Un•A•Were

26| The Return

Amanda's POV:

As we get closer to Hillcrest, my heart begins to beat out of control and my anxiety once again needs to be put in check. I can do this. I can do this. I CAN do this. I take several breaths to regain control of my emotions.

As we pass the town-I mean, pack sign, I'm seeing things in a whole new light. This will take some getting use to. So many things make sense now. The being ignored, the silent treatment, the alternate titles, while others still remain rattling questions in my mind. How is it that some people still don't know the truth about my father's death? What were his talents? How do those talents affect me? I again begin to feel horrible for Bryan. Not only has he carried this guilt around with him for ten plus years, but I treated him so poorly and called him even worse. My mind drifts to when he first tried to confess to me after prom.

"Are you drunk?" I ask.

"Nnnnnaaaaahhhh." he responds as he plops himself beside me. "Look, Manny, there's somin' I gotta get off my chest. I don know what your mom told you, but I...I....maybe...sorta...wiped out your dad." he spits out. My face scrunches up at the mention of my dad, but I'm at a loss about what Bryan is saying to me right now.

"Bryan, what are you talking about? I think you've had a little too much to drink. Maybe you should go lay down in James' room."

"NO! You have to lissen to me. I took him out. I'm sorry, but you need to know. There's a whole world you don't know about. My mate is your mate. But I can't claim you until you know about your dad!" he began to shout and ramble incoherently.

"Bryan, please calm down. I can't understand you like this. I don't know what you're talking about! Mates? Took out my dad? You never even knew my dad." Sam and Luke walk towards us with panic on their faces. "Thank god you guys are here. Bryan's drunk and rambling on about my dad, but I don't even know what he's saying." I explain.

"Oh my god, he picked tonight of all nights! What is wrong with him?" Sam asks Luke.

"Picked tonight for what?" eyeing them suspiciously.

"Ah, nothing, to get drunk, obviously." Luke recovers. "Come on Bryan, let's get you inside to crash buddy." Luke says and he helps get Bryan to his feet.

"Hey bro! I had to tell her what I did. I had to explain everything." Bryan slurs and they stumble back to the pack house.

Just as that memory ends, graduation and my leaving floods my mind.

"Done! That wasn't so bad." as I look at my loaded down Jeep. "Bryan, what's wrong? You've been off all day and I'm starting to think it's less about me leaving and more to do with something else."

"Let's go for a walk." I nod, but feel a lump in the pit of my stomach. This can't be good. We took a path into the woods and stopped in a clearing to sit in the cool, green grass. He takes a deep breath and begins.

"Ten years ago, I was participating in a junior patrol league. Basically, it was a group of young boys learning to fight, learning to scan and track the land, and learning to protect our community. Our community, as you know, is very close-knit and we all look out for one another. Most nights, nothing happened and it was honestly pretty boring. My parents thought it would be good training for my future, so they made me stick with it. However, one night, while patrolling with a group of adults, there was an incident."

"What happened, Bryan?" I had genuine concern for 10-year-old Bryan.

"Intruders had entered our community and threatened the safety of those that lived here. Normally, the Junior patrols would be unarmed, but they had been teaching us how to use knives in case we were ever attacked by larger wol—-people. A man, a frantic man, came screaming through the woods and he was racing toward me. Out of panic or instinct, I pulled out my knife, so when he rushed me, the knife entered his abdomen. He died. I killed this man."