The Human Luna

Chapter 2

Layla’s Point of View

The stench of my own vomit made me gasp. Tears welled in my eyes as I carried on staring right at it. Right where the wolf had been only moments ago.

With trembling hands, I batted away any stray hairs that might get caught in the vomit around my mouth.

I had to breathe. In through my nose and out through my mouth. But my lungs buckled and seized.

Another hallucination.

Great.

Dr. Lidia had warned me about this. Told me that sometimes I would see the thing that plagued me most. Hear it coming for me.

Yet I had still been wholly unprepared. Chalked her words up to something that might happen one day but not now. Not when I was finally seeing results in therapy.

Clammering for my chest, I splayed my fingers wide on it. Soaked up the feel of my own heartbeat. Focussed on it to the point where everything else was drowned out.

From the vomit blocking my view, I could no longer see the hallucination in front of me. Good. That was good. It gave me one less thing to worry about.

How horrifying it was when you realized your own mind and body might turn against you.

The clicking of the beast’s jaws carried on, though. A droning in the back of my head that refused to leave. Clack. Clack. Like he was waiting to taste me. Devour me the same way he had-

I sucked in a ruthlessly deep breath. My pulse jolted into the sky.

Without waiting for the hallucination to pass, like Lidia had told me to do, I jumped away from the window and to the front door.

Cold, fresh air would help. It always helped. Or that’s what those gurus on TV always said. That air would refresh the soul when needed the most.

So, wanting to be rid of the intense fear still crawling around inside of me, I threw open the front door, letting the night breeze creep into the room around me.

I downed several big gulps, still feeling my heart racing at an abnormally fast pace. The slight breeze that fluttered in froze over the stickiness of my clammy skin. Knees trembled beneath me.

Clack. Clack.

Forcing my eyes closed, I doubled over and clamped my hands down on my knees. Sucked in breath after breath.

So much for a good day. So much for having made progress.

The happiness I had felt earlier on seemed to shrivel up and die right there.

Until a familiar voice called out to me. Soft and lilting. Sparkling in death as it had been in life.

Helena spoke to me as if she was right beside me. Encouraging and strong. Things she had always been that I could never be.

“You are fine, Lils. There is nothing wrong. Come on. Pick up your head and open your-” For some reason, her voice was cut off far too soon, replaced by someone else who had grown to be my comfort lately.

“Layla?” Jordan asked from the street.

When I didn’t respond, I heard his footsteps increase. Broke out into a solid run until he was beside me, pushing my hair out of the way. Examining me.

“What happened? What’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere? Able to-” He cut himself short, a curse breaking over his pouty lips.

That was anger, clear as day, in his voice.

It made some part of me recoil into a corner of my mind, far away from him.

I remained in the same position, trying to keep my breathing under control. Tried and failed to keep the image of that wolf firmly out of my mind. Far, far away from me.

Jordan inhaled sharply beside me, his hand on my back going deathly still. I felt every muscle of his that touched me going rigid. Coiled.

“We need to get you inside,” He announced tersely and without warning wrapped his arm around my back and the other beneath my knees. Scooped me up like a child.

Before we were even fully inside the house, Jordan slammed the door closed behind us. Gently set me down on the couch before he went back to the door and locked it.

My eyes followed him as he moved. Precise movements that I had never seen from him before. Like there had been a shift in who he was and how he moved. Even as he skirted the curtain to the side to look out, he seemed lost in a trans.

“Don’t open that-” I tried to stop him from seeing the vomit now plastered to the window. But he barely seemed to notice it, only staring out beyond it and into the front garden.

It was clear something was wrong. Sat heavily on his shoulders. And when he turned back to look at me there were distinct lines creased between his brows.

“What happened?” He asked, the voice he used not one I was familiar with. The sheer animalistic sound of it made my stomach roil. Had me flinching to the side.

As always, Jordan noticed the change in me as well. His gaze softened right before he wiped his hands on his pants.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used so much force when speaking to you,” He apologized and sank into the single couch beside mine. “I was just coming to drop off some food for you and ask if you wanted to hang out when I saw you outside.” He explained, voice thick with worry.

“I heard something outside and went to check…” I said, trailing off. After gathering myself for a second, I blew out a breath and clamped my hands between my knees. “I saw the wolf again. He was outside the window, taunting me.”

Jordan stiffened and snapped his head in the direction of the window. Furious blue eyes squinted at the closed curtain as if he could see right through them and into the yard beyond.

Not that he would see anything, even with the curtains pulled all the way open.

“Let me draw you a bath. Get you cleaned up. We can have some dinner on the couch and watch a few movies to get your mind off of things. How does that sound?” He asked, giving me a lopsided grin.

This golden boy and his golden light shining all around him. The perfect gentleman. Whatever he saw in me was a mystery. Especially considering that he had come here instead of-

“I thought you had work tonight.”

“I did. But I called in and told them I would come in later. Just had a hunch that you might need your knight in shining armor.” He said with a wink.

Rolling my eyes, I hid my smile behind my hand.

“So humble of you,” I groaned.

Jordan chuckled and stood up from his seat. Walked to the bathroom.

I could hear him opening the taps of the bath. Could hear him humming to himself. Then it stopped and his voice came out of the bathroom instead. A gentle whisper, barely loud enough that I could make out his words.

“You need to cut your patrol short. He found her again,” A long pause on his end.

I strained my ears to be able to hear his next words like he had dropped his voice an octave or two. But just the first sentence out of his mouth was enough to give me pause.

What did he mean by he found her? Was he talking about me? Who had found who?

“We will double the patrols around the area. See if we can come up with any leads,” Another pause, the person on the other end was replying, no doubt.

“I know. I know. But I smelled a rogue, clear as day, outside of your house, Lector. Rather safe than f*****g sorry.”

The shuffling of his feet threw me out of my haze. I hadn’t even realized I had moved to the edge of the couch, straining to hear whatever was being said, until I moved backward, trying to look as innocent as when he had left.

Jordan came back into the room, all smiles and bright eyes. “The water is well on its way to being your new heaven. I threw in a bath bomb that I found on the rim of the tub. Hope you don’t-”

And just like that, the conversation I had heard evaporated from my mind. Was replaced by his kindness and consideration. The look of him as he stared at me, dark hair curling on his forehead from the steamy bath.

“You really want to get into my pants, don’t you?” I blurted jokingly.

He looked taken aback for a second, hand clutching at his neck. “I would never be able to fit in your pants, Layla Heliotrope. Never,” He said and winked. “But I sure would like to try.”