Take Me Down

Lies

Ariana gave herself the entire car ride home from Liam's to process the news, to process the fact that the boy she had been tentatively calling her boyfriend in her mind was actually a werewolf. It was almost too horrific to comprehend, but she forced her brain to mull it all over until Garrett finally pulled the car into their apartment complex.

It was hard to picture Liam as an actual werewolf despite having suspected it in the back of her mind since she had found his name on the list. He had put on such a good act, seeming so normal and sweet, never giving her any major clue that he was secretly hiding glowing eyes and claws. Had it all just been some kind of sick game? Reeling her in just to slaughter her later? The nausea had managed to settle itself somewhere in Ariana's stomach, a reminder that she had kissed the very kind of monster she had sworn to take down.

Still, part of Ariana had to admit that it made a lot of sense. Liam's poor excuses for standing her up were just false half hearted lies to cover up his supernatural activities. It made sense but that didn't mean Ariana was fine by any means, her eyes still prickling with unshed tears as she climbed out of the car. The shock was slowly wearing off, replaced by a sense of resolve instead.

The three orphans walked into their apartment in silence, Garrett and Violet apparently too hesitant to even talk to each other in case they set Ariana's temper off. But by the time she entered the apartment, swinging the door closed behind her, she was ready to talk.

"Okay, tell me everything," she said, turning to face Garrett and Violet, her expression as calm as she could make it.

"Everything?" Violet furrowed her brows at Ariana, as if she was waiting for Ariana to break.

"Yes. I need to know it all. I need to know who-what we're dealing with. I need to know what Liam is and how dangerous he is. And we need to start planning our next move," Ariana said practically, her voice void of any emotion as she followed Garrett who was already heading over to the couch to fetch his laptop. She sunk onto the couch beside him, folding her legs up as she flickered her gaze between the other two.

"Okay. I'll start from the top," Garrett said finally, his eyes flickering over her with a hint of concern. "So Scott is the true alpha, and we're not quite sure what that means for him but he's definitely a big threat and he'll put up a good fight. We're definitely not the first to come after him. Word is that there's already been a few other assassins in to claim their money from his death and...well he's still walking around isn't he?"

"So basically, watch out for the big bad wolf," Violet quipped, easing her body onto the floor in front of the couch, stretching her long legs out in front of her. "Also he's worth the most on the list. Twenty five million, so really he should be top priority."

"Vi, I already told you before, he's not going to be an easy kill." Garrett threw Violet a hard look that suggested they had probably spent most of the car ride before getting Ariana having this exact argument. "He went up against a whole pack of alphas and he was the only one standing at the end."

Violet let out an irritated huff, slumping against the couch, mumbling something about Garrett being afraid of a good challenge but Garrett pointedly ignored her, choosing to launch back into his spiel about the rest of the creatures he'd managed to get information on.

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At some point in the evening Ariana had slid off the couch until she was lying spread out on the floor, her head resting in Violet's lap as Violet stroked Ariana's hair in attempt to sooth the pain of the overwhelming information.