home, I would make up excuses to leave to meet up with her. Everything was going great until he found out.

"He came home early one day and caught us. I'd never seen him so angry. Started yelling and throwing things. He shoved Chloe out of the door and then turned on me. Pretty soon, I was so beat up, I could barely breathe. It's like my lungs weren't working anymore and I knew at that moment I would die. Crazy thing is, I was okay with it because at least I had gotten to read and met Chloe. I don't remember much after that. Just waking up to Chloe telling me it was going to be okay and voila, here I am."

"What happened to your dad?" Beca whispers, looking at me the whole time. Emily shrugs and goes back to her book. "Chlo?"

"I killed him," I whisper, not afraid of Emily hearing me as she knows this or at least suspects it. "I heard him beating her after he threw me out and I couldn't take it. I used my strength and busted in. It was a nightmare. She was laying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, almost unrecognizable. He was standing above her with eyes almost black as night. I'd say he had every intention of killing her. Even after he saw me standing there, he continued to beat her, almost as if he saw nothing but red. On an impulse I snapped his neck and took Emily to my place. I didn't automatically turn her and instead, brought her back to near perfect health. Then, when she was in the right state of mind, I gave her an option. She agreed and now here we are."

"Wow," Beca squeezes my hand. "That must've been tough to see. I don't know how you got it out of your mind."

"I just don't think about it and when I do, I tell myself that I had no other option."

"Well, you didn't, not really. He would've done it to someone else if you had just knocked him out. The world is better off without those types of people in it. You did the right thing and I can't tell you how proud I am of you for it."

"Thank you," I whisper, my throat thick with tears suddenly. For a second, we just sit there, staring into each other's eyes, not needing any words to speak.

"Yo, check this out," Cynthia comments, jerking us out of our moment. We all gather around Cynthia and look at the page she's on. It's a drawing of a person in mid wolf transformation. I don't believe any of us have actually seen a werewolf shift and to see a drawing is disturbing enough for me. Suddenly, Beca gasps.

"I know where I've seen the symbol." She pulls away from our little group and starts to pace. "My father has this head of a werewolf in mid transformation hanging in his office. It's really disturbing but any time I ever went in there, I couldn't help but look. I used that as a distraction during times he would yell at me. I've spent hours staring at it and one day, I noticed a little mark behind one of its ears. When my dad left me alone in his office once, I climbed on his desk and looked at it. That symbol was tattooed behind its ear but I never looked into it. What does it mean though?"

"It's an older group, right?" I ask and Beca thinks for a second before nodding. "So over time several rebellion groups have formed for every creature. I get the feeling that this group is extremely old. Let's talk to Gail. She knows a lot about those types of groups. There's no way she doesn't know about this."