He Will Be Mine

Chapter 34: Sharing Secrets

*** Alyssa's POV ***

"Aly, can I ask you something kind of crazy and not make you mad?" Ronnie timidly requests into the darkness of our dorm room one night about a week before the end of the semester.

We went to bed a half hour ago and have both been just lying here on opposite sides of the room staring into the darkness and not falling asleep. At least, that's what I've been doing. I assume it's been a similar experience for her since she is still awake.

"I mean, basically I'm saying do you promise to keep your cool and not get mad at what I'm about to say if I'm completely wrong? I don't mean anything by it, like I don't want to offend you or anything, but my curiosity is getting to be too much," she continues to ramble without even asking her question yet.

"Ronnie, it's okay. Whatever it is just say it," I try to soothe her nerves with my calm, inviting tone.

Her nervous query is so random and out-of-the blue that I have no idea what it might be since there's no context from a recent conversation to help me guess.

"Okay, well, I've just been wondering if you might possibly be a werewolf," she says with a nervous laugh, and I can picture the way her face scrunches up on one side when she asks questions using that nervous tone that raises in pitch toward the end.

Her just putting that out there stuns me. My mind starts racing as I try to piece together what I've done or said that would have led her to that conclusion. I also wonder who else might be starting to figure it out since I've obviously been more careless than I realize. I can't think of anything I've done that would set me apart from the humans, though.

I get lost in my troubled thoughts and forget to answer her. I don't know how much time goes by before she says, "I'm going to guess from the fact that you went quiet and didn't freak out that I'm right."

"What gave it away?" I ask finally, realizing that Ronnie is too smart and obviously too perceptive for me to try to lie to her at this point, plus I would feel wrong about it since she asked me about it directly.

I realize that there is no reason not to out myself to her anyway. She always keeps my secrets and has my back. I actually can't believe that I didn't think to tell her earlier.

"Your eyes. Sometimes you get this faraway look, and your eyes change colors and then quickly change back."

Mari. She has noticed the times when I talk with Mari. I exhale in relief that that's what she noticed, because I only respond to Mari in our room or when no one is around. Chances are slim that any of the other humans have noticed anything.

"The first time I saw it I thought it was a trick of the light or something," she continues explaining, "and then I saw it again and still tried to convince myself that I was seeing things, but by the third time I realized it's just real, plain and simple. So, then I did some research over break and sorted out that you're either a werewolf or a handful of other possibilities that just didn't fit. Werewolf fits. You've got the eye thing going on, you're super fit and healthy, you and your whole family including your friend Ryan all smell fresh like a forest, and so on. So, yeah, I finally concluded that you're probably a werewolf."

She doesn't sound appalled, disgusted, or upset in any way, so I take that as a good sign. She sounds curious and intellectual about it, which doesn't surprise me. That seems to be how she takes in the world around her in general. I do wonder where she did her research that led her to discovering so much about us, but I'll ask her about that later.

"How do you feel about the news that your roommate is a werewolf?" I ask her, keeping my tone casual and conversational.

On the inside, my heart is pounding, and my skin has gone clammy. I adore this girl, and it would break my heart if she doesn't want to room with me now that she knows.