The girl who cried wolf

Chapter 27

Alex and Clara lay on the bonnet of the Subaru, a canteen of hot chocolate between the two of them. Clara sat up, pouring a cup for Alex and herself. 

"Here you go," Clara handed him the cup with a smile, he returned the favour. 

"Thank you, beautiful." He responded, taking the cup from her kitten mittens. She caught his line of sight and glanced at her mittens that looked like tiny cats. 

"They're cute, aren't they?" Clara put her hands on either side of her face, making a cat noise. Alex laughed, 

"They really are." Alex took her mittened hand in his bare palm, massaging it to keep it warm. 

"Why are you always so warm?" Clara asked as she cuddled up next to him. 

"I haven't always been like this." Alex replied, staring up at the night sky as he continued to gently kneed her cold hands, "It's only been recently, since, well," He looked into her eyes, "you came into our pack." 

Clara smiled at him, 

"You make me warm, fulfilled, everything I've always thought I could never be, but I am now, because of you." He turned so he lay on his stomach, holding onto the cup. "There's so many things I want to share with you, but there's only so many ways I can tell you." 

Clara closed the distance between one another, kissing him wildly. 

"Show me." Clara whispered, and that was all Alex needed, he pulled her into the car, buckling her seat belt. "Where are we going?" 

"You'll see." 

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Alex and Clara drove for two hours, they were just outside a lake, Alex got out, helping Clara out. 

"What's this?" Clara asked, haphazardly making her way towards the water that was frozen around the edges.

"This was where I used to live." Alex told her, following her carefully. "Look closely." 

Clara squinted ahead, searching the vast greyness until she spotted a clock tower. 

"Whoah!" Clara exclaimed, "What is that?" 

"That is the clock tower of St. Franklin," Alex explained, "My town was flooded to make water for the big cities, my parents had gone long before it happened." 

"What about you?" Clara asked in a small voice, Alex chuckled darkly. 

"They had gotten rid of me even before they even thought about flooding this place." 

Clara looked up at him, he sat down, pulling her onto his lap. 

"I was about seven when Ivan attacked me, my parents were so afraid when I denatured for the first time. They held a shot gun to my head," Alex made a pistol with his hand motioning it towards his head, "We drove to the forest, my mother pulled me out of the car, blind folded me and spun me around so I wouldn't follow them. I was left there, to transform into a monster, each and every night. There was nothing I could control about myself. When Ivan found me, I was a wreck, more beast then I was human, he seemed like a blessing at the time, he took me under his wing, and suddenly, he felt like a father. There were two others when I joined the pack." 

 "What happened?" Clara asked, taking a step towards Alex. 

"When I turned 12, Tim joined us. And suddenly, Ivan wasn't my father. He was our boss." Alex shook his head, "One day, Tim and I decided to go into town. We weren't focused on the time, and the next thing we knew, we had transformed right in front of thousands of tourists. We had to leave Michigan. Ivan started to become more distant, and over time, things started getting more stressed, and as pack member after pack member fell at the hands of Ivan, we'd started to fear him."