Chapter 13

After disposing of the wolfsbane plant and apologizing to the quickly recovering Sam, Lori and Bobby left for Great Lakes City with two plates of various desserts for the road. The rest of us ate dessert in peace that was occasionally interrupted by either Dad or Luan telling a corny holiday-themed joke. Sam and Sandra eventually had to leave so that both of them could get up early in the morning and prep the cafe for the morning rush (Sam was apparently helping his aunt run the joint after school and on weekends). I walked with them as they crossed the street to get to Sandra's car.

You know those scenes in action movies? The ones where something disastrous happens in slow motion? That's exactly what happened when the three of us reached the middle of the road. We all heard the sound of someone gunning their motor before there was suddenly a big, shiny pickup truck barreling straight toward us. I'm ashamed to admit that I was almost literally a deer in the headlights, frozen and staring death in the face. It was Sam who took action, placing a hand in the middle of my back and shoving both me and Sandra out of harm's way.

I could only stare in horror as the truck plowed into Sam with a sickening CRUNCH!

The driver never stopped. They didn't even slow down. They just passed straight over Sam's spread-eagled body without a care in the world, leaving him mangled and bloody in the middle of the road.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!" Sandra and I both screamed and rushed to his side. My throat swelled up and hot tears ran down my face as I gazed upon the boy I'd come to love. All four of his limbs were twisted in ways they shouldn't have been, numerous fragments of bone jutted from skin and fabric alike, and blood gurgled from his mouth with each shuddering exhalation. Lisa ran over to us while Mom was on her cell phone calling an ambulance. She placed her ear against his chest and frowned. She pulled a scalpel from her back pocket and cut a slit in his shirt. Sandra screamed and my heart dropped into my stomach when Lisa suddenly jabbed the scalpel between Sam's ribs and pulled it back out. A waterfall of blood gushed from the wound, adding to the steadily growing pool he was lying in. The ambulance arrived less than a minute later, and Luan and Lynn had to drag me away kicking and screaming so that the paramedics could do their job.

Sam was loaded inside, and the ambulance sped away, lights flashing and sirens blaring. The fam gave me and Sandra a chance to regain our wits before we all piled into Vanzilla (and boy, was it a tight squeeze with the extra passenger!) and followed the ambulance to the hospital. We waited in the lobby for what seemed like an eternity while Sam was in emergency surgery. Finally, a slim female nurse entered the lobby.

"Sandra Sharp?" asked the nurse, and Sandra stood and walked over to her.

"How is he? How's my nephew?" Sandra asked, her voice wavering and her body shivering all over. The nurse sighed and hung her head.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Your nephew's injuries were too severe. He died on the operating table." I felt my heart stop.

Sam was dead.

The boy I loved was DEAD!

Sandra wailed and fell to her knees, but I just sat there like a statue. It wasn't until I felt Mom's and Leni's arms circle around me that I finally broke down myself. What happened after that was all a blur until I found myself lying in my bed the next morning. My body felt like it was made of lead as I dragged myself out of bed and over to the bathroom. I was sitting on the floor of the tub with my head between my knees, weeping, as ice-cold water cascaded on me from the showerhead, when I heard the bathroom door open.

"Go away," I said hoarsely. Whoever was there didn't listen. Instead, the curtain rustled as a hand reached through and fiddled with the faucet knobs, warming up the water.

"I can't, like, even imagine what you must be feeling, Luna," said Leni's soft voice, "but you've been taking a cold shower for twenty minutes. You'll, like, get a cold if you don't warm the water up." She paused. "I'm, like, so sorry this had to happen to you, Luna. If it makes you feel better, Lisa caught the license plate of that truck on her security camera, so she's helping the police look for the driver. According to her, someone was trying to kill either him or you, so the police have a warrant for murder."

"That's great, brah," I said, not even trying to hide my anger. "Get back to me when the f****r gets the death sentence, will ya?" Leni, bless her soul, just sighed in response to the f-bomb I dropped. I couldn't help it; I was too upset to mind my language. She left me to my own devices after that.

...

After my shower, I slipped into a plain black T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before crashing on the couch for the rest of the morning. I missed both breakfast and lunch due to my lack of appetite. I almost killed Lisa when I saw her, because I thought she killed him by stabbing him. After getting me to calm down, though, I learned that if she hadn't stabbed him in the spot that she did, Sam would've drowned in his own blood from his broken ribs puncturing his lungs.

Mazzy and Sully dropped by that afternoon. They'd heard the news from Leni after finding the Burnt Bean suspiciously closed, and wanted to check up on me. I attempted to turn them away, only for them to quite literally drag me out of the house and to the nearby park for some fresh air and a talk. Mazzy clapped a hand over my eyes as we passed the four-foot-wide bloodstain in the middle of the street, and I was glad she did, or I probably would've vomited. The three of us reached the park and sat under a tree. Well, they were sitting; I laid down in the grass with my head in Mazzy's lap.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sully asked.

"No, not really."

"That's cool, Lunes. Take your time, gurl," Mazzy assured me, running her fingers through my hair. We sat in silence for a while before I started crying again. Between sobs, I told Mazzy and Sully what happened the previous night. I didn't notice Mazzy elbowing Sully's side and pointing at something.

"...then the nurse told us he was d-d-dead. S-Sam's d-dead," I finished. Somebody scoffed loudly, causing me to freeze.

"Dead? Dead? Do I look dead to you?"

That voice...no! It couldn't be!

I lifted my head and wiped away my tears. There, wearing filthy, ragged, obviously stolen clothes (a baggy New York Yankees baseball jersey missing several buttons and a pair of faded jeans) and covered in half-healed cuts and bruises...was Sam.

"Mazzy, pinch me!" I demanded and yelped when she squeezed my ear between one finger and her thumb. I wasn't dreaming! Sam was alive! "SAAAAAAAAM!" I cried and threw my arms around him hard enough to knock him over.

"OOF! Ow! Take it easy, will ya? Everything still hurts!" he protested, but returned my hug nonetheless as I sobbed with joy onto his chest. "Don't hug me too long, either. I stole these clothes from the hospital's autopsy room." My eyes snapped open, and I jumped away from him with a shout of disgust, having touched clothes that had previously been on dead bodies.

...

An hour later, Sam was showered, dressed, and sitting on our couch, the rest of us looking at him expectantly.

"Well? How are you still alive?" Lisa asked. "Your heart stopped on the operating table and couldn't be restarted. On top of that, almost every bone in your body was practically crushed to powder! Even if you had survived, you'd have been crippled for life!"

"You can blame the Wolf for that," Sam replied. "He won't let me live, but he also won't let me die. I've died at least three other times while I was on the streets, which is why I have so many scars. Understand?"

"So, what you're saying is...only a werewolf's weaknesses can kill you?" Lincoln asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm also pretty sure I can die from old age and disease, too." I was sitting next to Sam, gradually scooting closer and closer to him until I was practically in his lap. I put my hand on his thigh to get his attention.

"I'm just really glad you're okay, Sam," I said. Before he could reply, I grabbed his face in both hands and mashed my lips against his. I'm telling you, at that moment I was on Cloud Nine! My whole body lit up with fireworks as Sam reciprocated the kiss, and we both dragged it out for at least thirty seconds, maybe longer, before coming up for air.

"Wow!" he wheezed when we parted. "Is that what you've been trying to tell me all month?"

"Yeah," I responded. "I love you, Sam. More than I've ever loved anyone besides my family." Being mindful of his still tender injuries, I crawled into his lap and snuggled against him. He wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you too, Luna," he said, and we kissed again, only to be interrupted by the flash of a camera.

"O-M-Gosh! I am totes posting this! Saluna is official!" Leni squealed in glee, rapidly tapping away at her phone. Sam groaned and rolled his eyes. I just giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Get used to it, luv. This is gonna be our life now," I said and leaned my head against his shoulder.

Just like Leni said, it's official now! I started this chapter pretty rough because I ran out of ideas on how to delay Luna's confession even more than I already had, but I gave it a happy ending!

What lies ahead for the new couple?

Stay tuned and find out!

Next chapter: the would-be killer is exposed!