Kiss Me

Chapter Three

The night was warm, but a pleasant breeze flowed through the cemetery. Drew moved silently among the gravemarkers, his black fur taking on a bluish glow in the bright moonlight. This was his first visit, so he wasn't sure where he was going. His dark eyes travelled over every stone, searching for the familiar name. Alyssa Yates.

Finally, after wandering through over half of the graveyard, he came upon it. He stood before the grey stone that was practically new, having been placed barely 3 months ago. There were fresh flowers on the grave. Drew rolled his eyes. Why were they still maintaining this charade so devotedly? This plan they had to convince him she was gone would not work. He could see the truth clearly now.

Looking back, he had to admit that they had him fooled at first. When Alyssa's brother had told Drew she was dead, he had been utterly ruined by the loss. Lucas had played the part of grief-stricken brother quite well. All the components were there: the teary eyes, the shaking hands, even the hoarse voice that kept breaking. Yeah, they had him buying the act for awhile.

Those first few weeks after her "death" had been pure torture. His waking hours had been plagued with memories that left him feeling hollow. Whereas his sleep was filled with nightmares. He hardly slept more than an hour or two consecutively. He stopped eating altogether and spoke to no one. The worst part was that he knew the pain would never dim. Drew was sure he had been doomed to lead a miserable existence filled with longing and regret.

Just when he was on the edge of madness it occurred to him: she was alive. The timing of her supposed death was just too perfect. Drew had been trying to win her back after rejecting her like an idiot. He had realized his mistake, but Alyssa refused to forgive him.

Lucas had broken the news to Drew merely a week later. Convenient timing, Drew thought darkly. Lucas had told him that she had died in a car accident. She and some human man had been driving together when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver.

That had been the second indicator that she wasn't gone. A car accident? They surely could have come up with something better than that. She was a werewolf for Chrissake! Sure, werewolves are mortal, but it takes much more to kill them than it does humans. They are stronger and heal at a rapid rate. A car accident would have to have been pretty bad to kill her. No, this whole thing was clearly a ploy to get him to leave her alone. It made perfect sense.

The whole thing infuriated him and he growled lowly as he stood in the cemetery. Drew knew he deserved to be punished, but this was truly taking it too far. He thought of the last time he had seen Alyssa. Her beautiful face had looked so cold. Her voice had been emotionless as she told him about the pain he had caused her. As if he didn't already know.

Rejecting Alyssa was the worst mistake he had ever made. They had met when they were young and the commitment freaked him out. Loving her had been easy, but the idea of mating for life was terrifying. He had seen it as a sacrifice; giving up his freedom. So he had left her brokenhearted and travelled for awhile, deciding to go out and live a little instead of being tied down.

It didn't take long for him to realize that life without Alyssa wasn't worth living. He couldn't find any happiness without her by his side. Drew scolded himself for the millionth time. He was a werewolf; he should've known better. Instead he had made her feel like being her soul mate was a burden. Now she was going to great lengths to avoid him and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Didn't she know how sorry he was?

God, he would do anything just to see her. He missed everything about her; her voice, her sweet scent, the way that her eyes used to light up when she saw him, but he especially missed her soft touch. Now all he had of her was this cold tombstone and the ache in his chest.