My Name is NOT Cupcake

Chapter Twenty-One

The next morning felt surreal. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, but it didn't feel like a good day. All the events from the last 24 hours came rushing back to me, leaving me feeling like a ton of bricks. Soon after I woke up, my door opened.

"Nova," Nolan said unsurely. I still hadn't forgiven him for what he said to me yesterday. He came closer when he realized I wasn't talking to him. I sighed and sat up when I realized that he wasn't going away. He sat on the edge of my bed and just looked at me for a moment.

"Hey, come on. I hate fighting with you," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"I think the words you're looking for are 'I'm sorry'," I said with an attitude. I was still mad at him for lying to me our whole lives. I remember when we turned 13 years old. At the time, I didn't think anything of it, but now finding that he was a werewolf, it made sense.

"Nolan, open the door!" I yelled as I knocked on the door to our room. We were playing a game when he suddenly ran up to the room and locked the door. He was yelling and screaming and I was scared but I had no idea what was going on.

"Mommy!" I yelled down the hallway. My mom ran down the hallway with Dad on her heels. I banged on the door again.

"Novalyn, what happened?" my mom asked.

"I don't know. We were downstairs and he just ran up here and started screaming," I explained in a rush. My mom pulled a key out of her pocket and began to unlock the door. Almost as an afterthought, she turned to Dad.

"Get Nova out of the house, Jasper. I'll call you when you can bring her back," she said. My dad only nodded  and ushered me out of the house against my struggling. He practically threw me in the car and sped out of the driveway. I could still hear Nolan's screaming as I watched the house until it disappeared. I turned and sighed as my dad drove.

"Dad, is Nolan going to be okay?" I asked him. He kept quiet for a moment.

"You'll see him later. He's fine... he's fine," my dad said, assuring himself in the process. I wasn't going to let it go.

"I didn't see him get hurt. Is he sick? Why did Mom want me to go away?" I rambled.

"Novalyn! Enough, okay?  Be patient and relax. Now, do you want ice cream or frozen yogurt?" he asked.

I ended up staying at my friend Cheyenne's house for two days before I went back home. Nolan was great... actually, he seemed better than great. He was taller, stronger, and faster. I never questioned it further then because I was just glad that he was alive after the way he was screaming that day.

I chalked it up to good medicine, but now I knew that it was so much more than that. He shifted that weekend, and I didn't realize it until now.

"You lied to me all these years. You can't be mad if I don't know anything. You never told me to begin with," I said. I lowered my head and fiddled with my hands. "Mom didn't either," I muttered. Nolan sighed and held my hand in his.

"Nova, I already regret it, okay? I hated lying to you but it was only to protect you. If there were another option, I would have taken it. I even thought about accidentally shifting in front of you but Mom made sure I kept the secret. We were trying to protect you from things like this happening," he tried to explain. Mason walked inside and sat on the other side of me.

"What's your excuse?" I asked Mason. He took my other hand and kissed it gently.

"I didn't want you to get caught in the crossfire," he said. I leaned my head on Mason's shoulder. These were my boys and I was glad that they were with me. I missed them like crazy when I was away, but now, I was in physical pain from missing Elias. There was an ache in my chest.