The moonlit night

Chapter5

Broken trust

Hazel's pov

Axel and Hazel both sat in front of the flame, opposite to the other.

Axel occasionally looked over to Hazel. But her head was buried in between her hunched-up knee as she stared blankly into the burning wood.

The atmosphere was getting tense and thick. One could take a slice out of it.

"Hazel" he spoke out, almost in a whisper.

He waited for her to reply or look at him.

It took ages, but then she finally did.

"Hazel, I should have told you a long time ago, I....." He stopped talking and stared into the flame.

"I am a werewolf," he said rather too quickly as if to throw off the burden. Then he sighed. This part was done with. He just had to wait for her reaction.

"A werewolf" she repeated in askance. Her eyes had trailed off back to the flame.

"Yes, we are..........how to put it............some kind of human, wolf hybrid. Sort of".

Her eyes enlarged." We?"

"Yes. We. There are others like me. We're a race"

Hazel was dumbfounded.

"Your mother, your father. You are all this.......werewolf. Like a werewolf family", then she stood up and paced around.

"This is not happening" she breathed "Wow"

She stopped and looked at him. He looked back at her, innocent-eyed. This face she saw was nothing like the monstrosity she had encountered earlier.

His eyes were green but not glowing. His jet-black hair danced slowly to the wind. It was hard to believe that this masculine beauty in front of her was once covered in fur. He must have been a victim of some werewolf bite of some sort. She was science-inclined. She knew of fiction and had read somewhere that people could be turned into werewolves from a bite.

She decided to voice out her thoughts.

"One can be turned into the......you know..." She motioned at him "....werewolf, from a bite. Right?".

Axel nodded.

" So how long have you been like this? " she asked

He sighed and adjusted his posture."I was born this way"

"Born this way" she spoke in a low tone" you were born a werewolf".

He nodded. A simple nod. She was taking this better than he had imagined. She was being inquisitive rather than appalled. At least for now. He thought to himself.

"There are more of you?" She asked. This time drawing closer to him.

He nodded again.

"Are you one large pack or are there different clans?"

"There are different clans. Each with an alpha that rules"

She picked up a stick and poked at the flames. Tiny sparks were thrown into the air.

"Who is the alpha of your clan?" She asked, appearing nonchalant.

Axel didn't reply at first. He stared at her staring into the flames. When she turned to look at him, he shifted his attention to the fire.

After a little pause, he answered.

"I am"

He wasn't looking at her, but from the corner of his eyes, he could imagine her stopping. Shocked.

Maybe this was not the exact time to throw in this aspect of the truth. There wasn't any good time to break it to her, but he knew he should. It would be an unpleasant experience if he withheld this from her. Only for her to find out. It would be a disastrous trauma.

"Hazel" he didn't look at her. But he was still sure her attention had not been moved from him. He could almost feel her eyes drilling into the side of his face.

"Hazel, we werewolves are sometimes betrothed at a young age", he explained, " the alphas to be. Like a way of establishing authority ".

She didn't make a sound. Just rapt attention and a slight apprehension nudging at her mind. She could feel it. The countenance he bore. There was going to be an emotional bomb.

Was he trying to break up with her? Was he going to tell her it was over? Was he going to start ghosting her? The thought swooped around her mind in a sickening whirlpool.

He saw her expression change. But he had already started on this path and had to journey it now.

"I was dethroned".

She just nodded as if to say "Go on". Her mouth was starting to feel dry.

He looked at the flame again. And Hazel could have sworn that he was going to jump into it.

"I was betrothed to..........." The words were stuck in his throat.

Then in a whisper "Ava".

Hazel turned in disbelief. She was expecting some bad news. But this was beyond bad. He had to be kidding.

" Ava?" She finally found her voice.

"Yes, Ava," his voice cracked. "I was betrothed to your stepsister".

" You can't be serious," she cried out. Jumping to her feet. He tried to stop her. But she glared at him. He sat down.

"So this.." She motioned back and forth from her to Axel." This was all a charade"

Axel just sat there. A very peaceful and would-have-been romantic night had taken an abrupt and unexpected turn to chaos.

"Hazel" he pleaded "that was before I met you. That was before this"

He stood up

"It is you I love. You are the only one for me. Please if you'll just get me"

"Do you love her?" Hazel asked. Her eyes burned from holding back tears.

"No!" He shook his head "But we already share a bond"

"A bond?!" She suddenly had a realization. "What do you mean A BOND? How did you get into this bond with her? Weren't there other werewolves in your clan to bond with?"

"She is from my clan" he stressed the "she".

"My step-family are werewolves?" She gasped.

"No, your stepmother is a human. She got married to a werewolf. She is well aware of that".The last part was like a desperate attempt to make her see that marrying a werewolf wasn't such a bad idea.

"Oh my God, Jasper is there with them. Alone!!".

" Hazel!! They wouldn't hurt him. If they had wanted to, they'd have done it a long time. Plus I would never allow that"

"They would suck his blood" she was blinded by the anguish of this betrayal.

"Hazel, we ARE NOT vampires" he protested trying to calm her.

"Vampires" she muttered out of breath.

There were vampires too. What else lurked in this innocent city that she was yet to know? Who could and could not be trusted?

She had had enough trauma for this night. And she was going home. She took a few short steps and then increased her pace to a full-blown sprint.

Axel tried to grab her by the arm. And when she struggled against him. He let her go.

"Hazel, I'm sorry" he called after her.

But she kept on running. Breathing heavily. The air knocked her face and burned her lungs. Her feet crunching and smashing the dried leaves.

"This is not happening" she kept saying "this is not happening".

The tears she had long held started rolling down her cheek. The streak ran backward with the force of the wind.