Her Soul Bonded Mate

Chapter 15

Neffi

“Neffi? Nefii?” I heard what sounded like Liam say, his voice sounding both alarmed and relieved as I slowly began to open my eyes. “Thank God,” he said as he pulled me into his arms and held me for what felt like forever. I only closed my eyes and breathed him in, trying to forget the images that were on that screen, that were playing over and over in my dreams. After a minute, I opened my eyes, and noticed that I was in his room, he was sitting in a chair in front of me and we were alone. “Are you OK?” He asked, as he pulled back, then placed one hand on my cheek.

I gave a weak smile then shook my head no, as more tears began to fall from my eyes. “Sorry,” I said, and he began to wipe away my tears.

“What are you apologizing for? What happened? He asked, searching my eyes for an answer,” I looked down at my hands. They were now cupped in my lap facing up. I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say or if I should, considering I didn’t want him to worry about me; however, considering how I was now in his room and had no idea how or why I was there, I had no choice but to answer.

“In class today, the teacher was showing us these documentaries about unsolved murders and attacks that looked like animal attacks, and one of those videos was my parents,” I said, as the tears continued to fall, before I or Liam could whip them away fast enough.

Before I knew it, I was back in his arms and he was holding me while I cried on his shoulder like a baby. I had made it my mission not to allow anyone to see me break again, but it was hard when I was confronted with the very thing that hurt me the most. “Then the students blamed me. They said it was my fault. That I was the murderer. That I made it look like my parents were killed by a wild animal, then called the police and played victim. I would never do that. You know that,” I babbled, while the tears continued to flow and he just held me, giving me all the comfort that I needed.

“Did they know it was your family?” Liam asked, his voice sounding kind of off. I shook my head no. “Okay. What’s your teacher's name and what department?” He asked.

“Criminology and it’s Professor Young, why?” I asked, feeling as if the world had collapsed all around me and I was reliving that old movie my parents used to watch called Groundhog’s Day.

“No reason. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need anything? Anything at all?” He asked, back to sounding like the protective boyfriend.

I shook my head, yes. It was a decision I had come to while looking at that scene, and it was one I knew he wouldn’t be ok with, but I needed to know. I needed to find the beast responsible and kill it. At first, I wanted to ask it why. Why would it attack my parents? But then I realized it was a beast. It was a creature beyond human understanding and it needed to be put down by any means necessary. “I think I know what killed my parents,” I said, as I raised my eyes back up to meet his. My tears now burning with anger and rage from those thoughts.

“What?” He asked, as if he were preparing for my answer. It was almost as if he were afraid of it, and considering what we’d been through a few weeks ago, I could understand. Not to mention the idea of what I was thinking was completely ludicrous, but the evidence was clear and I had to get it before it got me.

I looked back down at my hands, feeling kind of embarrassed to say it, but without thinking, I let the word “werewolf” escape my lips. Saying that word out loud made me feel a little crazy, but I knew it was the truth and there wasn’t anyone who could tell me differently.

“Werewolves? Baby that’s” he started to say.

“I know it sounds crazy, and if that weekend never happened, I would say the same thing, but Liam, I’m sure that the thing that murdered my parents were werewolves,” I said, flapping my arms and looking in his eyes, trying to make him understand where I was coming from.

“What about werewolves?” A tall, lean guy with freckles asked as he walked into the room. He was carrying a knapsack and his hair was curly. I recognized him as a member of the football team. I only knew that because Taylor pointed him out to me weeks ago.

“Nothing,” Liam said, eyes locked on mine. “Sebastian, this is my girlfriend Nefertiti. She goes by Neffi and Neffi, this is my roommate Sebastian, he goes by Seb,” he explained.

“Hi,” I said, with a wave.

“Nefertiti, like the queen of Egypt?” He asked, with a smile. It was the same reaction I got every time I told people my full name, which was why I started going by Neffi.

“Yes. We were kind of in the middle of something,” Liam said, forcefully.

I shook my head, “It’s OK. I should get to my next class. I think I’ve slept enough. We can talk later,” I said, as I climbed to my feet with Liam’s help.

“I'll escort you,” he offered. I was tempted to say no, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Liam had always been a gentleman and that wasn’t going to change.

“Nice to meet you Seb,” I said, as I made my way out the room with Liam behind me.