The Mate Deal

Chapter 14

I know it was poor judgment, and it so was not a good idea, but I was sick of lying to Renee all the time.  She was supposed to be my best friend, and she didn’t even know the most important thing about me.  And besides, it would be better that she knew now, instead of finding out from Matt one day.  She would go into shock, and never talk to me again if I withheld this from her until then.

I ran around for a minute, and then I shifted back and hurriedly pit my clothes on before emerging from the woods.  I was relieved to see that she was still there.  Besides, she had never been one to run away when scared.  She was sitting on the grass, with her back on the car.

I walked over, trying to smile, but in all honesty, I was terrified of what she’d say.

“What just happened,” she whispered when I was standing over her.

I tried to laugh, to show her it was no big deal, even though it obviously was.  “Renee, I’m a werewolf,” I said cautiously.

“Well obviously.  I didn’t think you were a fairy princess that just so happens to be able to turn herself into a wolf.”  She was beginning to sound upset.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

“You better be!” she screamed.

“Renee, calm down,” I hissed, putting my hand over her mouth.  “Thank you, for screaming in my ear.  I swear, I’ll go deaf soon because of you.”

“I don’t care!  How could you not tell me something like that?”

“I’m sorry.  But it’s not the kind of thing you can really tell someone without getting a reaction like this.  I mean, you are freaking out, blowing this way out of proportion.  Yes, I’m a werewolf!  It’s not the end of the world.  Yes, we are real!  So are vampires and witches!”

“That’s not what I’m so upset about, Steph.”  Then, for the first time ever, my best friend started to cry.  “The part that scares me, is that I’m paying more attention to the fact that you have been lying to me for years, than the fact that all I’ve ever known was a lie.  I’ll never be able to look at Halloween the same again!”

And then, maybe it was the stress of it all, but we both actually started laughing.  If someone had seen us then, they would have thought we were two maniacally insane girls, laughing like mad scientists.

“I’m so sorry, Ray!  I’ve always wanted to tell you, but there are rules, and we have to keep our existence a secret.  Not a lot of other humans know that magic is real.  You’re so special,” I joked.

“I know,” she smirked.

“Now let’s get out of here.” I stood up and held my hand out to her, and lifted her up when she took it.  We got in the car, and I calmed myself down enough to drive us safely away, although we had nowhere to go.

“So, why’d you finally tell me?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed.  “I guess I was just sick of this secret tearing people apart.”

“So, tell me about being a werewolf.  Obviously, you can… what’s the word?  Shift?  Well you can turn into a wolf during the day, not just when there’s a full moon?”

“Yeah.”

“So… is Matt a werewolf, too?”

“Yeah.  He’s what we call the Alpha.  He is the leader of his pack.”

“Wow.  So that means you’re sort of the princess, right?”  Excitement was creeping into her voice, and I could tell she’d forgotten about her momentary hatred of Matt.