Taken By A Werewolf

XV

The next morning, Indy woke up with a massive headache. She was grateful for the couple of aspirins and the glass of water someone had left on her bedside table. Her thoughts were still clouded as she tried to remember the events from the evening before. The first thing that came to mind, was the fact that Stacey had ditched her for stupid Ted. They deserved each other. Indy put on her bathrobe and made her way to the showers. In the hallway, she was met by an appreciative whistle. She looked up to find Eloy walking in her direction. What was he doing here?

"Hungover is a good look for you, sweetheart," he said.

"My head hurts too much to deal with you right now," she said, brushing past him.

"And why are you here? You don't live here," she turned around, questioning him.

"I'm here for Ares," he stated, "but also a little bit for you, of course."

"Of course," she rolled her eyes and continued her way.

"Hey, Indy," Eloy called after her, sounding kind of serious for his doing.

"What?"

"Don't ever try to defend me again."

The almost-fight Eloy and Slaide had had came back to her mind.

"Wasn't planning to," she mumbled. Ungrateful douche.

Stupid boys with their stupid fights. Indy got under the shower and turned up the temperature. She liked it when the water felt like it was heated in the sixth circle of hell. Her mind was cleared for the greater part by the time she got out and made her way back to her room. Much to her dismay, she couldn't stop thinking about Ares. He had taken care of her in a gentle way that didn't fit his personality at all. He also must have left the aspirins by her bedside. And he had carried her back to her room. She remembered his soothing smell and the calming beat of his heart. Evidence that he had one.

Indy cursed her mind. Why wasn't she thinking about Cooper like she was supposed to? He had almost kissed her. She liked him. He liked her. It really was that simple, so why did her mind keep wandering off to her seemingly dangerous, deeply unpleasant, yet handsome as hell neighbor? She had no clue.

Indy wanted to go back to bed to sleep off the remainder of her hangover and hopefully ban both boys from her mind, but when she glanced at her desk, something was off. She paused to look at it and noticed the opened, empty jewelry box which used to hold her mother's necklace. She brought her hand up to her collar bone, but she wasn't wearing it. Panic rushed through her veins as she started searching her room in a frenzy. She looked through every drawer and under her bed, but it was nowhere to be found. She was sure she had worn it to the party. Did she still have it when she came home? She couldn't remember.

Tears pricked behind Indy's eyes. This was not happening. She couldn't have lost one of the last things to remind her of her mother. She should never have worn it in the first place. She rarely ever did and it was kept safe in its box, tucked away in a drawer.

Indy sat down on her bed, quietly sobbing. All this time, she tried to be strong and let nothing get to her. She didn't need friends, because she could depend on herself. She didn't need a family, because she could take care of herself. But losing the last thing that connected her to her parents, was too much, even for her.

"Looking for something?" a deep voice asked. She looked up and saw Ares standing in her doorway. She hadn't even heard the door open. Her mother's pendant was dangling from his hand, which he held up.

"You... you found it," she said, still shaking. She rose from her bed, not giving a second thought to the fact she was only wearing a bathrobe and looking ten shades of hungover, while he stood there looking flawless like always. She took the necklace from his hand and couldn't help the few stray tears that fell from her eyes. After her puking session yesterday, and maybe even before that, Ares didn't think much of her anyway, so she let them fall freely.

"Thank you, Ares... You have no idea what that necklace means to me," she said softly.

She hugged him tightly and remembered just a little too late that he had told her not to touch him. She quickly tried to let go of him, but felt his arm snake around her waist and press her closer to him. He smelled so nice and Indy wondered what had happened to him and his 'hands off' rule.

"I know exactly what it means, Indiana," he said darkly.

Indy froze and felt goosebumps rise all over her skin. She looked up slowly and was met by Ares' cold, judging eyes. This was not good, not good at all. A pit formed in her stomach at the mention of her full name.

"How did you-" but before she could finish her question, Indy felt something prick in her neck. Black spots clouded her vision and Indy faded out of consciousness.