Gaze

Three.

"I am not a werewolf. Werewolves don't exist," was the only acceptable response I could think of. Jessica could only smile in response, her perfect lips tugging upwards and amusement flashing through those green eyes.

"Reagan, I can smell the Change on you," she spoke, her voice almost monotonous as she kept that steady gaze on me. Her statement caused a rush of panic in me for some reason. Did I smell bad?

"Smell?" was my brilliant response, earning an overdramatized eye-roll. Her tongue flicked out to lick her lips, and I knew I was testing her patience. With my newfound discovery of her... species, I didn't really want to test my luck.

It took everything in me to remind myself that that, that thing I saw out there was still Jessica. And I hardly believed that she would hurt me when she practically saved my butt out there against that Mason guy.

Jessica, the girl I used to take bubble baths with when we were two. Jessica, the girl whose cracker I always licked before giving it to her, watching in an amused horror as she ate it unknowingly. Jessica, the girl who tutored me on Geometry, and every other Math I had ever taken.

Jessica, the werewolf who saved me from being kidnapped and probably killed.

Killed. That was a terrifying thought. In just two weeks, the arrival of Mason had changed my life for the worse. I was worrying for my life, something I never believed I would ever have to do. Why didn't I just call the cops like any sane person? I was really regretting that now.

But as I thought about it, I realized the cops had nothing compared to Mason.

While they had guns, he had claws to tear and speed to rush.

I knew the only reason he didn't get to me was because Jessica was nearly as fast as him.

"Yes. Smell. Just like I can smell everything you're feeling right now. And hear your heartbeat pounding. Please calm down because the smell of your anxiety and fear is giving me a headache." Her nose wrinkled in disgust and I felt a random wave of shame slide over me. Her lips tilted to the side again in an attempt to smile. Her eyes seemed to soften. "Just, follow me, Ray. I'm going to take you somewhere safe."

I ignored every instinct in my body to disobey, willing myself to step forward and follow the werewolf I called my best friend. I always trusted her before. Why couldn't I seem to do that now? Oh, right. Because she lied to me my entire life and didn't bother to tell me she was a Supernatural myth that wasn't supposed to exist.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed she was a werewolf. They weren't supposed to exist but I saw four, and was suddenly expected to believe that I, too, could turn into the creature of the moon.

All I knew was I definitely couldn't hear her heartbeat or smell anything like how she had described.

"If I'm a werewolf, then how come I can't smell anything or hear anything like you?" My voice was accusatory, as if denying what she had said and looking for any excuse to prove her wrong.

"You haven't Changed yet. With your first Change will come your enhanced abilities." Her words washed completely over my head. This was too much to handle. How could I possibly be a werewolf? Instead of focusing on that, I decided to approach the situation differently.

"How did you manage to fight them off alone?"

"I didn't." But she didn't bother to explain.

"Didn't what?" I craved answers more than anything I'd ever craved before.