Lunaticus

17

Eventually dawn broke through. I knew it was time for Lyell to go. So I hugged him a bit tighter.

"Care for a walk?" He asked, a bit timidly.

And so we found ourselves walking idly, not holding hands but walking so closed our shoulders touched.

"Your family," He started, "Did they ever wonder where you went?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea. I just left. I always thought someone would come. To this day I do. But no one ever did..."

I looked up, but he was looking straight ahead, eyes furrowed in concentration. I could see the many questions he was stopping from escaping. I let him wonder.

"Come on, let me show you to my house."

I stopped, stupefied. "What house?"

"My house...My cabin? The one that I build?" He said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever to make something like that within the span of three months. "Well its not really a cabin. Yet. It only has one room. But I plan to expand it. Slowly."

"You built...a house? Just like that?" I flourished my hand, trying to make him understand how fascinating this was.

"I told you how handy I was. With my dad I-" He stopped. "Well come on now."

I followed him, asking him why didn't he get a room in the pack house- there weren't any left. How did the captain allowed this? It was one of her conditions. I had to find my own place to live.

"She let you sleep on your own? In the cold?" Fury lit inside me. I found myself recalling all the idolizing thoughts I had had about captain.

"It's not her fault. With the things I told her, anyone would be wary. I had to come clean to her. She's as much of a mind-reader-" He made quotation marks in the air, giving me a side-eye, "-as I am."

"That's not fair-"

"Tada. We are here!"

I squinted. Well he was right when he said it was one room. It was just that, one room. But the artitechture was practical and clean. Logs were put together to make the four walls, and the roof was a simple shed. There were even three steps that led up to a door. He did plan to stay.

"I can see, that you're not impressed," He sounded offended, but there was a small smile on his face. The dimple that made my heart gallop was also there.

"Of course not," I scoffed, "I just realized I'm mated to Bob the freaking builder."

It wasn't even that great of a joke. But he laughed as if it was. And I grinned like it was, something I didn't expect to be doing so soon after last night.

"Come on in." He marched up the stairs. As I followed his back, the lockless door swung open. I looked at the pillow and towel on the floor, most likely where he slept, and a small table to the side with some old books on them.

Tears filled my eyes. No matter what the circumstances, I couldn't believe he had to live in this place for the past three months. I imagined the long, lonely nights, the stretch of darkness and the lack of warmth.

He raised his hand over his head, and the fingers grazed the ceiling. "Now how do you like my make-shift suite-" He turned around. His face fell when he saw the look on his face.

Without a word, I engulfed him in a hug. His heart thudded under my ear, the most relaxing sound in the world. I felt his arm around me, his chin taking its familiar place on top of my head.

For a minute we didn't say anything.

"It's not really that bad, stella mea. I hope you understand that these have truly been the best months of my life." He tipped my chin. His eyes were storm clouds, intense and beckoning.

"Besides, I haven't really been staying here." I tried to return his smile, but I was still looking at the slender pillow and the hole ridden blanket.

"Trust me. If you knew about all the fantasies I had here regarding a certain sad girl..." He whistled lowly, "Any man would trade a kingdom for the pleasure I got."

That did it. I wrinkled my nose, "Pervert."

The smile fell away. He honestly could not have gotten offended. Just as I was starting to apologize, he sighed. "I didn't want to ruin the mood, since it literally took all my wit to get it going, but I'm dying to know."

I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming.

"Did he-" His words trembled, "Did he- Is that why you can't- What did he do to you, Chloe?"

And I knew he wasn't referring to the incidence. I opened my eyes, and he was across the room now, jaw clenched and hands fisted. His chest rose and fell more quickly now, as if he was dying to rip something, anything apart.

"He bit me."

I peeled my shirt up halfway, pointing to the two marks that were there on my my left pelvis. They stared at me, red and angry.

"He told me he couldn't wait to mark me," I spoke quietly, letting my shirt fall, "But that he wanted to save it until I had shifted. So he made do with this."

I looked at him squarely gathering my breath, "It was my fault. I know. I should have listened to mother. I should have taken better care, been smarter-A lot of things. I'm ruined Lyell, broken beyond repair. And I'm s-sorry. That you get this tainted, fixer-upper version of me. I'm sorry..."

I bit my fist, letting out the silent tears. He would reject me. Any second now. Here it comes. I deserved it, to be honest. He deserved better.

We both did, and didn't.