Damaged Mate

16

T

he days after quickly became an insane juggling act. Between schoolwork and basketball practice, I was spending as much time as humanly possible with Clyde. There were still so many questions that needed to be resolved, and it was honestly nice not to have him up in arms against me anymore. Granted, crossing Vanessa nowadays was like avoiding gunfire, but it felt worth it just for a chance to explore such a strange and fantastical circumstance.

“Let’s go to the woods after practice today,” Clyde said between gulps of water. “I can’t sleep at night thinking about how woefully unprepared you are against one of my kin.”

I shot him a frown, scribbling something down on my clipboard before putting it down on the bleacher seat beside me. “Whose fault is that? You hardly tell me anything about werewolves as is.”

“Lycanthropes,” Clyde corrected. “And that’s for the sake of my pack. It’s not up to me to reveal their nature to you. And, apparently,” he added with a side-eye my way, “you’re not going to your dad anytime soon for help.”

“I—” My mouth hung open for a second, as if trying to find the words to adequately explain why I hadn’t talked to Dad about this. “Look, this is still a lot to take in. I mean, my dad’s been just sitting on this huge secret, and sure, I get why, but…”

I groaned, running my hands through my hair with a huff.

“I don’t know. How do I even start that conversation? Just walk up to him and go, ‘Hey, Dad, how’s it going? I recently discovered wolf-people are a thing and, apparently, you knew about it, too’?”

Clyde just grunted in reply, crushing the paper cup in his hand before tossing it into the gym’s giant trash can. We watched the other guys farther down the court, where Noah was giving a talk to a few while others practiced passes. Very briefly, I caught Aiden’s eye as he turned our way, giving me a slight wave and grin. I returned the gesture, only to have the feeling soured by Clyde’s dramatic dry-heaving.

“You stop that. I can be nice to both of you,” I insisted.

Clyde rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just make it official with him, would you? It’d spare me the nausea with this will-they- won’t-they crap you two do.”

“Is that jealousy I detect in your voice?” I teased.

“If ‘jealousy’ sounds like throw-up,” Clyde groaned, “then, yes.”

It was admittedly frustrating that Aiden seemed to tip-toe around our relationship lately. He’d been pretty open about going out to places and hanging out together, right up until I started hanging out with Clyde more.

“Why do you want to go to the forest today?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. “If it’s just to talk?”

“Maybe you’re used to Vanessa’s death stare at the parlor,” Clyde grumbled, sprawling out along the bleachers as if laying in a bed, “but I’ve had my fill, thanks.”

An uncomfortable knot began forming in the pit of my stomach. I leaned forward in my seat, arms settling against my legs. “She’s still really mad at you, then?”

Clyde nodded listlessly. “Nearly a decade of friendship, totally trashed.”

God, I felt so awkward. I knew it was my fault, but I just didn’t know what to say to make it better. So, we just sat there, awkwardly staring at each other before quickly looking away.

“I wanna go to the forest so I can transform,” Clyde finally said.

A ripple of excitement ran across my skin. I turned his way completely, finding him sitting back up and running his hands down his face. “Seriously?”

He nodded curtly. “Like I said, you need a better strategy against my kin. Sitting on the ground like a scared rabbit just makes you look like—”

“A scared rabbit,” I finished with a grimace. “Yeah, alright. You make a good point.”

Noah’s sharp whistle echoed around the gymnasium, pulling Clyde from his seat as the other guys filed in. He offered me his hand, easily lifting me to my feet before hopping down the bleachers. God, but the way his fingers flexed and twitched; had he always held back around me? And what about during his fistfight with Aiden? I couldn’t help but marvel at the restraint Clyde must’ve needed to last this long.

“Hey, Aria!” Aiden pulled away from the huddle and jogged over, not even giving Clyde the time of day. “A few of us were gonna take a ride out of town to Glensburg. They always open up an amazing Halloween store for the holiday.”

“Halloween?” I ran the numbers in my head, eyes widening slightly. “Oh, yeah. We’re already in October, huh?”

Time really did fly when you learned a life-shattering secret. It felt like it’d been September 1st only yesterday.

“Who’s all coming?” I asked.

“Noah mentioned interest, and I think Laura wanted to find something for her aunt’s birthday,” Aiden said. “She wanted to bring Trevor, too.”

Clyde didn’t look amused by the news. “Why would he want to go anywhere with you, Thief?”

Aiden bristled. “Not sure. Maybe he’s not as pig-headed as someone else I know.”

It truly was remarkable how quickly they could get under each other’s skin. “Okay, boys.” I stepped between them, surprised at how easily I pushed them apart. “Let’s not break our no-violence streak, okay? Noah’s going to kill you two if we can’t practice for the first game.”

The tension between those two could cut through rocks. “Aria can’t go, anyway,” Clyde sneered. “We’ve already got plans after practice.”

Aiden’s expression was a mixture of surprise and disappointment. He looked to me for an answer, only to be met with a surprise shove from Clyde.

“Clyde.” My tone darkened as I turned to face him. “I have no problem changing my mind if you’re gonna be an ass about it.”

It was hard not to compare him to an actual animal these days; the look on Clyde’s face was so protective, so… territorial. With my hands on his chest, I glanced back to Aiden with a sweet smile.

“Are you leaving right after practice?”

He shook his head, still fixated on Clyde as he spoke. “No, we were going to get something to eat, first. It’d probably be later in the evening; sixish, maybe?”

That gave me a solid two hours to do wolf-stuff with Clyde. “Sounds good! Text me when you’re getting ready to go, okay? We’ll meet by the park.”

I fought to keep Clyde at bay as Aiden nodded and walked away, letting out a sigh before pulling away. Clyde stumbled forward, fully intending on charging Aiden if I hadn’t been in the way.

“Seriously?”

“You really shouldn’t hang out with that i***t,” Clyde growled.

“Plenty of people have told me not to associate with you either,” I pointed out. “And yet, here I am, associating.”

That seemed to take Clyde aback for a moment. “I—w-well, sure, but…” He snorted irritably, arms crossing over his chest with a huff. “Just watch out for your dad. Aiden’s family has a tendency to stab people in the back.”

That wasn’t a subject I was about to get into. “Get on over there, okay? They can’t start playing without their only competent player.”

A smile spread across Clyde’s face as he jogged over, leaving me to stand alone with what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. I thought having a werewolf friend would be so much cooler than this.

“Lycanthrope,” I corrected under my breath before joining the others.