Before Dawn

-Three

~The secret side of me, I never let you see, I keep it caged but I can't control it~

-Camila-

I regained consciousness hours later.

I sat up, taking in my surroundings. I was in a darkly lit...cell.

My clothes lay in scraps around me. A plain white robe sat neatly folded on the floor near the bars of said cell. I quickly pulled it on.

"Hello?!" I yelled frantically. "Let me out!"

I wrapped my hands around the thick metal bars only to hiss and recoil in pain when my hands began to steam. "Ow!"

"I wouldn't touch those."

My head snapped up at the sound of Felix's voice.

He stepped out of the surrounding shadows, his eyes flashing unnaturally. "They're silver. It'll burn you up."

"Where am I?" My voice shook.

"My place. You're not the first werewolf I've helped. That's why I have this handy-dandy werewolf-proof cell down here," Felix explained, unlocking the cage.

I stepped around the door, this time careful not to touch the gleaming silver cylinders.

"So, I guess you were right," I said, trying to break the chilly silence.

He chuckled. "I would say 'I told you so,' but I feel like you would attack me."

My lips twitched. "Yeah, I guess that was a lame conversation starter."

We headed upstairs and Felix gave me some clothes to change into. Just a simple pair of black leggings and a blue T-shirt.

I sat at the table while he cooked up something pink in a pan. From the tangy, delicious smell, I already knew it was meat.

I remembered the uncontrollable rage last night when Marian knocked on my door, and my appetite faded, a knot forming in its place. "So. I almost killed my best friend last night."

He frowned at the sizzling pan. "It wasn't you, Camila, it's oka-"

"I wanted to rip her throat out," I fumed, my fingers curling into the table. "Nothing about this is okay."

He sighed, flipping the sausage. "You can learn to deal with this, Camila. It just takes time."

I rubbed my temples, my head pounding. "So tell me how to do that."

"Well for starters, you're going to have to tell Marian."

I almost choked on my own spit. "What!"

Felix cast me a disbelieving look over his shoulder. "Were you planning on keeping it a secret?"

"She'll think I'm crazy!"

"Not if you have proof." He slid the sausages onto a plate and thumped it out in front of me. "I have a camera in the cell. It has video of you shifting back into your human form."

"Peeper," I muttered.

His eyes widened. "What?"

"What?"

"I'm not- oh, whatever." He got up and opened the fridge, pulling out a glass bottle filled up with a red, sticky-looking liquid.

I remembered his hands at the window last night; shining and gloved with blood.

"Why did you have blood on your hands last night?"

"It was to lure you." He poured the blood into a cup and placed the bottle back in the fridge. "Wolves have a keen sense for the stuff. It smells different than it did when you were human because you're craving it."