"That was weird," I admitted.
Derek nodded agreeing.
We heard a car pulling in the driveway.
"They're back," Derek said. "Let's help them bring everything in."
We went downstairs and out the front door, Tess and Kit were back with an assortment of stuff to be brought inside. They bought more food, lots of lumber and glass and other materials to fix the house back up.
Carefully we brought it inside. I brought in an armful of food and started putting it away in the cupboards when Nate appeared.
"Chloe," he smiled.
"Hi," I replied.
"How are you feeling?"
I shrugged, "Fine." My go to answer always.
"Have you had time to think?" Nate asked.
"What about?"
"Sylvia's been pestering me to come home. Come back with me, learn about your people."
"Why haven't you offered this to Derek?" I stopped and asked.
Nate shrugged, "I'm not interested in showing him."
"Well, you know that if I go, he is."
"I guess I can live with that," he nodded.
"And Tess, Tori, and Simon," I added on. We were all pretty much becoming a package deal.
Nate frowned not liking that. He wanted time with just me.
Matt came around the corner with some insulation, "Everything ok here?"
I nodded, "Yeah, just putting away the food."
"Can I steal you for a bit after we are done unloading?" Matt asked.
I nodded, "Sure." Though I wasn't sure what for.
Nate helped me bring in the remaining groceries and put them away.
"What if I gave a time limit?" Nate proposed. "You spend only a week with me and the pack. No more. Then your friends wouldn't need to accompany you."
I rolled my eyes, "Why can't you just teach me all your crap here?"
"Crap," Nate was offended. Before he said something he would regret, Nate stepped away for the moment.
I finished putting away the last few boxes of mac n cheese then went looking for Matt. I found him out behind the deck, separating what lumber would go to the deck and what went to the house.
"You wanted to talk?" I asked approaching.
Matt nodded and pulled me back aways into the yard. Derek, who was helping move glass for the windows, didn't like the look of Matt and I talking privately. I gave him a smile that it was ok.
This makes me nervous. Derek's voice echoed. Though I swear I never saw his lips move.
"Chloe?" Matt asked. My attention went back to him. "Are you listening?"
I nodded, "Yeah, sorry."
Matt put the back of his hand to my forehead, "How have you been feeling? Any new urges?"
"Ever think about how weird the word urges is?" I tried to dodge the question.
Matt waited for an answer.
I sighed, "I mean my stomachs been hurting but its not like I'm hungry type of hurt."
"Is it bearable?"
I nodded, "Yeah, it hasn't been that bad. Except at night. Its hard not to focus on something that hurts when you're trying to not sleep."
"Nightmares?"
"Uh huh," I nodded. "Why does it hurt?"
Matt looked away for a moment, "That's a sign that we didn't get all the vampire toxin out of you."
"I could still become a vampire!"
Matt quickly shushed.
"Shhh no no that's not what I was saying. Your werewolf gene is more dominate now, you wouldn't become a full fledged vampire."
"So what's going to happen to me?" I asked scared.
"Nothing as long as you don't give into an urge to ingest blood."
"What happens if I do?" I didn't have that yet but it was scary knowing that would be coming soon.
"You're sort of a hybrid," Matt shrugged. "You could argue that you already are being that you're necromancer and werewolf. But a vampire and werewolf hybrid can be much more dangerous. You have the blood lust and irrationality of a vampire and the strength of a werewolf."
Oh god that's terrifying.
"Do I have to worry about this forever?" I ask.
Matt shrugged, "That I can't answer. I don't know. I hope not. But please, keep me updated on anything you feel that's unusual. It's my fault this is happening to you, and I'm going to do my best to fix it."
I hugged him, "Thank you."