Loved By Danger

Chapter 12

    Creed looked around, trying to figure out where Aden had gone.  It was late in the night, and he hasn't come back after the shift ended at Ricky's.  A few regulars said that he had left with some girl, which would mean it was the Terell girl.  Just the thought of him spending his time with that Terrell girl made his blood boil.  What about her is making him forget about all of his teachings?  What was it about her that's making him forget about all of his instincts of hunters.  Does he not remember that they're the enemy and we are to stay away from them.  Something about all of this doesn't sit right with him, but all he could do was wait until he gets a ring from him.  He wasn't answering his phone, and his mother was starting to get worried.      

    Finally, Creed watched through the large window, and he could see Aden pull up on a motorcycle. He remembered how Aden would talk for hours to him about this ancient travel device.  And he was on it with none other than that Terrell girl.  Creed could feel his blood boiling over, and he placed his hand on the cold steel beam to calm down.  He punched it and made a dent in the metal.  As soon as Aden walked inside, Creed was on him.

    "Where have you been?" he snapped.   Aden could see his entire face was red with anger.  It's been a while since he had seen Creed this upset.  He almost looked bigger than he normally would.

    "Are you serious, Creed?  Since when have you ever had a problem with my disappearance acts?"

    "Since things have gotten bad around here, jerk!  Your mother is worried, and I see you hanging out with that Terell girl.  Are you serious right now!?"

    "Her name is Jo, and what's the big deal?  What is your problem with her?"  Jo's accusations started to ring in his head.  But Aden didn't want to believe that, considering it would put a weird strain on their friendship after all of these years.

    "I don't know what's going on with you, Aden.  We're supposed to be best friends, and you are just not getting what everyone has been trying to tell you.  This is not the Aden show, and this isn't the time to be selfish. What about the pack?"

    "You sound like my father right now.  You need to cool it."

    "Well, someone has to."

    "Look, I don't know what your problem is but you better fix it.  What I do with my life has nothing to do with the pack or anyone else for that matter!  This is why I get away, and you of all people should know damn well why I stay away.  You're so worried about the pack when the pack doesn't give a damn about you!  Only me!"  Aden walked away from him because he could feel his anger rising.  It wasn't normal for Creed to snap on him like that, and he also had the nerve to throw Aden's insecurities in his face.  But now wasn't the time to dwell on what he said.  Instead, he went straight to his room.  He managed to see his mother, and her worried look on her face made him even angrier.  He didn't feel like being lectured by her either.

#

    Jo managed to make it home, and this time as every time she came home, regardless of the time, nobody was home.  Her brother had gone away somewhere, and her mother and father were out as usual.  Amy was busy in the kitchen cooking something up that smelled good.  Jo dropped her bags to the floor, and one of the maids picked them up and took it away to her room.  They didn't have to do that, but Jo didn't argue it.  Amy looked at Jo with silence before giving a huge smirk on her face, "So," she said, turning a knife in her hand, "Who is the lucky boy toy?"

    "Oh, come on, Amy, not this again."

    "What?  I can't ask questions?  I mean, you come in at a late-night hour.  You look absolutely refreshed, like you were able to vent to whoever took the time out to listen to those tiresome rants of yours," Amy joked.

    "They're not tiresome, just my feelings.  But he's not all that special to me.  Just someone I can kill time with."

    "Ohhh, so there is a secret boy toy.  Is it the mysterious boy from the painting?"

    "How could you tell."

    "I have known you for so many years, you know, and the only time you ever drew a picture of a boy was when you drew that picture of that boy who constantly teased you in second grade.  You drew him falling into a fire pit."  They both laughed at the memory, "So, what's his name?"

    "Aden.  He's in the same grade as me.  He doesn't live near here, though.  He lives near the city gates.  He calls it the slums.  I think his area is nice.  Different from around here, there is more to do, and you can be normal.  He and his friend hang out at Ricky's most of the time."

    "I know that place.  I go there on my days off.  What's his last name?"

    "I'm not sure, really.  I never really paid attention to that, to be honest."

    Amy looked like she was deep in thought like she was calculating something, "Well, my little explorer.  I made your favorite funky chunky monkey."

    Jo looked at the fried sandwich with banana, Nutella, a scarce ingredient, and peanut butter.  She used to make these all the time for her when she was a kid on days she wasn't feeling so great.  Jo took a bite and enjoyed the flavor that was flowing in her mouth.  Amy chomped down on her sandwich, and a thought came to Jo.

    "What have you been up to?  I haven't seen you for days.  Derrick is back, and he's an asshole as always."

    "Well, truthfully, I was trying to avoid the hell out of him.  I pissed him off before he went away, and you know how he loves to get revenge, so I stayed away from him until the coast was clear for me to come back around.  He'll be back tomorrow morning.  This Lycan case has everyone in an uproar, and he's just looking for something to kill."

    For some reason, Jo thought she gave a poor excuse.  Since when has her brother's antics ever a problem for her?  She didn't decide to press the issue because now and again, Amy would always give her an air of curiosity.  When Jo was smaller, she used to think that Amy was some secret agent where they would send her on special missions.  Then she just thought that she would just be wandering off somewhere having fun, but her type of fun, not fun she had to pretend to like because she was taking care of some rich man's kids.

    "So, when are you seeing mister boy toy again?"

    Jo could feel a smile on her face as she answered, "Soon, probably."

                                                                                               #

    For the next few days, Aden and Creed haven't said a word to each other.  This was the four days was the longest they haven't spoken to each other.  But during that time, Creed wasn't really around the pack anyway.  It was like he would leave early enough not to run into Aden or get home way before he would want so that he could go to his quarters without having to see him.  But during that time, Aden was spending his time with Jo.  the both of them either sharing lunch or sneaking away to their hideout.  On this night, though, Jo asked him about Creed's disappearance.

    "Why haven't I seen your best friend?  Did you two get into some fight?"

    It was almost like she knew how to read his thoughts, "Yeah...we got into it the other day.  I don't like to be lectured."

    "Tell me about it.  You give me this bad boy energy."

    "Bad boy?" Aden had a confused expression on his face, "What's that?"

    "Oh, you know, the whole I do what I want when I want, type of attitude.  And you dress like it too.  You be surprised at how many of the girls at the school really like you and fall over everything you do."

    "I doubt it."

    "Wow, handsome and modest.  Well, it's true.  Since we have been sitting together, I'm getting way more dirty looks than I ever have been.  They don't approach you because you look mean half the time.  If only they knew what a hippie you are sometimes who likes to sit in trees and listen to nature."

    "A hippie?  Really?  Wow, I never thought of it that way."  Jo laughed hard at his confused expression.  He really did act like he was almost sheltered, like nothing else around him mattered, and both him and Creed had their own little world all to themselves.

    "And why are they mad at you?"

    "Well, because I'm taking up your time, of course.  You're not talking to them, and they think we're dating."

    "What's wrong with that?"

    "Huh?" His question threw her off. She almost choked on the drink she was drinking.

    "Yeah, what's wrong with us dating?  I honestly think that's their problem to assume, but if we did, that's none of their business."

    "Yeah, I suppose so."

    "Girls are weird sometimes.  I never really got the way they think.  I mean, my mom, for example, loves the ground my dad walks on and would do anything for him, but because of her status, he thought's and opinions don't really matter to the group.  I wonder why she loves him so much when it's almost like he doesn't even value her."

    Jo looked down at a small ladybug that was crawling its way up a flower, "It's because he doesn't treat her like everyone else treats her.  Regardless of her status, he sees her as a person.  Love is only to be understood by the ones who are in it."

    "Well said."  They both carried on through the night, talking about various things.  And now and then, Aden would wish that he had these moments with Creed again.  He was his best friend, so he knew that at some point, he would have to fix whatever had just happened.

    For some reason, everything in the area had gone quiet, and both of their instincts had picked up.  They looked around in the dark. Aden had a better vision in the dar than Jo did, but he still couldn't see anything but the hair on his neck was starting to stick up as his instincts started to feel a change in the area.  Jo pulled out a strapped blade to her inner thigh, and she looked at Aden; terror was written across her face.  They had one more time to breathe before something large leaped out into the open from the bushes.  Jo got closer to Aden, not behind but in front so that she could protect him.  Both of them were looking into the eyes of a Lycan.