Betrayed By You

Ch.40 - Free at Last

Part of me was glad to have everything done with, but part of me wasn't sure what to think or even tell Duval. Yes, his brother was taken care of as I'd promised him. His brother was dead. That's exactly what we'd meant the entire time, but neither of us really wanted to say it. We didn't want to admit that we were planning to kill his brother. He was planning to have me kill him if something went wrong or if Devlin was going to cheat and I was planning on killing Devlin anyway. I had known it was just a matter of time until he eventually pushed me over and I just let everything spill out.

I was glad I'd gotten the chance to let everything spill out before he was dead. I didn't feel bad about killing him the way I did because it was an easy way for him to go. He didn't feel anything with it and when we go none of us really want to feel it. He died in a good way for shifters to die. With someone who knew him and knew him well, and with someone he had called a friend for a long time. Truthfully, I was his friend. Until he had thought he became Mr. All Powerful Leader Man. That had done nothing but piss me off.

I went over to my room and changed, calling Duval to tell him that everything was taken care of. I had told Hadley about the plan before, but I made it sound like it was going to be something more fierce than it had been. Maybe if we made it farther down than just a month I'd tell him more about what happened, but there was no need to admit to murder in front of someone who might not be around forever.

Hadley came over and helped me clean up the body, doing what we do with all shifters and werecreatures that die. We buried him. Nothing had been more important to Devlin than the gang, so we took him down as far as we could and somehow we found a way to get through everything so we could bury him under the building. By the time anyone ever found his body he wouldn't be a body. Shifters live for long periods of time, but when we die we decompose quickly for some reason. Maybe it's the same magic that lets us transform whenever we want or whatever is so super special about us, but it's just how it is.

"Hadley?" I asked, looking up at him when we got back to my room.

He squeezed me, holding me closer to him. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I helped you because it was something that was right to do. Because I care about you."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. "Hadley... I... I'd have to run it by someone first, but there's someone I want you to meet. His name is Duval."

"Oh, the other brother. He's not crazy, right?"

I shook my head. "Devlin wasn't crazy, just set in his ways. Duval is more normal though, yes. He's the one that everyone seems to flock to whenever things go wrong. It's like no one could take care of themselves and everyone thought he was the perfect person to go to whenever the smallest thing happened."

"And yet you called me when you wanted help cleaning up the body."

"Hush. I didn't call you because I wanted help, I called you because I wanted you back here. I didn't want you to watch a fight where I might have gotten injured. Yes, I am the better fighter, I've always known that, but there's always the chance that he could have landed more blows than he did. I'm almost surprised that he didn't land more blows than he did. I think, maybe, some part of him was holding back so he would lose." I yawned, curling up against Hadley, my head pressed to his chest. "Tell me a story? Or just talk? I love how your voice sounds when I'm listening through your chest." I muttered.

"Always. I'd like to meet your friends. It's always nice to see who knew you before I did. You never know what interesting stories they'll have about the person. At least you have people who know about you and accept you for what you are. The only people who really know anything about me didn't want anything to do with me after I became comfortable being who and what I am. My own family wanted nothing to do with me. That's what hurts the most."

At least you HAD family that you could try and talk with about what was happening with you. I had no one. I was this kid one day, just going around doing whatever, a street kid, and then BAM! One day I'm attacked by what I think is this large, stray dog and then the next time I start getting emotional I start changing.

"I know Duval... He's a werewolf. And when the full moon is close he can bring on different changes depending on his mood. Is there anything like that for you?" I asked, wanting to learn more about my weretiger before I had to start sharing him.

I listened as he rambled on, sharing about how he became what he was and about the challenges he faced. He was lucky enough that his family had said so long as he didn't change in front of them or hurt them or really even mention that he was different that he was fine to live there, but he left when he knew that wasn't going to be any sort of life. Having to hide what he was day after day and night after night. He said it wasn't right.

He was right about that.