Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

17. Honesty

SCARLETT

Worst bloody hangover ever! My head was about to explode and I could feel my brain pulsate underneath my scalp. It took a lot of effort to open my heavy eyelids, eventually seeing that it was daytime once again.

I am never having Venom again, never. Callum should have warned me that those things were lethal. Given the state that I was in currently, I must have been in pretty bad shape when I got back to my room after the pub.

Except that when I looked around, I realised that I was not in my room, even if the place was just as lavish as Aiden's palace.

Crap, did I end up going home with Callum?

DID WE HAVE SEX?

My heart was galloping in my chest as I tried to recall what had happened the night before.

"Hey, you are awake!" That voice was music to my ears, easing all my worries just from hearing it because I knew I was safe.

I tried to smile, but I was way too tired and achy to manage that. "Ugh, you better have painkillers with you because this hangover is on a whole new level. I don't get how people here survive drinking these local concoctions."

When I eventually brought myself to look at my best friend, I saw the worry and sympathy written on her face.

"How do you feel?" She asked softly, twisting the watch on her wrist like she was approaching a delicate matter.

Riley and I had shared many drunken nights during our friendship, and hangovers were something that we used to help each other with but also poked a lot of fun at one another about. The fact that she seemed so careful right now worried me.

"Like death." I tried to lighten the mood because I did not like the uneasy feeling in the air.

Then again, it was also a pretty accurate description of my current shape. I could easily imagine that this was what dying and coming back to life felt like. I am never drinking again!

But my joke did not go down well with Riley, who gave me a funny look before she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me in for a tight hug.

"Hey, I was only joking, Ri. Take it easy there. I'm okay, I promise." I embraced her as well, stroking her soft hair with my fingers as I tried to reassure her.

Her head remained buried in my neck, her arms holding me tighter like she was afraid to let me go. I had no idea what was going on but making her laugh was always a fool-proof way to get her back to a happy mood.

"You'll laugh at this," I exclaimed, chuckling just at the memory of what I was about to share with her. She was going to find it hilarious. "I had the strangest dream- I got kidnapped after I found out that Callum had slept with you, but then Callum came to rescue me, telling me that he was a shapeshifter. Can you imagine? I actually dreamt about him turning into a giant brown bear called Mahon that crushed all of our attackers. How crazy is that?"

My laughter was the only sound that rang in the room. Jesus, that dream really was insane and pretty damn intense too! Just thinking back about how it ended made my skin crawl- the mere idea that Callum was hurt was too much but recalling the moment that the imaginary goon slit my throat, ending my life, was also a bit too much to handle. This part was probably not something I want to share with Riley though- I did not want to worry her with my overactive imagination.

To my surprise, she still didn't look up. Only when the t-shirt that I was wearing became damp that I realised that she was quietly sobbing on my shoulder.