My Girlfriend Bites (Young Adult Paranormal Werewolf Romance)

Chapter 35

Aiden

The sky spits water on me. The gray clouds try to produce rain, but fail. They only manage a few stray drops, one of which nails me in the face. I stand in front of the Mayflowers' house, wondering how my life became so damn complicated. I drum my nervous fingers against the fender of Issy's Jetta. I still can't believe he said to keep the keys and take good care of his car until he's out of the hospital. Issy's trust blows my mind. The guy should hate me for what I've put him through this year.

I stare up at Bree's bedroom window on the second floor. I haven't seen her peek out once yet. She must be getting a whiff of me out here.

I ring the front doorbell anyway.

Mrs. Mayflower answers. "How is your friend?" she asks as I walk in the house.

"He'll be okay. They're just keeping him for observation," I say.

"Good. Very good news." Mr. Mayflower's voice echoes from the staircase as he takes the last few steps downstairs to join his wife. "We were worried about him."

"She's upstairs in her room," Mrs. Mayflower says. "She's been up there all afternoon."

"My fault. All of it," Mr. Mayflower says. "Should have shut it all down the moment Bree told us about you. Went against every instinct I had. Now this calamity. Your friend tell the police yet?"

"He won't, Mr. Mayflower. He hasn't told anyone."

"Issy will eventually, or his parents will drag it out of him." Mr. Mayflower frowns at his wife. "We'll have to move again. Soon as we can."

Mrs. Mayflower sighs. "Where else is there to go? Another city? Another country? And what do you want Bree to do? Ask her not to make any more friends?" Mrs. Mayflower pauses as her voice quivers. "Will there be any more young werewolves left alive for her to be friends with?"

Mr. Mayflower hugs his wife tight. "Shhh. Don't say such things."

"Bree is so happy here," Mrs. Mayflower sobs.

"I know she is. We'll talk about it first. Promise you that." Mr. Mayflower lovingly pets his wife's long hair. I've never before seen parents act so...good...to each other.

I excuse myself and head upstairs toward Bree's room. I knock on the door. Bree sniffles like her nose is stuffed up. A sad, weak little version of her voice then tells me to come in. Bree lays on her bed, clinging to Rocky and Bullwinkle. She's curled around a pillow and her stuffed animal friends. Her eyes are swollen, like she's been crying for days. At the sight of me, a new wave of tears rolls down her pink cheeks.

"I know you hate me," Bree sobs. "I would hate me too." She gasps for a breath. "I can't believe I killed Issy." Bree breaks down, and cries hard.

It breaks my heart seeing her like this.

"Issy will be okay. He's not going to die."

"But don't you understand? I tried to kill him. I jumped on top of your dad, and I was ready to bite into his neck, and then I was going to snap it. But Issy kept trying to pull me off. Over and over again he tried, and it distracted, me and I got mad at him. So mad I swung around and attacked him." Her watery eyes find me. "Issy struggled, but there was no way he could throw me off. I was so pissed that this human was trying to stop me. I could see it was Issy, and still I couldn't stop myself. I treated him like he was just another animal I was going to kill."

Bree sniffles. The tears stream down. "When my fangs bit into him, Issy screamed, and his voice...his voice made me hesitate. His scream rattled me so much that I wrestled back control from the wolf. And then, I was so horrified over what I'd done that the fury I had to kill your father was gone. I used that guilt to push myself out of the house and run away."