We Are Monsters 🌕 Book 1 || gxg

The Catalyst

Aidan didn't return for hours, and more than once she heard a faint, mournful how. The first startled her, but Cain assured her it was all right. He left to open the bar at some point. Sam was reading and didn't notice until his truck started. There wasn't much for her to be doing, and she felt somewhat adrift.

She also didn't notice when Aidan got back. She had her nose in a book again, and started when the glass door hit the bump in its track. Soaking wet, dripping on the mat, Aidan peered at her through heavy curls. Only his pyjama pants were dry. His face was unreadable. She felt for her bookmark, unwilling to look away.

"How are you?" she asked.

His torso swelled on a deep breath. "Better. I'm sorry for getting mad at you."

"It's all right, I'm not upset about it. Are you ready to talk about it?"

She finally found the elusive candy wrapper she used to mark her page and slipped it into place. Don't judge, she usually had at least four books on the go. She didn't know where half her actual bookmarks were at any given time.

"Let me clean up first."

He left a trail of droplets on the dark wood floor into the washroom. While the shower ran, Sam responded to some texts she had missed, and tried to organize her thoughts as she read again. If he was ready to talk about it, she had a feeling it would not be a fun conversation.

Those fucking memories again! One moment she was tracking words on the page, the next her mental image would vanish and was entirely replaced by the grooves and graffiti on her desk in grade nine English. Another wave of scathing laughter, followed by more of her essay on Alice in Wonderland written in poor English read aloud by Ms. Tremblay. She was supposed to be teaching them, yet she mocked Sam. Shame burned in her belly.

English was not her strong suit when she was in school. It was a hard language, and the sheer volume of slang threw her for a loop. That day was actually the fuel she needed to study her ass off and pass her class with 84%, but that knowledge was never enough to forget the humiliation seared into her memories.

She blinked hard until her vision cleared. Her pulse raced, and she clutched her stomach until the sensation faded. Faint words echoed in the back of her mind. She fought against them until they were secured enough to ignore.

The door clicked open, and she glanced just long enough to register the towel around his waist and immediately returned to her book. He returned a minute later in sweats and a white tee, pushing shaggy hair out of his eyes. He seemed to have his emotions under control now, though he certainly wasn't pleased.

"What's got you so worked up?"

"I thought I was past this." He met her gaze with a measure of resignation. "I spent years getting over having my dream ripped away, years accepting I wasn't cut out to lead a pack."

"What makes you think you're not a leader?" She frowned a little.

"Ten of my elders telling me as much."

She scoffed. "So what? They also thought locking up your brother was the answer and look where it got him."

Aidan frowned back. "You're forgetting that I got him in that situation to begin with."

"No, I'm not forgetting, because you've told me nothing about what happened to him. Regardless, you're not the one rampaging around Canada, are you?"

He paused. "No ..."

"Look, I can't agree with you if I don't know what happened, right?"

"I was wrong," he said quickly. "I'm really not ready to talk about it."