Creatures ~ Jackson Whittemore [Book 2]

Heartbreak

It had been a training session from hell with the devil himself. Maya wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to learn, but clearly she had failed since Peter had complained the entire time. What ever it was that the dead werewolf wanted her to do was a mystery. His way of teaching involved a lot of yelling and threats with a few choice swear words thrown in. After about an hour of expectantly waiting for Maya to magically understand the point of his lesson, he had angrily disappeared into the words with a scowl on his burnt face. This left Maya alone, laying on the lakeshore waiting for her tail to dry and disappear. The mermaid squinted as she saw a figure coming towards her through the trees. At first Maya thought it was Peter, but as she squinted, she realized how wrong she was. 

"Jackson?"

The male in question turned and caught sight of her. His face paled slightly, "Maya? What are you doing out here?"

She frowned, gesturing to her tail. "Waiting for my tail to dry. I was trying to figure out this whole transformation." It was only a slight lie. Omitting the hyper-realistic hallucinations of Peter seemed like something to keep to herself. 

Jackson bit his lip as he walked over. This was the first time he'd ever seen this part of Maya. Her hair was soaking wet and her orange scales were shimmering in the sunlight that filtered in through the tree branches. There was an ethereal beauty to the mermaid, something he hadn't expected when he was told the truth about what Maya had been transformed into. 

"Are you going to tell me why you're out here?" Maya's question broke Jackson out of his revere. His eyes shot to hers in a mild panic as he floundered for something to say. The brunette narrowed her eyes as Jackson's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out. "Jackson?"

He sucked in a breath and looked away. There was no way he could look her in the eye with all of the guilt gnawing at him. "It seemed like a nice day to go for a walk in the woods." What an unconvincing lie -he didn't even believe what he had said. 

Maya's head turned in the direction she'd seen Jackson come from. As she looked back at her boyfriend, Jackson unconsciously grabbed at his side where he had gotten the bite. Then realization dawned on Maya. Everything was coming together in her mind as she thought about Jackson's behavior since she woke up in the hospital. 

"No. Tell me you didn't do it, Jackson." He hung his head silently. "Please tell me you didn't do it." Maya pleaded with him quietly.

When he finally worked up the courage to meet her eyes, Jackson knew that everything was about to fall apart. "I did it for you."

"How could you? You promised me you wouldn't take the bite." Maya could feel tears treating to fall, but she clenched her jaw and held her head high.

"Maya, please, you have to understand." Jackson hated seeing that look of hurt and betrayal. "After what happened at the formal, seeing you lying on that field covered in blood...I knew I had to do it. I had to be strong enough to protect you. I thought that if I took the bite, then I would be able to keep you from getting hurt again...it didn't even work though, Lydia managed to pass her immunity on to me."

"God, I can't believe I was so stupid." Maya bit out angrily. "I can't believe I thought you changed. You're still the same self-centered, egotistical jerk. This had nothing to do with me, you just wanted to be back on your pedestal. You just wanted to be better than Scott again." 

It was like a slap to the face. Her words burned worse than fire, leaving a pit in his stomach. "This  had nothing to do with Scott. This was all for you...it was all because I love you." Jackson admitted. He had hoped the declaration might sway her, but he should have known better.