Damaged Mate

15

We 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!”

Clyde’s expression was deadpan. “Don’t you know how exaggerations work?”

“This isn’t an ‘exaggeration,’” I hissed. “Or do you not remember her lunging at me with fangs bared? ‘Cause I sure do.”

Clyde rolled his eyes, clearly impatient with my hesitance. “And I already told you it’ll be fine. I’m on your side, Safety Patrol. That means a lot among our kin.”

I couldn’t help but grimace, though I’d stopped trying to pull free. His hand was so strong, but he was purposefully holding back. I had the feeling that if he wanted to, he’d have no problem dragging me anywhere. Or breaking my hand completely. With shallow breaths, I looked him dead in the eyes, finding a surprising lack of beastly glint. He looked… genuinely sympathetic.

“Alright.” My arm went limp as he led me toward the counter, taking great care to stand mostly in front of me. And for good reason—Vanessa’s face went from mundane to murderous as soon as she caught a glimpse of me.

“Nessi,” Clyde began.

“Don’t you, ‘Nessi’ me.” Vanessa’s pupils seemed to narrow into slits as she jabbed a finger my way. “What’s she doing here?”

I’d never seen Clyde look so nervous before. He kept glancing down at the floor, as if hoping it would suck him up and free him from the conversation. When it was clear that wasn’t happening, he let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his curls of dark hair while speaking in a low voice. “She knows, Vanessa.”

Her expression remained sour, posture visibly stiffening. Those ice-blue eyes bore right past Clyde and through my skull, and it took everything I had not to cower behind Clyde.

“I’m going on break,” Vanessa announced seemingly to everyone, not waiting for a reply before hopping the counter and stalking toward the back room. Clyde followed suit, still maintaining his position as my shield while pushing the double doors open. I took the chance to stand beside him; showing weakness wasn’t going to help my situation.

Vanessa strode past shelves of supplies, eventually turning the corner toward the back exit. She pressed her back against the wall, arms crossed tightly as we stood on the opposite end. And then, she just stared at me, silently. As if sizing up her prey.

The lack of chatter was starting to get to me. “So,” I began with a nervous chuckle. “You’re, um, r-really pretty as a werewolf.”

Vanessa let out an irritated snarl, that flicker of wild intent passing her gaze. “Oh my God, Clyde.”

“It’s not my fault!” he insisted. “She figured it out by herself.”

I decided to let that fib slide.

“Besides, I’m not the one lunging for people’s throats,” he added. “What the hell were you thinking? How, exactly, were we going to explain to Andy that his kid was killed by a lycanthrope?”

Vanessa scoffed, arms drifting to her hips as she stood upright. “We should’ve driven him out when we had the chance.”

“That wasn’t your call,” Clyde growled.

“And now it’s none of the Duskfall’s call.” Vanessa started toward me, only stopped by Clyde stepping in the way. The intense sensation of déjà-vu was uncanny.

“Look,” I forced myself out from Clyde’s protective stance, standing before Vanessa with whatever bravado I could muster up, “I get this is some, closely-guarded secret, but I don’t want to be your enemy.”

“As if you have a say in that?” Vanessa snarled. “Your father’s been a danger in our pack’s side ever since he came. What’s to say you won’t be equally grating?”

“Because, clearly, he kept your secret pretty well?” I took a deep breath, hanging tight to lingering strands of bravery. “He even kept it from me. That doesn’t mean anything to you, about his or my character?”

Vanessa scoffed, flicking her hair behind her shoulder as she fell silent.

“Andy’s been an ally to the Duskfall pack since day one,” Clyde said. “He did everything he could to save Dad, and I’m not letting you write that off as nothing.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened slightly, arms hugging against her chest. God, but she looked so crestfallen; Clyde’s dad really must’ve been something else.

“We’re already dealing with so much as is,” he added softly, taking a step toward Vanesa with a hand outstretched. “Let’s not add to the list, okay? Aria isn’t going to tell; she might even become a good friend.”

I hadn’t expected such a genuine display at friendship from Clyde, especially with how he’d acted toward me. And, for a moment, I thought he’d gotten through to Vanessa, as well. But, as Clyde’s fingertips barely brushed her shoulder, her hand flew out, slapping it to the side. With a guttural growl, she pushed past the two of us, heading back to the front without another word.

I nervously looked at Clyde, heart breaking at the expression on his face. Vanessa might as well have slapped him across the face. But it didn’t last long; he soon caught me staring and forced a smile on his face. “She’ll warm up to you eventually. She won’t really have a choice.”

“I don’t want her to be forced to like me,” I began, only for Clyde to cut me off with a snort.

“Oh, trust me,” he said. “Vanessa can’t be forced to do anything she doesn’t want to do. But, at the very least, she won’t come after you.”

He looked so defeated. “I’m… sorry if I came between you two.”

Clyde shrugged, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets. “It’s not the first time we’ve butted heads, and it won’t be the last.” He glanced my way, adding lightly, “Come on. We gotta go get Noah’s brother.”

With a nod, I quietly followed him out the back exit, taking one more glance over my shoulder before the door shut behind us.