Damaged Mate

22

W

e practically sprinted across the school yard, myself stumbling behind as Clyde kept pace easily. I was positive he was doing it on purpose just to mess with me; maybe he hoped I’d give up and turn around. But no. He’d finally slipped up and let something loose. I had to follow this lead.

Once we passed the front of the school, Clyde’s pace slowed. He glanced behind his shoulder, grimacing as I quickly approached.

“God, you really aren’t gonna let that go, are you?” he asked.

I took a few deep breaths, bending over while my hand gestured toward his. “You—y-you also still have—m-my phone.”

Clyde blinked, glancing down at his tightened fist. “Oh. Right.” Hesitantly, he handed it to me, backing away slightly as I took it.

“Hey—I-I’m not the one who bites,” I panted.

Clyde visibly bristled, glancing around before taking a close step toward me. “Would you shut up? Or do you just wanna yell to the entire town that I’m a lycanthrope?”

I let out a sharp gasp, covering my mouth as a grin began to curl my lips. “I knew it. It wasn’t a dream after all!”

Clyde shook his head, still looking somewhat panicked. “God, you went and talked with Dia, didn’t you? She’s the only one who’d keep stuff like that around.” He jabbed a finger at my phone, the pictures of the journal still on full display.

“Holy crap.” I ran my hands down my face, unable to repress a squeal. “This is amazing! You’re an actual werewolf! A real werewolf!”

“Lycanthrope,” Clyde hissed. “And, please, scream it a little louder, why don’t you?” He took one more look around before starting down the street at a brisk pace. “Come on. If you’re gonna ask, you’d better keep up. And shut up,” he added darkly. “Seriously, this isn’t exactly something you wanna be blabbing about.”

I nodded furiously, scrambling to keep pace with him. God, but it was just a relief to know it was real, that my dream was a memory, that I wasn’t completely losing my mind. Questions crashed around my head like thundering waves, but Clyde was right. There had to be some self-control on my end.

“H-how many of you are there? Is it painful to transform? Do you remember transforming at all? Is Noah a werewolf like his little brother?”

Clyde let out a loud groan, dragging his hands through his curled hair. “Not telling, not after a while, sort of, and I refer you to answer number one.” He stared back at me, a hopeful look crossing his eyes. “Is that it?”

Good God, not even close. “Okay, but your family has to know, right? Unless this is a whole ‘teenager holds angsty secret’ deal.” I gasped, hands once more covering my mouth. “Oh my God, does my dad know?”

Once more, Clyde visibly bristled. He held his hand out to catch my chest, pressing a crosswalk button as we waited for the light to change.

I took back what I said. Now my world was falling out from beneath my feet. “Holy crap, he knew,” I whispered. “Is that why he’s so paranoid about the forest?”

The light flashed green as a small line of cars waited for us to cross. Clyde took the lead, and I skipped beside him. “We use the forests to… run wild,” he explained.

“I thought you couldn’t mention others?” I teased cheekily. “Besides, what happened to having ‘full control’ over it?”

He shot me a scowl, turning on his heel in the middle of the walkway. “Look, Aria, this is serious. I’m gonna be in major trouble for letting this slip, so you have to treat this like life and death.” A few cars beeped at us to move, but Clyde remained stiffly in place. “If other lycans find out you know, they may not take kindly to it.”

A subtle dread began slipping into my veins as we stood there, an unmistakable fear that was so primal, it rocked me to my core. The world went silent and black around me as I stood in the void, whatever giddy exhilaration I felt from my discovery coagulating into sheer terror.

“Was… was Vanessa really trying to kill me, then?” I whispered hoarsely.

Clyde blinked, as if suddenly hit with that revelation. “Oh, she’s gonna kill me.” Tugging my hand, he led me off the walkway, cars finally puttering past as a few drivers shot us the stink eye.

“Maybe she’ll bury us in the same grave,” I remarked listlessly.

“Aria, relax. She wanted you dead because—” Clyde stopped, glancing around the neighborhood before taking a left down the sidewalk. “It doesn’t matter. She’ll be fine now that I’m on your side.”

I blinked, those words piercing through the haze. “You’re… on my side?”

Clyde glanced over his shoulder, brow furrowed slightly as he spoke. “I mean, I stopped her from killing you, right? Now, pick up your feet; I was serious about being the only competent player on the team.”

I got the feeling Clyde didn’t want to answer too many more questions, so I obliged and started into a light jog beside him. But that didn’t stop my head from swirling around. It was a relief to know I wasn’t crazy, sure, but the dangers that now presented themselves almost seemed to outweigh that. Still, I got the feeling Clyde wouldn’t just leave me high and dry.

Hopefully.

As we passed through downtown, his pace began to slow. “Wait, hold on. We gotta stop somewhere, first.” He gave a quick glance around, eventually pointing me toward a brickwork ice-cream parlor.

“‘Good Licks Café’,” I read aloud, giving him a weird look. “I thought you said we were in a rush?”

“Trust me. It’s better if I’m with you when this goes down.” Clyde decided not to elaborate, instead taking my hand and pulling me toward the shop.

The inside looked surprisingly quaint, neutral colors filling a rather comfortable-looking sitting space full of chairs and couches. It honestly looked more adult-friendly than I expected, with a few older folks hanging around and enjoying each other’s company.

And there, standing behind the front counter, was Vanessa herself.

“Oh, no way.” I tried tugging my hand free but Clyde held it firmly. “You said she wanted me dead!”