"Are you alright?" Jo asks.
I nod.
We're at our usual hangout place, the rundown shack.
"You don't look alright," she says. "Is it about Hayden?"
He said forever.
"What do you think of werewolves?" I ask Jo.
"Why are you asking?" Tressie's head pops up from behind the piles of spell books she has surrounded herself with. She failed Cronan's class by one point and has to retake it.
"Hayden, he... He's always confident. So sure of himself and us."
"He better be," Jo says, "For someone who's leading the largest werewolf pack he has to be sure of himself."
"Even so, he doesn't seem that bothered with his mate being a witch. I, on the other hand," I say, placing my hand over my forehead, "I feel like a sword is hanging over my head."
"What happened to the Yates and Ivana lead?"
"Hayden is looking into where Boldman's from, before Boldman came to Buckram. We might be able to confirm of Ivana's existence using Yates."
"If that doesn't pan out?"
I rub my finger nails together. "I don't think this is a curse. I turned every stone in that path. Our bond is same as everyone else's, except, you know. Which means, it can be severed."
"You told him about that possibility?"
"Like I said, he's very sure of us. Last time I mentioned it he got upset. I don't blame him. He doesn't know what I know."
Tressie, who's intently listening to us instead of revising, says, "Have you ever considered telling him everything?"
"I have. And I don't want to tell him. I can't live with it if he walks away from me after knowing everything about me. But it's also not good if he doesn't back off after learning the truth."
"You told your mom about your decision to go to Leraster?"
"We didn't talk about college. But I know she knows I wouldn't go anywhere near Whitestone. I don't want her to worry about this, even though she's probably already losing her sleep over it."
Feeling a tad bit lighter after wording my worries to my friends, I return home and feed Trick.
I pull out the application forms from my bag and fill them, before sliding them into an envelope and address it to Leraster. Suddenly, this pale brown envelope has become the most important thing in my life.
I leave it on the table and go to bed, when I get a call from Hayden.
"You're worried," he says.
I hide my eyes behind my arm. "You never listen do you?"
"Why are you worried?"
I don't answer.
"Because of me?" he asks.
"If I say yes?"
"I'm sorry."
I chuckle. "You don't even know why you worry me."
"I would if you tell me."
"I can't do that."
He sighs.
"Hayden."
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever regretted meeting me that day in school?"
"No."
"Have you ever been scared of people finding out who your mate is and hating you for it?"
"No."
"Are you scared of anything?"
He laughs.
Then stops.
"When you asked me not to hurt you," he says, "That's what I most regret and am scared of."
I smile. Hurting me is the last thing he needs to worry about.
Since I didn't eat anything after lunch, I start to feel hungry. It's like, speaking to Hayden has put my mind back on its track. "I'm going to have dinner. Let's talk later."
Knowing I'd run out of the all-purpose floor, I make a quick run to the nearby mart. I'm in mood for tempura.
After grabbing a few more things in the store, I walk back home, and find three black cars parked in front of my apartment building.
My blood runs cold.
I unsteadily reach my apartment. The door is open. I go in and stand before the man sitting on the chair near my study desk.
"Father."
